I will try my best not to complain about the heat in Tempe and limit my comments to this: imagine standing in 100-degree heat with a wool sweater on, drinking a latte under a blow dryer. You still wouldn’t be quite as hot as it was in Tempe in July. There. Now on to the theatre! I am not sure if it was because the theatre is located on the Arizona State University campus or if the audience members were of a younger generation, but almost every night at the Gammage Theatre felt a little like a rock concert. From the opening of the show, the audience was screaming at the top of their lungs -- and this began with the announcement to turn off cell phones. I was “swung out” of a performance during our run at the Gammage Theatre. This means I was asked by a fellow cast member to sit out of a performance in order for that particular castmate to get a chance to perform. This is always nice because you get the opportunity to watch the show with the audience and experience the moments that you normally help create. This particular theatre was more like a stadium, which caused quite a field day for the sound department who had to go to great lengths adjusting the sound levels so that the vocals did not sound muzzled.
Another "interesting" characteristic of the house was the lack of aisles (see photo!). This meant bathroom breaks were difficult and the movement of people was, at times, a bit of a distraction for the performers and audience members alike. The backstage area was spacious and I absolutely adored my dresser who became my fast friend. The cast enjoyed the convenience of the dressing rooms being on stage level, but hated the hike to the hair department -- when returning your wig at the end of a performance it meant climbing three flights of stairs.
Another difficult process for the cast was parking at the venue. Tempe is a definitely a “car city”. For us this meant that if you chose to stay in the company housing, company management had to provide a car that was to be shared by four castmates since the housing options were not within walking distance. I did not stay in company housing but did have a rental car of my own. On the few occasions when I had early rehearsals or reasons to be at the theatre before 5:00 PM, parking was a problem. Summer school was in session at ASU and for some reason the cast was not allowed to park in the theatre lot until after 5:00 PM. The lot we were allowed to use was a walk from the venue and in 114-degree heat, this felt like torture. Thank goodness they kept the theatre nice and air-conditioned.
Overall my run in Tempe was a great experience, but next time I’ll do as the locals advised and visit some time other than July!
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