Wow. Last night was so cool. After all that stress and worry (and that totally fucked rehearsal) on Tuesday, the orchestra (oh, man … the drummer is so cute, too) came in last night and rocked the house. We did have a few minor rough spots … but all thing considered, I am super pleased! The invited audience seemed to really like it too. A person (who’s opinion I value highly) was there last night. She said that the show was pretty kickin’. Yeah! Tonight we perform the Final Dress for a paying audience and then hit Opening Night full force. Viva la naked musicals!

So, in the spirit of that “Back to Blogging ’06” post I did a while back … I offer you my un-edited (bad spelling and bad grammar intact!) rant about last night’s “orchestra” rehearsal that was e-mailed to Franke this morning.

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Despair?

Me?

I cried on the way home last night. I nearly had a panic attack in the wee hours of the morning. I have been on the verge of tears all morning.

I feel like we got fucked last night … FUCKED … and that I as head of this whole fiacso should have had a better handle on what needed to be done to make it better. Maybe there was nothing that I (as leader) could have done. I was told by Anne that the Orchestra was going to be there last night. That they would practice from 6:30 until 7:30 on thing. As you well know, we had THREE of the SEVEN people. Melodie, after everyone was gone, sounded like TONIGHT was when she had told everyone to be there. Then why the hell was Anne saying TUESDAY then? Melodie was all “You have a paying audience on Thursday? If I had known that I would have had the ochestra in here on Monday.” WTF?!?!? I told Anne that we had to have it performance ready by Thurday weeeeks ago. Apparently she didn’t share that with Mel and Mel didn’t share ANYTHING about the her orchestra scheduling with Anne.

So, last night was the biggest cluster fuck EVER … and really totally pointless and a waste of everyone’s time considering we were missing four people from the pit.

I should have been a more active participant between the two of them. Then maybe I could have REALLY known what the fuck was going on. Ignorance of what was really going on is my fault. Actually trusting that Anne/Mel were doing what they said they would is also my fault.

NOW as a result of all this shit … we are stuck tonight without being able to really stop and start for those new orchestra members. Because YOU ALL need to run the show as a whole tonight before you really have to hit it tomorrow.

PLUS … we have the added bonus of a lead guy who (in my opinion) isn’t going to be able to sing the show. You heard him last night. He was struggling just after two songs … and he sings the entire fucking show.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

So ….

Despair?

Me?

Not all.

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Looking back at it seems silly to have gotten so worked up over last night’s “orchestra rehearsal” which really didn’t happen. But, who knows … maybe it isn’t silly to expect for what you have been told will happen to happen.

I’ll just have to see how tonight goes.

The women will sing and dance. The men will sing and dance … then it all comes off in front of one big-ass silver shimmer curtain!

That’s right. Tickets for “The Full Monty” are on sale NOW!

So, I have hit the point that I think I always do when directing a show … I want someone to kill me so that I don’t have to go back and deal with it. We have just enough small stuff to take care of that folks are getting stressed out about if it will all click. It will. The two main dance numbers are still not quite there either. That part I am not so sure about. We may have to re-shuffle the deck and move the “unsteady” folks to the back of the line. Attitude is another problem. I don’t like it. I like “team players” and those folks that aren’t piss me off.

Yeah. I am (slightly) venting.

As we get closer and closer to opening night, I get to spend more and more time at the theater making sure that things are ready and run smoothly. Ah, the joys of being in charge. We’ve had a some good rehearsals this week … even if our lead guy is now only able to speak softly and just talk through his songs. Looks like (crossed fingers) he will be better by the time we hit final dress week. I just have to ride him about not doing too much vocally for the next several rehearsals. We did our second of the “naked” rehearsals last night and it went pretty well. The fellas really do quite cool doing the dance moves and ripping off the clothes.

So, the lead guy in our production of “The Full Monty” blew out his voice yesterday. He apparently tried to stifle a sneeze and ended up doing something to his throat … thus rendering him unable to sing last night. The music director ran him through some vocal exercises and decided to send him home. She told him to not talk to anyone unless he absolutely had to. You know … complete vocal rest. I guess we will see how he is tonight. If he’s not better, it will be off to the doctor for him to find out just how bad any damage might be and how long it will take to heal. This sucks. ‘Cause when I say he’s our “lead guy,” I mean it. He has signifigantly more dialogue and songs than anyone else in the show. Sheesh. Just something else to worry about.

Yeah. That’s right.

This day sucks … well, actually, this week has sucked.

Lots of little things have been irritating me until yesterday afternoon when I found out that “The Full Monty” was being booted from rehearsing in the theater because of a show that is going on in the Studio. This really, really pissed me off. We open in a month and have only three weeks until Final Dress Week. There is still so much to do and we really need as much stage time as possible. Next week, two of the reherasals are dedicated to just dance and stripping. That leaves us two nights next week and then two weeks until costumes, lights and orchestra.

What makes me so mad about this is that a Studio production has never (and I mean never) been given priority over a Main Stage show. The rule of thumb for the building has always been that Main Stage productions always take priority over Studio productions. If your Studio show interferes with a Main Stage show, you will probably find yourself cancelled. Studio shows are smaller just in terms of cast (their cast is only three people) and ultimately the attendance as the Studio seats around 70. They were the ones who requested a Studio slot during the Main Stage season and should have been prepared for the fact that we would be in the building doing what we need to do Monday through Thursday. Now, “The Full Monty” has had to scramble to rearrange of rehearsal plans and space to accommodate them.

What this means is that my cast is going to have to work harder and get more done in a little less time. I was told that if necessary we could rehearse on a Saturday or Sunday to make up the time. I’ll be damned is my cast is gonna have to come in on a weekend to rehearse because it’s been deemed (for whatever reason) that the small show is more important than the big show.

As you can probably tell, I am no less pissed off about this today.

Last evening, Christy shot the photo that is going to be used to promote “The Full Monty.” It’s definately going to be used on the poster and probably for the ads as well. Hmmm. I wonder whose legs those are …~

So, the first week of rehearsals for “The Full Monty” is past us. That means one down and six to go. I know that sounds like a long time but it really isn’t. So far we have blocked the entire first and had a couple of music rehearsals. It looks like the cast is gonna be good. The “smack down” was already laid on one cast member who has been late (and I am talking 10-25 minutes) to every single rehearsal so far. He’s got about one more strike before he gets chucked out the door. I won’t tolerate constant lateness. The folks that actually rush from work to show up on time deserve better than to have to wait on that same person every single night. Plus it cuts into my time to yell at the cast. Next week we throw choreography into the mix. Three weeks from now we throw nakedness into the mix. Whoo.

Well, we had the final night of auditions for “The Full Monty” last night and after much wailing and gnashing of teeth … the show has been cast. I am gonna keep a “tight lip” for the time being. An official announcement will be made after all the prospects have been contacted and have committed. More details soon-ish …

This weekend we seperate the men from the boys.

“The Full Monty” Auditions:
July 30 & 31 at 6:30 p.m.
The Performing Arts Center at the Shelton House
250 Pigeon Street in Waynesville, NC