The following photo's are basically of signs that I've seen when out strolling & exploring my area!
Even though I'm not a fan, Dave Letterman is shutdown @ the mo' due to the writers strike - gets some coverage back in Aus. Just cause it's something funny to do, it'd be great to sit in the audience. Maybe by the time Ric (Lil' Brudda) arrives...?
Haven't quite mastered the Times Square Shuffle yet - hey, I'm a Tech not a dancer...!
Hello once again. It's just ticked over into Christmas Eve here. We've just completed 4 shows in 2 days and we've got both Christmas Eve & Day off - yeah!! We had made plans to go and explore Beaker St tonight where there's supposed to be live music etc. but after the gig both Dan & myself decided we weren't up for it and have gone our seperate ways in the hotel.... The hotel doesn't even have a bar.... I've barely even tried alcohol in the States..... Are we the same two techs who recently completed the UK Tour...?
As I've mentioned in previous posts, I basically arrived in New York 9hrs before I started work. I was pretty foggy in the head when we arrived @ The Joyce at 0800. The rig was all up & coloured - which was great but by 0830 I had crew chomping at the bit to start focussing...! I have NEVER focused that early in the day before & the routine Dan & I had in the UK was, Tim focus from upstage to downstage after lunch!! My brain had to work extra hard as we'd had to adapt our rig or look into their Repretory Rig. Due to the Joyce doing 47 straight weeks of 1 week Dance Seasons all year, they have 1 rig that stays in poition and that's what's there. Saves on bump out & bump in (set-up) time if they don't physically have to keep swapping stuff around.
Therefore, when I had crew wanting to focus @ 0830 my head was a mess! As soon as the first few lights came up & I'd remembered how to interpret my own Joyce Light = Tango Light sheet of paper, it all came flying back. This little section at the back of the brain, that had been trodden down over the last few weeks, pulled itself up, pushed the jet-lag aside & kicked into gear! If I'd actually had to wait until after lunch to focus, I probably would have been a mess! It was a great focus session, we had the lot done in no time at all.
Due to having to adapt my rig to their rig - which wasn't that hard - I had built in a few 'safety nets' (read ass covering) lights to ensure we were covered. In their rig they've basically got 7 overhead bars and most of them are covered with Source 4 profiles that still seem prety new. Not a fresnel in the building with 4 way S4pars Batterns overhead. As we were focusing I realised that a couple of things weren't going to work & the 'Safety Net' Lights came in very handy!! All lights that I'd channelled ended up getting used, just not neccessarily as I'd originally intended!! The main factor was that The Joyce basically has no Flytower, so the LX Bars only go out to (from memory) 23 feet, so getting some shots US without hitting borders etc. was tricky to say the least.
The crew are easily the best I've encountered. Very disciplined & professional but they've all got a wicked sense of humour and as they were used to hard & quick turnarounds, they were kind of surprised when we unloaded 4 red legs & a guaze to hang & that I wasn't being to perdandict that the lights weren't working the way I wanted them too - & that we were relaxed & not walking around like we owned the joint! The show looks a little different due to different angles etc but it's come up a treat. It's the nicest thing to actually have to drop levels down and leave you with somewhere to go if you do need more light rather than having everything @ full & still needing more light! The show is always evolving, partly to keep me sane but also because you find a look due to venue restrictions that actually works etc. Also you start to see new places where there could be another queue or fade of the spots quicker etc.
Now, having been in New York for a week it's proven that Tango is firmly in my blood. As we were doing Opening the music, the cue points & spot plot all came flooding back far easier than I thought it would. It feels as if we basically went from the UK to here, not that that there was 6 weeks in between. It's nice to know that it has all stuck & that some part of my brain has actually stored the info. I had been expecting a far worse set-up - just due to jet-lag and not having done it for 6 weeks but, honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. A great kick off to the US Tour - many more cold & windy adventures to come I'm sure!!
Also, as I have no idea what I'll be doing over the next couple of days, a big Merry Christmas to you & yours this holiday season & a happy & healthy start to 2008. Take care out there & catch you again shortly.
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