Mama Diaries

Monday, June 11, 2012

Backstage Mayhem

Have you ever wondered what goes on backstage during musical productions?  A whole lot of chaos...that's what.  Let me tell you about it.

I volunteered to help with my daughter's dance recital, because I'm a "dance mom."  We dance moms are required to put in time to help with productions.  Let me just say,  this was no rinky dink production.  This is a big time dance studio with some incredible guest artists that come in to perform and do choreography.   It was my job to help the dancers change costumes, fix hair and makeup, and get them where they needed to be on time.

I was assigned to a group of dancers, and my official job title was, "The Runner."  Here's how it went:

"Mrs. Ellis, I can't find my ribbons and hairpiece."

"Okay," I frantically searched under an assortment of costumes that were lying on the table.  "Found it!" I announced, just as another girl came up to me, saying that her pony tail needed to be changed to a bun. 

I fixed her hair and got it done just in time for makeup check.  Lipstick, eyeliner, and blush had to be reapplied and perfect.  I checked the dancers and hustled them off to the backstage waiting area.  Another volunteer took it from there as another dancer ran off the stage for a costume change.  It was my job help her get ready.  So we literally ran to the changing area, got her into another fancy costume, checked hair and makeup, and then ran her to the back stage waiting area just as the previous number finished.

I corralled the exiting dancers back to their waiting rooms.

On and on it went.  Running back and forth, and listening to, "Mrs  Ellis, can you help me with this?" and "Mrs. Ellis, I need this."

Do you know how long each show was?  Two hours!  Do you know how many shows there were?  Five!  Do the math.  Ten hours of running!

Talk about exhausting!

17 comments:

  1. Wow! I'm tired just from reading this!

    Hope you got (or will get) a good night's sleep after that. :)

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  2. That sounds exhausting, Sherry. Must have been fun though, too.

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    1. It was. It's always neat to see the fancy costumes.

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  3. 2 hours!! Wow!!! That's a lot of chaos and a lot of running about. Good exercise though ;)

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    1. Yes, I didn't have to run on the treadmill that night!

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  4. i know---i am used to being the director of plays etc. --but the last dance recital my daughter had, i was the right stage manager---lots of work!---directing, much more fun----:)

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    1. Most people have no idea what goes on backstage to make a show. It's eye-opening!

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  5. Wow 10 hours, surprised anyone was still standing after.

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    1. The volunteers certainly weren't wanting to be on their feet any more!

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  6. Replies
    1. It was, but we all breathed a sigh of relief when it was over!

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  7. Replies
    1. Yes, the studio recital is just once a year, but we also have competitions to do - not as much work for the volunteers, but they still involve some chaos and mayhem.

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  8. Wow! You certainly did your fair share contributing time and energy for these "starlets-in-the-making"...

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