Burning Chrome

Jack "reverse engineers" the mysterious Russian cartridge.
I like this part of the narration now that the technical parts have been explained to me. The lighting crew used a real laser diode to do the micromanipulator and I had to take this picture. It doesn't do it justice and the laser light messes up my camera, but it is a sweet effect. This show is loaded with effects; I haven't seen the fog machine YET, but I'm sure somebody will think of a place to use it. Maybe when the 'burn' goes down and the cartridge melts. Which reminds me, it is now my duty to find the clock that reads "07:24:05".

Burning Chrome

Automatic Jack and Bobby Quine outside the Gentleman Loser.
We started rehearsing 'Burning Chrome' this week and boy oh boy is this going to be tricky. Attempting to represent "cyberspace" on stage is an interesting challenge, on par with staging dreams. 'Burning Chrome' is a VERY technology-based story and luckily we have some very technical people. The lighting crew is happy to be doing something other than "daytime", "twilight", and "nighttime", but now they want money to buy all the new color LEDs, like tangerine and aqua. I can tell you RIGHT NOW that this is going to be one of those horribly over-budget shows. It will probably be the coolest one ever, but somebody is going to have to send a letter out to The Patrons begging for more "generous gifts". Hmm, I wonder who'll have to do that?

Behind The Scenes: The Costume Shop

Our costume shop is pretty typical, only smaller than a normal theater. Fabric, ribbon, thread and patterns everywhere; you can tell that people actually work here. Not me. I just watch and remind people that the costume they're working on was needed yesterday. Or the day before.
In this photo you can see a performer in a 'body block'; a rough muslin mock-up costume that will be used as a pattern for the real thing, in this case, one of the diamyo for "47 Ronin".

The Genroku-Ako Incident: 47 Ronin

Ori and Oishi (disguised as Lady Fujimori and her handmaid) encounter the Monk.
During this production our esteemed Dramaturg has been bringing lunch in on the weekends. He felt it was necessary to eat Japanese food while we did this show even though he is anti-'method'. Of course, he hates fish, so he brings in these ramen bowls that he buys in bulk from a Japanese grocery. I'm not talking about crappy "Cup O Noodles" or "20 for $1" ramen packs, these are big styrofoam bowls that come with three or four different packets of stuff; extra fancy. There is no English anywhere on these bowls; study the picture-instructions carefully. I'm eating a lot of things I've never seen before. This guy has a thing about ramen and I was told today to get ready for more because there's a lot of ramen in William Gibson's work and we start on 'Burning Chrome' soon.

The Genroku-Ako Incident: 47 Ronin

Oishi in the Garden of the Daimyo. Everybody was up in arms this weekend since the new repertoire was announced. And even though this is called the MODERN toy theatre, some people think it's more appropriate to do 400 year-old kabuki and bunraku show than it is to do science fiction. Personally, I don't know what the fuss is all about; I think there should be MORE science fiction on stage. Theater in general could do with a little more brains and a little less of all that "I love you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck" bull$#@!

The Genroku-Ako Incident: 47 Ronin

Oishi and Ori plot their revenge at the shrine in the forest.
This is such a great scene, and I'm not just saying that because I made one of the fake rocks in the background. Although I really should take a picture of my rock; this the first time anything I've made has been used in an actual show! Previously I have only made rehearsal props so I guess I am moving up in the world. It's hard to get noticed at the theater when you're a normal person among a bunch of crazies. (Don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about; pretty much the first eight lines in the program.)
I wonder if my rock counts as "scenic design"? Could put that on my resume.

The Genroku-Ako Incident: 47 Ronin

Photograph of Oishi during monologue outside the daimyo's house. Originally the stage was raked 33 degrees but bad sightlines and lighting angles forced us to chop the back down about a foot, leaving a new rake of about 21 degrees. This also aided the performers in not falling over as much. I can't wait for this show to open; it's so beautiful!