Welcome back to another edition of Saint Joseph Ballet’s Production Diary.  It’s been a busy couple of months, so grab a cup of coffee, smear that bagel with extra fatty cream cheese, and pull up a comfy chair!

We’re in the final six weeks of rehearsal before we load-in at the Barclay Theatre in Irvine.  The activity volume is high, loud, and pulsating at our studios, with 28 hours of rehearsal a week, production meetings, musical arrangements, costume and scenery construction.  There’s too much to contain in one production report, so we’ll turn this into a weekly happening:  Check back each Tuesday for more ‘behind the scenes’ updates on the making of our dance concert.

April 19, 2005:  The Production Team

People are often surprised by the scope of our concerts and how many people work together to plan and build the production.  Talented, experienced theatre professionals collaborating seriously (along with some guffaws) is one reason why this production stands apart from a routine recital.  Saint Joseph Ballet designers, with strong concepts and an experienced production staff, create in concert (pun definitely intended) an entire three-dimensional world onstage.  Each of the core design elements – lighting, scenery, costumes, sound – together animate a theatrical environment to support the dancers’ performance.

Collaborators are carefully chosen – because of their talent and experience – as well as their commitment to the mission of Saint Joseph Ballet.  Without much further ado, the production team that brings More Life to life:

James F. Ingalls, Lighting Designer

Jennifer Vaughan, Costume Designer

Craig Siebels, Scenic Designer

Scott Fraser, Sound Designer

Ben Tusher, Production Manager

Ian Britton, Stage Manager and Technical Director

Aaron Novik, Composer and Musician for Dancing Into One

Mariachi Voz de America, Musicians for Mi Corazon Canta

Brooke Bishop, Rehearsal Assistant for Unearthing

Dulce Gomez, Rehearsal Assistant for Dancing Into One

Teresa Olson, Rehearsal Assistant for dreamChild

Rebeca Ramos, Rehearsal Assistant for Mi Corazon Canta

What does a Production Manager do?  Sometimes I say, “My job is to get everyone into the theatre, lock the doors, and not let them out until we have a show”.  There’s a bit of truth to that.  I facilitate ‘making it happen’ by:  developing and supervising budgets, handling contracts,  coordinating designers, choreographers, production staff and theatre personnel and calendars, run production meetings, set rehearsal schedules, and coordinate the travel and housing arrangements for our out-of-town artists.  It’s a delicate dance (pun intended, yet again) as I push around the pieces of this large jigsaw puzzle so that everyone gets the time and resources they need to create their art.

Face-to-face meetings with our collaborators are often difficult and cost prohibitive early in the design process.  With Melanie in Germany, Ian in Oakland, Jenny in Bakersfield, and Jim Ingalls globe-trotting, e-mail is an essential tool now.  Thanks to our modern advances we’ve had some amazing e-mail production meetings at 11:00pm (PST) -- the middle of the day in Germany and Paris.  Can video-conferencing be far away?

Next week we’ll give you an insider’s look at the concept meetings for the scenic designs, with some of the renderings that Craig has created.   What other concert boasts six large mushrooms, 800 square feet of silk, 1500 pounds of blue mulch, and a large rooster?  ¡Que emocionante!

Your Intrepid Reporter,

Ben Tusher

Production Manager