so, i’ve been so absent from this thing, it’s time i wrote a comprehensive summary of what the hell has been going on in my life (for all you three people who actually read this, and for myself, so when i start to forget things as my hair turns grayer, i can fondly look back on youth and smile).
let’s begin with being sick. as i’m sure we can all agree, being sick sucks. no doubt about that. personally, i have been sick for exactly one month today. yes, back on november 17, i began getting sick. and then i got sicker, and sicker, and sicker. and then i got on a plane to south carolina and got jeremy’s entire family sick. happy thanksgiving, hayes family! you have plague! then i came home, and still sniffled and coughed. and now the beast has reared its ugly head once more. gross. totes gross.
now, let’s counterbalance being sick with something a bit more uplifting. say, elegies for angels, punks, and raging queens. aids! that’s a good topic to brighten spirits.
seriously, though, i have yet to write my “elegies” post and it’s high time i did so. so here goes…
“elegies for angels, punks and raging queens” began as nothing more than a crazy dream in my head. i approached jeremy about his office producing the show as part of their world aids day programming, and, of course, he was hesitant to throw time and, moreover, money, to a whim of his more often than not crazy boyfriend. but we talked about it more and i somehow convinced him to produce the show!
this was in mid-october. because i was in bat boy with f.u.d.g.e., we would not be able to start rehearsals until october 29, and the show absolutely had to go up no later than december 3 to legitimately tie in to world aids day (dec 1). we literally had one month to put together this show.
i then needed to quickly assemble a production team, organize auditions, rehearsals, costumes, a set, lighting, publicity, and get an audience in to actually watch this (at the time) nonexistent 40 person cast do what they do.
needless to say, i was in a little over my head.
that’s when i enlisted the resident superhero and fierce diva in my life, siouxsanna ramirez-cruz, to co-direct with me. again, i turned on my wit and charm and, with that sly smile that she knows means i’m up to no good, convinced her to do it!
after doing more organizational work than i ever thought possible, we finally made it to auditions. this was where it got very nervewracking (the first of many times). would the auditioners be good? were enough people auditioning? would we be able to use everyone? i was so scared walking into that room the first day of auditions. thankfully, each and every one of our auditioners proved me wrong. there was such a wellspring of talent interested in being involved in our show. the variety and diversity of those auditioning blew me away, and i was so eager to cast the show and begin working with this incredibly talented ensemble.
after casting the show, we had our first company meeting with most of the cast. i say “most” because the show wasn’t actually completely cast until the week before the show, but that’s the joy of live theatre, no? the company meeting was incredible. we went around the entire circle of people gathered in the room and shared who we were and why we wanted to be involved with “elegies”. it was so inspirational to hear each of these peoples’ unique stories.
starting rehearsals was such a relief, because other than organizing the weekly schedules of rehearsals for our growing ensemble, i had little to no work during them. since the entire show is comprised of monologues, we scheduled individual rehearsal appointments and met with actors one-on-one. the discussions i had with these actors about their characters rank near the very top of my list of amazing theatrical experiences (and life experiences, for that matter) i’ve ever had.
that was the main difference between this show and any other i’ve ever been a part of. there was such an incredibly sharp focus on the characters in the show. typically, especially in musical theatre pieces, the focus is often on choreography and set changes and (in my opinion) not enough time is spent developing the characters. in this show, with virtually no set and very limited choreography, all the time we had was able to be devoted to character development.
these characters had such complete back stories, such rich and vivid personae, that were created almost entirely by the actors. our actors were absolutely incredible at every rehearsal, coming in eager to find out more about their character, offering their interpretations and suggestions, not being afraid to give us 150% each and every time we asked them to run their piece for us one more time.
the exact same goes for all of our singers. in addition to the 32 monologues in the show, there are 10 songs sung by survivors of loved ones lost to aids. the singers added the final touch to the show, and their beautiful voices and interpretations of bill russell and janet hood’s gorgeous score more than did it justice.
there, of course, were many rocky points along the road to the final product that we would show on the evening of december 3, but no show is without those. but by the time that tech week rolled around, the cast had been completely filled and we began running the show, adding specific blocking for certain monologues and adding choreography to some songs. it was so amazing to finally see the show come together as one unit instead of 42 individual pieces.
then, we had our first day off in an entire month.
the following day, we had our one and only rehearsal in the theatre. sioux and i got to the theatre at 2 pm to set up the stage and program light cues with the incomparably fabulous wayne chin. as we were getting ready to set up chairs on the stage, jeremy came into the theatre with a group of people who wanted to see the panel of the aids quilt we had hanging in the theatre for the show. they seemed like they wanted to be alone, so i left the house to sit with sioux in the lobby. after they left, jeremy told us that the man in the group’s brother was one of the people represented by a patch in the quilt panel. it was very emotional seeing them interact with the quilt, and their visit was the final piece of this project for me. their presence made this show more than a show for me.
after everyone took a moment to recover from being verklempt, we began programming light cues. over the course of programming the show, various cast members filtered into the theatre, and as we finished, everyone was sitting in the audience. it was real now. the first time, the entire cast was in the same place at the same time. it was the first time we would be running the entire show at once, and the last time we’d do so before doing it in front of an audience.
the dress rehearsal went incredibly well, and i left the theatre incredibly happy with what we had produced. i still didn’t sleep a wink that night.
the next morning, i woke up, showered, put on my dandy outfit, went to classes, and then sped right over to suffolk. i was so jittery, it was awful. running around coordinating 50+ people was no small task.
i then met our two american sign language interpreters, lewana and jody. they were the two most fabulous people. lewana interprets for the boston gay mens’ chorus, so i’ve seen her and admired her from afar, but never had the chance to meet her. she was such a wonderful and kind person, and she and jody were just the perfect cherries on top of the amazing ice cream sundae that “elegies” was.
then they opened the house. i can’t remember a lot after that, only that i said some nice things to the cast, gave jeremy a hug and a kiss, and then exited to the house to sit with dad, mom, and janis. they all fawned over me, per usual, and were excited about the show.
the following hour and 45 minutes are a complete blur. all i remember is about 10 minutes into the show i was finally able to let it go. i stopped holding its hands and prayed it would still continue walking.
and it did.
words cannot describe how incredibly proud i am of each and every person involved in our production of “elegies”. it was such an amazing evening. we did it! (and yes, jeremy, as promised: i provided you with your office’s most well attended event in the history of ever)
wow, that was very long. i’m quite exhausted.
more later.
