Days off are soo stressful...

Ahhh.... I am basking in the euphoric glow of knowing I am about to enter tech.. (please note the sarcasm dripping off that last statement).  We finally got the stage done! It took about a week and a half (the first 2 days were just hanging lights and prep work).  It took quite a bit of crew (shout out to the Local IATSE crew for their help!) and a lot of helping hands, but we have finally arrived.  Tomorrow morning I get flown up top to the tent to troubleshoot a few lights, then we have actors onstage at noon! (lets be honest here, they are actors, that really means sometime after 1pm. So that is what I have to look forward to.

Now, looking back on the last week... lets see what I did... let me count the bruises!  After we finished unloading all the trucks, it was about a 4 day process to actually assemble the stage. It is this massive steel/ply structure complete with automation, traps, projectors, stairs, and about a million places that you can slam your head into. I have the bumps to prove that last one. While getting the stage into the tent (I would normally say getting it set in the theatre, but lets be real, I am placing deck pieces on a grass field) it was always interesting to watch group think try to get awkward bits in place (precision placement mind you...except when we drilled new holes) whilst hoisting 75-350 kg above head. After a couple days of that, we were finally ready to focus on lighting! *little happy dance*

/*little happy dance*

So, normally while I run a focus, or am working on a plot, I have a fairly good understanding of what focus will entail. Typically, I am a fast guy when it comes to running my focus, or commanding (sorry, being a team leader) a crew.  This was a whole different beast.  For starters.. the first 'grid' was the high truss section of the tent. This is the highest part we hung a light on/around/in.  To get to 90% of the lights in this section, one had to climb a rope ladder to the aerial platform (who's actual height is up for debate, depending on who you ask on the production team, how many beers he/she has had, and how feisty he/she is feeling). From the aerial platform, you secure yourself to the cupola truss (lower...where 65% of our lights are hung) then monkey up the sections of bracing that are holding up the high truss (think a ladder that got drunk, its rungs don't quite line up and it is kind of shifting to one side). From the top of that, you lean out to reach and focus a light. Very easy work. (not) But tons of fun (yes). The best part was watching our sweat drip down and onto the stage. Did you know that a tent lined with black fabric gets REALLY HOT? ya, I do now.  At least I don't have to start up Jenny Craig again.  From there, we then went around the lower truss (a little easier to do, kind of like herding a group of old cats is easier that herding kittens) and knocked those out. All told, to focus the stage oriented lights took about 6.5 hours with two people in the air and two people on the ground.  My favorite moments usually involved me hanging about halfway out of the truss with my legs wrapped around some inner support, trying to get the barrel of a S4 19* to properly adjust.

From the truss parts, we went on to focus all of the lights around the tent.  AKA - the side tent (makes sense eh?). Now, apparently you cannot hang a hot light right next to a delicate tent covering (someone said bad things happen) so the LD decided to hang lights on specially fabricated 'goal posts' *insert gay/sports joke here* pointed straight up, into mirrors, that then direct the light onstage.  What an amazing concept! In practice, it is amazingly... interesting... to get those lights to focus. Just when the mirror is right, you notice the beam is off the mirror, so you move the light, then the mirror isn't in focus. Much less entertaining than watching a dog chase it's own tail, but a similar practice. Of course, once all the lights were focused, we started troubleshooting the scrollers on each light, and in getting all of them working, successfully knocked about 50% of the units out of focus. Team Peter FTW!

The last things I was working on during wednesday/thursday were troubleshooting the movers (moving/intelligent lights) on the cupola (bad lamps, broken motors, wasn't eating it's veggies, that sort of thing).  It is here, that I would like to note, as cool and versitle as the VL1000 is.. they were not designed with 'ease of use' in mind. For example, to change a lamp, on the Source4 Ellipsoidal/Mac 700, and some other big names, they use thumb screws that reach a limit, then allow the back of the light to come off (so you don't lose nuts and washers...). The VL1000? Not so much. 3 little tiny thumb screws, each holding in a washer.  Totally awesome when you drop one off the top deck of the stage and it falls in the brown grass. Did I mention the nut was smaller than a penny and a similar brassy color? Rock on VARILITE.

That brings us up to thursday night, which was the night we (as in the amazingly fabulous tech crew) got to meet some of the cast.  They pretty much rock. I found the one gay guy in the cast that showed up at the bar, and well, we then proceeded to find the one gay bar in Costa Mesa. I know, I am amazing, you can thank me later.

I am going to wrap up this post. I am sure I will think of some creative thing to cap off last week with, but in all honesty, spending my day off at the beach was very tiring. I have to get ready for tech tomorrow (including spending the 8am-11am stretch in my personal sauna...aka the cupola).  I have some other fun stories (getting flown to the aerial platform, playing swinging bags with sandbacks and the flight tracks, and how I get to play in a bathtub with boys) that will have to wait until tomorrow. Or something. I doubt I will update again until my next day off.. so hang tight, I promise it will be within the next month. Hopefully. :)

In case any of this post may give the idea that I am not happy here, I need to clarify, I am having the time of my life. I love the people I work with, I love the cast, and honestly, I started theatre work so I could be underworked and overpaid.

WTF. I meant underpaid and overworked. But hot damn, I love my job.

PS - If you haven't seen it already, and are still in the Seattle area, go check out Cider House Rule, Pt 2 (and if you missed pt 1, it starts up again next week!) at Book-it Rep! They have been kicking ass and taking names (but not last names, that is just rude).

Till next time.. have a good night ya'll.