Thursday Thirteen #23: Opening Night

In honor of the opening night of the show I am Asst. Stage Managing this weekend, here are...
13 things to know about the opening and running a show!

1. Everyone is happy because there are no more early morning production meetings
Most shows have regular production meetings, and UMich likes to have them between 9am & 11am. Tommy was blessed with 9am meetings, which after rehearsals that went until 11:30, is early.

2. Never say "good luck"
In every performance circle, the big G.L. is actually bad luck. For theatre say "break a leg" and for opera say "Toi Toi Toi!" (I still have no idea what Toi means)

3. The Cast is usually well behaved
Between nerves and wanting to perform a good show, most casts are quiet back stage and nice to everyone.

4. People get to see the show!
After 5 weeks of rehearsals, bad moods, late nights, and hard work, friends and family finally get to see what you've created such a fuss about. (And hopefully they're impressed)

5. It gets easier!
Rehearsals, Techs, and Dress Rehearsals are frenzied, but usually things get easier during the run of a show. The crew has finally learned the show, so most things become routine. With a long running show everything can become clockwork...as long as no disasters happen.

6. Something always goes wrong
I love problem solving, so waiting for that one thing to go wrong and having to trouble shoot around it is a challenge I look foreward to.

7. Stage Blacks
My wardrobe is distilled down to 4 things during performances: Black shoes, black pants, black Tshirt, and a black hooded sweatshirt. THis makes getting dressed a lot easier in the morning.

8. No Foot Wrestling
On Saturday's rehearsal the crew was so bored that they actually foot wrestled backstage. Now they barely have enough time to sit down!

9. The Orchestra Arrives
With musicals, opera, or theatre featuring compositions, once the musicians arrive beautiful things happen to a show. I always love when full orchestrations are added, since the show really comes alive once they're all there.

10. Never mention the "scottish play"
Another huge no-no once a show has moved into the theatre is ever mentioning Shakespeare's "scottish play," M*cB*th.

11. "Thanks"
Once the actors have moved past the insanity of moving into the theatre, then adding costumes, they start to notice all of the hard work the Stage Managers and crew members are doing, and start saying thanks. It's nice to finally reach this point, since all the hard work is being rewarded.

12. Costumes rock
Whether the show is a period piece or modern, costumes are always an awesome addition to complete the world of the production. Love them!

13. Cast Party!
It's finally time to celebrate all of the work you've done!



Here's to a successful opening night of The Who's TOMMY here at UMich!