Thursday, February 11, 2010

Oh My God - This is Happening! By Jason Kappus

by Jason Kappus, Legally Blonde The Musical (Ensemble)
The First Week on Tour- Tucson, AZ

I left on a rare sunny Seattle Tuesday morning, and headed for an overcast drizzly Tucson, Arizona - how's that for ironic? I had the luxury of only packing for six days to start because the second week of my contract was a layoff week: back home - yay!

I got there just in time for the weekly company meeting (first day in each new city) where they go over any specificities of the theatre, hotels, and the city. The theatres vary greatly in size and space week to week, so sometimes there are backstage traffic changes or even some cut set pieces in very small spaces.

Also, at this particular meeting, I was a point of order as they officially introduced me to everyone ("Jason, meet 75 people - Go!"). Stage management made sure to connect me with Nick, who I was to replace. He was very welcoming and gracious, insisting I let him know if I had any questions or needed anything.

After that, we also do a sound check before the first show in each city, so I got to watch and listen to that. They do almost half of the music in the show while they try to nail down the mix in the new space.

Then, I got my comp ticket (front and center) to that night's show, found my seat, and had my first second to stop and think about where I was and what I was doing.

Midway through the first number of the show, the girls sing "Oh my God, this is happening..." and I said to myself "Yeah it is."

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