The rehearsals for Our Town are coming along. At this writing, Act III has been blocked. It will soon be time to start run-throughs and stop the prompting of the lines to actors. Rehearsals are pushing the actors to the “sink or swim” time. The actors are on stage doing their “acting business” during the rehearsals. You know, the things that actors do. But what have the techies been doing to prepare for this show?

The techies have been very busy, and without them, there wouldn’t be a complete show. Technical Director Jeff Shaw has been scrounging for set pieces and painting them. He has, also, been coordinating the “learning of the light board.” This new light board challenged the light crew, but with persistence, videos, help from a lighting expert, and continued trial and error, the crew has reigned victorious. Cues have been put in and are awaiting the “cue to cue,” where levels and counts might be tweaked a bit. (A cue to cue goes from light, sound, or shift cue only, and isn’t a complete run-thru.) The cue to cue is the techies’ rehearsal and is necessary for all actors to be there. Taylor and Tyler Moran will be manning the board. Ellen Moran, our Assistant Director/Stage Manager, is not only keeping the director and tech director and actors “in line,” she is, also, learning the board. Charlie Betz, with his computer and technical knowledge has been a huge help in learning and figuring the board out. Besides deciphering the light board, Charlie is putting together a special slide show for the play and designed the play poster and program cover, among other contributions. Kate Gettle is the Assistant Stage Manager, who is taking notes and prompting actors now but will be making sure that actors make their cue and that shifts are done correctly in the near future. Steve Kenkel is the head of sound, and he is on top of what needs to be heard. His high school assistant, Hanah Novotny is learning how to run and execute the cues. Katherin Kofstad is excited to put her hands on our brand new spotlight. Prop Heads, Janet Busch and Joni Helm are making sure every hand prop is there and ready to go. Those two are super organized. Oh, and our costumer, Marla Behounek, who in another life, would have been a professional costume designer. Marla just retired from the high school costumer’s position. She agreed to do one more show, Our Town, before she officially put up the tape measure. Michelle Evans, the Wieting’s Renaissance woman, is Marla’s assistant, sharing her knowledge and skills with difficult sewing jobs. Michelle is also one of the director’s, Mary Fasse-Shaw’s personal assistants, as is Anne Michael and Mary Jo Cherveny. All three are doing multiple duties dealing with publicity including: posters, bios, programs, t-shirts, articles for the paper. Chasing down people for their bios can be quite challenging.

Building a show takes time and effort. Soon the make-up people and house manager will be here to put “the final icing on the cake.” Remember that you the readers, and hopefully, the audience will be the “cherry.”

Make plans to come see Our Town by Thornton Wilder July 11, 12, and 13 at 7:30 p.m. See you there.