After a kind of frustrating Friday evening (dealing with the trailer tire), we got a good night’s rest and were up early on Saturday. Load in at the Rouse Theatre was earlier than usual because we were working with the local IATSE 19 and they had already done more than 2 weeks of performances with the Arts Festival! We wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to take breaks and get settled in a somewhat unusual space.
Once we arrived, we had some stage issues to deal with in order to get maximum space. This is not a fly house so we only hung the cloud drop and, with dead hung electrics, our lighting trim was a little higher. We finally figured out a way to get the intelligent lighting in the air and then we were ready to get in the cases! GREAT CREW – they got us in quickly and with no complaints. The day moved at a steady pace setting up, focusing lights, getting sound up and EQd, hazers (we had to use both of them), illusions set up and spiked on stage, writing cues, and brief tech and then it was time to get dressed and into make up. Doors would open in an hour!
We had a full house tonight – sold out. The audience was a nice mix of all ages – college students, senior citizens, families and kids. The responses were very audible and the volunteers were fun. Tonight, I could actually hear the reaction to the Brick Wall (they audience was really close). And the newspaper tear was a great way to get their attention – audible gasps and spontaneous applause set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Nolan did a great job tonight. This was his first “solo” performance and, while he cut it close a couple of times, he was always there when the curtains opened (with a little prompting from Cindy). It’s not going to take him long to get the timing down…but, from the audience perspective, everything was smooth.
After the show, we were invited to a reception at one of the Board member’s homes. I took off shortly after tear down to make an appearance while the guys handled loading the trailer. Afterwards, they drove over to the reception for a short time and then we were back to the hotel. Cindy and I were up until almost 3am talking about the evening and how each other’s day went. It’s odd that we can be in the same space and still be so unaware of how things are going for one another.
Today, we’re driving back home for the rest of the week!