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My Beacon Has Been Moved Under Moon And Star
Meant to do a quick wrap-up of opening weekend for The Zones, but got sucked into: work/fundraising events/gallery openings and the like.
Briefly, it went pretty well.
We had planned on doing an invitational preview performance Thursday night, but nobody who was invited actually attended, which was just fine so far as I was concerned, as it gave the tech crew (and the sound operator in particular, who had only had one previous tech rehearsal to run cues) one more chance to work out the bugs before having to do so in front of a real audience.
Friday's performance went generally well. We had a sold-out house (yay!), even turned a few people away - they'll be back - and except for a couple of small sound glitches, everything else went pretty smoothly. Both casts were really itching at that point to get in front of an audience, and despite a few Opening Night jitters (and one actor still suffering from a lingering head cold), they fully met my expectations.
Saturday went even more smoothly, with an almost sold-out house, only one tiny sound fumble, but with a crucial prop item magically "appearing" on stage during a scene break. The item is so important to that particular episode that I had briefly debated whether to rush offstage during the blackout (I was sitting at the far end of the audience, closest to one of the off-stage exits, arguably the "worst seat in the house" - if you've been to The Schmea, you'll know what I mean) to tell somebody to get it onstage somehow, but quickly decided against it. Fortunately, my eagle-eyed Stage Manager also noticed the missing item and had already made arrangements to have it brought out during the scene change. A scarey moment for everyone, no doubt, but seeing it show up as it did gave me that extra boost of confidence that I'm leaving everything in very capable hands.
I'll probably take in one or two more performances over the course of the run, just to see how things are going, and because I do think they're fun pieces, and I certainly enjoy them. But, it'll be strictly as an audience member. From my own experience, I know there are few things that annoy a cast and crew more than having the director constantly looking over their shoulders micromanaging things. It's just not professional for one thing, and it also indicates a decided lack of trust in the collective abilities of the people to whom you've entrusted your production. And these are good people - they'll do just fine without me around nit-picking every little detail of their performances.
So, if you're in the neighborhood, come on down and take in the show; I'd appreciate your feedback.Labels: Theatre, Theatre Schmeater, Twilight Zone
Posted byCOMTE
on 11:11 AM
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