Tech Rehearsals, It’s HARDCORE!


          The cast and crew of Grease had a busy and productive tech rehearsal on St. Valentine’s weekend; with all the props and lights coming together, we can all distinctively and determinedly see a uniquely awesome production of Grease reaching its peak, though through the desultory snowstorms and the wicked cold! Well, this is why we need Grease, as Mr. Howard says, “Let’s give everybody a gift in the middle of February!” Tech rehearsal is a 10-hour rehearsal split into 2 days, focused on light cues, microphones, and props. We are starting to move the band onto the platform on stage (yes, we are having the band on stage!) and getting used to some of the costumes. Grease requires a series of extremely complicated light cues in each scene, partially because of the complex blocking that comes with the large cast (let’s thank everyone for this.) One highlight of the show is that all 22 cast members are equipped with their individual microphones, and our sound designer, Graham, is working hard and doing a great job in getting Grease all mic-ed up and pumped up!
            Monday is Theater Dark, which means that everyone gets a day to rest and catch up on homework before we jump into dress rehearsals and the show nights. Let’s get ready for Grease and celebrate Berkshire Theater as the Chinese New Year rolls around!
            Remember: Thursday, 2/19/15 (Chinese New Year), Friday, 2/20/15, and Saturday, 2/21/15, 7:30 pm, See you in Allen Theater!

- Maggie Zhu

Grease Load In!



Things were looking busy in Allen Theater last night. With less than a week before the show opens, we unloaded all of the props and set pieces on stage. This is my favorite part of this experience-the show is finally coming together!

-Jeff Erazo

Snow Day!

After a great week of rehearsing the cast and crew of Grease took off on Berkshire’s winter weekend. Everyone went home for the weekend resting up and preparing for the rest of the current Berkshire quarter, and it seems like too long before we get back into the theater. With the snow day it’s even longer, everyone got to rest up another day as Berkshire’s schedule got delayed one day further.
However, that’s not how we in Berkshire Theater spend our vacations. Amidst all the fun and resting over the weekend, everyone in the cast despite leaving the theater did not leave the play. Instead, the cast members spent time on their vacations working through the play. With tech week coming up, and the show barely more than a week away, the cast members of Grease have been working hard on perfecting their parts.
Between learning songs, dancing, lines, and blocking, the cast has a fair amount to know, and the time we spend on the play on our own time directly improves the play as a whole. We also plan to meet at the evening of the Tuesday of our return to start running through all the material we have so far.
So here’s to a successful final rehearsal process and tech week, just checking in to remind you that the work going on in the theater department, while not always happening in the theater, is always going on.

-Alexander Dornemann

Winter Break


Greetings from Long Winter Break! Starting on February 5th, Berkshire let students loose for a few days off from the hustle and bustle of the winter days at school. During our last rehearsal during break, we were incredibly successful in getting some major work done in regards to blocking (finding out where everyone should stand and move in a scene) and dancing! We had a meeting at the end of rehearsal to discuss how important it is that we do our best to practice our lines, dancing, and blocking throughout the weekend while still sleeping and catching up on rest. When we come back to school, we only have a few days before Tech Rehearsals (when we figure out all of the lighting and scene changes!), so it's imperative that we keep Grease running through our heads as the weekend goes on. In addition to the original four days, we also received news of a snow day today for Tuesday! Classes will resume on Wednesday instead. We all can't wait to be back in action to finish this last string of rehearsals that lead up to opening night! 


- Liza Jane 

Getting closer, and closer... We Are Almost There!!!


Today is another snowy day in the Berkshires, just after the super snowstorm Juno that confused the rehearsal schedule for a few days... It's the last week before the winter weekend, and we've been revisiting and refining many scenes, and we've come to a close to learning all the dance moves in Grease!!! Everyone's been working super hard, and we are all seeing Grease HAPPENING more and more every day! We are paying close attention to all the details as we are blocking scenes and dances which involve the full cast. Although we sometimes can meet an "actors block," we would always rely on each other, and say lots and lots of "Thank you's!"

Wait for the big surprises from the cast and crew of Grease, warmly in this wicked cold winter!

In the picture: the end of the song "Grease Lightnin'!"

Real Talk with Jeff

Hey everyone! Welcome to another Real Talk with me this week. With about two weeks left until opening night, the atmosphere in Allen seems to be changing. Soon, the set will be finished, all dance numbers will be choreographed, and the blocking of each scene will be finished. Finally, it's all coming together!

Fortunately, we'll have a short break at the end of this week that will allow all of us to rest up and get ready for Tech Week. I'm really looking forward to the longer rehearsals. And before you know it, Opening Night will be here. Join us on February 19, 20, and 21 at 7:30 pm!

Until next time!
Jeff

Closer each Day

Recently, Grease has become more alive onstage. As we approach opening night, it has become more apparent that the show is real and that soon, there will be people sitting in the audience watching what we have been working on for the last 3 months. In rehearsal on Friday we blocked the final scene before "You're the One That I Want". Finally while rehearsing the blocking for the last scene, the characters just came alive. Not only did it feel like everyone had found out how to play their character, but the interactions and relationships became real. From now on it is anticipated that the same energy and understanding will be invested into each rehearsal and that is what will make this production of Grease amazing! 

-Tucker Donelan