Well that didn't go as planned...

Today I had what I THOUGHT was a great idea. We need a dramatic explosion in Seussical when JoJo gets killed in the Butter Battle (and you thought this was a kids show!). We have a pyro system that we have used to great effect in previous shows and I thought, 'Perfect! We can use one of the pyro pods to approximate an explosion.' Just oen problem. My lighting designer, Turk, HATES pyro- he thinks its over used. Rather than tell him this idea to his face, I decided to take the cowards way out and write it on a post-it note to give him. That way I could be far away when he read it and escaope his wrath. That plan failed becasue the moent he opened the post it and saw the word 'pyro' he promptly ATE the post it while saying, 'NO!'.
So much for my great idea. I guess we'll have to think of something else for the explosion.

In the pit...

This smart man joined our staff this year- Josh Turk is our Theatre Manager. Here he is down in the orchestra pit, figuring out a unique issue were having with Seussical involving bath sponges...





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Today I ....

didn't go to work.
It's a Sunday- so you may say '...well of COURSE you didn't go to work. Who works on a Sunday?'
The answer is- me. I go to ECC usually 6 days a week, sometimes 7 during show season.
I'm not saying this to make you feel pity for me (all 3 of you who might read this!) but more to explain what the life of an artist can be like. I could go to work 5 days a week and probably still do adequate work- but I would not be happy with that work.
Directing a musical is a HUGE task- you are ultimately responsible for everything on the stage.
I am not the set designer...but I am responsible for the set. I am not the lighting designer, but I am responsible for how the lighting looks. I have to make a million choices every day that determines how the show looks, feels, lives. I do the publicity for the show- for Seussical, this means coming up with the concepts for the posters, shooting the pictures, creating the posters, getting them printed, etc. I'm really lucky to have a great group of people to work with, but it is ultimately my responsibility to get it all put together. In order to teach classes (which is a HUGE part of my job, obviously and takes up a lot of my day), be prepared for rehearsal (which takes around an hour or so every day to prepare my plans for the evenings rehearsal), run rehearsal (which is around 3 hours per night), prepare for the next show (which starts one week after Seussical closes), get started on NEXT season (which is coming up faster than I want to think about and I am frantically looking for scripts to read/reading scripts), and do everything else that goes into running a theatre department, I have to go into work on the weekends.
Last night I went to a bar in town to celebrate the closing of Borgia Theatre Department's production of The Diviners. My lighting designer was there too. We spent 45 minutes talking about how to make a clover field appear during Seussical. It's impossible to get away from.
Tomorrow I'll start my 1 blog per day for the run of Seuss, but today I just wanted to say...I didn't go into work (but that doesn't mean i didn't think about my job!)

New blog resolution

We open Seussical in about 2 months- and I have a new resolution! I'm going to blog every day (at least, every weekday!) about the process.
So here's my beginning...discussing production meetings.

Today started with a production meeting. Production meeting are where the production staff (the director, lighting designer, stage manager, set designer and creative team) get together to discuss how the show is going, what needs to be finished, issues that are happening, etc.

Today's meeting was very productive- we're going right along with our prop list (including shower loofahs and ping pong balls), the set is moving at a decent pace and our costumes are going to be gorgeous. Our conductor, Dr. Tim Sexton, was also there and he has started the process of putting together the orchestra that will accompany our show. There are still a lot of things that need to be worked out (how do I make a clover field spring from the ground? Will the actors AND the set pieces be able to fit backstage?). I'm very lucky to have a really great creative team that fixes most of the crisis I come up with (which is many).

In addition to a production meeting- we gathered what is rapidly becoming a signiture musical move- the confetti! Here's a shot of my hard working assistant Elin counting the red and white confetti we'll be using in Seuss!!

Another look..

At an actor! This is Mark Hewkin, who plays one of the Wickersham Brothers. They will be sporting blue Mohawks and he was kind enough to let me test it out on him.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First look!

Here's our Cat in the Hat, Lee Garner!! Seussical tickets go on sale January 19th!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone