What it takes...

People often ask me what it takes to put a series together.  Okay... No one really asks that, but I'm answering the question anyway. In no particular order...

a reliable computer, a pizza place that delivers to your house, a cozy hoodie that has stains reminding you of everything you've eaten in the last week, pepto (see pizza place), ample amounts of headache relief medication, and lastly, a pair of fleece pants with camouflage moose on them.

I'm not kidding. Without these things, I'm not entirely sure what our show would look like next week. No matter how much you plan, and how many people are involved, something will always go wrong. That's the trick about production... laying out plans is great, but what it takes more than anything is the willingness to get your hands dirty.

This weekend, we ran into some real trouble with our tech for In Transit: #undercoverhero (premiering Monday night - rsvp HERE for the concert and pre-concert reception!) Due to no fault of our trusty interns who have been slaving away at our elaborate plan which I can't entirely give away, we got stymied, and had to remake EVERYTHING. And we had to do it quickly. If you're really curious as to what happened, ask me after the show. I can't give away too much.

So here's how things went. I woke up on Sunday morning, and after a panicked call to Melissa for software help, set in to do my work. I spent about 13 hours between Sunday and Monday morning early (since we had 9 am rehearsal) capturing and processing videos so that our story would come off without a hitch.

In other words, this show was brought to you by fleece moose pants.

What I'm reflecting on today (besides the fact that Melissa said if I didn't recreate the scene, moose pants and all, that I'd see a pay cut) is that what I did truly isn't outstanding in the culture of Fifth House. Every week there is someone, or LOTS of someones, who go above and beyond to make something happen. Sometimes it's practicing until your ears bleed, and finding a way to make something work that isn't easy for you, and all you really want to do is cry and move on. Sometimes it's sitting through long meetings you don't want to sit through because the work needs to get done. Sometimes it's sacrificing more time and money than planned because childcare fell through, someone got sick, etc.

For a series to be successful, you have to have a healthy ensemble. While my picture above may not represent the epitome of health, our group truly does. We make sacrifices for each other every day, every week, and we have a deep trust in one another that makes our business possible. That's what it really takes to make a series. But, truth be told.... moose pants can't hurt, either. Can I make that a thing? Will moose pants catch on? Only time will tell.

Today's Weekly Inspiration Blog Post was written by our resident pianist & Director of Artistic Programming.  I didn't want to spoil this amazing (and inspiring!) post with an introduction.  So here's my epilogue.  Adam is a truly amazing artist, and I couldn't be happier or more blessed to work with someone as giving, hard working, and talented as he is.  If I'm being truthful, the honesty in this post made me a little emotional.  Maybe it's all the late nights & early mornings & games of email catch up that have happened this week, but I think this is one of our most inspirational posts yet.  And THANK YOU, Adam, for all you do for Fifth House Ensemble.