Almost, Maine is almost here!

It's a dark weekend at MET - that means we don't have any shows playing. Which also means it's time for a work call! On Saturday, we came in for several hours to get ready for our next mainstage show, Almost, Maine.

This is the Almost, Maine set, from designer Joann Lee.

After all set pieces and props have been cleared, the first task is to paint everything - the walls, floor, center column -everything, black. Reiner and Mak paint over the blue and white swirls from The Snow Queen.

Gené paints the wall.

Joann draws the skyline for Almost, Maine.

Pat McDonald and Joann cut out the skyline.

Tad broke something. Mark tries to help fix it. In the end, this piece of equipment was put back together with fast-drying epoxy and camouflage duct tape. It was a sight to behold.

Karen puts away costumes from our last show.

Rona puts away fabric pieces.

Julie is excited by all the progress in the costume shop!

Of course, we couldn't just have one thing happening at MET! During the work call, our next Fun Company show, Ma Lien and the Magic Paintbrush, had rehearsal. Ma Lien is a traditional Chinese folk tale, adapted for the stage by MET Associate Artistic Director Gené Fouché and directed by ensemble member Ali Lepelletier.

A Christmas Carol load-in at the Weinberg

Last Sunday, the day after we closed our run of A Christmas Carol at the Carroll County Arts Center, our crew loaded the set into the Weinberg Center in Frederick. We've been using the same set, designed by Tad Janes, for the last several years, and it's basically a giant erector set, fairly easy and quick to put together. And this year we captured the process on film:

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This is what the set looks like when it's all put together, with lights and special effects:

Santaland Tech Week

It's Tech Week for Santaland! This is the time when all the technical components - lights, sound, costumes, set, props, etc - come together with the performance. The director works with all the designers to get everything just right.

The set is still going up - it has to serve for three different shows: Santaland Diaries, 4 Eggnogs and an Apology and The Snow Queen.

Santaland director Suzanne Beal gives notes to Rona Mensah after rehearsal.

Suzanne, Rona and the designers/technicians talk about the show.



Rona takes notes. The swirly blue on the walls behind her are for the Snow Queen set.
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I'm still not sure how everything is going to fit together and work for each show, but I know that our set designers (Ken Poisson, Joann Lee and the Comedy Pigs) and our technical director (Mark Barnhart) having been working together closely will find a way to make it fabulous!

Doll's House Strike

The moment the audiences leaves a final performance, we begin strike - putting away props, furniture and costumes, dismantling the set and getting the stage ready for the next production. Below are photos from the A Doll's House strike:

First, we clear all the props and set dressing.

© 2008 Joe Williams

Then it's time to remove the bigger furniture items. Some of the props and furniture pieces belong to MET, but most of them were loaned from various company members, so we had to sort everything as well.
© 2008 Joe Williams

Joann poses with her beautiful floor. We hated to paint over this masterpiece!
© 2008 Joe Williams

The stage is almost clear and the windows have been removed, so it's time to start dismantling the walls.
© 2008 Joe Williams

We try to reuse everything we can, so in addition to taking the walls down, we have to pull out every single nail, screw and staple.
© 2008 Joe Williams

Reiner is He-Man!
© 2008 Joe Williams

At this point, everyone needs a screw gun, but unfortunately we don't have enough to go around.
© 2008 Joe Williams

We had a lot of people help with this strike, which made the whole process go quickly. By the end of strike, the stage was clear, except for the things that were going to be throw out or given away. The next day we had a work call and a dump run.

© 2008 Joe Williams

A Day in the Life: MET on a Wednesday

It's Wednesday at MET, and here's what we're up to:

It's 9:30am and Sarah Straw is at her desk! (I'd like to say my work area usually looks more organized, but when you're working on 5 million projects at a time, it's kinda hard to stay neat!)

It's 10am and Karen Paone, box office manager, is waiting for you to call!

Ensemble member and props mistress for A Doll's House Lorrie Tripp stops by later in the morning. Lorrie chats with me a bit about props for the show (I'm the stage manager) and then works on some items. I try to help with the ornery copier, but....

We end up breaking it! This piece just fell out as we were trying to fix a paper jam! Fortunately it snapped right back in and everything was fine.

At MET, we ensemble members share the responsibility for keeping our space clean. Everyone signs up for a month-long shift. Julie and I are the October cleaning crew. Above, Julie takes out the trash from the lobby.

In addition to teaching, performing, directing and doing MET's graphic design, Gené also does our accounting. Here she's getting ready to make a deposit.

A quick trip into the theatre finds A Doll's House lighting designer and Ensemble Member Karina Wright supervising her daughter, Diana. They spent most of the day hanging Karina's light plot.

Mark Barnhart was down in the scene shop, working on trim for the set. It was dusty.

After lunch, our friend and cast member from Company, Nick Mullinix stopped by!

MET intern and Ensemble School student Luke de Boinville sorts costume patterns.

Every Wednesday, from 2-6pm, Jenn Irons gives private voice lessons in MET's Greene Room. Here is Jenn, working with Lena Janes, daughter of Tad and Gené

The Ensemble School starts at 4:30 with Teen Improv, taught by Denny Grizzle, who you may remember as Bobby in Company and Joe in Killer Joe.

At 5:30 Julie teaches Teen Scene Study - we love our new classroom!

At 6pm we have a Doll's House production meeting. Tad, the director, sits down with all the designers, and the stage manager, and we talk over what is happening, what needs to happen and who is going to do it.

Milee was there during the production meeting, priming all the walls. Tad is going to pick out the paint on Thursday morning!

After the production meeting, sound designer Tom Majarov played several sambas for Tad to choose from. There was dancing. Costumer designer Sherry Shaner, and...

Tad!

At 7pm, after the production meeting we had a company meeting. MET ensemble members meet once a week, every week but during tech weeks, to talk about our company and get everyone on the same page. Tonight we talked about Fall for the MET - our annual fall event that is this Saturday, October 18th, and work call plans to get the Doll's House set finished.

Also at 7pm, Actors Anonymous was meeting, led by Comedy Pigs member James "Jiggy'McGarvey. AA is an opportunity for our Ensemble School students to use what they've learned in class in their own improv troupe. In the past, they're produced a couple of shows each season.

Normally the Comedy Pigs also rehearse on Wednesday nights, from 8-10pm. But tonight several Pigs were in tech for the Walkersville Dinner Mystery Train!

And at 7:30 it was time for A Doll's House rehearsal! During rehearsal, Sherry pulled actors into the costume shop for fittings.

Also during rehearsal, ensemble member Rona Mensah stopped by with some soap! And also some decorations for Fall for the MET.

And then finally, at 10:30pm, rehearsal is over and we're going home!

That's it, that's a day in the life of MET. If you come by on a Thursday, or a Saturday, it looks much the same - there's always a class, a rehearsal, a work call. There's always people stopping by to borrow things, return things or just say hi. There's always administrative work to do, ticket orders to fill and cleaning to be done. And sometimes we even have a show! : )

Doll's House Work Call

We had our first major work call for A Doll's House on Sunday, October 12th:
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Volunteer John Kearns consults with Mark Barnhart on set plans.

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Reiner Prochaska frames a wall flat.

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Props mistress Lorrie Tripp and Milee McDonald attempt to fix a broken bulb on this pre-lit Christmas tree. In the end, Lorrie had to get new lights.
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Sarah Straw sorts bolts, screws and other pieces of small metal. (this is for Ken, who says there are not enough pictures of me on the blog - so here I am!)
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Julie spent some quality time in the new costume shop, sorting and organizing. She wasn't ready for her close up : ) I know it looks chaotic, but amazing progress has been made and it's super exciting to actually be able to find things!
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Ken Poisson helps Julie in the costume shop, sorting skirts.

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Jon Paul Duvall and Ali Lepelletier work on cleaning up the windows Mark rented from the ReStore. This was a tough and time consuming job: first they had to scrape off foam insulation and paint, pull out nails....

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Then pop out the plastic window pane dividers and clean the whole unit with soap and water and then...
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Get tough with the windex. Ali and Jon Paul take no prisoners.
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Karen Paone, Mak Nichols and Pat McDonald took over hardware sorting duties. Every piece had to be organized by type and size. I didn't know there were so many screw sizes!

By the end of the day, both the costume shop and the scene shop were cleaner, and we had several walls framed out and ready for facing and installation. Mark will be working on the set during the day this week - volunteer opportunities abound! Give us a call if you would like to help.