That's it then, my final rehearsal with my fabulous cast. I've some everything I think I can and now it's up to them.
I wanted to get three run throughs in last night, knowing as I do that we probably won't get to run it through on Sunday at tech rehearsal. Yes, I know I'm a slave driver but they'll thank me for it in the end, won't they? We got off to a slightly late start, in part due to the excitement caused by the appearance of a chocolate cake, made by someone who couldn't lay in on Sunday morning! This was a late celebration of Caroline's birthday and Kelley's birthday last week that I hadn't had a chance to bake for.
Partway through our first run, our fabulous make up lady arrived to help do a trial run for my team, lucky she did as a lack of communication between her and I had created a slightly different look than I was going for. Luckily, it's easily sorted.
We had additional props tonight, one in particular that was absolutely necessary and worked so very, very well. It was a very well spent £8!
We got all of the runs in that I wanted to, followed by the walk down so everyone should know where they are standing at the end to take their bows.
I am so very proud of them. They have worked so hard on bringing my play to life and I couldn't be happier with them all. Over the next few days I will be working on the behind the scenes stuff. We need to push ticket sales, still a little way to go to target, I know that it will pick up but I'd rather it did before show week so I can rest easy! So if you are reading this and you haven't bought your ticket yet, come on! Give a girl a break!
Song of the day - Europe - The Final Countdown
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Saturday, 22 March 2014
Two left
On Thursday we had our penultimate rehearsal, oh my goodness, just two left - well, one now!
There's still so much to do, the Hobbit and I will be dedicating most of this weekend (aside from a couple of dinners out and a yoga class) to the show and everything that goes along with it. As you know I made a list, I'm going to have made several more lists by the end of the weekend I'm sure.
Tickets are selling, with more sold every time the box office is checked, which is great,but we are very Saturday night heavy - in fact Saturday night is completely sold out! I'm so pleased but just now need a few more tickets to be sold on the other nights, I'm sure that it'll come, we are still over a week out so there's still plenty of time, isn't there?
Anyway, back to rehearsal on Thursday. Have I said that I love my cast? They take direction extremely well, know their lines, know their blocking and are completely a team. I'm almost sad that we don't rehearse twice a week like plays usually do, not that Team Ghost actually need the extra rehearsals! It was Kelley's birthday on Wednesday and I had hoped to make her a cake but I just didn't have time during the week, I will try to squeeze that in on Sunday and surprise her on Monday, unless she reads this blog and then it wont be a surprise will it?
We had two good run throughs with light and music. I love the music I have chosen for the show, it really sets the atmosphere and who doesn't love a polka, right? We were going to do another run through but I decided to let the cast go early, they have worked so hard over the last couple of months and I know they're ready, it's just about tightening up in a few places, I really can't wait to see the finished product.
We are rehearsing on Monday next week - our last one - and I want to definitely get three run throughs in. I have asked the cast to come pretty much in the costumes that they will wear for the show and I want to try to get props in as much as possible so that they have a chance to get used to them before we go into show week. Again, another job for the weekend. Right, I have to go do box office stuff now with the Hobbit and I'll blog again after Monday anyway. Oh, have you booked your tickets yet?????
Song of the day - Michael Gray - The weekend
There's still so much to do, the Hobbit and I will be dedicating most of this weekend (aside from a couple of dinners out and a yoga class) to the show and everything that goes along with it. As you know I made a list, I'm going to have made several more lists by the end of the weekend I'm sure.
Tickets are selling, with more sold every time the box office is checked, which is great,but we are very Saturday night heavy - in fact Saturday night is completely sold out! I'm so pleased but just now need a few more tickets to be sold on the other nights, I'm sure that it'll come, we are still over a week out so there's still plenty of time, isn't there?
Anyway, back to rehearsal on Thursday. Have I said that I love my cast? They take direction extremely well, know their lines, know their blocking and are completely a team. I'm almost sad that we don't rehearse twice a week like plays usually do, not that Team Ghost actually need the extra rehearsals! It was Kelley's birthday on Wednesday and I had hoped to make her a cake but I just didn't have time during the week, I will try to squeeze that in on Sunday and surprise her on Monday, unless she reads this blog and then it wont be a surprise will it?
We had two good run throughs with light and music. I love the music I have chosen for the show, it really sets the atmosphere and who doesn't love a polka, right? We were going to do another run through but I decided to let the cast go early, they have worked so hard over the last couple of months and I know they're ready, it's just about tightening up in a few places, I really can't wait to see the finished product.
We are rehearsing on Monday next week - our last one - and I want to definitely get three run throughs in. I have asked the cast to come pretty much in the costumes that they will wear for the show and I want to try to get props in as much as possible so that they have a chance to get used to them before we go into show week. Again, another job for the weekend. Right, I have to go do box office stuff now with the Hobbit and I'll blog again after Monday anyway. Oh, have you booked your tickets yet?????
Song of the day - Michael Gray - The weekend
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Lists of lists
Two weeks today is opening night. Eeeek!
I made a list yesterday of the things I still need to do, there is still quite a bit on that list, looks like this weekend will be given over to the show, aside from dinner with friends and an anniversary dinner with the Hobbit.
Things still to do include:
Costumes. I have kind of decided in my head how I want the cast to look, I just need to articulate it and tell the cast what they need. Might help eh?
Props. I think we have pretty much most of the stuff we need, I need to go through the list again. I want to use as many props as possible for the next couple of rehearsals so the cast get used to them and should they need to get rid of any from the stage during the performance, we can factor that in.
Budget. Need to finalise the spending a bit with DZ and the Hobbit, flyers and make up costs etc need to be accounted for with the Hobbit.
Programmes. Both DZ and I need to work on our introduction piece for the programme and the cast need to send their biogs so that we can work on the programme over the weekend.
Health and Safety stuff. The bit I hate most, the Hobbit hasn't done it before so I said that I would pick this up for him, I'm soooo nice, I know.
Busy couple of weeks ahead now, plus we really need the cast to get selling tickets or it won't matter how good the costumes are...
Song of the day - Madonna - Dress you up
I made a list yesterday of the things I still need to do, there is still quite a bit on that list, looks like this weekend will be given over to the show, aside from dinner with friends and an anniversary dinner with the Hobbit.
Things still to do include:
Costumes. I have kind of decided in my head how I want the cast to look, I just need to articulate it and tell the cast what they need. Might help eh?
Props. I think we have pretty much most of the stuff we need, I need to go through the list again. I want to use as many props as possible for the next couple of rehearsals so the cast get used to them and should they need to get rid of any from the stage during the performance, we can factor that in.
Budget. Need to finalise the spending a bit with DZ and the Hobbit, flyers and make up costs etc need to be accounted for with the Hobbit.
Programmes. Both DZ and I need to work on our introduction piece for the programme and the cast need to send their biogs so that we can work on the programme over the weekend.
Health and Safety stuff. The bit I hate most, the Hobbit hasn't done it before so I said that I would pick this up for him, I'm soooo nice, I know.
Busy couple of weeks ahead now, plus we really need the cast to get selling tickets or it won't matter how good the costumes are...
Song of the day - Madonna - Dress you up
Monday, 17 March 2014
A series of unfortunate events, well two actually...
Firstly, I have to apologise for the lack of blog last week. I was in Germany on business all week so had to entrust the rehearsal to the Hobbit. Feedback from him and Jenna (when she, very kindly, picked me up from the airport) was very good, which made me super excited about the rehearsal this week.
We had a bit of a disastrous journey. Firstly, the Hobbits train was 15 minutes late getting into the station, so we knew we would be late as we had to pick up Joshua on the way through. We let everyone know that we would have a slightly later start and drove on to get Joshua. We were about 10 minutes from our rendezvous point when, to our surprise, we came across a sign in the road "POLICE ROAD CLOSED". Urgh! Really? Things were totally conspiring against us!
We eventually made it to the hall and the cast were waiting for us, which was great, Sophie had already informed us that she would be later coming but I hoped that she would make it to us just as her bit started. We ran through from the top (where else?) with lights, or lack of them in some instances. It was great, the hall is VERY dark without the lights on so I think we should be good for the darkness I'm looking for, which has nothing to do with Justin Hawkins.
Unfortunately, Sophie arrived about 3 minutes too late and we had already stopped when we got to her arrival. She then asked us when we were going to work with the lights! She got a chorus of "now"!
Two other excellent run throughs after this, with my lighting expert sitting in to understand what effects I'm looking for and so he could get a feel for the run of the show. I didn't ask what he thought of it actually, I shall ask him next time I see him. My wonderful cast are pretty much there, just a few bits to tighten up and we should be good to go. I know that they are going to make me so very proud of them.
In other news, our sister show won "Best Comedy" at the Maidenhead Drama Festival on Saturday, so a great big congratulations to them! No pressure then on my show to deliver along side an award winning show...
Now the only thing to worry about is ticket sales. With just two weeks left, we need a hell of a pick up to hit our target audience. Hopefully the 10 miles that I walked on Saturday and the same of Director Zombie and Victoria delivering over 1250 flyers will help.
Song of the day - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Come up and see me (make me smile)
We had a bit of a disastrous journey. Firstly, the Hobbits train was 15 minutes late getting into the station, so we knew we would be late as we had to pick up Joshua on the way through. We let everyone know that we would have a slightly later start and drove on to get Joshua. We were about 10 minutes from our rendezvous point when, to our surprise, we came across a sign in the road "POLICE ROAD CLOSED". Urgh! Really? Things were totally conspiring against us!
We eventually made it to the hall and the cast were waiting for us, which was great, Sophie had already informed us that she would be later coming but I hoped that she would make it to us just as her bit started. We ran through from the top (where else?) with lights, or lack of them in some instances. It was great, the hall is VERY dark without the lights on so I think we should be good for the darkness I'm looking for, which has nothing to do with Justin Hawkins.
Unfortunately, Sophie arrived about 3 minutes too late and we had already stopped when we got to her arrival. She then asked us when we were going to work with the lights! She got a chorus of "now"!
Two other excellent run throughs after this, with my lighting expert sitting in to understand what effects I'm looking for and so he could get a feel for the run of the show. I didn't ask what he thought of it actually, I shall ask him next time I see him. My wonderful cast are pretty much there, just a few bits to tighten up and we should be good to go. I know that they are going to make me so very proud of them.
In other news, our sister show won "Best Comedy" at the Maidenhead Drama Festival on Saturday, so a great big congratulations to them! No pressure then on my show to deliver along side an award winning show...
Now the only thing to worry about is ticket sales. With just two weeks left, we need a hell of a pick up to hit our target audience. Hopefully the 10 miles that I walked on Saturday and the same of Director Zombie and Victoria delivering over 1250 flyers will help.
Song of the day - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Come up and see me (make me smile)
Monday, 3 March 2014
On Location
Yesterday was trailer day and no, I'm not talking about an American caravan, I'm talking about our promotional trailer for The Lodge in the Woods. How exciting is that?!?
I must say, that I was very excited in the lead up to yesterday, never having done anything like this before, for any show I'd been a part of, let alone my play what I wrote (have I mentioned that before?)!
I had pulled together a "storyboard" (or in other words, six boxes with stick drawings in) so that Director Zombie would be able to follow my train of thought, just in case it became derailed. Handily, near where the Hobbit and I live there is great foresty/woody land, belonging to Her Maj actually, which I thought would be ideal as the location for the trailer, turns out it was absolutely spot on!
We had arranged that Jenna, Kelley and Joshua would meet the Hobbit and I at our house to have a quick briefing of the "storyboard" so that everyone knew what they would be doing and what the overall effect would be when finished (we hoped). Director Zombie was meeting us "on location" and I had a brief spell of panic as to how we would find each other when we got there as it is quite a big place and very busy with cyclists on a dry Sunday morning. It was like an explosion in a Lycra factory!
Luckily on the way in, Joshua had seen a dodgy guy hanging around looking suspicious as we drove in, Director Zombie had been found! We got straight into it and worked steadily through the different scenes that I had planned. There were a couple of suggestions from the cast and crew as we went along which we adapted into the filming and having started at 10.30am (ish) we were done by just after 12pm! Well done us!
Director Zombie went off to film his trailer for Z is for Zombie with his cast and the rest of us went back to Jenna's for a cuppa, some of us staying for Sunday lunch too cooked by Mr Jenna, which was yummy!
And now the waiting game is going on, Director Zombie has just messaged me to tel me that my trailer is being rendered and then will be uploaded to youtube. I am currently in the BA Lounge at Terminal 5 waiting to get on a plane to Berlin, I am so hoping that it will be ready for me to view before I get on the plane!!!! I cannot wait to see it and to share it!!
Ticket sales for the Saturday night are going well, we need to get the rest of the nights started as well, although having said that, we are over 25% sold for the Saturday night with 4 weeks to go, so I shouldn't start panicking about sales just yet, although I am a little bit inside...
I must say, that I was very excited in the lead up to yesterday, never having done anything like this before, for any show I'd been a part of, let alone my play what I wrote (have I mentioned that before?)!
I had pulled together a "storyboard" (or in other words, six boxes with stick drawings in) so that Director Zombie would be able to follow my train of thought, just in case it became derailed. Handily, near where the Hobbit and I live there is great foresty/woody land, belonging to Her Maj actually, which I thought would be ideal as the location for the trailer, turns out it was absolutely spot on!
We had arranged that Jenna, Kelley and Joshua would meet the Hobbit and I at our house to have a quick briefing of the "storyboard" so that everyone knew what they would be doing and what the overall effect would be when finished (we hoped). Director Zombie was meeting us "on location" and I had a brief spell of panic as to how we would find each other when we got there as it is quite a big place and very busy with cyclists on a dry Sunday morning. It was like an explosion in a Lycra factory!
Luckily on the way in, Joshua had seen a dodgy guy hanging around looking suspicious as we drove in, Director Zombie had been found! We got straight into it and worked steadily through the different scenes that I had planned. There were a couple of suggestions from the cast and crew as we went along which we adapted into the filming and having started at 10.30am (ish) we were done by just after 12pm! Well done us!
Director Zombie went off to film his trailer for Z is for Zombie with his cast and the rest of us went back to Jenna's for a cuppa, some of us staying for Sunday lunch too cooked by Mr Jenna, which was yummy!
And now the waiting game is going on, Director Zombie has just messaged me to tel me that my trailer is being rendered and then will be uploaded to youtube. I am currently in the BA Lounge at Terminal 5 waiting to get on a plane to Berlin, I am so hoping that it will be ready for me to view before I get on the plane!!!! I cannot wait to see it and to share it!!
Ticket sales for the Saturday night are going well, we need to get the rest of the nights started as well, although having said that, we are over 25% sold for the Saturday night with 4 weeks to go, so I shouldn't start panicking about sales just yet, although I am a little bit inside...
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