Standard disclaimer: these are just some notes that I accumulated over the course of the last few months, when I was too "busy" to document them here.
We woke up on Sunday morning and went to church, and when asked what I was going to do this afternoon, my response was....go back to the School, and work on the play...just like it had been for the last 4 months or so. But today it was different. This was the last time I'd have to respond like this...or so I had hoped.
I had committed to going in and returning the sound-board patch bay to its "original" state for school on Monday. And I just left the night before...didn't grab anything but my car keys and my family. So I had a little work to do. It was strangely quiet and calm in the auditorium. It had literally been my home for the last few months, and I was glad to say good bye. I also cleaned up Erica's class room. The pizza party wasn't completely eliminated from existence. I also took a quick look in the class rooms, especially the science room which was used as the primary makeup room. It was a mess! So I did my janitorial job there, picked up all the chairs and stacked them on the tables, and then swept and mopped the room. Leslie, the teacher in that room was a parent at the school and had a daughter in the play...and was on the job the night before. She "mentioned" it to me that she was concerned that her room wasn't cleaned up. So I took care of it. Laurie, a parent and good friend, was in-charge of the prom this year and she and I had commiserated about the amount of effort to make these things happen. She was planning to use some of the flats and stuff from the play, so I left the stage in essentially the same shape, just tore down the choir mikes really. I knew the chairs that had been pulled out would need to be returned, but I decided at this moment that I would play ignorant on this and count on somebody else doing it.
I also decided at this time that the following week, I would come in and tear down the props (the piano and desk...) and stash the flats in the mobile mini. The following week was practicum at the School...the place would be essentially empty. Plus, Kelly and Kristie would be out of town as Kristie was a chaperone on the trip to Missouri. Allie would be in downtown Denver on hers...so I'd be home alone anyway...with "nothing" to do. But the great feeling at this moment was that it was Sunday and I wasn't planning to think or worry about the play for another 10 days!
On Tuesday of Practicum week Sharon called me in a panic. "When are you going to clean up the auditorium?" she queried. I assured her that it would be fine because I was planning on doing it on Wednesday...and it should only take a couple of hours. Relieved, she offered to see if she could round up some boys to help. Sweet. She'd bribe them with pizza. Even sweeter. So I showed up on Wednesday afternoon and we began the demolition of River City.
My plan was simple. Everything except the flats was expendable. The Paroo house was demolished. The piano, the library desk and the footbridge railing...goners. Then I'd rearrange the mobile mini and stash the seventeen 8foot by 10foot scenery flats, throw the trusty old trapdoor platform in there...and it would be done.
A number of boys showed up: Sam, J.T., Turtle, Drew, Stephen and Brandon. An odd mix of a couple of friends and a couple of loners...but they had been through the Music Man war together...(technically not Sam since he was doing baseball, but he did help here and there). And we had a blast. We first destroyed the house in a matter of minutes, then we took the platforms with wheels on them out to the parking lot, and pushed them around and did demolition derby, and acted generally out of control. The desk was destroyed and carried to the dumpster, as was the piano. We also had to do some general straightening up and it only took a couple of hours. We then had some more help with flats, as Scott T. and David showed up. Matt Fish and his dad showed up and were a big help in the mobile mini, as I had miscalculated the size of the flats. I had been certain that I'd be able to stash them in there as the height was slightly more than 8 feet. Turns out that while that's true, they still were a little big, so they wouldn't store straight up and down...so I had to trash a few more old relics out of there. We tossed the fireplace that had been in there for years. It'd never been used in a play, as it was deemed too large. It was really a beautiful set piece, with wheels and a fake flame. But in the everything must go mode that I was in, it went. It did take a few spins around the parking lot pulled behind Stephen's car though! The boys were really getting into the whole destroy and wreck fun we were having. They even pulled each other behind his car on flattened cardboard boxes. Brandon took video of the action, i should really watch that sometime. And we filled up every dumpster in the general neighborhood...which were already full from the prom's clean up. The School really generated some trash that week. With just a couple of loads of trash to go, the pizza showed up and we all took a break.
Sharon had been upstairs in the "catwalk" organizing costumes or something, so she hadn't been around for the "fun". She asked how it was going and I reported that we were basically done. She was amazed! She looked in the auditorium and then commented "won't it take you a lot of time to tear down the stage extensions?" I would've liked to seen my face at that very second. In all of our conversations, we had never discussed the stage extensions. It was never my plan to do anything with them. Truthfully, my plan was that we would have some sort of official meeting with the School, the Arts Boosters, which included Sharon and myself, and we'd make a sound decision what to do with them. I would vote for leaving them where they were, but if they had to be taken down, we'd have to come up with some storage plan...and again, why not do that in an organized fashion? But Sharon continued "Rogene" (the principal of the High School) "wanted them down, by Saturday". It was Wednesday at 7PM.... My response was "that she'd better get to work". Sharon's distressed, deer in the headlights look was disturbing, but I wasn't going to budge. I continued by saying that if they had to be out of here by then, I'll just chop them up into firewood and drag it out to the middle of the parking lot...maybe we can have a bonfire. She thought I was kidding. This was literally the straw that broke the camel's back.
I then calmed down and asked her to talk to Rogene and find out what the deal really was. The original story was that they had to be out for the graduation ceremony, which wasn't until the end of the next week. So what was the real motivation? Rogene was out of town on her Practicum, so Sharon would have to do some work. She then looked at me and asked "would mind taking charge of this?". My response was a kind, gentle and sympathetic "NO". I was a parent here. Sure I'd taught this year, but at the end of the day, I was just a parent. I'm sorry that the department head was 9+ months pregnant (we both agreed that this nonsense should not have to trouble Erica). I'm sorry that she (Sharon) wasn't good at this stuff. But the bottom line was: it's not my problem. Again I repeated, "If it has to be done nearly immediately and it's left up to me, I'm going to throw it all away". It was a waste, but since we weren't concerned with thinking this through...that was my plan.
Sometime over the weekend, I heard from Sharon. She had been talking to Rogene, and now the story was that the stage had to come down, because it was a fire hazard. Rod (the all around building guy at the School) had said so. Plus it took away valuable seating for graduation. And the big wing walls were ugly. And.... I stopped listening. I had worked my fingers to the bone for months now and this was how it would end. Fine I decided. Whatever. She then told me that Ty (President of the Arts Boosters, but still just a parent) had "volunteered" to coordinate and make this happen on Tuesday evening. So basically after I said no, she went to him. Again, whatever. I knew that I would have to work on Tuesday (granted I was being stubborn) so I said I'd get there when I could. She asked if I was going to get a hold of Ty to "coordinate things"...no way. Ty's a good friend and I appreciated everything he had done over this year, but it wasn't going to be my baby...or even my co-baby. I went and begged to get the donation for the lumber, I got professionals to build it for free and I was the only one there to help build it and work on it...it was time for somebody else to have the "fun". Sorry that it had to be Ty, but so be it. Besides, he probably had a crew all lined up and ready to go.
Imagine my surprise when on Monday, late in the evening I saw an email from Ty to all the parents of the play. It was an emergency email, since the title was in all caps! He was basically pleading for help, including people with trucks and trailers, to help tomorrow after school to tear this stuff down and store it somewhere. That was his plan. That was his crew. We were doomed. But it wasn't my baby....I was planning to show up around 5PM and help where I could. I had also found out that there was a function in the auditorium (Spring Sports Awards) that night at 7PM, so the work had to be done by 6PM or so...so they could decorate. The hits just kept on hitting.....
I rolled in around 5PM and there were a few people working. Ty had found someone to loan him a flat bed trailer which was awesome. He had hooked it up behind his pickup and he, his wife and two girls and a couple other people were working on the stage right wing wall. Upon my arrival, things really started shaking...I just grabbed a hammer and a pry bar and started pulling things apart. Screw guns were spinning and imagine my surprise when at around 6PM, that auditorium was back to the way it had started, back before Music Man, before Aleece. With the exception of the front row of seats, it was back to it's old, inefficient self. By then it was just Ty, Leslie and their two girls, plus Rich D. and Johanna's dad (I've forgotten his name). Ty had rented a storage shed...wait "an anonymous donor" had rented a storage shed at one of the local places, so we tossed everything there. The plan is to re-convene sometime before school starts to decide formally what the School is going to do with that stuff. I am making every effort to avoid being involved in that decision. As of this writing (8/10/07) I haven't heard a word from anyone on the topic and I'm planning to be very un-involved on this in specific and the theater effort in general. Again, as of right now, I've only stepped in the school two times since then, once for the graduation and once for the academy awards. And I don't miss it at all.
We woke up on Sunday morning and went to church, and when asked what I was going to do this afternoon, my response was....go back to the School, and work on the play...just like it had been for the last 4 months or so. But today it was different. This was the last time I'd have to respond like this...or so I had hoped.
I had committed to going in and returning the sound-board patch bay to its "original" state for school on Monday. And I just left the night before...didn't grab anything but my car keys and my family. So I had a little work to do. It was strangely quiet and calm in the auditorium. It had literally been my home for the last few months, and I was glad to say good bye. I also cleaned up Erica's class room. The pizza party wasn't completely eliminated from existence. I also took a quick look in the class rooms, especially the science room which was used as the primary makeup room. It was a mess! So I did my janitorial job there, picked up all the chairs and stacked them on the tables, and then swept and mopped the room. Leslie, the teacher in that room was a parent at the school and had a daughter in the play...and was on the job the night before. She "mentioned" it to me that she was concerned that her room wasn't cleaned up. So I took care of it. Laurie, a parent and good friend, was in-charge of the prom this year and she and I had commiserated about the amount of effort to make these things happen. She was planning to use some of the flats and stuff from the play, so I left the stage in essentially the same shape, just tore down the choir mikes really. I knew the chairs that had been pulled out would need to be returned, but I decided at this moment that I would play ignorant on this and count on somebody else doing it.
I also decided at this time that the following week, I would come in and tear down the props (the piano and desk...) and stash the flats in the mobile mini. The following week was practicum at the School...the place would be essentially empty. Plus, Kelly and Kristie would be out of town as Kristie was a chaperone on the trip to Missouri. Allie would be in downtown Denver on hers...so I'd be home alone anyway...with "nothing" to do. But the great feeling at this moment was that it was Sunday and I wasn't planning to think or worry about the play for another 10 days!
On Tuesday of Practicum week Sharon called me in a panic. "When are you going to clean up the auditorium?" she queried. I assured her that it would be fine because I was planning on doing it on Wednesday...and it should only take a couple of hours. Relieved, she offered to see if she could round up some boys to help. Sweet. She'd bribe them with pizza. Even sweeter. So I showed up on Wednesday afternoon and we began the demolition of River City.
My plan was simple. Everything except the flats was expendable. The Paroo house was demolished. The piano, the library desk and the footbridge railing...goners. Then I'd rearrange the mobile mini and stash the seventeen 8foot by 10foot scenery flats, throw the trusty old trapdoor platform in there...and it would be done.
A number of boys showed up: Sam, J.T., Turtle, Drew, Stephen and Brandon. An odd mix of a couple of friends and a couple of loners...but they had been through the Music Man war together...(technically not Sam since he was doing baseball, but he did help here and there). And we had a blast. We first destroyed the house in a matter of minutes, then we took the platforms with wheels on them out to the parking lot, and pushed them around and did demolition derby, and acted generally out of control. The desk was destroyed and carried to the dumpster, as was the piano. We also had to do some general straightening up and it only took a couple of hours. We then had some more help with flats, as Scott T. and David showed up. Matt Fish and his dad showed up and were a big help in the mobile mini, as I had miscalculated the size of the flats. I had been certain that I'd be able to stash them in there as the height was slightly more than 8 feet. Turns out that while that's true, they still were a little big, so they wouldn't store straight up and down...so I had to trash a few more old relics out of there. We tossed the fireplace that had been in there for years. It'd never been used in a play, as it was deemed too large. It was really a beautiful set piece, with wheels and a fake flame. But in the everything must go mode that I was in, it went. It did take a few spins around the parking lot pulled behind Stephen's car though! The boys were really getting into the whole destroy and wreck fun we were having. They even pulled each other behind his car on flattened cardboard boxes. Brandon took video of the action, i should really watch that sometime. And we filled up every dumpster in the general neighborhood...which were already full from the prom's clean up. The School really generated some trash that week. With just a couple of loads of trash to go, the pizza showed up and we all took a break.
Sharon had been upstairs in the "catwalk" organizing costumes or something, so she hadn't been around for the "fun". She asked how it was going and I reported that we were basically done. She was amazed! She looked in the auditorium and then commented "won't it take you a lot of time to tear down the stage extensions?" I would've liked to seen my face at that very second. In all of our conversations, we had never discussed the stage extensions. It was never my plan to do anything with them. Truthfully, my plan was that we would have some sort of official meeting with the School, the Arts Boosters, which included Sharon and myself, and we'd make a sound decision what to do with them. I would vote for leaving them where they were, but if they had to be taken down, we'd have to come up with some storage plan...and again, why not do that in an organized fashion? But Sharon continued "Rogene" (the principal of the High School) "wanted them down, by Saturday". It was Wednesday at 7PM.... My response was "that she'd better get to work". Sharon's distressed, deer in the headlights look was disturbing, but I wasn't going to budge. I continued by saying that if they had to be out of here by then, I'll just chop them up into firewood and drag it out to the middle of the parking lot...maybe we can have a bonfire. She thought I was kidding. This was literally the straw that broke the camel's back.
I then calmed down and asked her to talk to Rogene and find out what the deal really was. The original story was that they had to be out for the graduation ceremony, which wasn't until the end of the next week. So what was the real motivation? Rogene was out of town on her Practicum, so Sharon would have to do some work. She then looked at me and asked "would mind taking charge of this?". My response was a kind, gentle and sympathetic "NO". I was a parent here. Sure I'd taught this year, but at the end of the day, I was just a parent. I'm sorry that the department head was 9+ months pregnant (we both agreed that this nonsense should not have to trouble Erica). I'm sorry that she (Sharon) wasn't good at this stuff. But the bottom line was: it's not my problem. Again I repeated, "If it has to be done nearly immediately and it's left up to me, I'm going to throw it all away". It was a waste, but since we weren't concerned with thinking this through...that was my plan.
Sometime over the weekend, I heard from Sharon. She had been talking to Rogene, and now the story was that the stage had to come down, because it was a fire hazard. Rod (the all around building guy at the School) had said so. Plus it took away valuable seating for graduation. And the big wing walls were ugly. And.... I stopped listening. I had worked my fingers to the bone for months now and this was how it would end. Fine I decided. Whatever. She then told me that Ty (President of the Arts Boosters, but still just a parent) had "volunteered" to coordinate and make this happen on Tuesday evening. So basically after I said no, she went to him. Again, whatever. I knew that I would have to work on Tuesday (granted I was being stubborn) so I said I'd get there when I could. She asked if I was going to get a hold of Ty to "coordinate things"...no way. Ty's a good friend and I appreciated everything he had done over this year, but it wasn't going to be my baby...or even my co-baby. I went and begged to get the donation for the lumber, I got professionals to build it for free and I was the only one there to help build it and work on it...it was time for somebody else to have the "fun". Sorry that it had to be Ty, but so be it. Besides, he probably had a crew all lined up and ready to go.
Imagine my surprise when on Monday, late in the evening I saw an email from Ty to all the parents of the play. It was an emergency email, since the title was in all caps! He was basically pleading for help, including people with trucks and trailers, to help tomorrow after school to tear this stuff down and store it somewhere. That was his plan. That was his crew. We were doomed. But it wasn't my baby....I was planning to show up around 5PM and help where I could. I had also found out that there was a function in the auditorium (Spring Sports Awards) that night at 7PM, so the work had to be done by 6PM or so...so they could decorate. The hits just kept on hitting.....
I rolled in around 5PM and there were a few people working. Ty had found someone to loan him a flat bed trailer which was awesome. He had hooked it up behind his pickup and he, his wife and two girls and a couple other people were working on the stage right wing wall. Upon my arrival, things really started shaking...I just grabbed a hammer and a pry bar and started pulling things apart. Screw guns were spinning and imagine my surprise when at around 6PM, that auditorium was back to the way it had started, back before Music Man, before Aleece. With the exception of the front row of seats, it was back to it's old, inefficient self. By then it was just Ty, Leslie and their two girls, plus Rich D. and Johanna's dad (I've forgotten his name). Ty had rented a storage shed...wait "an anonymous donor" had rented a storage shed at one of the local places, so we tossed everything there. The plan is to re-convene sometime before school starts to decide formally what the School is going to do with that stuff. I am making every effort to avoid being involved in that decision. As of this writing (8/10/07) I haven't heard a word from anyone on the topic and I'm planning to be very un-involved on this in specific and the theater effort in general. Again, as of right now, I've only stepped in the school two times since then, once for the graduation and once for the academy awards. And I don't miss it at all.