My Last Silent Muse Show

[realexplodingcat]

Last Saturday, I played my final show with Silent Muse for the foreseeable future. I had a fantastic time. The on-stage sound was great. I was confident and comfortable with what I was playing. I got to sing a little bit. We played with Bella Morte, a great bunch of guys, who put on a good show (with a bonus appearance of Lauren Hoffman doing guest vocals). I got to see Synthetic Division play one song! Fate has thwarted any chance for me to see his show for years and this time was no different. I had a holiday party scheduled elsewhere the same night, which I attended in between sound check and the Silent Muse performance. I returned in time to hear the last Synthetic Division song, but I don't know if that counts. Overall, a great time.

That was just how I wanted to end things. I would rather it be hard to walk away from something, rather than easy. Many thanks to solieri and nothingoth for the opportunity to rock out with them on stage these past 2.5 years. One way or another, I doubt last Saturday will be the final time we share a stage. However, for now, I'm not ready to settle down. I feel like my exploration of live music performance has only begun and I have so little time to do it. I have to choose carefully. So, as everyone probably knows by now, Hedwig is calling.

We are two weeks into rehearsal for Hedwig and the Angry Inch. We this week off, which hopefully won't hurt us in the long run. We haven't learned all the songs yet. We probably can't afford to take a break, but it's welcome nonetheless. After the new year, we'll be doing a solid 4 nights a week of rehearsal, every week until the show starts in February. I feel confident about myself. I think the rest of the band will come together well, especially since they already practice regularly together outside of rehearsal anyway. The Hedwig role intimidates me though, and I'm not even playing the part. Our Hedwig has A LOT of monologue to remember on top of learning the songs on top of doing it all in character. Also, I hope the theater knows what it got itself into technically. So far, we're just rehearsing without a house PA system and without a full drum kit. When I brought up the subject of what I would be plugging into (since one of my keyboards doesn't have a built-in amp and the other one only has a built-in amp that will probably explode if I try to play it loud enough to be heard above real drums) the answer was more or less, "That's a good question..." I'm sure it will come together, but I'm just impatient to be rehearsing in a dedicated space with all the elements in place.

Comments

pester them!!!

[(Anonymous)]

It is my experience that people in volunteer performance situations almost always wait to secure necessary equipment, and there is often a mad scramble at the last second to put together something that is passable at best and non-functioning at worst. Obviously I have no idea who else is working on the production so this isn't a personal judgment against him/her/them, but I wanted to encourage you to remind the producer/director early and often that you need a real PA and a kit the sooner the better. They should at least have a guarantee (from whomever is supplying/donating the gear) that they will be getting specific equipment by a certain date. Just my $0.02.- Sarah

Re: pester them!!!

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I'll do what I can do. There are layers of people in between me and getting results. There are production meetings in which the cast doesn't take part (I'm not sure if that's by design or because they assume we don't want to). I bugged the director. He says he needs to bug someone else at these production meetings. Someone with the tight purse-strings.

We're going to have to get results sooner rather later, I hope. Our drummer can't perform on a single snare, a cardboard box, and a small folding metal table much longer if we want to refine our sound.

[eilonwy.livejournal.com]

It's volunteer theatre. There isn't money or time enough and there never will be. But it will come together and it'll be great. You're right to point out these things, but I don't think you'll need to keep bugging people, not if they know their jobs, and they do.

I can't wait to see you in Hedwig! Hurrah!

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm getting myself a little worked up because after the show with Silent Muse, I remembered how long it took us to get to a point where we actually sounded kinda good. Live rock n roll sound is a tricky business and we only have a month to figure it out. But I'm just a cast member, it's probably other people's jobs to worry about that.

This being my first theater show, I guess I'm also just interested in the whole process. I really don't know what's going on. I've been wondering, isn't Hedwig a very different kind of show? It's a rock concert. Would you approach it the same way as a play from a technical standpoint?

[eilonwy.livejournal.com]

I would approach it much the same way as I would approach a musical-- which is my original theatre experience.

You have valid points, don't get me wrong. And I don't think you shouldn't voice them. (::Checks negatives in that, decides they're okay::)