Done with Brookings, now down to Brandon

Howdy! It's been a week since I last posted and several things have happened since our last show opened and I'd like to share that with y'all.

First off the day after we opened I went to the pool for a couple hours for the first time of the summer. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon especially after working for 6 weeks straight. The unfortunate part of it was that I forgot to put on sunscreen and I ended up getting a sunburn over my entire upper body! I was going to put some on..but low and behold I forgot. The only conciquence was being very uncomfortable and hot in my costume for CFY.  But I had a smile on my face for the whole performance and didn't show my pain one bit! Those couple days taught me to A) use sunscreen and B) to except responsiblity and fight through it and not complain, because it's my own fault.

Anyway, the run went really well, smaller houses the last couple of nights, but the audience members were real responsive and that's all you need. Saturday we did a promo in the park at 'Arts in the Park' where we performed a couple numbers from CFY and Church Basement Ladies. That experience was great because it got residents of Brookings excited to come see the shows. However it was really really hot and all of us were drenched in sweat after the first number, but hey, no pain no gain right? We had our last two performances after that, which meant that we would be finally moving down to Brandon.

Oh, side tangent, so Friday last week I got invited down with the light crew to go to HuHot which I thought was pretty cool. But I soon found out that I would be hanging lights for 4 hours before we went to HuHot...it wasn't too bad, I got to learn how to read a light plot really well and what gels go where and how that is all set up. The only problem is that I still had quite the sunburn at that point and I was really uncomfortable. I didn't get home until a half hour before call, so that day was kind of a bust. Brandon I'd like to note is a great performance space! They have a great working double purchase system, a fly-space that is real big, I'd like to compare it to CY but I know it isn't that big. Their stage is made up of material that fills itself back in once you take the screws out. And below the stage, the orchestra pit is on hydraulics so that's sweet. 3 cat walks and a big ol' lighting and sound booth with a nice table and chairs for the stage manager. This place seats 800 and has a great balcony. It truly is incredible and it's only a high school!!! I don't even know if the kids there know how privileged they are to have a space like that. 

So tangent over. Monday I drove down to Brandon with a crew to set up the first show in Brandon, CBL. It really only took a total of 3 hours to set up the whole thing along with adjusting lights and unloading Arsenic and Old Lace backstage as well. What's also cool about Brandon is that we can have all the other shows back stage and we can be working on them while another show is up. Tuesday I sat in on a pick up rehearsal and took notes about finishing touch-ups that need to be done on the set.

Well today is opening night at Brandon and we have damn near sold out tonight's show so that's exciting! That was my week in a couple paragraphs. I can't believe I only have 3 weeks left of this internship, it's going by too fast! Hope all is well back in Iowa!

Josh