The Designer Run

Sorry that the launch of breaking bread has taken me away from blogging about The Boy Detective Fails. Not bad to be juggling so much work. Today we had our designer run. It is the day when all the designers on the show get to see a full run of the show for the first time. A lot of staff comes to see the run too which is terrific because the cast finally gets to hear the response of an audience beyond the people who have been in the room since day one. It was also great for me and Joe and Adam and Karma and Gabe to start to "listen" to an audience. I love when new people come into the room. My eyesight and hearing sort of change. I feel like I'm seeing the show from a newcomer's point of view. I become more aware of what might be confusing or unclear. It's incredibly illuminating. The response to the run was great, which was very heartening-- giving us a sense that we're on the right track with the show. And I couldn't be prouder of or more impressed by the cast. They're really incredible.

With so little tech time for the shows, one of the great tools we now have is a video of the run that the designers can use to cue the show. Until recently there were very strict rules from Equity, the actors union, on capturing their image. They were rightfully very protected. With the explosion of youtube and social media all the theatrical unions realized that it was time to take a look at the media clauses that all the unions work under. Now theaters can tape performances and a limited amount of rehearsal time to use for publicity. It's a great help in marketing a show. These changes to the media clause also included allowing a video to be made of a run in the studio for the designers, most significantly the lighting designer, to reference while heading into tech.

Two more days in the studio...