We were up early this morning, anticipating our first tech, run-through and performance. It was all going smoothly, from the moment we walked through the stage entrance (early, of course) and found that the Cerritos hospitality staff know how to make guests happy. For Shidara, it was a simple, but perfect breakfast of scrambled eggs and white toast.
There's been a very relaxed feel to the start of this tour, unlike the desperate hours before their first concert in the 2006 tour. But sometimes being relaxed isn't exactly the best way to be. At about two o'clock, we were informed, by a similarly surprised and unhappy stage manager Jeff (although he was exasperated and resigned, while we were more alarmed and dismayed), that there was to be a reality TV show video shoot in the concert hall at 6:30pm. Apparently, someone in the uber-offices of the city felt it would be good marketing and public relations to allow "Wife Swap" to come in for a half hour and film their contestants sitting and clapping, walking into and out of the theater, etc. The camera would not be aimed at the stage, Jeff assured us, but we would have to be silent during the shoot, which might last a half hour, which might start at 6:30pm, or they might come in later....
On their Japan tours, there are simply no surprises like this. It's one of those strength/weakness things—the ability to make quick adaptations—and we United States dwellers are (relatively) sort of expect the unexpected. We kind of like it. However, laid back often looks a lot like indifferent. I learned that much of this tour will be swimming back and forth between the cultures. All in all, It was pretty stressful for Shidara, and for those of us who had to mediate the situation.
In the afternoon things turned that flavor of grim that only comes as one is staring at a non-negotiable drop deadline, knowing there simply is not enough time. And yet, they determinedly walk through each detail where lesser groups would compromise or cut corners. At 5PM, they begin a run-through of the second half..., only. They won't have time to run the entire show. The backstage crew is worried, the house manager is telling us they must end at 6PM, it's a union house. 6:30PM is the absolute latest, and then he'll have to yank his crew or get in trouble. Maybe there won't be time to mop the stage....
The people come. The show starts. When I take my place backstage, I remember why we're here. Watching them is like watching something so imperfectly perfect it could only have arisen from nature itself. Yet, more marvelous when you fathom how hard humans must work to even begin to emulate the casual perfection of nature.
I anchor backstage, feeling that with Kristy in the lobby at merchandise, Sarah at the sound board mid-hall, and me standing in the wings, the staff created a spine of support for every aspect of the event. Chabo-san, when she was not performing, watchees the monitor and uses the headset to send messages to the sound and light board. She watches her performers on screen as would a coach in sports, silently acknowledging a strong moment with a small nod or a hand gesture, ("yes!"), grimacing a little if something goes wrong. At one point, as Aya-san does a funny little twirl to the yoko-uchi okedo during Kazanomichi, Chabo whips around and hads to bend over, she's cracking up so hard, trying not to laugh out loud, her hand over her mouth. In Niebuchi, she sent signals to the players, to raise their energy, to have them change their facial expression and mood, and give more... more... a little more, and yes!
PHOTOS
5,414 lbs of drum shipped from Japan, plus the Sacramento hira and stand is our load.
Shiidara members waste no time in unpacking the shipment and preparing to tech.
Shime tightening is just the start of 8-hr or more of intense preparation for a performance that same night.
Backstage at Cerritos as our first tech day arrives.
Shidara's opening number, Murasamenone, from the wings
No comments:
Post a Comment