h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

They're very importsnt, but likely to be very stressful. And long. Because this is the main (often the firs and only) chance for everyone who isn't a performer to get their stuff sorted out. Sound people, lighting people, props people, scene shifters, dressers etc. And the first time that you realise scene x doesn't work, because a hitherto unknown bit of set blocks an entrance. You have to skip bits where nothing 'technical' happens, and you have to go back and do particular bits over and over again until everything works. So, important but dreaded nonetheless. Tempers tend to fray a little...

Well, I hope the dreaded technical rehearsal goes alright...or has it gone? (If so, how did it go?)

The tech is tomorrow night. We had the band call today, and there's a *banjo*. Yay! What fun!

Not everyone was there, which was annoying, but it was good to get a feel for what's different and how it sounds.

Ah, couldn't remember if the tech was today or tomorrow, even though I only asked you about it yesterday, sorry!

Grr to the people who weren't there.

for the banjo!

And now we've had the technical rehearsal, which was an unusual one in many ways. The set doesn't change at any point, so no worries there. The lighting is fairly simple, and there are no microphones (bliss!). So it was mostly about getting on and off stage, changing bits of costume and not treading on each other.

In terms of costume, the women all have a basic dress which gets accessorised with sleeves, shrugs and the like. The men wear black trousers and go through a series of shirts and bow ties. So after each chorus bit, we all gallop down the stairs to the one dressing room to change accessories or shirts. My costume plot is:

- Lilac shirt and purple tie
- White shirt, DJ, red bow tie
- White shirt, stripy waistcoat, red bow tie
- Pastel shirt
- Pastel shirt, loud waistcoat
Interval
- White shirt, purple bow tie
- White shirt, gold bow tie
- Dark blue shirt, purple bow tie
- White shirt, DJ, silver bow tie

When I get there each evening, my first job will be to hang everything on a couple of hangers in order of use, so that each shirt has the relevant bow tie in the pocket, and when I take it off the hanger, the next shirt is ready. Hopefully, everyone else will do something similar and we should be OK. Each change is accomplished during someone's solo.

Getting on and off stage is rather interesting. There's not much room on stage left, so you have to keep reminding people that if they go off that way, they must, must, must, keep walking until they reach either the green room or the dressing room, or we're all doomed to a hideous bottleneck. It's not helped by the people who still can't remember what order they come on in. Grr. Well, they've got until Tuesday to remember!

Sounds like it will be fun (keep this thought in mind if it all appears to be turning chaotic )

Thanks. Dress rehearsal last night was OK. Neither fantastic nor awful, which made me happy. Fantastic would make us over-confident, and the thing about a dreadful dress rehearsal making a brilliant first performance is rubbish - you need to know you cn get through the show with any major calamities!

I got told off for standing in the dark for my talky bit. In my defence, I was standing where I'd been told to stand, and they had changed the lighting plot. I now know where I should waffle from.

The most annoying thing about it is that I'm changing costume during the best solos, so I don't get to hear them properly.

The first night went fairly well, really. There were some hiccups, one of which was my fault, as I misplaced 2 of my bow ties. Cue much running around during the interval, and a pact struck between the men to make sure that we all had the same colour at any given point. They did eventually surface in time for the silver finale, but the director had wondered why we had the purple ones on for such a long time!

The audience applauded, and made quite a lot of appreciative noise for 130 or so people.

Yay! Got opening night out of the way.

Well done. Hope rest of performances go smoothly

Tonight was definitely more smooth, though I nearly didn't turn up - I got on the wrong bus! Thankfully, I was only vaguely interested in the book I was reading and realised we were going the wrong way round the ring road before we left Canterbury. Had to scramble off and race to a different bus stop.

Two different sets of comments:

1 - from the musical director of my main Society, who was in the bar afterwards. She said that she could hear me clearly, and could tell I have a cold (and boy, do I have a cold!).

2 - from someone I used to work with, who I had no idea was there, and who I bumped into on the way to work. "Nice bit of singing last night, David!"

Well, it's nice to know that you can be heard clearly, even with cold. Your poor nose. Even when ill the Owl sings bravely on and does a jolly good job from what I've heard.

with added Olbas oil. I know this sounds disgusting but I have a special recipe that makes it taste nice. Maybe.

"Some day," she says wistfully, "I'll be able to see the Owl and the Lettuce perform. Or not."

That sounds like the sort of thing a computer-generated story would come up with!

A sprinkling of librarians and Kiss Me, Kate people attended last night and claimed to enjoy it. A most amusing moment (for the cast) came when the narrator was doing her waffle after the song 'Boy Wanted'.

NARRATOR: It was inevitable that the next item would appear in our review. After all, it is the crowning glory of Gershwin's musical career.

PIANIST (loudly): *plink*

The cast, in the wings, smothered giggles as we considered whether the accidental note was actually the best thing Gershwin ever wrote, but the narrator carried on regardless to introduce the selection from 'Porgy and Bess'. Still, it was better than Wednesday night, when a lightbulb went bang half way through 'It Ain't Necessarily So'.

All gone Gershwin. That was jolly good fun. There were minor and major problems, but think it was the happiest production I've ever done, with an absolure minimum of angst and anger. Today we had a drama as one guy's back went out half way through the matinee. He could still perform (in true "show must go on" fashion), but couldn't sit or kneel down, so I swapped places with him in the Porgy and Bess selection and, for the evening, in 'Do, Do, Do', the number that caused the injury. Audiences were most enthusiastic, and for the matinee performance something very exciting happened - we were sold out.

Well done on selling out!

You were wonderful. x lots

I nearly cried during 'Someone to Watch Over Me', but in a good way!

Thank you (and everyone else involved) for a most enjoyable afternoon's entertainment.

I would never have known about the poor chap's back! I hope he's alright.

'Someone To Watch...' is probably my favourite Gershwin song, and B, who sang it, is a fantastic singer. Sadly, I heard it from a distance once we got to the theatre (changing costume, strangely enough).

I've been meaning to ask how your voice was for the final performance? Did singing make it worse?

I love Gershwin. Wish I could have seen it.

I had a cold for the entire week, but it never really made it into my singing voice, so that was OK.