State of the Season – Oct 8

By Tyler York

It’s time for my weekly snapshot of the state of the Emerson Stage season. As I reported last week in my State of the Season post, we have three shows in rehearsal and a fourth, NINE, had just been cast. We can now add a fifth production: THE GOLDEN AGE, which has also been cast. Hooray!

Speaking of casting, auditions for X DANCE 2011 take place tonight! Artistic Director Marlena Yannetti and the five fantastic student choreographers will watch the physical feats of auditioning students to cast their pieces. Talk about the need for collaboration.

Today’s production meeting for LIGHT UP THE SKY was notable as it was the final Friday meeting until post-performance. Don’t get me wrong, there will be plenty of meetings between now and Opening Night (Oct 21 in the Paramount Theatre), they will just happen at the end of rehearsals rather than Friday mornings. If there is one thing to do during the final two weeks leading up to performances, it would be to communicate as much and as often as possible. This is the time that all the pieces come together and it takes a lot of coordination on everyone’s part to make the process smooth and efficient.

For example, the question was raised about the possibility of shifting a door in the set six inches further onstage. Doesn’t seem like a major issue, right? It is when that move, as small as it is, could affect other pieces of the set: Is there still enough room for the piano? What about the placement of the parrot?, lighting: Will the lights be focused on the right spot? Shadows?, projections: Does it affect the placement of the screen?, and stage blocking: Can the actors still move where they need to go? Any new obstacles to overcome? Luckily, the LIGHT UP THE SKY production team is top notch and all of these concerns will be expertly addressed.

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Tyler York is the Assistant to the General Manager of Emerson Stage and an alum of Emerson’s BFA Stage/Production Management program.