Opening Day of Errors


I think somebody must have mentioned That Scottish Play

The morning show was bad enough -- one of the male leads cut his knee early in the first half, and because he's on non-stop we couldn't get ahold of him long enough to clean up and bandage him until intermission. Next the oldest male in the cast had a prat-fall turn into a real one and came back downstairs with a bruised arm, hip, and leg. Then in the second half one of the female characters was helping with a major character quick-change of one of the males (full makeup, costume, facial hair -- it's a big job) and missed her entrance. Big time.

But the evening performance -- opening night -- gah. One of the female leads slipped in a puddle of water right outside the women's dressing room, a puddle that turned out to be the start of a major flood of the basement due to a serious plumbing problem in the whole freakin' building. Besides spraining her wrist badly enough she cried (this is an adult female, a middle-school teacher) we had to evacuate three rooms' worth of costumes, makeup, props, and personal effects for the entire cast up a flight of stairs while wading through what was quite possibly sewage water.

Thank heaven this particular private school housing the theater facilities has a very famous actor alumnus -- one Vincent L. Price, Jr. -- and there are two theaters in the building because other alumni and the parents of the students are rather proud of the fact. They're currently using the one named after Mr. Price, just across the hall from our theater, for shop space in-between their shows so we moved our stuff in there. No lighted mirrors, sawdust everywhere, one big open space, everybody's costume pieces, makeup, etc. in random spots since they were carted up en masse and plunked down wherever space was found. And thanks to the plumbing problem, no running water in the entire building, with us needing to go before we went on and also no facilities for the patrons during intermission, either. School security was phoned and they unlocked the next building down so we could access working toilets.

With all this disaster, the curtain went up on time. Of course, one could hear the shop-vacs running under the stage during the entire performance as the custodial staff worked to clean things up...

After the show, we had to move all our costumes and etc. onto our set because they're working in the Price theater today. We changed and scraped off our makeup, moved stuff, then looked at each other and said, "Liquor. Now." Our Abbess suggested a microbrewery about 15 minutes from the theater and praised their menu. Of course, we got there 20 minutes after the kitchen closed, but we were all so in need of alcohol that we didn't care. We shoved four tables together, ordered beers, told dirty jokes, and trashed-talked Alphonso Freeman whom apparently has an ego much greater than his acting ability.

I have no idea if we're moving our "dressing area" back downstairs tonight or back into the Price theater. I plan to put on my makeup here at home and show up half an hour before call, because whether we have to move ourselves or whether the crew moves house during the day and simply guesses as to where everything goes, there'll be mass confusion trying to get ready again tonight.

And there's the pre-show lecture tonight, which means no matter what, the set has to be clear of costumes and etc. by 6:45 pm.

Posted: Sat - March 8, 2008 at 01:48 PM   Home         | | View Technorati reactions

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