Hey, it's Paige again! I'm enjoying my second week at Tibbits even more than my first; I didn't think that was possible. I began my second week back in the office, writing another press release. This time, it was for the next Popcorn Theatre show: "Abracadabra Magic Show," featuring different magicians at each performance. Then I helped Lori (special events coordinator) make some business calls regarding business promotion letters she sent out last week. Luckily, the second day a couple businesses said they would love to help support the Tibbits Restoration Project!
On Tuesday I got the chance to sit in on one of the rehearsals for the next Summer Theatre show, "Working" by Stephen Schwartz. I went over to the Pansophia Academy gymnasium to observe the blocking rehearsal for a couple hours. Everything was moving really quickly. The actors were working on something the entire time, whether it was choreography, music, or just memorizing lines. In the two hours I was there in the morning, the cast worked its way through three or four songs. I was really impressed. The actors' voices are amazing. During the rehearsal for one of the full cast numbers I literally got goose bumps as they were singing. I came back to watch some of the evening rehearsal that night, too. By the time I left, the entire first act was blocked! I've never seen such a productive day of rehearsals.
Yesterday was the coolest day, by far. Before the matinee performance of "Out of Order" I got to watch some of the tech run throughs with the window set piece. For those of you who haven't seen the show, throughout the course of the play, the window in the hotel suite randomly slams shut on people, knocking them out momentarily. So I got to watch as each of the actors who encounter the unpredictable window took turns having the set piece fall on them. Mark is in charge of working the trigger release for the window. In addition to that, he has to time the "slap stick", which is two 2 x 4's that have been hinged together. He slaps the two wooden pieces together as the window falls to create the loud sound the audience hears as the window slams shut. When I watched this show last week from the audience, I wondered how the window operated. So watching this run through was really fascinating.
Then I was fortunate enough to get the chance to watch the entire show from backstage! But, not only did I get to watch the show, I also got a headset so I could hear the "headset chatter" between Carrie, the stage manager, and the other techies as she called out cues for lights, sound, and the window. I sat backstage the entire show, beaming from ear to ear. I'm no stranger to being backstage, but sitting through a professional show while wearing a headset was probably the coolest thing I've ever done. Every time an actor walked past me they would give me a huge smile and a thumbs up, just getting pumped up for the afternoon's performance. This experience really got me excited for a couple years down the road when I'm able to partake in professional summer theatre productions like this. The cast put on a great show yesterday, and I couldn't have been happier with my seat.
Tomorrow I'll be back in the box office for the Popcorn Theatre show in the morning, and I'm looking forward to that and the rest of the things I'll be doing to finish up my internship at Tibbits. I've really fallen in love with this institution over the past two weeks and I know that I will return to help out in any way possible for next summer's season!
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