West Side Story opens tomorrow. I should be more panicked. I should be wondering where the time went. I should be fretting over last minute changes that need to be made. I should be a lot of things, but mostly, I'm ready.
Eight weeks ago seems like such a long time when I look back on it, but it really has been very short. There were times when I wasn't sure how all of this was going to come together. There are so many different elements to a musical, especially this one. Dancing, music, acting, lights, sets, costumes, and on and on. As little as a week ago, I had doubts that everything would come together in time. There was the hint of something special about to happen, but it was little more than a whisper. That was a week ago.
Today I know the show is ready. Against long odds, the cast, crew, and production team has been able to accomplish this daunting task. Everyone was excited when we announced the show, but they also had to wonder how we were going to manage it. "The dancing is too hard." "The music is so complicated." "That show is too large for their stage." These were only challenges that we hadn't met yet. Today, we can forget those challenges because they no longer stand in our way. The dancing was wickedly difficult, but Scott and Anna refused to compromise what they wanted to accomplish, and the actors never quit. Dillon stretched the boundries of our stage with new solutions to old problems. Mandy costumed 34 people in costumes that not only are period accurate, but can withdstand the extreme dancing and movement required by the production. Thanks to Dustin and Mary, the songs will sound as people remember them. This is a team of which LCT can be very proud. I know that I am.
There are many misconceptions about the director's job. So many people credit all of what is put on stage to the director. It often becomes all about the director's "vision." Nothing could be further from the truth. As the director, my job is not to impose my vision upon the team. "Vision" is overrated. My job is to provide the artistic team, cast, and crew a direction for effectively telling this particular story. Ultimately, I know what I want a show to look and feel like, what emotions I want it to inspire, but even I cannot see all ends and how they will come together. Directing a musical is often like directing traffic. Who goes where to do what and when.
I rely on the production team to bring their absolute best to the process. I am, and will always be, completely incompetent as a choreographer. I couldn't teach people music to save my life. Any attempt at lighting design would likely result in unintentional arson. My ability to dress myself, much less 34 people in multiple outfits, is suspect at best. My job is not to dictate all of these elements to the team, nor to treat my actors as walking meat puppets (a nice little term that I got from Amanda in the box office). My job as a director is to create an atmosphere that allows artists, for that is what everyone involved in the production are, to play, create, experience failure, and succeed.
West Side Story is an example of what we can accomplish together as a team. One person cannot do it all. The work of this cast and crew is exemplary. I look forward to putting this in front of an audience and letting it come to life.
Something great is coming to LCT...don't let it pass you by.
Check out the West Side Story commercial:
www.youtube.com/LCTlifeonstage
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