BWW Blog: Sam Weber - Just Another Day, Only a Day

If you're reading this, chances are I do not need to describe what many refer to as "the magic" of theatre. You're probably living it right now. Whether this idea refers to the relationships within a cast, the effect of the show on an audience, or simply the energy that you can only feel onstage, there is certainly something special about being a part of theatre. Now take all of those warm fuzzies, and put them into one tiny, little 24-Hour long box. You shouldn't be able to, right? But it's completely possible, and it's something students from all across my university have been doing for two years now.

I guess for a bit of history, my school doesn't have a Musical Theatre division, but rather the program lies as a supplement within the greater departments of Theatre, Music, and Dance. With that, unfortunately, the school only produces dramas, operas, and dance concerts - no Musical Theatre. It's not that they don't want to; it's just that there isn't time with all of the other productions. So last year, several of my peers and I tried the seemingly impossible - we found the one weekend that performance spaces weren't occupied, we ordered rights, and we did a show...in 24 hours. We knew we wanted people to be able to sleep, and of course recover for the school week ahead, so we split the time between a full day (8am to Midnight = 16 hours) of rehearsal and a morning of tech before the show went up at 2pm on a Saturday. And it worked.

Last year, for our trial run, we wanted to go with a show that we felt would make people want to be involved, but still push us as artists to produce something emotionally worthwhile. Since we also had a pretty small performance space, the choice naturally fell to Spring Awakening. This decision would prove to be a perfect one. The thing about the 24-hour format is that it forces you to be an artist first, and a cast member second. Every action, every movement, every choice as an actor or director must be your first instinct. There is no time for second-guessing; there is no time for doubt. While some of these choices may not be perfect, because you are exhausted and shaking from the process you throw yourself into those instincts, and something fantastic comes out of it.

If it helps to visualize how honest and powerful completely uninhibited performance can be: I have cried three times in a theatre. Only three. The first was during a particularly riveting production of The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, a fantastically complex play probably 8 years ago. The second was more out of artistic fulfillment when I first saw Sunday in the Park with George live. The third and final time theatre moved me to tears - sitting in the audience during the one and only tech of Spring Awakening after about 72 hours without sleep, 24 hours of staging. Granted, I was hysterically at the time - but during the Moritz and Ilse scene in act two (the "Don't Do Sadness" tag scene), I broke. The actors on stage were living in their characters, and the actress playing Ilse had me breathing with her, trying to talk Moritz of the ledge. These 24 hour projects are magical.

This past spring, we put up our second Annual project, this time, however, we went for a more lighthearted experience with Legally Blonde. This too, would prove to be a great choice. In choosing the show, we knew from a production perspective that we needed something commercial that would "sell" (though 24 is free admission) and help expand the name of the project, and this was the show to do it. In short- people were sitting in the aisles and standing outside of the doors of the theatre to watch. We broke fire code, no big deal.

I guess the point of this whole ramble - is that the ephemerality of theatre makes it fantastically special. And fortunately, I am able to be a part of a project that encourages this type of artistic experimentation. Currently, the production team and myself are in talks for the next project. We are building a season now, instead of just one show, our goal is to have #24 (as we lovingly refer to our baby) be the capstone of a greater musical season. We are figuring out our space right now (paramount to show selection, someone suggested Chorus Line in a black-box... no.), and then we begin show selection.

So, over the course of the summer, you will probably see me writing and ranting about the various things you confront when planning a season, especially as a student. Populations, space, technology, PR, and accessibility are all things you have to consider. And as bad as it sounds, sometimes, you kind of have to think about pre-casting and who you have to handle certain roles. All professional theatres do it, as much as performers hate to admit it.

But, if you want to build a ridiculously "magical" experience for your community, consider putting a time limit on it. You never know what might work out; sometimes people will sit on the floor to see your art. If you take on a similar project - tweet about it using #24, our team would love to see what magic other people create.

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