Wrapping Up

This past weekend, we had our final weekend of performances.  On our last performance, our Sunday matinee, we had our biggest house.  We had over thirty-five people in a house that seats about fifty.  We had some mistakes along the way during productions whether it was doors opening late, props forgotten, and the seat of someone’s pants ripping on stage, but it was all handled with calmness and a “It happens,” attitude.  Everyone seemed to love the show.  We had a review from the Reader that was bad, but we knew the guy didn't often give good reviews.  

My time running house was enjoyable.  We had the Saints usher for us and it was nice getting to know these volunteers of theatre.  Some of them had done acting work in the past and loved theatre.

We had strike which took and hour and a half.  During strike, I cleaned up the lobby area.  I wiped down tables, vacuumed, cleaned the two bathrooms, took out the trash and wiped down the water fountains.  After waiting around for the floor to be painted black, we hauled all the doors and other set elements out the the U-Haul truck.  Then we brought some of the doors up to Sean’s place, took the rest where they needed to be, and then headed back over to Sean’s for pizza.  I’m so thankful for everyone I met; they are good people.  I really want to live in Chicago now.

Tech Week- Day One and Two

Chicago parking is hell.  I’m staying with Sean and Sharon for tech week and I’m getting to know what living in the city would be like.  I think I’d like it, but there are advantages and disadvantages to such a change from the living environment I’m used to.  Apartments are expensive and if they’re cheap, you pay for what you get.  Neighbors upstairs may have creaky floorboards or they might be noisy in general.  Anyways, if you have a late night out, parking near your apartment building is impossible.  Parallel parking is another nightmare; I’m not very good at it and I definitely have gotten a lot of practice in with this internship.  Finding parking near the theatre on the first evening took forty-five minutes.  

Once in the space, I realized how very ill equipped the theatre was.  The seats were gross, rickety and the place was very small.  The grid was too low because the place wasn’t built to be a theatre in the first place.  The company was already realizing that renting the location was going to provide some difficulties.  The owners were unorganized and provided very little information about the theatre.  The lighting designer arrived on day 2 and she had a nightmare.  She had very few lights to work with and almost none of them had safety cables.  

My first night included painting doors and building the two walls of doors on either side of the alley stage.  There are three entrances to the stage and we have three doors assigned for each character that work; the rest of the doors don’t work and make up the walls of the space.  I worked from eight to midnight and by then, we were ready for Sharon to come in the morning to paint the floor.

Day Two brought in the lighting designer, Maya, who was supposed to teach me lighting, but tech week really isn’t the time to teach a noob.  I didn’t learn any lighting, but I sponge painted glass for the three chandeliers.  Garcin, Inez, and Estelle each have their own bench and corresponding chandelier.  The glass needed some stain on the inside so that the chandeliers gave colored light to match the benches.  Then gels were cut to cover each glass so the bulbs didn’t illuminate the grid too much.  Painting the glass proved to be a challenge.  Sponging the green one looked like mold when held up to light, but to just paint the inside would show the brushstrokes.  The color green inside the glass also kept looking more yellow.  I ended up adding black to the green paint, using a sponge to make three washes of color with swirly strokes.  While Maddie worked on the burgundy glass, I moved onto the blue glass and gave it three layers of dry sponging in two shades of blue.  The end look had a very frosted and specked appearance.

After finishing the glass, we moved into tech rehearsal.  Maya programmed cues while the actors did a full run.  Maddie was in the booth doing paper tech as well.  I watched from one side while everyone else was on the other.  I let Maya know when my side had dark spots and cast unpleasant shadows on the actors.  

My two jobs during performances is running house, letting actors into the lobby after house closes, and letting actors through There isn’t a crossover for the alley stage so actors must exit the entire building and run down the sidewalk to the lobby door to go from one side of the stage to the other.  I also have to open a door for a pivotal moment in the script when all the doors fly open and the characters are given the opportunity to leave hell.  After rehearsal, we ran through designer notes and went home.

Week 4

This week was kind of dead as far as work goes. I worked from home and pulled together some final elements.  I found a blue shirt for Estelle, a belt for Inez and tan pants for the valet.  I found a watch for Garcin to complete his look.  I made a list of things I’ll have to do as costumer. 

Before going into tech week, we have a final designer rehearsal.  All the designers could see the run through rehearsal, the actors left, and then any final designer needs were discussed.  The pants I found didn’t fit and the shirt wasn’t the right color blue to match the skirt ordered online.  

For tech week next week, I will be learning lights, hanging them, and also will get some instruction for costuming and basic sewing skills on a sewing machine.  During performances, I'll be house management.

Week Three

Finding a light blue 1940’s style dress proved to be impossible.  I faced challenges in finding items and eventual edited some of my designs.  For Estelle, I went with a light blue skirt found online and I will find a blouse to match.  I went home and pulled clothes from my own closet to fit and get approved next time I see Whitney and the cast.

On June 26, I helped man the fundraiser table for our Balloon Pop at Headquarters.  For $5 a pop or $20 for 5 pops, guests could pop a balloon to find the number inside that corresponded to a prize on the table.  There was also free pizza to the first 25 people to show up.  

This Monday, I got to visit rehearsal at Whitney’s apartment where I gave three actors haircuts, finalized what costume pieces we needed, and sat in on rehearsal.  The men needed haircuts that were 1940s and Inez needed a freshened pixie cut that was a bit more edgy.  I loved the finished looks.

We figured out the final items needed for each character.  The coats and other outerwear were cut because of stage space and budget.  Estelle has her skirt, shoes, jewelry, clutch, and lipstick.  She needs a shirt and handkerchiefs.  Inez might need a new shirt, but we have one that works for now.  She has her pants and shoes.  We opted for a vest because suit jackets swallowed the actress’s figure.  I needed to find a belt for her.  Garcin needed new shoes, but was complete.  We thought about the fedora and decided to eliminate it because it would get in the way on stage.  The valet was styled based on what he brought in.  None of his shirts or pants worked because he looked too business casual.  We needed a lower status look like Fred Mertz from I Love Lucy.  We decided skip the shirt and just have a white undershirt with suspenders.  His boots worked, but I must find khaki pants for him.

Sitting in on rehearsal was cool.  From the first read through to present, so much had happened.  Whitney knows what she wants and she’s good with playing with the subtext of the script to create unique moments using the character’s personalities and their relationship to each other.  She also worked differently with each actor, but always with equality.  She always follows through with what she wants. If an actor doesn’t get her direction the first time she’ll still work on it until she’s satisfied.