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.
Wednesday, April 25 - The Last Dress Rehearsal
Running on a couple hours of sleep and a big tea from Starbucks, Allie and I rolled into the parking lot of the School a little before 7AM. 1 day until the first performance I kept telling myself. I had decided that I was going to be "working from home", an inside joke at work for a day that you check email and that's about it, work-wise. I wasn't in any shape to teach class and I decided that my class period would be used working on the play.
About an hour before class began, Erica brought all the drama officers down to the auditorium and we all split up and started working. She expressed tremendous concern after hearing that I had been here only hours before...she expressed this concern to Kristie and they agreed that what I needed was some more caffeine, so she got me another chai...a very nice gesture. Some of the kids went to work on t-shirts and tickets with mostly JT helping me get started on a few odds and ends.
My class showed up at 8AM and I gave them a choice: they could help get this play (I believe I referred to it as "this stupid play") done or they could do homework...but no other choices. A number of the students rolled up their sleeves and really helped out. Erica brought her songwriting class down and they dove in as well. David also was very concerned and his Hebrew class came down and helped. It actually got to be very overwhelming, there was so much "help".
I sent Allie and a group out to the commons with orders to put a second layer of black on the curtains and generic flats. Like a trooper, she took command of the team and they lugged the compressor, tools and all 8 flats out of the auditorium and then proceeded to run that nailgun like a pro. JT and a few other guys started working on the final finish of the house, adding window frames, the screen door and other items. A large number of kids grabbed paint brushes and were instructed "to paint anything that didn't move". We had to stop after first period for chapel and D-groups...I ran off to Home Depot and Ace Hardware for more supplies.
After lunch, I spent my time getting things battened down for the final rehearsal. Since I wasn't showing up a couple of minutes before things started, I was able to really get things squared away for once and it felt good to have some time straightening things up. I was convinced that the Paroo house was a major victory... it was flat out cool as it rolled effortlessly and quietly. The larger wheels combined with the fact that they were rubber worked perfectly and the house looked and moved great.
I had managed to get all the walkie talkies and ear pieces working and they were ready for the rehearsal. I handed Dan, Rachel, Alex and John their walkies and told them that I would tell them what to do and when to do it. But the way it worked out, I couldn't hear them talk back to me. I had 4 "good" radios which worked great with the ear piece/microphone, but the other 4 that I had (cheapies but I thought they'd work) didn't work with earpiece. So I muted the sound on one and used it traditionally in my hand, but with the sound down, I couldn't be communicated with...it was perfect: I could give orders, but couldn't receive and communication back.
Rehearsal started and I began talking into the radios...and the crew did what I asked them to, when I told them to. After the first couple of scene transitions worked flawlessly, I honestly broke down and started crying. The walkies worked perfect. The crew was finally getting the hang of things. Sure there were some tweaks, but I was finally confident that this thing was going to work. For the first time in literally a month, I was convinced that opening night wouldn't be a complete disaster.
After the rehearsal, Erica and I had the first positive exchange about the play in what seemed like weeks. We both were amazed...it was going to work and this crazy dream that had been hatched about a year ago was going to be a reality. Too bad we waited until the last rehearsal to figure things out...but that seems more the norm than the exception. It was far from perfect and my head was spinning with tweaks and details that I had been completely overlooking and I began to mentally figure out what else needed work.
That evening, David and Erica bought pizza and the plan was that David & I were going to do a few things, mostly dealing with stringing the choir mics above the stage. I was going to "let" them help for a while and then they could split, while I extended the black curtains on the wings, really the last big thing. Dave S. showed up unannounced and lended a hand too. And out of nowhere, my main man J.T. stayed and worked his butt off. For a 16 year old kid, he really manned up that night. We ended up bagging the hanging mic idea, mostly out of exhaustion and the fact that we could do all the work and have it end up being worse. Dave, J.T. and David worked on extending the black curtains (a lovely irony since Dave was the original "creator" of them...) and I worked on tweaking the footbridge some. Then J.T. and I finished up the house while Erica sorted through the July 4 decorations. It was the first enjoyable evening I had experienced since we (David, Erica, Kristie and I) all went to dinner and a play back in March.
When I got home that night I was absolutely exhausted; physically and mentally. Yet I was in an up mood. All of the "big" things were done. The sound was behaving. The crew was finally working. Sets were basically done. Everything was in place. I had the next two days off from work...even though I really hadn't "been" at work in a couple of weeks. But at last I went to sleep knowing two things: it wasn't a complete disaster and in 24 hours, we'd be into the production and there wouldn't really be anything I could do.