My production stage manager, Caren Carson, asked me to be her deck charge to make sure everything on the deck and in the flys was smooth as silk for the run of the show. As her ASM I already thought I was responsible for those things, but this took a little further because every set need or change was brought to me during the runs. I was on the SR side with the saloon, so running that monster was a full time gig, but if double checking all the other moves with the rest of the crew and reassuring Caren was what she wanted me to do, then I would do it. But as the prop mistress/asm I was looking over those things too. There were guns that needed handling, I was asked to take care of keeping them locked up before and after the show, and a very expensive bass that was donated for the run that I had to keep extra care of because of it’s pristine condition – that was worth it though, because Slap that Bass is the best number in the whole show.
Choreographer, Eddie Mabry, didn’t want the fact the Crazy for You was our last show of the season to affect the choreography in this show. The numbers are sometimes cut to make simpler, but every last measure was performed of our rendition of Gershwin’s musical. The iconic number, “I Got Rhythm” was about 8 minutes long and the company took three days to learn it. During the number we found mining pans that were strong enough so they could be tapped on! A shorter, but just as complicated number, “Slap that Bass” didn’t have tapping but it was definitely a show stopper. In the second act, Eddie used, tap, jazz, ballet, and modern in the number “Stiff Upper Lip. Each company member respect Eddie immensely and wanted only to give him the best they could do.
Crazy for You was the last show of the summer season at CPCC and it was a hard one to get through. Everyone was at the end of their ropes and with a huge cast, and even bigger set, it felt like it would never end. I was the assistant prop mistress but I was asked by the set designer, Robert Croghan, to help dress the saloon with him. The show was so hectic that we did all the dressings the day the show opened. Big carriage wheels on the walls, saddles, pitch forks, bull horns – all those southern touches needed in a saloon. Well, it looked great – but since it wasn’t done until opening day we missed pictures. The pictures were taken the day before at the dress rehearsal and I didn’t realize until after the show was over and done and I saw the production cd. I was a bit disappointed, but there are a few good shots I could use…but that dang saloon was my baby and I have nothing to show for it…