Being “Indecent” (at Yale!)

A few weeks ago I got a call from Yale, asking me if I could come in and be the A2 for a show they had opening.  Just wrangle the wireless mics, but they didn’t know exactly how many they’d have. Things were still up in the air. Could be 3, could be 18.

Well…

This has turned into quite a production for me. This was supposed to be a little side gig for me, outside of my time at UNH, during the time when NVCC would be quiet and the season wouldn’t have really started yet. Instead, my little side gig is paying me overtime for the time I’m there!  I’m hitting 90+ hour weeks – luckily the two schools are so close and I only have to go up to NVCC once or twice before November.

The play is called “Indecent,” and is the story of the production of “God of Vengeance” by Sholem Asch in 1907. This is the world premier, and after this month’s run it will be moving to La Jolla Playhouse in California, and then on to the Vineyard Theatre in NYC! In all these years, it’s my first play that will be headed to Off Broadway. The cast is amazing – in talent and in spirit, and I’m extremely lucky to be here with them. I have to spend a lot of time in close quarters with all of them, and am the only tech with a workstation actually IN the dressing room. There is a true ensemble here, and it’s wonderful to feel that they have included me in their ranks.

The show is quite demanding. It is being treated as a period piece, and so all of the tech has to be hidden. I’ve been customizing mics for every actor and musical instrument, to be as hidden as possible (12 in all).

As if that weren’t enough, there is a ton of video and automated moving set pieces and rigging through the show. The music is outstanding, and is musically directed by Aaron Halva and Lisa Gutkin (she’s got a Grammy from her work with the Klezmatics, among other titles)…really, everyone’s resume is impressive. Every single one. This has been quite a talent pool. I haven’t stopped being emotionally touched every performance.

Of course, the thing that everyone will be talking about will be the thing that demands my extra attention – every night it will RAIN 500 GALLONS at the end of the show. Yup. It’s impressive (and means doubling up on moisture protection for those actors’ microphones)! The crew here has been very supportive of my role here, and getting me what I need.

But man, I need sleep…

The workflow I’ve developed for this show, aside from having an extremely organized workspace, is my laptop with a separate login on it for this show. My time is limited, running from theatre to theatre, so I do all of my prep at the end of the night, so I when I walk in I only have to pull out my laptop, plug it into the cables I’ve installed, and load up a user profile that automatically brings up notes from the prior show that have been emailed to me, and my digital script which is legible in the dark, containing all of my notes and cues. When my days are this long, working smarter is the only option!

-brian