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Preparing for the dress rehearsal

Today was the first dress rehearsal for the dance show so first I moved black chairs from the auditorium into the backstage corridor which I made multiple trips for and carried two chairs at a time. Then I changed the list of songs of the stage door to one that had on it if the song had open or closed curtains and if it had something to take onto the stage like the stage blocks. I also put another one of the song lists that was on a clipboard into the production office. Then I activated the glow tape. For the dress rehearsal I was next to the stage door to open and close it for the dancers. I also need to not open the door too wide so that the haze doesn’t escape and because opening the door creates light onto the stage. Most of the time the dancers were entering from the stage door because they mostly left from different doors either side of the seating bank, but a few dancers left the stage in a rush from the stage door after a solo or duet performance. Also, sometimes I had to hold the door open wide because actors were carrying stage blocks or a sofa or chairs on or off stage.The stage management tutor had a walkie talkie and was sometimes next to me to give dancers clearance of when they were allowed to enter the stage doors and to make sure that they were quiet when I opened the doors. During the interval which was 10 minutes long me and someone else moved chairs that had been used and put underneath the seating bank. There were 8 chairs in total and half was on one side and half was on the other side so me and someone else carried two chairs each to the backstage corridor and then we went to the other side to do the same thing. Then I continued to be on the stage door until the show ended. Then I watched the 2nd dress rehearsal to gain more knowledge about the dance show because I hadn’t seen all of the dances. The show was good, and I saw how the stage blocks, chairs and sofa were used. The stage blocks were used in multiple songs but mainly MT songs and both the chairs and sofa were used in the same song.

The dress rehearsal

Chair that I moved from under seating bank

Watching the dress rehearsal

The dance show

I was called in for the Wednesday evening and Saturday afternoon shows where I was opening and closing the stage doors for the dancers, which was what I did during the dress rehearsals. The one way system of entering through the stage door and leaving through the door next to the seating bank worked well, which helped create less chaos backstage. When the sofa or stage blocks were going through the door, I had to open the door wider than usual, so it fit through the doors. On the afternoon Saturday show at the start of act 2 the dancers didn’t hear beginner's call from the speakers, but they went the stage door as soon as they heard the music to prepare to enter for the second dance of act 2 so they luckily didn't miss their cue to enter the stage. Some of the dancers on both shows got injured but there were less injuries on the Saturday show. Also, on the Wednesday show as a dancer was going on they told me that a girl was having an asthma attack in the dressing room because she wasn’t sure if anyone knew so after they went in, I closed the door and then I told the stage management tutor who went to check on her and then later came back to say that she was okay now. Overall, both shows went well.

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