Resting Up

Yesterday was bittersweet as we spent our last few hours with Susie before she headed back to Winnipeg. We're so sad that she won't be here to see the premiere, but we're thrilled to have at least had a few rehearsal days over the weekend and a morning in the theatre with her.

Our morning began at 9am when we met at Neptune's Studio Theatre to go over notes from Sunday's rehearsal, while Louisa and the crew finished laying the dance floor. It was pretty hairy backstage when we arrived because "The Producers" has been using the Studio Theatre as storage for their props and set and they were busily moving stuff into the Mainstage Theatre at the same time as they were making final painting touches and repairs! That show opens this week as well, so the whole Neptune complex is alive with opening show excitement.

At 10am we were able to start a full walk-through of the piece on stage. Basically this means that we go through the piece slowly, not really dancing things full-out, to see where we need to be in relation to the wings, the markings on the stage, the edge of the stage etc. and we need to make lots of mental notes as things are often slightly different than how we've been rehearsing it in the studio. After that, we did a full run of the piece with music and house lighting, as Susie, Mel (she took on Catherine's role!), Ron and Louisa took notes. Everything went pretty well considering it was our first time doing it on the stage. We're still trying to work on the sound at this point because for some reason it wasn't filling the space and encompassing the audience as we had hoped. I'm sure that Louisa and the Bucklemaster will figure it out! We also got to try out a hand-held light that we're using in the piece and without revealing too much, I think it's going to be really effective! You'll have to come and see....

After lunch, we met again at Halifax Dance and went over some final notes before Susie headed to the airport. She has been such an amazing person to work with and as I said earlier, it will be sad not to have her in the audience on Thursday night. She has led us through an incredible creation process and we're really excited to share the results with the public this weekend. Carolle, Alicia, Sarah and I are also really excited to be sharing the stage again after over a year, especially in a work that is so emotional and personal for us.

We're taking the day to rest as Susanne and her cast work in the theatre today and then we'll be in there again tomorrow for teching with the lights that Ron has designed. Another exciting step in the production process!
I'm off to ice a few body parts and then enjoy some of the sunshine before banishing myself to the dark for the next few days!
Sara