Rudolph Has Left The Building...
...and he took all his set pieces with him!
This weekend was the closing weekend of "Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer" at the Bailiwick. It was sort of sad to see it end, but also a great relief, as I mentioned in my last entry. It was a crazy, precarious holiday season, but everything worked out OK. (I think I've officially used up all my good karma now--I'll have to work overtime to earn some more for this year!)
I did bring the suit home and it's hanging in my closet now, shedding a false flower smell to all my sheets from the Febreeze.
Since I had my camera with me on closing night, I snapped a few backstage photos just for YOU...
On the left, the brilliant Elizabeth Lesinski (Mrs. Claus) and on the right, Lori Lee (Yukon Cornelia). Lori brought the house down with her entrance just about every night. (Whipping a stuffed hand puppet and yelling "Muuuuush! Muuuuuush!")
Steve Lehman (Mr. Donner, Rudolph's father) enjoys a quick, healthful, crunchy snack to perk him up before going onstage.
Steve also played King Moonracer, the leader of the Island of Misfit Toys. The Tina Turner wig was a nice addition this year. Last year, he had a whole lion's head made of plushy acrylic and foam, AND the crown perched on top of that. This was much faster and more efficient--plus it gave him a cool new look, like King Moonracer meets Bon Jovi or something.
From left--Corey Mills as Rudolph, Steve Lehman as Mr. Donner, Ed Jones as Connie Vixen (one of two roles he played) and Annie Gloyn as Clarice, Rudolph's punk-rock-wannabe girlfriend.
Mike Miller played Coach Comet (pedophile and father of Rudolph's love interest Clarice) and the square-wheeled choo-choo train on the Island of Misfit Toys. Some people just WON'T cooperate when you ask them to smile!
Ed Jones as the Abominable Drag Beast. Besides playing Connie Vixen, he's also Carol Ann, our keyboardist for The Joans. Busy, busy...and in the spring, you can see him playing an actual man in Hell in a Handbag's production of Charles Busch's "Die Mommie Die!" He'll be getting something shoved up his ass, if that's any incentive to come and see the show...
Robert Bouwman of Corn Productions as Sam the Snowman. I first saw him three years ago when Corn mounted "The Bad Seed" and our own David Cerda/Davy Joans played Miss Fern. I was blown away by Robert, who played Rhoda and Todd Schaner, who played Mrs. Penmark. I'd never worked with them before though, so this production was especially fun for me. Robert was LOTS of fun to work with and is a very generous spirit. He throws a hell of a party, too! I took this picture near the dressing room door next to the black curtain, so that's why the background is so dark. Very dramatic, though, don't you think?
Dan Hickey (R.) as Herbie the "not-gay-enough elf" gets a tonsil examination from the made-over Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Lesinksi). You just can't trust some people, can you? Hmmph!
After the show Sunday night, we took the set down and painted the stage walls, stairs and floor, packed up the costumes and loaded the lot into the rented van to take to the storage space in Andersonville. The whole process took about two hours-not bad, really.
HOWEVER, when we GOT to the storage space, we discovered that we do NOT have 24-hour access to our unit. And it was after business hours. So David had to keep the van an extra day and he and Ed and I came back Monday morning at 10:00 to unload the props/costumes into the shed. As I stepped past the cart, piled high with the Christmastown trees made of paneling, I stumbled and stepped on the side of one, taking a large chunk off. During the unloading process, we discovered that the paneling trees are quite brittle. But we saved what we could and kept all of the lumber, so perhaps that can be used again...
We got all the stuff loaded into the stall in under an hour, then it was on to run some last-minute errands and back home to do some last minute packing and hit the road for Three Oaks, Michigan, where The Joans spent a fun-filled New Years Eve.
Pictures of that tomorrow!
This weekend was the closing weekend of "Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer" at the Bailiwick. It was sort of sad to see it end, but also a great relief, as I mentioned in my last entry. It was a crazy, precarious holiday season, but everything worked out OK. (I think I've officially used up all my good karma now--I'll have to work overtime to earn some more for this year!)
I did bring the suit home and it's hanging in my closet now, shedding a false flower smell to all my sheets from the Febreeze.
Since I had my camera with me on closing night, I snapped a few backstage photos just for YOU...
On the left, the brilliant Elizabeth Lesinski (Mrs. Claus) and on the right, Lori Lee (Yukon Cornelia). Lori brought the house down with her entrance just about every night. (Whipping a stuffed hand puppet and yelling "Muuuuush! Muuuuuush!")
Steve Lehman (Mr. Donner, Rudolph's father) enjoys a quick, healthful, crunchy snack to perk him up before going onstage.
Steve also played King Moonracer, the leader of the Island of Misfit Toys. The Tina Turner wig was a nice addition this year. Last year, he had a whole lion's head made of plushy acrylic and foam, AND the crown perched on top of that. This was much faster and more efficient--plus it gave him a cool new look, like King Moonracer meets Bon Jovi or something.
From left--Corey Mills as Rudolph, Steve Lehman as Mr. Donner, Ed Jones as Connie Vixen (one of two roles he played) and Annie Gloyn as Clarice, Rudolph's punk-rock-wannabe girlfriend.
Mike Miller played Coach Comet (pedophile and father of Rudolph's love interest Clarice) and the square-wheeled choo-choo train on the Island of Misfit Toys. Some people just WON'T cooperate when you ask them to smile!
Ed Jones as the Abominable Drag Beast. Besides playing Connie Vixen, he's also Carol Ann, our keyboardist for The Joans. Busy, busy...and in the spring, you can see him playing an actual man in Hell in a Handbag's production of Charles Busch's "Die Mommie Die!" He'll be getting something shoved up his ass, if that's any incentive to come and see the show...
Robert Bouwman of Corn Productions as Sam the Snowman. I first saw him three years ago when Corn mounted "The Bad Seed" and our own David Cerda/Davy Joans played Miss Fern. I was blown away by Robert, who played Rhoda and Todd Schaner, who played Mrs. Penmark. I'd never worked with them before though, so this production was especially fun for me. Robert was LOTS of fun to work with and is a very generous spirit. He throws a hell of a party, too! I took this picture near the dressing room door next to the black curtain, so that's why the background is so dark. Very dramatic, though, don't you think?
Dan Hickey (R.) as Herbie the "not-gay-enough elf" gets a tonsil examination from the made-over Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Lesinksi). You just can't trust some people, can you? Hmmph!
After the show Sunday night, we took the set down and painted the stage walls, stairs and floor, packed up the costumes and loaded the lot into the rented van to take to the storage space in Andersonville. The whole process took about two hours-not bad, really.
HOWEVER, when we GOT to the storage space, we discovered that we do NOT have 24-hour access to our unit. And it was after business hours. So David had to keep the van an extra day and he and Ed and I came back Monday morning at 10:00 to unload the props/costumes into the shed. As I stepped past the cart, piled high with the Christmastown trees made of paneling, I stumbled and stepped on the side of one, taking a large chunk off. During the unloading process, we discovered that the paneling trees are quite brittle. But we saved what we could and kept all of the lumber, so perhaps that can be used again...
We got all the stuff loaded into the stall in under an hour, then it was on to run some last-minute errands and back home to do some last minute packing and hit the road for Three Oaks, Michigan, where The Joans spent a fun-filled New Years Eve.
Pictures of that tomorrow!
posted by Aaron at 2:14 PM
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