Tech Week

Tech week for The Little Mermaid was by far the most interesting I have ever experienced. Especially when my mom and I were hustling to make the Little Mermaid cake during tech week (which was a CRAZY idea).
Monday: No drama, because it was Memorial Day. Instead, we had a bunch of Lifelight families out at our place, and it was so much fun. Afterwards we packed a bunch of stuff for tech week.
Tuesday: Call time was at 10:30 am for set crew and backstage people, and we left at about 8:30-9. My sis and I went to Grandma's to drop of our stuff, and then we went to Westminster Christian Academy to meet up with everyone else. I helped set some stuff up and folded a LOT of programs. Then I set up my stuff at my seat in the dressing room. It was much better than the greenroom at the previous theaters--now only 1-2 people shared a mirror. My partner set her stuff up by the sinks, so I had our space almost all to myself, and I got to hang out with my friends! Tuesday evening we had the first technical run-through, where they programmed all the sound and light cues.
Wednesday: My mom and I started baking the cakes and put them in the freezer. Call time was 3:30, and at 4 we started another tech rehearsal. The computer had malfunctioned and all the audio and mic cues they had programmed Tuesday were lost, so we had to do it all again.
Thursday: Opening night! My mom and I worked on more of the cake, and finished the baking part. Call time was 3:30 again, and we had another run-through before the show. But alas, the computer deleted all the cues again, and we had to do the opening show with all the mics live. I was so relieved when everyone cooperated and made minimal noise backstage. Despite the mic malfunctions, and someone dropping their mic in the toilet, it was a very good first show.
Friday: More cake work, and we made lots of icing! Call time 3:30, with possible severe weather warnings. We all prayed backstage for the show because of some potential tornado weather heading our way. We started the show, and had a pretty good-sized audience. In the middle of Act 1, Scene 4, there was an announcement of tornado sirens and the worst part was right in our area. So we stopped the show and all huddled in the dressing rooms, the audience filing out into the halls. The tornado warning kept extending until we had lost an entire hour. At about 9:00, the warning expired and it was safe to resume the show. A few audience members had left because of the warning, but most of the audience stayed to watch the rest of the show. That made us so happy. And everyone backstage was so brave during the whole thing! I'm so proud of our drama group! On our way home, we saw so much tornado damage, and it took longer than usual because some of the highways were shut down.
Saturday: Call time was 10:30 am, and because of the storm damage, we were there a little late. We had a show at 12, another show at 3:30, a brief tech rehearsal for one of the Ariels, and the final (and possibly the best) show at 7:30. Immediately after the show, we started packing up the dressing rooms and striking the set, and then some of us went to load all the sets and props into a storage unit. We got home past midnight, and immediately went to bed.
Sunday: My mom and I got up early and started work on the cake. We had forgotten to set the cakes out to defrost overnight, so we had major problems with condensation on the icing. We got to the cast party later than we had intended to, but we finished the cake and everyone loved it.