By Patrick Lavender, touring video operator Patrick joins us on our 2018 Australia tour for his first tour with the orchestra. As the video operator, Patrick runs the projections during a live performance, which includes still images and video, timing it perfectly with musical and speaking cues while following a score of the music. When the orchestra was in Canberra, Patrick gave us a look in a day in the life of a technician on the road.
8:00am – Wake up, hit snooze. 8:10am – Wake up, drink instant coffee. This is the standard in Australian hotels. In a country steeped in coffee culture, I was a little surprised. Note to self: next time, bring a press. 9:30am – After a nice breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt, served in my hotel room coffee cup, I venture into the outside world for a proper cup of coffee. A couple cappuccinos later and I’m ready for the day! 9:45am – Most mornings we walk to the venue. Today in Canberra we are a few blocks further and are picked up by our wonderful Musica Viva Tour Manager, Rebecca. It is 5˚ C, and I can see my breath outside. This is the furthest south we will stop on the entire tour. 10:00am – We arrive at Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, and unload the 50’ tour transport truck. This might be slightly overkill for a harpsichord, double bass, and 6 video cases. The crew here is lovely, and we begin the “bump in” (Australian for Load In).
11:45am – Break, time for a Tim Tam Slam, a proper Australian sugar treat initiation. Please see the video below!
12:30pm – After finishing my video focus and setup, I retire to the greenroom for a few more Tim Tams (an Australian delicacy in my opinion), another cup of coffee, and some gummy candies (my weakness). Time to head back to the hotel.
1:00pm – On my walk back to the hotel, I stop at a small Indonesian take-away joint and order a Nasi Goreng. I’m realizing this blog could also be titled: A Day in the Life of a Tafelmusik Technician / A Culinary Cruise of Canberra / I’m Basically Blogging About Food. I get back to the hotel, take a bath, and change into my show clothes. 2:45pm – Meet in the lobby and hitch a ride back to the venue. Time for more gummies and Tim Tams (Tim Tam daily count 5 … okay 7).
4:00pm – Alison Mackay and I look through the video images and make a few adjustments to brightness and contrast. 5:15pm – Following music rehearsal, Blair and I run through some of the challenging video sequences. After a few passes of each section, we are ready for tonight’s performance.
5:45pm – Dinner is served in the backstage greenroom. Tonight is a selection of curries, green salad, and of course a table of sweets. Time for one more Tim Tam Slam, and I’m ready for my final preshow checks. 6:15pm – I chat with the venue stage manager, Rachel, to go over the top of show and intermission procedures. We check to ensure our communication system is functioning correctly, execute our preshow lighting and video cues, turn the house lights up, and then we are ready for the audience to enter the hall.
6:30pm – I dart back to the greenroom to continue writing this blog. There is a flurry of action, musicians tuning, children playing [Cristina Zacharias and Elisa Citterio are travelling with their toddlers], some final preshow snacks, and one last chance for the musicians to practise a few of the more challenging phrases of music. Glenn comments that all the musical chaos forms a sort of perfect musical storm, a cacophonous ensemble of pre-performance sounds. 6:50pm – Time to take my place at the back of the hall.
7:00pm – The audience takes their seats. I take a few deep breaths, the musicians enter the stage, and away we go! 9:00pm – The musicians take their final bow. It has been an excellent show for everyone. I have executed all 250 video cues and 60 lighting cues without error – my best show yet! 10:00pm –The last case is loaded onto the oversized truck, and the bump out is complete.
10:30pm – Back at the hotel I convince my partner Kaitlin Hickey, (also on tour, as the lighting associate) to head out for some late night food and drink. This proved more difficult than we imagined. Does no one eat after 6pm?! After trying 3 or 4 establishments we end up at a Japanese bar. I’m already planning my next meals once we to return to Melbourne, where the culinary options seem limitless, and delicious. Perhaps some Italian for lunch at Pellegrini’s and Szechuan for dinner at Dainty’s? 11:30pm – We head back to the hotel and retire for the night. 10am tour bus departure tomorrow for our 1pm flight back to Melbourne. So far we have flown 22,311 km since leaving Toronto. That’s the equivalent of driving from St. John’s to Victoria over 4 times. Kaitlin and I are keeping a tally this season. Over the next 5 months we will travel to 4 different continents, touring with Tafelmusik and Volcano Theatre. What a great way to see the world!