This is the story of my life as a Director when it comes to scheduling. I thought my
Fringe show was going to be easier, but despite having only 5 actors, it was a
major challenge. My schedule doesn't help, but I planned to use Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings to get around the worst of
A Little Night Music. A wrench was thrown in that with one actor
unable to do Sundays. I knew I had one big challenge with one actor being away the last two weeks of July, but the plan was to use the week before Fringe Techs start to review and tighten. I could make this work. But a different actor came in with a conflict that affected 5 out of 7 of those days in that week. That's the section about which I am most worried.
I haven't even got all the conflicts in, but I had to start constructing a schedule before any more of them filled up the remaining weeks with vacations, or visits from families, or other rehearsals (
2 of my actors are in other Fringe shows). I laid it all on the calendar. In June there were 6 days in total where I could use everyone and 4 of those were days I could potentially be scheduled for ALNM. Okay, now I need to write a sucky email to my ALNM Director asking for days off in June. I wanted 8 rehearsals in June - I can get 6. In July, it's even worse. There are only 3 days where everyone is available and 2 of those I have potential ALNM rehearsals. I write about that in my sucky email to my ALNM Director. Apparently those 2 days are 2 of only 3 days she has her whole cast until Aug 16th,
can I give her one of them? I will do so, because I know what it is like, but my cast needs to rehearse without me there so I will put someone else in charge that night and fix what I need to the next night. In July there are 6 rehearsals (I wanted 8 minimum) one of which I cannot be at.
Now I don't need them all for ALL of the rehearsals, but because of the structure of the show I need 4/5 of them at almost all times. It's done. We will rehearse 20 times between now and then if we are lucky (
like I said, I still don't have all the conflicts). No one can be sick. No one can throw another 'surprise' holiday in the works. This is THE schedule.
Next year, if we decide to do a Fringe show and we get in - I am building the schedule first and saying
'if you can't work with this, then I will find someone else, I love you, but maybe next time...'
Last night Workshop West's Canoe Festival opened with two shows at C103 (formerly Catalyst Theatre) . I had to wait for Mark to get home so I managed to make it to Send in the Girl's Tudor Queens. This was a hit show at the Edmonton Fringe in 2011 and I saw it and loved it then but was excited to see the re-boot in a better space with much better sight-lines and more room for their dances and, from what I had heard, all new costumes! What was great two years ago was indeed EVEN BETTER to see last night. The Dances were tighter and the choreography sharper (I think having the wider deck allowed them to really do it justice) and the design concept much more cohesive. I loved the consistency of the costuming (I really wanted to see the crests on their robes close up!). The script is still funny and biting and each of the six actors brings their own charms to their characters to make them unique. Two new cast members (Laura Metcalfe as Anne of Cleves and Caley Suliak as Katherine of Aragon) join returning royalty, Elena Porter, Ellen Chorley, Delia Barnett and Morgan Smith, and they fit in as though they had been there for eternity. If you missed it at Fringe 2011, I recommend catching it now. If you saw it then and liked it, it's even better so, again, I recommend.
While waiting for the show to begin, I chatted with the person sitting next to me who turned out to be Victoria Melody who is here from Brighton, UK to present her show Northern Soul which combines African American soul music with films, photos and stories of her life most particularly living with pigeon fanciers in England. I am hoping to catch her show tonight as most of the people who I saw leaving it said it was really good, plus I found Victoria really lovely to chat with and who knows when she might be coming through our city again? Mark is making a concerted effort to get home earlier tonight so that I can make it. Victoria is only here in Edmonton and Canada for a quick tour. After Canoe Festival she heads to Vancouver for the Push Festival and then she heads off to Banff where she is leading an intensive. Another reason I feel lucky to live in Edmonton is that we have these brilliant International Artists come through to share their talents with us. Flipping through the Canoe Festival guide you can see local artists like Send in the Girls and Vice Versa as well as artists from across Canada like Mary Walsh (of 22 Minutes fame) and artists from around the world like Victoria Melody.
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