The Show Must Go On...

A couple days ago we had a little scare.  Our light & sound board operator had to go to the ER two hours before our 8:00 curtain.  I of course sent her to the hospital right away (it would have been extremely foolish to get her to do the show - not to mention immoral).

Two hours before curtain and no lights and sound.  What to do.  What to do.

1. First thing is I didn't panic.  That never helps anyone.  Nothing ever goes according to plan, and production is all about dealing with the bumps in the road.
2. Second thing is I called my director.  We entertained the idea of doing the show without lights and sound (it's better to have nothing than to have them go off in the wrong places all night), but it adds so much to show that we decided against it.
3. We formed a new plan.  My director and stage manager would sit up in the booth and do the light and sound together.  The supporting cast would take over the stage manager's responsibilities.
4. I went to the green room to start my acting warm ups, but before I did, Jake pulled me aside and said, "Jon, we're gonna do sound, but if something goes wrong, we're gonna bail.  Just keep going."   Haha.  Good to know. This was about 30 minutes before showtime.  
5. At around 8:10, Jake came out and announced to the audience that the show must go on and that he'd be running the board.  Applause.  So far so good.
6. Lights went up and the show went off...  without a hitch.
7. Well, a few hitches.  We had to use the master dimmers instead of the light cues, so we lost a lot of the detail that our lighting designer created.  A blackout happened too soon, some of the scene changes were a tad too long, and we lost the "rain" effect in the final scene. However, these are all minor details, and considering the situation - it went very smooth.

And that's how you handle a situation like that.  I'm extremely proud of my cast and crew.  We could have taken the easy way out and done the show without lights and sound.  But they stepped up to the plate and made it happen.  I'm also happy to report that our light and sound operator is ok, and will be back for the remainder of the show.

We have two days left.  Tonight (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday).  Student tickets just $12.  Also, if you're a member of HOLA! (http://www.hellohola.org/), show your ID at the door and get the student rate as well.  Come on out and see the show!