Tech Week

The team figuring out a scene change

From Wikipedia: Technical week (also called tech week or production week) refers to the week prior to the opening night of a play, musical or similar production in which all of the technical elements (such as costumes, lights, sound, and makeup) are present during rehearsal for the first time.

Prior to this point, the actors may have been rehearsing in a separate rehearsal hall, or on the stage but without all technical elements present. At this point in the rehearsal process, it is expected that the creative aspects of the production are ready. Actors have their lines memorized; lights, sound, scenery, and costumes have been designed and completely constructed. If the production is a musical, then the orchestra has rehearsed the music completely, and any dancers are prepared with their choreography memorized. During technical week all of the various technical elements are fully implemented, making the rehearsals very similar to the actual performance.

The purpose of tech week is to rehearse the show with all technical elements in place. This allows the actors to become familiar with the set and costumes, the technical production crew to iron out unforeseen problems, and the director to see how everything comes together as an artistic whole. Tech week is when practical problems with the implementation of production elements are discovered. For example, an actor may report that their costume restricts their movement or that a hand prop is overly cumbersome. A set door that performed fine the week before may bang shut too loudly now that there are live microphones on the stage.

Rehearsals during technical week generally start just after lunch and often run until midnight or later. The first few rehearsals are characterized by the frequent stopping and starting of scenes so that the technical crew can practice their necessary duties (such as executing their cues or scene changes correctly). That the director will make major changes to various artistic elements during technical week is the rule, rather than the exception. Everything that goes wrong during a rehearsal is expected to be fixed by the next day.
 
The repetition and the long hours make tech week tiring (and sometimes tedious) for the actors. For the technicians, it is the most hectic part of a show's run, as they are forced to do a massive amount of work getting timings and cues correct, often without having seen the scenes in their entirety. Tech week is a very stressful time for all involved in a production. As the week wears on, sleep deprivation increases and tempers often wear thin.

Once the show is running smoothly, the last one or two rehearsals of technical week are often dress
rehearsals open to the public in which the play is performed completely, sometimes with the audience purchasing discounted tickets.

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This is one of the most exciting stages of creating a piece of theatre: watching everyone's weeks and months of hard work come together over a week of twelve to fifteen hour days to create the three hour musical you see when you come to the theatre!

The crew and stage management team will show up around 8am (if not earlier) to set up all of the props, furniture and set pieces they have already collected from the property designer the night before-- the crew has already been building the set for over three days. Usually they create a stage right and stage left prop table, complete with labels detailing every single prop and it's location. Buuuuuut our Hello Again set is more than simply setting up the already established theatre space! In this production tech week becomes even more complicated because the staging is site-specific (most simply defined as "a performance which exists in a particular place." However, there remains a widespread debate about any more precise a definition. Some argue that any performance which takes place outside a theatre can be labeled site-specific. Other more rigorous practitioners argue that the title can only be applied to a production which has been developed in, developed from, and performed in, a specific place). As a result, there are a watershed of further complications to contend with. 

Around the same time, the Wardrobe department bring in and prepare the costumes, they label and deliver each costume to the designated actor dressing rooms. They prepare to iron, sew and alter and discard as needed throughout the day. Costumes often change drastically throughout the technical process because lights, distance, mood, coloring often affect the visual results one cannot grasp out of context.

The lighting team has set up their lighting board and has begun to assess the set and what lights are available, and they begin work immediately. In this particular production, there was a real challenge with lighting because there is no traditional theatrical lighting per se-- it is entirely lit with ambient lights such as lamps, light bulbs and even lighting from the street itself.

the sound team

The sound team are setting up the sound board, testing and setting up the sound design-- which, again, in this production is extra challenging because it is almost entirely acoustic (meaning: sound devoid of electronic amplification.) We have some amplification, but not much. And while it is not rare for straight theatre to be presented without amplification, it is rare for a musical because the actors have to sing over a band/orchestra.

And speaking of the orchestra, the very first step in a musical tech is the Sitzprobe (meaning: is a German term used in opera and musical theatre to describe a seated rehearsal where the singers sing with the orchestra, focusing attention on integrating the two groups [literally, sitting and probing the music]. It is often the first rehearsal where the orchestra and singers rehearse together. The equivalent Italian term is prova all'italiana.)

The cast then begin to orient themselves with "the space" (as we call it), getting a feel for the grandeur of the room, the sound, the distances that are different from the rehearsal space. After dinner, the cast get in to costume, make up, and hair, and get ready to begin from the top of the show.

We then take the show, moment by moment, detailing every single technical aspect until it is just right, only moving on when we are all happy with it. There is tremendous pressure to do it quickly, because it is always important to remember that the first preview is Friday evening. Yikes! 

And in our case, the living composer, Michael John LaChiusa will be a part of the previewing process, and that of course adds a pressure and excitement of its own!


Jack Cummings III, director, on working with the composer:

Jack Cummings III

"Having any author present for your first run-through in the space is always a bit nerve wracking to say the least.  As a director, you have your own anxiety but then you also start to take on the actors' anxieties as well which can put one's stomach on overload.  But Michael John is very attuned to fellow artists and is ultimately generous and supportive.  The great thing is he always has clear specific notes and so, in the end, multiple anxieties included, I love it when he's in the room. "

There are multiple concerns in a musical: can you move and dance safely on the floor? Is it too slippery? too tacky? uneven? can we hear the orchestra? can they hear us? can we hear ourselves? Can we see in the dark? Can we make that quick change? Can we get to the other side of the stage in time to make our entrance? Will this hairstyle withstand rigorous fake sex? Can I breathe and sing and dance properly in this corset? Where should I exit? Who is the best person to set the props in this scene? Do the costumes look right in this lighting state? How will we handle this quick costume change?

Krista Williams, The Transport Group's in-house Dramaturg on tech week:

"A certain amount of insanity defines the week before any production opens, and site specific  productions bring their own host of challenges, the space is just beginning to reveal all the ways in which it will and will not cooperate with you! And as we hit a seeming endless number of ceilings: budget, hours in a day, space restrictions, total exhaustion as rehearsals continue into the next day... I think what's amazing about this creative team and staff is how fundamentally unshaken they are by the chaos. The cast, the designers, and Jack [Cummings III--director], Chris [Fenwick--musical director] and Scott [Rink-- choreographer] all continue to offer creative and insightful solutions to the myriad of issues that arise continuing to be functional and even inspired hours after the Starbucks on the block closes down for the night. I think everyone is energized by their love of the music and the story and by a cast that is just disgustingly talented. And I think there is a fearless simplicity to [this] approach to staging that comes primarily from a trust of the extraordinary performers and material — no one is ever trying to distract you from bad acting or weak storytelling because there isn't any!  The design is so brave, and the space so alive, and the performers so courageous, that you can't even check the time at 1:30 am at end of a loooooonnngggg rehearsal day because you don't want to look away even for a second."

The theatre is a tremendously complicated thing, but it is a series of delectable and sometimes maddening problems to solve, all in the name of art. It is always fascinating to think about what has gone in to creating the finished product on the stage that you see when you walk in ready to enjoy it. 

And we certainly hope you do! See you in "the space" very soon...

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"The drama is not dead but liveth, and contains the germs of better things."

 --William Archer, About the Theatre

what happens when you tech very very late into the night...