Summer Job Survival Tactics

One more text-based post before picture posts resume! A girl's gotta upload the photos first!

The festival I worked at this summer has an unofficial policy: work hard, play hard. We DO work hard. We work long hours, some people work them outside in the amazing humidity of the state of Iowa, and others in the deep dark dungeon of our performing arts center. We're all overworked but the product we put out despite our exhaustion is good.

Here are some of the ways our particular department coped with the amazing schedule/hours:

* Magic 8 Ball. There was one mysteriously in with all of our supplies and we jokingly used it throughout the summer. More often than not, it was accurate. And when it didn't want to answer, it wouldn't.

* Wisdom from Dove Candies. I already did a post on it here, but we really did enjoy the bits of random wisdom found in the inside of the chocolates used as a survival tactic. A few more nuggets of wisdom include "Take the pleasure, skip the guilt" and "It is possible, believe it!". These wrappers decorated our office and our boss' desk.

* Diet Coke. Every stage manager needs caffeine and not all of us drink coffee. Diet Coke seemed to be the universal drink of choice, I have no idea how much diet coke we drank, but it was a lot. I drank more than I usually do on a job. And at least for me, it was losing its efficacy by the end of the season.

* The Zoo. Local bar who loves the tech crew, and the Festival as a whole. The bar is walkable from our housing, has darts (electronic) and two pool tables and a decent townie population. And pizzas. The bartenders were nice, knew us by name by the middle of the season and where everyone went to blow off steam. Definitely a saving grace.

* Fishbowl Margaritas. These margaritas were HUGE at a local Mexican restaurant. We couldn't believe the size of them. We had had a very very very long day and decided to reward ourselves on one of our first night's off from work. Yum.

* Hypnotiq/Citron Vodka/Cranberry Juice/Sierra Mist. Combine those together into a drink, and it was our drink of choice for awhile - one of the bartenders created it for us and we drank it throughout the summer. Bit of a change from gin and tonics, Cape Cod-ers and Tequila Sunrises, our other cocktails of choice.

* Crossan'whiches. JH and I used these as motivators for getting up for our twice-weekly production meeting at 8:30am. Worked quite well. Thank goodness for Burger King.

So Diet Coke, chocolate, fast food and alcohol - all the vices of a hard-working/over-worked stage manager. Or any theatrical technician. Or artist.

By the Numbers: Summer 2010

My summer job summed up in numbers. I'm sure I'm leaving some good stats out. This may be updated again.

3: the number of mainstage shows in the season

16: the total number of performances of mainstage shows

8: the number of weeks in the festival

14-16+: the hours in an average workday this summer

35: The number of days that went by without a day off (for stage management - a couple of days longer for apprentice singers, a few less for other tech staff)

~150: the number of people when the festival was in full swing (tech, apprentice singers, principal artists and orchestra)

3: the number of directors for the mainstage; and 3 assistants total as well

2: the number of conductors for the mainstage season

3.5 hours: the length of our longest show

2.25 hours: the length of our shortest show

endless: the number of hours spent in rehearsal

2: the number of tornado scares while at work, evacuating into the rehearsal hall

a lot: the number of days it rained

at least 10: the number of times the backstage areas had water leakage

even more: the number of days it felt like we were swimming to work in the humidity

far too many: the number of stairs climbed this summer (3rd floor dorm room, 2 flights down basement rehearsal space/office)

almost every night: the number of times we went to the Zoo (local bar that loves us) and drowned our sorrows in alcohol, darts and pool games

20: the number of miles we were away from our namesake city

very small: the size of the campus we lived/worked/performed

0: the number of places open after 11pm that had food (bars didn't count)

too few: the number of pictures taken this summer

3: the number of trips up to the Apple Store in West Des Moines about my old computer

1: the number of new computers purchased this summer

All Tosca, All The Time

Life has been a little more than crazy lately. Despite us not rehearsing the expected three sessions a day, the week has been long and never ending. The director doesn't have an assistant, nor do I. So we serve as each other's... thankfully we're a great team. But even that doesn't cancel out exhaustion. And Amarillo is so dry that I am getting quasi-migraines more than once a week. And I can't exactly abandon rehearsal because I don't feel well. But quasi-migraines don't go well with powerful opera singing, especially high notes.

Nevertheless, things slowed down in the last day or so and I was able to pull out my camera... something I'd sorely missed. Here's a few shots of the theatre (which in itself is unique in appearance) and some of the props. Hopefully more to come...











Many more can be found at my flickr page... and hopefully more to come.

These Past Few Weeks

These past few weeks have been absolutely jam-packed with work. When i wasn't in rehearsal, I was working on something that related to the show. My source of internet was painfully slow dial-up and I just never carted my camera everywhere like I usually did.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

A colleague and her darling companion:



A harvest moon:



These are pictures from our show, sets designed by Maurice Sendak, taken with my iPhone during a tech:



An exhibit at Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis:



That's all for now: next up are some lovely holiday decorations which I won't post until after Thanksgiving and some pup pictures, of course.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Madama Butterfly

On the eve of my departure for my next job, I finally sit down and write about my last job, Madama Butterfly. All around, it was a great production.... superb cast, simple but beautiful set and gorgeous, mostly uncomplicated costumes.

The set was unique as in it was raked enough to remind us all that we did indeed have muscles in our legs that we did not use normally. By the time we were well into onstage rehearsals, I had forgotten how extreme the rake was since we'd all gotten our 'rake legs'. The rake grew more and more extreme as it got closer to the curtain. In fact, the lowest platform actually tipped down into the pit. Simple, yet dramatic. Very suiting to the piece, I think.

Here's the view from the balcony, which gives a better idea of the rake:



What you can't see is the 26 stairs leading up to the rear of the mountain. Let's just say that I really got my exercise during tech week.

What was really fun was opening night. Butterfly opened the season, so there was a gala of sorts. We (staff) wore corsages (yes, a la prom)



and ate dessert sushi - which bears an uncanny resemblance to real sushi except its made of fruit, coconut and who knows what else, but it was TASTY!





And lastly, our lobby was adorned with decorated parasols:





Brava tutti! I will certainly miss everyone and look forward to our next show together... wherever it may be.



Still to come: Driving Adventures

I Don't Like Ike

In no particular order:

Thanks to Ike...

- My best-laid plans were shot to hell. But at least I didn't go before it hit (which I was planning to). Camping out sans power in Houston summer does not especially appeal; nor the 6-8 hours of howling winds and ensuing inconveniences.

- I have no more freezer food. I actually no longer remember the contents of my freezer, so I don't know yet what I've lost. But I will. Possibly some refrigerator contents as well, depending on the state of things.

- I did not get to go back before my next gig. Therefore, I have all summer-like clothes with me. All my fall/winter-like clothes are in Houston... as well as any coats that would be appropriate. Oh well.

- I still don't have power, which caused me not to be able to go home. Since I'm not there to use the internet/tv, I'm not crying rivers. I would have liked to have not lost any food however.

- Many of my friends were greatly inconvenienced by being included in the 1.2 million without power, the countless without water pressure, and fighting the masses for something as simple as gasoline for their cars or drinking water that doesn't have to be boiled.

- I have to ask favors of friends/family so my apartment isn't a cesspit when I return and I don't piss off the USPS too much.

- I will have to continue guessing at some of my apartment-controlled utility payments and pay rent from afar. Something that just thrills me and my management company.

- By the time I see my apartment again, six months will have passed. I should have just moved into a storage unit. This is ridiculous.

- My apartment complex continues to not answer their phone, further endearing themselves to me after their actions this summer.

- I never got to see the Kemah Boardwalk - and it might be a very long time before I do.

On the upshot:

- My apartment is preliminarily fine. No broken windows, but no telling the water damage from the not-so-weathertight door. Or the decomposing food in my freezer. Sorry, CC, and thank you.

- I got to catch up with a good friend who is doing me a big favor. She was the one who reported to me on the state of my apartment, since no one related with the complex did.

- I get to hang out with my dogs and my family for just a little longer and enjoy an early arrival of fall in St. Louis.

- I now get to vote in the next election 'in-person' (albeit early) and therefore do not have to jump through the multiple hoops required for an absentee ballot.

- I get to drive to my November gig, which allows me greater flexibility, less hassle and chances to visit B-town and Chi-town if I should so desire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The greatest irony of Ike, despite the personal inconveniences and curveballs to plans, is that a majority of the deaths attributed to said storm occurred outside Houston, or even the state of Texas. Two or three of them occurred not very far from my house in St. Louis. Apparently, I just couldn't escape Ike.

Ike may have been just a Cat 2 storm, but it sure packed a wallop due to its size and its slow-moving action. I suspect there would have been a lot less destruction and mayhem even if it had been a higher category storm. But I'm no meteorologist.

By the time I make it back, most of the physical signs of the Hurricane's impact in my neck of the woods will be gone. But the memories of my friends, and my own from afar, will linger. It is always an eerie feeling to see the places and paths you frequent on the news: damaged, underwater or otherwise. I'd like not to repeat that experience again.

I'm lucky to have survived Ike, albeit in a different way than my friends who were physically present in Houston. And I'd really like it if no more hurricanes came near that region during the remainder of the hurricane season. We were lucky enough to have misses last year with Edward (or whatever it was), and this year with Gustav. Now that we've had our version of Katrina, can we just be left along to lick our wounds in peace? I look forward to revisiting a revitalized Galveston.

Up next: A return to the East Coast Adventure Recaps, and more. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up sooner rather than later, with all this unexpected free time here.

Loooooong Day

In musical theatre, there are very long tech days called 10 out of 12s. That means we're called at 12pm and go until 12am, but have a 2 hour dinner break from 5-7. Usually, these days are long and seem to last forever. But especially so on this show. This show is all about the dancing, and the lights. The set is static, there are just a smattering of props... and we don't have costumes yet, except for dance shoes.

Which mean that there were three very bored assistant stage managers backstage last night. Not to mention a restless, and later, slap happy, cast. The other two ASMs read... a lot. And I of course, broke out the camera, and experimented with low light photography. Not taking pictures of the people, but of the set and lights. Those pictures I still have to filter through. You most likely won't be seeing those for awhile.

Highlights of the very long never ending day included CM and EG randomly rocking it out (and by rocking it out, I mean hotel piano bar style, not rock concert). CM would start singing some piece (Straighten Up and Fly Right, Night and Day, etc), and EG would just accompany along. The amount of music in that brain and hands is just incredible. Other highlights included our sound engineer getting punchy in the later hours and randomly playing the nun's pre-recorded opening to the Act II finale "Climb Every Mountain" from "Sound of Music" which caused shouts of laughter from a majority of the theatre. Another highlight included the director asking a singer to dance off the stage with some "twirly shit". Twirly shit she got, as BS took her at her words. Definitely worth it as the ensemble and tech table alike howled in hysteria.

Those moments were few and far between, but all in all, made it a bit worth it. Today's rehearsal is a little shorter and includes some orchestra members. Tomorrow they'll dance with the orchestra and then add costumes in the vening. Such is the life of summer stock theatre. Did I mention we'll start rehearsals for Show #3 on this upcoming Wednesday?!

I filtered through the fireworks pictures this morning and reduced them from 400-odd to about 150-odd. I'm really pleased with how many turned out so well... I just have to decide how many I'll posting and upload them at work (faster connection).

Stay tuned.

And here it is:

Click the Flickr link to see them all individually.

Done!

The season is over! Our last show of the season was a remount of our locally-inspired oratorio, The Refuge at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park. We totally lucked out with the weather because we only had one really nasty, hot, humid day. This show was tech-ed, opened and closed within a week (two performances only) and it was a quick week at that. While it was a remount, we had a new community choir, a new community instrumentalist and a new Studio soloist. Despite all these new things, plus a slight set-change due to the different stage at Miller, the process was amazingly stress-free and the product was great.

Opening night also coincided with my birthday, which was fun. Despite being at work all day, I was treated to a picnic dinner by my colleagues and a fabulous show. This temporary tattoo, found in my opening night gift from our stage manager, really sums up the day:



I really did feel loved. I came home to a lot of facebook, email and voicemail messages, and was well-wished throughout the day. And best of all, I got to work with my friends on my birthday.

Yesterday, our closing night, I arrived early at the theatre to wander around Hermann Park to take pictures. I had forgotten that our education division was sponsoring a kite-making festival in conjunction with our performance. It seemed like a popular gathering and I managed to snap a few good shots. For more, check out my flickr page, but here's a preview:



I'm behind on posting - I'll have to post about Art Car at a later date...