Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
March 24, 2022:

THE RUN-THROUGH THAT WAS A FUN-THROUGH

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, considering we’re still without three or four cast members, last night’s run-through had a terrific energy to it and certain things really lit up and began to feel right. So, hopefully we’ll be on that trajectory from here on in. I believe we get a couple of folks back tonight, one tomorrow, and then the last of the missing on Saturday. That part’s scary, but hopefully they’ll all step up to the plate and will have worked on their own while they’ve been quarantining. I was smiling for quite a bit of the run-through and one thing that was really helpful is we had Richard Allen with us, which makes everything go smoother. The show is already running exactly what it should, so that part’s good. Richard won’t be with us tonight but starting tomorrow night he’s with us for the duration. After we finished, I re-blocked the last thing I needed to, one of the older numbers that just wasn’t working. The actress came in with good ideas and I had some and between us and our assistant director, we came up with something that is looking very good. And now, I am sitting here like so much fish, finally getting a handle on Handel. Enjoying these concerto grosso (Gross Concertos) things. Beautifully played, of course, by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in the usual wonderful sonics.

Yesterday was another day filled with drama, but we got through it, thankfully. It’s really debilitating dealing with these daily dramas but all you can do is deal with them and hope they all work out in the end so that we can put on the best show we possibly can. I did get about eight hours of sleep or almost eight hours of sleep or about eight hours of sleep, not necessarily in that order. Once up, I answered e-mails, dealt with the drama, did some work on the computer, then ordered two beef tacos from La Fogata, a nearby jernt that I’m fond of. They arrived a short time later and I ate them – very good and low in calories. Then I had to shower and get ready for a Zoom podcast thing about the chapter I wrote for a book entitled Fifty Key Musicals. My Key Musical was Cabaret, so that was what the podcast was basically about. I did the best I could, and the guy seemed please. That took an hour. Then I go word the drama had run its course and it looked like things would be fine, so that was a good thing.

Then I moseyed on over to the mail place where I picked up several packages, including my freebie of Fifty Key Musicals, my replacement Tom Ford sunglasses, which I’m happy to say are like new and were a mere fraction of the list price. I really got lucky. Also, a package from someone I know who ran a dinner theater on the outskirts of LA – it recently closed down and he’s now about to move to New York and wanted to send me what he said were photos. But in the package, not only were there amazing photos from the original production of Follies, along with some incredible color blowups of the chorus girl costumes by Florence Klotz, a blowup of Boris Aronson’s set design – great stuff. As if that wasn’t enough, there were several vocal selection books and about ten or more Broadway window cards from a bunch of shows. I haven’t had time to go through it all, either. Then we had our rehearsal, I re-staged the number, and the rest you know – except for the part that because I’d had so few calories, I ordered two items from McDonald’s that are on their way to me. Why not, say I.

Today, I’ll be up by eleven, I’ll do whatever needs doing, and then at one o’clock I’ll be at the theater with our lighting designer, figuring out as much as we can so that we don’t try to do it all on Friday before we run the show. So, a long day. I’ll either run out for a bite at some point, or I’ll order something in. Then we have a run-through, this time with tracks, and if we do have one or two folks back, we’ll get them re-acclimated to everything. Then I can come home and relax.

Tomorrow is more of the same, then we’ll have a run-through with an almost complete cast and Richard Allen. Saturday, I can sleep in a bit, then we have a cue to cue at three, dinner break, and back at seven to run the show, after which I can clean up anything that needs it. Sunday we’re off (at this time), Monday is a sitzprobe and running anything we need to afterwards, Tuesday is final dress/tech, Wednesday and Thursday are previews, and then we finally open on Friday.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, do whatever needs doing, be at the theater at one, at some point eat, and then have a run-through. Today’s topic of discussion: What baroque music is your favorite? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a run-through that was a fun-through.

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved