Hard Times at the P.A.C.

Welcome to "Hard Times at the PAC", an ongoing documentation of my college's theatre productions. My name is Amy, and I'll be your guide.

[and-the-tide-rises]

september 7th

I got trapped in a haunted basement today because of a tornado warning. 

let me elaborate: we were rehearsing in our very old historical music hall on campus, and then there was a tornado warning, so all of us trooped downstairs to the haunted basement (the entire building is haunted, but especially the basement) to be safe and not-die. 

while there, we witnessed some rare moments of band-kid/theatre-kid solidarity. they, too, were trapped in the basement, as they were practicing at the same time we were in a different part of the hall. here’s a short list:

- one of the band kids went “secret tunnel!” from the other end of the room and immediately all of the theatre kids joined in, creating a rousing chorus of nerds

- my friend and one of the band kids realized they had sung together before, which was cool

- after we finished rehearsing one of our songs in the basement (because we have less than a month to practice this music and ~the grind never stops~) the band kids clapped for us

- after we finally got out of the accursed basement, one of the theatre kids offered some stranded band kids a ride home

it was all just very nice. we’re not so different after all.

[and-the-tide-rises]

august 25th

well, you babes of jazz, by some bizarre miracle, ya girl made it. I got in!!! (so  did everybody else, since there were only fourteen of us, but please just let me have this.) I’m reading for The Narrator from Into the Woods at this Friday’s rehearsal, along with several other people, so I’ll be throwing myself into that for the next two days.

wow!! I can’t believe something in my life is actually going my way. c’est incroyable.

oh, and what I’m most excited about is that we’re doing Masquerade from Phantom for one of our scenes! and that’s always been my favorite song from Phantom!! I’m so excited!!!

I swear, if my school shuts down before our performance, I’m going to lose every single one of my remaining marbles.

[and-the-tide-rises]

august 24th

well, I auditioned. let me give you the short version: I sang real bad, lost my place in the music, and sang half a verse very off-key. however, I acted real good, which is the only thing I have going for me.

let’s just say that I wholeheartedly expect to be cut.

[and-the-tide-rises]

august 23rd

guess who’s back, you babes of jazz? it’s me. I’m a freshman again, but this time it’s college. and you better believe I’m still doing theatre, despite the fact that I’m probably not any good at it.

basically, what I’m saying is that I have an audition for some musical scenes tomorrow. I’m not a great singer, but I’m also singing ‘sonya alone’ from great comet, so I pretty much dug my own grave with this one. oops!

stay tuned and stick around to find out how hard I’m going to flop and the immense number of shows I will no doubt be cut from!

[and-the-tide-rises]

peter: an update

when I began this blog, the first person I introduced was peter. it made sense; he was the male lead and had an interesting backstory, so I told it.

it’s been almost nine months since I made that post, and to say things have changed would be an understatement. there isn’t enough time in the day to count all the ways, but I’ll tell you the relevant ones.

for one, both peter and myself have now graduated. on march twelfth, we both bid the pac adieu for what would end up being the last time. all of my props (including smee’s corkscrew, which is just my family’s wine-opener) are still there. I don’t know how I’m going to get them back.

for another thing, through an unforeseen string of events, some car rides, and a night at a pizza place, I’ve become fairly well-acquainted with peter. as I got to know him better, I realized I misjudged him in that first post. I thought I knew him then, but I didn’t really.

be kind, folks.

[and-the-tide-rises]

march 18th

so semifinals got postponed, because putting several hundred children in a theater together for a day maybe isn’t the best idea at the moment. school has also been postponed. leaving my house has been postponed as well.

everything, it seems, has been postponed.

[and-the-tide-rises]

things that happened at dramafest 2020

- two prom-posals happened during dinner. one of the girls was already going with someone else, but the other one said yes!

- we saw Young John Mulaney (our emcee from last year) again

- our saxophonist created a frighteningly-successful cult (all hail the walrus) that involved at least fifty high schoolers in a room screaming

- I pushed my friend through the halls of winthrop high school on a swivel chair warning the public about the cult

- our emcee changed dresses at least four times, and looked stunning the entire day

- I had my first experience in a mosh pit. theatre kids are incredibly violent people. I enjoyed it nonetheless.

- everyone’s shows were spectacular. like, I don’t have words to describe how impressed I was. I honestly had no idea who was going to move on, which is rare in situations like fest.

it was a great day all around, and I’m so proud of everyone, regardless of whether or not you moved on. now, onward to semis.

[and-the-tide-rises]

february 29th

well.

I thought this was going to be it. I thought this was going to be the last time we performed our show. every one of the other seven schools we were competing against were incredibly good. I thought we didn’t have a chance, but I was still so proud that we pulled this show together.

I was wrong.

by some strange, unknowable twist of fate, we’re going on to the next round. semi-finals, here we come.

[and-the-tide-rises]

february 27th

we’ve collapsed. our director has cut the last scene, which involves the total resolution of the plot. what are we supposed to do now? no one seems to know. we didn’t run under forty minutes. one run of the show remains before our performance. the entire cast is sick, the crew doesn’t seem to care any longer, and our director has lost her voice, both literally and metaphorically.

we thought our darkest hour had passed, but in truth, it was only beginning.

[and-the-tide-rises]

february 26th

for the first time, we did two runs in a row. and for the first time ever, WE RAN UNDER TIME. for context, if any show runs over forty minutes in the competition, they are automatically disqualified. up until today, we had never run less than forty-six minutes. but today, we swung thirty-nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds. too close for comfort, sure, but at least we did it!

everyone is in high spirits. our competition is in two days. I don’t know what’s going to happen first; it’s either all going to fall apart, or the competition will come before it does. 

[and-the-tide-rises]

the lightbulb incident

allow me to set the scene. it’s the thirteenth of february, 2020. our director is not present at rehearsal, due to a conflict with the opening of a show she’s acting in, so she trusted us to run our last rehearsal before tech week ourselves. a reasonable request, no?

apparently not.

our run was a trainwreck. peter was sick, and decided that this excused him from doing anything more than merely saying his lines in a monotone voice and standing onstage. wendy accurately described their scenes together in one sentence; ‘‘it was like I was talking to a wall.’’ entrances and cues were consistently missed, hook wasn’t even there for any of the scenes except his last, and no one was actually focusing on the show at hand. 

but the real chaos unfolded after the show’s end. i’m afraid most of this information comes to me secondhand, as i left quickly with wendy and tiger lily after we were dismissed, so there is likely some hyperbole involved. however, with an event like this, it’s hard to avoid. during the run itself, several crew members, including our disgraced assistant stage manager(a story for another time) and our guitarist, ascended to the catwalk to change some lightbulbs and adjust some flys, or something like that. in any case, when they returned, the guitarist brought with him an enormous lightbulb that looked like it hadn’t been changed since the 1950s. (for a size reference; it was larger than his head.)

after the end of our run, the guitarist and mr. darling started wrestling with each other onstage. as I made my escape with wendy and tiger lily, I told them to cut it out. they did not listen. I was not surprised, and did not make another attempt. mere minutes after we left, the guitarist grabbed the gigantic lightbulb and held it out in front of him. and mr. darling, with the stunning intellect bestowed exclusively upon teenage boys, kicked it. 

the lightbulb exploded. I don’t know what he expected to happen. it sent thousands of tiny shards of ancient glass flying across the stage, into the audience, onto the people still in the theater, everywhere. what did mr. darling and the guitarist do next? I hear you ask. did they stay after and clean up the mess that they created, like responsible almost-adults?

I’ll give you one guess.

I didn’t have the heart to tell our director about it after her opening night went so well, but I’m willing to bet someone did. I expect a disappointed talking-to at our next rehearsal.

jesus.

[and-the-tide-rises]

february 13th

MY CAST CAN GO DIE IN A HOLE

STRONGLY WORDED POST TO FOLLOW

[and-the-tide-rises]

february 6th

less than a month remains until our performance. as we slog closer and closer, our need for further rehearsals becomes increasingly obvious. however, no one has been brave enough to suggest it yet.

today’s run was fifty minutes long. for reference, any play a second over forty is immediately disqualified. our pacing was terrible, some actors still had their scripts onstage (despite the fact that we put this play on three months ago), and things just didn’t go well, generally. 

it’s time to get this show where it needs to be. I’m just hoping everyone is willing to put in the work.

[and-the-tide-rises]

january 31st

we have finally resumed rehearsals for our piece, with just under a month until our first (and possibly only) competition day. should we have started earlier? absolutely. did we? of course not. 

the cut script is fun for the ensemble, since we have less to do. for the people with lines, though, it’s a total pain to remember lines that they haven’t practiced for months, as well as the sections of those lines that they don’t have to say anymore. it’s very complicated.

on the technical end, it’s time for me to ransack my house top-to-bottom and try to find all the props that we used in the original run of the show. my family will have to do without their corkscrew for a bit.

[and-the-tide-rises]

january 15th

once again, I find myself, a senior, in the ensemble. honestly, though? I’m happier being there than being the lead. I don’t need any more stress in my life.

unfortunately, due to an illness that descended without warning and has left my mind, body, and voice completely destroyed, I haven’t been able to attend rehearsal all week. guess I’m playing catch-up already. 

it be like that sometimes, man.

[and-the-tide-rises]

january 7th

with less than two months left until our theatre competition, the drama department decided to do the rational thing and hold auditions for the musical. today. oh boy.

I auditioned. I did not get a callback. honestly, I’m glad - I’m too busy to potentially play a large part in this show. our musical this year, by the way, is urinetown. everyone’s griping about it (we usually do more classical shows - think my fair lady, fiddler on the roof, etc), but I think it’s going to be a really fun last musical.

let’s hope anyone at all comes to see it.

[and-the-tide-rises]

december 19th

and we’re back. today, we all met up and read through the cut version of our script. less than half of our cast was there. oh boy.