Press and Preparation
The title of this post sounds like a lost Jane Austen novel. Ha!
First, the press. We've got a bit of local media attention over our USITT Southeast awards--there's a cool article on the College of Arts and Sciences webpage. So, yay for that.
And, i'm on deck this week over at nicknickleby, where you can read about the beginnings of making a wacky wire-frame hat for Miss LaCreevey, a character with unusual taste in headwear.
Speaking of Nicholas Nickleby, we've started our first round of fittings of borrowed clothes, and i'm already banging out jobs. (Er, except totally not in the "Victorian milliner of easy virtue" sense.) A lot of what I'm doing at this stage is setting up work for the weeks to come--i've talked a bit before about my theories of workflow on large projects, how if you are leading a team or are in charge of some projects, you should spend as much of your time as possible doing things that only you can do. Anything that could be done by an assistant with minimal or no guidance should be the last thing you put your hand to, should be put aside for that purpose unless it's got a hard immediate deadline. So, i've been doing a lot of stuff like drafting patterns for multiple hats, setting up borrowed hats with new trim and labels ready to stitch, building a backlog so that when folks start coming to me in a week or two looking for work that can be picked up by a student doing lab hours or something, i'll have a big list of stuff to hand off.
I've also been doing a certain amount of predicting the future. (Perhaps i'll add "scrying" to the "Miscellaneous Skills" section of my CV.) On large productions where i know there's going to be a lot of craftwork that comes late in the production process, i try to look at what the show requires and predict some labor in advance if i can. I mentioned the hat linings in a prior post--that's a good example of what i'm talking about. We know there's a millinery shop in the script, and we'll probably have a lot of ladies hats coming off onstage (or, maybe even just being set-dressing). By taking the initiative and lining those hats NOW while i'm in a sort of a holding pattern with other responsibilities, i'm saving myself the headache later of getting a note to line all the hats a month from now, when i'll have 2039842 other things that need doing.
This is another example:
PlayMakers labels, freshly dyed
Since everyone is playing multiple characters and may find themselves changing costume pieces in full view of the audience, we won't want to see big bright white labels inside the clothes. We absolutely HAVE to label the costumes on a show this size--with 25 actors and 600+ costume pieces, all of which need to be checked in and out by the wardrobe department each night, everything has to have a way to track it! So, while i was doing some other dyeshop work this morning, i ran a few batches of labels, dyed various tones in the show's color palette. By doing this, they're ready to go when we get back rehearsal notes weeks from now that say things like "Noggs is removing his coat onstage in I-III-5," and need a brown label that'll disappear against a brown coat lining. A couple hours spent now on things like this will be a couple hours in which i WON'T have to drop everything and fulfill a dye request or lining note later while i'm up to my eyebrows in things like, say, finishing that flowerhead bonnet for Miss LaCreevey that's over on nicknickleby!
I have to say, I have honestly wanted to work on this production since i was 10 years old and saw the original. It's pretty exciting to be in the right place at the right time to actually be able to do it, and PRC is really doing it bigtime. There's SO much other stuff going on surrounding it, it's exciting to see how many other folks are getting involved in their own ways. For example, the Humanities folks here at UNC are hosting The Victorian World, an academic conference on a whole range of fascinating aspects of Victorian life. THere's going to be a ton of stuff going on at the libraries all around the Triangle, too, and i gather that a lot of book clubs are planning to do some tandem programs, like reading the novel and seeing the show all as part of a group thing. Doing theatre is always a case of being a part of something bigger than you, but in this case, it is much, MUCH bigger!
First, the press. We've got a bit of local media attention over our USITT Southeast awards--there's a cool article on the College of Arts and Sciences webpage. So, yay for that.
And, i'm on deck this week over at nicknickleby, where you can read about the beginnings of making a wacky wire-frame hat for Miss LaCreevey, a character with unusual taste in headwear.
Speaking of Nicholas Nickleby, we've started our first round of fittings of borrowed clothes, and i'm already banging out jobs. (Er, except totally not in the "Victorian milliner of easy virtue" sense.) A lot of what I'm doing at this stage is setting up work for the weeks to come--i've talked a bit before about my theories of workflow on large projects, how if you are leading a team or are in charge of some projects, you should spend as much of your time as possible doing things that only you can do. Anything that could be done by an assistant with minimal or no guidance should be the last thing you put your hand to, should be put aside for that purpose unless it's got a hard immediate deadline. So, i've been doing a lot of stuff like drafting patterns for multiple hats, setting up borrowed hats with new trim and labels ready to stitch, building a backlog so that when folks start coming to me in a week or two looking for work that can be picked up by a student doing lab hours or something, i'll have a big list of stuff to hand off.
I've also been doing a certain amount of predicting the future. (Perhaps i'll add "scrying" to the "Miscellaneous Skills" section of my CV.) On large productions where i know there's going to be a lot of craftwork that comes late in the production process, i try to look at what the show requires and predict some labor in advance if i can. I mentioned the hat linings in a prior post--that's a good example of what i'm talking about. We know there's a millinery shop in the script, and we'll probably have a lot of ladies hats coming off onstage (or, maybe even just being set-dressing). By taking the initiative and lining those hats NOW while i'm in a sort of a holding pattern with other responsibilities, i'm saving myself the headache later of getting a note to line all the hats a month from now, when i'll have 2039842 other things that need doing.
This is another example:
PlayMakers labels, freshly dyed
Since everyone is playing multiple characters and may find themselves changing costume pieces in full view of the audience, we won't want to see big bright white labels inside the clothes. We absolutely HAVE to label the costumes on a show this size--with 25 actors and 600+ costume pieces, all of which need to be checked in and out by the wardrobe department each night, everything has to have a way to track it! So, while i was doing some other dyeshop work this morning, i ran a few batches of labels, dyed various tones in the show's color palette. By doing this, they're ready to go when we get back rehearsal notes weeks from now that say things like "Noggs is removing his coat onstage in I-III-5," and need a brown label that'll disappear against a brown coat lining. A couple hours spent now on things like this will be a couple hours in which i WON'T have to drop everything and fulfill a dye request or lining note later while i'm up to my eyebrows in things like, say, finishing that flowerhead bonnet for Miss LaCreevey that's over on nicknickleby!
I have to say, I have honestly wanted to work on this production since i was 10 years old and saw the original. It's pretty exciting to be in the right place at the right time to actually be able to do it, and PRC is really doing it bigtime. There's SO much other stuff going on surrounding it, it's exciting to see how many other folks are getting involved in their own ways. For example, the Humanities folks here at UNC are hosting The Victorian World, an academic conference on a whole range of fascinating aspects of Victorian life. THere's going to be a ton of stuff going on at the libraries all around the Triangle, too, and i gather that a lot of book clubs are planning to do some tandem programs, like reading the novel and seeing the show all as part of a group thing. Doing theatre is always a case of being a part of something bigger than you, but in this case, it is much, MUCH bigger!