Rehearsals 2

divamum

Still having trouble doing the "split personality" (singer/'tog) and singer *must* take priority, but a few more which I grabbed at last night's tech.

For those not au fait with theatre stuff, "tech rehearsals" are both the most desired AND dreaded of rehearsals. They have little do with music making and seldom even anything to do with "art" and are designed expressly to work out the physical kinks of set, props, lighting and other technical matters. They are almost always problematic as adjusting to the stage invariably presents challenges. And yet... most of us can't wait for them to start since it means we're finally onstage for real, can start timing things for real, using real props and generally getting a feel for the actuality of the production, which even the best-measured rehearsal room can't give us in the same way.

Tech rehearsals are usually when, if it's going to happen, tempers flare (sometimes production staff, sometimes artists and as often fatique- or stress-related as anything more prosaic). It's also when the show starts to come alive, so despite the eye-rolling and groaning that always accompany the words "tech" (in anticipation of lots of standing around and problem-solving) it's also a pretty neat rehearsal, too - I'm willing to bet that many performers share my secret fondness for them, despite the tedium and fatigue

In any case, a few little vignettes.

Empty theater (I love empty theatres - so full of anticipation! I even blogged about it last season)

VIew from the pit


Maestro perches on the pit rail to get a better view while adjustments are made onstage



Director, stage manager and crew set some items while the singer waits offstage...


And waits onstage ....


And the finished "stage picture" (in street clothes, with still patchy lighting - I expect we'll have something closer to the real lighting tonight)

rutt

These are much better than the first batch! 2, 3, and 4 very interesting. 1, so what.

The last one could be your Xmas card.

divamum

rutt wrote:

These are much better than the first batch! 2, 3, and 4 very interesting. 1, so what.

The last one could be your Xmas card.

Thanks Rutt!

I wish I could claim greater insight/skill yesterday than last week, but realistically I think it's simply that theaters/stage are more intrinsically interesting than a rehearsal room (plus give more scope for angles due to the space available when there's no audience) .... it's much easier to capture something of visual interest in the house than in a room with tape on the floor

bdcolen

divamum wrote:

Thanks Rutt!

I wish I could claim greater insight/skill yesterday than last week, but realistically I think it's simply that theaters/stage are more intrinsically interesting than a rehearsal room (plus give more scope for angles due to the space available when there's no audience) .... it's much easier to capture something of visual interest in the house than in a room with tape on the floor

Very nice set! And as to Rutt's "So what?" to #1 - By itself it's nothing, but in a story, it's a nice scene setter or ender.

divamum

Thanks BD!

bdcolen wrote:

Very nice set! And as to Rutt's "So what?" to #1 - By itself it's nothing, but in a story, it's a nice scene setter or ender.

Bullseye - in addition to my own bizarre fascination with empty theatres, I wanted one of those to use as a scene-setter; ultimately, I'd like to put together a whole little photo-essay of how a show gets put together (it will likely comprise more than this one gig). So a few of those are both useful and exactly what I wanted