Tech Rehearsal

Today is one of my favorite days of the whole Nutcracker experience. I know Sarah likes it too because she gets to leave school early, but we go downtown to the theatre and get to watch as tech rehearsal unfolds before us. During tech rehearsal the company dancers are dressed in very casual dance clothes. Today, there were at least five dancers that had on 'blanket sleepers'. Others had pants with one leg rolled up above the knee, very puffy slippers and scarves around their necks. Amongst the varied attire, you might see a real costume or two. Why this is I am not sure. Anyway, after we arrived at the theatre all the children were instructed to go to their appropriate, well marked dressing room. Once everyone was situated a tour was given to the adult volunteers. Now, I have been volunteering backstage for three years, but I decided to take the tour because one night when I am in charge of the Snow Tree Angels, I will be responsible for getting them to the Stage Left door. Well, the only time I was anywhere near the stage left door was last year when I was allowed onstage at intermission to take pictures of the snow tree angels . When we were done, we exited stage left and went right to the wig room. Well, I will tell you, we must have walked through eleven doors and turned right or left fifteen times just to get to wigs. It was so confusing! So I decided to take the tour and was glad I did. A few things have changed, but the best change is that the wig room is no longer beyond the female company dancers dressing room! The wig room is accessed directly from the hallway which is a huge improvement. They have also marked the way to the wig room, stage left, stage right and the lobby very well. I don't remember anything being marked in the past. After the tour, everyone gathered in the dressing rooms before going down to the lobby for a quick bite to each. When we were instructed to do so, we made our way to a specific area of the theatre to watch the tech rehearsal. Ashley Wheater, Charthel Arthur and the woman who looks much older than she really is were sitting in chairs on the edge of the stage facing the dancers, the pianist and his friend were at the edge of the stage at stage left and the nutcracker screen was drawn. The pianist started to play and the ballet began. Of course there were the typical stops and starts because the dancers were not quite in the right spot, but the funniest thing was when the toy soldiers came out. They are actually rolled out in the large boxes that are decorated like presents and when they are turned around the soldiers are standing in the boxes and then hop out to begin their dance. Well this time the two toy soldiers, when revealed, were standing on their hands upside down in the boxes! It got a great laugh and then everything went on as usual. When battle scene began there were many stops and starts because of the number of props and people involved. In fact, the two Cast A cannon soldiers, of which Sarah is one, were asked to come on stage and try rolling the cannon out onto the stage several times. When they returned to their seats all they kept saying was, "That cannon is so big!". Battle scene ended and now we are taken to the land of snow for the most beautiful scene in the whole production. During this scene, the snow queen and king are the only ones in costume and after a lift the snow queen's tutu got stuck in the snow kings collar! As they were trying to unhitch, a company dancer who was behind said "That happened to me in a performance! They have to get that fixed." It certainly wasn't pretty so I hope wardrobe takes care of that asap. Well Act I came to a close and I needed to get all 24 soldiers up to the dressing room to gather their things and take them to the Wabash exit for pick up. During the craziness, I left my hat and gloves in the dressing room. Mind you it is 20 below with the wind chill out side and I misplace my hat and gloves; I am not a happy camper. Although it is kind of funny because last year I left my hat and gloves in the theatre seats during tech rehearsal. What do you think that means? Overall it was a great day, but I have to say I missed my nutcracker buddy M a lot. Everyone keeps asking me if we keep in touch and I happily say yes:) I wasn't allowed to take pictures today, but I just grabbed something off the internet. I think Sarah's friend C is the soldier on the left. Tomorrow is dress rehearsal and then opening night. Sarah has never been in Cast A so she is really excited to be a part of opening night. Dan and I will be seeing the show tomorrow. I hope it lasts forever, I just love it.