Hello MTC website readers!

 

You’re arriving just in time for the most exciting part: as I write this very first entry, we at FROM UP HERE are a mere day away from tech…

 

What does that mean exactly?

 

Well, if you’re my parents it means you’re not going to hear from me for another week or so (Sorry, Mom! At least now there is a blog you can check.).

 

But if you’re actually a part of the production, it means we spend our first days in the REAL theater on the REAL set, working with our REAL props and costumes, and setting all the light and sound cues. We work long days, and for those of us who have been in the rehearsal room these past few weeks, it’s a crazy shift to go from a rehearsal set to the REAL thing, to go from an intimate room where we’ve all gotten to know each other well, to a big space with lots of new additions to our team – actually, all of these new additions have been working on the show all along, just not inside our little rehearsal room.

 

Think of it like a glorious meeting of the minds: actors meet lights, meet sound, meet sets, and meet costumes. Or, in my cheesy Disney version, it is where the theater magic happens. I know that sounds terrible, but I actually mean that, you can see magic happen, especially with the phenomenal designers that we are so lucky to have. Tech is amazing.

 

Since thus far I’ve been writing in first person, maybe I should give you a brief introduction to who I am. When I’m not being the eyes and ears of this illustrious new-found blog, I’m Shira Milikowsky, the assistant director on FROM UP HERE. I came to Manhattan Theatre Club through my connection with Ars Nova, a young, not-for-profit theatre company partnering with MTC to produce FROM UP HERE. I am currently the director-in-residence at Ars Nova. So far, it’s been an incredible journey. Working for director Leigh Silverman is basically a dream come true, and this cast is truly, profoundly, and deeply remarkable.

But if you want to know more about that, you’ll just have to check back again soon.

 

“But how are they remarkable, Shira? You must tell us!” “All in good time, dear readers, all in good time.”