Post Production Week

Bump-in week is physically and mentally torturous. Bump-out day is physically torturous. Post Production is mentally torturous. Basically, the before and after of a production is the most torturous period of the whole production period. The most relaxing time is during the production shows itself. Even before bump-in week, the rehearsals and amount of planning is really quite taxing on everybody. That is what I learnt from being an Assistant Stage Manager for "Pursuant: A Musical". 

It was definitely a challenge for me that I really was on the verge of just quitting it but then, I realized that this is what I wanted, this is what I'm passionate about and this is what I can foresee myself doing for the rest of my life. Well, other than the fact that I foresee myself getting married to an old and rich man and living my life in his riches. I am truly thankful that I managed to survive throughout the production. I came out of it learning a lot of different things and it was really refreshing to experience it. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

The amount of paperwork that I have to do for the show is quite a stack. I always have this notion that it was quite straightforward since I have done a Prompt Book before for one of my modules. This time around, it was quite overwhelming. I had to do all the blockings for all 12 scenes and 14 songs. To top it off, I had to do the Preset Props' List, Props Movements List, Paging List for Stage Right & Stage Left and lastly, Props & Sets List with all the pictures of the props and sets. As much as it was a tad bit overwhelming, I actually happy that I get to do the paperwork after two weeks' straight of doing physical labour.

Once I was done with all the paperwork, it was pretty much a relaxing week in the office. Just had to do a whole load of filing and data-entry for Singapore Lyric Opera's past donations. I am supposed to create a database for the company for easy referencing. Other than that, I pretty much dislike the General Manager because she has a tendency to talk down to me which seriously irks me big time. I'm just letting it slipped past me since I'm left with 3 more weeks to the end of my internship. Then I will have 1 week break and followed by 1 week of NAFA Orientation for the incoming Year 1s and then I will finally be starting my Year 3 and graduate with a Diploma in Arts Management, Majoring in Performing Arts. Insya-Allah.

Saturday was so much fun. First time, in my life that I was really drunk that I couldn't remember half of the things that happened to me. Nazron said that I was screaming half the time while Netty and Khairul said that I was constantly about to fall down randomly most of the time. It was really crazy fun to go clubbing with familiar faces. There was Abang Is, Abang Jon, Hafiz, Muhsin, Elfie, Yasmeen, Elias, Aien, Haziq, Afiq, Diana and a few other people who are just their friends. We got like a bottle of Chivas, Jagermeister, Belvedere, Roberto Cavalli vodka and one 1.5litres of Roberto Cavalli vodka. I seriously have no idea where the hell did all the drinks appeared from.

The music was nice. The drinks were great. The company was excellent. The only problem was that I had a few blackout moments in between. There was one time when I don't even know how the hell did I end up at the toilet and I was sleeping. The fuck up part was that I never did learnt my lesson. I always told myself that I should never drink to fast because I will be the first one to get high and it would seriously suck big time. This time round, it was no difference. All I know is that I need to do it again before fasting month. I'm so fucked up.

I'm missing people. I'm missing Fairul, Syima, Azieera and Emma. And I have no idea when am I free or when are they free to meet up. I got to start planning for iftar and our Raya outing.

Performance Week

I shall just start with this past week and will try my best to recap my previous weeks that I have completely forgot to update about since I have been super busy.

So my internship with Singapore Lyric Opera started on the 9th May 2013 and I have not any off days ever since except for my 2 days MC because of my swollen eye. In all honesty, this internship is a whole new level of experience for me. It is so hectic that you don't really have time to stop and absorb the situation. You have to constantly be on the go every time you're at rehearsals. 

My job scope as an Assistant Stage Manager is to just ensure that I know every single details about the show. From the cast, the script, the props, the sets, the projections, the blockings, the costumes and many more other things. My job is ensure that I know the show like the back of my hand because we do not have a Stage Manager for the show, we only have a Deputy Stage Manager who comes in 2 weeks before the show just for the sake of calling all the cues. From rehearsals at SLO studio to TheatreWorks studio to Drama Centre, it has been crazy.

Rehearsals at SLO studio was really cramp and quite pathetic since we were constantly using mock up props and half the cast are usually missing. After that, rehearsals at TheatreWorks was much better since the studio was almost the same size as the actual stage. Most of the set pieces and the props were being brought it so the actors could get a feel of it. Even costumes were being prepared there since there was additional space. The only downside to it was that the food there are super expensive and I constantly brought along my sandwiches from home. And another downside was that I would be walking passed Clarke Quay at around 10 or 11pm looking like a zombie with my bag pack. It was even more embarrassing when I bumped into some of my NAFA schoolmates there. 

Then this past week was bump-in week at Drama Centre. The horror and the torture that the stage crew have been put through. At times, I really think that the show is curse. A lot of shits happened along the way that causes the crew to literally go berserk at times. There's me, Mus, Lila, Sheryl, Hakimmah, Alycia, Stanley, Ratna and Nathaniel, from Monday to Thursday, we came to work at 9am to do the props, staging, plotting and focusing. We will only got off from there around 1 or 2 in the morning. I was almost at the stage of crying every night because of being so tired. Physically tired that I couldn't even think properly most of the times. 

Thankfully, the first show went quite well. We could have improved on the scene changes but other than that, everything went quite smoothly. Syukur Alhamdulillah. On another note, it is really tiring to be an Assistant Stage Manager and be a calefare for the production. I was in-charge of stage right, on top of all the scene changes that I need to do with the crew, I still need to change my costume since I'm playing 4 characters and I have 3 lines as one of the characters. I was a military guard, a court guard, a concentration camp guard and a paramedic. This whole week, I have been skipping my lunch and dinner because I'm just too tired to eat. To top it off, I'm constantly sweating because I'm wearing 3 costumes at once and am still helping out with the scene changes. 

3 shows down, left 5 more shows to go. I can do this.

On another topic, my exam results came out yesterday. I got 5As and 2Cs. I got A for my Stage Management II, Concert Management, Dance Production, Organisational Communication Skills and SAS - Music. I got C for both my Contract Law and Business Finance. I find it rather weird that I got C for both my 5 credit modules. In all honesty, I thought that I did well for both the exam papers. I knew how to answer the questions and are really quite confident of my answers. I didn't even bother bullshitting about it at all. Overall, I'm super thankful that I'm still maintaining my GPA at 3.0 and above. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

Once, my third year starts, I really need to go all out. I really need to do super well so that I can get my scholarship and pursue my degree. InsyaAllah, I can do it. InsyaAllah, I will do it.

I'm missing my Dolls, my Twins and my Bestie.