Rehearsal Report

You would think that since I'm not at school for eight hours a day, I would have more time to blog.

Wrong.

Kinda. Technically I probably would have more time, if my schedule hadn't changed so drastically. I'm still adjusting to being able to go to sleep late after rehearsals and stay in bed later in the morning. It's been a strange new development in my life, this sleeping in thing. Not complaining, my most natural sleeping patterns are from 1 a.m. to 10 a.m.

I've also been very busy with the production I'm assistant stage managing. I went to rehearsals a couple times last week as teaching was finishing up, then more full time after that. So that has taken at least five hours of my day. On days like Monday when we built set, I was there for 10 hours. Tuesday for technical rehearsal and cue to cue, I was there for another 10 hours. Last night for invited preview, I was there for 8 hours.

It's been exhausting. But really great. And hopefully tonight is the first night of a typical run time, so I should only be there about 5 hours. We'll see.

This has been a very enlightening experience so far. The company I'm working with is quite small, but packs a lot of punch. The space they work in is on the third floor of an artists studio community. A very unconventional space, but they make it work. Every single person working on this show has a day job, which was not unexpected.

Last night was the first time I truly felt needed, which was so encouraging. That is the hardest part for me when it comes to stage managing. But in the chaos of preview, I bloomed. I was body painting actors, I was setting props that they forgot while the audience was distracted, I was stifling giggles as we realized our stupidity. Reminded me why I love being an assistant stage manager: interaction with the actors.

Today on the list of things to do is start packing, which I am not looking forward to. I've decided my next step takes me home for a few months, just long enough to figure out my real next step. I'm not terribly excited about going home for any long period of time, but I am excited to see my family. When the whole world is open to explore, going home seems like retreat. But I'm trying to see it as a strategic battle plan. We'll see how it goes.

I think that's enough for this Thursday morning. I'm going to put on some Christmas music and start packing. Yay...

Until next time.