Did I Not Turn You On?

I promised my Riss and Foxy (shout-out!!) that I would blog about this last night, so here it is my lovey's. I have uttered phrases like this over the last 2 weeks: I forgot to turn you on. I forgot to turn you off. I totally turned you off to early. I finally turned them all on at the right time! Come here I need to turn you on. I just turned you off.

I am referring to the microphones for the show I am teching (in addition to producing) right now. Teching is a term we techies use that incorporates lights and sound. In our little community theater we have to set up and take down our tech booth every night for outdoor shows. So sound and lights are always an adventure!! Every night there is a new issue.

I get to play every day with a 20 channel mixing board (small by some standards but perfect for what we need!) We have 12 body mic packs for the actors. But we also perform outside on a cement stage which means that when it is 96 degrees, like is was last night, my actors sweat. In order to prevent these mic packs from getting ruined with sweat we cover them with super specialized microphone pack protectors. Trade secret what these super specialized microphone pack protectors are. I could tell you, but then I would have to ... watch you blush.

The other day I did not have one mic at all. Someone had unplugged the receiver in the back. To trouble shoot that problem took 15 extra minutes. 15 minutes we do not have. I could not turn on #12, which is Tif and Mark. Tif has a solo in the show, and Mark needs to be on at the very end. So I was heard to mutter an expletive or two (to be honest probably more like 37) along with the phrase "I cannot turn on Mark." Last night Mark's mic did not work for the end of the show. I uttered the phrase again "I cannot turn Mark on. I have lost Mark."

Last night I also had some pre show troubles with Foxy's mic. Now this lady is a gem. She has worked a board before, she knows the frustrations of the board and just was ideal to work with. We plugged her mic into another channel and she was golden. (I think my board needs some tender loving care from my dear pals at Poll.) To her I posed the question "Why can't I turn you on?" To which Foxy smiled and (paraphrasing) said "You'll figure it out and turn me on."

I understand the alternate meaning of this phrase. Every time I ask why I can or cannot turn someone on or off, everyone seems to get a smirk on their faces. Oh theater is an interesting beast. It is an industry I love! Pretty much everything has a double meaning, and the second meaning can be taken in a sexual connotation, as in my mic phrases. Sometimes I wonder why I do it, why I love it, why I keep coming back to theater? I get so tired during a show's run that I have been known to cry for no reason (i.e. 24 hours ago) and the cuts, bumps, bruises, and bug bites make question my sanity. I swear more when I do a show (confessions of sailor's daughter), I sleep less, I manage to some how do all of my work (though I do not know how that happens), I use parentheses too often when I blog (effect of the show, I am sure), but I love it.

Someone asked me the other day which I liked better: producing or directing? I have to admit I love to direct. It killed me to not be able to have more creative freedom during this show. As a producer I get to choose the show, hire the staff, pay the bills, and organize the crap out of every aspect. As a director I get to let the producer do all of the dirty work while I play chess on stage with actors; placing them where they need to go until I win! They are two very distinct jobs. I love to be organized so producing appeals to me. But I can sit down to read a script and something magical happens inside my head: I can see a staged show production. I can see in my head what a show can look like. As a director I love to make that vision a reality. I have said to the cast this week that I am an actor first, director second, and a producer third. Mostly because that is the order in which I grew in my theater progression. If I had to choose my chosen field I would be a director first, actor second, and producer third. I will produce again for the MAC. It is kind of my job on the Council now. Once I get good enough, like Suzanne did, I hopefully will be able to produce and direct a show. Or produce and be in a show. But for now, and thanks to a challenge from Besty, I will produce and nothing more. I love it. I really do. I loved making the choices, I loved being the boss, I loved doing it all.

Hearing the cast perform, listening to some amazing women sing (the men are good too, do not get me wrong!), watching the crowd's reaction during the show, hearing the applause after, and seeing the smiles on the faces of the cast after a good night's show is all worth the extra time and effort of being a producer. It makes the sound trouble of not being able to turn people on or off on time all worth it.