Saturday, September 11, 2010

"Singing In The Rain" Opening Night

Things seemed to work pretty well last night!

Having a smoothly-running backstage apparatus can make the rest of the show run better. Things worked rather well on opening night!

There were a few flubs and misunderstandings that made me laugh, however. After soaking up the water on the stage left behind by staging the title number, I tossed towels into the washer in the Costume Shop and put in on 'spin dry'. As Jean came into Costume Shop, I told her I put the towels on 'dry'. She panicked: she thought I had tossed the dirty towels into the clothes dryer, where she was drying Rand's suit.

During the scene change after the 'Moses' number, we quickly rushed onstage to clear the set. During the number, a heap of crumpled newspapers is dumped on Adam Sartain. Thomas (I think) rushed over with the trashcan to help clear the stage. But because he was in a hurry, he didn't want to set the trashcan down, or to set himself down on the stage. Instead, he kneeled while holding the trash can, which inadvertently inverted the trash can. As quickly as we threw the crumpled newspapers into the trash can, the crumpled newspapers tumbled back out of the trashcan onto the stage. It was like a mini-vaudevillian skit, that scene change! And, of course, looking back over my shoulder as the lights came up, I noticed we failed to clear one crumpled newspaper!

I was in the wrong place to accept the long board coming offstage during the "Make Them Laugh" number. Dan and Gerald quickly dumped the board in the wing behind the black curtains. I picked up the board to clear it, wheeled around with it, and nearly took out several sopranos standing in the wing. I swear, just like vaudeville and the silent pictures!

But gotta keep that stuff to a minimum.....

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