https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrX8L34-i8U A Glimpse Back Stage: The Community of Theatre Not long ago, my fiancé and I ran into a friend of his who once worked at a venue where Britney Spears performed a concert. He said her tour came with like 28 makeup buses. At first I went…what…? And then George said how with all the dancers in the show, all the makeup, hair, and wardrobe changes, the storage space and room for all of that…it sounded about right. You know the phrase ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ Well, it also takes a community to put on a show. Here is a glimpse back stage for you, into the community of theatre. I was first on stage in fifth grade; the acting bug hit me early. I went to school in small towns in South Dakota – there were 60 people in my high school graduating class. So I had the privilege – or curse? – of being a big fish in a small pond. But even in larger theatres as an adult, I experienced the close family-like connection with everyone involved in the show. You spend a lot of time together. Which makes me wonder why I never said anything to Mrs. Thoreson, the director, about that near kiss from Steve Waege during EVERY FAMILY HAS ONE my junior year. We had an almost kissing scene and every time he leaned towards me on the couch he opened his mouth like a codfish. And he wasn’t trying to be funny. When I asked my mother what she thought of the show, she said she liked it, except she was afraid Steve Waege was going to swallow me. A director is really supposed to catch these things. What can I say? In my high school, the directors were the English teacher and the music teacher. Keep in mind I’ve not worked on Broadway or in large theatres with private dressing rooms with stars on the doors. Maybe it’s different there. In my experience, you never say ‘good luck’ – because that means bad luck – you say ‘break a leg.’ And you, never, ever say the word MACBETH in a theatre. I don’t know why; you just don’t do it. Modesty goes out the window, at least in small theatres. You may just have a sheet to separate men’s and women’s dressing areas. In the women’s dressing room, get used to the fact everyone’s going to know your bra size and whether or not you have cellulite. Just get over it. The typical show in a theatre like Lakewood runs for about six weeks, somewhere around 20, 30 performances. You start out rehearsing five nights a week, two or three months before opening night. Everybody’s using the script at first, but the sooner you get your lines memorized – the term is off book – the easier rehearsals go. Rehearsals start in a room somewhere, either in the theatre building or elsewhere (the Pentacle rehearsed for years at the Korean Church) and you don’t get on stage until a week or two before opening night, after the set has been struck from the last show. Set design and construction alone is an amazing art and science. And then you have a director. An assistant director. Technical director. Lighting design and hang, sound, stage manager, production consultant, board liaison, house manager, costume design and creation, props, all of the cast members, program and poster design and production. For DEARLY DEPARTED (referred to at that time as the wiggiest show the Pentacle had ever seen) a wig stylist got her hands on every single wig before every single performance. Props – like the dishes for the dinner table scene – and them being where they need to be at the right time…so important. Somebody has to know if that plastic pizza needs to be touched up because some of the red in the sauce is wearing off – our audience needs to have a believable experience! Donuts were a prop in EVERY FAMILY HAS ONE. It was in the script - one of the characters walked in with a plate of donuts. We ate them backstage. Not such a great idea, we learned when Lisa started choking on one, coughing, until she started to laugh, and then the actor next to her, and then the next until the whole cast was laughing and so was the audience. This went on for quite some time. Once we all composed ourselves and were able to move on, the next line was “I didn’t see anything funny.” I am not kidding. Amy tried really hard to say it with a straight face… Often you play multiple roles, not always on stage. Actors may help paint the set, round up costumes, any tasks needed to get the show off the ground. During THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER at Lakewood Theatre, when I was playing Mrs. Slocum, I was in charge of the curtain for one particular scene during some of the performances. I don’t remember exactly what happened but the curtain got stuck at half-mast. This curtain pulling thing – it’s not easy – many maneuvers are involved. I was horrified. I was back stage, so had no idea the impact on the audience. The director, Steve Knox, assured me the mishap happened at the best of times – that it actually gave a rather cool effect. He was probably just being nice, but I appreciated that. These examples are all to show the concept of theatre as a community – not to even touch on the kind of vulnerability, trust and bonding that can happen between actors in rehearsal and in acting class – like my Authentic Performance: Fundamentals of Acting class. The thing is, everyone, in every aspect, has to do their job in order for the show to run smoothly. There is no editing room afterwards. If the prop person forgets the donuts, aahhh! If my line is, “Well, I was sure I put those keys on the kitchen table, but…” and your line is, interrupting me, “Oh, look, I just found the keys in Jake’s coat pocket!” with a scary music sound… What do I do if you don’t interrupt me? “I was just sure those keys were on the table but I guess they must be somewhere else (looking under table), or perhaps I should climb down your throat and look for them there…!?” Thankfully that has never happened to me on stage and it hopefully never will to you…after this glimpse backstage into the community of theatre. Authentically Yours, Laura
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