hold hold hold hold hold up. check it out.

I can breathe now.


I got to Montana and opened Smokey Joe's Cafe nine days later. Seussical followed three weeks later, having opened yesterday.

We closed Smokey six days ago, Sunday the 1st.

Then followed five days of tech in which I wrote 390 cues.

Three Hundred And Ninety.

I didn't sleep more than ten hours total in somewhere between three and four days.

Mixed in there was a lot of worry and anxiety about this splitter box that I had to build to get power to our rental dimmers, as we didn't have money to rent a distro.

Yeah, that one's a long story.

But anyway, my dear friend and master electrician for life, Katwhy (K-?), guided me in the process of buying the proper cable and materials and then building a safe three-way splitter box for 4/0 feeder cable...and then also guided me in the process of tying in, a task that I understood completely but had never done and was a bit frightened for my life and the lives of the rental dimmers.

So this week has been really crazy, but this is probably one of the best designs I've ever done, and I'm so excited for my day off on Monday. A chance to breathe and prepare for Once Upon a Mattress and later Jesus Christ Superstar which I'm really looking forward to.

Oh, and Smokey looked pretty good, too. That one was a challenge because of fixture/dimmer limitations. Seussical was a challenge because of the time crunch. Mattress should be basically a breather for me, and then Superstar will probably be a huge artistic challenge for me, though I think I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to do.

The word I think we're all looking for is "rockstar?"

Yeah. That's it.

By the way, have you seen that iPod commerical with the song "Shut Up and Let Me Go?" It's by a group called The Ting Tings, and their full album is on iTunes now and it's really good.

One more thing: the associate artistic director here was reading one of Scott Miller's books for research on Superstar. I felt so cool being like "oh, hey, I just designed for him."

That's all. I've got to go push a button 390 times during a two hour period.

smoore

PS: I made this for you:

montana, my special dream

Christ on a bike, someone fast forward two weeks for me.

KISS has been fun. KISS hasn't been fun.

It's an interesting process, working on this show. It's hard to motivate a cast and crew whose consistent thought about the show is "oh, well it's just a Monkey show." (No, not everyone.)

So there's been some non-concentration, some non-focusing, some non-work, some dis-organization. And probably a lot of the latter has to be my fault, so I won't blame or complain too much, but this has been an intensely frustrating tech.

And a lot of THAT in particular has to do with having only had one full-staff production meeting, and having rather dubious communication skills between the production team members. And also working at the RAC is frustrating on all levels.

Though I should mention that Rob Levy, our RAC contact, is incredibly helpful and excited about having shows there. In fact, management isn't the problem at all (as opposed to previous production). It's just that, you know...it's an art studio. It's a tiny space. Lighting inventory is reliclike (that's the adjectival form of relic. I'm not a fan, but I had already committed to the word "relic" there) and 50% nonfunctional (without the means to fix them). And it's really unhelpful when you're working on a show with twenty-some locations and have only a two-scene preset and sixteen dimmers to work with.

I mean fourteen. One's always on, one's dead.

Welcome to repatch world.

So. Rather unprofessional and trivial complaining aside (steam fully blown off), please come see the show!

Good things: hilarious, as always with Monkey shows; KISS costumes/makeup; spinning upstage flats

Great things: Jim Ousley's Starchild face; Aaron Orion Baker touches Rory Flynn and Roger Erb inappropriately; costume contest at 10:30p shows

Fucking Awesome things: MOTHERFUCKER KISS BATTLES EVIL ROBOT KISS JESUS CHRIST

...

...

...

Anyway. Come see this one. April 25/26, May 2/3, 8p and 10:30p all days. RAC in the Delmar Loop.

And then I get to leave for Montana, which promises to be the best summer job I've ever had. Specifically because I finally get to work with my girlfriend, my best friend, and a few other very cool kids. Specifically, I get to share the light/sound office with one of the coolest kids I know. Rock.

smoore

gotta move, come on, step up, jump around, step in, get up.

So many posters!

Ok, so I've been to see Assassins thrice. I just want to say that although, as with any artistic creation that the artist returns to after it's complete, I've found things to be not-totally-happy with in my design, I still think it looks good. Front light issues are my primary concern. I kept straight front light out of the picture for the most part, because that particular position renders a much flatter angle than I'd prefer, which means that in order to get facelight on the downstage edge, I have to deal with an exorbitant amount of bleed upstage. So I kind of only used it when I needed straight frontlight EVERYWHERE.

Yeah, maybe I regret that. Not horribly so, but maybe I should have sacrificed 'the look' at times for facelight? Sometimes a cue is just a cue. Whatever, it's not bad.

Oh, and I probably could have chosen better colors for a couple of my systems. There are some minor cases of jaundice that seem to have popped up in a few of the cast members. Hrm...

Anyway. Just a couple little things I need to keep in mind for next time. This has actually been the first musical I've ever designed. After this summer, I'm sure I'll have had many other issues pop up on top of finding solutions for the problems I've found with this design.



And now after a three week interlude between productions (wow), I start rehearsals for Magic Smoking Monkey's KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, the last commitment I have in St. Louis before spending the first second week of May back up at school to help out on a student project and then leaving for Montana through the end of August.

It's going to be altogether different, this design, from anything I've done before. Well, except this:




Actually, considering the size of the space, the scenic set-up, and the inventory I'll have, I might have a hell of a time making it NOT look just like that.

Or maybe not. I mean, this IS a show based on four GODS OF ROCK, rather than musical theater slash the indie music scene.

Anyway, news to come on that one. Like I said, we start on Monday. Performances come pretty quickly, opening in a month on April 25th.

Come friggin' rock out.

dftba,
smoore

magic picture box

Allright.

I got my favorite shots uploaded to my wobsite.

I also finally put up shots from the show I did in November, Veil of Silence.

Go HERE!

Woot.

dftba,
smoore

spread the word

My brother took some great portfolio shots for me last night during Final Dress.

Visit his wobsite! (davemoorephotography.com)

And his photo blag! (Picture-a-Day)

Why I say wobsite and blag! (It's XKCD's fault)

Anyway, I was having issues uploading some of them, so instead I just made a video with all the good shots. Here it is:



So. Preview performance tonight. Sweet.

I'm taking the evening off and will be back on Friday. Last night the show was pretty much spot on, and I'd like to congratulate everyone and I mean absolutely everyone on a really great production.

It's amazing how I still laugh at lines like "He didn't come here to get shot" and still get chills at moments like...well, you know the one.

And now...well, I guess I'll turn my thoughts to KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.

I've got a couple more things I intend to post that are Assassins related, though.

Oh, and remember that commenting is cool. You can do it without any sort of account by commenting "anonymously" and then just signing your name. Also remember that subscribing to my YouTube channel is cool.

Rock. That's it.

smoore

it took a little finger no time to

Found the rest.

Re: previous post, & care of Dan Connors:

Salad of Czolgosz

The Ones Who Can't Get into the Ballpark Hot Dogs

Mayor Anton Cermack of Chicago-Style Pizza

Because My Belly Was on-a Fire-Grilled Chicken

for dessert, how about a Bubbalo Bill?

when people enter, you can tell them to find a lap and go sit on it.
of course, the kids' meals won't contain prizes. they'll have to ask.
that's all i got so far

Done now.

smoore

i'll remember it forever

I wrote this in my personal blog my freshmen year at Millikin.

January 6, 2004

...

mom said something about me needing to open up a broadway themed restaraunt, and then i mentioned something about the assassins section of the restaraunt. the following joke is credited to dave:

"good evening, sir, would you like a table or a john wilkes booth?"

HA! come on, it's funny! we could also serve the following exquisite dishes: (if you're familiar with the show...umm...dan...be prepared to roll your eyes and groan)

Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo-Wings
'Fucking Hot' Hamburgers
Chicken A-Long-as-its-King
The "Ambassador to France" Soup du jour
Submarina-Nikolavna Sandwiches

and let's see...anytime anyone ordered a beer, all the waiters would come over to that table and yell "this bud's for you, babe! bravo! yay! etc etc." all food would be served with a speech similar to "you know, it took a lot of men to make this food...hundreds." and, of course, all meals are all-you-can-eat for $8. only eight bucks--cheap, for 'anything you want.'

My best-friend-and-also-obsessive-Assassins-fan came up with a lot more. I need to see if he remembers them.

That's all. Thought I'd share.

smoore