PROOF Journals
Sherri Burford, Stage Manager
Proof Journal
January 2, 2005
Wow! I thought the set looked good before my long trek home for Christmas. When I came back on Sunday and rounded the corner into the auditorium, I was shocked. There's like a house setting on stage now. So much work, even during the holidays, has gone into this, it's incredible. There are still details to finish but it's already quite an impressive set. Also, while I was slip-sliding through the snow on my way south, Bonnie took over as assistant stage manager as well as props person. We had been using very basic props but she refined these and pretty much got almost all the props we'll need in place. So now it seems like it's all down to just refining details. The set will continue to be painted and detailed, the props will be refined some more and the actors will continue perfecting their lines and blocking and developing their characters. Now I have the intimidating task of knowing every tech detail that needs to happen from opening the doors for the actors to arrive for rehearsal to exactly what props need to be set where during which scene. Since the stage doesn't really move, the backstage crew's primary task is to set and strike props. But, because there are no set changes, this must be done smoothly and quickly. And I am now adding all of the tech notes to all of my blocking and line notes. Stage managers take a lot of notes!
January 2, 2005
Part 2
The Table. What would a show be without at least one productive trip to Goodwill. Our set, as fantastic as it is, was lacking a few pieces of essential furniture. And borrowing or buying porch furniture in January is not a likely option. However, on my weekly jaunt to Goodwill, made this week on Sunday due to the holiday on Saturday, i happened by a nice round table and 4 chairs. All for the whopping price of $25. Except the $25.00 tag was blue and blue tags were ½ off. For $12 it could be ours! I looked at it for a couple of minutes and then noticed other shoppers looking at it so I quickly found an employee and laid claim to it. I then called Denni at home but she wasn't there so I called her on her cell phone as she was pulling into her garage with a banged up knee she hurt working on the set. Despite her pain, she called Ron, who was at the playhouse still working. Ron called me on my cell phone but I missed the call. Then Denni called me on my cell and told me to call Ron at the playhouse. I called Ron back as he was calling me on Goodwill's phone. How confusing in this age of high tech personal communication devices. Ron scurried over to Goodwill to check it out and we decided it was just right. We fit all five pieces into his truck and my SUV and took them immediately to the playhouse and put them on stage. They looked great and we have 2 extra chairs just in case. Bonus! (Since I am typing this the day after strike, I can now think back on how many times during the show that Ron and I sat in the light booth marveling at how great a find this was, especially since the chairs swivel.)
Proof Journal
January 31, 2005
Wow! It seems like only yesterday that we had auditions but actually yesterday we tore down the set and called it another great show. Over the course of the run we had amongst our cast and crew at least two birthdays. We also had 2 people close to us pass away. One crew member lost a job. Another one found a new job after a long search. Denni hurt her knee. Several cast and crew members got sick. There were work obligations and family obligations and obligations to other shows. But despite all of these things we were there each night concentrating on the task at hand. Every cast and crew member put all the other stuff aside and focused their energy on making this a great show. At the same time, people supported each other through all the outside pains and setbacks and joys. It was a wonderful thing. And we had a wonderful show. It's almost sad that it has ended. And this chapter, sadly, has ended. But most of us will be back at it again tomorrow—auditioning for another show, working an another show, rehearsing for another show. And we will keep all the wonderful memories and move on to make new ones.
Proof Journal December 19, 2004
We watched them rehearse as we filed in for our rehearsal. They were nice enough to share their stage with us even up to the night of final dress rehearsal.. We also watched them eat and play games and do homework in the green room, and run gleefully about as they got their costumes, and forget and leave their scripts in the auditorium, and generally just run about being kids. At times, we sort of wondered how focused they could be. But come opening night, when some sort of magic always happens, they were, by all reports, transformed from kids to actors- a term that perhaps doesn't know age- and they presented an excellent show. But now “Aladdin” has come and gone. They are young- they will have many more opportunities. And now. . . Finally, the stage is ours! Construction has begun. No more finding chairs to set onstage and remove each night. No more using other people's tables for the night. We can actually bring props in to work with and have a place to keep them. We can start rehearsal a half hour earlier as we're not sharing the stage and (hopefully) we can finish a half hour earlier. And now, as the stage is being constructed, I can actually see, not just visualize, the garden gate, the backdoor, the stairs, etc. And of course, the blocking is changing a bit as well so I will have to re-write my carefully re-written notes. We have begun collecting props and can actually leave them there. But the most amazing thing at this point, besides the actors' ability to translate the words into an emotional drama, is watching the stage itself transform. Before it was the set for “Aladdin”. Then, for a day maybe, it was mostly just black. Now it is slowly becoming the back of a house. Doors appear. New walls take shape. The inside even becomes a kitchen, a hallway, an upstairs, instead of just the upstage area. I couldn't build a birdhouse with an instructional kit. I'm lucky to hang a picture sideways without it falling off the wall. So to see someone take a plain black stage and design a set, in this case basically construct a house, and then have someone build it to a realistic fruition, to me, is amazing. And, lucky for me, most of my blocking notes won't change. If I were truly anal, as some might believe, I would need to go back and change all of the down stage right references to somewhere between down stage right and center stage right. And I would need to change the backdoor from a center stage reference to a stage left reference. But even I am not that anal and down stage right will remain as such and the backdoor is still the backdoor. Of course now there is a kitchen door as well. And a window to look through. And a couple of gates. And some steps. And these will need to be blended into the blocking notes. And some of the blocking is changing as rehearsals progress. And now I need to make sure my blocking notes are as updated as possible (and as legible as possible and that my “L”s don't look like “C”s) and that I have secured as many props as possible and noted as many tech cues as possible before handing my script over to my able assistant as I travel south for the holidays (where the accents are real).
“Proof “ Journal 11/26/04
Well, we've made it to the 1 st of the 3 major holidays that rehearsals will be scheduled around. Only 2 more to go. Auditions brought out so many talented people. Everyone was fantastic. I sat for 3 hours for 2 nights straight wondering how in the world we would whittle it down to a cast of 4. I kept thinking, “I'm really glad I don't' have to make this final decision.” But, by the end of the 2 nd night, we finally walked out at 10:00 with a cast. “Thank You!” and “Great Job!” to all who auditioned. Our 1 st rehearsal was a read-thru the following Monday. I was at another location with our technical director, Denni Don Hunting, learning how to take blocking notes and what all my responsibilities are as stage manager. For the last two weeks we have worked on blocking one scene at a time. I never knew so much movement and direction could be involved. I scribbled and scribbled and will now need to take some time this weekend to re-write my notes so at least I can read them. (And, since I'm leaving for Christmas, I may actually want to write them so someone else can read them as well.) “Mame” closes this weekend, so I also need to make sure I mark the items we want saved from their set for ours. But then, “Alladin” gets the mainstage, so we still can't construct a set yet. It will be nice when we can, because I have a hard time visualizing the steps and doors, and gates. Plus I wonder how many notes I'll have to change once this happens. I had hoped to call a meeting this coming week of people who wanted to work tech for the show. But with the holiday cutting the week short and with auditions for “Wives of an American King” next week, we may have to wait yet another week. Meanwhile, I'm starting to compile my want list for Santa. I was going to ask him for a black blankie because I get so cold just sitting and taking notes. But, bless her, Denni brought me one. So now, what I want for Christmas—flashlights, extra batteries, pencils, pencil sharpener, A REALLY BIG ERASER …..