Author: jcroft

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Me as Technician during A Christmas Carol

So I have been running light and sound for A Christmas Carol at Kudzu since the beginning of December. Now we are down to the final week (seven shows in six days). This past weekend, I finally felt really comfortable doing this. (I still prefer to be onstage instead of backstage.)

There are well over 120 light and sound changes during the show. And there are many simultaneous light and sound changes. I stay very busy during the entire show.

Of course I have it a lot easier than most with modern technology. I don’t have a 24 channel light board that I constantly have to adjust. My lights are programmed on a computer and all I have to do is hit a single button to go to the next light change. It?s nice.

The sound is on a Sony MDS (MiniDisc system recorder/player) and all the sound is more or less in order that I need to play them. There are times when I need to jump back to earlier tacks. Actually I have 3 disks on two decks. The second MDS has some sound affects for each of the spirits and two voiceovers. The second deck is fun. It will not stop and queue up the next sound track. It is in loop mode, so I have to stop the sound or else it will repeat. I have had that happen several times until I get better.

Now for the sounds I do have to adjust the volume on a sound board. I have had it too high at times and sometimes after fading out music, I forgot to turn the volume backup when I started the next bit of music. A lot of the music is for songs.

There have been lots of fun times when I mess up. Even with the modern technology it is not easy. Timing is a lot of it.

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Website Upgrades

I have just released a major site overhaul. I rewrite most of the site from scratch. When developed this site (blog software excluded) a few years ago, I was learning. I am much better at coding PHP, HTML and CSS. The old site was not very pretty on Internet Explorer.

So, from the ground, up the site is now more dynamic (vs. static) and easier to update page text. For example I don?t have to update the home page with current events. I update a text file, upload it and PHP will get the most current text.

As far as CSS goes, the site is much cleaner code wise. For page layout, coding tables were an easy way to get items to display where you wanted them on the page. All that is gone now. I have gotten much better at CSS and put items where I want them.

Another improvement is to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). These days, it is all about getting traffic to you site and the best way to do that is by being found in Search Engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc. I won’t go into details for that, unless you are a developer and have websites of your own, you don’t really care.

The site looks much better and cleaner overall. I just noticed an issue in IE6 and I still have some tweaks I want to include (view larger images, url rewrites, making the blog look just like the rest of my site, etc.).

Overall I am very please with the new site.

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A Christmas Carol at Kudzu Playhouse

I am in a new play… sort of. Actually I am Sound and Light Technician for the play. Well most of the run. I am on vacation for the first few shows.

I would always prefer to be on stage instead of back stage, but I was not interested in doing a Christmas time play.

But Kudzu asked if I would do the sound and light after having done it for acts II and III during And Then There Were None.

Visit Kudzu Playhouse for show times.

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Audition Notice: Quiet in the Land

Lionheart Theatre Company will hold December auditions for the March 2007 performances of Quiet in the Land by Anne Chislett. Directed by Scott King

Performance Dates:
March 9,10,16,17,23,24 at 7:30pm
March 11,18,25 at 2:00pm

Location:
Norcross Community and Cultural Arts Center
10 Britt Ave.
Norcross, GA 30071 (directions)

Open Auditions:
December 15th at 7pm
December 16th at 2pm

Auditions consist of cold reading from the script
6 Women ages 16 and up
6 Men ages 16 and up

Essentially a morality play, Quiet in the Land is a finely drawn portrait of an Old-Order Amish community held together and yet set apart by its strict beliefs and traditions. When a non-Amish friend is wounded in the war, Yock must decide if he will reject his heritage, his family, his community, and even the girl he loves, in order to enlist in the army and defend his country. Infused with warmth and wonderful characters, this play explores the great human dilemma of how to understand the meaning and demands of love and faith in a world torn apart by hatred.

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My Left Breast: I didn’t get it…

The play (side actually) not the part or the Breast. Don’t know about the part, but I probably did not get it… a part that is, not the play.

Confused? Well I was too. My Left Breast was originally written as a one woman play. This version, in collaboration with the author Susan Miller, is divided out into parts, the parts being SUSAN, WOMAN and MAN, maybe more.

What I did not get in Side B that I read, even after additional director input was that the MAN parts are the male muse, if you will, of SUSAN’s imagination. The MAN parts are to be read as if the, in this side, 8 year old son and the older version, the 18 year old son are saying those lines.

For some reason I was thinking a DAD for the MAN. Didn’t get it. Didn’t understand.

It clicked after I read Side D that I was to be those ages, acting those ages, etc. Side D, I read correctly.

I felt sick not having realized this. Damn good part, and easy read. If only I understood.

Well, I don’t think I will get this part because of this.