Today was another full day in the North Pole, and another full day of tech for the cast and crew of the National Tour of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer! Today we started adding in some of the costumes, and some of the prosthetics. It was not a full dress rehearsal, but we had the opportunity to run through some of the dance numbers with our dresses/wigs/hats/curly-toed shoes, to get a feel for how they move and impact our choreography. It was quite exciting. The shoes definitely proved to be a challenge - it is more difficult than one would imagine to dance with an extra 4 inches on the tips of your toes, curling up and about! The shoes are interesting - the costume designer designed them in such a way that they feel so natural, yet also feel so unnatural at the same time. Essentially they are a pair of black Keds sneakers, with a padded, almost fake-leather type of material. The "elf" part of the shoes velcro onto the Keds, so it feels as if we are just dancing in our tennis shoes! However, it does feel unnatural to have 4 extra inches in front of your toes, therefore being something that takes a little bit of time to get used to.
We also had a great time trying on the ears. We connect the latex prosthetic ear to the tips of our own ears with Spirit Gum, which is a kind of glue that can adhere to human skin and won't damage your skin when ripped off. However, that's not to say it doesn't hurt, because it definitely does! Sprit Gum is less severe than using superglue, or any other household glue, which would be harmful to human skin. It also sticks to your skin for awhile, even after removing the pointy-ear tips, and the only thing that really removes the residue is rubbing alcohol. Today was also our first full run-through of the show - or stumble-through, if you will. A stumble-through means that we will stop and start throughout the run, as necessary, to work on transitioning from scene to scene and making sure every piece fits together smoothly and seamlessly. We are finally putting together all of the pieces of the puzzle, and every scene/song that we had been rehearsing for the past 3 days. It is crazy putting up a show in 6 days of rehearsal! We only have rehearsals Sunday - Saturday for one week only, so everyone has to be on top of their game/very aware of what is going on to make sure that we are able to get this show up and running smoothly by the time we open on Monday in Columbia, Missouri. Diaries of a Curly Toed Elf signing off for tonight, more updates to come tomorrow! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we have rehearsal all evening, so I will be sure to keep updating how the great Turkey Day went at the North Pole! - Diaries of a Curly Toed Elf
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Welcome to my blog, Diaries of a Curly Toed Elf! I am so excited to share my journey with you as I adventure all across the United States with the National Tour of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (RRR16). Here you'll find photos, stories, and smiles from our travels with the show! This week we began our process for the tour - we only have 6 rehearsals before we open - WOAH! It is a crazy fast process, and everyone has to be super on top of their game, as well as ready for any changes that might come our way. We were all emailed the script, score, and archival video from last year's tour so that we could be prepared to sing, dance, and run through the show on the first day of tech. We were expected to come to the first rehearsal completely off book. Thankfully, I have toured with this production in last year's National Tour (RRR15), and so I was already familiar with the run of the show and all that the elf track would entail. We are currently rehearsing at the Will Rodger's Auditorium in Fort Worth, Texas. We are using their space for our tech rehearsals until Saturday, November 26th, 2016, when we ship out to Oklahoma, then Missouri. So far this week, I have been able to get a jump start on our ZFX flight rehearsals, and have been having a ball being flown all over the stage! I also have included a photo of my best friend on the tour, Sara Kreski, and I, in our brand new Rudolph paraphernalia. Sara is also a junior at TCU in our Theatre Department, and we have been best friends for two years. As you can probably imagine, we were THRILLED when we both booked this National Tour together. Sara is also playing one of the elves. Thanks so much for following this journey, I hope you enjoy your glimpse into tour life as an elf! xoxo Diaries of a Curly Toed Elf |
AuthorHi! I'm Samantha, an elf traveling across America to bring Christmas Cheer. ArchivesCategories |