Up and Running

It's insane what has been accomplished in the last week!

We opened on Friday and have done 21 shows so far. We had a few really hectic days where there was 40 minutes between shows, so as soon as one show ended we had to rush to get the house ready for the next one. I've never done three shows in a day back to back and ohmygosh it is exhausting, both physically and mentally draining. Still, is great to be up and running with an audience and by the third show each day I'm finding adrenaline reserves I didn't know I had. One more week and we add a fourth show per day. Phew.

This is me swimming in the confetti that we sweep up between each show. Hooray!

Show Stoppin' was the second show to open (the first one being The Wiggles Show... technically I guess we're third if you count Day Parade), so there's still lots of setup to be done. We're working our show from 2:30-7pm, then stay until midnight-ish working on Country Rockin' Live in the Saloon venue and The Looney Tunes Talent Show on the Mardi Gras stage, both of which open tomorrow. From there we will be setting up for Night Parade, which is a big ol' pile of fun. The Night Parade includes a preshow on an outdoor stage that requires lights hung on the surrounding buildings and an audio system that still needs to be set up, as well as cleaning off the floats that haven't been used so far during Day Parade and touching up paint wherever it's needed.

This is the set for The Looney Tunes Talent Show on one of the small stages in the park. The picture's probably too small to really see, but the detailing on the trim across the top was all individually cut out with a jigsaw and painted to match a previous set. Took forever, but it really adds a nice finish to the whole look.

Last night was an employee ride night at the park, the first since I've been here. They opened up some of the best rides (Raging Bull, the Giant Drop, Viper and a few others to anyone who's been here) and had free food and arcade games from 10pm to midnight. There are roughly 3,000 employees total, but with not everyone there and the park averaging 10,000 people each day, that meant pretty much no lines for anything! Also, there's just something awesome about not having any actual guests in the park-- it's a very different atmosphere than coming on your day off :)

Me and Claire at home, before Ride Night.

Anyhow, my show is really feeling like a routine at this point. Each time through is still fun, but there are no nerves, there aren't really surprises (every now and then a zipper will break or the confetti drop will be moody, but that's about it) and there is confidence in the fact that each and every guest sees the same, solid show. I'm interested to see if/how the product grows or changes over the next two months.

All my best to everyone involved in History Boys, I'm really bummed that I can't make it back to see you guys! Have a great opening weekend!!