Grease is the new Macbeth
I have to say, honestly, that Grease has been the worst production I have ever worked on. I don't mean that in terms of the quality of the performance, but in terms of the act of producing that thrice plagued work.
I feel (and Andy shares my thoughts) that there was a definite lack of leadership, responsibility, and respect that led to disaster. I spoke those prophetic words at the start of this whole ordeal, almost a month ago, and I have been proven wrong only in that I was conservative in my estimates of the degree to which chaos and despair would afflict us. I do feel, in retrospect, that the policies I adopted may not have been ideal. I decided that whatever conflicts were going on, that unless I was already involved I would stay out of it. That may have been more comfortable, and safer for me, but I can't help feeling like, in the end, it may have mattered.
There were some petty squabbles throughout the entire production, but tonight visited us with especially ill fortune. There were quite a number of personal injuries, but one health problem continues to worry me. Allow me to preface, for all the lost time in which I did not update:
Lauren Peele was our stage manager for Grease. She is a freshman, and had never been stage manager before Grease. Lauren is pretty cool, you'd have to meet her. We worked on building the set together a few times, even building a bed (it was perhaps the worst bed in the history of beds). I ran the lights for the show and helped with some of the other technical aspects, so we worked together closely. I'd like to think we're at least pretty good friends. I do feel Lauren doesn't think things through, listen to common-sense, or solve problems in an objective manner (this will come up again, if you haven't guessed), but she did work very hard and did a good job in terms of the technical aspects of running the show.
Ok, preface complete.
So last week Lauren broke three ribs, I think doing something silly. So she's all doped up on pain meds- not an evil thing, but I know the meds bothered her. Then, before the show tonight, there was some other sort of medical issue. I don't know all the details, and I chose to just not ask her, but it was clear to all this was serious. When you can't walk on your own, you don't need to be working. We told her this, and it actually hurts me that she didn't trust me (as I've done this sort of thing in the past, you may recall) to handle things, and that she thought she had to be there to do her job despite obvious complications. I'm glad I decided to keep an eye on her at the start of the show, because it would become most important at the end. After the show ended, I would normally have grabbed my coat and hat and left to work on a paper (which I should be doing now), but not tonight. I noticed she started leaning back, and on most nights I would have believed Lauren was stretching. Not tonight. Tonight, Lauren was unconscious, falling off a stool. There was some very lucky catching involved, but an ambulance needed to be called to handle the issue of consciousness. I wish, very much, that Lauren had listened to us, and trusted me, and gone to see a doctor, then rested. I also wish I had done something, anywhere along the line, to have derailed this series of events. Mostly, more than anything else, I'm just worried.
I feel (and Andy shares my thoughts) that there was a definite lack of leadership, responsibility, and respect that led to disaster. I spoke those prophetic words at the start of this whole ordeal, almost a month ago, and I have been proven wrong only in that I was conservative in my estimates of the degree to which chaos and despair would afflict us. I do feel, in retrospect, that the policies I adopted may not have been ideal. I decided that whatever conflicts were going on, that unless I was already involved I would stay out of it. That may have been more comfortable, and safer for me, but I can't help feeling like, in the end, it may have mattered.
There were some petty squabbles throughout the entire production, but tonight visited us with especially ill fortune. There were quite a number of personal injuries, but one health problem continues to worry me. Allow me to preface, for all the lost time in which I did not update:
Lauren Peele was our stage manager for Grease. She is a freshman, and had never been stage manager before Grease. Lauren is pretty cool, you'd have to meet her. We worked on building the set together a few times, even building a bed (it was perhaps the worst bed in the history of beds). I ran the lights for the show and helped with some of the other technical aspects, so we worked together closely. I'd like to think we're at least pretty good friends. I do feel Lauren doesn't think things through, listen to common-sense, or solve problems in an objective manner (this will come up again, if you haven't guessed), but she did work very hard and did a good job in terms of the technical aspects of running the show.
Ok, preface complete.
So last week Lauren broke three ribs, I think doing something silly. So she's all doped up on pain meds- not an evil thing, but I know the meds bothered her. Then, before the show tonight, there was some other sort of medical issue. I don't know all the details, and I chose to just not ask her, but it was clear to all this was serious. When you can't walk on your own, you don't need to be working. We told her this, and it actually hurts me that she didn't trust me (as I've done this sort of thing in the past, you may recall) to handle things, and that she thought she had to be there to do her job despite obvious complications. I'm glad I decided to keep an eye on her at the start of the show, because it would become most important at the end. After the show ended, I would normally have grabbed my coat and hat and left to work on a paper (which I should be doing now), but not tonight. I noticed she started leaning back, and on most nights I would have believed Lauren was stretching. Not tonight. Tonight, Lauren was unconscious, falling off a stool. There was some very lucky catching involved, but an ambulance needed to be called to handle the issue of consciousness. I wish, very much, that Lauren had listened to us, and trusted me, and gone to see a doctor, then rested. I also wish I had done something, anywhere along the line, to have derailed this series of events. Mostly, more than anything else, I'm just worried.