Tonight was Opening Night and it was weird. At least it felt weird to me. But after the insanity that was our final dress performance, I suppose that it turned out pretty well.
Last night, just before the end of Act 1, one of my cast mates slipped and hurt his back pretty bad. Then there were a crapload of costume malfunctions. I totally forgot to remove a table. Woops…tee hee. There were missed light cues due to the fall. A scene was cut and we had to change the order of one of the scenes.
So now that we’ve come to showtime things are getting back on track. I felt like there was a scattered energy throughout Act 1. It seemed like there were a lot of extra pauses that we’ve never had before. Then came intermission which seemed to last FOREVER. Finally when the audience came back in and Act 2 got under way. This time the focus was there and it totally just zoomed by.
Great job to my fellow cast mates, you are amazing!!
And a special note to Ms. Melinna: Gurl my friends loved you!
As I pulled open the door to the Mexican Heritage Theatre’s cast entrance, I could tell that the mood inside was not only playful, but incredibly positive. I know you are probably thinking “Well, duh!”
So let me backtrack, Tuesday at work was just a funky, junky day, to be brief. So when I got to the theatre after work, I wasn’t in the right head space to feel or “see” that there was some weird energy going on around me. I carried with me all the frustrations and problems of the day as got my costumes on and props prepared for the run of the show. This would be our first true run thru of the show with the lights, and sound and set changes all happening. Because of this important point in the rehearsal process, I had an even harder time finding that calm one usually needs to find the character that you are about to bring to life. So I was still in my own little world even after I stepped onto the stage for the first time. This is always bad. Always. As I walked off stage, I FINALLY began to get into the swing of things. But the mood felt odd. Still. I thought it was something that I had brought with me, but as the night wore on, I realized that there was something more going on here. I couldn’t put my finger on it, though. As we get to the intermission break, I begin to hear grumblings in the dressing room and BOOM!!! Now I know that we are officially in the dreaded Hell Week. Sarcastic Hooray inserted here. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, we loving refer to the week before Opening Night as Hell Week. This is the week where everyone is needed for what seems like forever, as we stand around for lighting cue set ups, and the stop and starts of scenes to test set changes, costume changes that may or may not work due to how fast some of them are, and organizing where you need to have your props set for minimum travel time. While this whole rehearsal process has had it’s ups, it’s also had a few things that have become a habit. Those habits were the foundation of the anxious energy that was in the building. Add the stress from the past weekends events, and the new challenges of the run, and you have people who were seriously on edge, and by Act 2 Scene 8, things had reached the point where people were getting angry. So after the run, the group had a pow-wow and a whole lot of frustration was let out! Luckily the people who voiced their frustrations used well thought out criticisms and made valid points. So as I left the rehearsal that night and drove home, I wondered what the ramifications of the event were going to be on the next few nights.
Before today’s run thru of the show, we all took a moment to get on the same energy and wave length. And even though I was late (What? I have to work.) and made it into costume 15 before places, I was able to share and focus my energy and dedication to the cast and production. So when we hit the stage, there was a few minor hiccups, but things sailed and we made it with a show of 2 hours running time. I did break my bottle of booze, so the props manager had to make a snap choice and gave me a plain old cork to use. Minor crisis averted! Personally, I screwed up two of my lines. One of them, I am supposed to say “Puro vaquero” and it came out more like Puro Cabrone, I don’t even know what that means. The other line I missed was more like I jumped on top of my cast mate’s line.
Everyone who participates in this process is important. Allowing them to the chance to talk openly and constructively made for a positive change, while bringing up those issues that need to be handled. Even more important, as long as the words they use aren’t voiced as personal attacks, the lines of communication stay open and fixes for those issues begin. Just like any other problem.
So even though the last two nights have produced two different performances, I am totally confident that we’ve got a show kids! Woo hoo! Get your tix now, guys. Click on the picture above to order your tickets and there’s an early bird special. If you get them ahead of time and not wait til your at the door, you can save a couple of bucks. Maybe donate it to a good cause. Like Teatro!
Dictionary.com defines character as the following: 1. the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing. 2. one such feature or trait; characteristic.
3. moral or ethical quality: a man of fine, honorable character. 4. qualities of honesty, courage, or the like; integrity
In light of recent world events, this is how to build character: HELP THE JAPAN RELIEF EFFORT!
For all you shoppers out there who need to show that you’ve donated to the cause: Cafe Press has some t-merchandise available
Your actions help to create who you are and the impact you have on those around you. Use that influence to do something good! I used to write “Help Me Do Good” everywhere. There’s never been a better time than now to help!
Seriously, the theatre is located on the East Side of San Jose, on the corner of Alum Rock and King Road. It’s a lovely theatre! It has some serious stadium seating. The seats are comfortable.
And they have a great green room, which is not green to my dismay. Although to be honest, I don’t think any of them are. A green room is pretty much the anteroom that the cast usually waits in while they aren’t on stage. And an anteroom is just a waiting room. Long way around, huh?
We worked on spacing and getting familiar with the space. We got assigned our dressing rooms, and met one of the theatre staff. After hanging around the green room for a bit, I finally got to hop onto the stage and work on the scenes with my castmates. I have some chunks of time during the show where I am just picking my nose. Figuratively speaking of course. So as I am waiting, I study my script some more and try and find some more things to play with. I think I am now all done with the trying new stuff. I’ll have to begin solidifying my characters.
One of my cast mates asked me how I create a character. But that is gonna be another post. Maybe tomorrow.
The Actorvist 