Rent Rehearsal

Last night, I had the chance to watch a rehearsal of Act One of RENT at the Yucca Theatre. The cast has just moved into the space, and they were working with director Carl Moore to adjust to the set and spacing at the Yucca Theatre after rehearsing the show for four weeks in the basement of the Cole Theatre. Despite the challenges of the adapting to the new space, you could sense the excitement and drive within the talented cast. They have been working hard to create their characters and learn the songs, and the work is paying off with good performances even though we're still 10 days out from opening night. This is a very youth cast, and they have been working hard to put on a great show. Tonight, they will run Act Two, repeat the process on Wednesday and Thursday night and then run thrus of the whole show through opening. Tech rehearsals will start this weekend - adding lighting, sound and props - and then dress rehearsal on Monday night. I will be back in on Monday to check in on the show and watch the dress rehearsal, and update you again next week in the blog.

RENT will be performed at the Yucca Theatre on April 24, 25 and May 1, 2 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available through the MCT Box Office at 570-4111 or by visiting the MCT website - www.mctmidland.org. If you're on the MCT mailing list, you will be getting a Cue Card this week in the mail.

I will not have another update this week - I am departing for the Region II AACTFest in Baltimore on Thursday morning to serve as the AACT rep and I will not be back until late on Sunday night. As the AACT rep, I am the "referee" for any problems with the festival. I will run all tech meetings with the performing companies, and settle any disputes. Prior to the festival, I have already been dealing with e-mails regarding companies complaining about the performance schedule and questions about changing set pieces based on adjudicators comments at the state level. It should be a fun weekend!