Hell Week

I know at least a few of my regular readers are "theatre folk" who understand the phrase "Hell Week" all too well. For the uninitiated, Hell Week is the last week of rehearsal before a stage show opens. This is the week when everything we've been working towards for the last few months has to come together in a cohesive piece which can be both understood and appreciated by the audience members who have plunked down their hard-dollars and expect to be entertained in exchange for said hard-earned dollars.

It's when the acting; scenery; props; costumes; sound; lighting and makeup all have to line up to create a play. And its when a director (in this case, Uncle P) finds himself torn in a thousand directions at the same time; answering questions from dozens of collaborators while still trying to make sure his or her actors are still doing what he or she wants them to do; not to mention stroking the egos of said collaborators and actors so no one goes ballistic and sends the whole production into the toilet.

Of course, Hell Week for a JTMF show is a little different. In a JTMF show, egos are set aside because everyone knows the reason we're doing what we're doing isn't the show but rather the causes that the show supports.  100% of our ticket sales go to support the thee charities we hold dear to hearts: The Open Arms Foundation, The James Tolin Memorial Scholarship and The Trevor Project. The proceeds from our silent auction (and cash donations) are used to fund the upcoming year's show.

After nine years, we (the JTMF family) are pretty good at managing Hell Week, though it's still a stressful and occasionally painful time period. As they say, "The Devil's in the details" (hehe).

Hopefully, Hell Week for Die Mommie Die! will not be as painful as this movie seems to be from its trailer:

Yeah, it looks like that movie was made in a week. Yikes!

Tickets to the JTMF production of Charles Busch's comic thriller Die Mommie Die! are available at www.kelseyatmccc.org or by calling the Kelsey Theatre box office at 609-570-3333.  If you cannot attend but want to help, a secure online donation can be made via PayPal at www.jtmf.org.

More, eventually...
Prospero

By the way, did anyone see this week's "Law and Order: Criminal Intent"? If you've been following the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark nonsense for the past year or so, you'll appreciate it.

P