Behind the Scenes of "Assassins," the Warner Theatre's First Socially Distant Live Musical
M: What was the biggest challenge with putting on a socially distant live musical at a drive in?
S: There were several challenges with putting on a socially distant, live musical. First, was finding the right musical that could be performed in a socially distant manner. Most often, characters/actors need to be in close proximity to each other on a stage to perform a musical. My friend (and ASSASSINS director) and I were talking one morning and she was telling me of a dream she had where we put on a socially distant, concert version of RAGTIME. I said that there would be no way for us to do that – the cast was too large and the story too dependent on the relationships between characters that it would be nearly impossible to do and do safely. We started thinking and at the same time said ASSASSINS. When we did the show at the Warner in 2015, the performers were set in “train cars” and moved out into a common play area for certain scenes. Kat [my friend] also directed that production. I said what if we eliminate the common area and keep all the performers in their own ‘pod.’ Knowing that they would need to be a great distance apart, the only option for this type of performance was going to be finding a place we could do it where the performers could be videoed live and projected so everyone in attendance could see and hear and still be socially distanced.
Second, finding the venue was critical and we are so thankful to Donna McGrane and the Pleasant Valley Drive-In Movie Theater for allowing us to use the facility, projector and FM transmitter for the performance. The couldn’t have been more welcoming and helpful throughout the process.
Third, getting all the technical elements into place in a venue outside the theater was a huge challenge, especially with a very limited budget. When we work inside the theater, everything is right there – lighting, sound, power…we had to bring everything to the drive-in and had only one night to work the bugs out before putting this up in front of an audience. Generators needed to be brought up so we could power the band, sound and pars of the set; pickup trucks needed to be brought to the venue as well as other set piece items for the actors to perform on at a safe distance from each other; video equipment needed to be secured in order to utilize the projector and screen on site - We did a lot of planning behind the scenes and talking through how it would all work but we honestly didn’t know if it was going to click in action until Tuesday night – the day before the performance.
M: Behind the scenes, how did you achieve lighting and sound?
S: We had to be very creative with lighting on this one. Knowing we would be spaced nearly 200 feet apart at the widest spot, getting electricity and cabling to all the performance pods was going to be difficult. So we had to be creative – my husband Steve and I have access to wireless, battery powered LED lighting units that are portable and can be placed in a variety of spots. Again, we talked all of this through during the process but had no idea if it was going to work the way we hoped until the Tuesday night rehearsal. Normally, in the theater, we have a lighting control console that will operate individual instruments – changing levels of brightness, turning them on or off, etc. We weren’t going to have that at the drive-in so the lights would always be on (which was another challenge for the actors). In this case, everything we talked through in planning, worked out beautifully in its execution.
Jim Luurtsema of JPL Music Services (and a long time theater volunteer), along with Randale Nunley, our Director of Operations, was responsible for sound. Again, it was a highly technical operation – we brought in equipment from the theater (microphones, antenna, etc.) which combined with Jim’s equipment provided the platform for sound. We did one rehearsal with the actors in the parking lot behind the theater where Jim had brought in wired microphones for the actors to use in a proof-of-concept rehearsal but we were going to be completely wireless at the drive-in. There were some issues at our Tuesday night rehearsal with antenna not picking up microphones, etc., sound cutting in and out over the FM transmitter at the drive-in but we were able to address those issues and have a great sounding performance on Wednesday night.
M: What were the rehearsals like leading up to the show?
S: The majority of the rehearsals took place remotely over Zoom with the actors working with Kat on character and dialogue both as a group and then individually. We only had three music rehearsals where the actors worked with Dan Koch, music director at the theater in the parking lot so proper social distancing could be done (and a bit more in this case because singing was involved). This process really happened over the course of two months with very limited rehearsal time. One of our cast members had relocated to Maine since the original production was done in 2015 so we only had him in person for one rehearsal before the final dress and performance.
M: Would the Warner do another live event at a drive in in the future?
S: I think at this point all sorts of outside live events are possible. If the right show and drive in were available, yes it would be considered. We are also considering other outside possibilities for performances – area parks, in front of the theater, the possibilities are endless. We just have to think creatively and outside the box 😊
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Congratulations to the Warner Theatre and Pleasant Valley Drive-In Movie Theater for a successful performance!
All photos by Mandi Martini/Luke Haughwout.
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