[Menvi-discuss] methods for navigating the stage

[Chela Robles]

Well don't actually break it, but yeh you'll do fine. I once said the
same line Break A Leg, to my stepsister who was doing swim team when
she was 10, and well, just because I told her to break a leg didn't
mean she actually had to, but it ended up that the pool was shallower
than she expected because our pool was 8 feet deep and the place where
the competition toiok place was five, and she had to go to the
hospital just for diving in what she thought was the deep ends deep to
her, then we called her hop-along-Sally for two weeks and this was
before we had a refrigerator that had an ice maker, so we used frozen
vegitables and fruit. So again, good luck to you.
I always had someone guide me to where the trumpet section was in high
school because it constantly changed unfortunately...same with when I
was on the worship team at church since we meet in the Brendon Theater
and we had to teardown/setup, it was different as well, so get used to
any changes there may be last minute, wing it!
Hold your head up high and smile and don't look frustrated!
Just have fun doing what you love to do!

On 1/14/12, Brandon Keith Biggs <brandonboy13 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hello,
> I don't have a dog, so what I do is all with the Cane.
> I first move around the set multiple times, feeling and touching all the
> overhangs and floor with both my cane and hands till I have it all mapped
> out in my mind. I then ask to walk through the stage on my scenes to find
> where all the props are laid out. I feel all the stage props with my hands
> and cane and memorize how far it is around everything. I run my rout several
> times gradually becoming more daring. I try to get to the point so I can run
> through my routs at twice speed without my cane.
> I forgot to say that the first thing I do ever before I see the props is
> walk the perimeter of the stage. I feel where the edge is, and find if the
> edge is strait or curved. I also check for floor mics, sand bags, ropes,
> curtains and the back wall and drops. Also if there is going to be a scrim
> in my scene I make sure I know where that scrim falls and whatnot.
>
> In rehearsal I make sure I know where all the other people are within 10
> feet of me and I find someone who I can walk behind going off stage. That
> way if I'm getting lost I can grab their upstage arm real unobtrusively.
> I am also very hands on with the other people on stage, being super
> energetic so I can keep track of everyone around me. If you come across as
> very hands on it doesn't look odd when you walk off stage arm and arm with
> another character.
> I didn't have very complex blocking for my solo work on the multi tiered
> stage, so I'm not sure what you'd do if you were walking solo in that
> situation. Perhaps you can do the age-old counting steps! :)
> If you are having the problem of other characters grabbing the back of your
> costume trying to keep you from running into things I would ask for them to
> walk in front of you so you can grab their arm. Because people grabbing you
> is much more unsightly than you grabbing their arm.
> Please don't use the cane or dog on stage, see if you can keep the audience
> from noticing you're blind! It's fun when you walk back stage and people
> walk up to you and exclaim that they had no idea you were blind till so and
> so told them, or until they read the program.
> Hope this helps and break a leg!
>
> Brandon Keith Biggs
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Julie McGinnity
> Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 9:22 PM
> To: This is for discussing music and braille literacy
> Subject: [Menvi-discuss] methods for navigating the stage
>
> Hi everyone.
>
> I would like to know your ideas and possible methods you use when
> navigating the stage whe participating in an opera or musical.  I have
> no problems navigating the stage when I am performing in recitals or
> for master class, but at those times I have my guide dog with me, but
> right now I am in the beginning of dress rehearsal week for opera
> scenes.  I think about this every year, but this year it is more
> pressing since I have a small solo role.  I find it much harder to
> navigate the stage when blocking the opera scenes since I cannot use
> my dog or a cane in the show.  I do take my dog on stage before we
> begin blocking to get a feel for the general layout of the stage, but
> things can change, and in my opinion, things change so much when you
> don't have that input from the dog or cane to help you.  I do have
> some vision, but I can only use it when the stage is well lit, and I
> shouldn't depend on it entirely.  What techniques do you guys use in
> these situations?  I am also working hard to make my movements look
> natural on stage, and I know I don't succeed at this all the time.  I
> am not graceful.  Hey...  Being lady like is hard!  :)
>
> I am thinking that I can concentrate on working on these things for
> next year and for the spring opera scenes.  Thanks for all your help.
>
> --
> Julie McG
> Lindbergh High School class of 2009, participating member in Opera
> Theater's Artist in Training Program, and proud graduate of Guiding
> Eyes for the Blind
>
> "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
> everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
> life."
> John 3:16
>
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-- 
--
"To me, music that breaks your heart is the music that stays with you
forever. It's one thing to be melancholy and one thing to be sophisticated,
but when you get the two of them together in a way people can relate to,
then I think you're on to something. You want the sophistication to lie in
the purity of the sound, the beauty of the arrangements, and the quality of
the performances."-Trumpeter Chris Botti
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Chela Robles
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