A glimpse into stage managing / calling a show...

     I thought it would be cool to throw together this little video of me calling a show my students recently put on. When you're working with students and parent volunteers, you have to accommodate for changes, obviously. Also, I had pretty much the same crew every time so I tried to hone in on what would work for them and the terms they were used to. In the end, we came to a solid system that made a complicated moment rather streamlined.

     Every gun shot and light cue was a separate cue and every light cue had an invisible auto-follow so the mover could get in place. The barricade shifts were done by hand, not by a track or mechanics. Also, kids are kids and things change from day to day. Marks are missed and lines are dropped, so this allowed for on the spot changes if the need arose. (Which, thankfully, it didn't... because my students are rockstars.)

ENJOY! 

A little reminder that this art thing still works...

I recently attended an amateur theatrical production with my mother and several of her friends. My mom likes to keep a tight schedule so her evenings are rarely open for heading to the theatre with me, or anyone else for that matter, so I try and make it a point to catch shows with her when she shows a specific interest in them. To be honest, she's still kind of learning theatre etiquette despite my fifteen years of doing this art thing.

Anyway, this one didn't exactly stand out to me more than most community/educational productions I attend. To be honest, several parts of the show were a little weak and while we were able to enjoy ourselves, both myself and my mother maintained a sort of "It was cute" mentality. (We've all been in those shows, myself included. Heck, I've DIRECTED those shows.)

Anyway, on the way out, as my mom and I kept most of our criticisms to ourselves, one of her friends couldn't stop talking about how much she loved it. Her monologue went something like this...
"That went by so quickly. It took me away for two hours! It's like nothing else was happening for a while."

Mother was rather quick on the response with,
"Well, that's the point."

And I was once again reminded that this silly art/thing still works. No matter how big or small the budget, strong or weak the talent... this theatre thing works. My entire perspective of the performance shifted a little when I got to see the GIFT this woman had just received by sitting in that audience. A little bit of magic...

A frequent visitor to my Starbucks, an older gentleman, is going through chemotherapy and as a certain silly shift walked by singing
"Everything is awesome."

He quickly interjected with
"I just watched The Lego Movie this weekend! I just love that movie. Makes me forget for a little bit."

What a gift. What a little, precious glimpse of magic.

I'm all about a pursuit of excellence, but its nice to be reminded that this art thing, this God breathed desire to create, is bigger than us. And, it works.