Intermission

I haven't done many shows with intermissions and I certainly haven't been on stage for a relatively relaxed intermission for a long time.  For this show, I was given a costume (a store bought, somewhat plastic costume) and tasked with all the on stage scene shifts.  Also, the audience comes so close to the edge of the stage that they can - and sometimes the trashy people do - prop their feet on the stage.  When it comes to audiences, the interesting things happy at intermission.

The theatre offers assisted listening devices to the hard of hearing, but you are supposed to remove and turn off your hearing aid when you use them.  Well, one night a lady sitting in the center of the front row neglected to turn off her hearing aid so during the entire first act there was a constant beeping.  It drove the actors crazy, but the house manager couldn't get to her until intermission.  During the scene change I went much slower than usual so that I could listen in.  The conversation went something like this:

 
House Manager: Hello, ma'am.  When you take your hearing aid out during the show, could you please turn it off? 
Patron: It was turned off.
House Manager: It was beeping during the show.
Patron removes hearing aid and messes with it.  It beeps.
Patron: It's off now.
It beeps.
House Manager: It's beeping right now.
It beeps twice.
Patron: No, it's turned off.
It beeps.
House Manager: There it is.  It's beeping.
It beeps twice.
Patron: Well, I don't hear anything!

Um.  May I point out that you wear a hearing aid for a reason?
(Fortunately, it was somehow turned off for Act 2.)

By far the worst for me was last night.  Some man was very interested in the set and took intermission as an opportunity to get right up close and try to show off for his friend (for a second I thought he had actually come on stage, but fortunately he held back from doing that.  The stage's personal bubble was definitely invaded though.)  All of a sudden, he's exclaiming and laughing about something that doesn't belong.  Then he mentions that it is moving.  Horrified, I look over and sure enough it is a cockroach of all things.  Well.  I can't very well leave it there, but I hate them extraordinarily.  I normally spray them with flying bug spray and vacuum them away.  Stamping and picking up is not to be considered.  Well.  I took my time and went through my routine (working in the other room first).  Meanwhile, the man has his cell phone out and is taking pictures of the cockroach (um?).  When it was no longer avoidable, I walked to the edge of the stage and gave a solid stamp.  Much as I did not enjoy my costume, I was grateful for the solid, hard soled shoes I had available for the killing.  I then collected about four paper towels and wrapped them up inside a hand towel that I could take on stage and carried the gross thing off.  Bleagh.  The joys of intermission.

Photo Hunter: Minature

I haven't done a photo hunter post (or any other post for that matter) in a while, so I thought this would be a good time to start it up again.  This picture is from a time my friend and I went to Whataburger.  She ordered a small fry and a small milkshake and this is what she was given.  I think Whataburger is a restaurant that has a skewed perspective of what it should mean to be miniature.

Photo Hunter

Cali

Hello! I am writing from the top of week three in Califonia. Impression so far: awesome.

I love the area, I like what I've seen of the theatre, I'm enjoying the show.
I haven't been to the beach yet, but I like knowing that it's not too far.
I have a busy schedule, but I like knowing that I have good friends nearby.

(I even got to see some yesterday.)
I live far away from work, but I haven't hit bad traffic.

(I like my highway commute very much.)

I caught a glimpse of the Hollywood sign as I was going to my friend's house yesterday.
I am having frozen yogurt with a girl I met at USITT who has the same internship tomorrow.

Everyday is a bit of an adventure, trying to learn my way around this new place.
Everyday is a bit of a routine, which is comforting but doesn't give a lot of writing material.
At any rate, living here comes pretty naturally.

I am certainly looking forward to exploring more!

Opening/Closing

This has been...quite a summer.  It's been a whirlwind eleven weeks of activity and information, a lot to process.  We just celebrated opening night for my first professional show which was coincidentally, my last show to run the backstage.  Fortunately, with previews I've had a pretty good run working backstage with an audience.  With a cast of four, it was a rather tight knit, laid back group which made the process very enjoyable indeed.  The Equity stage manager I was working for was very easy-going and had a wonderful style (in contrast to some of my earlier experiences for the summer.  On Monday, I move on.  While I am sad that I won't get to finish the run of the show, I am super excited about going on to the next place.

This is my first truly cross country trip, and essentially I am going across two sides of the United States.  I get to see many, many friends and family members as my trek will take me through Washington D.C., Atlanta, Pensecola, Houston, Waco, Austin, Tuscon, and finally, Los Angeles!  It'll be a great blitz of people seeing broken up by long stretches of road.  Or rather, long days of travel interspersed with precious visits.

I. cannot. wait.

check it out!

Picnik Time

Earlier this summer I discovered a great photo editing website (picnik.com) and was thrilled to find that they let you do collages as well.  The free membership lets you do a lot of awesome things (although the for-pay membership lets you do even more awesome things).  I was playing around with the collages and ended up making one for each of the nieces and nephews.  So here are the children, from oldest to youngest.

A Phenomonon

I call it "Leaving the Theatre While There Is Light In the Sky"

This is the most extraordinary of phenomenons and perhaps only possible during the summer.  Yes, the end of yesterday's rehearsal occurred BEFORE the sun had completely slipped below the horizon.  Spectacular.

The reason this was remotely possible is that I have started my third and final show with New Jersey Shakes.  My other two shows went well considering the small amount of support they are given.  I'm still glad I had a chance to work on those two shows, but it is much simpler now that I'm on a mainstage.  My days are shorter, my cast is smaller (only four actors), and it's amazing to see how quickly notes are addressed -- with notable exceptions of course.  A stage manager's schedule is never truly predictable.  Things come up at the last minute which require us to stay later than planned and finishing our day before the sun finishes it's day is still a remarkable event, but there's a pattern to the daily chores that I've picked up pretty well.  Busy days and long hours, but it's a relief to finally have a straightforward schedule.  And the occasional sunset.

Independence Day

You know those times in life where you just have to do something simply because it's available?  Yesterday, when I finished rehearsal at 6:00 instead of 10:00, it was clear that I needed to go to the fireworks display in Manhattan.  I called up a college friend (Shelly) who is summering in NYC and (as I hoped and suspected) she was meeting a group of people on the roof of an apartment building to watch the show.  I took my first American train ride, Shelly met me at the station, and we got there in perfect time to savor some watermelon and enjoy the fireworks.  As it turned out, we only saw about half the show, specifically the top half, since there were several taller buildings in front of us, but we didn't mind -- it was a beautiful night and we beat the crowds being further out.

It was a simple trip, but great to catch up with Shelly and get away from campus for a bit.  I hope yesterday was a holiday for everyone!