Hi all, Erika here! As the Stage Management Fellow at CATCO I help to take care of all of the things that need to happen before the show starts and run the backstage area during the show. With just a few performances left to go I thought I’d let you in on some of the fun details from life backstage of The Seafarer. (Editor’s Note: O.K, so I posted this later than hoped… The Seafarer just concluded it’s highly successful run. I still thought people might be interested in a glimpse of the backstage world…..)
Stage Manager Cheryl Ruschau, Light Board Operator Benjamin Reemsnyder, Costume Fellow Kelly McBane, and Stage Management Fellow Erika Prizzi on the set
Stage Manager Cheryl Ruschau, Kelly MacBane, and Light Board Operator Benjamin Reemsnyder perform a lighting check
- For all of the drinking that needs to happen onstage each night I mix several concoctions of apple juice, water, food dye and tea for the actors to consume. The cast drinks a total of 2 gallons of liquid in the 2 hour show. As a result I also need to remind the guys to go potty before the show and at intermission
Kelly McBane prepping the beer bottles
- For the poker games played in ACT 2 we use a total of 1151E in fake Euro bills and real Euro coins. About half of the bills need to be replaced every other performance because there are a lot of spills on the table soaking the money beyond repair.
- In order to keep the theatre at a comfortable temperature for the actors under the hot lights, the crew backstage dons scarves, hats, and gloves to keep warm!
- I am a wino. I get to throw a rock into a metal trash can to simulate the racket that the “winos” make outside. My rock is festively decorated (it is an ex-balloon weight) to make the experience that much more fun, and the cue is lovingly called by the Stage Manager as Tech Cue: Winos.
- My suggestion for Nicky’s cell phone ringtone made it into the show, which in case you missed it is “Come On Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, as a tribute to the controversial character that no one sees: Sharky’s ex and Nicky’s now significant other, Eileen.
- Before each performance I sit down with the actors to run through the lines for each poker hand to help them remember. To keep it fresh and fun the actors like to use a variety of accents and speech tempos and recently we’ve had to find alternatives for the curse words when the twelve little girls from Phoenix’s Madeline’s Christmas are sharing our green room.
Drinking Coffee and Running Lines
--Erika Prizzi, Stage Management Fellow
Erika Prizzi "on book" back stage
Loved this peek inside the backstage operation. Good luck staying warm, you winos!
Love, debs (a fellow Fellow stage manager) P.S. The set looks *awesome*.