Winter Quarters Days 1-2

[taz_39]

Hello, everyone who reads this blog:

Just an fyi,
I won't be able to post any of my own pictures of props, acts, music, etc. until rehearsals are finished.
I will continue to share some of my own photos,
however all of my images are subject to removal at any time at the request of my employer.

Nicole Feld frequently posts pictures of behind-the-scenes stuff on her Twitter account,
and the Ringling Facebook page shares photos too,
so I'll be linking back to those images for now.

There'll be a post full of my own pictures later on :)


Anyway!
Woke up bright and early for our first day of rehearsal!
I hitched a ride with Jameson (keys) to the rehearsal area.

(photo courtesy Nicole Feld's Twitter page)

The dancers are learning their moves, and the animals too :)
There are lots of gorgeously designed floats and vehicles involved in the show...
a cute dump truck covered in paint (see above photo) and this little tank/zamboni/street cleaner thing.

That thing in Mr. Mullis's hands is the white model of the vehicle I'm talking about.

It was nice to see many people I recognized from Fully Charged.
I also got to meet members of the Gold Unit's band for the first time.
The Gold Unit has a six person band, and no trombone (bummer!).
They'll be performing a 'Gold Edition' of Fully Charged next year,
so the band is learning a re-arranged version of our music.
These guys seem pretty cool :) Some of them have been with the circus for decades!!!

I got to meet the composition and orchestration guys too.
They're working hard to have our music ready!
The music we've got so far is energetic and fun...can't wait to play more!!!

The theme is Boys vs. Girls, so there's lots of blue and pink coloration in the props and costumes.
I wonder if I'll be made to wear pink? DUN DUN DUNNNN!

The band is rehearsing in a little back room big enough for all of us and our equipment.
Here's my space:


Our boxes have all been painted either blue or purple (they were black).

These boxes are used for storage of instruments, clothing, books, tools, food, etc.
They are for use in our dressing room, and are stored on the train as we travel.

We each got our own box of 'office' goodies too!
Correction tape, pens, pencils, markers, post-its, etc.

The white tape will be used to write in cues or corrections.
Red and black markers are used for the same thing.

We rehearsed for a bit, then Brett took us to a wing place for lunch.
I was well-behaved and got a spinach salad with chicken :P
We finished rehearsing around 6pm.

Today was our second day of rehearsal.
We played through the music several times, and added Brett's cues.
Yes, cues need to be rehearsed!
You never know when he's gonna give one during a show, so it's good to practice paying attention :)

The audiologist was on hand to make our ear molds today!
Here's Jameson (keys) looking a little nervous to have goop in his ears:


Here's Tom (keys) looking a little more cheerful about it:


It's very cool that we get custom fitted in-ears :)

It was a good rehearsal day, we got a lot done and ended around the same time as the first day.
Eventually we will be moved out of the back room to rehearse with the rest of the group on the arena floor.
In the meantime, it's gonna be lots of woodshedding and repetition.
But it's fun, because it's new and the finished product will be awesome!!!

Hopefully I'm not revealing too much in this post. Guess we'll find out!