So, the Romantic Atmosphere musical number is finally finished.  It’s going to be really fun and hectic.  Some of the people are getting disguised so we can have the whole cast in the number, so watching my friend Jason put on a beard that made him look Amish was pretty golden.  

Not only did we work on the cafe number/romantic atmosphere, but Dennis (Marsha (our director)’s husband) is starting to work on this hugh fake iron thing to hang above the stage.  I don’t know how to explain it, but it will be cool.  Trust me, guys.

So, it’s been fun going to rehearsal, dancing, hanging out with friends.  I was ready to hate the rehearsals i just had because it was cutting into my vacation time, but I’m actually glad it happened.  Also, costumes are starting to be brought it.  And by brought in I mean they are in the corner of the gym (where were rehearse) staring me down.  Stop torturing me, costumes, and let me try you on!

I can’t believe it’s over.  It’s so weird to be here at school and not have rehearsal to go.  The experience was worth all of the time, though—we put on such an amazing show, and I think it’s fair to say that we all bonded with each other too.

The last two shows were both phenomenal, and we sold them both out too!!!  Hen Hud has never had a sold-out weekend before, so it’s super exciting to be a part of a HHHS history-making show.  I don’t really have much to say about the last few shows because they were both flawless.  Sure, there was a little bit too much smoke during the melting scene (which resulted in ad libs such as “Wow, the witch has a lot of smoke” or “I can’t see the broomstick because there’s too much smoke!!”), but other than that, everything was perfect.  The audiences were also fantastic, especially the Sunday afternoon show—with so many kids, there was so much laughter at such strange parts.  Steven and I had a stare-down in one scene because the audience laughed at a line that wasn’t really funny… but it was still really cute. 

I honestly feel apathetic about just having performed for the last time on the Hen Hud stage.  I think it’s partially because I’m just not an emotional person and I’m not fazed by stuff like this, but I also think it might be that it just hasn’t sunk in yet.  I further don’t see this as something ending—this is an experience that will always be really special and memorable to me.

Regardless, The Wizard of Oz has been a great experience, and I’m so grateful that I got to work with such an amazing and talented cast, crew, and directors.

We had a crazy opening night!!!!  Two things:  1)  We sold out the performance, which has neverhappened at Hen Hud before!!!  2)  We had a blackout in the middle of the show.

I can’t believe we sold out the performance!!!!!!  They had to actually turn people away at the door because we were so full—that’s never happened before, so we were all so pumped backstage when we heard.  So, naturally, the audience was amazing.  They laughed at everything, they cheered really loudly, and they were just all-around fantastic.  You could feel the energy in there—it was really, really amazing.  I’m so glad we had such a supportive audience!!

So the show was going really smoothly, and we were in the Munchkinland scene.  I had just done the “I’ll get you my pretty… and your little dog too!” line and ran offstage.  I saw the lights flicker a bunch of times and heard a thunder-esque noise, so I figured Tech was doing some new effects, then the lights go completely out onstage.  I thought Tech just made a mistake and went to blackout, so I went back into the chorus room (where we wait backstage), and thought nothing of it.  Then a bunch of people come backstage and were like, “The fuse on stage blew!!  We have no lights and sound!!”  We were all kind of confused, because that’s never happened before.  Meanwhile, Maddy’s onstage improvising things like, “How can I follow the Yellow Brick Road if I can’t see!?”, and I heard the audience laughing hysterically.  Yeah, Maddy!!!
A few minutes later, everyone comes offstage, and our directors came back and told us that we had to take a 10/15-minute break until the Tech crew could go fix the fuse or whatever else blew.  So we were all waiting backstage, trying to not freak out about this.  Sure enough, we get the announcement 10 or so minutes later that the lights were back on, so we all did a pump-up/energy circle again, then resumed the show. 
We’re blaming it on Friday the 13th!! 

The show itself went amazingly.  The audience was fantastic, everyone was spot-on, Tech was perfect, scene changes were flawless…  There were a few little things that happened (the ruby slippers didn’t disappear fast enough, Toto fell out of Maddy’s basket at one point,  etc.), but nothing that we couldn’t fix right away.  All in all, it was a fabulous show and everyone had a ton of fun.

A lot of people in the audience said that this was the best Hen Hud show they’ve ever seen.  That’s so exciting!!!!!!!!  And I’m really excited for tonight’s and tomorrow’s performances—I really think we’re going to sell out the shows again.
I’ll post some pictures tomorrow from our performances—the pictures I’ve seen so far are fantastic!

Great job everyone!!!

Opening night was absolutely amazing!  Everything fell perfectly into place and every performance was nothing short of incredible.  I’m so proud of everyone!

There are really no words to describe how great it felt to sing “No Time at All.”  People laughed, cheered, and, best of all, sang along.  When I got offstage, I was literally shaking from all of the adrenaline.  There’s absolutely nothing like performing for an audience.  I can’t wait to do it again four more times!  

Alex Annunziata (Catherine) came up to me right before “Magic to Do” started and said, “I can’t believe this is your last opening night.”  I can’t believe it either.

Today’s Agenda:

Rest (eg. sleep, movies, music)

Maryland v. Duke Basketball Game (Go Terps!)

Pippin at 8:00

I’m pausing my pre-show prep to write a short post about opening!  

I woke up this morning and felt a little under the weather.  But don’t worry, that’s a good thing!  I’ve been sick before every single Cue & Curtain show so I was actually a little nervous that I was feeling perfectly fine yesterday.  I’ve been home all afternoon resting and drinking lots of tea.  I’ll be ready to go by 8:00.  

The weirdest part about today is that I’m not the least bit nervous.  I’m sure I’ve just completely jinxed it and will now fall onstage or something, but it’s true.  My stomach isn’t shaking yet.  I’m confident in the show and I know it’s going to be incredible.  There’s nothing to really worry about.  Although ask me how I feel five minutes before places and I’m sure I’ll have a completely different answer for you!

Alright, time is running short.  I have to be at the theater in an hour so I’ll end with this: Best of luck to the entire cast, pit, and crew!  Break legs guys!

The performance last night went really well.  Besides the fact that our audience was really small and there was some weird stage stuff going on, the show was really good.

Everything went sowell.  There were some small things going on (Scarecrow’s arm got tossed into the orchestra and our drummer had to throw it back to Tinman, stage crew forgot to put out the water bucket for the melting scene so Maddy used her basket instead, there were random boxes out during the Jitterbug…), but for the most part, it went really well.  The audience really seemed to like it too, which is great, and I’m really excited for the real performances.
Kudos to the tech crew—they actually pulled together and everything was totally perfect.  Finally!!!

I can’t believe we’re opening tonight!!!! 

(I hate green makeup.)

Everything finally came together

Even though Seth was still feeling under the weather

Tomorrow night is opening night

By then I’m sure everything will be alright

I can’t believe this rehearsal was my last

All the good times have sadly past

I’d like to thank the entire cast, pit and crew

I love each and every one of you!

We’re performing for the senior citizens tonight—so it’s not even a “dress rehearsal” now; it’s a legitimate performance.  Honestly?  I’m kind of nervous.  Well, I’m not nervous for my role or anything, but our tech is so non-existent that I’m nervous that something technical is really going to mess things up.  UGH.

We did a full dress rehearsal last night, though.  I think it was good—I can no longer watch the show because I’m backstage, so I’m not even sure how some of the scenes went.  Tech (or lack thereof) is still a disaster (the melting scene still isn’t right, we just figured out an hour ago how to get the ruby slippers from the witch of the East’s feet to Dorothy, etc etc.), but at least we have microphones and some sound effects.  (Okay, tech as a whole isn’t a disaster—just lighting and special effects.  The sound’s pretty tight.)

Costumes are still being made/mended.  The strap of my dress broke yesterday, and that just wasn’t fun.  They changed my hat and my cape today.  The Winkies have yet to rehearse in costume.  I don’t think all of the Flying Monkeys have costumes yet?  Seriously—we’re doing costuming up to the last second, and it’s really frustrating because we’re going on tonight.  Ahhh!!

Makeup’s also been a problem.  My (good) green makeup came in today, so hopefully that works better than the other stuff they’ve been using the past few days.  One cast member had a serious reaction to her makeup, so we’ve gotta be really careful from now on with stuff like that.  The makeup for everyone really looks awesome, though—Georgina and Taelor are doing awesome jobs!!

We’re all so tired after the last few days.  Hopefully we have enough energy to put on a great show tonight.  I think we will.

Today’s rehearsal was just a full run through.  Beforehand, Reid gave us a little pep talk and I think it really helped.  The cast was so energized despite the fact that Seth (Pippin) is very sick and was unable to attend rehearsal today.  Our dance captain, Kimberlyn Frost, stood in for him, while Reid sang for him.  Although no one can replace Sethers (as I call him), the two of them did a great job in recreating the same energy and enthusiasm that Seth brings to the role.  It definitely helped the rest of the actors to stay positive!

The best part of today was staying after rehearsal to work with the stage crew!  I learned so many new things thanks to Reid and D, who taught me how to use a drill and gaff tape.  I helped to hang the lyrics to “No Time at All.”  They were painted on a giant cloth and then fly in during my song so that everyone can sing along.  It looks fantastic.  I also helped construct the chicken coop.  It looks great as well.  Above all, staying after really gave me a new appreciation for all of the hard work the stage crew does.  I’d just like to take a second to recognize and thank them for all of their hard work.  A big part of why we look so good is because of what they do.  

Tomorrow is final dress!  It’s bittersweet as a senior.  I can’t believe it’s going to be over soon.

is going to kill me.  I just had rehearsal after a long day and I’m in a horrible mood.  The number is going well, but it feels like it’s taking a long time to finish.  Tomorrow we have the first act run-through.  I don’t know how it will go, but I’m hoping it will go well.  Anyway, Romantic Atmosphere, which, if I didn’t explain before, is the cafe number which is all oily and “sexy”.  We have to tango around the stage.   The dance rehearsals are hard, though, because we work in the gym (we will eventually build the stage in the gym) and the floor is hard as a rock.  So there is no give on the floor when we do jumps, etc.  It stinks.  To give you a proper picture of what I have to do…I end up with my leg on my friend Jason’s shoulder at one point (and I play a man in the cafe scene).  Outlandish!

Later!

-Hailey