Klarinet Archive - Posting 000132.txt from 2004/07

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] With respect to: "Help, help! The Globolinks"
Date: Sun, 4 Jul 2004 13:57:32 -0400

I didn't recognize the title "Globolinks', but I did lights for one of
Menotti's mini-operas in college; and here's my anecdote:

I was lying flat on my stomach underneath a 6' x 6' paper mache
'mountain' with a small control board in front of my face. The set, in
the spirit of minimalism appropriate for a mini-opera, consisted of only
this one rock, which we dragged to the middle of a dining room floor
after dinner had been served and tables had been removed (theater in the
round).

The stage was dark as the music began, and a singer brought a
lumberman's axe down hard on a log with a resounding !WHAM! just as I
brought the lights up. The director wanted the singer to begin his
swing half-a-moment before the lights came up. The goal was to startle
the audience with unexpected action and noise and a few chips flying.
The log was sitting maybe 10" above my shoulders. There was lumber
between me and the log, but I didn't feel very much protected.... I kept
thinking 'It's paper mache".

The cue for all of this was a passing note (not a strong note) after a
few measures of music in total darkness. There were jokes that if I
missed the cue, the singer wouldn't see the log and who knows where the
axe would fall?

Boy, did I learn that cue!

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