ENTER THE REHEARSAL HALL -- WHERE THE MAGIC BEGINS!

There is something magical about sitting in an audience as the house lights dim.

The buzz in the room settles into quiet anticipation as we wait to be transported into someone else's world, someone else's story. But what we see on the stage is just the culmination of weeks, sometimes months of work behind the scenes by artists of all description: actors, directors, designers, wardrobe people, carpenters, painters, sound and light experts and others.

This blog will give you a fly-on-the-wall glimpse into that unknown world, following the rehearsal process.
This will be your guide to the hard work, fun and weirdness of putting together a play
for a professional theatre company.

You'll never watch a play in the same way again!

Thursday, March 30, 2017

THE BIRDS AND THE BEES - Refining and Polishing; The Leadup to Opening Night



Now blogging: Laura Lussier, Assistant to the Director

Tristan Carlucci
Over the last couple of days, we’ve been putting the finishing touches on everything. We’ve been doing precision work, polishing up scenes, and preparing for an audience.  

Last night, we got just what we needed: a real audience! Preview Night is a nerve-wracking, wonderful night, and tonight was especially nerve-wracking due to the Portage Place fire alarm going off right at the top of Act 2! Just as the audience members were almost all out of the theatre and heading down the escalators, the alarm stopped and we could get on with the show.  

That’s the beauty of live theatre, folks!  The actors, being the pros that they are, carried on as if nothing had happened and the rest of the night went smoothly. The audience just LOVED this play!  SO much laughter!


Mariam Bernstein & Robb Paterson
With a comedy, the laughs we receive with a first audience is a gift, not only because it feels good to have a confirmation that the play really is funny (sometimes we wonder after seeing it so many times), but also because those laughs are informative.They inform us where the actors have to allow time for a laugh, where they have to attack a line with more vocal energy to be heard over a laugh, etc. Comedy is demanding in that way. You have to factor in the audience a lot more than you do for a drama.  More often than not, the timing has to perfect in order to get a laugh. A few moments were a bit off tonight because it was our first real audience. That’s to be expected. But it’s crunch-time now, so Ann has to determine what needs to be tweaked in the short rehearsal time we have in the afternoon before Opening Night. After those last few hours of rehearsal in the afternoon, that’s it!

Paula Potosky
It’s the final countdown. By the time PTE’s doors open tonight, the team will be ready to take the plunge into the run. Directors and Assistants have to let go and say “It’s been a slice! Happy Opening! Have a great run!” And with this little gem of a show, it’ll be a fabulous run. 

Enjoy the show! 

Photos by Leif Norman

No comments:

Post a Comment