Tech Rehearsal

Yesterday we had our technical rehearsal and though it was a long day I felt so energized when we were through. The show is in really good shape. The day began at the theatre at 8 AM for me, I had my production manager hat on and set up the video monitoring system for the conductor and the lift operator (this involved only one run to radio shack!) I also hauled the chairs and music stands for the orchestra to the stage.

The actors were called at 11:30 AM and by noon the mic checks had begun. We had a minor emergency just before we were to start - the lift stopped working. Ann called in the elevator repairman (I think his name is Carl or St. Saves the Day) and he had the lift working in no time. By 4:30 PM we had teched through the first act. We had added in microphones, costumes, lights, and Christmas trees all at the same time and the cast handled all of the additions with aplomb.

After dinner break we added the orchestra and started back at the top of the show. We were able to run the first act straight through with Barry (Sound Designer) mixing the orchestra, voices and sound effects on the fly. That left us 3 1/2 hours to tech the second act which we did with 15 minutes to spare!

The composer, Julie Shannon, was at the rehearsal last night. Her husband Bill brought a bunch of microphones that he is loaning to us for miking the orchestra and that made a huge difference! Julie seemed overjoyed at the production. I think the audiences will love it too!