Well, dear readers, another very long day, our one and only ten out of twelve. I must say that the smartest thing I did this week was pre-tech the show Monday, because our tech was as smooth as you could ever hope for a tech to be. We did Act One, cue-to-cue in the morning, Act Two after lunch. Then we immediately did a run-through straight through the show, which went very well (the cast was marking for the most part, but even they were really good for some of it). Then I gave a few notes, we broke for dinner, and then came back and did another run-through. The first act went even smoother, but the second act had a couple of hiccups – Tammy got her eye poked on one of the blackouts where everyone is exiting in the dark – someone got confused and went where they shouldn’t have. She was fine, though, and after five minutes we continued. The other hiccup was only because I made a change in the running order and those cues were rough because it was the first time we ran it that way. The change was absolutely the right decision and the end of the act plays better now. We also staged my newly-finished finale and the thing we prerecorded on Sunday. That single bit has more light cues than anything else in the show, but I must say it is pretty damned funny, at least it is to me. I’d had the idea for this bit from the beginning, when we were first planning the material. At that time, we were going to shoot it on video, but it took so long to find out whether we could bet a video projection unit that by the time we found out we could there simply wasn’t enough time. Then inspiration struck, and I realized that because of the way the center panel of our set is built (there is a hidden panel that slides open to reveal various things), that I could do the bit live, with all the sound prerecorded. So, I’ll tell you the basic idea of the bit: What if Broadway producers decided to do coming attractions for Broadway shows in the style of today’s movie trailers. That’s all I’m telling you, other than to say it is very accurate and very amusing – at least I hope it will be amusing to audiences. Today we do cleanup work in the afternoon and then a full run-through with costumes for the first time. I’m sure that will be interesting and present a few problems, but hopefully we’ll get through it fine.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can finish these here notes and hie myself to the bedroom environment.
Tammy finally found me a good assistant, and she started today. A very nice girl named Meghan, who’ll also be auditioning at some point as a cover for the girls. But she takes very good notes, and I no longer have to sit there scribbling in the dark when I should be watching what’s going on on stage. When you think that we started this journey a mere three weeks ago, I think we’re in pretty decent shape right now. The flow of the show seems to be working okay, the numbers feel good, and the cast gets better and sharper with every run-through, although they’re still fumfering-up lyrics too much.
It occurs to me that I’m going to have a lot of DVD viewing to catch up on once the show is up and running. Not to mention all the movies I’ve been TIVOing.
I have been on a real BLT and avocado kick lately – I’ve had that sandwich at least four times in the last week. I also had some more coconut cream pie yesterday with extra whipped cream. There is nothing like extra whipped cream. I would like extra whipped cream in every facet of my life, in fact. Wouldn’t the world be a better place with extra whipped cream? Yes, Virginia, extra whipped cream – that’s the ticket.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must clean up numbers, I must go over vocal performances, and I must have our first dress rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me and all the other dear readers any questions you like and we get to answer them any way we like. As you know, I will not be here to answer questions, so I leave the questions to all of you dear readers, so let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers along with loads of lovely postings. And extra whipped cream, of course. And a cherry on top.