“Amazing Arena story: Oh, there are millions. In The Odyssey, the opening of act two was an empty stage. We went to black, and the guys all rushed on and hooked a huge raft onto cables that then flew the raft up in the air. Still in darkness, Odysseus and his six men were on the raft, floating about five feet over the stage. I looked in the infrared light monitor, where you can see the people on stage during blackouts. I was getting ready to call the lights up, and I said, “There’s something wrong.” I saw a figure jump off the raft. Turns out one of the four points on the raft hadn’t been secured to the cable. Casey Biggs, who played Odysseus, jumped off, and he got his shoulder under the raft (which still had six people in it) and lifted it up. Somebody clipped it to the cable, Casey jumped back onto the raft, and I called the lights up. In my old age, I have less and less disasters that happen. Things seem to plug along a little better.” -Martha Knight, Stage Manager
Well. Color me impressed.
Hot.
