Stage managing part 1

So this is going to need at least to blogs to cover all this.

So there is this popular local community theater, called the Herigage Community Theater

And Ben has done technical theater there in the past.

Lately John and I have been talking about me getting back into theater. I had quit for awhile because I was settling into a new state, then I was pregnant, then I was nursing, then John got a job and I'm the only person home most of the time. But I was starting to get a bit stir crazy and its hard to make new friends (that are adults) when you're called to work in the nursery. So we had decided I was going to try doing a show this summer.

One day Ben gets a phone call, they need a tech crew for a show at the Heritage. So I talk to John and show up with Ben at rehersal. The show is called the Women and it calls for a cast of like 45 women. Thats not a very reasonable number for community theater, so they've double and triple cast people for the supporting and bit parts, cutting the cast down to about 25. All women. Ben and the director, Ross, are the only guys. Ben totally realizes the opertunity he has here and never goes to rehersal with out applying body spray and hair gel.

I think I should take an aside here and tell you first of all that theater is more than a hobby to me, its a core part of my DNA. I remember auditioning to be in Merry Poppins in about first or second grade before I ever moved to Utah the first time. I got the part but was encouraged to make the right choice after discovering many rehersals and performances would be on Sunday. I dropped the show, but the preformance bug had bitten me.

I continued to do backyard shows with anyone who was willing (these were terrible, but the costumes were usually good). And in 6th grade I did my first auditioned for the part show. I also built set and found costumes. I moved to Utah and auditioned for the fall show and didn't get a part. It was so long ago I'm ok with admitting that I was totally crushed, but not all was lost they needed people for the tech crew. Long story short: I sing, dance, and act but plenty of other people do it better than me (especially singing if it's allergy season). So after being just part of the chorus for a few shows, and having to help move scenery anyway, I found my calling behind the scenes. I still auditioned for the shows I thought would be fun to be in, but I wasn't crushed anymore because tech is my thing. I was in a few shows, and I enjoyed them, but even then I was doing a lot of tech.

And so I learned to do everything I could, and it was a blast all through up to high school graduation. And then for a truely inexplicable reason I traded all that to study biological engineering (science is a big interest to me and I'm good at it, but it doesn't get me excited the way tech does). My motivation was good, I wanted to study genetics and cancer, what with all my family history of it. So I quit theater and fought with engineering for 3 years. I finally came to my senses and dropped engineering for biology because with just a few more credits I'd be able to graduate. And I teched another show and fell in love all over again with the crazyness backstage.

So that seems like enough for this post. Later.