We are at T-minus two days here at New Leaf. Six Years by Sharr White opens on Wednesday. The clock is ticking.
(Faithful readers, we’d love to see you there this weekend. Mention “Interstate-70″ when you make a reservation or at the door to take advantage of our Pay-What-You-Can tickets for opening weekend.)
This is the part of the process that is both exhilarating and strangely comforting to me. The momentum we’ve been building throughout rehearsals starts to take over — each run brings more clarity, more discoveries, more excitement. Folding chairs give way to period furniture, rehearsal props to the real things. No more jeans and sneakers for the actors; it’s heels and hose, suits and ties all the way. Add the sounds of rain, running water, a crying child, and suddenly we’re living in a whole world, not just in a room. Light the stage and darken the house, and now the magic begins.
But of course the magic doesn’t just happen. It takes all the company members and associate artists, the director and assistant director, the ensemble of actors, the designers, the painters, upholsterers, wardrobe supervisors, stage management, dramaturg, box office staff, and running crew to get this show off the page and on its feet. And one of the joys of life in a small theatre company is that all of those myriad roles are filled by about sixteen people.
So what about this is comforting? Every time I turn around, I see someone taking care of the details – Michelle re-covering seat cushions, Marni making (delicious) lasagna for tech, Amanda reinforcing the spike marks on stage – you get the idea. I know that no matter what comes up in the next two days, someone will step up and make sure it happens.
In Six Years, Phil and Meredith tell us ”the world just keeps on moving forward… whether you’re ready or not. “ And so it is with us. In a little over 48 hours, all the pieces will come together. We’ll welcome the audience into the world we’re creating, and together, we’ll live twenty-four tumultuous years in just two hours. And if that’s not time flying, I don’t know what is.
[...] To top it off, I’ve been designing sound and projections for the New Leaf season kick-off, Six Years (see below for a blogger discount, all ye Chicago bloggers), and filling in for a friend in a sound [...]