thirteen ways

It has taken 6 years to get to this point. Years of begging Steve Reich and the Bang on a Can folks on bended knee; of finding co-commissioning partners for 80 very expensive minutes of music; of planning dates with managers and presenters; of hiring an “entourage” and working out the complex logistics. Then, this season, waiting with baited breath for the (fantastic) finished product; countless hours of practicing, rehearsing and recording the Reich CD part; collaborating with Susan Marshall and her assistant Mark deChiazza; going back and forth and back and forth with presenters about the difficulties of staging the project…

So it was unfortunate that in the middle of an open “airing” of Reich’s Double Sextet in front of 40 music students at U of R today, everything came to a grinding halt. Nothing exploded; nobody was injured. The scratched CD skipped a few times, we all got lost, and the thing just died. With a whimper.

“Um. Well, I guess we should be glad that this happened now, rather than tomorrow night…”

Below, under full concert lighting the Kap writhes on autumnal leaves during the final moments of Julia Wolfe’s piece:

“OK, don’t say it. Don’t say it, Tim.”

“Say what?”

“NICE KNOCKERS! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHHAHA”

Below, we were given our final “kitting up” this morning by our gorgeous costumer, Mary McNaugher. Clearly she is aware of our, um, somewhat tight budget. These are the Duv’s stylish shoes:

Below, the Mac (posing for the camera, as always), looking every inch the dapper gent (dare I say “dandy”?) in his sexy threads:

Below, we love U of R. I don’t say it enough, but we love them. Love. It’s hard to express, but they treat us like royalty. Not just any old royalty, but “ReadyBrush: Prepasted Toothbrush” royalty:

Below, the Kap in a somewhat vulnerable position under our stage cloth:

Below, our patient Stage Manager, Barbara Whitney, who clearly didn’t see the “sorting fake leaves into different colors” line in her contract:

Tomorrow, Reich and Co arrive; we freak out during eight hours of dress rehearsals and soundchecks; play a freaking good show; spend two hours packing up; drink awesome beer; I go home and blog. Stay tuned….