Tech Week
There's a reason why they call it "Hell Week."
And actually, "week" is a bit of a misnomer - back when I started doing this we actually had the better part of a week from the time we brought the show into the theatre to the time we actually saw our first audience. Later on it dropped down to a three days of madness followed by a few previews - an extended tech week but one that by definition had to come to an end by that Thursday night opening.
Now, thanks to the ever-decreasing value of a dollar it seems like such a luxury to give ourselves a whole 48 hours to go from load-in to lights up.
And another thing that's changed about tech week since I started doing this - it seems like there's a lot fewer people around. Used to be that it was an "all hands on deck" call for a load-in, and you pulled in the cast, crew and all the extra bodies that you could. Yesterday it was just me slugging in the flats and risers, as it is the vast majority of the time nowadays.
As you might expect, this morning I'm pretty stiff and sore, and I think I may even have done some damage to my back, I'm not sure - we'll find out when I have to take the entire set down and out again on Saturday night. But despite my discomfort I'm not feeling all that unhappy about how things are going. After all, the set is in, it's up, and while there are a few little notes left to do it's nowhere near as far from finished as some of the shows I used to work on - there will be no all-night calls to get this one ready.
You have to be a bit philosophical about tech week - that's how you get through it.
I do hope, though, that my efforts will be worth it - please come to the show!
Call for tickets, 519-780-7593.
And actually, "week" is a bit of a misnomer - back when I started doing this we actually had the better part of a week from the time we brought the show into the theatre to the time we actually saw our first audience. Later on it dropped down to a three days of madness followed by a few previews - an extended tech week but one that by definition had to come to an end by that Thursday night opening.
Now, thanks to the ever-decreasing value of a dollar it seems like such a luxury to give ourselves a whole 48 hours to go from load-in to lights up.
And another thing that's changed about tech week since I started doing this - it seems like there's a lot fewer people around. Used to be that it was an "all hands on deck" call for a load-in, and you pulled in the cast, crew and all the extra bodies that you could. Yesterday it was just me slugging in the flats and risers, as it is the vast majority of the time nowadays.
As you might expect, this morning I'm pretty stiff and sore, and I think I may even have done some damage to my back, I'm not sure - we'll find out when I have to take the entire set down and out again on Saturday night. But despite my discomfort I'm not feeling all that unhappy about how things are going. After all, the set is in, it's up, and while there are a few little notes left to do it's nowhere near as far from finished as some of the shows I used to work on - there will be no all-night calls to get this one ready.
You have to be a bit philosophical about tech week - that's how you get through it.
I do hope, though, that my efforts will be worth it - please come to the show!
Call for tickets, 519-780-7593.
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