The GoodheART Report – Waitress Rehearsal Diary: Tech

Nina Goodheart, gap year intern, brings you a Waitress update straight from tech rehearsals.

It’s time for 8PM coffee runs and midnight music meetings. That’s right – we’re in tech.

Technical rehearsals are when all the different cogs of our show’s machine begin to mesh. While our actors have been diligently studying their blocking and learning their lines, all our production teams have been hard at work building the world of Waitress.

I’m always blown away by the level of detail that goes into everything, from the meticulously painted backdrop to the carefully curled wigs. Becky, played by Keala Settle, gets a different color neckerchief for every scene. Dr. Pomatter, played by Drew Gehling, has “Dr. Jim Pomatter, M.D.” embroidered onto the pocket of his doctor’s coat. And Dawn, played by Jeanna de Waal, wears dangly turtle earrings as a nod to her character’s prize collection of terrapins – at least, for now. The second defining characteristic of tech, after notoriously long hours, is a constant state of flux.

Another highlight for interns like me is “dry tech.” These are special rehearsals without the cast where the interns literally get to stand in the spotlight. We stand in for the actors, walk their blocking, and sometimes even say their lines. It’s amazing to see the set so close up, to stand on the stage where Jessie Mueller sings “She Used to Be Mine” feel the spotlight on your skin. Dry tech allows the creative team, stage managers, technical designers, and run crew to figure out the intricacies of sound cues, lighting changes, and scene transitions, so that by the time the actors arrive, things can flow as smoothly as possible.

Tech is undoubtedly one of the most exhausting parts of the rehearsal process, but in many ways, it’s also the most exciting. We run on adrenaline, caffeine, and a common desire to tell the story of Waitress in the best way that we can – because it’ll be show time faster than you can say “Order up!”

Nina Goodheart is a full-time A.R.T. artistic intern, blogger, and stage management intern for Waitress. She has eaten a serious amount of pie over the last few weeks.