As usual, I enjoyed the show, but noticed many minor mistakes as any good stage manager would. I attended both shows this time, and I have to say that the fact that there were two shows were interesting. Usually there are a couple, but only having two shows, one was opening night and the next was the last night. Opening night in any show usually has a few mistakes that are most likely fixed in the nights to come. The last show is usually the sloppiest as the company has performed many days in a row and are tired. In this case, an interesting dynamic was provided. While some mistakes were corrected in the second show, more were made and the actors ad-libbed many lines.
A few mistakes I noticed on the first night were the mics, the boys dancing, a few lighting miscues, and the way the blocks were tuned. First, the mics seemed to be taped incorrectly. They might have slid, but several of them had mic tape around the tip of the mic where the sound enters. While this may have no effect, it could also cover some of the sound. The next issue was Elle’s skit. Her mic fell off and the amp was turned down really low. If this wasn’t a problem by itself. The guys made a lot of noise by moving around behind her. This was distracting from the song. Some of this noise was accidental, but they also were clapping/snapping. Another minor problem was the lighting miscues. This was minor compared to the other comments I’ve had. Most if not all were quickly corrected and there were few the following day. Another very minor mistake was the way the black blocks were turned. This was easily fixed the day after. It was just a little thing that- as a stage manager- bothered me, but wouldn't bother most people.
The show on Saturday night brought my attention to a few new minor mistakes. A few were the scenes where the actors were supposed to freeze and the actors’ projection. First, most of the blocking in Mr. Porter’s skit was the actors freezing in their position on stage. On Saturday a few people were moving while the rest were frozen disrupting the effect of freezing. Another problem was the amount the actors were projecting. It was difficult to hear some of the lines which, in some cases, took away from the comedic aspects. Both of these problems were likely because it was the last night as they did not occur the night before.
As a whole, I enjoyed the idea of doing the comedy skits. It was different than what has previously done, making it more exciting. However, this seemed to add to difficulties in rehearsing each individual skit. Both from hearing the actors talk outside of rehearsal and through the shows, it seemed as though some skits had more rehearsal time than others. As a theater, we haven’t had this problem to this scale. Sometimes a scene will be rehearsed les, which isn’t very noticeable within a long play or musical. However, in a small skit, it is more noticeable. Overall, I think comedy skits are worth doing again.
Another aspect that I noticed on Saturday night that was important for me to notice was the backstage door on stage left. I usually use that door when I am stage managing. I haven’t thought i was distracting because the pit and the movable walls were blocking it, but after sitting by the booth, I am not sure anymore. Therefore, I am going to check next year before I use it freely.
No comments:
Post a Comment