So Friday was our first day on the actual stage. Thursday we said our farewells to the rehearsal hall upstairs, though I doubt many of us really miss dancing around a taped floor made to look like the set - especially because the actual set is INCREDIBLE. Words do not do it justice, my friend. The colors are gorgeous and it feels like we're in a Disney movie for reals. :) My castmate Alejandro and I walked around it on Friday with our mouths agape. At one point, he said, "Pinch me." I had to punch him instead. It was just that incredible. :)
Some spectacular details include:
-2 ponds (minus the koi, sadly)
-lush Chinese silk pretty much everywhere
-a horse on wheels
-several 14-foot tall _________ _________ (I'm not giving this away!)
-a traveling moon gate
-a traveling set of stairs
-and, um, lots more awesomeness
Backstage is just as cool - there's tape on the floor that says YES for paths you can walk and NO for paths you can't (like near some of the lights). There is a multitude of ropes to work the various legs and set pieces that fly in and out, and there are two huge pulley systems (for lack of the official term) on the floor to move the aforementioned stairs and moon gate in and out.
Saturday and Sunday were our "10 out of 12" tech rehearsals, which basically means that we rehearse for 12 hours but get a 2-hour dinner break. Now we don't run the show a million times during the 10 hours. For the less experienced readers out there, a tech rehearsal is when you start to add the other elements to the blocking in the performance space, like lights and sound. Oh, and costumes and wigs and real props. So there is a lot of stop and go to make sure that everything comes together nicely, sound/light cues are timed right, quick costume changes happen smoothly, etc. Some blocking gets changed as well, depending on certain things that work out differently on the stage as compared to the rehearsal hall. These tech rehearsals can be exhausting, but I find them super fun because you have a ton of these fun moments where the stage manager says, "Hold please!", and the actors on stage at the time just sit and talk to each other while they wait. I feel like the bulk of cast bonding happens during this time.
It has been so much super duper fun being in costume this past weekend and putting all of the show elements together. I can't wait for tomorrow!
Oh - we have people backstage whose job it is to help dress us between scenes. And they are fantastic at it! They make those quick changes possible and seamless. And the assistant stage managers are always talking on their headsets to make things work too. Such cool behind-the-scenes stuff going on! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment