Pippin Load In

From the ART Website: This is the poster image for Pippin.

For the past two weeks, work at the ART has been loading in Pippin, the big show we've been working on for over a month. Pippin is a musical that the American Rep is setting in a giant, extravagant circus setting. Load-in has included boxing hardware to send to the theater, loading trucks, shipping people over, unwrapping things from shops in New York and some beautiful stuff from Vietnam, unloading stuff, laying platforms, laying decking (the specially painted stage floor), adding the pit extension that literally extends the stage over the orchestra's head, preparing the orchestra pit with platforms and safety nets, installing a false proscenium, hanging our 2 sets of curved truss (you can see some of it below) which now stretch the "tent" fabric between them, and more and more. There is another portal behind the proscenium, a pipe with hoops and decorative chains and pennants, and then of course my "Magic To Do" light bulb effect, hung directly upstage of the proscenium.

Part of the "chute" or circus tent was up at this point. My little phone camera can't capture the sheer size of this show!

 There were a lot of challenges and details to be attended to during this load in. It seemed like we were super prepared with hardware bags for each piece and bolts carefully counted out, but in reality things got disorganized and lost quickly. We had to stay organized and out of other departments' way at times. Safety was huge; with very heavy pieces being suspended overhead, we often wore hard hats. Getting the curved truss at the right angle and height took a while; installing the false pro and the portal were team challenges; my light bulb setup was a disaster with so many cables and wires flying in a small space. It was originally designed so that each of 22 bulbs could fly separately in and out, but with a clew plate added near the end to have the pieces all flown together, most of the pieces could have been replaced with just a pipe that the bulbs would have hung off of, set at their different heights. I'm not sure why this happened, or if all the problems can even be resolved, but the last time I worked on them we resolved much of the tangling of the wire ropes and were just left with the twisting of the electrical cables.

Yesterday was my last day of this long run at ART, and I worked on notes at the theater: adding light bulbs to the curved truss, dressing the midstage masking portal, working on a trapdoor platform under the stage, and cleaning up an oval platform piece that the acrobats climb all over. That was another challenge we faced-- acrobats were often practicing onstage this past week while we had to work on notes. 

I wish I could have taken more pictures of so many interesting moments, especially when electrics started working on lights while we were doing notes!  The pace is snappy though, and given design copyrights and other rules, we aren't really supposed to take a lot of pictures to share. I will get some from the ART website to share with you come opening, however, and I hope that you go see this incredible production when it opens! The show previews through December and opens on January 3rd. For more information on tickets and such, visit the ART website here.

November Wedding

My best friend from high school got married last weekend. It was an awesome wedding! As a member of the bridal party, I've been helping plan it for months...but everyone has been so busy a lot of it fell to Anna and Steve themselves to plan. They chose a blue and orange color scheme, birds and fall leaves decorations, complete with Woodchuck cider keg and a candy bar. Dinner was a Thanksgiving theme, making it the first of all of the guests' Thanksgiving dinners this year. It was in Greenwich, NY, at Christ the King spiritual center (ceremony at a nearby church).

They wrote their own vows : )

As the maid of honor, I turned to my mom and various stage manager friends to figure out what I needed for the weekend. A wedding is, after all, pretty similar to a show! Lots of planning and preparation needed. My survival kit included sewing stuff, breath mints, chapstick, Tide Pen, lotion, tissues, makeup, hand wipes, room keys, snack packs, and more. We arrived Friday, spent the afternoon at a really nice spa/nails place in Saratoga, went to the rehearsal and set up decorations (guess how many tech theater bridesmaids set up lights while the groomsmen stood around chatting-- LOL). Steve's family had prepared a lasagna dinner at the library of the spiritual center, which was amazing. We split the couple up and spent the night playing games and such, very low-key times, which was perfect.

The day of, the bridesmaids and Anna hid away in the bridal suite at the inn attached to the spiritual center, getting ready. It was a beautiful day! The ceremony was at a nearby church. When pictures time came around it was very cold for us girls but we managed. The reception was back at the spiritual center with an awesome DJ; lots of friends and family of the couple were there to celebrate with them. I couldn't be happier for Anna and Steve!

Shipping out to Boston!

Ok, so the Dropkick Murphys song actually goes Shipping UP to Boston. But who cares? I just moved into my new apartment in Somerville with the help of my Mom, Auntie Mary, Uncle Jim, and little cousin Carlie. I've been couch surfing with friends in Boston for about a month now while working at A.R.T. and let me tell you, it has been stressful. There isn't a lot in the world that gets me down, but not having a personal retreat really raises my blood pressure from day to day. (not to mention Boston traffic!)

So I found this place from an ad on Craigslist-- among many other ads I responded to-- and my new roommate Joe wrote back saying I could come look at the place and see if we would get along. It is a second story apartment in a pretty old building with a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, separate bedrooms, trash service, heat, water, Internet, and cable; it has hardwood floors, a storage room, spacious hallway, and a cute pantry. I'm pretty excited.

My room: 10'x12' which is larger than my college dorms for sure.

Pretty sick closet with a bunch of hooks and 2 racks AND shelves. Yes, that's a zebra snuggie.

1/2 of the kitchen, still unpacking obviously

Other 1/2 of the kitchen. It's big!

Dining room...currently with a ping pong table...I'm thinking game room.

This is actually just a small part of the living room, it's HUGE. 

Joe seems like a nice guy, the place is clean so that says something at least! I looked at apartments with 2-3 girls living in them that were 10x more disgusting, easily. He hasn't put a lot of furniture in, so I'm hoping that means I can decorate in the future. If this first month goes well I will stay here indefinitely. It's so nice to have a place to unpack!

I left my car at my Aunt's house for a while. Parting with Tiny Tim was hard. I lived practically out of him for a month there, and put on more miles than the spring and summer this year combined. I also stored useful stuff in my car, like tools and blankets and equipment for the apocalypse. Not having that stockpile--not to mention a method of transport other than public transportation-- will take some getting used to.

More on Pippin and other adventures soon! Thanks for reading!

Pippin: In Progress

My first few weeks of joining Boston's "young professionals" has been intense! I visited for a week in September, interviewing and networking, and the recommendations from my mentors in Vermont and beyond really paid off. I was hired immediately as a temp worker for the American Repertory Theater, and put on several overhire lists for the Huntington, the Shubert, and Central Square.

I started immediately with A.R.T. in their scene shop in Northern Cambridge 3 weeks ago. We are working on Pippin, which will be set in a huge circus tent, complete with several levels of truss and wheeling staircases and giant banners. The shop is the largest one I've worked in thus far, though it seems small sometimes with the amount of people working: the Tech Director, his assistants, the paint charge and 3+ scenic painters, 4-5 staff carpenters and 4-5 overhire people from day to day. The metal working side of the shop is the largest part, and it's where I've been stationed almost exclusively for the past few weeks.

My project involves a set of 30 light bulbs that raise and lower along one of the big staircases. I have been working on making specialized sheave plates for pulleys, a redirect sheave plate that changes the direction of the rigging lines, and most recently welding tiny 1" bits of flat bar steel to tiny tube-like pipe to guide these wires. Building 30 of each piece (or 60, depending on what each setup requires) has familiarized me with the shop's tools fairly quickly and given me the chance to really practice with the cold saws, the iron worker, and the welding tools there.

my new friend the iron worker. it shears steel plates, punches holes, makes life a lot easier

Two types of sheave plates, offset by 1 degree angles...kind of annoying.

Once I got these plates done, there were 30 redirect sheave pieces to make, cables to measure out and prepare for rigging, and a countless number of tiny pieces and adjustments to make. We want every piece of scenery to be thoroughly checked for the install so that when the load-in day comes, everything is as ready as it can be to put in the theater space. I got to do a little welding on some tiny pieces of piping and steel chunks, which was fun and frustrating all at once. I had some guidance from the staff members and continuous overseeing from one of the Assistant Tech Directors. All in all, I hope this project will result in a cool effect for the show!

Information on Pippin can be found at the A.R.T. website.

How I Beat Insomnia

Once upon a time, from age 8 to age 18, I suffered from insomnia. Night after night I laid awake, afraid because everyone else in my house was asleep and I wasn't. Later, as I grew older, I started wondering why I couldn't sleep. I counted sheep and read boring books and listened to soothing music. I was tired by day. I didn't care about much during high school. When I started college and found I needed the natural energy that sleep provides, I was incredibly frustrated. I took sleeping pills which didn't help me, and was afraid to take more. I tried herbal muscle relaxants. I panicked sometimes, knowing it would affect my classes and my life more than ever.

The summer after my freshman year of college was my first summer stock experience, spent as a stage management/rotating shop intern at Saint Michael's Playhouse. And it was there I discovered I could work myself into such exhaustion daily that I would sleep, at last. Maybe that is some of the reason I love summer stock so much, and why I love days in general that leave me wiped out. This week, my first week working at a scene shop in Boston, has left me silly-tired every day, and I absolutely love it. The work, the people, and the sleep I get at night. Don't get me wrong, I love my job for many other and more important reasons...but somehow sleep is the final factor that tells me I'm doing things right!

My sleeping problems are far from over. I started having vivid dreams around the time I started college, dreams that stress me out, that make me feel like I haven't slept at all when I wake up, dreams that disorient and frighten me. I'm never in control, I'm not a lucid dreamer or able in any way to wake up or realize I'm dreaming. I've woken up sick, shaking, crying, or startled. Sometimes I do wake up contented, which I'm thankful for; occasionally, it seems, a dream will come and resolve a problem or an issue in my subconscious. I guess whatever my brain is working on at night, it's important. I'd rather have it do its job than be that teenager who couldn't sleep and walked around in a hazy dream all day. 

Post-College Life (so far)

Life after graduating is definitely a shiny new experience so far. For something like 16 years in the beginning of our lives we go to school and it plays a large role in dictating our friendships, our free time, our activities, and what we do with the rest of our lives. After graduation, a lot of that simply stops.

Immediately after graduating, I worked at a summer stock theater for 3+ months, where I did the work I love and was paid (albeit slightly) and provided with housing for that time. Maybe those benefits are part of the reason I'm a big fan of summer stock; in any case, it meant I had a few more months to figure out my year following the summer.

I didn't waste my time this summer while I was enjoying myself. I started applying for "real" jobs in June and July, searching sites like backstagejobs.com and stagejobspro and artsearch and more. I looked at websites and made phone calls. I asked for references and advice from my many wonderful mentors in this business. I applied for about 15 different jobs in various areas of expertise, since I have a wide range of skills to offer and am interested in many parts of the process.

Despite all of that, I am writing to you now from my parent's house in Vermont. Which is fine for now; I'm not ashamed and they're not bothered, and I can certainly earn my keep helping out here. There isn't enough work in Vermont to support myself with, however, and it's almost time to break into the theater scene elsewhere. I'm working on it, with a lot of help from friends and contacts and again, mentors. It's been a roller coaster month out of summer: I wanted to move right away, but didn't have the money so I decided saving up at home and joining the local stagehand's union, the I.A.T.S.E. Local 919, would be a good idea for my future. September went well: I worked with the local, with VSC, and in Boston a little, feeling it out.

Then October hit, and I realized that work is scarce enough I'm not really saving money. It's time to make the leap and make a bigger effort elsewhere; to spend the money now to move and search for apartments and jobs and hopefully make it up once I'm settled somewhere. Every day brings something different and big. I thought I was working hard throughout college, and I was, but not like this. I work hard every day to stay focused on what I want, to write and talk and think about where I want to be. It sounds simple, but it isn't. I know now I want to move to Boston and work there for this year, at least until the summer season comes around again. I work hard to not become a bum in my parents' basement, to suck it up and ask for help, to make use of the contacts and friends I made in the last 22 years.

Sometimes I feel really stupid about all of this. It seems so simple. But I've learned a lot already. Some of the problem with all those applications I sent out was my over-willingness to relocate. I applied to places all over the country, so long as it wasn't in Vermont. I didn't choose a place and focus on the many opportunities within it-- and each city does have its own type of opportunities. I hoped for a contract right out of college, which in this field doesn't always happen. I've learned just how much other people can and are willing to help, if you cultivate good relationships and ask for it. And I know that someday, I will be one of those people helping the next generation find their way.

Thank you for reading about my life lessons today! More updates to come.

BOOM!

The Vermont Stage Company started its 2012-2013 season with a boom...quite literally! Written by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Boom tells the tale of a nerdy biologist who predicted the end of the world...and in preparation, stocked up his underground bomb-shelter-turned-lab and put an ad out for a date. Little does Jo, the punk chick who responds know that Jules' real intention is to preserve the human race.

Genevra MacPhail and Alex Koch as Jo and Jules. Photo Source: http://www.vtstage.org

 Directed by Cristina Alicea, the Artistic Director of VSC, this production is a quirky glimpse into the future and appropriately liberal for Burlington, Vermont. Working in the Flynnspace is always a welcome challenge to VSC's directors and designers: it is a small black box space with support columns and a low ceiling to work with. The stage is set as a three-quarter thrust for Boom; the staging carries the actors all over the space, often in unusual and interesting ways. Alex Koch turns a sweet geek into an impressively motivated character when it comes to surviving; when his limits are finally pushed by the often offensive Jo, we see Jules as he had never been seen before in probably all of his tragic life. Genevra MacPhail plays a captivating Jo whose vulnerability changes in very interesting ways throughout the show. I liked her immediately. Carol Spradling plays Barbara, the character who provides a mind-blowing plot twist with increasingly opinionated interjections.

Working on this show has been fun. I met Jim Dougherty, the technical director, back in January at the American College Theater Festival, where I was a technical intern and he was our supervisor. Working with him again to load in the set and flooring was a blast.

Load-in for Boom

Jenny Fulton's scenic design certainly captures the scientific-turned-home-turned-stockpile setting, complete with cold metallic architecture, homely Star Wars bedding and mismatched rugs. Sue Wade's props and dressings complete the space: filing cabinets and crates of important survival things (right down to the baby knits and diapers, tampons, and red Solo cups). I worked later with John Forbes and Sarah Simmons on hanging and focusing lights to create wonderfully diverse effects and a shadowy atmosphere that only furthers the feeling of being underground.

All in all, this is certainly a show worth seeing in the Champlain Valley area. Whether you are interested in the sleeping habits of fish foreshadowing the end of the world; side-splitting laughter and entertainment at the simple facts of life; or the astounding possibilities of human existence and perseverance, Boom is not a play you want to miss. For information on tickets, calendar, and more, please visit the VSC website. 

Thank you for reading!