Every hour counted!
MEMBERS of the Fraserburgh Junior Arts Society raced against the clock to produce a full musical show in just 24 hours.
The group pulled out all the stops, working through the night to stage a show to a sell-out audience recently.
Co-producer Gaynor Milne admitted that the 24 Hour Musical was 'by far, the strangest experience' she had ever had. However, she also described it as one of the most rewarding.
The show was co-produced by Gaynor Milne and Margaret Adams.
"We got everyone registered & auditioned in the early part of the evening, then the troops assembled in the main hall. At 7pm, the production team who were to be working with the cast, were told that the show would be Boogie Nights, they then had half an hour to very quickly scan the script and choose their cast.
"At 7.30pm, we all went up to the main hall and announced to everyone what the show was and read out the cast list. Those who were not on the cast were given other jobs to do such as prompting and hair & make up," Gaynor explained.
There was no time to waste:"Everyone set to work straight away. The set design team (Craig Fyvie & John Gibson) drew up the set plans in under an hour. Meanwhile the directors (Louise Paterson & Lynn Fyvie) had a first read through of the script with the main characters.
"Our choreographers , Debbie Trail & Lyndsey Walker created a few dances for the big chorus numbers while 2 of our musical directors, Irene Buchan and Katherine Matthew started teaching the chorus some songs.
"The lighting team, headed up by Calum Noble & David Blackhall made good use of the stage being free so they got stuck in with hanging lights. Upstairs in the costume store, Doreen Gibson & her team began looking out 70's style clothes and measuring the cast as they worked. Our band, led by Stephen Andrew Whyte started tackling the music to accompany the cast," Gaynor added.
Once the set was designed, the rehearsal assistants, Marianne Adams & Margaret Moffat took over from the directors, while they went over the set plans and then blocked out the whole show.
"Nobody at all knew what the script was until the Friday evening, apart from myself and Margaret Adams. Once the show was announced, we had very little to do with putting it together, as we didn't think that would be fair given that we knew the title beforehand," she explained.
The team worked continuously right through the night, with people grabbing no more than a half hours sleep here and there.
"It was amazing to see the level of team work for the whole event, the whole cast & crew really pulled together to reach our target. During the night, about 3am on the Saturday morning I had a walk about the hall. It was a fabulous sight to see. Every room, corridor and cupboard was literally being used to rehearse dances, sing songs, make costumes, gather props, learn lines, design hair & make up or stack set," Gaynor added.
For those who needed a break, there was a tireless food crew who set up shop in the South Church hall. They made pots of soup and sandwiches to keep everyone going through the night, then at about 6am, they began making a breakfast including bacon eggs and freshly made pancakes to set everyone up for the day.
"At 9am, we had our first run through of the show all together. This went quite well , and the team then focused on areas to be worked on over the next few hours. About 11am our sound technician arrived to rig his gear for the radio mics. We were aiming to have our full dress rehearsal at 3.30pm, although it was after 4pm before we got going with that. Given that the crew & team of over 100 had only been working on the show for less than a day, the dress rehearsal went ok.
"However, the strain was starting to show on a lot of us, and to be honest, we had quite a few doubts that we were going to pull it off. We literally finished rehearsing just minutes before the audience arrived," said Gaynor.
Once the audience were seated, it was announced that Boogie Nights was the showthey were going to see.
"The buzz from the audience really lifted the cast and they opened the show with a bang! The energy kept up through out the performance and the audience were so supportive of us.
"Yes, mistakes were made, and that is what made the 24 Hour Musical challenge unique for those watching. The fluffs and forgotten lines & cues were entirely part of the whole experience.
"It was all together quite a surreal event for many of us. We basically compacted what we would take five months to do normally, into just 24 Hours. We had our auditions, first production meeting, casting, first rehearsal, dress rehearsal, opening night and last show all at once," said the Co-producer.
Gaynor did not rule out another such adventure, but acknowledged what a huge task it had been: "It may be something we would consider doing again in the future, though possibly not on an annual basis. The icing on the cake for us was when Gavin, Catherine and Craig Noble arrived at the hall, just after the show had finished. They were just back from Mombassa in Kenya, where they had been working at the Aids Orphanage. We are delighted that all proceeds from our event will go to the Food Project at the orphanage.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was involved in making the 24 Hour Musical possible. It was only achieved through committed team work and a collective determination to succeed," Gaynor added.
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Weather for Fraserburgh
Thursday 24 May 2012
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