First Night

Our first night went brilliantly. The performers acted their socks off and the crew surpassed themselves.

I'm chuffed!

Breasting the Tape

We had the dress rehearsal tonight. So my job as director is over (although I'm sure I won't be able to resist the temptation to poke my oar in once or twice before the final curtain comes down on Saturday night).

After today, the production is solely in the hands of the fabulous actors, crew and technicians who do such a wonderful job of running our shows. And I have no doubts that they will do a fine job.

The past few days have been hectic and very hard work. The set (which looks deceptively simple, both on paper and in the flesh) was actually very complicated. The plotting of props and furniture seems to have been more complex than any previous show I've attempted. The lighting plot is more ambitious.

But it's all been worthwhile, because the show has pulled together at the last minute - as it always seems to do - and will (I hope) be a great experience for people to watch.

I've had lots of negative thoughts about this show over the time we've been putting it together - but I think they're mostly unjustified now. Though we will only know for sure in 4 days time when it's all over; when we're pulling down the set and finding out what everyone really thought...

Blimey!

Today we did our tech rehearsal. I know that's a bit of a leap, considering how long ago my last blog was.

We got-in to the theatre yesterday. Five LWB transit van loads of scenery and equipment. FIVE! I need to try and find a Luton van for next week to make it a bit easier.

So yesterday was a very long day for everyone, but we got most of the set up (enough working doors, etc, to do a run on Sunday night). Then back in first thing this morning to finish off more stuff and start tech-ing around 4pm. Amazingly we started our stagger cue-to-cue run only 10 or 15 mins late. And finished around 4.5 hours later.

Not a bad result. We'd already spent an hour or so plotting the lights for Act One, so we managed to plot Act Two as we went along.

I have to say, the actors are amazingly patient and showed great forbearance during this run. And I'm sure that their efforts are going to be worthwhile because the set, costumes and props look marvellous under the lights.

I am slightly concerned that we will have sticky moments on a couple of the scene changes because they are more complicated than anything that I remember our group attempting before - that's the peril of using two revolves in your scene design I guess!

Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal. I'm very confident that the show is going to work and will hang together well. I'm really looking forward to it - and at the same time dreading that it's almost over...

Cracked It

With the help of my ever patient actors, stage manager and props lady, I've managed to fix an awkward scene transition which has been bugging me for, oh, about 10 weeks! And all because I decided that we needed one less door than was really needed. But I think our solution is elegant, theatrical and neat though.

I've also tidied-up some issues with Lisette and the Coachman (much better now) and dialled-back the 'business' with Weinberl and Christopher, which was just not working - mainly because it was too contrived and not truthful. It's looking a lot better now.

One more run to come on Thursday before we get-in to the theatre on Sunday. Yikes! I'm going to try and look at the big picture instead of fussing over the details (as I tend to do). Now we need to make sure we're telling the story clearly.

I think it's going to be a cracking show. I'm getting tired now though and I'll be glad when the curtain goes up on Wednesday. The next 7 or 8 days are going to be hard work...

Ticking Over

A week to go until get-in. We've just had our now traditional all-day rehearsal which we have at this stage of the production. It's a chance to get a couple of runs under our belts, in more relaxed circumstances than an evening session allows, along with introducing the actors to costumes, sound effects, music and performance props for the first time.

I also took the opportunity to plan the scene transitions. Something that will have to be very slick in the show if it is to run with a good pace.

I'm now happier than I have been at any time since we started rehearsing. There are still parts of the show that could be paced-up (and I need to find ways of nudging performance levels up in those places) but I can see that overall we will have a fantastic show when the curtains open in (gulp) less than 10 days time.

The set is (please!) close to being ready - thanks to Alan, our designer, and my Dad, who have both been putting in loads of time during the week. Just a few bits of finishing-off this week - oh, and one major bit of build at the last minute!

This time next week I'll be just about rolling in after 12 hours work in the theatre getting the set in and ready, followed by a run-through with the cast on the stage for the first time. A week! Not long to go now.

Better sell some tickets!

Run run run

From now on we're concentrating on running each act - either separately, or the whole play together. This is the time when the pacing becomes important and we see if the individual parts of the piece we've constructed will all work together. I think they should.

I also sat down with the script this afternoon and worked out how each scene change was going to work. I think that we shouldn't have any problems. There are two changes in Act 2 which are nagging at me a little - there's a lot to move around and, as the play goes on the pace increases, so the amount of time needed to change the set diminishes. If we take too long (say 30 secs instead of 20) then it kills the play stone dead. I'm sure we'll work it out between now and the opening night (which is only 22 days away now!). The fact that I know that it's a potential issue means it won't be an awful shock at the dress rehearsal.

Working through the script like that also allowed me to fine tune a couple of scenes which were giving me cause for concern. I'll work on them with the cast before our Act 2 run on Thursday.

And I did myself a favour by choreographing the walk-down this afternoon. That's the bit after the end of the play when everyone takes a bow. It needs to be slick, smooth and (in my opinion) fair - we've got an ensemble piece and I'm not a huge fan on giving the 'main' actors the biggest applause. So I worked out a nice way of getting everyone onstage 3-at-a-time and then mixing up the line after the first bow. Much fairer on everyone like that, I think.

Sell, Sell, Sell!

Oh, I'm rubbish aren't I? It's been over a month since my last post. I've meant to sit down and write something before now, but I've never known what to write.

Rehearsals have been going very well - characterisations are great, the shape of the play is good, and we're well on the way to getting the right pace.

I've not had the same personal connection to the production that I've had in past shows. I think that's down to my personal circumstances, because the cast and the rest of the crew are putting in a huge effort, as usual.

Whatever the reasons, it's now only 3 weeks until get-in, so we're beginning the final push. From next week on we're running each act, or the whole play, over and over - tweaking the pacing and adjusting everything until it works like clockwork. It's now that the frustrations and hard work turn into something tangible.

Of course, while I'm now feeling much happier with the performance side of things, it's the time that we start the difficult job of getting the lights, sound, props, costumes and scenery over the final hurdles.

And the scenery is a major undertaking: Two (count 'em) 10-foot revolves built and we have to come up with an old-fashioned, working 'cash railway' which will also be able to be hoisted out of the way of the rotating set. In a theatre without a dedicated fly system. Hmmm...

So, a few technical challenges, but I'm confident that in just over 3 weeks, we'll have a show we can be proud of.

In the meantime, click the link over in the sidebar to buy tickets...