The Journals

Donald Kuehlhorn, (Policeman)
November 26:
Another one in the can. We had the usual conversations od the last night, the last performance. However, many of us consider this the beginning of the next show. I ,for one,  have committed to do the lights for the children's Theater production  of Annie jr. opening in two weeks. It makes sense since i set this show's lights. Of course it is a matter of me not able to say no. Thank goodness the Playhouse doesn't have a Christmas show anymore. I will be off for hte holidays only to have it start after the first of the year with The Heidi Chronicles. Actually i hope i never say "another one in the can" because then i will not be back. Can't imagine that!

November 20:
Only two more performances left. We have 12 performances in this musical slot and have played 10. I used to think that shows had their ups and downs. some performances measurably better then others. In the past several years i have noticed a marked increase int eh performance valuse. This show is no exception. We have had consistently good performances with no let down. That is kudos to the leads but also the entire operation since it doesn't depend on the leads to light the stage or load furniture. Now to the last couple of shows. We are off for the Thanksgiving holiday. We return with fat bellies and the end of the run in sight. This is theplace when we need all the concentration we can get to make it to the finish line. Fro where i sit, we will present the same high quality show that we have in the prior 10. That is such a pleasure to say. And i only get to say it two more times.

November 10:
We started the second week of the run last night. My take is that Thursday performances are rehearsals we were off  for 4 days. When you have a cast that works this ain't so. We have a cast that works. We were not without moments but the energy was there and the play worked like opening week-end. This is done by the people involved who work on their lines and performance bits during the break. Fear is a large part of the motivation. Fear of failing to please the audience. Fear of forgetting your lines. Fear of not doing your best. We can see this in the newbies who don't understand what work theater is but we don't have newbies on our stage this time 'round. Theater takes work. We are the better for it.
November  4
The show opened last night. The dress rehearsal was interesting. It was the first time i left Denni Don to run the board without me hanging around chewing my nails. Of course, Phil, found me all evening with "suggestions" about the lights. Being a nice guy, i used his "suggestions".. Interestingly, they were very good. Go figure! Denni Don looked like a derr in headlights when she found that i wesn't  going to be there.Took all of two seconds before she couldn't care less. gues you are a big shot till you aren't. I am now a performer witht he rest of the performers. The show is great. The opeing night audience really liked it. Our 8 weeks of wrok paid off.....as usual.Auditions coming on the 6th!!!!! It begins agian.
November 1:
Finally, some time to ourselves. Deb Bowman, Sherri Burford and i have been working on lights for this show. It seems everytime we schedule to work onthe lights someone else is inthe theater. If it isn't a production int he Studio it is personnal stuff that make sit difficult to come in or the Children's theater is rehearsing on the stage or set construction needs the space for their work. We need an empty space since we turnoff all the lights and them selectively turn them back on.
Last night was the dark night for the play. No rehearsal. No set construction. Children's theater did rehearse but they were done at 6:15. Lil' Bit was paitning some set pieces but we could work around her. With the place to ourselves, we focused our lights, hung new instruments and colored, main new cues, deleted old cues, and after weeks of preparation, feel we have a show. We know it isn't complete. We will see things inthenext two days to correct. We have a Dirtector that will see things that we will correct. But that is nit pick stuff. The show is light.... and we think it is pretty good!
October 31(Boo):
Last night was the second night of tech for our show. It seemed worse then Tech Sunday. It wasn't but with the limited knowledge of going from no knowledge to partial knowledge the mistakes loomed large. The lights worked better when they worked but really got bad when the didn't work. We adjusted cues and deleted some that were still in the plot while leaving some in that were out of the plot. See? it gets confusing. The bottom line, though, is things are doing what they always do and are coming together. We found color that needs to be added. We found places where light needs to be removed. We added a work light back stage when the stage goes to black. And we saw some things that we never saw before....Good things!
As all theater goes, we have three days til we open and there is plenty of time to get it done. Tonight, Tuesday , is a dark night,  no rehearsal, so my crew and i will be in the house to adjust all the problems we found yesterday.  We know that Wednesday our performance will be flawless and Wednesday evening we will correct the flaws we denied til we get it right.
October 30:
Where has the time gone? Oh yeah i went out of the country. Well, it was great and i am back!
When i returned to the theater i had a clear head and was comfortable that i would knock these lights out in a heart beat. So much for vacations! I was overwhelmed! All the instruments to take down and put up, to color, to focus. I had Sherri and Deb to help but it still presented a huge task. Since we couldn't do anything during rehearsal we had to find time before and after. Why not during rehearsal? Well, it is best done when we can see the direction of the instrument and what it lights on stage. That means the rest of the house must be dark. Another thing, of course, is finding where the actors will be on stage. That, we must wait for the Director, to tell us. Sometimes that isn't immediate. Last week, i took a day off during the week and caught up. On tech Sunday, yesterday, we had a light board full of cues and enough lights to make it work. I feel better, thanks to Deb and Sherri's help, as well. I even know most of my lines.

October 5:
I won a  trip to London in June. Today is the day i fly over the pond. I knew i was going even when i was asked to be part of "Charity". They knew i was going as well, since i won the trip at the OTP Gala fund raiser. It is only for one week and then i will be back in the grind. Upon my return they expect me to be off book and ready to hang lights! I hope i remember where to go for rehearsal! This will be a fun vacation. Two shows in London, "Wicked" and "Spamalot", then a night at the Lapin Agile in Paris(2003) are only a few of the things we will do. But rest assured, i'll be back. Make sure you see "Last Call" opening in two weeks. I am sure you have seen "Clue" so i won't mention that. I wonder of London knows i'm coming yet? 

September 28:
It is from another show but the sentiment is the same, "I cain't say no!". I began this show as the lighting designer, alone the way i found myself agreeing to some bit parts. Since i would rather perform then breath,  i won't complain. I do find that i get jealous when i see a performance. I know i can do better than the actors "up there". I know that i have more fun "up there". So given the opportunity to be "up there" no matter how small the part,("there are no small roles") i accepted the parts(s). You will see me "up there", happy, not jealous and practicing "no" for the next time.

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