Monday, November 24, 2008

An Unbelievably Exhausting (and REWARDING!) Theatre Experience

Waking up at 8am on a Saturday is not exactly an ideal start to the weekend for most college students. But last Saturday, I woke up a little tired and absolutely stoked. It was my first tech day as stage manager of the Schuster’s current show A Tuna Christmas. Our goal? Go through my friend Chris’s lighting designs for the entire show, making sure each scene would be properly lit to help fit Director Jax Kubiak’s vision.

I’ve been pretty nervous about stage managing. See, I’m used to being on the stage. Last year at Gannon (as a freshman), I performed in four shows here: The Dopey Fairy Tale, NINE, Love and Freindship (sic.) and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Even before college, I always loved performing on stage. But this year, I was offered the position of stage manager, something I’d never done before. Working only from my knowledge of past SMs and Jax’s promise to guide me along the way, I accepted the job.

Throughout the rehearsal process I’ve worked closely with my assistant Jared. But today brought one of my biggest solo responsibilities, and something I’ve been nervous about since the beginning- learning how to use the light board. We started running cues, marking spots on the stage for special lights, and moving quickly from scene to scene. Sometimes as an actor, I forget how much work goes into a show before performers even set foot on the stage. Every prop is noted and set in a specific place on or off stage, and a set piece moved an inch to the left or right can change everything. Jared and I were running around moving heavy Christmas trees (see the show and you’ll understand!), and by the end of the afternoon, after finishing the cue-writing session and a dry tech (where I got to run the light board!!), I was absolutely exhausted. Exhausted, but accomplished! :)

Now, as cliché as this sounds, I was thinking about how this has absolutely everything to do with Gannon’s slogan, “Believe in the possibilities.” I never would have thought a little over a year ago when I was starting here that within only a short amount of time I would have performed in five shows, pledged to the theatre fraternity Alpha Psi Omega, and began work as a stage manager at the theatre (And that’s not including my involvement at our radio station, WERG. Maybe in my next blog… )

I keep thinking about when I was applying to schools, seeing places that offered what seemed to be great theatre opportunities, but didn’t even allow students direct connection with productions until their senior year. How can I build my resume or even gain experience just from watching? Well, Gannon answered this question for me by letting me get all the experience I was willing to commit to. That opens the door to possibilities I never even imagined. I believe there are new possibilities every day, and I’m eager to explore them.

Peace :)

Nicole

P.S. - Watch my video!!!


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