Thursday, June 21, 2007

Sleeping Beauty REDUX...

If you missed it the first time Sleeping Beauty is now up and running at The Regent Theatre in Arlington!

It was a very early morning for us Makeshift folks. Half the cast spent the night at Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Overby's house since they live just 30 min from the theatre. It was a Makeshift sleepover!
We had to be at the theatre at 8AM for a 10:30 show. It is one of the many challenges of performing the same show at more than one theatre. We had to arrive early to make changes to the blocking and tech needs to fit the show into a new space. The Regent has a prime time show running at night and we have to use their lights and work around, or incorporate what ever they have on stage for that show. We have become very good at this over the years, and the Regent has been very accommodating with our early arrivals on opening days. Yes, that's right we do all of this the morning of our first performance in the new space, hence the early arrival time. For the rest of the run our call time will be 9AM just so we can recap the changes we have made.
Kudos and a big high-five to our own Mollie MacKenzie, our lighting designer and board op, for being so talented and flexible. She ran through the existing lights, and did a fantastic job of suiting them to our needs. Also, the fact that she is doing all this manually with sliders is just crazy. Ms. Mackenzie rules!
The Regent has a very different lay out for The Coolidge, where we first performed Sleeping Beauty. The biggest of these difference being the fact that The Regent has a backstage. The Coolidge has flats left and right to hide behind, but no cross behind or back stage to speak of. It makes the space very personal and intimate, but there is no way to get the actors off the stage unless they enter or exit through the audience. The Regent has a more classical layout. Each has it's benefits and challenges for a director and a theatre company.
That afternoon was June's Wiffle Ball Saturday! Every third Saturday of the month in the summer we gather old cast members and friends a play a madcap game of wiffle ball and have a BBQ after. May's game was rained out but this last one was a heck of a good time! I was going to take pictures, but I was so excited I left the camera at home. :( I will remember to take pics of the next game in July!
(Abridged) opens a week from Friday!!!!!! Speaking of I need to work on some prop stuff! I will have some pics form (abridged) tech next week and maybe some pics of the opening!
~Nero

1 comment:

Pamela Moore said...

This is so exciting, Mr. Doodlebug Impersonator! The theatre looks quite sizeable. Touring is fun.