Tech in Chattanooga

I have previously commented about how strange it is to have to go back to rehearsal of a show that you have already played a hundred times when we took The Wedding Singer to Atlantic City. Well that is nothing compared starting year two of a tour that you have already played more than two hundred times. That was how I spent my time in Chattanooga. We had two days of orchestra rehearsal. There were a few changes made in the music. Firstly we lost our reed 3 book to the virtual orchestra so my part gained some of what was previously in reed 2 and 3. Also there were some cuts made in the music. The goal was to trim about 10 to 15 minutes from the show this year. Mostly though we were becoming accustomed to the new members of the orchestra. Joey moved up to conductor, and we got a new assistant musical director and new reed 2 player.

After our orchestra rehearsals, we joined the rest of the production. I am happy to say that some of the less effective scenic elements from last year have been improved for this year. For example, the Emerald City gate and drop are now green. Imagine that!? As for the cast we only had 3 leads and 3 chorus members return, so it is a mostly new cast. They are a younger bunch but seem talented. We shall see what they are like to travel on a bus with?!

On Saturday and Sunday we had our preview performances. They went as well as could be expected, and then on Sunday the crew had the monumental task of packing everything up for the first load out. I certainly don't envy the crew's jobs, especially at the beginning of the tour. I believe that the first load out lasted something like 10 hours. You have to applaud their efforts, but that is just not the job for me.