You Know What They Say About a Dress Rehearsal
Excuses… excuses: May 8, 2007
Actually I have great excuses for not writing since April 25th(!)
But there’s no way they’d be interesting to anyone who might possibly be reading this…
so please simply expect my apology, sans excuses. things have been cooking here!
Where to start…
Tech was fun, exhilarating, colorful, divine. Gordon sets the tone for an amazing, thrilling, calm and always friendly room. Most people equate tech with stress - there’s so much to be afraid of. What if we don’t finish in time? What if all we made in the rehearsal room looks stupid on the stage? What if we forget everything? What if the staging ideas don’t make sense with the set design, the lights, the sounds? The actor’s experience is dramatically changed once they put on their costumes, make-up, hair. In a sense, it’s like you spend three weeks building something in one form and then suddenly in tech it’s ripped away from you. The work is like what you made there…but there are so many more variables. Sometimes this makes people freak out.
But Gordon is a pro - I should have known - and his uncanny ability to make everything fun kept everyone at ease. Chris Akerlind, the lighting, is a magician. He sits at his tech desk and, literally, creates magical looks onstage with what seems like great ease.
Oh, well, I’d hate to sound like I’m gushing, but Uncle Vanya tech was a fun and happy time. We plowed our way through the play and watched each moment become more beautiful than the next. Michael Yeargen’s set immediately brings the audience into another world. Its main element is a massive wooden floor that covers the entire playing area. Its grey and gold tones glow upwards, creating a surreal space that the actors fill more and more with every run-through.
As I write this entry, we’re about to start the dress rehearsal, and the room is buzzing with an audience of Yale School of Drama students. I can’t wait to see how this cast responds to the final added variable: an audience!
This is definitely the best part.