I have to admit, amongst all the Zazzle.com/BBQ/producing a Broadway show activity of this week, I sort of forgot about the massive load in effort that is happening at the Shubert Theatre.
If you are in town, the craziness on 44th street has only increased as Hamlet starring Jude Law has begun loading into the Broadhurst Theatre next door. Just to clarify, Jude is not actually doing any of the load in himself. Cheeky Bastard. So between the road boxes and the deck pieces and the carpenters, there is not a lot of room for walking between Memphis and Hamlet.
But today is Friday in New York, and in the summer, Friday means that if you are in town working, you can actually get some work done. Phones stop ringing, your Blackberry takes a break from its virtual workout, and you get to do all those things you have been wanting to do all week, like go to the Shubert. And it wasn't even what was happening onstage that blew my mind today.
Just take a gander of what the house (where the seats are) looks like as we forge ahead towards technical rehearsals which are slated to start after Labor Day:
What the what?
Having never been through a Broadway tech before, I am totally out of my league.
The house looks like the control room of a shuttle launch.
Come to think of it, opening a Broadway show does feel a lot like what it must feel like when you are strapped into a space shuttle getting ready, and I believe the correct terminology is, to blast off.
Fun Fact: My boyfriend has an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering which means he is pretty much a rocket scientist. And last night while he cooked dinner, he said to me "you know, not everything has to be a song." I may or may not have been freestyling a song about him cooking at the time.
Tech terrifies me. Probably because the only thing I really remember about technical theater from college is how to use a power drill and that there is, allegedly, a lighting instrument called a fresnel.
Fun Fact: My boyfriend does not know how to use a power drill.
Fun Fact: Memphis cast members Montego Glover and Kevin Covert went to college together. I want to say they went to Florida State University. But you may have to Wikipedia that to get the facts.
But truth be told, I cannot wait to sit in the dark theater for hours and watch it come together.
To quote my friend Molly, it's going to be epic. And it is only a week away.
Maybe I will twitter as we tech.
Mental Note: Learn how to twitter.
While I spend the weekend figuring out how to twitter, enjoy this artsy photo I snapped while standing on 44th street in the rain while wedged in between some road boxes and carpenters.
While I spend the weekend figuring out how to twitter, enjoy this artsy photo I snapped while standing on 44th street in the rain while wedged in between some road boxes and carpenters.
The mesh wall on the Shubert is reflected in the Sardi's 2nd floor window.
I thought it was cool. And poetic and stuff.
