A new chapter

Now begins my life as a mech on The Lion King, Singapore. For those unfamiliar with the term it means Theatre Mechanist or sometimes known as Carpenters. They’re the people side stage pushing scenery on, and responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all the scenery. They build stuff, fix stuff, swear at stuff and paint stuff. And now I’m one of them.

I’m Promt Side (Stage Left) and I started mid way through Tech Rehearsals and a month after everyone else so as well as never really working in theatre before (not like this, anyway), I was also behind the 8 ball with knowing the show and understanding what all my cues meant. Anyways, four days in and I’m feeling like I know the show a lot better now and mostly on top of all my cues. Act II is reasonably relaxed but Act I is pretty frantic, especially around the Wildebeest stampede. If you cast your mind back to the film, that’s where Scar and the hyenas heard the Wildebeest through the canyon to kill Simba, Mufasa turns up, rescues Simba from the branch and Mufasa tries to climb the canyon wall but Scar kills him by letting him fall to his death.

It’s an important scene in the film and one that needed to look good on the stage as well. It’s manic backstage as heavy bits of scenery are set and struck and I’m dripping in sweat afterwards. The Wilderbeests are on huge steel frames that are automated and rotate around and around giving the impression of many beasts stampeding.

Apart from the nerves on my first days of trying to learn everything, not stuff up and at least look like I know what I’m doing, I’m really enjoying it. I get paid to be a carpenter and build things in the workshop (such as a cupboard for hyena legs and the conductor’s podium) and getting through the show and making it all good feels quite rewarding. It’s a great crew who have all been really supportive without mollycoddling. The cast are all mostly super friendly and very happy to assist a new guy with when to page them on and off stage.

I think I’m going to enjoy this.