Closed for Renovation

Hey y'all!

Much like Mushnik's Skid Row Florists in Act I, Scene III of Little Shop of Horrors, we are currently Closed for Renovation! Our beautifully empty and large downstairs space is in the process of being transformed into a functioning theater as we speak. There is a crew of workers painting the walls and floors (hopefully removing any concrete dust!), mounting piping on the ceiling to create a light plot, and lining the walls with sheets of Styrofoam to deaden the horrible echo in our cavernous space. This means that hopefully by Tuesday Manolo and Alberto, two parent volunteers who are building our set for us, will be able to get into the space and start construction. Shortly thereafter, Alvaro should be able to get in and start painting the set with a small crew to transform the space into Skid Row and Mushniks' shop. So much will be happening in the next week to make this show a reality, and I cannot wait to see the results. It's times like these, however, that make me wish I had more of a background in technical theater. I want to be more useful in these very practical and essential areas of theater, especially with a non-profit such as FCCMT, but I lack that specific skill set. But hey, I can hang lights and roll marley like you wouldn't believe!

As of today, the show opens in 11 days. Every time I say this I have a slight heart attack, but yesterday Dario reminded me of something very true and comforting - all of my choreography is taught and most of it has been cleaned! I think last year with Oliver! we had such a big cast and so many production numbers that I was more concerned about actually getting the show finished and on its feet, but this year since we have a smaller cast and the dancing is more divided among the different characters, I have the luxury of being concerned about the execution of the choreography. It also helps that we generally have an older cast this year. The kids are able to pay more attention to detail and physicalize more complicated movements. I have also enjoyed this creative process as a choreographer more than last year because of the above reasons as well as the fact that I have a greater knowledge of the dance styles of this era than I did of those of Oliver!

the staff enjoying coffee at Don Juan's!

Enough about the show--today the majority of the staff had a great bonding day! We got up this morning and met up to go down to Don Juan Coffee Tour, Dario's uncle's company that he works for. His family owns a local coffee plantation and Dario works as a tour guide there. Last year he took Katherine and me on an informal tour with just the three of us, but today he took Vanessa, Michelle, Scott, Fabian, Sophia, Scott, and I along with four other tourists we didn't know on a real tour. It was so much fun! It's always interesting seeing your friends in different roles. I had never met Tour Guide Dario before. He's quite witty, charming, and unexpectedly knowledgeable about the coffee industry. The tour lasted about an hour and a half and then we spent about an hour hanging out at the cafe there drinking coffee and eating arroz con leche. After the tour, all of us except Dario (he had to keep working) went out to lunch and had some staff bonding time. It's really nice to take the day off and spend it with your co-workers in a more relaxed environment. Overall today has been a great day, and we still have a Cabaret rehearsal in our futures to put the cherry on top!

Keep following!

Love,
Erin