So we’ve reached Opening Night for Guys on Ice!

Nearly a full house tonight (only the obstructed view seats left, and we’ve sold a few of those, too!), so we should have a great time. The cast is ready and I’m looking forward to letting this one loose upon the world and seeing what happens!

I’m happy to say, also, that I’m feeling like I’m coming out of a little bit of a funk. I’ve posted before how the last 3 gigs I’ve had have been directing shows I’ve directed before, so it’s been a little…odd. “Am I lifting this play up off the page, or is my work uninteresting? Is this as funny as before? Is it funnier? Should I just go with the bit that I know works here, or do we try and come up with something new, just to change it? Am I providing the actors with useful direction, or am I simply repeating myself?” The last couple of weeks have been great to help pull me out of that, though – getting the audience in here, working on the show during previews, it’s been wonderful. The actors are fabulous, and I’m remembering how much fun the collaboration really can be, and how great a feeling it is to really get a moment “right” onstage – that instant when you’re trying new things and one of them is absolutely perfect. That’s one of those moments that I live for!

Chris, our Managing Director, made this neat slideshow of photos she took on our First Rehearsal! Some shots of us talking through the show, and some fun shots of the guys during the read-through!

Today’s quotes come from Mr. Samuel Longhorn Clemens!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain

“A man’s character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation”
Mark Twain

“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.”
Mark Twain quote

We started previews last night, and it went well!

We’re in a great spot; with a week before our “official opening” we’ve got a good handful of things to polish and tweak, and one chunk that I want to totally re-vamp. That’s a pretty good place to be for first preview.

The audience seemed to enjoy it a lot last night, lots of laughs and lots of good feedback at the talkback. And we got a surprise review! Normally they don’t come until the official opening, but we had one of our local reviewers slip in and he enjoyed the show very much! He posted a short but very positive write-up on his Michigan Entertainment website, and gave us a 4 out of 4, with my favorite quote being:

“I caught it on the first night of previews, which always makes theater management nervous because the show has never been performed in front of an audience and there could be a bug or two. Well there was no need to worry here. The first night was virtually flawless and lots of fun.”

He finished his piece with “Get your tickets to this now, because it is sure to sell out!”, and I’m hoping that he’s batting a thousand with his predictions!

Whew! This week is busy!

Starting previews for Guys On Ice this week – it’s been very fun to rehearse, and it’s also been a very very busy rehearsal period. Musicals are always a lot of work, and with our small staff and short rehearsal period, this one has been an exceptional challenge!

I think it’s going very well, though, and can’t wait to have an audience in here tomorrow!

And soon, soon, I will get some sleep.

What every man needs, regardless of his job or the kind of work he is doing, is a vision of what his place is and may be. He needs an objective and a purpose. He needs a feeling and a belief that he has some worthwhile thing to do. What this is no one can tell him. It must be his own creation. Its success will be measured by the nature of his vision, what he has done to equip himself, and how well he has performed along the line of its development.

-Joseph Morrell Dodge

QUOTE OF THE WEEK…

…comes from my 7 year old son, Friday night, at the High School Football Game, watching the halftime show…

“Mom? Hot girls dancing with flags is BORING.”

Geez, it’s Thursday, and I’ve not written since Sunday.

Things have been very busy. Good, but busy. Lots of family stuff, lots of work.

Getting Guys On Ice up is fun but, as with most shows, there’s always a spot where you go “Wow. If it doesn’t get better, we’re gonna crash and burn. I clearly have no business doing this.” I call them the “Taco Bell Moments”, because it’s right about then that I decide that I’m clearly not cut out for a career as a director, and I should just go put in an application at Taco Bell. Everyone has these moments in a rehearsal project – they come right after a lousy rehearsal where you’re feeling absolutely uninspired, usually around or just past the midpoint of the project, where the potential is there but you’ve yet to cross over into “Oh, there’s the shape of the thing” territory. I’m usually annoyed with myself at these moments for not feeling like I’m doing enough to lift the thing off the page.

So, a Taco Bell Moment this week. Fortunately, as they usually are, it was followed with a great rehearsal and a much needed step forward in the project. Thankfully, the longer you do this, the more you can skate through the Taco Bell moments because you know that it will, indeed, get better!

Still, though, it is frustrating to have any day or series of days when you’re not feeling at the top of your game.

THE QUESTION:

So, I’m wondering:

For anyone out there reading this, whether you work as a director, musician, teacher, writer, butcher, baker or candlestick maker, what are your versions of the Taco Bell moment? And do you have a tactic for getting through it?

Sunny, playing with kids, took ’em out for breakfast while letting Jeanne have some quiet alone time. Then to “The Treehouse”, a kids run-around-and-climb-stuff place and let them go crazy for a while. Came home, relaxed, rode bikes with Max. Soon we’re off to a concert that some friends are throwing.

Saturday’s good.

As rehearsals for Guys On Ice move into their second week, I thought I’d post a pic of the model of our set. Dan Walker is our Set Designer, and I’m loving the way it’s coming together.

In this shot you can see the shanty center stage, the area that will house the pianist on the Upstage Left corner (which is in the middle right of the picture).

There are more photos at the Williamston Theatre Rehearsal Blog! You can check them out at rehearsalblog.