Well, dear readers, when you add sound and band and some new costumes to the second dress rehearsal mix something is bound to go horribly awry and make you stop. Surprisingly, nothing went horribly awry and we did not stop. Oh, there were problems, to be sure, but considering what could have been a high disaster quotient, I was grateful we never went to that land. It took the cast quite a while to get into their mics because they’d never done that before, but that will all go much faster. Then the designer did EQ work as each of them sang/spoke separately, then he got a nice choral blend. Then the band arrived and we ran the opening number and I knew the levels were going to be problematic, but it wasn’t time to deal with them yet. And so, we began our second dress rehearsal.
Most of the larger costume problems had been addressed and were better – there are still a few things to fix, but it’s now much more pleasing to my eyeballs. And our stage manager is calling the cues much better – just a handful that weren’t quite with it, and a couple of errant lights doing things they shouldn’t – that will all be sorted out before tonight’s final dress. So, the big issue was the band vs. the vocals. The vocals lost all during act one – the band was simply playing full out and they cannot even come close to doing that save for the band-only numbers, of which there are three, or dance sections, of which there are two. There were also places where Lanny and I agreed that the horns were simply too intrusive against the vocals, so we made those notes, and we’ll be taking them out of those sections. Act one ran exactly fifty-four minutes, and much of it played really well. The cast is getting a real feel for the flow, which is very helpful. They were late getting on for a couple of things, in terms of setting chairs and stuff, but those are easy fixes. And the end of the act worked like gangbusters – it’s just so wacky and fun and the energy is so high, and the actors are having such a great time with it, it’s just grand to watch it every time. I’ve been very circumspect about what it is, of course, due to the usual prying eyes, but I guess I can let the cat out of the bag now and tell you that it’s a big sequence of the Golden Age of Wrestling, in which we sing a fun song called Every Wednesday Night, talk about the Olympic Auditorium and the phone number ever wrestling fan knew and still knows by heart, and then, in an astonishing display of theatrical chutzpah, we do a wrestling match. Those who’ve read the Kritzer books know that I went every Wednesday night and sat in the front row. I saw how they did everything, so staging this sequence was way too much fun for me. And we’ve got everything in it, from stomping on hands to headlocks and face smashing to drop kicks and everything else. I made the match between two real-life wrestlers – Freddie Blassie and Tricky Rickie Starr, the ballet dancer/wrestler. I have no idea how the audience will react, but I love it and I don’t care.
At intermission, Lanny and I went to talk to the band and I told them they had to dial it back by half and they were very good eggs about it. We began act two and after the first number, where they were still a bit too loud, they dialed it back and it was instantly so much better – the singers were easily heard, as were the lyrics, and everything was at a nice level. Towards the end of the act they let it get away from them a bit, but I think they now know what they have to do. Lanny told the horns where they were tacit and they made those notes. Our MD has been getting most of the tempos right, but I could see on the final song he thought he’s begun too slow (he hadn’t), and he sped them up so much that the singer could barely get through the song.
The projections are really wonderful – we’re making a couple more adjustments to them, but they work great, and they add a real depth and magic to the show. The lighting is better now, too. I gave my notes – only two pages of them as compared to four pages the previous night – ran the curtain call, which was confusing people, and then we all went home. I stopped at Gelson’s and got a tiny bit of seafood salad, some bagels (which I’ll bring to the theater tonight), and a little cherry loaf (the balance of which I’ll bring to the theater).
Prior to all that, I’d gotten nine hours of sleep, but awoke with a terrible headache. I took to Excedrin, did some stuff on the computer, then went and had a Mexican Bowl at Jerry’s Deli, which was kind of REALLY good – basically fajitas over Spanish rice with guacamole, sour cream and salsa. I’ll definitely be having that again. Then I came home, did a few things on the computer, and then picked up Lanny and went to LACC. The rest you know.
Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep. Then I have to do a few things, after which I’ll grab a bite to eat. Then I’ll go to LACC around three, to work on the last bit of the projections and to see the new color the facing materials on the set will be painted. He wanted to have varying shades of blue, which were painted yesterday, but he didn’t like it when he saw it, so is going to use the shade I actually liked better when I saw the options. The actors are in at four-thirty – we’ll run a couple of things, then get them in their mics and do a sound check. The band arrives at five and at five-thirty we’ll do another sound check for the band levels – we’ll run through a couple of big numbers and then a ballad or two, just to make sure, and we’ll run the numbers where we’ve taken out the horns. I’ve put the word out that if any guinea pigs want to come watch it they’re welcome to. It would help to have some new energy in the room.
Tomorrow I do a radio show at one, then we do our one and only preview performance. I’m told we have at least thirty people coming, which I wouldn’t mind getting up to fifty – a nice half-house would be great but will still leave room for our photographer to move about freely. And then Friday we open our little LA show. We most likely will be completely sold out – there are only about twenty seats left at this point. Then we play two shows on Saturday, then we’re off until our pick-up rehearsal the following Wednesday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, eat, work on projections, have a sound check for singers and band, make sure levels are just right, and then do our final dress rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that the second dress rehearsal, despite some hiccups, went pretty damn well.