Takin' care of business

Today is our first day onstage for Daughter of the Regiment. We call this Hell Tech Week even though it's more like 2 weeks at HGO (We start today and open on October 26). I usually go into this stage of the process with a mixture of anxiety and adrenaline, but I'm really not too worried about this one. Tonight we have 4 hours to get through Act I, which is 70 minutes long. There are no scene shifts (I can feel the Ballo team glaring at me again...sorry!) to get through and no other incredibly difficult technical aspects, so I anticipate most of our time being spent focusing on the singers' spacing, especially in the chorus scenes.

This afternoon before the rehearsal we'll have a lighting session, where we go through the lighting cue-by-cue. We don't call the singers to these sessions, so we bring in light-walkers. I'll be on headset with them telling them where to go in an approximation of the singers' blocking. Again, lighting shouldn't be all that difficult in this show because it's pretty much a strict remount (meaning the production has been done before) with the same lighting designer and director that were with the production last time it was done. Right before the rehearsal we'll do a sound check for one sound effect and one singer whose voice has to come out of a radio onstage.

During the rehearsal, I'll be on headset with the stage manager and his assistants, sticking close to the director at all times and taking notes for him. The first day of tech is always a bit of a crapshoot, because every director handles things differently and wants different things from the AD. After the rehearsal, we have a production meeting with representatives from every department where we discuss any problems that came up, changes that need to be made, etc.

I'm wearing my Little Miss Bossy t-shirt like I always do on the first day of tech. Now's the time to show my true colors.