Week 1:
A Theatre in the Middle of Nowhere

May 23, 2016

On Sunday, May 15th around 4 PM, I saw a McDonald’s.  With over 3 hours left on my long journey to Creede in my tiny, packed Toyota Echo named Leslie, I decided not to stop.  I was bound to find another quick fast food joint before I made it to Creede, right?

Wrong.

I would find the last three hours of my journey to be isolated mountain roads with no sign of civilization in sight, much less a McDonald’s.  Getting nervous because I needed to use the bathroom, I at last found an outhouse at a scenic view point – not ideal, but better than nothing.

Finally after my 9 hour drive with Leslie, I drove into the tiny town of Creede, Colorado.  I arrived about an hour earlier than I intended, so no one was waiting for me at Creede Repertory Theatre – where I would be spending the next 12 weeks as a stage management intern. After some panicked phone calls, I met up with my production stage manager and boss, Devon.  She got me my key to my room, showed me around the Bordello – the old hotel that I am staying in – and assured me she would give me a tour of the theatre another day because the Game of Thrones viewing party was about to start.

No amount of description could have prepared me for Creede – the complete isolation of the town, the casual bear sightings, the deer that live in our backyard, and the close knit theatre family I was about to become a part of.

Admittedly, after Devon showed me my room, I sat in my car in the parking lot across from the theatre and just cried, thoughts running through my mind.  What was I doing in this place?  Was I ready to spend 12 weeks in a professional theatre setting?  What if I do everything wrong?

But after reassuring phone calls with my mom and my girlfriend, I got out of that parking lot, unpacked Leslie, and told myself I was ready for this.  In fact, this is a dream come true.

Fast forward to writing this blog, and I have survived my first full week at Creede Repertory Theatre.  We run on a 6 day work week and have every Monday off (in theatre, this is called a dark day).  I’m astounded by what I have done in just one short week. I’ve attended so many rehearsals I’ve lost count, 3 production meetings, 1 stage management meeting, 1 changeover, and had a 30 minute battle with a printer.

As a repertory theatre, multiple shows are in rehearsal processes at any given time here.  On my first day of work, I immediately got to jump into 2 rehearsal processes.  First, I got to observe rehearsal for a new play called Kind of Red.  I would later learn the lead actor in the play is also an artistic director of the theatre, and wrote the play.

I went on to observe Kind of Red rehearsal again later in the week, and it was absolutely fascinating (and hysterical).  As a a brand new play that will premiere at Creede, the writer is constantly rewriting lines, adding new jokes, making small adjustments – so that the final product will be the absolute best in can be.  I have never been involved in the creation of a new play before, so witnessing the edits in action was astounding.  I got to act as a test audience, giving my input for which jokes worked better and what lines were funnier.  I just about died laughing in rehearsal, and I can’t wait to see the play get up on its feet.

But of course, I do more here than simply observe rehearsals.  Right now, the company is also in the rehearsal process for The (Curious Case of) the Watson Intelligence.  For this show, I get to be on run crew and act as production assistant.  Essentially being production assistant means I am part of the stage management team – I help the stage manager and the assistant stage manager with anything and everything we need to get done for the show.

Being on run crew means I will actually be backstage during every performance tracking props and set pieces and rearranging the stage during transitions.  Watson is a transition heavy show and the transitions are accompanied by beautiful original music.  The transitions have been carefully choreographed by the director to be as beautiful as possible – I get to be on stage as a part of the world of the play.  I play an integral role in making sure the stage is set for the actors.  It is a lot of responsibility and an exciting position to be in.

Yesterday I experienced by first Creede 10 out of 12.  In the theatre world, this is a rehearsal (usually a tech rehearsal) in which you are scheduled to work for 12 hours of the day, and get a 2 hour break for dinner.  For stage management, it’s really more an 11.5 out of 13 because we get to the space an hour before everyone else and end our dinner break 30 minutes early.

It was one of the most successful tech rehearsals I’ve ever been in – so successful in fact that we ended two hours early.  It was a long, physical work day for me.  To get the tech and the crew positions just right, we had to run transitions anywhere from 3-6 times each.  So I was moving furniture around all day – but I love this sort of work.  I love practicing moving the chez so I can make it hit the spike marks exactly.  I love paging the curtain for the actor so their exit is easier.  I love the crazy amount of work that happens backstage that the audience knows nothing about.

People always talk about the mysterious magic of theatre.  The magic of theatre isn’t actually a mystery – it’s all the unseen work that happens behind the curtain.  It’s the assistant stage manager Domingo controlling the fog machine with a remote when the stage manager Devon cues him over radio.  It’s Alex on crew figuring out just the right way to push the desk so it can glide gracefully across the stage.  And it’s me – wheeling the chez into the perfect position, paging the curtain, placing the chair, and even washing all the dishes that get used during the play at the end of the night.

Theatre isn’t magic.  It’s a team of incredibly passionate and dedicated people coming together to make something beautiful.  And I am lucky enough to spend 6 days a week for the next 11 weeks doing theatre.  I couldn’t be more excited for what this journey has in store for me.