Barley Blooper

This was my most frustrating show yet. And not because of the space (which was lovely and large). And not because of the drive (which was short and easy). And not because of cast, crew or audience (all of whom were great). All because, in the first two minutes of the show, this happened:



Yep. I split my pants on stage. During "Looking for Max," our opening number, I have a few spoken lines with Ruby, after which I do two, level-changing "searching for Max" looks before I start singing again. During my first, when I squat down and peer off the edge of the stage, I heard a rip and felt the fabric around my butt give out. And I knew it was over.

Now, this might not seem like such a big problem, the kind of thing that a savvy actor could work his way around. Except that a significant part of the choreography I do as Barley occurs with my back to the audience, shaking my bunny tail. And, I later discovered that the split went right along the seam from my zipper to my bunny tail. There is no time for me to pin up such a long rip during the show, so there were some minor blocking changes in my later Barley scenes, both to protect my dignity, and the audience's eyes. Nobody wants to see my Theatreworks-provided biker shorts.

Emileena told me didn't notice anything, but I did see a few front-row dads looking at me funny. The whole event pissed me off backstage, and, after I realized the humor in the situation, it was all I could do to keep it together on stage. I sewed everything up this evening, although the Theatreworks costume will want to take a look at these when I get back. I hope my crude tack job holds at least through our last five shows. Because doing the show with your rear hanging out is... a little embarrassing, to say the least.

Kid quote of the day: During the Blue Tarantula: "DON'T TAKE A NAP, MAX!!"

Call tomorrow: 7:30am, Comfort Inn parking lot in North Dartmouth, MA. Our last two show day, in a really beautiful theater.

I guess this means I've gained weight on the tour, which isn't entirely a bad thing.

Chester Revisited

Remember way back at the Vans, Taxis and Three-Quarter Stages entry when I promised footage of the car issues and drug paraphernalia in Chester? Well, Sally-Swims-a-Lot blog has compiled an excellent video that sums up our day there.

Check it out here.

Introductions: Practicing Safe Sound

A warning to my more sensitive readers: this post is rated PG-13.

Tomorrow's our final travel day, and the beginning of our last week of shows, which is sort-of bitter sweet. More on that later. However, here is the long-promised blog entry about what I do offstage. Meet Assistant Stage Manager 2.

(What, you were expecting a costume?)

At the beginning of this crazy adventure of a tour, I was offered the chance to earn an extra $6 a week for acting as ASM2. You see, every actor on a Theatreworks tour is signed as an ASM as well as an actor, which allows us to do load-in and load-out under Equity regulations. That said, we all become just actors at half-hour to our places call. Except for ASM1 (on this tour, Lydia) and ASM2 (me). We can be asked to work into our half-hour, without Theatreworks having to pay us for it. And, in addition to this, we each have a "specialty" of our own: ASM1 deals with set issues, and I help with Emileena's sound set-up. Which explains why I am frequently switching out faulty wireless body-mic packs backstage, changing wires, microphone elements and windscreens and pestering my fellow actors to not turn off their mics between shows.

One of the most exciting parts of my day, however, is when I get to prepare the microphones. After Emileena has synced the mics to the receivers, she gives me a shout and I come over to work my magic. And this is how I do it:










Do I really need to say anything else?

Kid quote of the day: When Max knocked down the castle at the end of the song "Happily Ever," two boys in the front row decided not to applaud. They gave Max a big "thumbs down."

Call tomorrow: I am still awaiting Emileena's text message.

Ouch!

The day began when Leigh arrived at our van. Coughing, and a tad hoarse. This made two ill cast members (Ben has also been hacking for a few days) for our show today. Then, on our trip to Montclair, a short stop in our passenger van caused Michelle to hit her left hip. Very hard. Arriving at the theater, we loaded in (slowly and carefully; no more injuries, please), set for the show, did our best to scare up some energy (remember, I've been doing the perform-in-the-morning, rehearse-at-night thing, which zaps me) and got our show started.

And then I got hurt.

During "Looking for Max," the opening number, I wound up stepping on something sharp, which cut through my shoe and stuck itself into my left foot. Very conscious that something not-so-good had happened, I hobbled through the rest of the number, stumbled backstage for my Gracie fast change and discovered a nasty puncture wound, about the diameter of a heavy-duty staple, on the left side of my foot. Thinking quickly (remember, this is all during a timed, fairly fast change), I sprayed my foot with the isopropyl alcohol we use to clean our bunny ears, wrapped the wound in gaffers tape, changed my bloody socks, threw on Gracie and got myself on stage for the scene. The show must go on, right?

At the break between shows, Emileena gave me the first aid kit and I went hunting for the perpetrator. I found that it was, indeed, a staple, one that had worked its way out of the stage and was standing straight up, about an inch tall, with one of its sharp ends waiting to do further damage. A set of pliers and some major hefting later, the villain has been extracted and was on its way to the garbage can. Not only revenge on my part, but also a public service effort for the company. As of now, all we had that remained unharmed were two bunny scouts, and we needed to keep it that way.

We finished the day, I rehearsed at the zoo, got back to the apartment, drank wine, downed two Motrin, changed the bandages on the wound (which hurts, but is healing) and am crashing. There is a tetanus shot in my future, I do believe.

Kid (er, Parent) quote of the day: After the show, we met two little girls who had been excellent audience members. They were thrilled to meet us, and we were thrilled to meet them. When Michelle was introducing me, she told the girls that "Ethan plays Gracie, but he's not really a girl," to which one of the mothers replied, "Oh, that's just like Uncle So-and-So. He likes to wear dresses sometimes too." Hmmm...

Call tomorrow: 6:15am, Manhattan garage near Columbia. Our last local show on this tour.