walking in the rain

So it’s been 5 days in a row spent helping out for this year’s production. It’s been a great eye-opener, seeing how everything was done from scratch, from the putting up of props and sets to lighting rigging, plotting, programming, and everything else, really.

It may not be the best thing being a volunteer because sometimes there’s just so much time and effort put in with no pay, but at least you get to work together with the team and see how a production really is like. It’s also a good thing because you know that at the back of your mind, you aren’t really as stressed as those who are paid, since they have deadlines to meet and have to be ready to answer if things don’t turn out the way they should.

This year’s Christmas production is indeed a large-scale one, I must say, and there’s been so much effort (in every aspect) put in by everyone, I pray that it will pull off successfully. There’s just so much detail to take care of, and lighting wise, there are close to a hundred cues, with the lights carefully selected for each cue, so as to bring out the best elements of the musical itself.

Plotting and programming the cues was done by the lighting designer, who’s a really nice guy by the way. On some days we reported in the morning and only managed to wrap up at around midnight. Then, it’s back to work again the very next morning at 10am. It was tiring and time-consuming, but there were lots of things to pick up along the way.

This year’s cast is absolutely great, and although I don’t know them personally, I love all of them. They are all so talented, and are willing to volunteer and spend time over the past few months learning and memorizing the scripts to perfection.

I don’t particularly enjoy working with some members of the crew though. I will not be mentioning any names so as to avoid getting into any trouble. Most of them are nice and fun to work with, but there’s a handful of people whom I find either rather unfriendly, unappreciative (in some ways), and at times, rather rude too. Then there are others who are simply overly-picky about unnecessary stuff, which is rather annoying. Then again, these are just some of my observations so I may well be completely wrong.

In any case, I’m glad to be part of this production together with the entire team (cast, crew, band and orchestra musicans) and hey, I know it’s going to be a blast, so do come support if you can! :)

P.S. I actually do have lots of photos taken over the past few days but I’m too lazy to put them up. Haha.