West Side Story - Weekend 3

Yo Murphy!  Did you really have to resurface on Friday the 13th?  Thanks.  Thanks very much.

Friday morning I had physical therapy with a new PT.  She rocked.  If I can get all my remaining appts with her, I might be a little more optimistic.  I felt great after.  Work was easy, so Friday was a good day.

Then I arrived at the theater.  I walk in at 7p and head up to the light board.  I'm not there 2 seconds when Robert Jones comes upstairs.  The SM was looking for me - 'I wish she would call if she were going to be late'.  Um, I'm at the light board, dude.  Whatever...  I start going thru the light cues.  Something doesn't look right.  The city tech says no one was in the theater, and aside from powering up the board, no one touched anything.  :-/  Things don't look right.  After going thru the first 30 cues I realized the moving lights are misbehaving.  They are going haywire.  The colors are wrong, they're making all sorts of noise, they're not aimed in the correct place.  Crap.  I power down the board and restart it.  Now it's worse.  I can't get them to reset, I can't get the lamp to come on, I can't get anything to work. 

Now I'm starting to really cuss.  The city tech is showing me how to do a global reset of the movers - nothing is working.  It's 7:35 - we have to open the house.  I said if you guys don't mind me flashing lights all over the place, go ahead.  So they opened.  I tried calling Joe - no answer on his cell.  I call his home number.  His wife answered - I apologize for bothering them and ask if he's available.  I tell him what's happening, and what we tried.  He walks me thru a couple other things.  Nothing is working.  He gets on his cell and calls Shaffer - another city tech very familiar with the board - and has him come in to look at it.  (Joe lives on the other side of the planet, Shaffer around the block.)  About the time Shaffer shows up, Joe suggests that we reset the dimmer pack.  I've got the city tech on headset, my cell with Joe on his home phone, Shaffer standing behind me, Joe is also on his cell talking with ETC, and the city tech is on his cell with Kim (boss man).  People are suggesting - maybe this happened, maybe that happened - I finally say "I don't give a fuck what may have happened, just help me figure out how to fix it!"  Ok, maybe that was repeated more than once...  I just remember hearing my spot op say 'man, she's going off...'  :-)

We cut power to the dimmers that work the movers.  I power down the board for the third time.  Everything comes back up and I just let it sit for a second before I start going thru cues.  Cue 10.  Cue 17.  Cue 19.  They're working again.  I go thru the bulk of the cues in the first act, it's working.  Thank god.  Our convoluted circle of communication is terminated and all is well.  It's 7:50.  Plenty of time to spare before curtain. Just before we take the house to half, the SM says one of the instruments we use as a street light got bumped and was facing the complete wrong direction.  We have a scene where there are 5 groups in their own special, and this instrument is in the same area.  She is worried that this particular scene is going to be awkward.  I said no, we are using different instruments for that scene.  She kept pushing - are you sure?  I turned to her and said I'm positive.  She said you'd better be.

The first act runs well.  Every time we get to a cue that involves a moving light, I hold my breath.  During a quiet moment of the balcony scene, I execute a cue and one of the moving lights makes this horrendous clacking noise.  Don't start, please?  Have you not tortured me enough?  It's Friday the 13th.  I get it.  But can ya stop now please?  Nothing else unusual happened during the first act with regard to the moving lights.

Oh, BTW - the scene with the specials that the SM was all worried about - flawless.  We use a different instrument for that scene.  The light comes up, just as it should.  I said, "Oh look, they're lit..." with as much dripping sarcasm as I could muster.  No response.  Heh.  I look over at the city tech - he's got his headset mic off trying not to laugh out loud.

I love the spot op who took over for me when I started running the board.  She's great.  She's touched a spotlight once in her life.  Instead of closing the fader, she shrinks the circle.  When it doesn't go out, she swings the spot around til it's on the top of the wall back near us - but not before swooping it thru the audience.  A few seconds later, she finds the fader and turns it off.  Ugh. 

I haven't seen the second act for a while, so if there were little irritating lighting issues they were never resolved.  Now I get to watch the second act, cuz like I have to.  There was one scene that really bugged me, so I made a note.  But all in all the second act was fine.  The audience loved it.  Yippee!

Kim comes by the theater during the second act.  After the show he shows me what I need to do should this lovely event ever happen again.  The cast is heading to Gordon Biersch...  and while I live three blocks from there, I decide I'd better head home.

I return to the theater Saturday; making sure I get there extra early to make sure everything works.  Smooth as silk.  Excellent.  I fix the one cue in the second act that was bugging me from the night before.  I head down to the lobby to schmooze with audience members I knew (Kharfen Cookies!  YUMMY!  You rock Mr.  Kharfen.  I love your cookies - but I love you more!!!)  I attempt to bribe the producer for a ticket for my husband - we're sold out and she has a stash she keeps for emergencies - like WATCH judges who didn't make their reservations...  I try to pay her for it, she won't take my money.  :-/  I thank her profusely.

Earlier in the day I get a text from my buddy Brian.  He's doing Arsenic at the Arts Barn.  He's in the first 10 mins of the show, then you don't see him again until curtain call.  He said he was going to do his scene, then come to Rockville to see as much as he could of West Side.  Dude, you're crazy.  I told him we were sold out, but that he could come up to the bridge and watch.  I warned a couple people who would be up there that he might come by.  Do you know he did?  OMG...  I couldn't believe it.  LOL!  He watched about 2/3 of the first act, and hung around at intermission.  When they flashed the house lights, he went back to Gaithersburg.  He got back with 10 mins before curtain call.  One of the other cast members said 'dude, where were you?'  His response, 'Out.'  LOL!

The lighting is working fine.  It's so hot in the booth that if I wore make up it would be melting off.  There is one scene in the first act that the SM always calls late.  We got to that scene and I pushed the button at the correct time.  She was not happy.  We get to the end of Maria and she tries to call the spot out before the end of the song again.  I interrupted just before the spot op took the light out.  I really wanted to say 'are you ever going to learn when the song ends?'  but I didn't.  At intermission the Prod and Choreo came up to me thrilled that the cue was run on time.  Choreo said there was another in the second act that is always late.  Since I don't remember the scene well I executed the cue when she called it, but also figured out where it's supposed to be.  So it'll be correct for the matinee.

Speaking of matinee's...  It's 12:50p.  I'm supposed to be at the theater at 1p.  I'm not dressed yet.  Guess I should get working on that.  Enjoy the day.  It's the first sunny day here in over a week.  I almost forgot what a sunny day looked like...

West Side Story - Thursday Brush Up II

I dropped by the theater to make sure the cues were set - esp since we had a disaster with the light board on Sunday.  I loaded the cues from my jump drive, and went thru the first act.  Everything looked good and was working as it should.  I made a few little tweaks, resaved it, and I was done.

The city tech I've been working with this whole run said they figured out what happened on Sunday.  We blew a circuit.  The light board has it's own battery back up.  It's then plugged into a UPS.  We also have a stand-alone instrument that the LD rented to display the logo on the curtain before the show, at intermission, and after the show.  That instrument was plugged into the UPS.  I think there was also a music stand light, as well as a few other things plugged in there too.  Well Murphy says 'If it can go wrong, it will'.  It did.  When the circuit blew, none of the backups worked.  The whole theater is plunged into darkness while the audience is escaping.  It didn't have anything to do with what the operator was doing, or anything else.  It just happened.  Thankfully, it didn't happen say, mid show somewhere.  So the city guys re-ran the power and distributed the draw evenly so history will not repeat itself.

Reminds me of when we did Into The Woods the first time, I inadvertently hit the toggle switch on a power strip while fixing a spotlight.  Of course the light board was plugged into the power strip, and there was no UPS.  Hilarity ensued. 

So that little problem is resolved.  The next thing the city techs were working on is getting a monitoring system for the thrust running.  The biggest problem when using the thrust is it's a sound dead zone for anyone standing on it.  There are no audio monitors in the building that will help the cast hear the orchestra when the cast is on the thrust.  So the city is running monitors that will be in the alcoves pointing at the thrust.  In theory, this should work.  Unfortunately, we are also having feedback issues.  If you turn those monitors up loud enough so the cast can hear, the sound feeds back thru their microphones and then you have an ear-splitting screech.  We don't want this.  We already have a problem with the amps that the orchestra is using.  I can't imagine this will help the cast and keep the feedback from becoming a problem.  But that's what they wanted to try.

Well, big Robert points out the feedback issue.  Everyone is arguing with him about it.  What are we going to do if we don't have the monitors?  The actress can't hear her entrance.  Blah blah blah.  He says, we understand that, but feel this is not the right approach.  So he wires a video monitor instead.  The camera is pointing at the MD, the tv monitor is in the alcove.  The actress looks at the monitor, the MD cues her, all is well.  I don't know what happened - I left while they were running the video cable. Whatever they decided to do, I'll see it tonight.

Tonight will be the first time in a while that I'll have seen the second act.  That is unless I get thrown off the light board again.  I don't see that happening, but one never knows...  I've been tweaking the lights in the first act for the last two weeks, but the second act I've ignored since I haven't been there to see it.  I'm sure tonight I'll have a fix list.  None of it will be major - just little things that annoy me.  So I'm not stressed about it.

I am going into the theater tonight with a positive attitude.  If the SM wants to give me lip - fine.  Whatever.  It's really not worth it.  The show will be good, esp since I have to be able to talk on the headset.  If the SM doesn't call something correctly, I'm not going to be afraid to say anything.  Wow do I wish I was calling my own cues...

On a lighter note - I saw a new physical therapist today.  While I really wanted her to rip my head off, she was great.  I wasn't in too much pain when I left, and I didn't end up with a blaring headache.  Yipee! Hopefully my level of discomfort will not worsen as the weekend progresses.  I still can't turn my head abruptly.  Looking in my blind spot really sucks.  So as long as I don't make any quick moves, I feel pretty good.  If the timing gods are in my favor, I may even get to have dinner with Mr. Blondie tonight.  :-D

Anytime You Want To Turn Your Brain To Mush...

Isn't he beautiful?  Me want.

Heh...

West Side Story - Sunday Matinee 1

Sunday was an interesting day.  Matinee's are always 'fun'.  You wrap up the Sat eve show around 11p. Then you head to the cast party, even tho you know you have to be at the theater at 12:30 the next day.  Most Sundays the cast and crew are pretty wiped from the night before, but things typically don't go too badly.  One thing I did notice the moment I got there - the SM was barking quite a bit.  Maybe she didn't get enough sleep, maybe she had too much alcohol the night before...  I don't know what it was, but she was not happy.

There were a couple light cues I adjusted.  One that would definitely look different, but shouldn't throw the cast.  Noam was hesitant...  He knew my idea made sense and would have done it immediately if we had a different SM.  However our SM will notice the change, and will not like that we just went ahead and did it.  I tried to reassure him about it and said if she started to give him a hard time to blame me.  I made the change - you didn't know - whatever.  Blame me.  So we made the change.  (Which looked FABOO by the way...)

At the same time, the folks video recording the show are getting set up. There are two cameras, and a microphone, as well as a recording of the body mic feed being burned to CD.  I provide tape to put over the lights on the front of the cameras.  Most cast members hate knowing they're being recorded, and those that really hate it can see those tiny lights from a mile away.

We're all ready to start the show, but we haven't gotten word from the house to start.  2:10...  2:13...  We're supposed to start at 2p. I went downstairs to find out what was happening.  Four van loads of handicapped patrons arrived at 2:05.  It took them 15 mins to get everyone unloaded and to their seats.  In the meantime, another patron who got there on time was giving the box office and the Prod hell for not starting at 2p.  She didn't care what the reason was, and she didn't like anyone's tone.  Ugh - glad I don't do much box office work.

As we go thru the first few scenes, it's pretty clear our SM is struggling.  It doesn't help that when she calls Spot A out, Spot B went too.  We caught it, tho it still looked weird because the timing was thrown off.  We get to the song 'Maria' and for what is probably the fourth time she tries to take the lights out before the end of the song.  There are only two spotslights on Tony while he's singing.  She calls the spot out cue - the city tech takes his spot out, I ignore her.  For a moment you hear her take a deep breath and get ready to say something when Tony sings his last line.  Instead of getting upset, she's relieved that her ass was covered yet again.  Then she says something like, 'Well that wasn't that bad.  Maybe we'll keep it for next week.' Whatever... 

As the first act continues, things are looking better.  Then we get to the end of Act I.  Typically the order of operations is:  Spot A on - GO.  Sound - GO. Light cue whatever - GO. Spot B out - GO.  Pull the grand - GO.  As the grand closes, the set piece magically disappears by two people who walk with the curtain, and grab the set piece so the curtain doesn't hit it.

Well, it didn't exactly go as it should.  The city tech didn't hear whether she called the spot out.  Then she says 'why isn't the set moving?'  She never called the grand to close, and since it's Mr. SM who's working the curtain he waited for her cue like a good little boy.  So the end was a bit....  Let's just say 'clusterfuck' and leave it at that.

It didn't help that all thru the first act one of the mentally challenged patrons was gagging, and during a fight scene another covered his ears and went running up the isle screaming.  Hmmm... There's a good sign.

The Prod says: It's been 17hrs since we did this last.  The dialogue hasn't changed.  The music hasn't changed, and funny, the cues haven't changed either.  I tell her I don't trust the SM - how are we going to cover for her when the only other talent (aka smart enough to ignore her when necessary) isn't going to be there next week.  I can't run the spot and the board at the same time.  Ugh!  Next weekend I will not be afraid to interrupt her if something goes wrong.

I decide it's best that I go home after intermission.  I pass the Choreo on my way out.  I'm really trying hard not to let this bother me, but dag...  I tell him - I'm trying...  I fill him in on what the Prod & I discussed.  I tell him I don't trust her, but that I'm praying things aren't this jacked up next week.

I don't know what else to do.  I guess nothing...  It kills me to see the wheels fall off the way they did on Sunday.  There were some awesome moments, but some were just dreadful.  If the SM trusted her staff enough to do their jobs correctly, then we could have gotten thru her brain fart without too much trouble.  But no one breathes unless she says it's ok to.  So we sit there in the dark, the spot is still being used a 'search light', and she says 'why isn't the set moving?'  It's so frustrating cuz it doesn't have to be like this.

I have no idea how the second act went over all, and I don't think I want to know.  Tho I did get an email from Noam after the show:

"After the show, I saved everything and the board decided to spazz and it took out all of the lights (including the house lights) so no one could see anything.  I re-loaded the show and everything looked fine, but please check to make sure all the cues are set on Friday.  Thanks."

D'oh!  Dontcha hate it when you have a house full of blue hairs trying to get out of the theater to pee when the lights in the whole place go out?  LMAO!  If we still did the Oh Shit award, this would be on the top of the nomination list.  LOL!  Noam, we love you.  We'll miss you next week.

There is no tech brush up again this Thursday.  The SM won't even be there.  I'm going to go anyway so I can make sure everything is fine before Friday and have time to fix it if necessary.  I did receive an email from the SM asking if I would be by Thursday and if I could check out the cues after the mishap that happened with the board.  I told her I would be there, and that I had the most recent version of the show on my thumb drive, so I'll make sure all is well.  I took the opportunity to point out that Thursdays are very useful if there are problems so we don't have to run around like crazy just before the show starts on Friday.

I have to say again - I know I'm whining.  I don't want to be irritated by all this stuff.  I love theater.  But every day there's another reason to be annoyed.  If we'd had a brush up, Friday's show would have been fine.  If the SM wasn't still drunk (or whatever) the Sunday show would have been fine too.  There are mistakes we laugh at, and mistakes that are just not acceptable.  The light board spazzing - funny.  The clusterfuck of incompetence - unacceptable.

Maybe I am getting too judgmental the longer I do this.  Maybe I'm spoiled by those SM's & LD's I've worked with in the past.  Who knows.  I have three shows in the spring.  If I have the same attitude problems, then I'll know that it's me and theater may not be in my future.  We'll see...

West Side Story - Weekend 2

The days have again blended together.  Friday Noam ran thru the cues - he knew of the changes that happened earlier in the week - everything looked ok.  One of the ASM's was asking about the little christmas lights that they threw up for light off stage.  The city needed them taken down after our last show last week, and they hadn't been put back up.  Where are they?  Who put them up there initially?  Someone said Big Robert put them up.  Where is he?  I'm listening to this thinking - wouldn't we have figured this out yesterday if we'd done a brush up?  Gee, the brush up seems pretty helpful for keeping things cool for a Friday performance.  But what do I know...

I dropped my stuff at the spotlight and headed to the lobby.  I was chatting with a few people when I realized we hadn't opened the house at 730p.  Apparently the sound system wasn't working.  They traced it back to a bad cable, replaced it, but never had enough time to do a true sound check.  Hmmm... Would this have been this much of a problem if we'd had a brush up? 

Later the Choreo said something to me that really hit home.  I feel stupid that it hit me as hard as it did, as it's something I say quite frequently in other situations.  "It's not worth getting worked up about it."  He's so right.  It's not.  Yes, I am very passionate about what I do.  I find reasons every day to be irritated with something that's going on with the production.  It's not worth getting myself all stressed out.

We start running the show Friday, and things don't look right.  Where the cues looked ok as we went thru them with no cast, something just didn't look right.  The tell tale sign was one particular scene where we have a blue special down center.  The light was on, but no color.  :-/  A couple other things looked weird, but the rest of the show was fine.  We were trying to decide if maybe we loaded the incorrect copy of the show, or if something got changed.  It didn't seem like it, but with the new moving lights we have, things get weird with them on a regular basis.

On my way out of the booth at intermission, the SM calls my name and asks a couple questions about the issues with the cues.  I gave her the best answers we had, while trying not to sound too surprised that she acknowledged my existence.

I don't think I stayed for the second act, but I don't remember clearly.

Saturday I went into the theater with a new resolve.  I wasn't going to let the SM get to me.  If there were issues with other aspects of the show - as long as it's not me - I'm going to try not to get worked up.  I went thru the first few cues to see if we were going to have repeat issues.  It didn't apper we would.  I made a few adjustments to some scenes to make them a little more even, and we were good to go.

We had a full house Saturday.  It was crazy.  I spent most of the time before the show helping people find their seats.  I could see the staff on the bridge looking over the edge - I just kept seating people.  Once the lines were gone, I headed upstairs. 

Saturday's show was the best we've had so far.  The audience was awake and alive, and the cast was really feeding off their reactions.  We still had some cue calling issues, but all in all it was wonderful.  I stuck around for the second act, tho I sat out in the lobby and chatted with Robert and the house manager.

After the show I was chatting with some people I knew.  They really enjoyed themselves.  Yipee!  At one point I see Allison - SHINY!  She had a top on that had sequins everywhere.  I head over to her - unfortunately I felt like I was rudely interrupting but I had to tell her I admired her blouse.  She introduced me to those people I didn't already know.  While chatting she asked me if Mr. Allison has trouble finding his light.  I said no.  She got this look on her face... it was either a damn-him or couldn't-you-have-just-lied-to-me look.  We laughed and I said it's not a big deal.  That's why we spike your spot on the stage.  You never miss your light when it's spiked.

However that is not the thought that nearly came out of my mouth.  Thank god for working internal filters.  The first thought I had was, 'Maybe Mr. Allison can find his light, but who cares?  You have two things going for you - you're beautiful and you have boobs.  Who cares if you can't hit your light perfectly if you have boobs.'  I am glad I did not say this out loud in front of her family.  I didn't see here without mixed company for the rest of the weekend, so I never shared that silly thought with her.

I went home and crashed.  We have a matinee the next day and I wanted to get some good rest.  Mr. Blondie and I had been to Ikea earlier in the day.  We picked up a new wall unit and he put it together while I was at the show.  It looks great!  I thank Hubby as I pass out....

West Side Story Brush Up

I checked our group website to see what time call was. 730.  Excellent.  Left the house at 7p.  When I got there, I chatted with the Prod and a cast member for a while.  Also spoke to the city tech.  There was another group in on Tuesday, and the tech who worked that gig unplugged some of our stuff, and took one light down all together.  So he wanted me to check the circuit to make sure they got everything put back where it belonged.  About 2 min before we were to start the run, I went upstairs to check the cue.  Looked fine. 

The city tech said I didn't have house light control yet, so he pushed the button to give it to me.  I checked - got it.  Then the SM yells from the house - we're not running with lights tonight.  Apparently an email went to the cast - I guess it just wasn't important enough to tell the crew.

Brush ups are not just for the cast.  Sometimes the crew also needs to get their brains back in show mode.  Esp if you have someone struggling with timing.  I guess the SM thinks she'll call the cues fine, so she doesn't need a rehearsal.  Right - If she calls them as well as she did last week, after 4 days of practice, tonight will be a mess...

I know I'm being harsh.  I know I'm holding a grudge.  I was prepared to walk in there, content with running the spot, do my thing, go home, blah blah...  But she gave me another reason not to drop it.  How difficult would it have been to just add my name to the email that went to the cast?  I know she has it.  I'm just glad I live 10 mins from the theater. 

I passed the Choreo as I left the theater.  I filled him in - he laughed.  Guess she doesn't feel like she needs the rehearsal, eh?  Can't wait to see it tonight.

I hope I can get some rest between work and the show.  I've had a headache for the last few days.  My PT really beat me up on Wednesday.  It's just a dull, annoying headache.  Not something real severe.  But I wake up exhausted, with a headache, and it does nothing to help my mood.  Mr. Blondie hasn't been feeling well either, so between the two of us, we're just wonderful to be around.  Hopefully today will be an easy day at work, I'll get a nap this afternoon, and the SM will leave me alone.

Wish I Had Flipped My Calendar Page Earlier...

West Side Story - Weekend 1

Opening weekend was wonderful.  The cast and orchestra were tight.  There were a few changes I made Friday night before the house opened that I didn't get to see until the show started.  One of which I was nervous about.  There are 5 groups of people on stage.  The first group will sing a couple lines, then the next group picks up, progressing thru all 5 groups.  Only one group at a time is lit in it's own pool, so the lights follow the lines.  Well, the way it was originally done - two of the pools missed their groups completely.  I had a quick conversation with the choreographer and chose different lights from different areas for all 5 groups.  I got them programmed into the board, and ran thru them.  I had one movement out of place.  I double checked with the choreo what the order was, fixed the cue, ran thru them once, then opened the house.  I was nervous since I had yet to see the cast in the lights that I chose.  Noam was a big help.  I'm still not proficient with the moving lights, and they are very temperamental.  After spending 20 minutes fighting with one of them, he stepped in and got what I wanted done in less than 5.  Thank you!!

I haven't talked much about our SM as she has not been very involved in my part of the process until now.  I worked with her on Full Monty, where we had similar lighting issues.  I admit I am very particular about making sure things are well lit, and follow what the production staff's vision is.  My SM wants nothing changed after the last dress rehearsal.  NOTHING.  It could be the smallest thing - The wash is uneven, I just need to boost one instrument up 20% and it'll be perfect.  Don't get caught doing this - she'll have a fit.  Well, anyone who has worked on the board with me before knows I change things constantly, and hope to have it perfect by closing night.  They're always little things - not like moving the actor's special from SL to SR.  The cast does not notice the changes I make once we open, and most of the time neither does the audience.

The cues should be executed by the way it feels artistically. Say it's written in the script that it needs to be executed on the last word of the song.  When looking at the stage, the actor sings the last word, then in two more beats they strike a pose on the final orchestra note.  If you follow the script to the letter, you won't see the pose or feel the exclamation point at the end of the song.  You've just put it in the dark.  Hold the cue a beat after the exclamation, and then execute the blackout.  The impact of the final note has now tripled because everyone had their big O at the same time. 

Our SM does not 'feel' musical theater.  It says execute the cue on that word, that's when she's going to do it.  As a board op, if you hold rather than going when she says, you may lose an appendage.  So with the miracle of modern science, you program the cue when she isn't looking  to hold 2 seconds, or make it a slow fade out rather than a quick black out.  This way she'll hear you hit the button when she calls the cue, but the lights will go when they should.  It's a sneaky way of having to do it, but if you don't, you don't get the big O at the end of the number.  Eh...

By the time we opened on Friday, the lighting in my opinion was tolerable.  It was definitely enormously better than earlier in the week, but there were bunches of little things that I never got around to fixing.  The final big fixes were completed just before we opened the house, and I was prepared to take notes again during the run.  I knew the director and choreographer were happy, but there are a lot of little things that can make it that much better.

Places is called.  I'm sitting at the board, a city tech is on one spot, Noam on the other.  I have my pad of paper and a pencil, along with my clicky eraser. (Tom and Shaffer hate my eraser.  I would play with it and it drove them crazy to the point where they'd try to steal it from me.)  I am happy with the progress we made getting the lights to where they are, and looking forward to making the show even better.

Literally a breath before Duane is sent on stage for preshow announcements, the SM barely turns her head in my direction and says "I thought Noam was running the board."  I said no, he hasn't been here all week.  He doesn't have the feel of the music yet for the quick... "I *thought NOAM* was running the board."  I'm stunned.  Okay...  I take my headset off (without turning off the microphone) put it microphone down on the table, and switch with Noam.  He gives me a look like a deer in the headlights - he has no idea why this is happening either.  I grab all my stuff then head to the spot.

Typically when someone gives me a warning that my cue is coming up I acknowledge them with 'thank you'.  I put the headset on, turn on the spot, and leave the microphone off.  I'll do the cues, and do them well.  I won't let the show down.  The only acknowledgment this beeyotch is going to get is that the spot will come on and go off on her cue.  Before the house lights are out for the first act, I'm in tears.  I have worked too damn hard on this production to be treated like navel lint.  I update my FB status and send the Prod the same thing in a text message "I just got kicked off the light board."

We're coming up on the scene that I had redone moments before opening the house.  I wipe away enough of the tears to be able to watch the scene progress.  OMG it was PERFECT.  The cues were called late - shocker - she doesn't anticipate well at all - but the pools were exactly where they were supposed to be.  WAHOO!!    I was thrilled.  She says, "wow, that looked really good.  I don't remember it looking that good before."  I turn on my headset mic.  In a very short 'fuck you' tone I said, "it helps when the correct lights are being used."  I get a thumbs up from Noam and the city tech (where she can't see of course) and the show goes on.

There are no spot cues in the second act. As soon as we get done with the first act, the spot is turned off, I grab my stuff, and I'm gone.  I'm still tearing up, and you can tell by looking at my face that I've been crying.  The SM had given cards to the crew and had set mine on one of the stools next to the spot.  I didn't open it; didn't even touch it.  I get to the bottom of the stairs from the booth at the same time the Dir is coming down the hall.  He grabs me, 'What's wrong?'  I said some crap about being tired, not feeling well, being too picky... Let's talk tomorrow...  He says again 'What's wrong?'  Before the tears started flowing again I said 'Joan...  We'll talk tomorrow."  I bolt as fast as I can out the back door and head home.

I walk in the door at home and don't even say hello to my poor husband whom I haven't seen in almost two weeks - our anniversary was the day before - and I go straight to the computer, still crying.  I open my email and start typing a message to Joan and Peter.  You better find someone else, I'm not coming back.  Noam won't be there the last weekend, so you'll need an additional person that weekend. Before I can get anything actually typed, he puts his hands on my shoulders, turns my chair around and asks me what happened.  I fall apart telling him what was going on and how angry I was.  He tells me that I should wait to write the email - I'm tired.  Get some rest, think about it some more, then write it.  It's true, I'm exhausted.  Down to the bone/it's difficult to take a breath tired.  He shuts off my computer and puts me to bed. 

Around 1130p my Crackberry starts going nuts.  On opening night there is a reception in the lobby after the show.  The President of the group acknowledges the people responsible for pulling this whole thing together.  Of course they get to my name and I'm no where to be found.  The first message I received was from one of the cast members who's been following the saga.  He said he was sorry to see I wasn't there, but that I got a well-deserved and boisterous applause.  Two or three more messages come in, I smile and turn off all the alarms except the actual phone and my alarm for the next morning.

The next day I decide not to send any emails.  (I have the best husband...)  I'd slept most of the day so I'd gotten some good rest.  I'm irritated with myself that I got so emotional about it - I don't care how tired I was, I shouldn't have let it get to me like that. Anyway...  I get to the theater and mingle in the house a little.  There are a handful of people in the house that I know, so I greet them then head up to my corner with the spot. 

Again, I stay mostly silent on the headset, only asking a question or two about the spot cues.  At intermission I again take all my stuff with me and leave the booth.  I catch up with the people I know, and had planned on going home.  The Prod talks me into watching the second act from the house.  I almost never get to see a show from the house, so this was a bit of a treat.  Just before act II starts, the choreo asks me what happened with a few cues.  The SM didn't call them.  There's a sound cue at the end of act I, she didn't call it, and he didn't go with it anyway.  It's her ship to sink.  I go back and forth now with how I feel about that.  If I know she's missed calling the cue I usually try to go at the right time anyway so it doesn't affect the run of the show.  Of course if we keep covering for her, no one will ever know that she's screwed up and take necessary steps to correct the problem.

It's def a different perspective from the house.  Things look very different.  Some problems that make me nuts when I see them from the booth don't read much in the house.  Others seem magnified.  I found myself willing her to call a couple cues that she missed.  The Prod is giggling - I'm in the back of the house whispering GO! making the hand movement like I'm pushing the button, and physically cringing the longer the cue is delayed.  Ugh...  I'm starting to think I'm better off not watching.

I had a brief chat with the Choreo after the show.  Is it me?  I'd been pushing for a week for them to let us help make the lights right.  Am I too high maintenance?  Am I crazy?  No question I'm passionate about it being done right.  I did drop the whole "well it didn't have to be like this if ya let us get to it sooner..." thing.  He just repeated a handful of times, 'never again.' Never again will tech-in be this unorganized.  He mentioned a few other events where the SM has given the Prod Staff trouble, that will also happen 'never again.'

I got a lot of rest on Saturday during the day, and most of Sunday.  I got up in time to watch my Packers play.  Ugh...  You'd think there was a high school team in the green and gold.  I'm glad that Favre is playing well.  I hate that he's wearing purple (that used to be one of my favorite colors...).  Oh well...

I'm actually trying this blog thing...

Well, here's my attempt at a blog.  It'll be about anything and everything.  I may not post every day, or every week, but when I feel like it (and have the time) I will.  This is mostly meant for my amusement and sanity.  It may give you some insight to what it's like to be involved in the tech side of community theater, or it may make you laugh, or it may irritate you.  Whatever it is, it's my little corner of the internet.  Take it or leave it.  Smooches!