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  • Viva Mexico Stage Manager – Final Day

    Yes, it’s all over. Saturday – 2 shows – has come and gone. The matinee, when I had my parents and various (or to be more precise, 8) members of my girlfriends family there, when fantastically. The evening wasn’t so good, but by then I was ready to drop.

    When the show finished, presents were given out (I was given 2 bottles of wine) and we dismantled the set.

    Then we went off to one of the members house for a party. My head is still a little groggy, but not as bad as it’s been before.

    All-in-all, a damn fine week and I really enjoyed my time as stage manager. Will I do it again? Dunno – I want to be on the stage to be honest. But if there’s a show I don’t want to do and they’re stuck again, my hat will be going into the ring once more.

    Update (02/11/06) : The societies chairman has sent me a letter thanking me for the work I did, and has already put my name down as Stage Manager for the next show.

  • Viva Mexico Stage Manager – 4th & 5th Night

    Ok, ok, I forgot to Blog the last couple of nights. It’s all been quite hectic.

    Thursday night went, as the graph predicted, reasonably well. Last night went brilliant. Except for the stage curtain ripping at the end of the show (it’s now repaired thanks to a ladder, reel of cotton, some string and a stapler).

    I think the most telling thing was that Colin – our usual stage manager – saw the show last night and declared the scene changes as “impressive”. And he was glad to be on the other side of the curtain for this show.

    Praise indeed.

    Today there are the final two shows (an afternoon matinee and another evening performance). Then an after-show party during which it’s traditional for me to get absolutely bladdered.

    So don’t expect a Blog now until at least Tuesday….

  • Viva Mexico Stage Manager – 3rd Night

    Last night could have gone better. One of the stage-hands called in sick, so we had a replacement. Without any practice things just didn’t “gel” as well, so it was all a bit slow.

    Anyway, this is at least consistent with how performances should go. I refer you to my chart on the right.

    Monday night is usually tosh because it’s, well, first night. We feel so ashamed Tuesday night is great. Then we get cocky and Wednesday drops a bit. Thursdays gets better and Friday is the best night of the week. Matinee on Saturday drops off and Saturday picks up again – but not to the giddy heights of Friday.

    This is how it goes. It’s the rules. It’s law.

    I hope you’re paying attention to this, as I’ll be asking questions later.

  • Viva Mexico Stage Manager – 2nd Night

    Last night – the second show night – went well. Damn well. 100% well in fact. Not a sausage went wrong.

    Doubt it will last though – random issues tend to pop up, so getting away with such a perfect back-stage experience is unlikely to ask.

    Best of all, there was a ripple of applause from the audience last night, after one our scene changes.

  • Viva Mexico Stage Manager – Opening Night

    Wow. First night is over and it went… great. Well, for us backstage it did. The odd niggle here and there, but nothing major. I am very releaved.

    The performance looked good to me, but I am watching it from the wings.

    Everything just came together – the stage plans, the preparation, the rehearsing of scene changes.

    And the place was packed. All tickets sold.

    What I don’t think many realised though was how long the show is – it starts at 7:30pm and doesn’t end until about 10:45pm. It’s a long one!