Home, Les Mis, Fire, Showboat, Harry Potter, Car Troubles, Peace n' Quiet, Brenda
My one day home was lot of fun: all I did was sleep in, run errands, and see friends. Thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by the house. I missed seeing the group dynamics in action and it was good to be around you all again; less then a month and half ‘til I’m home!
The second week of Les Mis ran decently on the tech side, though the ResCo did start to get sloppy at their scene changes. Then they would get bitched out and eventually did it better. Most of the second week performances were sold out with very enthusiastic crowds, which was great (with Jay always getting the biggest applauses of the night). Despite all the problems I had with this production (I could write an entire book on why the “Lovely Ladies” scene was terrible), I still got goose bumps when I would hear “One Day More” “Finale” or “At the End of the Day.” It was nice to relive those memories for a brief moment.
Not much extra-curricular things have been going on because everyone has been so exhausted after Les Mis ends. We had out second bonfire, which was a fun time for all; the burn pile was massive and had a few accelerants in it, which kept us on our toes. There was also the annual Thursday night at Vino’s, which I partook in for a short while.
Strike from Les Mis and into Showboat started off great, and then quickly became a giant pain in the ass. Try legging up a platform six feet in the air on a raked and uneven stage. It’s not fun. The stair units we had were also too small and had to build new ones from scratch. It was a really long two days to get that set ready and it ran us all into the ground. We were all physically and mentally exhausted by the time the show opened. But in the end the set turned out great, and the director, Sarah, loved it. The cast even gave us a huge applause on our set after the final dress rehearsal.
I’m on spot light for this show, which is a fantastic change of pace after three shows of running around backstage. There’s only one number where John is dancing around like crazy, every other spot cue I have is usually when someone is standing or sitting while singing: pretty easy stuff. The show itself is enjoyable, and the cast is damn good as usual (Jay knocks it out of the park when he sings “Old Man River”). The after-show cabaret for this show is all Sondheim songs, and it’s friggin’ awesome despite no tunes from Assassins or Sweeney Todd. But “Broadway Baby” “Comedy Tonight” and Art Isn’t Easy” are in the show, and those songs are awesome (and thank God there was nothing from Gypsy!).
Found some time on my daylight day off on Thursday to see The Half-Blood Prince. I thought it was a great movie; very glad I got to see it in theatres. I thought the movie itself looked beautiful and was shot very well. I loved the shots of London in the beginning of the movie, which featured a lot of places I’ve been to. I could even see an aerial view of The Anchor, one of the Pubs I really liked. The thought the movie flowed nicely and it was fun to watch. I can’t wait for the next one to come, whenever that may be.
We’ve started building Rent by making a brick façade that will go in front of the cyc. We’re building the façade out of Styrofoam and using a soldering iron to mark out the bricks. It’s a really cool method and it’s looking great so far, only downside is it takes a while do, especially when we have to do twelve sheets worth of brick. We’re only half way done at this point.
Today was a damn rough day, and here’s why: during Saturday night’s show one of the escape stairs broke. We got it fixed during intermission and all is fine. This morning we checked every inch of the set to make sure everything was secure and to make sure we could rub in the safe factor to a few of the local actors who don’t think we’re “real carpenters.” Jerks. Then I had to do parking with Dan. We were told there was two buses coming, so we tried to park all the cars in a way so that when the buses got there they could turns around and easily back into the area of the parking lot we set aside from them. We parked cars until 2:55 and the buses didn’t show, and they didn’t get to the theatre until after we were in the spot booth and places was about to be called. We had to hold the show for fifteen minutes; Norman wasn’t happy at all. They also parked in the middle of the lot and delayed most of us from leaving once the show ends. The show itself was pretty fine, I missed one spot cue but it was a quick one and barely noticeable.
After the show (and after both buses left) I left the playhouse, only to discover that when I roll down my driver side window it doesn’t go back up. Lots of tinkering with it left little to no improvement. An emergency trip to Home Depot for plastic and duct tape to make sure no rain gets in my car until I can bring it to a mechanic tomorrow. Despite the very interesting day I’m in Wurtsboro waiting for Brenda to arrive. My car is strategically parked in hope that the fact that I am missing a window isn’t advertised to the world. Brenda’s flight has also been delayed, so who knows when she’ll get here. Though even though she's not here, I'm enjoying the quiet, the private shower, air conditioning (!!), carpeted floors, a room to myself, and South Park is on Comedy Central. So far it's been an awesome night off, and will only get better from here.
I was talking to Jay today about TSO. He said they’re still planning a Beethoven’s Last Night tour, but they plan on combining it with a tour to support the new album (which I think is being called Night Castle, maybe, I’m not sure). I guess they’d do two sets a night like they do, one set being the new album and the other set being for Last Night. He also said it’d be a spring tour. I really hope that if this tour comes to fruition I came come see it. Beethoven’s Last Night is my favorite album of theirs and I’d love to see it live and see how they do some of those tunes in a live setting.
I also found out that there’s a new Editors album in September. Awesome!
CULLY: I can’t believe you’re not going to watch the show with me.
MEGHAN: Hell no, I’ve already watched it three times.
CULLY: But who’s gonna hold my hand during the scary parts?
O’CONNOR: I’m pretty sure during “Misery” they’re singing so low they’re hitting the brown note.
BRENDA: One night isn’t enough, you’re like potato chips that way.
ME: …That’s one of the nicest…and most awkward things anyone has ever said to me.
The second week of Les Mis ran decently on the tech side, though the ResCo did start to get sloppy at their scene changes. Then they would get bitched out and eventually did it better. Most of the second week performances were sold out with very enthusiastic crowds, which was great (with Jay always getting the biggest applauses of the night). Despite all the problems I had with this production (I could write an entire book on why the “Lovely Ladies” scene was terrible), I still got goose bumps when I would hear “One Day More” “Finale” or “At the End of the Day.” It was nice to relive those memories for a brief moment.
Not much extra-curricular things have been going on because everyone has been so exhausted after Les Mis ends. We had out second bonfire, which was a fun time for all; the burn pile was massive and had a few accelerants in it, which kept us on our toes. There was also the annual Thursday night at Vino’s, which I partook in for a short while.
Strike from Les Mis and into Showboat started off great, and then quickly became a giant pain in the ass. Try legging up a platform six feet in the air on a raked and uneven stage. It’s not fun. The stair units we had were also too small and had to build new ones from scratch. It was a really long two days to get that set ready and it ran us all into the ground. We were all physically and mentally exhausted by the time the show opened. But in the end the set turned out great, and the director, Sarah, loved it. The cast even gave us a huge applause on our set after the final dress rehearsal.
I’m on spot light for this show, which is a fantastic change of pace after three shows of running around backstage. There’s only one number where John is dancing around like crazy, every other spot cue I have is usually when someone is standing or sitting while singing: pretty easy stuff. The show itself is enjoyable, and the cast is damn good as usual (Jay knocks it out of the park when he sings “Old Man River”). The after-show cabaret for this show is all Sondheim songs, and it’s friggin’ awesome despite no tunes from Assassins or Sweeney Todd. But “Broadway Baby” “Comedy Tonight” and Art Isn’t Easy” are in the show, and those songs are awesome (and thank God there was nothing from Gypsy!).
Found some time on my daylight day off on Thursday to see The Half-Blood Prince. I thought it was a great movie; very glad I got to see it in theatres. I thought the movie itself looked beautiful and was shot very well. I loved the shots of London in the beginning of the movie, which featured a lot of places I’ve been to. I could even see an aerial view of The Anchor, one of the Pubs I really liked. The thought the movie flowed nicely and it was fun to watch. I can’t wait for the next one to come, whenever that may be.
We’ve started building Rent by making a brick façade that will go in front of the cyc. We’re building the façade out of Styrofoam and using a soldering iron to mark out the bricks. It’s a really cool method and it’s looking great so far, only downside is it takes a while do, especially when we have to do twelve sheets worth of brick. We’re only half way done at this point.
Today was a damn rough day, and here’s why: during Saturday night’s show one of the escape stairs broke. We got it fixed during intermission and all is fine. This morning we checked every inch of the set to make sure everything was secure and to make sure we could rub in the safe factor to a few of the local actors who don’t think we’re “real carpenters.” Jerks. Then I had to do parking with Dan. We were told there was two buses coming, so we tried to park all the cars in a way so that when the buses got there they could turns around and easily back into the area of the parking lot we set aside from them. We parked cars until 2:55 and the buses didn’t show, and they didn’t get to the theatre until after we were in the spot booth and places was about to be called. We had to hold the show for fifteen minutes; Norman wasn’t happy at all. They also parked in the middle of the lot and delayed most of us from leaving once the show ends. The show itself was pretty fine, I missed one spot cue but it was a quick one and barely noticeable.
After the show (and after both buses left) I left the playhouse, only to discover that when I roll down my driver side window it doesn’t go back up. Lots of tinkering with it left little to no improvement. An emergency trip to Home Depot for plastic and duct tape to make sure no rain gets in my car until I can bring it to a mechanic tomorrow. Despite the very interesting day I’m in Wurtsboro waiting for Brenda to arrive. My car is strategically parked in hope that the fact that I am missing a window isn’t advertised to the world. Brenda’s flight has also been delayed, so who knows when she’ll get here. Though even though she's not here, I'm enjoying the quiet, the private shower, air conditioning (!!), carpeted floors, a room to myself, and South Park is on Comedy Central. So far it's been an awesome night off, and will only get better from here.
I was talking to Jay today about TSO. He said they’re still planning a Beethoven’s Last Night tour, but they plan on combining it with a tour to support the new album (which I think is being called Night Castle, maybe, I’m not sure). I guess they’d do two sets a night like they do, one set being the new album and the other set being for Last Night. He also said it’d be a spring tour. I really hope that if this tour comes to fruition I came come see it. Beethoven’s Last Night is my favorite album of theirs and I’d love to see it live and see how they do some of those tunes in a live setting.
I also found out that there’s a new Editors album in September. Awesome!
CULLY: I can’t believe you’re not going to watch the show with me.
MEGHAN: Hell no, I’ve already watched it three times.
CULLY: But who’s gonna hold my hand during the scary parts?
O’CONNOR: I’m pretty sure during “Misery” they’re singing so low they’re hitting the brown note.
BRENDA: One night isn’t enough, you’re like potato chips that way.
ME: …That’s one of the nicest…and most awkward things anyone has ever said to me.