Saturday, July 26, 2008

on 14/48, board op'ing and triathlon training

If I'm around 14/48 for any significant period of time, I'm almost always acting. Either that or house-managing. Matt Richter (Mazen award winner for weekend 1) said this great thing in his Mazen speech about how every person who truly loves doing 14/48 always thinks that someone else has the hardest job. Because we all love what we do. It's cool, and it's true.

This is the first time I've really been behind the scenes. During an actual festival, I mean; I'm behind the scenes helping produce, but that's all pre-festival work. It's been absolutely fascinating. Board op'ing has been a complete revelation. With acting, I'm completely in my own bubble all weekend accompanied by the guys & gals that the 14/48 gods have seen fit to partner together. House-managing is just a matter of showing up an hour or two before the show and getting to work. Board-op'ing on the other hand is complete immersion in every show's personality and every director's quirks, every tech person's pet peeve and tipping point. You get to intimately recognize every tiny shift in the the band's and stage manager's mood levels. It's super fun and totally crazy. For me, anyway. I'm not used to this side of things and it's impossibly exotic.

One of the oddest things I've ever done while doing 14/48 is training for a triathlon. Yep. I ran 4 miles before I showed up here today. And tomorrow it's a hour long bike ride. Sucker!

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