Our cast has said in a number of interviews that we may not be the funny Frankenstein, but we’re funnier backstage. On this show I have been introduced to a Halloween tradition that I had never experienced before: the Boo.
It started maybe two weeks ago. One day we came to the theatre before rehearsal and found that Becky Barta’s dressing table had been hit by an explosion of Halloween cheer: fake cobwebs, plastic spiders, pumpkin decorations, and even a bobble-head Frankenstein. Taped to the mirror was a note: “You’ve been Boo’d! Pass it on!” Apparently everyone in the cast drew dates for which they are supposed to boo another cast member. Nobody knows who has boo’d them, and people can choose at random who they boo, as long as that person has not yet been boo’d before the date they have drawn. Today we had a big surprise when the entire backstage hallway and both dressing rooms were boo’d, with signs proclaiming that we’ve all been boo’d by the original boo-er.
Some of them have been really inventive. One was in the form of a scavenger hunt, in which the boo-ee had to follow the clues to talk to various people backstage during the show, who would then present them with the next clue. I was incredibly honored to be one of the stops on the scavenger hunt. The clues were on white paper with a seal drawn on in pencil to evoke the clues used as props in the show (until they were cut a couple days ago), which were distinctive red letters with wax seals. The boo-er made some comment to me about trying to make them look like the clues, so I dug into my stack of used paper props and found the ones in best condition. The clues were rewritten on the actual show props before the boo was carried out. I was very happy to be able to participate in the boo, and later assisted in setting up another one.
Finally, today we came in to find that stage management has finally been boo’d. Josh’s spot in the booth got a little cobweb treatment, and a gummy bloody handprint stuck to the outside of the window. My desk stage left was completely covered in candy, a rubber severed hand, cobwebs all over the desk and the nearby video racks, as well as the entire handrail of the escape stairs behind me. The final touch was the rubber snake on my chair. Pic:
The camera flash is way more light than stage left has ever seen. This picture is the only time I’ve ever seen what it actually looks like. We use a real flower in the show, and quickly learned we can’t store them at the prop table because they die overnight. We have to keep them in the kitchen area downstairs where they get some florescent light.
