Today is the day for the first arena show, and it is also the first day of the actual convention. Everything has changed because of all the boys showing up. The university has gone from being fairly isolated to totally packed. The sidewalks are crowded, traffic is terrible, and parking is impossible.
Inside the arena, things have changed as well. We have less than twelve hours to fix all of the problems that are not yet resolved—at least the problems relating to the stage and scenery. The cast has the same amount of time to learn their lines and blocking on the same stage. The video and sound people are also trying to perfect their skills, practicing on people on the same stage.
My carpenters built extra steps in the sound booth and the sky box. They built railings around the video platforms to keep their tri-pods from falling off. They fixed a ramp over all the cables and attached lighting to the I-pods. As I was painting these things, I realized the camera operator couldn’t keep his video camera steady, since his platform was shaking. And some of the sound guys got black paint on their legs, but basically we were all able to get our jobs done in the same space.
In the arena, a recliner took a back flip off a fork lift, damaging the sky box that had already been repaired. Some of the stage floor needed a painting touch up and an entire section of steps needed to be changed from black to red.
Eventually, everyone turned to working on the other upcoming shows as tonight seemed to be ironing itself out. We found a place to get the red carpet flattened out for the awards show tomorrow night. We are making doors, windows, and awnings to turn stage framing into a shopping area. All in all, things are coming along pretty well.