WE HAVE WALLS

The crew must have worked like dogs all day Sunday because we arrived Monday morning to find our "Dial M..." set on stage. It was pretty much dressed with most of it's details, all props in place, on stage and off, and most of the lighting cues set and ready to go.

The lighting is pretty great. Very moody in certain scenes, but also lots of places where over-sized shadows and silhouettes lurk and creep. The whole thing is very film noir.

We spent the first half of the day just stepping through the play, scene by scene, adjusting lighting & sound cues, figuring out how to work with our new props and costumes. And, of course, we spent a great deal of time on the murder scene. Now that we have the real set, we have heavy brown velvet curtains (that I hide behind) that need to be dealt with. I am also now wearing leather gloves and have the correct scarf (for strangling) and the correct coat...so everything feels different. And, of course, we're now doing it in a dark lighting cue, so all the moves had to be adjusted to maximize shadowy creepiness while still allowing the audience to see what's going on.

In the evening, we did a run-thru with all technical elements in place and it went pretty well. I, however, was pretty grumpy all day, having pulled a muscle in my back while taking my coat off in the car on the way home on Saturday. Grrrrr! It's feeling a little better today so I'll have to make an effort to be a little less cranky-pants with everyone.

Another 12 hour day today which will probably be much like yesterday....dealing with issues and details through the day, doing a run followed by notes in the evening.