The Magic Show Experience

Hello, Trevor writing. Here is another little perk of working backstage: sometimes you get to be in the show! The other day I was helping out with Popcorn Theater during Magic week. On that day, a local magician named Justin Holbrook came in and was setting up. He came over to the tech crew and asked if any of us would like to be in the show today. And, because I am an actor, I agreed to lend him my service. Justin then proceeded to pull out from behind his back a poncho, an umbrella hat, a big red nose, and a huge pair of sunglasses. I started to second guess volunteering myself.

Justin presented to me my costume and told me that I would be a part of a comic act. He explained it to me as such, “A girl will be selected from the audience and participate in a guess-which-hand-it’s-in-trick with some toilet paper balls. Before the girl guesses which hand, the toilet paper ball will be thrown over her head, onto the ground. You will be behind the curtain and pick up the balls of TP without the participant knowing; however, the audience will know full well of what is going on. Then, after a few tries, I will offer the girl the chance to find out how I did the trick and continue to do the trick in slow motion. At that moment, you will hear music and, in slow motion, gallop on this stick horse across stage, taking the toilet paper ball from my hand and continue off stage. Don’t worry! You’ll do great.” I thought this was pretty clever. He explained to me that the slow motion portion of the trick was to show the participant how the trick really worked. So in a very round-a-bout way of saying it, this trick was the “Lightning Fast Clown Trick.”

Justin walked away and continued his rushed pre-show tech rehearsal. I looked at the ridiculous clown costume in my hands and started getting nervous. I started thinking, what if I ruin the trick and make Justin look bad? What if the girl sees me removing the paper balls behind her? I shook off the doubt in my head and remembered that it was a kids’ show. Most kids appreciate corny humor and are easily amused. Even if I had messed up, it probably would have been funnier to them. So, when it came to be my minute of fame, I performed as goofily as I could, and the kids loved it.

Behind the Scenes

Trevor Tracy here, giving you all the inside scoop of what goes on behind the scenes at Tibbits. Thanks to Michigan Works, I got the wonderful opportunity to work with the tech crew, and I must say that I had a wonderful time doing so. Since I am a theater major at Spring Arbor University, this job-shadow opportunity was a perfect way to spend my last few weeks of the summer. I was immensely involved in theater during high school, and actually had the privilege to perform at Tibbits a few times, so I was already familiar to the backstage portion of the Opera House. Having been involved more in the acting side to theater productions, I was eager to learn more about what it takes to operate the technical parts of the theater and to be the man behind the curtain.

When I arrived at Tibbits, the Summer Theater program was putting on its final show for the summer, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The Technical Director, Chris Aler, was gracious enough to take on the role of teacher and supervisor for me. Chris was already busy with all his duties during production week, so I appreciated that he would take his time to show me around. He showed me all sorts of cool stuff.

On my first day, I was given a tour of the theater. I had seen most of these areas before, but Chris wanted to make sure that I got the whole backstage crew experience. We were making our way around, and ended up in the lighting booth located up in the balcony. Chris showed me the spot lights and the light board, the key ingredients to producing a great looking show. I knew what spot lights did and all, but I never knew how to operate one. There are several knobs and switches that collectively change the color and shape of the beam of light. I thought this was fascinating, and this explanation heightened my appreciation for the operators of the machine.

After my brief tour of the facility, I was immediately put to work. Chris brought me to Tibbits workshop to work on some stage notes that were given to him by the stage managers. It was Chris’ job as Technical Director to make sure that the stage the Set Designer had designed looked and operated the way it was intended. Even though the set for this particular show was simple, there were still quite a bit of notes to take care of throughout the week. Chairs had to be mounted to the stage, curtains had to be flown in and out, the stage needed painting, breaks were needed on platforms, etc. All week we were working on these little things that potentially made a huge difference in the way the actors utilized the set.

Intermittently, I would get a history lesson. One of the greatest experiences during this job-shadow was climbing up to the pin rail balcony of the grid, which is the skeleton of the curtain fly system, and experiencing how the system was run back in the times when Tibbits was founded. Up near the grid there is a section of dead-hung rope. This simply means that the ropes that are fastened tightly up there do not have the new-and-improved weighted pulley system that is provided in the newer harbor fly system, so it takes incredible strength to pull the curtains up and down. It actually took three of us to make some changes requested by the Set Designer. Oh, and I forgot to mention that it was about fifteen degrees warmer up there, so we were drenched in sweat after moving a curtain two inches. It was rough!

The people behind the scenes, I feel, go underappreciated. Many actors take for granted the things that are provided for them through the technical crew. Now that I have had this experience, I definitely have a greater appreciation and understanding of how difficult the backstage work is in a theater production.

Costume Shop

Okay, it’s Alexandra, now it’s time to take you into the costume shop. In my exploration of Tibbits Summer Theatre, understanding where the lovely costumes come from strikes me as another interesting topic to give you a fuller understanding of what you see on stage.

I had no idea what to expect the first time I went to help in the costume shop, it turns out the department has two of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. The sincere and hard working designers making the costumes this summer are Erin Tucker and Theresa Hartman. They are both crazy busy with work this summer. Normally, two designers split the main stage shows and one person gets the children’s theater. This year there are two people for all of the shows.

As I looked about the basement full of clothes, I wondered if they make all of the costumes new for the shows. Theresa said most of the costumes come from existing things that are altered and just a few are made from scratch. Theresa happened to be making a red dress from scratch that day. She said it all depends upon what’s needed and the time they’re given.

With all this work to do, I asked what kind of hours Theresa and Erin work. Generally they work a 9-5 job, but sometimes they come back and work between 7-10 pm. After watching them perform a fitting or two, they were ready to assign me a job. My first job was to sweep the floors. I swept along and every few feet, bent over to pick up the endless amount of dropped pins. I quickly realized even the simplest task wasn’t going to be easy.

Job number two was taking the pile of clothes off the floor and putting them all on hangers. It was actually very enjoyable; it was neat to see all of the different items which inhabit the costume shop. My last job was organizing the wall of purses, clutches and jewelry. This was awesome. I’ve never seen such an array of bags and jewelry. I was up and down off of a folding chair and smiling every minute. My respect for Erin and Theresa grew with every up down on the folding chair.

These two work extra hard during the summer, then go back to school and study for the rest of the year. I had fun in the costume shop and it has been a joy sharing my experiences with you.

ErinTucker, Costume designer for Crazy for You and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, provided the basic steps to creating costumes for a show:
1. Script reading (understanding the show, the characters, their costume needs)
2. Meeting with the director (learning the director’s vision for the show)
3. Historical research and renderings (understanding and creating a visual base for the costumes)
4. Pulling and building (using the costumes in the shop as a base for creating the costumes and fitting them for each character)

5. Dress rehearsals (Seeing how the costumes work for each character, how they play together on stage, and making minor adjustments)

Shown above: Rendering of the chorus girls’ costumes for Crazy for You - Erin’s unique design featured reversible bodices which allowed for quick changes and multiple looks.

Rehearsal

Hi, it’s Alexandra again. This time I’m delving into the rehearsal process. I feel learning a little bit more about the process will help everyone appreciate the shows even more. So I attended a rehearsal of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the rehearsals. It turned out to be a different but wonderful experience. When I walked into the gym at Pansophia Academy, the cast was hard at work blocking the day’s scenes. Blocking is the creation and practicing of the movement that is going to happen on stage. As I began to watch their rehearsal, I was quickly surprised by how collaborative the process was. The actors clearly felt free to put in their ideas and usually they would try the ideas out. Erin Tucker, the show’s costumer, was filling in as Stage Manager; she said the rehearsal process doesn’t normally have as much collaboration. She elaborated, saying since there's less dancing in the show Ray Gabica, the director, allows a lot of collaboration.

The blocking seemed to be going at a break- neck pace. Erin said it always goes quickly but it seemed to be going extra fast with this show. The actors and actresses picked up on the blocking in no time. It seemed every time they ran a song, the bold acting choices became bigger and better. Each time they would find a new facial expression or body movement to make their character even more full and rich. Their concentration levels were very high but at the same time they all looked as if they were having fun. I noticed that even when somebody would mess up, the director would just turn and say, “That’s what rehearsals are for, to screw up so you don’t do it in a performance.”

As the rehearsal progressed, I began to wonder when musical director Cheryl Vanduzen receives her music. I was surprised when she said she receives it only about a week before rehearsals start. She spends the first day and half working with the performers on musical notes in their songs. She doesn’t have her first practice with the pit orchestra until Saturday, the end of the rehearsal week. She rehearses with the pit again on Sunday. Finally on Monday, Cheryl will have her first rehearsal with both the pit orchestra and the performers. The cast and crew will continue to work the show for the rest of the week, until the Thursday afternoon opening. Only with the audience in their seats, is the show finally complete.

It seemed crazy to me how actors and actresses could learn a show so quickly. Why, wouldn’t they need an unending amount of practice time? I asked how long each day the cast practices and was very surprised by the answer. The rehearsal day goes from 10 am -1 pm, lunch break 1-2, rehearsal 2-5, dinner break 5-7, and rehearsal 7-10pm. They literally practice all day and are ready in 11 days. It pays off with outstanding performances.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the crazy fast pace of rehearsal. You can think about it when you come to see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Next time we’ll give you the insight into the quick sewing designers in the costume shop.