(Day 5) Cue to cue to cue

Cue-to-cue is one of the most frustrating times for an actor, but one of the most important parts of the tech process for designers and crew. During cue-to-cue, rather than just running the show from the top right on through, we jump from each cue to the next where possible. That means that sometimes we skip an entire song because there are only cues at the start and end of a song. At other times, we do the same song three times in a row, because there are so many cues that we stop at each one and then need to see them all together

My job before, during, and after the show-- besides acting as run crew with Rachel A, moving set pieces-- is to take care of props. I set up the props table early this morning.

Each prop used during the show has its assigned place, and each one is labelled.

One of our most difficult scenes to set up takes place on a rooftop. We are using black rehearsal blocks to create the edges of the rooftop. Somehow, we have discovered one of the strangest optical illusions. From one side of the stage, the boxes all appear perfectly aligned:

But somehow, from the other side, it is clear that they are not even close:

You can see Nadav and Esti discussing this crazy phenomenon as Rachel A tries to puzzle it out.

What?! We must have re-set that scene ten different times before we decided that we just couldn't have the rooftop on an angle-- the only way that made any sense at all was when we aligned the boxes with the floorboards.

Our rehearsal today ran from 10am until 4pm. The first hour or so was spent with a props parade, the actors getting into costume, and Rachel A and I going over the set pieces with Katie (the set designer). The props parade was when Hanna (props designer) showed all of the final props to Nadav for his approval. After all these were done, we all gathered in the Arena preparing for cue-to-cue. We began cue-to-cue at around 11:30 and only had the space until 4. In a feat of theatrical amazingness, we finished with about 30 seconds to spare!

After a brief production meeting (which was record-time short. "Costumes, any notes?" "nope!" "How about set, any notes?" "nope!" and so on.), we had a break for dinner. You might think that at that point we'd call it a day, but not during O-show! At 6, the cast reconvenes in Aidekman 75 for another full run of the show!