Crew Watch

We started a little bit late today, I mean with a roughly 7:30 start. It was crew watch, and also the night of the Senior Showcase auditions. I felt bad for the crew since their call time was at 6 and they basically just had to sit there for an hour and a half. While I was attending the Senior Showcase auditions, I had the cast set up the stage, including all their props, check their props, and run over any problem spots within the script that they were still having some trouble with, whether it was with blocking or with lines. According to Ryan, they were actually pretty productive. I am happy that I am working with a group of people that does not need constant micromanagement in order to get things accomplished. Sometimes I feel bad for Ryan, since I am the type of person that loves having all my ducks in a row, and knowing that all my ducks are in a row, I am constantly bombarding him with questions. I know that he has everything covered and under control, but I like knowing for myself nonetheless. As a stage manager myself, those questions pop into my head, even though I know it is not my job. One of the other reasons why I ended up starting the run a little late, was because I wanted Kenn to be able to see it, since he was going to New York with the cast of An American Hero and since he is not only my advisor for this project, but also on my committee for my BFA project, I wanted him to be able to see the show at least once. I also wanted his opinion and advice on how to make it better. After sitting and discussing it with him while the cast put away the props and set pieces, we sat down for notes. One of the things that needed to be improved on was the fact that they seemed like they were too repressed. They were not having enough fun and they were not drinking enough to get to that point. These are all outrageous personalities, and they need to have fun with each other. One of the ways that we can improve on that is make sure that they are all listening to each other. If they are continuing to react to each other in real time as things happen, they will have more fun with it and feed off each other more. They claim that they will do better with an audience, but if they cannot support each other, an audience will not help. Their energy needs to come from their side of the fourth wall. When I told them that they were acting too repressed and to have more fun, they almost took it as they were not good. They are doing really well, we just have a few more things we can make better in the coming week before we open. I am so proud of all the work that the entire production has put into this show. Working on a production like this reminds me of why I do this. I want to bring my art and my craft to other people. One of my favorite things in this world is to make other people happy, and I discovered one of the ways that I could do that was through theater. That is why I was so grateful for the opportunity to do this show.