From the Inside Out

I know, I know…by now you are probably sick of my blogs about Pirates of Patmos, but I can’t help it. It’s my life. I’m not sure if a moment goes by that I’m not thinking about it. If I’m not running lines, I’m working on some other aspect — promos, props, playbill copy, concessions, sound effect cues, recruiting volunteers — you name it, I’m probably doing it.

I’m in a good mood tonight because we had a decent rehearsal this evening. Things are finally starting to come together. Most of the performances are beginning to gel, and we made it through the entire program twice. Sounds simple, but it’s a big feat for a rehearsal to go efficiently enough to get through it more than once.

The tech crew joined us tonight, so we started working with the microphones and experimenting with the lighting. Next week, we’ll fine tune everything — lighting, sound, multimedia and performances. We’ll also add costumes into the mix to make sure we don’t have any “wardrobe malfunctions” during the performance (it’s a family show, folks).

This is when it gets really exciting. Wow, I can’t believe how fast time has flown. We are opening next Friday — exciting, yet delightfully frightening!

We blocked the first scenes from Pirates of Patmos tonight.  Whew, that was a challenge!  There are 15 cast members on stage at the same time, pirate attacks, and some complex character interactions.  What was I thinking?

Luckily, we muddled through it tonight, but we still have some kinks to work out.  Thank God for Katrina who volunteered to assist with directing until she goes on maternity leave.  Since I have to be on stage as an actor, there’s no way I could do it without her.

It’s tough to act and direct at the same time.  I don’t know why I keep doing it.  Each time I tell myself that I’m not going to do it again, but acting is so much fun.  It’s what I love to do.  Unfortunately, you can’t have a play without a director, and I haven’t found anyone who wants to be one full-time yet. 

Oh well, I’ll just keep reminding myself that I shouldn’t do it again…maybe it’ll actually sink in next time.