I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I don't think our audience enjoyed the blackout as much as these two little guys.
It sucks because the show was going really well. We had a really great audience last night...
So. I have a nice break between Cue 35 and Cue 36 and so I'm sitting there stringing together some love beads when ... Zzzzrrrrmmmmm.
(That would be the sound of all the electricity going out.)
Matt and I grab our flashlights. We head into the back room where all the dimmers are. I'm wondering if the entire building is out. My board is still running... ready to go... if we get power, we'll be right back where we left off. I won't have to wait for my board to reboot. And that's a cool thing, thanks to our awesome lighting designer and the backup battery thing we have hooked up to the board.
But it doesn't come back up immediately. And the battery back up thing starts beeping at me. Scott stops the cast and tells everyone to sit tight. I follow him out, to see if the rest of the building is out - and sure enough it is. Security is up there with us. They call the Wash U maintenance people... Scott calls Ameren.
It's going to be awhile.
We all go out back to have a smoke, while the cast is leading the audience in song. Chris is one of the first people to notice that the neighborhood behind the soccer field is also out of power. By this time I think we all knew that we weren't going to finish the show.
This is confirmed by Ameren, who says that the power will be out until 2:30am (this means 6am in real person time). Wash U police informs us that someone hit an electricity pole down the street.
Hey thanks, A-Hole.
So, Mike and I go to Ciceros with Dave (the bass player) and his girlfriend Kella... probably two of my favorite people. We have a good time. Have some drinks. Eat a bunch of fried food.
But anyway. I'm about to do some laundry. Mike and I are all out of black.
I just wanted to post about our blackout and apologize.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Peace and Love,
Blackout
It's amazing how normally we would be one week from closing week... and we still plenty of time left. I haven't grown sick of Hair yet and I'm pretty sure I won't. I still see new things every night that amuse me, make me think... there are things that I understand better - like the plot, the characters... It's such an amazing experience.
I'm almost running the show without my prompt book. I know by the end of the run I'll be able to run the show without even opening it up.
I almost posted last week about my little break down at work Sunday night. I think Hair has opened my eyes to see the anger and hatred all around me. It sickens me how humans have no respect for other humans. I won't get into a huge rant... but it did make me feel better getting it all out on to paper. Maybe I could burn it or something.
Mom's coming to see the show on Friday. She's came to a couple of our shows... Superstar, Grease, High Fidelity. She LOVED High Fidelity. I'm pretty sure she won't understand this one and she'll probably be asking Dennis a load of questions through the entire thing... But I know she'll think it was amazing. This is the woman who took me to see Rent when I was fourteen and taught me all the cuss words I know. I love you, Mom!
I thought I had more stuff to say. I guess that's it. I'll return in a few... maybe.... probably.
Peace and love!
-Blackout
I apologize for not updating in quite some time. Hell week consumed the majority of my time... as well as picking up some extra shifts at work. BUT Hair is now opened and I've had three days off of work... so I'm feeling quite wonderful.
Everything about the show is very ritualistic. I have a ritual, the tribe has a ritual... It's very comforting. I get there around six o'clock (give or take) and I start my ritual. I think it'd be pretty boring to walk through details...
The hardest part for me is to not get into the world of the show. Mattman (my booth brother) agrees with me. We both find it extremely difficult to not get sucked into the show and totally forget about our cues. I haven't let that happen yet... I've been pretty good... but it's damn hard.
The show is pretty intense. I hope everyone gets a chance to see it. It really is an experience. And I'm so happy that I get to help make it happen.
I'll be back soon.
Peace and Love,
Blackout
So we all gathered yesterday to lay down some color. TLove brought some awesome donuts and Todd brought some... inspiration.
We all picked a piece of the floor to work on - that way it would look consistent... or as consistent as hippie art can be. I'm not sure why I went straight to the earth. I drew it out last week and was quite embarrassed by my lack of knowledge for geography. Saudi Arabia is definitely not in the correct place but... whatever. The altar will cover most of Africa, anyway.
So. For some reason, I went back to my earth on the floor and decided to tackle the color on it. O.M.G. It took forever. I went home looking like a smurf from leaning all over the blue paint but it looks really cool so far. I'll have to finish it later.
But everyone did such a great job with the paint. Even Scott picked up a paintbrush... Sparger brought Little Sparger and he was painting out some really cool planets for us. I had forgotten what the planets even look like (besides the huge earth I was painting...) but this little guy knew exactly what color and texture they were... I think we have a Jupiter and Mars... maybe a Neptune. I don't think Pluto made the cut. He is, afterall, no longer a planet.
Afterwards, they all gathered at Todd's for BBQ and swimming. I had to go home and take a nap cuz I had to work midnights. (Yeah. Lame. I know.)
Days before that, I met with Ken to help him with some of the lighting stuff. We are spending more on bringing in our own dimmer system than renting lights... which sucks. But I cannot believe how we are just creating this entire dimmer system so we can have a digital board. Hopefully it works and I won't have to run the show on the ancient two scene board that they have now. The ladder we bought is kind of creepy... cuz it's an extension ladder and bounces a bit. It will take some getting used to. The minute a lamp goes out, I'll climb up it with no problem...
Um Ummm Um. What else? Line notes start on Monday. I'm sure the cast simply cannot wait until I start harassing them about things they mess up.
I went down to the Loop the other day. Bought some incense cones and rolling paper from Sunshine Daydream and left them tons of postcards on the window sill. Then I walked down to the smoke shop and bought all our stuff to make the joints. Cost us about $120 for the entire trip... which is a lot of money... but I bought enough stuff to make about 350 - 400 fake joints. The hippy guy at the smoke shop said to use tea bags for the fake pot. I tried it when I got home... doesn't work man. It just doesn't work. I felt like I was smoking sand.
But I put the mix together... mostly. I had to get some different brands (they didn't carry a type of shwag that we use) but it will work out fine. Maybe if I get the apartment cleaned up I'll have everyone over on Thursday to help roll out some fatties.
And that's what I've been up too. I've been unable to sleep today and I've been making more love beads, which are not technically love beads because they are way too freaking big to be actual love beads... Maybe I'll glaze them tonight while at work. "Emergency 911, uh... hold on... I have Sculpey Glaze dripping down my arm..."
That's all I have for now. I'm so proud of the cast. You guys rock.
Peace and Love,
Blackout
We are in the new space!!!
Saturday morning, I stumbled out of bed and drove to the old CBC school off Clayton Rd which is now owned by Wash U.
And nobody else was there.
I circled the parking lot... a couple times... cuz it was fun, then decided to go see if there was another entrance somewhere. I was fairly sure that I was at the right place... after all, my little brother attended the school and I remembered dropping him off there once.
After driving around for a bit, I drove over to Breadco and they were obnoxiously busy. So I drove back to the parking lot and to my surprise there was a Jeep parked near the hidden staircase that leads to the back door.
I forgot that Todd owns a Jeep.
Anyway, after finding Todd, I went on a run to QT (one of the evils of the world) for some much needed coffee and some ice for Todd's cooler.
I returned and carried in some wood... I hate how people think I can't lift things because I can. In fact, my chest acts as a really nice shelf and aids in the carrying of heavy items... Possibly the only thing it's good for.
Zak, Nikki, Rachel and Scott showed up and we got to work. We built the set and erected it (teehee). Lots of work. Todd is a great teacher and leader. He works at a very fast pace while very laid back and easy going. His students are very lucky. We had a collection of sixties music which was played while we worked and we all brought in stuff to snack on. It wasn't a bad day. Tons got accomplished. It was very satisfying.
On Sunday, I stumbled out of bed and had to go to Sonic for some breakfast... They make a really great frozen coffee drink that is like ice cream... and also very bad for you, I'm sure. I met Scott and Todd at the Storage space and then Scott and I headed back to the theater while Todd stopped at Lowes for some more wood.
Nikki, Rachel, Zak, TLove, T.M., Ryan, Sparger, and (eventually) Lawson (Sorry if I missed someone... let me know) came in and we started the painting, as well as some more work on the set - like setting up the fire pole. Right now, everything is painted white... like a page in a coloring book. Next weekend, we're going to start coloring and adding in detail. It's going to look awesome.
I'm going to try to figure out how to add the pictures taken from my phone...
And tonight we ran the entire show. Matt the sound guy came in to watch... as well as Ken, our lighting designer. Ken's got some great ideas brewing... He brought up 4,000 xmas lights. I think he said 4,000. It was two boxes worth... I can't wait to see everything come together.
As for the space, I really like it. It's got a ton of seating but the audience is still very close. It's very open and the booth is nice. Two huge dressing rooms, each having it's own bathroom. I think this place will work very nicely.
Watching the show, or even just going to rehearsal, has been so good for me. I've been going through a lot of stupid shit at work, at home... At rehearsal, I'm able to step away from it all... In a way, I'm at a point in my life where I feel a lot like how Claude feels... Sort of re-evaluating your life. Seeing what's important. What makes you happy. What you want to do. I think being apart of Hair is helping me do that.
God knows what the outcome will be.
But anyway. This is my long post. More to come later. I'm going to bed.
With Love,
Blackout
It's really coming along.
Everyone in the cast has decided on their tribe names. All are very unique...
For my name, I chose Blackout. I wanted to pick something to stick with the technical side of the show since I am one of the two techies that will be running the show.
A blackout (in theatrical terms) is when all the lights go out. The theater gets pitch black and you can't see a damn thing. When you work at New Line, there is rarely a blackout. Scott hates them. And with good reason. I think that they are often overused and totally disrupt the world, tempo, feel of the show. At New Line, the blackout has a purpose. It's rare. And it stands out.
Also, and I thought of this the other week when our entire building didn't have power one night, during a power outage... you tend to appreciate things that you normally didn't give a rat's ass about. You start to miss the A/C, the TV, the radio, the lights in the hallway. Your life gets a little more simple because you have to sit in silence and surround yourself with candles. It forces you to escape the noisy, complicated world and just embrace what you do have. I like that. And I think we should do that more often...
And lastly, a blackout (either a communication blackout or lighting blackout) was a wartime strategy. It was a deliberate cut in either light or radio communication (or both) to basically hide from the enemy. To me this shows that war was not just about killing the enemy but also how the enemy is also after you. That war isn't just about rage, power, control and just charging at the enemy... but it also contained much fear. Purposely hiding just so you can survive... I don't know... to me that's way more scary than charging at them.
Anyway, today or tomorrow, I'm going down to the loop to pick out some incense and go to the smoke shop. Todd is having a "build-in" and paint day, this weekend - which will be tons of fun... for me at least... being the tomboy that I am. I'm typing up the prop list and sending it on it's way to Scott who will pass it on to our lovely props lady, Miss Vicky.
But the show is really looking good. They gave me chills yesterday running Act II. It's going to be A M A Z I N G.
More later,
Blackout
We ran Act I in it's entirety tonight. Holy crap, this cast can remember things. There were only a couple places where they got lost. Sometimes I give them clues with ridiculous hand gestures... but they really got it. This stuff really sticks. And that's awesome because it all seems so completely random.
I've started up a prop list. Nothing too weird this time... although I'm going to have to throw a "Joint Rolling Party" so we can have a stash for the show. I can already tell that there's a lot of prep work that has to be done before the show and rolling the fakies will be just one more thing we'd have to do. I'll have to go get the stuff for our secret mix. And no, there is no real Mary Jane in it... Or is there...?
Okay. There isn't. But wouldn't that make for a trippy show?
I'm having some fun researching the props and making sure we're accurate with the times. Did you know the first Bic disposable lighter came out in 1973...?
I'm way excited that Ken is back and designing lights. He's a lot of fun to work with... totally trusting me and knowing that I am capable of doing things... I still have those pot leaf gobos from Appleweed, Ken!!
This show is going to be awesome. Yes. Awesome. You should come see it. I get to pick up sweaty underwear at intermission. Please come and support me... :0)
Okay. More later. I'm going to go make myself an Eggo.
Peace out,
Trish
Oh. My. Freaking. God.
Okay. So my computer kind of freaked out on us when we tried to install a new hard drive. There was a of couple weeks when I would go visit Mom just to check my email and eat some of her leftovers.
Then we had a sort of working computer for a few days and then poof... it decided to stop loading Windows.
Then we had this thing where we would have to press F8 when the boot up screen would come on. So, I would have literally 2 seconds to push F8 before it would finish loading on to the wrong hard drive. On a good day, I would have to restart the computer at least three times because I would forget to press F8.
And really, I didn't have much to blog about since the cast was learning music and I briefly showed up for the first rehearsal and took a little break. (But that would be a really lame excuse.)
Anyway, I'm back to blogging. And I promise I won't leave you for a prolonged period of time.
In all reality, it's taken me a bit to jump out of HiFi mode. I still have these tapes I made for people that I have to send out and I almost feel like if I move on to Hair it will be too late.
But in the past week, I've jumped back in. Coming in to record blocking. On some pages I have a TON of blocking... on others I draw a big F which basically means that the actor was told to freestyle it. Which means there's nothing specific that I should write down... until Scott tells them not to do something... at which point I make note of it.
One thing I noticed on my return was how energetic the cast was. This is a really tough show. The cast is just amazing. You can just feel this energy when you step into the room. It never dies. It's beautiful.
They are also so focused and dedicated. It's great. I'm going to love working with this group.
I'm excited about Hair. I mean, the people I work with at the PD have already labeled me "Hippie Girl." I'm not really sure how that started... Maybe it's because they're all die hard Republicans and I came in as this little college student. Maybe it's because I drive a VW beetle. Maybe they've read the pins on my purse or the fact that I sit there and make hemp bracelets to pass the time... Who knows. I'm not sure why that's my nickname at work and frankly, it annoys me just a little bit. It's not really something I'm trying to be. It's just their label created from their perception of who I am. Whatever.
I guess I'm "hippie" in the way that the "hippies" hated being called a "hippie."
I've seen the show before, years ago when WashU did it. My fiance played guitar for it. Ever since then I've been very curious about the show.
After reading the script, I realized how messed up this show is. I couldn't follow anything. I wasn't sure if there was even something to follow. The words made sense. Everything else did not.
Since we've been blocking and the show is on it's feet, I can sort of see what it's all about. It's becoming a much clearer picture than what I was thinking just reading the words off the page. It's a celebration, a gathering, a fight, a war, a dream, a really fucked up trip, a ritual, and a rally. It's all of these things and more. And the tribe just wants you to understand. That's all. They don't want to hurt anybody.
This is going to be awesome.
In my blog, I plan on updating you with all the technical stuff, as I've done with the last blogs. I also will have a "guest" blogger on here who will be able to comment from the musician side of the show... but he's unable to make a statement at this time because he's sleeping due to his really crappy midnight job that he will be resigning from in approximately one month.
And of course, I'll be sure to load it with tons of pictures, videos, links and any other goodies I find on the net.
Peace out,
Trish
I stumbled upon this a couple days ago. It's kind of freaky but I think it would be a clip that Rob, Dick, and Barry would have enjoyed.
Enjoy.
Also, I found a blog where people are sharing memories and the music that they have associated with them. Very cool. Check it out.
http://www.jamsbio.com/
So. I totally have to copy off of Scott (with his permission, of course) and blog about my top five favorite moments in the show...
Top five favorite TECH moments of the show from the P.O.V. of the SM (and in no particular order):
1. Light Cue #33. The ex-girlfriends and Rob just finished singing, "You don't represent my last best chance at a meaningful relationship and let me give you one last tip!" The lights abruptly change when Laura enters to come back for her toiletry bag and totally interupts Rob's little fantasy with his ex-girlfriends. It's a cue that I have to take without being able to see Kimi enter because the apartment flat is blocking my view. I love it because Laura totally kills his fantasy. It's sad how Rob has to snap back to reality and the abrupt light change is the most visual way which displays that. (Besides the actual physicality of Laura entering... I guess that would be the most visual... but hopefully you know what I mean.)
2. Light Cue #64. It's during "Number Five With a Bullet." Laura takes Jackie's spot on Rob's list and the ex-girlfriends are singing, "Number five with a bullet to your heeaaarrrrrt." On "heart" (that's usually when I go) the lights change into this creepy redness and Ian gets in his weird Bollywood pose and bounces like... two times... just in time for Rob to point at him and say, "What the hell is he doing here?" I like this one because it seems to set the scene for this nightmare that Rob is having. Cue #65 and Cue #66 make it even more creepier with the red lights and finally, Cue #67 (when Rob just can't take anymore) he screams "Stop! Show me no more!" I don't know... those are all funny to me and I don't reallly know why.
3. The scene change after "Terrible Things." Almost everybody is on stage watching Marie LaSalle sing her last song and I wonder if this transition looks as cool from the front as it does from the back. After Margeau's song is done, the lights change as Rob does this monologue about bringing us all up to date on why he's an asshole but while this is going on, everybody else is exiting the club. The guys go back to the record racks, the girls exit, people put mics back... it's this whole wave of movement. Everybody is moving and it's beautiful because while everyone is moving... Rob is standing still, centerstage, giving us his painfully true side of the story. It kind of reminds me of Peanut's HiFi photo of him being the only one in focus in a crowd of blurry people. It's very artsy. I love it.
4. The Conflict Resolution cues. (#132 - #141 for those who want to know). Oooooh, yes. I do have fun with these just as much as the audience has watching them. I always like the cues where the timing has to be just right. I always take four very fast beats during the black outs so everyone can reset themselves. I love how almost every night Zak gets caught mid-arm-wave for a blackout. That's probably the most fun I have pressing a button through the entire show.
5. Steve's sound effect cue when Barry enters with Klepto and TMP to sing "Turn the World Off". It's a hilarious mix of a heartbeat, evil laughter, and something else. I can only imagine how fun that would have been to create.
And those are my top 5 favorite tech moments in High Fidelity. Not as cool as Scott's top 5. But, I tried.
You thought it was over??
Oh no, my friend. THIS is not over.
What is your favorite song from High Fidelity??I have a three way tie.
"Number Five With a Bullet" sounds so great with the guitars (and did I mention that I'm engaged to the hot blonde on guitar?) and Kimi rocks.
"She Goes" I've always been a huge Aretha fan and Nikki does it right. She is spot on.
"Nine Percent Chance" - I love the lyrics. They're hilarious and pitiful and yet, Rob (and Barry and Dick) think of the percentages, small as they might be, as such a positive thing. It's funny.
I also LOVE "Laura, Laura" and the "Conflict Resolution." And the first and last numbers... Dammit. This show is just full of great music. I can't choose.
I screwed up my round 5. I lose.
Can you choose a favorite?
Hey.
I figured I'd update so Scott wouldn't yell at me.
I'm kidding. He doesn't yell. He just nags... I guess you can call it nagging.
I'm kidding again. He doesn't nag. He pleads with us through email.
Okay. He doesn't plead either.
He just asked us all nicely to update our blogs. So, I'm complying. Because he's cool... you know? And he'd definitely beat me if I didn't do what he said. Ask the others. They'll show you the shoe marks.
Ok. I'm kidding again. He doesn't beat people either.
He's probably reading this and getting really annoyed with me. Scott, I love you!! Hee hee hee. I am so annoying... I know.
Opening week is finished. Great shows. I think. I watch the show from behind. But the back of everybody's head looked really great. I was even indirectly mentioned in the KDHX review. Chris Gibson wrote, "Michael Bergfeld's lighting is well executed."
Maybe that's something they write when they don't know what else to say about a specific element... but Hey! That's my job! I execute the lights! Whooo Hooo.
I'm in a much better mood than last week. I have people (and things) to thank for this. Kimi and Katie, Mike, greasy food and chocolate, Tylenol...
Most importantly, Matt Korinko. He may be miles and miles away but still remains so supportive. He really cheered me up. I wish he could be here with us.
After the show on Saturday, we all hung out and I stayed up till 5am trying to switch my sleep pattern around. Sunday, I went over to Dad's for Father's day and gave him a gift card to Best Buy so he could buy some more crappy "B" movies which he enjoys so much. Tortured my brothers by turning on the Tony's. My family is so lame.
Worked midnights. Decided to quit one of my two jobs. This morning at 4am I drove out to North Co. and put in my two weeks. My last day is July 1st and I will be an employee of just one department... not two. My life will be a lot less complicated. Still in the process for a full-time job. That will probably take a couple more months.
And this blog just totally turned into an update of my life... not the show. Crap.
So with the SHOW...
I'm getting into my groove. I love having a routine before and after each show. I can't wait to do it all over again.
But that's about it. A friend from work taught me about the whole torrent thing and now I'm sitting here downloading megabytes and megabytes of music. It's awesome. I'm listening to In the Heights now. It's pretty damn cool.
I wonder if all this is fucking up Peanut's internet connection... if so, I'm sure I'll get a call sometime soon with him complaining that his free internet just isn't working right. Hehehe.
Kidding. You can freeload off of us anytime. Just kill the freaky bugs when Mike isn't home. That's all I ask.
... And now the whole world thinks our apartments are infested...
They're not. Stupid house centipedes. Seriously, go do a google image search for them. You'll see why I can't sleep on some nights.
I'm done rambling about stuff that doesn't pertain to the show. I'm going to go visit Mom and eat her food since we haven't gone grocery shopping in like... 2 months.
-Trish
So our preview went very well last night.
There were only two light cues that I screwed up on.
We had some mic issues last night. Really weird. They were working... only sometimes... and would come in and out. Then we couldn't hear Zak.
Steve fixed Zak at intermission and it turns out that the hand mics switched places somehow. That still doesn't explain the in and outness... hmm.
I always like to know what causes problems so we can prevent them. And when you can't figure out why something isn't working... that sucks and I continue to worry.
So while Scott and Steve talk via headset (and Steve is frantically pushing buttons and turning knobs and making the monitors in the booth go off for short periods of time so he can isolate people and making it hard for me to hear the lines that I take cues off of) I'm sitting there going, "Pay attention. I've got to pay attention. Don't get distracted. "
And of course, I end up turning to Steve to ask him something... and whoops... that was a cue right there.
The second fuck up happened when I was watching the show. Like really watching the show. And really interested in it and drawn in. Then I realize that Jeff just started a monologue that has a special. WHOOPS. That cue was... obviously... late.
Today, I'm going to try to make a danish out of cardboard and paper bags. Vicki has mentioned to do this and I totally forgot about putting something in the damn bag until the preview. Nikki held up her bag of danish and with the lights shining on it, you could totally tell that there was, indeed, nothing in the bag.
I could just buy a damn danish and call it a day. Then I'd be able to eat a danish after the show because it would go stale and I could buy another one. Then I could eat that danish. Then I would gain like twenty pounds from eating danishes every night after the show... Fuck it.
But we open tonight. I think we're ready.
Hopefully I don't screw up anymore. The past week, I've felt like I've been doing nothing but screwing up. Not just lights. Everything I do is wrong. It's a really crappy feeling that I hope goes away soon.
Okay. My body needs some chocolate. Brownies for breakfast, anyone?
-Trish
Caution. This will be a very long post.
Lots has happened since my last post. Especially with the tech side... In fact, almost everything technical has come together to collide. So let me try to think back.
We had load in which was... interesting. I've never worked in the space before. I knew what things had to get done but I wasn't familiar with anything in the space. Everything moved along very quickly which was kind of frustrating to me. One person would learn how to do something and just start bossing people around. The much more organized and efficient way would have been to have a couple of people in different areas so more than one person is learning how to put crap together. We could have worked as a team but like I said... Everything was moving so fast and some people (not from New Line) seemed to be in a fucking hurry to get the hell out of dodge... so whatever. We got it done. Now that I know what happens, perhaps strike will be a little more organized. Poor New Line has been a bit nomadic, so we'll have have to start all over again when we move to the Ol' CBC place.
Next we had a couple rehearsals in the theater. I sent off my last line notes this weekend. The cast has been doing incredibly well taking the line notes and trying to correct themselves.
Then on Saturday, we had our Cue to Cue. Just like with the load in... I had absolutely no idea how this was going to work. It's up to the designer and where he is in his design. Whenever I do get used to a particular designer and how he works Cue to Cue, we go and have a new guy come in for the next show. We've had C2Cs where the designer actually writes the cues. We've had C2Cs where the designer goes through the show and edits. I think this is the first C2C that I actually ran the light board. I had a dry tech with Michael and then we ran through Act 1. We had a lunch break while he fixed some things and then we ran Act 2. I wish I could tell you how the design looks but unfortunately with the way the booth sits... I get to watch the show from behind... Very weird.
Excuse me for a minute... I have to figure out why this CD is deciding to skip while I'm trying to tape the damn thing...
As I expected. There is nothing wrong with the CD. Stupid CD player... I'll explain in a bit. Where was I?
Oh yeah. So with the way we've got the box set up, I am in the corner completely opposite of the band. It's very weird. At first, I was worried about being able to hear them. K. Well, that's no longer a worry. Phew.
And then yesterday, we had the sitzprobe. My lovely fiance (one of the two guitar players) wakes up fifteen minutes late. I'm trying to get some props together and battle him for being the first to take a shower (I win). We load up the car with his two guitars, an amp, music stand, his music, my backpack, a bag of ten or so beer bottles, and a strip of cardboard that I had spray painted black two hours prior. We're on Forsyth when my phone rings. It's ten till 1pm. If we were really good we would have been there twenty or thirty minutes ago. It's Scott. I answer the phone with, "We're on Forsyth." I can already tell that he's starting to get stressed.
The sitzprobe. Hum. It got off to a slow start because Steve (my adoptive little bro who is and will always be the New Line baby) was trying to figure out how to get Jeff to come through the band's monitor. I'm sure he was trying to figure out how things were hooked up. Being in a totally new place takes some getting used to... but once you figure it out, everything seems to fall into place.
But anyway, time is ticking away. Scott knows this. He knows how much work there is to be done. The cast is bored. Things are taking a long time. The band is trying to figure stuff out. The whole process is kind of painful... but not too painful... It's painful like - I want to say like ripping a band-aid off but I know some people like to do it really fast and get it over - No, this was like going really slow so it hurts just a little but it takes a really long time to get through it. And when you finally do get through it... you're good.
Me? I laid low the entire time. I spent most of my time underneath the risers setting up the prop table and Xmas lights. Kimi and I also put up our makeshift air vent cover. So now, the back row won't be blasted with cold air during the show and the actors below have a nice stream that they can step into while waiting to go on.
Although, you can still feel it if you're sitting in the two last rows on the stage right side. So, if you sit there... bring a jacket.
And the band sounds great. This show is going to sound like a rock concert. I asked Mike how he liked his partner (the second guitarist) and he says that he's awesome. Thank God. Mike can sometimes be pretty picky when it comes to playing guitar. And Jim has played with New Line before... He frightened me during Urinetown as the trombone player. He was awesome... but I have a fear of trombone players... possibly related to my fear of robots. Playing the trombone looks very robotic to me... Okay. I'm rambling. Anyway, Jim is a lot less frightening as a guitar player. :0)
Anyway. We got through it. Scott didn't kill anybody. I've actually seen him at his worst... maybe it was his worst... the Ivory was a nightmare.
Lastly, poor Chris Peterson! That poor guy went like... a whole five hours without having a cigarette. And Holy Christ was he doing a great job of not lashing out due to lack of nicotine. You wouldn't of even known it 'til he stood up after sitzprobe ended and excused himself to go take a -much needed- cigarette break.
And that pretty much brings us up to date. As Rob would say. Right now, I'm winding down after working midnights, where I spent most the night rewriting the light cues in my prompt book (It was dead out there last night). Having myself a black cherry rum and coke. Which would explain the fragmented sentences and bad grammar and random punctuation... Aw, who am I kidding... I hate grammar and I like random punctuation. I'm putting together the preshow music. Yes, I actually found a job to steal from Scott so that he can do other things of more importance. So after work this morning, I went to Walmart (I know. Ew. It was the only place open at 7am that sells cassette tapes) and get this... I had to actually ASK where the blank tapes were. It's virtually an extinct form. There was only one brand and they came in a pack of five for about seven dollars.
And I'm going to go do some laundry. I need to get some clean black shirts... I'll need 'em this week. And maybe some dishes. Then I'll join the fiance in the bedroom and take a little nap until it's rehearsal time.
I'll make sure his ass is on time... Well, we have to drive separately anyway because he'll have to leave for work.
Alright. Congrats if you've read this entire thing. I'll write more later.
... I love this Beastie Boys song...
Peace out,
Trish
Nobody cares about my game anymore.
Oh, well. I'm still going to play.
Name a guilty pleasure that you sing in the shower or in the car.Mine is "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears. Oh. Yes.
Ok. YOUR TURN.
Leave me a comment.
Please?
You can be anonymous.
It can be a dirty song...
I don't care.
Really.
Okay?
Ready?
1, 2, 3, GO.
No?
Fine. I win!!!
Whoooooooooooooooooo!
-Trish
Okay. So, I have this computer training class that my work sends me to. I whine about it but it isn't so bad. I have to sit there and listen to these people teach other people shit that I've been doing over and over and over again for four years. Then we have to take a test. I get paid for it. And it's way closer to my apartment... I get an hour lunch break and 4 fifteen minute breaks.
But the whole building is big on the security thing. We have to wear these stupid badges and ring the intercom to enter and they have to unlock not one, but two doors to let us through. Even the police departments I work for isn't this secure.
Anyway. I'm there with my co-worker and we're bored shitless. They even took solitaire off the damn computers. I bring my little Nintendo DS, but that only keeps me busy for a half hour.
But (Praise God), my co-worker has somehow obtained an employee's user name and password for the Internet. So, there's this little piece of paper with this guy's user name and password being passed around between the people in the back row. Only problem is only one person can be on the Internet at a time.
Anywho. That's how I got to send my nine pages of line notes. Yeah. Nine. It's ridiculous and the cast is doing fantastic.
I mean, these are really tedious line notes. Like, you said "good" instead of "nice."
Or you said "won't" instead of "don't."
So, they are not screwing up everywhere... it's just really fucking specific.
I almost feel like they know when I'm about to make a line note. Like, I don't know if they watch me... but last night, I could swear that Jeff saw me put my pencil down to circle something and totally corrected himself before I could do anything.
I'll try to stay on top of things. When we did Urinetown, I would get behind and end up sending line notes like ten minutes before rehearsal started. Matt Korinko would want to shoot me because he would check his mail on his damn phone and get those line notes... right before rehearsal started.
Korinko really loved his line notes.
Weirdo. :0)
I hope it does end up helping those that actually read them.
That's all I have for now. I'm going to go post Round 4 of my game.
- Trish
Ok. I think I lost a lot of people for round 2. Thankfully, Joel, Margeau and Katie were brave enough to share! You guys rock. Katie might be on to something with the prize thing.
Round 3 will be easier.Name a song that contains lyrics that you do not understand.
This could be anything... like maybe you know it's a story and you don't know what it's about. Or maybe it's in a different language. Or maybe there's some off-the-wall phrase that they put in there that came out of nowhere.
Just name any song that you want to go up to the artist and say, "What the hell does that mean?" Or "Does this mean what I think it does?" Or "Does this have any meaning?"
Mine will be Come Together by the Beatles... I mean, come on. Those boys were smoking something...
Here come old flattop, he come grooving up slowly
He got joo-joo eyeball, he one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker he just do what he please
He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football
He got monkey finger, he shoot coca-cola
He say "I know you, you know me"
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free
Come together right now over me
He bag production, he got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knee
Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease
Come together right now over me
He roller-coaster, he got early warning
He got muddy water, he one mojo filter
He say "One and one and one is three"
Got to be good-looking cos he's so hard to see
Come together right now over me
I wish Lennon was still alive. I'd totally write him and ask, "Dude. Wtf?"
Your turn!
-Trish
It's been awhile.
Sorry about that. I've been battling my air allergy and have not been able to breathe or hear properly for a good three weeks now. I hate mold. In fact, that's like the only thing I have been able to smell lately... everywhere.
But we are totally finished blocking. I drew some rather interesting stick figures to help remember some of the poses in "Crying in the Rain." And my records have been utilized, sorta. Sometimes we discover things that I failed to write down. Which sucks.
My job at rehearsal now is to follow along in the book and be there immediately when someone calls "line." I've been doing pretty good, so far. Especially if you consider the fact that I may have a slight case of ADD and sometimes I get distracted and want to watch the show.
Act I went okay. Act II was better. Starting next week, I'll become the Line Nazi (mwuhahaha) and take down meticulous line notes whenever they paraphrase, call line, or use words other than what's written in the script. Scott has mentioned to them that what is written is sacred... ... ... so yes. The line notes will be coming next week.
Amy came in and dressed everybody for PR pics. Michael, the lighting designer has been by to watch the blocking. Vicki has her prop list. And I think David and Jeff are doing their own thing...
That's pretty much it for the tech stuff. For now, anyway.
More to come later!
-Trish
Thank you to Scott, Margeau, Katie, Lori, Smoore, and Amanda who all participated in Round 1!!
Ok, round two might be tough.
Name a song that holds some sort of great significance in your life.
Deep, I know. You don't have to say "why" or even submit lyrics... You can if you want too.
I hope I didn't scare anyone away with this one. Also, I've set up my comments settings to allow anyone to leave a comment. You don't have to be signed up at the blog thing. You may even submit a comment anonymously.
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Mine is a song by Catch 22, an awesome ska band. It's called "As the Footsteps Die Out Forever." I think there are only a couple people from New Line that can figure out why this song means a lot to me...
she was diagnosed on a friday
the kids were almost home
the kids were on their way back home from school
lying faced down in the gutter
of unaccomplished dreams and broken memories of things to come
sorry ma'am i really am
i have to break the news
i have to make the phone call
to tell you that you're due you know where
and i'll tell you when
and i suggest that you start living the next three weeks the best that you can
every night for three long weeks
she'd roam the hallways half asleep
and as the footsteps fade away
in my mind i can swear i can swear i heard her say
don't wait for me
i got a lot to do
i got a lot to be
and in the end maybe i'll see you there
lost her strength on a saturday
spent the day in bed
yeah i'm fine it's just the flu she said
with a smile
but when they turned their backs
the tears would flow
she knew she only had a while
to live
to breathe
to be
to see
to bleed
to stand on her own two weakened feet
and so i prayed
every day
"don't take my mother away"
every night for three long weeks
she'd roam the hallways half asleep
and as the footsteps fade away
in my mind
i can swear i can swear i heard her say
don't wait for me
i got a lot to do
i got a lot to be
when in the end maybe i'll see you there
Much has happened since my last update. The cast is done with their music rehearsals and I have returned to record blocking. Although, I wasn't very focused tonight because I got a call right when rehearsal started from some women who said I won a three day/two night trip to the Bahamas or some shit. Mike and I have to go to some thing Saturday morning and I think they are going to try to sell us some really expensive cookware. Soooo... I'm not sure how good the deal is. We'll have to see.
Anyway. Hifi. It's begun, my friends and there's no stopping us.
Scott showed us computer generated pictures of the set-to-be. It really looks fantastic. Nothing extravagant (from what I hear and read from the reviews of the New York production... people kept pointing out how beautiful the set changes were... wtf?). High Fidelity shouldn't get an outrageous set. It doesn't need one. The show itself is so well written that the audience doesn't need huge clues pointing to where and why the characters are there. And sometimes, setting doesn't matter. Some of the scenes are pure fantasy or memories and flashbacks. It's so much more real to place them in a set that doesn't really define a specific location. For example, one scene is supposed to be set in a gym. The scene could take place anywhere. They could be waiting for the subway or having a cup of coffee. If you have a memory of something, something that you care more about what happened than where you were, you aren't necessarily going to remember the setting. You'll remember what was said, what action is taking place. And I think that our set will be more successful at grasping that idea by playing it down.
David and Jeff are great set designers. Everything is going to be mobile (whoo!) and they've incorporated a really cool idea that reflects the theme of the show and it will distinguish the main settings without overdoing it. Also, I LOVE how they recycle the set pieces. In one scene it's one thing, in the next it's something else. They did this for Assassins and I thought it was so efficient.
I made up a prop list which Scott quickly sliced up... Neatly and effortlessly... kind of like a sushi chef. He hates props and tries to go with the absolute minimum, so I knew there was a lot of stuff on there that we didn't actually need. Thank god. Nothing too outrageous (like 7 real guns that I have to clean every night :0) ) ... except for some banana pakora. Damn you, Ian and your weird ass Indian food.
Amy (the costume designer) has been in and out... doing her thing... ... ummmm...
Yeah. That's about it for the tech stuff, I think.
I'm still needing to get the rest of my stage managing stuff together. I need to do this soon... Work is kicking my ass and I've been recruited as the light board op for Hydeware's Caucasian Chalk Circle (by the way, go see it! Margeau is in it! And it's funny!). But sometime this week, I'm going to get all that stuff together. I was so organized for Sex, Drugs...
And returning to the Ivory with another company has been a bit weird. I couldn't help but feel lost and kind of sad without my New Line family. There is a stage manager, Jamie, who calls the show... so I get to play Brain Age on my Nintendo DS for two hours. Not at all like New Line shows where I have to be fully involved (and focused) on the production. Some advice to theatre companies - if you want to save money, make your stage manager run the light board. It is possible. You get rid of the middle man. If you don't tour and you don't have a trillion things happening during a production... it really makes it less complicated. At least, that's how I see it. I don't think anyone else in St. Louis does it New Line's way... Oh well.
We've had a couple dance rehearsals. Robin's choreography kicks ass. Recording blocking for the dances can get quite complicated but I'm sure it will be utilized. Katie groped Jeff's balls last Sunday at a dance rehearsal. That was fun. To watch. I mean... crap.
I'm kidding. I had to mention that and embarrass Katie even further. She kept wincing every time she had to "pet" Jeff with the other girls. Come on, Katie. It's not like you've never felt balls before... jeez.
But it's been great fun! Stay tuned for Round Two of my game! Whooooooo!!
-Trish
I'm proposing a game.
But I'm going to need your help.
A couple times a week, I'm going to post a topic or a question. The object of the game is to leave a comment with a song that would answer that specific question.
I think it will make more sense once we get started. I'd love to give away prizes but I have no idea how I would do that.
Ok. Are you ready??
In honor of our lovely little earthquake this morning, name a song that is either about or contains a natural disaster...
Don't be shy. It will be fun!
Here, I'll start. Bob Dylan's "Black Diamond Bay" - That contains everything from storm clouds to lightning to a volcano erupting.
Your turn!
-Trish
Ok. So... Welcome to my HiFi blog! I'm the stage manager and I updated my bio a little bit ago... That's on the ... left ... side of this page (I think). In the spirit of High Fidelity, I've also added some google "gadgets" (they sounded a lot more fun than they actually are...). But, they are also on the ... left... side of the blog. I added a lyrics search and also a little thingy that brings up new releases in the music world.
I've also added links to the six other bloggers. Check them out. I'm pretty sure their blogs will kick my blog's ass.
I thought I had a cool idea when I was going to include top five songs every post about random topics but Katie beat me to it.
Then I thought about taking really funny pictures with my camera phone... but that's just lame ... and Katie has a camcorder and she has some amazing software to put together cool clips...
So screw that.
What else do I have to offer my wonderful blog audience?
Well, I am the only technical person blogging. So, I'll give you all I can give about the technical side of HiFi.
... and steal the cassette tape feature off everyone else's page... because that is such a kick ass feature.
I have been addicted to music since I bought my own computer with babysitting money when I was fourteen. My older brother is (or was...) the piracy music KING. He even has a t-shirt that says, "Sharing is Caring, Fuck the RIAA." I think the torch was passed on to my little brother who has meticulously downloaded every single eighties song ever recorded. Well, they've taught me a lot. And I have to admit, it is a hobby of mine and I do have about 12,000 songs on my computer - all neatly organized in their own folder by artist - but let me tell you something... it's the only way I have mastered the art of making mix CDs... or tapes... with my generation it's been CDs and mp3 playlists on the Ipod... that's the newest form of mixing now.
How about THAT for a run on sentence?
I love making mix CDs (Well... it's been playlists recently because my phone doubles as an mp3 player). There is definitely an art behind it. Maybe I should dig up some of my favorites and post them up here. That would be fun. I'll have to find some of them.
Meanwhile, go to www.artofthemix.org and take a look at some mix CDs that other people have submitted. You can even search a category. The site runs kind of slow. Go to "Find a Mix," wait two hours for the page to load, then click on "Search" and you'll be allowed to search for... let's say... a really cool mix for road trips. Or a break-up mix. Or a mix with all techno music.
Man, I wish the site worked better. It really is cool if you don't keep getting the system error messages.
Anyway, while the rest of the cast learns their music... I'm getting together my stage manager kit/book bag thing. Yeah, I've actually decided to be prepared for this show... More on that later.
I'm going to go clean my apartment and find some of my old mixes but I'll leave you with five songs that I love, not my favorite, I love too much to pick five all-time favorites, but this is a sampling of what I'm listening in my car right now. Enjoy.
Peace out,
Trish the SM
Top 5 Most Recent Songs Played On My Mp3 Player
1. Edgar Winter Group - Free Ride (Man, I love this song.)
2. Blue Man Group - Rods and Cones (I go eighty-five on the highway to this song...)
3. Reel Big Fish - Beer (I'm a Ska freak. I love these guys... saw them live last summer. I wish they had some other songs. I would have put on "New Version of You", "Party Down", or some older stuff... they also have a really mean version of Phil Collin's "Another Day in Paradise")
4. Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Yeah. You can start making fun of me now.)
5. Bob Marley - Jammin' (Nothing completes a mix better than some feel-good-Marley-music.
What would the soundtrack to your life sound like?
Here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend your cool.
This will be interesting. I have like over 12,000 audio files on my computer.
OPENING CREDITS: Mr. Music Master - Artie Bernstein
WAKING UP: Surrender - Evanescence
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: Rickover's Dream - Michael Hedges
FIGHT SONG: Sleeping With the Television On - Billy Joel
BREAKING UP: Could I Be You - Matchbox 20
PROM: You & I Promise - Howie Day
LIFE: Castles Made of Sand - Jimi Hendrix
MENTAL BREAKDOWN: Spade - Marilyn Manson
DRIVING: A Fine Romance - Fred Astaire
FLASHBACK: Living With a Hernia - Weird Al Yankovic
GETTING BACK TOGETHER: Advice for the Young At Heart - Tears for Fears
WEDDING: I've Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison
BIRTH OF CHILD: King Herod's Song - Jesus Christ Superstar
FINAL BATTLE: Addicted - Simple Plan
DEATH SCENE: Ordinary World - Duran Duran
FUNERAL SONG: Burn - Usher
END CREDITS: Sweet Little Rock and Roller - Chuck Berry
Wow. That's one messed up soundtrack.
