The company of RAIN after our final performance
As soon as Rain finished, things seemed to get crazier, even though there was not much going on...if that makes any sense at all...It probably doesn't, but I digress. Anyway. During my "week off" (the quotation marks will make sense in a moment) I spent a great deal of time (SURPRISE) working.
Because of the rigorous production schedules here, we all end up helping out other departments whenever the need arises. Because I did not have production duties the week of July 12th, I ended up being sent to Company Management as well as the props department.
With Company Management, I ended up once again helping to set apartments for the various artists that would be coming to stay with us in the coming weeks. Even though most of that day was spent indoors, I somehow still manage to get a nice farmer's tan in the 10 minutes I spent outside. Gotta love my Wisconsin roots!
For the rest of the week, I spent my time working with the props department. Probably my biggest takeaway from my time there was that I am not cutout to work in the world of props and I commend those that have chosen it as their career path. The show that we were working on was entitled The Light Years, a piece that had been workshopped by the group The Debate Society for a couple summers at NYSAF and was finally receiving a fully realized production. The piece alters between the 1893 and 1933 Chicago World's Fairs, meaning that there were a great deal of period props that were required to make the show look as authentic as possible.
Because not many people just have artifacts from the 1890s-1930s lying around in their living rooms, there was a great deal of time spent making the necessary items for the production. Since the show had a great deal to do with lights (shocker, I know) most of my week was spent creating various versions of electrical cabling to look as though it was from 1893. Let me tell you, if I never see another light cable from that time period again, I'll be content. Even when I saw them used in the production, a part of my soul fell away........totally kidding.....maybe...
Perhaps the one beneficial thing of spending the week with props was that for the better part of that week, it was hot as Hades outside, with temperatures reaching the 90s. It made me glad to not have to be running back and forth between buildings all day long.
Also during that week, I had the opportunity to see two of the shows that we were producing. The first was a musical entitled Loving v. Virginia, based on the landmark court case regarding interracial marriage. The musical has had some previous workshops and is still in its working stages, so I will be curious to see what comes of the work. The other production was a workshop presentation entitled The Last Match which depicts a high-intensity tennis match between both Russian and American tennis superstars, offering a glimpse into their lives and relationships, and the moments that define them. The piece, like Rain, will also be presented in a fully realized production at San Diego's Old Globe this coming winter.
After a week of working on props, I had a day off which, in my opinion, happened on the most beautiful day of the summer, but maybe I just think that, because it was my day off. I started the day off by sleeping in until about 12:00 and then just laying in bed indulging in some Will & Grace reruns on DVD. Then I made myself some lunch and decided to spend some time outside, so I changed into some comfortable summer clothes, grabbed a blanket, my music, and my sunglasses and just sat outside under a tree and read my book (the same book I've been working on for about three years now: In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson). After soaking up some sun, I went to the gym, and then went out for our weekly SMIntern dinner at BurgerFi. It was a perfectly marvelous day and a great way to start off my prep week for my final show, Noir which I will be talking about in the next installment! Until next time!
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