Friday, January 7, 2011

Tech Show #1 One More For The Road

Tech begins.

The band checks to see if there are band lights set on the grid.

The band sits down, the crew for show #1 filters in. The band works through their original number.

Veteran Stage Manager James Frounfelter, whose main duty during the tech rehearsal is to be a flexible time nazi, checks in with the director and the lighting designer (Ahren Buhmann) to make sure they're all on the same page.

The thing to keep in mind as this afternoon passes is that all of the various elements were decided upon this morning, so the ability to go with the flow, and dealing with any thorny technical issues as they arrive. The stage manager is the one person who can best facilitate all of this, and it takes a special sort of acumen to be able to handle it.

Set pieces are put into place and marked using spike tape, Frounfelter coordinates with the run crew to decide who will bring out what and from where, and the transition from opening to the piece is rehearsed.

How about a warm hand for the 14/48 running crew: Lori, Suzanne and Ashley. Who needs last names?

Ten minutes left in the tech run.

The band and tech crew nail the transition the third time through. "That is exactly what I desired to transpire, technically," director Erin Kraft intones. Alyssa Keene then asks, "sexually?" "No comment," is the reply.

Three minutes left.

The cast and band rehearse the "suck and pop" at the end of the piece and tech time ends.

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