Me & The Cast and some Crew of Marrying up/Reflections

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So, now that opening weekend is over, folks keep asking me if I was
happy with what I got. My answer is an unequivocal, yes. Actually,
I had no idea what to expect. I just tried to do each step to the
best of my ability and hoped it would add up to good. And what
exactly was each step? A whole lot. Writing the dern thing was only
the beginning. Being the Executive Producer meant that every little
detail rolled up to me. I mean everything, beginning with raising
the cash to making the show happen. Travel details-someone had to
make sure that each member of the cast and crew go to where they were
supposed to be, reasonably happy, safely and on time. Set building
had to happen on time and be functioning. There had to be a tech
rehearsal for the people who would operate the set and rehearsals for
the cast. Building had to be secured along with security. Wardrobe
had to be available. I'll tell you what, there were a lot of costume
changes. I'll have that in mind next time. My character alone wore
no less than five pairs of shoes in the two hour production. There
needed to be appropriate props for everyone, in the right place at
the right time. Program booklets had to be designed and printed, CD
inserts designed, printed and CD's pressed, T-Shirts for the crew and
for sale had to be designed, printed and paid for. Sound and
lighting had to be taken care of. Oh, and folks had to be fed.
All kinds of unanticipated things had to be fielded. I had to deal
with unpreparedness, attitudes (both good and bad), delays, city
permits, dusty spaces, funky travel schedules, excuses and bed bugs.
Or at least some of the actors did.
At some point, things just started happening by themselves. It was
like the show took over and I could have been screaming stop, but
that just wasn't going to happen. It literally felt like a tornado
had lifted it off my shoulders. My crew of many took it and ran. Not
just the actors, but the makeup artists, set dressers, ushers,
assistant director, stage manager, music director, lighting, camera-
folk, concession people...just a whole lot, probably the bigger crew
I ever supervised outside of my military days.
I sat in the silence in between the first show and took it all in.
This was a biiiig job, but all the pieces just came together like
magic. I'd done what I could do, delegated the rest, anything I
couldn't handle I just handed to the universe and the result was
wonderful. I even enjoyed my family bringing me the same bunch of
flowers at the end of every show. So, would I do it again?
Absolutely. I'm working on that now.

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