1st DAY OF TECH

"Tech" has always been this thing that has an element of mystery to me. What actually happens during tech? What's it all about?

As an actor, tech seemed like something that was to be endured - a never ending process of being told to "HOLD, PLEASE!" while costume pieces were introduced, props appeared that I never knew I'd have to deal with, music cues changed, light cues brightened, and inevitably I always felt that not enough people were paying attention to ME, (little was my selfishly narrow view of acting able to comprehend that SO many other people were involved).

As a stage manager, tech was something that scared me a little - a whole lot of hours dedicated to making sure the technical elements of the play were exactly what everyone wanted, and then the pressure of making sure all those technical elements that we spent so much time perfecting went off without a hitch... and did so consistently every performance.

As a director, tech was a process of pulling all the varied elements of a play together, things I could only imagine in rehearsal would begin to come to life on the stage - the lights in the exact hue I was picturing, the sound cues impacting each scene, costumes and sets creating an individual world, an existence on stage that was only an idea until then.

As a part of a theater's administrative staff, tech was something that wasn't fully on my radar - I checked in at the top of the day, and again at the end of the day, and sometimes stayed for the production meeting, and smiled happily in the company photo after final dress - but somehow all those things that happen between the end of rehearsal and the first performance just magically appeared.

Now, as a general manager, as a person generally responsible for everything that happens in the theatre - actors, designers, set, costumes, lights, sound, directors, playwrights, and everything in between - tech is an incredibly amazing and technical (pun intended!) discovery. This long and sometimes tiring, sometimes inspiring journey is one I'm ready to experience in a whole new way.