New Work at the Old Space

Fighting with microphones
Freezing down to my bones
And to top it all off
I'm with you

- 'The Tango Maureen'
Rent

I've been in tech rehearsals at 'The Old Space.' It's really called First Stage, but those of us that work there refer to it as the Old Space. It's where Village Theatre started. (A newer, bigger theatre was built down the street in 1997). The old space has so much character and history. The character being that if you look at it from across the street, you will notice that it is sinking to the left. It has no foundation. The stage has no wings or fly space (sound familiar, Augie grads?). The dressing room underneath the stage can no longer be used as a dressing room because it is condemned (still used for storage). There is no green room. We have a ghost named Harry, who was an actor. The heat works only half the time. Recently it developed a smell in the stairwell - we think an animal has died somewhere in the wall. The fire department says that if it ever catches fire, they are going to protect surrounding buildings but let it burn to the ground.
And it holds a special place in my heart. I just love it. There are a few reasons I like it. I think I like working to overcome the adversities. There is all these creative solutions we have to come with.
This is the space we use to work on developing musicals, which I highly enjoy. It's great to be able to ask the writer questions right then and there. We get changes to script and songs all the time, so we're always on our toes. It's being on the ground floor of something that may some day be something big.
And in such a small space, everyone gets to know each other better.
Two of my favorite musicals of all time were done here - and I got to work on them both; Making Tracks and One Red Flower (Letters From 'Nam).