March 9, 2012

  • Amplified

    Our pianist and music director were down in the pit last night.  This is the first show I've done at CVLT where the pit was actually used.  Usually it isn't because it's not really a pit.  There is a hole near the end of the stage for a conductor to pop their head up and the rest is under the stage.  So we have to block parts around the conductor's head at times.  Their two keyboards were hooked into the sound system last night.  And that's when the mistakes became glaringly obvious.  I mean, there were some songs that were utter disasters.  It sounded like someone playing while wearing oven mitts, or a large cat walking across the keys.  It was just embarrassing.  And to top that off, we were told that we are not using body mics in this show and this is a show where some people DO need a body mic to be heard over the orchestra - or at least to hear themselves in the mix. 

    I'm not inviting people to come and see this show.  One of the first since I started doing shows here in Ohio.  I don't want people to come and see this.  And what's sad is that the cast is FANTASTIC!  I have a feeling that the reviews will be something along the lines of "a great cast is wasted with almost no orchestra and a horrible lack of direction."

    And that's one other thing that ticks me off - a few weeks ago, I went to see friends who were in a production at CVLT's smaller "black box" theatre, River Street Playhouse (this is where I will be directing "The Gin Game" as soon as this musical opens).  While there that night, I noticed there seemed to be a group of gay men and women, which I thought odd since let's face it, Chagrin Falls is a VERY Republican little town (I've always dreamed that we gays would take over and open a bunch of B&Bs and art galleries because this place is perfect for it).  I thought maybe they were friends with the one person in the cast whom I did not know, but that turned out to not be the case.  A couple days later, I went online and searched for the play to see if I could find the review and instead came upon a Gay & Lesbian "Meetup" group that has existed in NE Ohio for about a year and they'd just had a "meetup" to go see this play.  These are men and women of all ages who don't like bars (like me) and they had weekly get-togethers such as game nights, day hikes, going to the auto show, going tobogganing, or going to see local plays, etc. 

    So I signed up for the group!  Sounded like my kind of group.  And the VERY next day, the guy running the group posts, "I'm disbanding the group.  I've had a lot of fun and I started the group when I first moved here as a way of meeting people, but lately it's been taking up too much of my time to put together these outings, so thank you very much."

    Of course.  Because Eric joined the group.  And people wonder why I call myself Eeyore. 

    And I even messaged the guy running it with a note that said, "I hope it wasn't because I joined.  That tends to happen to me - I wait in line forever, or sign up for a group, only to have it end just before I get there.  That's why they call me Eeyore."  And I told him how I came upon his group in the first place and how I don't go out to gay bars and the fact that the only gay male friend I have is my best friend back in L.A.  And that I have no gay male friends in Ohio. 

    Let's face it - most Ohio gay men are too mean and bitchy.  Do you watch "Glee"?  The most recent episode where Sebastian said some HORRIBLE things to Karofsky at the local gay bar?  That's how most of the gay men in Cleveland are and it's why I don't go to gay bars.

    Funnily enough, Justin, the guy who ran the group, wrote back.  We exchanged a couple e-mails and he said there's a smaller group of them that is still going to get together for game nights.  And I told him about the musical I was rehearsing - and the fact that I do tons of shows at CVLT.  So he's planning on bringing a group to come and see me in this show.

    And it's going to be a disaster.  Normally, if you have a lousy keyboard player, for the most part the brass instruments will cover it up.  And this is a show that can have up to 30 members in the orchestra.

    We are going to have 4 - two keyboard players, a bass player and a drummer.  There will be no brass or woodwinds to cover up the bad keyboard playing.

    To make matters worse last night, because our music director is also playing a keyboard herself, she spent almost all the time with her head down looking at the music.  So she is not conducting us in some of the more crucial, difficult parts of music.  And to top THAT off, she is wearing earphones to try and hear the mix of us with the music, but because we have no body mics, they are relying solely on the floor mics, which means that more than likely she is NOT going to hear us and they are NOT going to keep up with us.  They are either going to be too fast or too slow.

    I'm not going to allow myself to be so embarrassed when this group comes to see the show.  I'm going to e-mail Justin and let him know how this whole rehearsal process went down so that HOPEFULLY they will have some sympathy for those of us in the cast!