Sunday morning, told myself I could sleep in today, and here I am waking naturally as every morning. Its become a habit for the past three weeks to make a coffee and settle down to blog about the Cinderella rehearsals of the day before. I feel I owe it even more now to my loyal readers who tell me that they too join me at 6am with their coffee to check in on the latest goings on. I particularly refer to my two most loyal of readers, Donna Kelynack and Henrietta Michael, or the Mice Mummies as I like to call them now, Group One's little micies Freya and Ella. Donna and Henrietta are always the first to like the next blog instalment and I am grateful to them both for encouraging my early morning reflections! Up to over 6000 views now since I started the blog this month. I am really thrilled by this as I have never got so many hits on a blog! I hope that this will make some small contribution to the ticket sales, which I believe are going very well!
Ah yesterday, yesterday. I think it was Saturday? Everyone arrived for the technical rehearsal of Act 2. Dear Sally, our quirky Fairy Godmother Marsha travels all the way from Colchester every day, and she was particularly exhausted yesterday, although cheerful as ever! She tells me that most evenings now she gets home at 11.30 pm, downs a glass of wine and settles for beans on toast before retiring.
Sally has two children and whilst I suspect the household chores have been left abandoned like mine, she cannot entirely relinquish her responsibilities to her children, not least her daughter who is doing her university applications! Well Sal, you are a mistress multi-tasker!
Andy looked pretty ropey yesterday, well every day really in his Ugly dresses! and has sadly come down with the Cinderella lergie, which I am reliably informed has been brought to the rehearsal room by the dapper Dean Kilford (our Noel Coward pastiche character Dandini and dear old reliable Buttons) - thanks Dean, I can feel the old lergie coming on today too!
But lets hope we all get over it before we open next week!
Next week?................eeechhhh! (I'm not scared.......much!)
As technical rehearsals go, they went. I actually enjoy techs, repetitive and laborious as they can be, because you get to see the whole show in bits in front of you, much like a clock whose parts are laid out on a table and which must be lovingly put together to make it tick. All the bits you have missed, failed to pay attention to or glaringly don't work are there for all to see in their nakedness!
The magic that we need to create all so clunky too, that the 'You Shall Go to the Ball' transformation looks as obvious as the primary school teacher pushing a five year old Mary and her donkey on to the stage in the school nativity because they forgot to go on!
(That's a true story that happened to my daughter when she was at Infants school!)
But hey ho - the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd lies before us like Christmas morning! although of course Christmas Day will be one of the few days Team CInderella will get off this year! I haven't even started my Christmas shopping, so today my biggest job is to get bidding on ebay!
The Creative and Tech teams did get a little hysterical yesterday, due to intense cabin fever. We were laughing helplessly by the end of last night when the Chorus Group 2 had finally gone through all their scenes. Sam particularly makes me laugh. He had his costume on for the first time, and beckoned to me quietly to say that his woolly hat was itching him and was too big, and in spite of looking fabulous, Ian and I had to admit that there was a real possibility that it might end up falling down over his eyes!
So by the only apparent magic yesterday, Ian returned to Sam with a properly fitting hat that resolved Sam's worries immediately! Thanks Ian. There were a lot of things for him to solve for me yesterday - wands, stools, slippers, moons, aprons and dummy's legs! Ian has a way of looking quizzical at my ever additional demands! I don't blame him, the design is never quite finished until the fat lady sings! (Andy??) Just at the moment when he thinks he can breath a little again he hears my voice booming in his ear asking for yet another solution! But he is stalwart in his ability to deliver every one! Thanks Ian. Perhaps a curry and a drink in January?
Owen, Phil and I are particularly guilty for the hysterics of yesterday, well Phil in particular. His ability to descend into 10 year old naughty boy mentality is second to none! This is demonstrated by his urge to send fruit pastille misiles in my direction from time to time. He got a bulls eye with a red one which landed right on my shoulder from a distance of fifteen feet from the Band hide-out! Thanks Phil - bet you can't do it again!
In all seriousness though (which was a little lacking by 9.30 last night!) the demands of tech are such that you consistently have to go back and re time, rework things. I have the dubious pleasure of sitting with a pair of headphones on listening to the language of lighting, music sound effects cues bouncing between Chloe, Steve, Phil, Cat, MJ and the ASMs Miffy and Laura! I also get to hear the jokes and requests for loo breaks! It beats the Archers I can assure you.
It was of course not only the creatives and crew who enjoy the exquisite quality of technical synergy, but the actors too of course. Their cabin fever as much on show as ours! This of course did not get in the way of the forensic analysis of every move of bodies and set in space, and the very real risks involved in flying set in etc; which Chris M leads like a military operation. God help you if you fail to meet his rigorous standards - and that of course is how it must be! and for which I am ever grateful!
But to return to the actors, wigs falling off revealing large expanses of a bald head, Charming and Cinders gazing into each other's eyes ten times in a row whist we get the cues right does lead to a certain hysteria. But I think most of us know the guilty pleasure of laughing when we really shouldn't? We all know those moments in school, in church, at funerals and dreadful shows when the delight is so immense that we cannot help but stifle a laugh! Made all the more exquisite by being forbidden. So it was yesterday.
A huge amount was achieved by 9.30 pm last night, problems solved, inventive solutions found and a brilliant brilliant team of people who are probably earning 20 pence an hour based on their time input and sheer commitment, but as importantly their high level skills. I feel rather spoilt by all the talent around me.
And lastly - on a rather sensitive note. I asked Denise who is Front of House/Box Office/ Customer Service et al to be my critical friend. I have it on good authority that she is the Michael Billington of Barking when it comes to reviews! So I was trembling just a little when she popped in to watch. Summoning up the courage and averting my eyes I asked her how she thought it was coming on - terrified of what I might do if she panned it! But to my general relief she said she thought it was ok. She did make me hold my breath though - when she said "Carole - You do know - its not really a panto.......well not in the traditional sense....." I waited for the next sentence thinking maybe I had misunderstood what the Council had asked us to create? she went on to say that it felt "more like a musical with all the things you expect from a panto!" Phew - that's exactly how I have described my ambition from day one! Thanks Denise, but still a way to go yet to get you laughing and crying in your seat.
So that's it folks for today - belated birthday lunch with my family later. So its me checking out for the next 24 hours. So sorry Donna and Henrietta you will have to make do with the Daily Mail Online tomorrow morning! But please do come back on Tuesday and bring some friends to our 6am coffee and commune! The more the merrier in my book (blog?)
Have a lovely day all - and Team Cinderella - stay in bed! Its an order.
No comments:
Post a Comment