So that was tech week. For the uninitiated, it’s not really that much fun. The hours are long, the work is difficult, everyone is tired and often frustrated. Several of us are coming down with some sort of upper resp/sore throat thing.
It feels like there’s nothing in the universe other than mistakes. No god, no light, no planets, no Einstein, no Egypt, just mistakes. It makes seeing the inherent joy of collaboration, creativity, singing, art, show-biz, friendship, the box of doughnuts; you name it – just a little tricky.
We survived our invited dress last night. That was kinda the goal among the cast: survival. Most of us were in a “no blood, no foul” frame of mind. The humour was decidedly gallows, and if no one died, we’d call it success. No one died…as far as we know.
Boo-effing-hoo. You knew the job was dangerous when you took it.
But there were some wonderful things, like hearing the band and Alex put this thing together. Wow. Watching Alex work with the musicians and the acting company and the score was one of those “moments” for me. It was one of those “young guy walkin’ by” things that Mike Dillard speaks about that’s so true for parents. It just clobbered me right between the eyes. Mike, BTW, is one of the people in our show. When you see the show, you’ll get it. See the show.
So then, after the run-thru, we worked with Mr. Schwartz on “Fathers and Sons” and “Something To Point To.” Ok. Just for starters, I’m soooooo grateful that no one reminded me that he was in the house. He’d been out of town for several days. But aside from the keen insight he brings to the rehearsal process, the respect that he gives each of us working on his show is remarkable. And gratifying. And the result is that, tho’ I was exhausted at the end of the night….and just bummed at the moment we were called us back to the stage for what we thought was just more “B-roll” footage, it was a rare opportunity to go play with the big kids. And the big kids simply assumed we were going to play at their level. I feel a little cooler than I did yesterday.
So at the end of this week I’m left with the feeling that although I think it’s a pretty good show right now, give us a couple weeks of previews and daily rehearsals, and this thing might be something special. Something worthy of the people from whose lives it’s drawn, and of the people who’ve worked to create it.
And that, my friend, is why we wade thru all the bullshit.
