Today, we got up early and went to the Tower of London! Jamie, Kat and I enjoyed the tour by the Beefeater and the various reinactments which happened throughout the place every so often. We saw the crown jewels and the Tower Bridge as well. I have never seen so much gold in one room in my life. And of course my favorite part was the gift shops, as always with these historical sites. :)
Then I came home, talked with my friend Seth who's got a really cool internship working for people like Amy Winehouse and some other famous people whose names I cannot spell and we all know I don't write in what I can't spell...most of the time. I made pasta (leftovers in the microwave) and left for work at 5...trust me traveling TO work in Rush hour is not the greatest, but I made good time...I needed to be there around 6 and I took the bus, got there around 5:40 by the time I walked to the bus stop a few blocks away and all.
When I got there, I did the same thing that I did the first time, told the stage door guard that I was here to see Chris Hensky (short for Hesketh), the stage manager, who just got off of stage managing Dirty Dancing on the West End that opened at the Aldwych not too long ago! When he came to meet me, I put my stuff in the office he told me I could "treat like home," and he took me around to meet literally everyone involved in the production. Not only did I meet most of the cast and crew individually, but after warmups was introduced to the entire cast and crew onstage! It was exciting and they were all so friendly and welcoming. Hensky (that's what he is called for short) had to do some other tasks so he handed me off to a girl named Sarah, who is a "deputy stage manager"* and she showed me the props and what she does. She was very nice to me and explained so much to me. Apparently, it is a law that you put down/test the safety curtain while the audience is in the house in the UK. This is something that Kat and I had wondered after seeing all 3 shows put down the safety curtain in the interval.**
Then Chris took me out to the box office where I got my row F stalls*** comp. ticket for the show. I went back up backstage and hung out with/followed Sarah until 7 minutes-ish till curtain. The show is called from one of the show boxes that used to have seating! And strictly by use of monitors too! The theater has tight backstage storage space...something I am very used to.
I saw the show. It was energetic and fabulous. Of course I've seen the production before, but watching it knowing that I was about to become PART of it made it all the better. I met Sarah back at the stage door, where it felt pretty cool to bypass the fans (there weren't too many standing there since Michael Ball had the night off), and buzz in the stage door with my pass. I got my stuff and found out that I had the daytime off tomorrow again and would be called at 6pm again. Found out my dresscode and that I can leave my blacks there and change if I need to (I will only need to be in blacks to do certain jobs). I know that at first I will be shadowing people in all departments, and when I learn stage management (my main one), I will be given jobs backstage on the floor with props to do. But I will also spend time in sound, makeup, costumes, and maybe other things, although those were the ones they mentioned. The only thing I'm not allowed to do is shadow the people who run all the automation (all the scenery is automated, which means it moves onstage my machinery, not stagehands) because I would have to climb a ladder the size of the one at the Playhouse to get there, which is not bendable by equity laws and liability, but I am lucky to be doing what I am so I am okay with it. Maybe somebody can just explain it to me from the floor for the interest of ....a follow up THEA 280 (tech direction) class!? :) Anyway I had a fantastic night and they told me the most important things to know were the key codes to backstage which I already know, and the location of the pub across the street. I get out of the show at like 10:15pm, no clean up or anything so that is nice. Okay enough of a novel I am off in search of what to do tomorrow on my day off...not many other people have daytimes off any day but Friday.
Oh and fact of the day....need a good comeback for somebody? just tell them they have "acne of the soul!"...a quote from hairspray. :)
~Sam
