We Built It and They’re Here

September 12th, 2009Blog4 comments

Our first Year Zero preview was last night. The real costumes, the real lights were used. The real In-N-Out cups were used. The real skull was used.

Then real people showed up to watch it. That was the most exciting part — seeing real people react to this thing you’ve crafted together.

Putting together a show is like building an extremely complicated machine; you design it, revise it, focus and augment it. And finally you hit the big red START button and see if it runs.

And then it runs, and you’ve got people there paying to see it. You really hope they like it.

And when they like it, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.

(More Year Zero pics here.)

We had a great first preview. A great turnout, and a real diverse mix of people: Old, young, black, white. We got some nice responses, great laughs, and storywise, they were with us the entire time. This was an especially auspicious show because it was the very first show ever in Victory Gardens’ new 120 seat studio theater.

Now we’ve still got a ways to go — things are still coming together. The car (yes, there’s a car in the show!) used to squeak; they fixed it, but now it creaks. The speaker under the TV in the set that plays ambient noise got disconnected somehow and wasn’t working. Transitions are being tightened. I’ve made adjustments to some of the lines and the skull is dutifully memorizing them.

We’ve got eight more preview shows to go including tonight’s show. Then opening, then the actual run itself. But this thing’s actually coming together. It’s kind of crazy, kind of neat.

Also we had the Victory Gardens season preview today. They did snippets from all the shows that are going up this season.

I wanna say something real quick about Chad Diety: The entrance is indeed Elaborate, and it is highly Electrifying! They wrestled up there! There was a powerbomb! They built a freakin wrestling ring up on the stage!!!

Plus when the titular character (Chad Diety, played by our good friend Kamal), came out onstage he was tossing hundred dollar bills into the crowd. HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS. This is how I wish to make entrances from now on.

Note to propmaster: Chad Diety’s bills should have Chad Diety on them instead of Ben Franklin.