Aida is astounding in every way and will have you walking away wanting more
I had just stage managed three shows previous to this, and I wanted to take a little break for this show. But what I really wanted was to venture into something different and learn a new area. So I tried my hand at sound and microphones. I worked with Travis Eason and Sam Wolfe, the department’s live in sound guy and learned the ropes of sound mixing and handling our precious and expensive microphones. Sam would work the board during the show, and I would stay backstage and handle the mics on the actors. For this show, there were 32 mic-ed actors (out of an ensemble 40) making our jobs no picnic. Normally we wouldn’t need this many, but Adam Hester, the director wanted to blow the audience out of the water, and we did. I think I really made the right choice in learning how to use our mics and sound equipment because now I am only one of four people in the department who know how to do it, and I have already used my new knowledge at another theatre company. They were short handed in putting mics on before a show and I jumped up and helped because I knew how.
During the show, prop mistress, Cari Varner, asked me if I was interested in helping her. I said sure why not, and that’s how I ended up making 27 swords for the show. There were three types, a hooked “40 thieves” looking sword, the simple rounded pointers, and a few daggers. We used large aluminum sheeting to serve as the swords mass. We cut the shapes with a jig saw and dulled the edges as to not harm any one. We covered the handles in dental plaster rounding them out allowing them to be easily gripped. They came out really well, and on stage they looked rough and menacing – which is what we needed them to be.
Our director didn’t want to take any chances with this show - especially with the microphones. At intermission he requested that, Sam, our sound engineer and I check the leads mics. Make sure that the microphone was still in the right position, re-tape them, and even give them new batteries. We knew it was a little crazy giving them a whole new battery after only an hour of using them, but we followed orders. One particular night, I was checking Amneris’ and Radames’ mics and changing their batteries while Sam was checking Aida’s.
After he was done and he went back up to the board and got settled for the second act. I did the same in my little corner backstage with the tables of mic packs and tape. When the second act begins, the same three leads we just worked on, go out sing the first song together. When Aida, Jasmin Richardson, started singing there was something wrong. There was nothing… My phone started exploding with text messages from the director in the audience saying’ “Jazz’s mic is off! FIX!!!” After this song, though, Aida stays on stage for several more numbers so I was thinking really fast - I wasn’t sure how I was going to get her mic on if she doesn't come off stage. And then, I made a quick decision. There was no way around it. I was just hoping that the stage manager wouldn’t pull the lights up too quickly. After the song was over I ran out on stage in the blackout, got to her before she crossed over, and I whispered to her, “don’t move you’re mic isn’t on, I’m going to fix it” I unzipped her dress, found her mic, turned it on, zipped her back up, and ran back off. The next number is called Easy as Life, and her solo in it is amazing, and it would have been a very sad day if her mic had been off the whole time. I told people, and my director what I did, and no one even knew I was out there…I was lucky too, I was positive my yellow striped dress would have been noticeable from the audience. I guess even if you aren’t running crew you always wear black. Jasmin hugged me later and told me she’d always remember when I saved the show.
Aida is astounding in every way and will have you walking away wanting more
