I Made This
And I'm really honkin' proud of it.
The process:
1) Four weeks before show: Get call from last year's Halloween client, who realizes he wants us back.
2) Re-hire performers I enjoyed working with on a gig a few weeks ago. Make list of acts they already do. Figure out finale act when Aimee says, "I love doing rope!". Choose title.
3) Dork around for a few weeks.
4) Ten days before show: Panic. Do rough plot outline based on Josh being a big dork. Plan finale that can't be fully rehearsed, because white aerial silks being stained with blood is unrepeatable.
5) Six days before show: Realize a gun will solve all plot issues. Realize I'm in England and I don't know where to obtain nude unitards, adding machine tape and food coloring, and get them to Detroit in time. Thank God for Amazon.
6) Spend three days editing music like a fiend. Send performers music to adapt their choreography to. They plan it in their heads while driving to other gigs.
7) Two days before show: Fly home from London. Assemble last of props. Discover company does not currently own a rope. Rewrite finale.
8) Day before show: See theatre. Try desks for the first time and brace them. Assemble contortion act by telling the three performers, "Anyone who can do a handstand on a typewriter gets a margarita." Rig aerial equipment. Re-rig to accommodate fly system. Re-rig to accommodate a lower point for the trapeze. Get stuck up a lift when the battery runs out mid-rigging.
9) Day of show: Run cues once. Run show once. Do show. End in a glorious mess of blood, water, paper, and sustained standing applause.
10) Collect check, buy margaritas.
And that's how we make circus.
The process:
1) Four weeks before show: Get call from last year's Halloween client, who realizes he wants us back.
2) Re-hire performers I enjoyed working with on a gig a few weeks ago. Make list of acts they already do. Figure out finale act when Aimee says, "I love doing rope!". Choose title.
3) Dork around for a few weeks.
4) Ten days before show: Panic. Do rough plot outline based on Josh being a big dork. Plan finale that can't be fully rehearsed, because white aerial silks being stained with blood is unrepeatable.
5) Six days before show: Realize a gun will solve all plot issues. Realize I'm in England and I don't know where to obtain nude unitards, adding machine tape and food coloring, and get them to Detroit in time. Thank God for Amazon.
6) Spend three days editing music like a fiend. Send performers music to adapt their choreography to. They plan it in their heads while driving to other gigs.
7) Two days before show: Fly home from London. Assemble last of props. Discover company does not currently own a rope. Rewrite finale.
8) Day before show: See theatre. Try desks for the first time and brace them. Assemble contortion act by telling the three performers, "Anyone who can do a handstand on a typewriter gets a margarita." Rig aerial equipment. Re-rig to accommodate fly system. Re-rig to accommodate a lower point for the trapeze. Get stuck up a lift when the battery runs out mid-rigging.
9) Day of show: Run cues once. Run show once. Do show. End in a glorious mess of blood, water, paper, and sustained standing applause.
10) Collect check, buy margaritas.
And that's how we make circus.
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