compelled to post

I don't really have anything new to say. Today was our first two show day for this show. Two show days suck. Every time you turn around you are having deva ju? When we are doing a show everything I do is exactly the same - by design. I set everything in the exact same spot and I do it in the exact same order. To do it once a day is habit and order. To do it twice gets confusing. Did I do that yet? I have, but have I done it for this show or the last? You see where I am going with this.

This afternoon's audience was terrible. Today was a senior's tea matinee. If that was the actual story. What ever tickets the seniors don't buy they sell to high schools. So there were 68 seniors and just under 300 students. They were little brats. Now I have seen my fair share of bad student matinee of throwing stuff, cell phones, laser pointers and other such gadgets. Today they were talkers, mimickers and taunters. One of the first lines is the mom whispering to her daughter "Iris". These brats instantly started mimicking "Iris". The next highlight - the dad enters but doesn't fully go onstage to watch and over hear a conversation. The large group of kids that he was "hiding" in front of starting taunting him and telling him to F off, to go F himself and other stuff. The worst was near the end the mom and dad share this tender moment and then kiss - not passionately, very tender and loving - and very short. The kids started whistling and cat calls and other inappropriate things "way to go big boy" "give it to her". It was terrible. The actor left on stage after their exit waiting nearly 3 minutes for them to shut up before continuing the show. She nearly ended it - had it not been for the seniors that were there for a show too.

To all you teachers. I don't know how you do it. I wanted to throttle the lot of them. What were the teachers to do? 300 students spread out all making noise. The actors were really angry and it showed in our evening performance - which is not fair to those people. Oh well. I guess that is live theatre. However, I do know that those schools will be receiving some sort of follow up from the theatre.

Life in Regina

The show is open. I think it is a good show. The Globe put together a bit of a trailer on their site Globe Video Link. It is not bad.

Besides the show, not much to report. Hanging with my parents. Going to work. Trying to meet up with Regina friends. I guess I didn't put a lot of thought into everyone working regular jobs here. At home we all seem to work shift work and can meet up anytime - brunch, lunch, mid afternoon coffee, supper, drinks. Anything goes. Here it is tough to make plans cause I am working nights and weekends. Oh well.

Sunday, finally Sunday

In theatre Monday is our weekend. And tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.

The basic make-up of a theatre schedule goes:
Prep (just the stage managers for up to a week)
Rehearsal in the rehearsal hall - 2 ish to 3 weeks
Tech - a couple days on stage
10 out of 12 - up to 4 days that you work 10 out of the 12 hours you are called for the day
- this includes tech runs and dress rehearsals
Preview Shows with rehearsal during the day
Opening
Run of the show - 8 shows a week
Closing

Today is our 3rd out of 4 10 out of 12. I have been working 12 hour days all week to prepare for this weekend - which has been 14 hours a day for us stage managers.
I am pretty tired.
Tech run last night - which means we did the whole show with all of the tech (and usually you don't add costumes yet - but that is a whole other story)

Tonight is Tech Dress. The difference between a Tech Dress and a full on Dress Rehearsal is that professional theatre usually mucks things up by inviting people to watch the dress rehearsal. For this show, we are ready for an audience. For many others you are not. So tonight is our last run of the show before people start watching it for entertainment.

I am tired, I am sore and my eyes hurt. Wish me luck. (Common misconception that you are not allowed to say Good-Luck to a theatre person).

Life at Home

I have now been in Regina for over two weeks, living with my parents and working at the Globe Theatre. Moving back in with your parents, in the room that you grew up in, driving your teenage car, is a bit surreal. It is like I have travelled back in time. It is all very normal. I am not sure what I expected coming back to Regina.

The show is going well. For the most part I am having a good time. We switch over to evenings on Tuesday, and move into the theatre on Thursday. It is all moving very quickly.