Super tale!

Mike P., the supernumerary captain, has written a really interesting account of Tuesday night's rehearsal that he wanted to share with you:

At the end of the rehearsal of Act III on Tuesday Ira came up to the supers and Barbara Shirvis (Liu) after we had practiced the carry of Liu offstage. He said that it just didn't look right. He said he was sure there was something that other productions had done that looked better. I said, "They lift Liu to their shoulders." Ira said, "Yes, thank you." He was concerned that we might not be strong enough to lift her to our shoulders. Our strongest super, Dave, had already left but I was confident that we could to the lift. Kyle and I both have training in ballet partnering and Bob and Pradeep are in good shape. I looked around and saw Amy, our smallest dancer, and asked her if she would let us practice on her. Ira said, "Oh, you are going to practice now." Amy laid on the floor and Pradeep, Bob, Kyle and I easily lifted her to our shoulders. Ira liked the way it looked so we decided to demonstrate it on Wednesday with Jennifer, another dancer, so that Barbara would be confident that we wouldn't hurt her. On Wednesday Jennifer readily agreed to practice the lift so with Dave now replacing Pradeep we did the lift once for Ira and then for Barbara. Barbara was willing to try it and Raymond Aceto (Timur) joined us since he sings to Liu as we hold her and then holds Liu's hand as we carry her offstage. It worked flawlessly! As a final detail, Ira had Pradeep support Barbara's legs and lead the group offstage.