Looking good so far!

So we're in our second week in at Saint Michael's Playhouse, and the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is running way ahead of schedule, both in rehearsal and in terms of getting the set built! Things are pulling together nicely for the start of the summer stock season here. The most complex aspect so far seems to be lighting, since the show involves plenty of dream-like moments and flashbacks and isolated moments, and even electrics is right on track with things getting done. We open on Tuesday, which leaves just enough time to get everything in working order. Better get your tickets now if you haven't already!

I think my favorite time of the rehearsal day is after the actors break for dinner and after Hannah and I move all our props onstage to set up for the evening's rehearsal; then I might go up to the booth to chat with John Devlin, or into the shop to see what's happening today. The shop is miles ahead of schedule. They started building for the next play, Around the World in 80 Days, several days ago. It's nice to be a stage management intern and sit in on production meetings and get an overall view of how things work.

Yesterday I ran into Chuck Tobin, the producing artistic director for the Playhouse, in the lobby looking concerned. We chatted for a little while and determined that no one was yet avaliable to run lights for the children's theater performances this summer. There are 2 children's shows each summer (this summer is The Wizard of Oz and then Pinkalicious) and usually interns or staff cover the technical needs as best as possible. The set and lights for the larger Playhouse shows are used and might be added to to make the set for the children's plays. It will definitely be interesting to manipulate John's complicated plot into a Wizard of Oz mood : )

The one downer so far this summer is the weather! It's bee rainy and about 60 degrees every day for a week... although the theater building is pretty frigid no matter what it's like outside, it is nice to escape into a sunny world when we break, and that just hasn't happened lately. At least the social life is pretty fun; the other interns and I hang out often after rehearsal (Molly, one of the administrative interns, an actress in our third show this season, and Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, is a close friend of mine from SMC, also blogging this summer) and we see the cast and staff out and about sometimes as well.

Tonight, however, is my brother's fiance's bachlorette party, and thank God we don't start tech till Sunday because it means I can meet them in Burlington tonight after rehearsal! Exciting! I can't believe Dan and Kate are getting married in under a month. I really need to buy some shoes for the wedding... maybe I'll find time before then to do so. Molly and I took the 3 guy interns shopping on our day off (we were going to show them Church street, but it was raining of course so we went to the mall) and they were pretty funny. They came into all the stores with us and gave us advice about which shoes looked cute and which ones were ugly.

Anyway, hopefully I will actually take some pictures and put them up...I know the last few posts have been only writing which is getting a little boring! If it ever stops raining maybe I can get some good ones of the beautiful campus at St. Mike's, or of the friends I'm making here : ) Maybe even of my 3 room mates (Abby, Em, and the dog). The apartment was a good choice for this summer, even if it does mean driving back and forth in the rain to rehearsal and to hang out with everyone. More later, with pictures and news on our first show opening!