ep is emerging

another tech week has passed, and the shows from the kids look to be coming along better than even i had expected. working with first-time directors is about the cutest thing ever, especially since they're all teenagers. julie and i were commenting on how it's like listening to miniature versions of ourselves whenever they stop to inform us of all the mishaps and revelations and little things they're learning. that was the whole point of this project in the first place, to train younger artists on new stuff. i'm like twenty years older than the majority of the people involved in this whole hoo-ha and it's faboo! if you ever wondered why i'm such a childlike figure, it's because i spend my time hanging out with teens and being a big dork.

not too much backstage drama for the week. just an ambulance for a dehydrated panic attack, some freaked out phone calls back and forth, plenty of yelling, and a bit of new choreography. of course you know how i feel about every show needing a number, right? thank goodness someone built one into one of the scripts!

all in all, it was pretty normal except for the ambulance. all i know is that i would rather have that happen during tech than on a production night. the director of that show handled it very well, keeping levelheaded enough to both check on her actor and run back into the theatre to go on taking notes on everyone else while keeping them calm enough to finish the run that night. she even enlisted an understudy on the spot, without anyone telling her to do so, who had his lines and blocking down by the following rehearsal. who says a fourteen year old girl can't handle an emergency? she and the other directors have each had teensy problems like this and come through it with scars of honor so far. they've all done some theatre stuff before and know that shit happens so you just deal with it and fix the problem. luckily, it looks as if our poor sickly actor is fine. he asked for his script before he went to the ambulance and he was back at it the next night. talk about the show going on, huh?

the holiday weekend split up our normal tech schedule, so they have a few days away from the theatre and come back for two final dress rehearsals on tuesday. let's hope that everyone does at least a little something productive over the weekend so it isn't a massacre when we come back. to be honest, i'm kinda nervous about it being such a big break right before opening. i prolly shouldn't even worry. if i know them, then a few people will be cracking the whip so they don't get shown up as big assholes in front of the others. competition and peer pressure can be wonderful tools if used correctly.

so here is the tally:

• one cancer scare, followed by shock brought on by massive allergies, but thankfully no cancer
• one ambulance that didn't have to go to the hospital after all
• one (known) texting war
• one color-coded stage manager's book
• one near revolt by cast members
• one near revolt by project director
• one near revolt by a writer
• one "actors are jerks!"
• missed rehearsals for unknown reasons and forgetting to check email
• lateness due to stupidity and lack of scheduling and who knows what else
  
• several roles recast overall for various reasons, including health issues and quitting by text
• innumerable twitchy faces after rehearsal, especially by the stage managers
• much nagging by me and the staff

see, i told you it was all pretty average stuff. this project is a blast, even if i felt like a was going crazy here and there. and just think - we haven't even opened the show yet! who knows what others wonders await us in the upcoming week? this is gonna be so much fun, i tell you. if superstition serves to be correct, the bad humps should be out of the way and things will run smoothly. all i have to do now is sit back and wait for one of the director's nerves to induce vomiting or crying. if it's crying then they have to give everyone a dollar. oh yes, the now infamous bet continues without a loser to date. i sure hope i'm not the one to crack. that's like twenty bucks i'd lose in this deal, and i'll be needing every penny to keep me flush with my medication.


impulse purchase alert!
daria: the complete animated series
holly's birthday present
stuff to make a spice cake of love