Smoke and Mirrors - An Inside View Part 1

Yesterday was a full day of magical activities. Buster and I arrived at the the Everett PUD auditorium at 9AM as Brian had requested. We loaded in our props and the first hour or so was spent watching the guys set the lights. The proper gels had to be inserted and the lighting programed. I was impressed with how well Brian knew what he wanted and how to get it. There were pairs of lights that were sequenced together, he wanted them programed with the ability to control them individually. Lots of effort was spent on that only to find out later that somehow all the programing had been lost. Not really sure how they resolved that. I guess they reprogrammed them, I don't know.

Rich Waters was on spot light, Jeff Dial in charge of Music and Sound. a couple of PUD guys in the booth as well, another Jeff and a guy named Dave. Not sure what they did, but everyone looked busy. I sat in the theater and read some of the final chapters of Carter Beats the Devil. At one point, Rick shined the spot light on my book and asked if that was enough light. Funny guy!!

The next hour was spent spent lighting each act and making sure that Jeff had all of the sound and music cues. After that we went through a "Cue to Cue rehearsal" This gave everyone an opportunity to see the sequence of the show for the first time. Props were brought on to the stage and the stage market with yellow tape. This was a an interesting run through, we didn't do our whole acts, just enough to make sure that lighting cues and music cues as well as sequence was understood. Kirk Charles stage managed the show and helped me feel less like a moron. For half of the run through, I didn't have a sequence sheet and felt totally in the dark. As the MC of the show, I needed to know what was next and how much time needed to be filled between acts. Somewhere along the line, I got a sheet and this helped me greatly.

Buster's help was enlisted and he became a willing stage hand. I was hoping something like this might happen as I thought the whole idea of being involved in a stage production of this sort would be great experience! I was proud of my boy.