Have you ever heard the phrase “don’t show them how the sausage is made?” For two months, that’s exactly what I had to do to the team I was leading.
I recently produced and directed my first theatrical production, “The Trail to Oregon!” under Fifth Wall Company, the same group that brought you “tick, tick…BOOM!” earlier in the year.
The show is a silly interpretation of the Oregon Trail video game, with the crude humor cranked up to 10.
For my version of the show, I wanted that cranked up to 11 and that’s what I was looking for in the people that auditioned: Who can bounce off each other? Who can make each other laugh?
Once I had found my ragtag group of actors, it was time to begin rehearsals. This is when you begin to lose your free time.
As director, you answer to your team members, your cast, and in our case, the management of the rehearsal and venue spaces you’ve agreed to use. Keep doing this day in, day out and you’ve got a recipe for an incredibly busy summer.
I feel very lucky to have had a group of people that willingly purchased their own costumes and props for the show to be performed as well as it was. Their commitment still astounds me to this day!
After seven weeks of getting the singing in order, telling people how to dance and where to go (though the dancing wasn’t all me), and corralling numerous musicians including myself, we finally performed on Aug. 13. It went incredibly well.
The cast was firing on all cylinders, and the crowd was laughing from start to finish. Putting this product in front of a paying audience was simultaneously worrying and thrilling, and it paid off for a podcast.
A local podcasting team, Actors Creating Together, brought us out for an interview. Being on the other side of the stage was such a humbling experience and I’m very excited to work with Fifth Wall again.
