Things started off a little slowly in Indiana. The advance work was very good, but I didn’t do it. Michael Mazzola was there to help me learn the show. It took them a while to get the color and gobos right and when we finally did get to focusing the guy in the bucket was pretty slow. It was the kind of crew where all the guys are very very nice. They were personable, polite, happy to be there and interested in their jobs, but without a hotshot ringer to be seen. The reminded me of a crew from the south. That is with the exception of EJ the master electrician. EJ is sharp, fast, funny and has his own espresso maker in the booth. He’s a real quality of life guy and had brew pubs to suggest in our next stop from his motorcycle sojouring. It was great to work with him, but because he is the house person he feels like he should be on the deck and all the rest of the electrics crew is overhire. They don’t have a remote, so while he is stuck in the house the guys on deck bumble around wondering if there is black wrap in the house and where the top hats are.
But once the focus was done were were dealing primary with EJ so things were fine. The schedule is quite generous with 12 hours to focus, 8 hours to tech and then a dress rehearsal. Liz is fun to work with. She really concentrates on the performers, but did stop by the tech table occasionally with a thought or observation.
Bloomington was pretty mediocre as far as a college town goes, at least what I saw of it.
The performance was quite good but we had a phantom light stay on during a black out. From the house it was not terrible, but it threw the dancers off.
It was plenty of time to get the show undercontrol and ready to do it by myself.I think that I must have worked with Michael when the company come through Jacob’s Pillow in ’95. He’s affable and fun and had a baby moments after we arrived at the hotel. Or his wife did, she went into labor as she drove him to the airport. What a world we’re in.