Monday
22nd October
Whilst Anthony, Alex W. and Alex N. were at MB
helping on the ‘Get-In’ for YouTheatre; Ruth and I met at SGC for the Meet
& Greet and 1st run-through for Wind In The Willows, the REP’s
big Christmas show this year.
As usual I arrived bright and early and lent a hand to set up the various snacks, drinks and seating areas ready for when everybody showed up.
The cast and crew all arrived on time and most had already come over and introduced themselves by the time the director suggested that formal introductions would be for everyone to stand and individually say their name and their role on the production.
Once everyone was acquainted, one of the crew guided us around the building and all the office spaces and explained how all the rehearsal areas work, this included directing us through the ‘up-and-over’ and the ‘down-and-under’ routes used to avoided walking through certain areas when rehearsals are in progress, and of course these routes meant I was holding everyone up as they involved a heck of a lot of going up and down flights of stairs.
By the time we’d all finished the tour it was lunch time, so I popped to the shops to grab some food and then sat and had a chat with the crew.
After lunch we all met up again in the rehearsal space for a look at the wonderful artistic designs for the stage and costumes, the first read-through and to work on the song that is the main theme tune for the show.
The stage Model Box and costume designs were fantastic! And I told Ruth later that in that field I may have discovered my future speciality.
As usual I arrived bright and early and lent a hand to set up the various snacks, drinks and seating areas ready for when everybody showed up.
The cast and crew all arrived on time and most had already come over and introduced themselves by the time the director suggested that formal introductions would be for everyone to stand and individually say their name and their role on the production.
Once everyone was acquainted, one of the crew guided us around the building and all the office spaces and explained how all the rehearsal areas work, this included directing us through the ‘up-and-over’ and the ‘down-and-under’ routes used to avoided walking through certain areas when rehearsals are in progress, and of course these routes meant I was holding everyone up as they involved a heck of a lot of going up and down flights of stairs.
By the time we’d all finished the tour it was lunch time, so I popped to the shops to grab some food and then sat and had a chat with the crew.
After lunch we all met up again in the rehearsal space for a look at the wonderful artistic designs for the stage and costumes, the first read-through and to work on the song that is the main theme tune for the show.
The stage Model Box and costume designs were fantastic! And I told Ruth later that in that field I may have discovered my future speciality.
I was lent a copy of the script and sat to one side
of the room to observe how the professional process works. The majority of the
cast are also experienced musicians who will play instruments on stage during
the show, so arranging the song was incredibly easy and quick. And the quality
of the singing just a couple of hours later when they finished was incredible.
The read-through was equally easy going and fun. I was amazed at how many of the cast were already working off-script and when certain characters hadn’t been allocated yet, actors just jumped straight in and picked up the lines without pause or argument.
The full run came in at just under two hours and without a single hitch. All in all it was a lovely experience for me, to see how a professional company goes about starting a big show like this. Granted everyone may have been on their very best behaviour, it being the first day and all, but I hope that this hasn’t spoilt me for when I get back to classes, in that I hope that I won’t automatically expect the same standard from amateur/student cast and crew.
The read-through was equally easy going and fun. I was amazed at how many of the cast were already working off-script and when certain characters hadn’t been allocated yet, actors just jumped straight in and picked up the lines without pause or argument.
The full run came in at just under two hours and without a single hitch. All in all it was a lovely experience for me, to see how a professional company goes about starting a big show like this. Granted everyone may have been on their very best behaviour, it being the first day and all, but I hope that this hasn’t spoilt me for when I get back to classes, in that I hope that I won’t automatically expect the same standard from amateur/student cast and crew.
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