So while my bank balance decreased drastically so did my weight, from the time I got the role in late July to now I have lost a considerable amount of weight (getting down to the double digits for the first time in 14-ish years!) to the point that the final few nights of the show I was scared my pants were going to fall down in Run Freedom Run. That song is actually one of the main reasons for the weight loss, seriously if you're a guy and you have some weight to lose just do Run Freedom Run about 3 times a day with your knees going really high and bam you'll lose it.
Production week as you thespians know was looooooooooong, this is the point where we basically figure out the lighting queues so we have a Technical Rehearsal which often means you don't need to perform the whole song/scene unless the lighting requires it, all you do is stand where you're told and it can take some time. The other nights were just tightening up any loose ends and adding in costumes when they were finished being made/sought out. Chanelle who played Hope had her dresses made and the material was awesome, one was cherries and reminded me of the movie 'Crybaby' and the other one had green & red apples which had me singing "apple bottom dress with no boots and no fur..." to myself most nights. On the Tuesday night while we were getting notes I could feel I was getting sick, I get this weird feeling at the back of my throat so I instantly went to McDonalds and brought 2 cups of orange juice (as this was the only thing open reliably after midnight that sells it) and surprisingly that was all I brought. Woke up the next day with a full blown cold with a fever and everything and somehow made it to work and got through that, however at rehearsals that night I put my all in to it but the sweat was dripping and by the end of the run my shirt was drenched and even my bottom part of my pants were too so thankfully Adey uttered those words I always hope for in production week but is not always guaranteed, "you can have tomorrow night off", YUS!!!!! So Thursday I still went to work only because I had no sick leave and I had leave already planned for Friday so instead I went to the pharmacy and drugged myself up on Codrel Night & Day as well as some Hi-Dos Vit C which I mixed in with Orange juice and gradually got better but I had to admit I think I had sweat out a lot of my fever in Wednesday's rehearsal so wasn't feeling so bad but I made the most of Thursday night off and my Friday day off and slept a lot. What I did know was that the cold hadn't gone instead it was basically lying dormant and I was just hoping to get through the season and then die lol unfortunately that wasn't the case and 2 days before closing night it was back and I made it through final night with my first 2 cracks in my high notes throughout the season. Friday's final dress rehearsal I was feeling a lot better and we performed the show with minimal glitches but boy was I freaked out once it hit me that we start the next evening (eeeeeeek).
Half the reason why people had to see it more than once
Opening night was a great night with a really appreciative audience, there was one point right at the start of Act 2 where I say "I'll explain along the way Ma, c'mon lets go" and I run from the top platform to the other side and when the police whistle blows I then have to stop immediately and turn around and go back across the platform but the whistle was really delayed that night so I made it further across the platform than usual and when I went to spin around my foot was right on the edge of the steps and I fell, I quickly got back up and kept on trucking and supposedly it just looked like it was part of the show. Apart from that the audience enjoyed the show and we had finally unleashed the hilarity that is Urinetown on to the unsuspecting public and every night we got great reviews from friends, family & complete strangers. What was interesting also was getting an audience and finally figuring out where the laughs were going to be in the show because often when you rehearse and rehearse you lose the original freshness of things like jokes, characterisation and energy so once an audience is added you get those back too. Another thing you should know (which I also get asked a lot) is that shows in Auckland rarely get reviewed unless you ask them too be done or they are professional shows and I think if you want it in the Herald it costs money, so unfortunately we never received a single review which really is disappointing because you want to know if you were talked about, who got praised, what was wrong with it, what was right with it and ultimately if the review was an overall positive or negative one because often your family and friends can be too complimentary lol. I really do think that there needs to be something done about this for amateur shows though because you can't compete with big shows like Mary Poppins, War Of The Worlds & Little Shop Of Horrors that are currently on in Auckland under the "professional" label because they have more money to advertise while not only did Urinetown have to compete with them but we had to compete with other amateur companies, Centrestage's Me & My Girl, North Shore Musical Theatre's Into The Woods plus others starting on our closing night, AMT's Downtown & Harlequin's All Shook Up. With a review done on a well known theatre website or paper it really could really help a show like Urinetown that really only theatre geeks that follow every years Tony's know much about it, sell more tickets because it was a real shame that we rarely saw the theatre full even with all the positive comments we received, however we did manage to get people coming to see it more than once because they thought it was that good. But if there was a way to for amateur shows to get this publicity through these reviews it also means you don't always have to do Annie or Grease or Sound Of Music to get bums on seats (if anyone knows anything about this or would like to discuss it with me more I'd love to get something, anything done even it's just to throw around ideas on what could be done then contact me).
OK back to Urinetown now, of all the shows I've been in I have to say this show had the most injuries, from bruised ribs to sprained wrists to pulled back muscles (that one was me after falling on opening night) to general colds, lost voices and a few self-inflicted hangovers. Apart from the latter a lot of this wasn't due to carelessness as such but because of the dedication to their characters, I may have just said it's the show with the most injuries that I've been in but I also have to say that it's the first show I've done where I could barely catch a person out of character throughout the season, I think I speak for most people that amateur theatre often has that one person who can bring a show back down to amateur status because they often are there for the fun of it or they were dragged in to it due to the female to male ratio being vastly different (yes that does mean I'm saying that 'that person' is usually a male) and they don't often don't realise that it's more than just about singing and dancing and ETHNIC MOVEMENT (hehe that last one was for you Nicolette). It's not to say that they shouldn't be doing shows because that's what community theatre is about, it gives everyone a go and it should never change and those of us who do lots of show we just expect that there will/can be a few of them in each cast, but when you don't you really do realise how much of a difference it can make, it was so great seeing Erwin always having a little focus session before each show, Nicolette disappearing to god knows where each half time for a chill out and re-focus session, it just shows how passionate this cast was when it came to the show and performing at their best each night.
Says it all really
So yes the show is over but it certainly wont be forgotten anytime soon and I'd like to thank each and every person who came to see me or expressed their desire to come but had legitimate reasons why they couldn't. This show meant so much to me, not only was it a chance at a bit of redemption on some things that happened earlier in the year but it was my first role that had more dialogue than singing in years, I had a lot to prove and I really feel like I did prove it. I've learnt so much about myself too as cliche' as it sounds, I'm a much more confident person in my own life and in my abilities as an actor, singer and even a runner/singer lol due to this show and the people involved in it, I learnt how to find a character by drawing from different people/characters and your own ideas and then really dive in to it's psyche, I learnt how to build a character from the start of a show to the end instead of starting it out with all gun blazing and having nowhere to go. Again I'm just so appreciative of everything that happened in regards to this show and my next post will be my individual thank yous so I'll leave you with this "I said freedom.......I said freeeeedoooom........I said freedoooOooooOooooOoooom ruuuuuuuuuuuuuun freedom ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun...........awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
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