Monthly Archives: December 2011

One of the more entertaining aspects of being involved in the production of Inspecting Carol has been the chance to, in essence, watch ourselves at work. In the play, the managers of the fictitious Soapbox Theatre are trying to make ends meet as the actors and crew try to put on another run of A Christmas Carol. Zorah (played by Yvette Zapfael), the artistic director and theatre manager Kevin (Adam Hegg), fret about grants and selling out performances in a theatre that can barely keep the lights on. Stage manager MJ (Sarah Bixler) and technician Bart (Kevin Schilling) worry about getting the trap doors, fog machine, and lights to work long enough to rehearse and put on the play.

Their real counterparts in Burien Little Theatre certainly see ourselves in these characters. Artistic Director Eric Dickman and Theatre Director Maggie Larrick have to juggle budgets and work with the city of Burien to make sure that there is a place to put on shows and money to produce them. Stage manager Cyndi Baumgardner, stage crew members Gavin Doiron and Sandy Mize, and I, along with the cast, meanwhile have to work out how to put on the show. As the caption of the photograph shows, I had to learn how to run the audio computer software as I was entering the cues for the show. Cyndi had to learn how to run the light board, and Gavin and Sandy had to learn all the things they needed to do in order to make sure that the actors had their props and costumes, and were able to make their entrances. Gavin had to learn how to drop a stage platform on cue, and to run a balky fog machine.