It’s summer! On any normal summer holiday you might think that a normal ruffian of a teenager would be sulking the streets of Clarksville without a care in the world. I can happily say that I am not one of them. My summer will consist of the Roxy and in my mind it’s so much better than any resort, camp, or secret island that holds missing dinosaurs! This year and last year I took advantage of the fact that a local theatre exists downtown. I got to be the ASM (assistant stage manager) for Into the Woods and now for Big River and Almost Heaven: Songs of John Denver. Too cool, am I right? The transition for all of those shows was hard however, seeing as Into the Woods had a cast of eighteen people, Big River more than forty, and Almost Heaven will have five. More than that, Into the Woods was my first ASM-ing show so now for every other show I have to steel myself for comparing it to that glorious, completely terrifying first show. I say glorious and terrifying seeing as A. I was there with a bunch of amazing professionals, B. they were all extremely nice and generous and C. I had no idea what I was doing at some points. But luckily I was able to get instructions from the stage manager at The Roxy, Adam Kurtz. He helped me understand what needed to be done and most of the things I found daunting, come naturally to me now. I got to watch Into the Woods go up and had to on as it went down, which I guess was the worst. But I was able to transition into Big River which was a completely different experience.
Now the thing about Big River is that it’s a kids show and sometimes it’s a little trying but still fun. Being there is what makes me happy, so I do it. I feel I must explain before I go on because I have a song that goes along with a tune from The Sound of Music that shows some of my frustration with what happens backstage. Here goes:
“The Bane of an ASM”
Children who talk even when they’re not told to
Things that go bang,
Plus the mic you can’t talk through.
Furry things that fly and make people scream,
These are a few of my favorite things!
When they all clap,
And it’s a wrap,
I might feel real good,
But I simply remember the things as they are
And then I feel real bad!
But that is just a joke, nothing more. The play is good and what happens backstage, happens backstage. Sometimes everything goes right and sometimes nothing will go even close to okay. It is just the way of the theatre!
Almost Heaven will open this week on Friday and I can’t wait. The actors are incredible and my experience with it so far has been amazing just because of the rehearsals. Even though Almost Heaven will be a sad thing to end, I can’t wait for it to open just to see how it goes. I would say, “See you there,” but I will be back behind the scenes and in the shadows, as it were. So I’ll just say hope you come down Country Roads to see a play that has a Country Boy being Thankful who would Rather Be In Colorado who knows of the Wild Montana Skies and if you don’t like it then I’m Sorry, just don’t leave on a Jet Plane because this play Fills Up My Senses and have my climbing Rocky Mountain High!
– – Hannah Kitterman
