Remsen Welsh, a home-schooled 8th grader, plays the role of Rebecca Gibbs in the revival of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town opening this week at Long Wharf Theatre. She is keeping a diary of the experience this installment is from “tech day,” the first day the actors move into the theater to check out the lighting, set, sound cues, and costumes.
The start of tech was filled with excitement … and the knowledge that it was going to be a long day.
Walking into the theater was as if I was finally in Grover’s Corners. Seeing all the mismatched chairs along the wall and kid-drawn houses on the backdrop gave me a thrill to think we’re actually going to be performing in about a week.
We were first led through the normal protocol of being in the theater (location of fire escapes, doors we can and can’t use, etc.) The vibe in the room was one of excitement; you could feel it throughout the theater, the excitement of finally wearing costumes, the excitement of being on set, the excitement of having lighting, music …
We were at half hour by 12:30 which was when everyone headed back to their dressing rooms. All the children were led backstage; our dressing room is located behind the stage, unlike that of the other performers’ dressing rooms, which are by the side of the theater.
Seeing all of our costumes set out put a smile on my face. My gingham dress was hung neatly. The dress is referenced in the first act, when Mrs. Gibbs says, “I washed and ironed the blue gingham for you special.” Indeed, it looked as though it had been washed and ironed specially for me.
We each took our turn in the dressing room getting dressed. When we had all finished, Hope (the production stage manager), announced, “Fifteen minutes till we start teching from top of show.”
We all got set to our places and waited. When we got the standby call from Amy, we lined up by the door. Eyes trained on the cue light we all waited for when the little green bulb would go out.
Finally, we all filed out onto the vast stage. For the first time everybody was in their costumes. We all stared smiling at each other and the costumes. From the stage I could just make out [director] Gordon [Edelstein] in the house grinning. “You all look BEAUTIFUL!” he exclaimed. We all laughed. Then Hope informed us that a photographer from the Hartford Courant was here to get a picture of the whole cast to publish in the newspaper.
After we finished modeling for the photographer we commenced tech. It was a very long, but fulfilling day. Many “HOLD!”s were called out to adjust the lighting or sound or costumes. When we finally finished for the day, I felt ready to crawl into my bed.
Previous diary installment:
A well-schooled home-schooler, it seems