Fine Monster Week One

7/28/08
We survived the first weekend of the BU Alumni production “A Fine Monster You Are”. Yes, by now word has probably gotten around that I play a troll – my first on-stage appearance in a play since Immaculate Misconceptions, and my first non-musician role ever. I still maintain that I am not an actor, but if there is a furry costume involved, I am game.

Every time I work with the Alumni Players (or any other theatre group), I am reminded of just how amazingly collaborative (and exhausting) theatre is. It really is probably the most complex of the performing arts, second only to its close cousin, opera. One delay or misstep in any phase of the production can bring everything to a hault. Even with some of the talent on the stage, and the crew we have, it is still a mystery how everything came together this time.

Our review in the Press Enterprise was very positive, though they noted some of the obvious sound problems we had opening night. What they did not know was that until opening night I was running sound cues from a boom box and had no feel for how things would work through the main system. All of that stuff is usually worked out in technical rehearsals of course, but in this case opening night was our only tech run through. We didn’t even have a sound board until shortly before the doors opened. On Saturday we were able to get some better levels, and I think things went better from there.

The sound issues were just one of several snafus. Staffing shortages meant the stage was not ready in time. One of our own actors – who had never picked up a hammer before – even had to pitch in to help finish the set just hours before the opening. Several other people had double or triple the work. Our secret passage (also available for the first time opening night) threatens to bring the set down each time we open it. Nothing like a little danger in a performance!

So we're on to next week's shows (Aug 1 at 8 pm July 27 at 3 pm August 2nd at 3 pm AND 8 pm), then a short break before the next event I will be helping on: Jalsa with Ustad Kadar Khan. Jalsa is Saturday, August 9th at BTE in Bloomsburg, PA. Don't miss this rare treat!