By Amy Hartman, Assistant Projection Designer and Video Operator for When Tang Met Laika, Denver Center Theatre Company

Hi everyone!  Amy Hartman here, Assistant Projection Designer and Video Operator for WHEN TANG MET LAIKA. Last week we started tech rehearsals for the show.  This is one of the most “tech-heavy” show the Denver Center Theatre Company has ever produced!  Here is a recap of our second tech day:

5:52pm

8 minutes ’til we resume work. Crew all seems happy and well fed as they trickle in from dinner break. Ronnie just said he made “good” coffee. Must go investigate this claim.

5:56pm

Ronnie has indeed made “good” coffee. The set all of a sudden looks much more colorful.

6:04pm

And we’re back…

6:31pm

Running the retirement community scene. Having some technical difficulties involving a shuffle board mat. The seagull sounds and palm tree projections make it seem very tropical here in The Space Theatre. There is a cabinet filled with board games, which makes me wonder, when

was the last time I played Battleship? If I have to ask, it was probably too long ago.

6:55pm

And just like that, it’s winter again. Running the Moscow scene; the lights and video are chilling.

7:19pm

The amount of technology in this show really is amazing. Pallets on, pallets off, lights, videos, sounds and music. Our stage manager Christi has her work cut out for her keeping up with all of it. And it’s her birthday! Happy birthday, Christi! Maybe she’ll get a birthday surprise, later on…

7:29pm

Everyone is singing along to Frank’s “Fly Me To The Moon” during our first 10-minute break. Awesome.

7:32pm

Just finished some delicious shortbread from Backstage Coffee. I highly recommend trying it.

7:52pm

…let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars….

8:02pm

Ward Duffy, who plays Yuri Gagarin, keeps barking. Well, his vest does. Have I mentioned how high tech this show is? I mean, there is a barking vest! How awesome is that?

8:27pm

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTI! We just had a cake rise on the elevator during the first International Space Station (ISS) scene, accompanied with a custom projection. She was so surprised. Too bad we have 2- minutes until our next 10-minute break to eat cake.

9:08pm

Cake was delightful.

9:14pm

In the first ISS scene, there are 32 separate cues — for a four-page scene. That’s impressive.

9:50pm

The space station looks incredible. Every detail is spot on! If I didn’t know better I would think we had real astronauts not actors. The revolving stage floor does a great job giving off that zero gravity feel. Clever effect.

10:14pm

Of course, the revolves do make finding your entrances and exits tricky. And catching up to your fellow actors. This whole show is an exercise in extreme blocking. The weak of heart need not audition.

10:37pm

Eleven and a half hours into a 10 out of 12: That’s when the crew starts getting giddy…and starts playing on the revolves. At least were all in good spirits.

10:52pm

And now it’s an all out dance party. WOOOO! Fortunately for all of us, it’s in the script. Charles McCloud did a bang up job making it feel like a real club in here.

11:03pm

Just broke for the day. Now notes and off to sleep. Tech day two — overwhelming success.

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