Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Full Preview

[ This post is backdated because I started it after the show ... and then fell asleep. ]

Wednesday night was our first preview show of THE FULL MONTY. Truth be told, previews at Montgomery Theater are considered dress rehearsals, and the Artistic Director reserves the right to stop the show and make adjustments if necessary (though I have yet to see that occur). Speaking on a practical level, however, there is a paying audience, so it feels much more like a performance than a rehearsal. And if I feel that way, sitting with the tech crew, where -- in your opinion -- would the actors and musicians place said show on a sliding scale of rehearsal to true performance?

No, it's not opening night. But, yeah, it's the real deal of a show. So, how did we do?

I won't soft sell you. There were some rough spots. Is that really surprising considering we have 18 performers (all wired for sound), a live seven-piece band, two ASMs, two sound techs, and an SM (who is running the lighting board)? We have big pieces of scenery that must be moved on and off stage (I love "the bus" -- a mobile toilet stall for the men's room scene). We have many costume changes -- and battery changes (for the mic packs). And a number of items that must be moved into and out of place through the use of ropes and pulleys. I mean, we have seriously compounded the number of things that can go wrong in one show in our little theater.

Still, I have to say it was a pretty solid show. Even with the little lighting issue toward the end, which I will save for a post all its own, things looked really good. Everyone sounded good. We had very few issues with microphones, for which I am thankful. Well, as long as I'm not counting the mics that are in the guys' hats for the final scene, but we were still working the bugs out on that (again, fodder for its own post).



The scene at the police station: Will Jerry (far left) lose his
son forever to his ex-wife, Pam, and her new boyfriend.

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