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
