So we have our final preview tonight (it’s free at 7:30 Tetro Luna) last chance to test stuff and run the show before Saturday. Then we open. I finished the playbills last night so besides printing them out we are basically done. This has by far been one of my best years and I am so sad to see it come to an end. I will post the final show video after we close. But I hope you will join us.

So I got my producers notes from my instructor.  And one of the big ones was our opening song “Asshole” is very similar to a song of the same title that was put up 10 years ago on Second City’s Main stage show “Red Scare”

Few things about this. 1. Part of my program is for me to be very familiar with the archives so how embarrassing that I didn’t catch this.  I have only watched Red Scare in pieces looking up scenes and never got to sit down to watch the whole thing.  It is a great (one of the best) shows SC has ever done so egg on my face for sure. 2. It reminds me of reading Mick’s blog about his process and finding out SNL was doing an NPR scenes just and they were getting ready to put there version of an NPR scene in the show.  He watched the SNL scene and decided that is was different enough to go ahead with it.

I just watched the Asshole song from Red Scare, and no disrespect intended, I think Andy wrote funnier jokes in his song. It does even have a similar tone to it (tempo and all) but I think I am gonna keep it. It doesn’t have a single same joke and the actual music is completely original.  But I can see how it is very similar and that bums me out a little.

There are no original ideas.

We are almost to the finish line for this show. I feel good about the running order and we have been running the show for the past two days. I can’t wait to hear what my instructor thinks. She sees my preview tommorow night.

Stuff left for me to do: finalize playbills, purchase hooks for back stage, pay rent to Tetra Lunua for my last run through, preview night, send my MD a few songs. Almost ready.

This is our DeMaat set from Friday.  I have to say I am embarrassed that my Imovie is on the fritz so it has 4 min at the top of the video of nothing going on cause I couldn’t slice it off.  Other than that it is a real tight set.  One of the things I feel real good about is (although I wont be running the tech) I am finally getting better at the tech side.  You can tell the nights I pull all crazy or cues come up in the middle of scenes the set feels off.  I don’t want to take full credit for this being such a good set but I did manage to nail the tech side…so there is that :)

At 4:10 Joey, Mo and I will go on vocalo.org to hock the show. Then back to Second City for a 7pm preview. Update from yesterday we did the previews at CIC and the groups were able to watch each other, it was real nice.

So I wake up to a flurry of emails this morning!!!!! Our (the collective directors program) Thurs previews in DeMaat for the next two weeks are double booked!!!!

Now let me say…this shit happens ALL THE TIME! As someone who has been in charge of a calendar for a great number of people let me tell you human error happens. It can not panic you! What are your resources to put in a fix? Well I am a member of a theater, so I shot out an email to see if we can move. We can, now does everyone want to move (likely the move will leave us for sure with no audience and not exactly a dress rehearsal in the space…so is it worth it?)

But I surprise myself sometime that I am able to fix a 7:30am problem by 9am

So we just got invited to be on Vocalo.org (it’s like the little sister of WBEZ) one of the producers has been a friend for a few years and features my projects once in awhile. Issue is 1. Getting a sitter for this Fri at like 3pm. 2. Getting cast to go to talk about the show 3. Getting the ok from SC PR dept. cause it’s an interview so they actually have to ok it first.

Sigh, good problems to have.

This is our set the very next night (our act two) I cut one scene from this running order for our final show.

This was our set at the DeMaat.  It was the first time doing most of this on the stage for an audience (of three one of who I married).  I cut two scenes from this set to our final running order.

I had a conversation with a cast member about how we have three weeks left.  I the world of plays this would be soooo much time.  We would get to the point where we are rehearsing 3 days a week, they would just now get the costumes and props and we would have a full week of tech to run the full show over and over again.

In this process (and the way I set it up) I have two rehearsals left, one tech, one full run preview, and 3 sets left.

I have to finish the playbill, do the expense report, start to get needle drops from my MD, and hope against hope we don’t have to cut any more (a cut feeling we might have to cut a song to make our time)

Here is what I have planned for the rest of our process.  We have one set on Friday at 7pm, if it was at all like our last DeMaat preview it will be more like a dress rehearsal to get solid times on the scenes and work in the space with lights.

Monday AND Tuesday I have called rehearsal.  I plan to run the show twice each day with notes.  We have another “dress rehearsal” type set on Thursday and a set at CIC on Saturday with full casts.

Then Monday 4pm I plan to run tops and bottoms (and transitions or chair sets) with the cast and stage manager.  At 5pm start our run for my instructor who will be giving ME “producers notes” and I assume this will include strongly suggested changes.

I will try to install those changes (probably via email) for the next nights run through. Then we open.

Crazy.

I will post our last few (long) sets so you guys can see how they came together.