taz_39 | Winter Quarters Days 25

Day 25

Two more mysterious boxes have appeared!

The one with gold snowflakes is shedding glitter EVERYWHERE <3
I had fun scattering glitter around in the rehearsal room. Not sure the boys appreciated it though :P

I also received some surprise goodies from my Aunt today!!

Along with this KAWAII geisha nutcracker, there was also a box of Botan Rice Candy
and some Starbucks instant coffee!! Instant good day :D
Botan rice candy is tasty, it's a citrus-y chewy gummy wrapped in rice paper.
Gave me a happy nostalgic feeling to eat it today :)
Thanks Aunt C! I love you!

We had a runthrough again today that went pretty well.
We played our new music, including High Wire which has a lot of cuts and cues.

I missed a bunch of cues...well I saw them, but when my eyes went back to the music they'd
go to the wrong place more often than not. I think learning cues is partially muscle memory, too.
Tomorrow will be better :)

Assuming there IS a tomorrow!
We had a heck of an apocalypse storm tonight. No thunder but heavy rains and high winds.

Day 26

Today we had a total run through of Acts One and Two.
It went pretty well, although we are still missing most of the music for Act Two.
There is a LOT of playing in the show! And so far there are TWO trombone solos! *shiver*
I will have to step it up!!!

Before our run through, there was a special Christmas PR event!
From the Ringling Facebook:

"Children from the Tampa Bay YMCA enjoyed a surprise visit from Santa Claus at Winter Quarters rehearsals for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Built To Amaze! The King Charles Troupe and Ringling Ringlettes passed out gifts including two tickets to Opening Night of Built To Amaze! playing Tampa Bay Times Forum, JAN. 2 – 6.
Ringling Bros wishes you and your family a safe and happy holiday!"

That was fun to watch. The portal was a festive green/red for the occasion.

Tomorrow will be a busy day...we've gotten a lot of new music, a lot of work to do, and only a week to do it.

Day 27

We did another full show run-through today.
Many of the costumes are finished, and they look fantastic.
The wardrobe department here is top notch!!
Of course I don't have pics of completed costumes :P
But trust me, they're awesome! Half of 'em glow under blacklight.
And there are more sequins and Swarovski gems than you can shake a ruby slipper at :D

It was a decent day. As mentioned yesterday, we got a lot of new music so it was nice to do some 'real' work!
I have to be honest though, playing-wise I was in a bad place today.
Flubbed through both of my solos, which made me feel pretty insecure.
Then on top of that, we played through our new stuff in the house and I stepped in all kinds of musical holes, and made quite a few mistakes. I was frustrated. I think most of the nine of us were frustrated. But you know what, it's exactly the same feeling I had when learning Fully Charged for the first time. And learning a new show is just going to feel that way. Your eyes just don't go to the right cues until you train them to. The music doesn't match the act that's performing right away...we MAKE it match. Patience, optimism, understanding coworkers, and more patience.
Four days until preview show.

Day 28

Today was rough!
Not gonna lie.

We got a LOT of new music. With only a few days left before preview show,
it's frustrating to plow through so many charts without being able to fix the errors we'd like to fix,
without knowing quite where cues will end up, etc.
We are all working hard, but it's hard sometimes not to get bogged down with negativity toward how rushed we are, or how the music could be better in this-or-that way.

I'm guilty of a bad attitude too. Near the end of the night I got upset when my click track volume started changing seemingly at random. In frustration I just shut it off and kept playing. But that's no solution.
Alan and Rochelle (sound techs) worked with me to figure out the problem, and it was an easy fix.
I got worked up over nothing...it had just been a long day and I vented over a minor issue.
Thankfully there are many patient and good people working here, who can bring me back to sanity :)

Jameson made my night when he played the Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack on the ride back to the train.
He's a really positive guy. People like him are lengthening my lifespan.

Tomorrow we start the day off early in the hopes of cutting lose early...we'll see.
"Slick" (trumpet) and Brian (guitar) and I hope to play a Christmas Eve service at a former circus musician's church, but if we can't get out of rehearsal it may not happen.

Day 29

Christmas Eve Day!

It was only a matter of time before someone did it.

Lol.
We did a run through around 10am. It went pretty well...some hitches here and there, but it's coming together.
We did well enough that everyone still got out early for Christmas Eve celebrations!
(but we all know that the 26th will be a loooooong day).

Slick, Brian and I did make it to church for the Christmas Eve services...one was a contemporary worship, the other was a traditional version. It was (I think) a 13-piece 'band' with flutes, oboe and bassoon, french horn, trumpets, trombones, and piano/guitar/bass/drums. A choir joined us for the second service.
It was really great to play in a REAL trombone section after such a long time flying solo with the circus!!
The guy on first part was AWESOME. He was in the Air Force bands for 20 years. No wonder.
The guy on bass was cool and had a good sense of humor.
I thought we played well together :)

It was a very nice way to start the holidays.
Tomorrow is Christmas. Do I get to open the purple boxes????