Streetcar Production Manager's Report (Chris Morrison)
This was my first time as production manager and for me, finished up consisting of a lot of ‘learning by doing’ as there weren’t too many experienced PMs around where I could seek advice and a lot of things happened almost by osmosis. This was one of the most ambitious plays attempted by Semi-Circle since ‘Oliver!’ and casting and planning were already completed back in the early summer largely due to Krista’s enormous energy and enthusiasm which she continued to supply throughout the run-up to performing in November. The play had an excellent cast of actors who were off the book very early, despite phenomenal amounts to memorise for the key characters (Nina, Stephanie, Frederick and David) and all of whom who put in more hours of rehearsal (often late into the night) than anything we’ve done in recent years. This resulted in some rather slick performances although it must be said that the run-up to the première on 6th November was somewhat nerve-racking with laborious scene-changes & blocking alterations still being made at the run-through and the Dress the same week! However, thanks to the professionalism of the actors and also to a fantastic effort by the props crew under Michael Clarke, Chris Comerci and Sue Aeschbach, everything went off well on the first night and the performances just got better and better throughout the run.
The set design by Conny Heim and Dragana Blaser also involved a huge effort and we had a vast array of props to manage, many of these sourced by Conny and myself – the most spectacular of which were possibly the ‘smashable’ liquor bottles! Although the Semi-Circle flats for the set had been re-engineered by Robi Pipoz, he was unfortunately not able to help us this time with assembly due to a hospital visit. This meant that the backstage crew doubled up as set-constructors and, given the need to dissemble/reassemble the set several times during the run to fit with Helmut Förnbacher’s own schedule, involved a lot of hard work from some very willing and uncomplaining helpers, particularly Ollie Aeschbach, Matt Breckenridge, Peter Hilton, Flavio de Rosa, Steve Martin, John Hyland and numerous others. Thanks also to Lilian Carando, Carol Rees and Helen Baldomero for make-up and hair.
The play was performed on 6th, 7th, 19th (twice), 20th and 21st Nov and we had virtually a full house (approx 200 seats) on every night. Many thanks to front of house volunteers, especially Penny Rettig on box-office and Sebastian Baldomero as usher/backstage gofer. Quite noticeable was the fact that we had a large number of school pupils attending from various local schools including the ISB, who had their own dedicated matinee on 19th Nov. The choice of a play which was on this year’s curriculum for examinations in English was, with hindsight, quite a smart move! However, we found that we were at risk of disappointing a number of our supporters who were unable to get tickets and it was decided to run an additional performance on 26th Nov to cater for these and despite the short notice, this performance pulled in around 100 extra people.
The deal with Helmut Förnbacher meant that he took half of the box-office (75% of the matinee) and ran the bar, so he was very satisfied with the outcome which bodes well for any future collaboration. As ever, his technical team were fantastic to work with, always very accommodating and helpful, we really appreciated all they did to help make things run smoothly. For the first time, Semi-Circle sought external sponsorship beyond ads in the program by approaching a number of local companies/organizations. The response was not overwhelming but we did get support from several sources notably Novartis, Roche, Bider & Tanner, Jaquet AG and the Gould family – certainly worth pursuing a similar campaign for future productions. Final financial information for the production is not yet available but will be presented at the January 2009 AGM.
A wrap-up party was held in ‘La Insième’ on Schwarzwaldallee, first time we’ve been there, reasonable prices and very gemütlich , a fine place to round off the production, we might want to consider them for future events.
All in all, a lot of hard work but a lot of fun and certainly a production which has earned our club a lot of praise – credit should go to everyone involved for helping make it happen in the great way it did!
Chris Morrison
