BIG DINER | PC Trinity Theatre

Big Diner of Disaster

The year 2020 brought many things. Although, the challenge of directing a musical for the first time, and an original parody at that, was minuscule when compared to the global pandemic we found ourselves in.

When everything hit the fan in March, it was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the fact that, since us directors were forced to leave our respective college campuses, we now had a little more time to get together and crank out this zany show. Although, it was very much still a curse as, besides the obvious, we now had to plan how to audition, rehearse, and perform a show under the ever-changing circumstances.

Auditions and callbacks were made possible by video calls, but you can't prepare a quality show, especially a musical, remotely. So, we had to make sure that we distanced everyone and that all of our actors worked together to keep themselves and others safe. Thankfully, we were blessed to have a cautious and passionate cast that kept it together no matter how dismal things may have looked.

We had a cast, but the orchestra pit was arguably the most difficult find for us. But, we managed to pull a rag-tag group together. And, not only did they work their hardest to learn music quickly, they played so well and loud that we actually had to make an enclosure to lessen their volume; that's just how great they were.

Deadlines crept hard on us. Between getting music completed and learning it, we also had to make some major cuts and changes dangerously close to opening night. That included the cutting of a handful of songs, and a reworked scene that included an emotional monologue to refocus the show. These ended up being for the better, but maybe we'll revisit some of the unused material somewhere down the line...

Come opening night, we had a show together, and one to be proud of. We couldn't open the performances to people outside of immediate family members due to the pandemic, and audience and performers alike had to where masks when off-stage, but we persevered and put on the most normal production we could given our circumstances.

We couldn't have done it without the talent and heart of our amazing cast and pit. You all pulled through and put on a show we can all be proud of for years to come.

From the bottom our hearts, we thank you!