Start of Tech Week

Tech week is here already! Wow...time has FLOWN by!

Costumes are all here and accounted for as of today with one exception-the Silly Girls.  Although, ideally, they would match but be slightly different, they may have to settle for bows in thier hair instead of matching costumes because of the lack of my particular resources...I'm hoping for something relatively CLOSE and to add matching bows and/or sashes around thier waist or something.

On Friday and today we did our first run-throughs of the show!  The scene changes need some tweaking and quickening up, but other than that I really do think we are starting to have a show *knocks on wood*

The actors all know their lines, dances, and even thier songs!  I think this may be a tech week where I really do allow myself to focus on the tech week and minor details...

For notes, I have created a sort of mash-up of techniques.  For the younger ones, now that we are into tech week, I am letting them do their show without any interuptions unless it is a major problem (which we haven't had so far) and the older ones get the little slips of paper at the end of the rehearsal.  I'm not sure how well they will work, but even if the older ones don't respond well to the notes, we still have a completed show at this point and everything would work out fine.

I am once more amazing at the willingness of others to want to help with the production of this show...a pair of volunteers offered a while ago to tackle Maurice's invention, and today I was able to see the final product-and man!  It is truly incredible!!  It makes noise, lights up, and even blows bubbles!  The best part: for the "breaking" we have a small bottle of silly string that shoots into the actor! (Safely, of course)  It amazes me that anyone else would willingly spend time on this...that it really does mean at least somewhat as much as it means to me...and that is incredible :)

Tomorrow, I think may be the first day that we actually have every single cast member at rehearsal!  WHICH WILL BE SO COOL!  Today, we had roughly 2/3 of them (per 4th of July, which I understood and expected) and we still had a relatively smooth run through.  I am excited to see the whole show with the whole cast :)

Tomorrow also marks the day that we will be finishing up the rest of the final painting details (which won't be too much of a hastle).  I think that I will stay late and paint them myself if I have to. 

I am excited for our first audience on Thursday, but I am also a little nervous...I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to WANT to let go yet...I have stepped away, and have kept myself firmly in a seat while I watch them go through the show (other than once to help with a dress malfunction)  but its a bittersweet thing...I think that we will be fine, and that everything will work out just fine; I have some magnificent people both on and off stage, but I still get the "tech week" nerves.

I have made some awards for the students (it is a SWTA tradition) and am very pleased with those that I have come up with...it did bring to light the question of whether or not I should try to make an award for everyone, but at the same time, I didn't think that I had the time or energy to come up with SEVENTY-THREE different awards for each child...then what should happen if I forget one?  But I am happy with my few; the students that I have selected more than deserve them :) I think this also makes the awards a little more meaningful as well.

That's all for now...more tomorrow!