Oklahoma

Curly and Gertie center stage - Gertie's laugh hillarious!

 Now that I have some time (and before I don't have very much again) I've been reviewing past blog posts to see what I have missed.

One of those things was Oklahoma!  By blogging about it now, I miss the in the moment thoughts and feelings, but maybe I gain the perspective of time.

It seems odd to realize I have only done two productions with SHAPE players because those productions were all consuming and seem so much more than just two shows.

Tartuffe had a small cast of under 20 and Oklahoma had a large cast over 60 of us.  That meant bigger stage, more people and more moving parts. Scenes took longer to stage and rehearse because it took everyone really paying attention.   Tartuffe and Oklahoma were two entirely different experiences.

semi-pro photographer in the audience took this one

I will note, I have never considered myself a singer, and still do not.  The role of Laurey was challenging for me in that respect.  I did work on vocal training.  I think the hardest thing for me was to just get over myself and potential embarrassment of not singing well (which I didn't) and just get on with the show.

I enjoyed the energy and laughter of working with a larger cast but missed the intimacy of a small one.  I also enjoyed the more intergenerational -ness of the Oklahoma! cast.  It was fun to share the stage with children and youth.

As a show, you can't go wrong with wonderful songs like Can't Say No, Kansas City and Oklahoma, especially because those were ones I didn't sing.

Very soon auditions start for the next show - Plaza Suite.  Yes I'll be auditioning and we'll see what happens.

Backstage

For the past two weeks, I've been kind of busy - thus the lack of blog posts.  In the evenings I've been rehearsing for Oklahoma and during the day I've been helping out with the odds and ends of production.

When watching a show, I've been aware of the concept that people worked on costumes, gathered props, constructed sets and painted.  But there is so much more to those tasks than you can imagine in just watching a show.

Oklahoma has a cast of 60 plus people.  Everyone has a costume.  Most have two.  I have four.  Start doing the math.  Most of the costumes were pulled from the theater's extensive closet so only twenty or so costumes had to be made.  But all the costumes had to be fit, hemmed and trimmed.  Accessories have to be found - we are in Belgium and we needed cowboy hats, gun holsters and chaps.  I'm impressed that these things were found.

The script has reference to many different props - knives, playing cards, garters, fancy underwear, elixir bottles, picnic hampers, a saddle and more.  Our props mistress had to find all these things, organize them and lay them out backstage so we can find them easily.

Our set has been in the works for weeks now.  Aunt Eller's house has been under going construction and renovation for the entire time.  Drops and wings have been painted and shaded and touched up.  Some set pieces have been painted four times until just the right look has been achieved.  I watched one of the set painters spend over 8 hours putting clouds in the sky.  I don't have any idea how many hours the other set painter spent painting corn but she was at it for days.   As I don't have the artistic talent to paint anything, I've tried to help with the more mundane tasks.  I painted wing extensions black, painted trim on the house, and covered various boxes with the appropriate base coat so that they could be dry brushed later.  Screw heads and staples are all touched up with matching paint colors.  The attention to detail is quite admirable.

The hours required to put on a show are incredible and in community theater most are volunteer.   Now that I've seen the work up close, I appreciate it more and am grateful for the people who take the time to make what happens on stage look fantastic.