Well I think I officially jinxed that show, after saying how we'd been trouble-free for some time.
At the end of the show when the snow and rain machines are going, Gambit throws down his stick and 3 huge plumes of fire erupt from 3 manholes in the stage. However, in the last show we noticed that one wasn't shooting any fire up, instead it was just swirling around and when the other 2 shut off the hole remained burning. A brief moment of "uh-oh" occured before Aidan and myself grabbed both Co2 guns and used them as impromptu fire-extinguishers, succesfully putting out the blaze. It's strange, this is my 3rd stunt show ever but the second time that I've had to put out a fire on stage.
Now the main problem we have is that it looks like this was not an accident. There has been talk of Sabotage flying around the park for a while now and we feel we've been the victim of many accidents that just can't have been fluke incidents. There is currently an investigation going on to get to the bottom of this but every time we go on stage now I worry about everyones safety, the people rappelling from the ceiling, those who stand by pyro-technics, everything has potential to be very dangerous especially if it's being tampered with.
As it stands we will be doing the 3rd show today but without the flame jets. Particularly annoying since there are lines in the show about using the fire but what can we do? It's all pre-recorded and the park dont want us cancelling shows.
Certainly hope this is resolved soon, will keep you up to date with any developments.
P.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Guten Tag
Hello all, blimey has it really been a week since I updated? My apologies. Time seems to be moving quite quickly now that we're so set in our ways.
So where were we last time? Oh yes, the lamp-post had broken and I was going to try something different. Well it went ok but looked really awkward from the audience point of view, I was miles away from the explosions that were going off on the balcony and the whole thing just looked a bit weird. Fortunately everything had been repaired for the next morning and it was business as usual.
It's also been a while since we had to cancel any shows, it was becoming a rather too frequent occurance, every occasion was due to something technical though, still no performer errors.
The heat has reached a pinacle today, we have a lot of people coming up to us after the shows asking if we're hot, the Germans don't seem to understand the premice of "ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer" so we just have to be polite and say yes, we're very hot indeed!
3 shows today, high season should be starting the week after next. We've been told to expect 3 shows a day all week round with the possibility of more. We're all secretly hoping that 3 will be enough, we're yet to perform to a completely full theatre and would much rather do 3 shows to a full house than 4 shows to a smaller crowd.
If anything exciting or interesting happens i'll be here to let you know!
Px
So where were we last time? Oh yes, the lamp-post had broken and I was going to try something different. Well it went ok but looked really awkward from the audience point of view, I was miles away from the explosions that were going off on the balcony and the whole thing just looked a bit weird. Fortunately everything had been repaired for the next morning and it was business as usual.
It's also been a while since we had to cancel any shows, it was becoming a rather too frequent occurance, every occasion was due to something technical though, still no performer errors.
The heat has reached a pinacle today, we have a lot of people coming up to us after the shows asking if we're hot, the Germans don't seem to understand the premice of "ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer" so we just have to be polite and say yes, we're very hot indeed!
3 shows today, high season should be starting the week after next. We've been told to expect 3 shows a day all week round with the possibility of more. We're all secretly hoping that 3 will be enough, we're yet to perform to a completely full theatre and would much rather do 3 shows to a full house than 4 shows to a smaller crowd.
If anything exciting or interesting happens i'll be here to let you know!
Px
Sunday, 4 July 2010
Alrighty then.
Hello all, update time.
So things have been going pretty well of recent, the weather was really becoming a factor towards the end of last week. This current heatwave has meant that we're tiring out during shows and risking dehydration, particularly those in muscle suits which are essentially padded duvets. No-one has fallen foul of dehydratiuon or exhaustion yet though.
Yesterday I received the employee of the month award which was nice, I got a big mirage entertainment bag and a bottle of Bishops Finger ale, which our show manager had to go to an English shop in Koln to buy. Much appreciated.
First two shows today went very well. The park are doing a promotional day, something to do with one of the German bank groups. The second show today was specifically for people utilising this deal and they got a warm-up guy to get the audience cheering before the show. The crowd were very good and we got a very long round of applause at the end of the show.
However, when I went to reset my lamp-post I noticed that the safety cable attaching it to the set has become severely frayed, to the point that I refuse to use it again until it is replaced. So we were left to devise an alternative, someting that got glossed over when we first mentioned it. After a quick discussion about options it seems the best thing to is climb my way over that part of the set to a nearby ladder. To make it look a little more exciting i'll be jumping from quite high up the ladder into a shoulder roll (I knew that Parkour training would come in useful one day!)
So we'll see how it goes, hopefully it wont be long before the cable is replaced, tomorrow is my day off so if I do break my leg it can have a day to heal :-P
Bye for now!!!
So things have been going pretty well of recent, the weather was really becoming a factor towards the end of last week. This current heatwave has meant that we're tiring out during shows and risking dehydration, particularly those in muscle suits which are essentially padded duvets. No-one has fallen foul of dehydratiuon or exhaustion yet though.
Yesterday I received the employee of the month award which was nice, I got a big mirage entertainment bag and a bottle of Bishops Finger ale, which our show manager had to go to an English shop in Koln to buy. Much appreciated.
First two shows today went very well. The park are doing a promotional day, something to do with one of the German bank groups. The second show today was specifically for people utilising this deal and they got a warm-up guy to get the audience cheering before the show. The crowd were very good and we got a very long round of applause at the end of the show.
However, when I went to reset my lamp-post I noticed that the safety cable attaching it to the set has become severely frayed, to the point that I refuse to use it again until it is replaced. So we were left to devise an alternative, someting that got glossed over when we first mentioned it. After a quick discussion about options it seems the best thing to is climb my way over that part of the set to a nearby ladder. To make it look a little more exciting i'll be jumping from quite high up the ladder into a shoulder roll (I knew that Parkour training would come in useful one day!)
So we'll see how it goes, hopefully it wont be long before the cable is replaced, tomorrow is my day off so if I do break my leg it can have a day to heal :-P
Bye for now!!!
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Update
Howdy folks, just a quick update on the last few shows.
Show 1 yesterday: We had a new techie running the show so were told to be aware for slight mistakes with sound effects etc. He actually did pretty well for a first attempt and the only mistakes were noticible to us on stage and probably not noticible to the audience.
Show 2 yesterday: Well we were all in our places backstage, the pre-show music ended and the backstage light got brighter signalling the beginning of the show. However it quickly became apparant that there was no music, only dialogue coming out of the speakers. There's no way the show would work like that so without even setting foot on stage we went upstairs and the show was cancelled.
First show today: Unfortunately cancelled again, this time the show was running fine to begin with but at the point where Wolveine repels in and the action starts (i'm sitting in the wings watching the stage) the curtain dropped and there was a distinct lack of Wolverine. I waited for a couple of seconds but it was clear that Wolverine wasnt there so ran backstage to inform the techies that we were missing a character and the show would have to be stopped. Well the music continued to play to a baffled audience before an announcement was made saying the show was cancelled. Turns out that the glove needed for the Wolverine repel had been knocked off the walkway, making it impossible for Wolfy to come down the rope.
So here we are, with a very long gap before our next showtime, thank God the weathers nice eh!
P.
Show 1 yesterday: We had a new techie running the show so were told to be aware for slight mistakes with sound effects etc. He actually did pretty well for a first attempt and the only mistakes were noticible to us on stage and probably not noticible to the audience.
Show 2 yesterday: Well we were all in our places backstage, the pre-show music ended and the backstage light got brighter signalling the beginning of the show. However it quickly became apparant that there was no music, only dialogue coming out of the speakers. There's no way the show would work like that so without even setting foot on stage we went upstairs and the show was cancelled.
First show today: Unfortunately cancelled again, this time the show was running fine to begin with but at the point where Wolveine repels in and the action starts (i'm sitting in the wings watching the stage) the curtain dropped and there was a distinct lack of Wolverine. I waited for a couple of seconds but it was clear that Wolverine wasnt there so ran backstage to inform the techies that we were missing a character and the show would have to be stopped. Well the music continued to play to a baffled audience before an announcement was made saying the show was cancelled. Turns out that the glove needed for the Wolverine repel had been knocked off the walkway, making it impossible for Wolfy to come down the rope.
So here we are, with a very long gap before our next showtime, thank God the weathers nice eh!
P.
Monday, 28 June 2010
Allo.
Oh dear, goodbye England from the world cup, going to be annoying putting up with all the smug Germans, at least until Friday when they get beaten by Argentina!
So the weekend went fine, a couple of glitches in the shows but nothing serious. Huge audiences on Saturday afternoon, maybe the biggest since we opened which is always good for us on stage.
Back to the usual 2 shows today, the weather is really playing a part now as it's been so hot, having to be very careful about running the risk of dehydration and exhaustion but we get plenty of time to rest and recover between shows so we're all taking it easy.
Not much else to report except I seem to have aquired a groupie, added her on Facebook because we had some friends in common but it turns out she is just a crazy fan and is emailing me saying she wants to talk after the shows, signs all her emails "Your Jacqueline". It's quite funny in a creepy sort of way so that's my entertainment for the week!
Til next update!
Px
So the weekend went fine, a couple of glitches in the shows but nothing serious. Huge audiences on Saturday afternoon, maybe the biggest since we opened which is always good for us on stage.
Back to the usual 2 shows today, the weather is really playing a part now as it's been so hot, having to be very careful about running the risk of dehydration and exhaustion but we get plenty of time to rest and recover between shows so we're all taking it easy.
Not much else to report except I seem to have aquired a groupie, added her on Facebook because we had some friends in common but it turns out she is just a crazy fan and is emailing me saying she wants to talk after the shows, signs all her emails "Your Jacqueline". It's quite funny in a creepy sort of way so that's my entertainment for the week!
Til next update!
Px
Friday, 25 June 2010
Ay 'up.
Afternoon all.
Well it's Friday and also my day off so hopefully the shows are running well today.
Not too many disasters to report on since the incident with the CO2 tank. Wednesday was the first time that Gareth played Magneto and he did very well considering he hasnt had to play that part for 5 weeks or so.
World cup fever is still very prevolent here, Phil, Gareth and myself went to a little bar to watch the Germany game that would determine if they would be playing England this week. It was quite funny trying to act inconspicuous as we got very excited every time Ghana looked as if they would score, fortunately I dont think anyone noticed us and as it turned out Germany will face England on Sunday. We're not busy when the game kicks off but we have our last show of the day at half time, we're expecting a very small audience indeed but will be able to run up to the green room in time to catch most of the second half. It's going to be pretty bad if England lose as we wont hear the end of it from all the techies and crew but hey-ho, maybe we'll win and can gloat at them for a while!
So back to work tomorrow and the usual weekend schedule of 3 shows a day, the weather has been brilliant recently but as a result we come home exhausted every day, still, it's good practice for the high season which looms ever closer!
Will update you all again after the weekend unless anything spectacular happens In which case i'll update sooner!
Px
Well it's Friday and also my day off so hopefully the shows are running well today.
Not too many disasters to report on since the incident with the CO2 tank. Wednesday was the first time that Gareth played Magneto and he did very well considering he hasnt had to play that part for 5 weeks or so.
World cup fever is still very prevolent here, Phil, Gareth and myself went to a little bar to watch the Germany game that would determine if they would be playing England this week. It was quite funny trying to act inconspicuous as we got very excited every time Ghana looked as if they would score, fortunately I dont think anyone noticed us and as it turned out Germany will face England on Sunday. We're not busy when the game kicks off but we have our last show of the day at half time, we're expecting a very small audience indeed but will be able to run up to the green room in time to catch most of the second half. It's going to be pretty bad if England lose as we wont hear the end of it from all the techies and crew but hey-ho, maybe we'll win and can gloat at them for a while!
So back to work tomorrow and the usual weekend schedule of 3 shows a day, the weather has been brilliant recently but as a result we come home exhausted every day, still, it's good practice for the high season which looms ever closer!
Will update you all again after the weekend unless anything spectacular happens In which case i'll update sooner!
Px
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Post number 40.
Hello all.
Well yesterday was quite funny. Our first show began at 1:15 and started off as per usual, however about 7 minutes in a noticed from my backstage position that the lighting was wrong, we were in pitch black and i could see that the lights weren't running to their usual programme. Just as i was climbing down the ladder to see what was going on the wholw show stopped and i heard our lead technician over the mic announcing that the show would have to be cancelled due to technical reasons. So I didn't even make it on stage in the first show :-P
Show two ran normally and was free from any disasters but we'd all been in since 11:45 and without doing the first show the energy levels werent particularly high, but still, it went fine and we were told the sound issues wouldnt happen again.
Today has the same show schedule and the audience will be arriving in 10 minutes so im off.
Catch you later people.
Px
Well yesterday was quite funny. Our first show began at 1:15 and started off as per usual, however about 7 minutes in a noticed from my backstage position that the lighting was wrong, we were in pitch black and i could see that the lights weren't running to their usual programme. Just as i was climbing down the ladder to see what was going on the wholw show stopped and i heard our lead technician over the mic announcing that the show would have to be cancelled due to technical reasons. So I didn't even make it on stage in the first show :-P
Show two ran normally and was free from any disasters but we'd all been in since 11:45 and without doing the first show the energy levels werent particularly high, but still, it went fine and we were told the sound issues wouldnt happen again.
Today has the same show schedule and the audience will be arriving in 10 minutes so im off.
Catch you later people.
Px
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