September 5th and we're just about to go into the hell known as "tech." I can't imagine that the tech on this show will be much hell, however. The story, set, and overall design is pure and simple with no complicated gadgetry or other complexity.
For those who don't know, in the theatre tech is short for "technical rehearsal," in which all of the technical elements are worked on and problems are ironed out. This includes lighting, set changes, large props, and some costume elements. The cast and crew are called for "10 out of 12's" -- days of rehearsal where they are used for 10 hours out of a 12 hour period. The days are slow and tedious, repeating stage moves endlessly; checking and rechecking lighting changes as they are written into the lightboard's computer and adjusting staging to accommodate a necessarily limited number of lighting instruments; running, modifying, and adjusting levels of sound cues; repairing round set pieces that get forced through square openings. If you look carefully around you, you will see people working very hard, but to a casual observer nothing is apparently happening for long periods of time.
Luckily, our cast (and the shows creators) were compensated for this monotony in advance. Today was what is called the sitzprobe -- a German word meaning, literally, "seat rehearses." And that, literally, is what occurs. It's the casts' first hearing of the orchestrations, and their only real opportunity to hear them in the clear without worrying about staging, hitting their marks, or any other of the countless distractions required to perform their roles. An attempt is made to sing through an entire number with the orchestra, and then any problem spots are worked and run, and hopefully there's also enough time to run the numbers straight through again.
The cast and all those in attendance seemed very pleased with the sound of the orchestrations and were very vocal in their enthusiasm (a fact which pleased the orchestrator -- your humble author -- no end). We have a fine orchestra having been graced with some superb musicians willing to tackle this incredibly difficult score for incredibly little financial reward. David Tagliarini (and his absolutely ravishing new Bass Clarinet) on reeds and Joseph Brent on violin and guitar have been simply amazing in their work and unstintingly gracious with their time and energy. And I can't say enough about Albert Ahronheim's incomparable leadership and control from the piano.
Our cast has made great strides in the enormous challenge of learning all of this material; a full-length evening performed by only four actors means there's an huge amount of music and dialogue to be memorized by each actor, and it's all complicated by the additional requirements of the accents, the Yiddish, and the Hebrew. When singing they sound truly glorious and their performances of the roles are breathtaking.
Tomorrow the actors meet to work out some of the staging on
the newly completely set. (Well, we hope it's completed; Bradley
Olsen, our technical director, injured his back last week which
has delayed some of the finishing touches. We're told the finishing
touches will be in place tomorrow.) And then it's into the bowels
of tech.
To read more about the production, see actor, staff, and creative team bios, and etc., here are a few links.
Another Op'ning - The Immigrant,
Pt. 1
The Immigrant,
A New Musical
CAP21's website
The Knapp-Alper Pages
Originally published at Suite101.com Theatre, 9/5/00
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