So, you may have noticed that I've been remiss in blogging this week. Such is life during tech. We've been working very long hours - 10 out of 12 hours in a day is a typical tech schedule - and things like blogging (and working out, and eating healthy meals, and showering...) tend to fall by the wayside during this intense period. Fortunately, I am happy to report that thus far (knock on wood!), ours has been a very smooth tech process.
The set looks amazing. In the rehearsal room, the stage managers tape out the floor plan (walls, doors, etc.) so we can stage appropriately. However, it is often hard to tell visibility judging by lines of gaffers tape on a hardwood floor. We were all a bit concerned about sight lines involving the upstage entrance and the general playability of the kitchen area featured in the upstage area of the set. Fortunately, our fears were unfounded.
I must give mad props to the props folks (sorry, I couldn't resist), scenic designers, and set dressers. It's been really exciting to see how each small detail layered on to the set- whether it be a take-out menu attached to a cork board in the kitchen or a random tchotchke on a shelf- can add to the sense of reality on stage. Robin, our set designer, spent her break the other day carefully spilling coffee on a chair to give it an appropriately lived-in quality (after all, this is the home of two men. Spills are inevitable). The faint ghost of a coffee mark is probably a detail no audience member would ever pick up on, but you'd be amazed at how all those little touches add up.
Jenny Mercein is the Assistant Director for GRACELAND.
