My previous post about leadership woes was all truth, but only half of it.
I'm planning to go into business for myself in the future. That's a heckuva lot of leadership I'm looking at, and appropriately, it feels like this year has been baby boss boot camp.
I've learned a ridiculous amount of skills in the past 11 months.
I directed and produced my first ever full-length play. ...In a foreign country. I assembled a team, ran auditions, chose a cast, organized rehearsals, booked a theater, advertised, got the whole play translated and projected as subtitles, painted and decorated our beautiful set, stuck to a budget, and in the end put on a show that I am extremely proud of. Everyone who came had a great time, and were impressed with the production value. I had some amazing people working on this show, and they were my
sanity, along with Adam. Because I also had some occasionally frustrating people working on this show, and they regularly tested my patience and afore-mentioned sanity.
My assistant director Heather was my lifeline. I can't imagine putting it on without her.
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| Opening night! |
There were some members of my cast whose unfailing optimism, positive attitudes and hard work were what kept me smiling in rehearsals. And there were some whose insecurities, wretched line memorization skills, and emotional ups and downs kept me on my toes and taught me there are depths of patience previously unreached to Anna-kind. I also got better (somewhat) at recognizing needs, and encouraging my actors in ways that actually made a difference in their performances.
I got better at not taking it personally. I learned new strategies for responding to emotional crises. Problem-solving skills were taken to new heights. I fell in love with theatre all over again. I fell out of love with it, a little, too. I was eating, sleeping, dreaming Rumors (the play), and yet still handled my work life, planned a killer surprise party for my husband, and didn't completely abandon social life outside of the theater. :)
The best part? I found that I was more than strong enough to handle all the work and frustrations and stress. Finding that strength was exhilarating. Like when you sign up for an advanced class, but you're not sure you'll be able to catch up and get a good grade, and then you ace it in the end. Or you try out for something and you're up against a lot of other talent, but you nail it. That kind of exhilaration, but on a subtle, spread-out way.
I'd do it all again, for sure.
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| One of our early rehearsals |
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Reahearsing, pre-theater
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| Laura as Officer Welch |
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| Rachel as Chris Gorman |
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| Joey as Ernie Cusack and Jess as Claire Ganz |
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| Relja as Lenny Ganz (middle left) and Elizabeth as Cookie Cusack (middle right) |
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| Billie as Ken Gorman |
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| Justin as Glenn Cooper and Susie as Cassie Cooper |
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| Lindsay as Officer Pudney and Anissa, our ever-cheerful swing as Myra Brock/Chris Gorman |
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| Hilarity |
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| construction begins |
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| Our all-around handy-man and Lighting Designer Jonty and our amazing Set Designer and Carpenter, Scott |
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| The lovely sound lady, Kate - she had a ridiculous number of cues and nailed them every night |
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| Working hard.... |
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| ...and hardly working. ^^ |
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| director stuff: texting while painting! |
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| Backstage: Why are you looking at your lines, still?? |
Carpe diem, world!
SQUATS: Done, I'm at 80 already! Woot.
SPLITS: I actually did them today, 1 minute 30 seconds on each leg.
BOOKS: Still reading - finished the first short story in Dubliners, halfway through the second.
