The way FringeNYC works, a show is allotted twice its running time in order to have its technical rehearsal. Half of that must involve a full run of the show, so that its running time can be confirmed (a glance at the Fringe's calendar of performances reveals why - with so many shows, a split-second schedule is required). Another thirty minutes are needed to practice loading in and loading and loading out the show - again, in the time allotted. For Dragon's Breath, this meant that after all was said and done, we faced the impossible task of building all our cues, working the scene transitions, and tracking our costumes and props in exactly one hour.
Which we did.
Seeing our cast and crew pull this off, as well as seeing the response to our Fringe teaser yesterday, has made me marvel anew at just how good this team we've assembled really is. I'm not surprised, of course. Mikaela has worked with our designers before, and they know exactly how to realize her vision. I've had the honor of working with two of our cast members before - with Lorinda Lisitza in a production of Happy End, and with Christopher Michael McLamb in a production of The Cradle Will Rock - and I know what they're capable of. (Both these productions were done by Theater Ten Ten*, which loved casting me in agitprop Marxist musicals. But I digress.)
Even so, there's something going on with this cast and crew, both old friend and exciting new face alike, that is wonderful and completely unexplainable. And so I'm not even going to try and explain it. I simply ask that you come see our show to see it for yourself.
*While Theater Ten Ten is no longer in existence, the good folks who run it now produce NYIT-nominated work in Brooklyn Heights as Theatre 20/20. Go see their stuff too!