One week ago tonight we opened The Sound of Music. It was a busy and stressful rehearsal process because it's summer theatre so everything needs to happen in a short amount of time. Only twice during rehearsal was I angry enough to cry or want to quit, which I guess isn't too bad. In general, everything went pretty smoothly. Then we opened the show.
This show has:
38 Actors (including 11 college freshman for whom this is their first big show, and 6 children ages 6-14).
10 band members
7 Costumers
2 Sound guys
1 Light board operator
2 spotlight operators
3 Assistant Stage Managers
2 Stage Management Interns
2 Child Wranglers
2 Run Crew
and me.
Also, it's summer theatre. So we all live together.
I've had two people faint, and one person call out from the show because of a gall bladder surgery. We've had to have last minute rehearsals to prepare backstage crew to be thrown into the mix or remind the kids of what they are actually supposed to be doing onstage. There are lights breaking during performances or skunks spraying in the trees right behind us. One kid has a lot of energy and talks a lot, so at least 4 people complain to me about him every single day. I've taken to having a pep talk with him before every show to remind him to stand still and not be loud so that he doesn't get murdered backstage. Then there are the people that I have to yell at because they do stupid things without realizing it, like unplugging the only light we have backstage in order to charge their ipod. People are getting hurt, costumes are breaking or accidentally getting dyed pink in the washer, and today one actor got so mad he punched a cabinet then riled up the rest of his buddies.
And just when I start feeling pretty good about myself for handling all these things in stride, I'll get an email from someone critiquing or questioning my decisions. This is usually a pretty thankless job, but this week it feels even more so.
The good news? 98% of this stuff is completely unseen by the audience. And I had a few actors comment today that this show is going so smoothly and there are just no issues on and off stage. So, they don't know it's happening either.
One week down. One week to go.
