Bows, on Sunday afternoon November 6, 2011.Opening weekend is accomplished!
There were a few light-board glitches from yours truly. We discovered during dress rehearsal that the light cues needed to be sharper on "The Telephone Hour"; in time for sharpening them on opening Friday night. On Saturday night, I kept the lights on too long at the end of Act I, Scene I. I also brought the lights down too fast at the end of Act I. Also, Dannette wanted the lights down faster at the end of "Normal American Boy", so I incorporated that desire into my notes.
Saturday night, the 'Sweet Apple' sign seemed to come down prematurely.
Sunday afternoon went well, but then glitches started occurring. H. jumped a line in the "Normal American Boy" scene, which ultimately stranded her fellow cast members, leaving them mute and grasping for straws, and so she had to repeat her line, this time at the correct time.
In Act II, a fellow sitting in the back of the hall was trying to multitask, so as he juggled his young daughter in the seat next to him, he opened up a laptop computer and held it over his head for better visibility. I could see he was writing an E-Mail message, since he was holding the laptop directly in my line-of-sight, seated as I was in the light booth. I left my post, went out and politely tapped him on the shoulder, and got him to put away the laptop.
In the Shriner's number, the audience gasped when Greg, who was cradling Danielle in his arms, appeared to trip, and then fell, dropping Danielle (Rosie Alvarez) into the stage left wing in full view of the audience. (When the Shriners get pulled under the table, sometimes they knock their chairs over, and then those fallen chairs become hazards. I'm not sure if that was the issue Sunday afternoon, however, or whether it was simply an unexpected weight shift, or some other unanticipated tripping hazard.)
Danielle jumped up and seemed OK, and I was hoping the same for Greg (with a lower level of concern for actor's health, naturally, for ensemble member vs. lead character). Still, I was apprehensive, as I'm sure everyone was.
After the number, in the next scene, it was supposed to be Noah (Hugo F. Peabody) & Danielle together in front of the closed curtain. I received an ambiguous squawk over our new wireless intercom system from Stage Manager Christina. I was expecting a 'lights' command from her any second, so I made the decision to proceed based on the ambiguous squawk and turn the lights up. Wrong decision. No doubt because of the accident, and the need to assess fitness, Danielle was late coming on stage, leaving Noah stranded in the light. But this time, I'm sure, the audience was tolerant of the misfire.
Then, after the show, there was the unfortunate incident concerning opening the stage door too rapidly, but that was an accident....
In general, however, it was a strong weekend!
(And Greg was OK too. Speaking as an ensemble veteran, we must keep our ensemble members strong!)
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