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Dickens Christmas Fair 2008 November Missive #8 - Opening Weekend!
(sent November 26th, 2008)

Well here we are... opening weekend!

First a quick note of thanks to everyone who participated in our group and individual photo shoots. As with most things, it all took a bit longer than anticipated, but hopefully the results will prove worth the extra time.

So here we go, take a deep breath, and this weekend remember to eat, drink water, silence your cel phones and...

Shoes first, then corset!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please remember to respond to the person that posted each item below, rather than hitting "reply".  Please also remember that past missives (including workshop dates) can be found at http://www.cattaylor.com/missives.html


In This Missive:
Still Building?
Pass House Hours
Lost & Found
Public Restroom Etiquette
DCF 2008 Stage Schedule
SF State Grads Needed for News Article Interview
Notes From Costumes
Interact With Everything That Moves!
Performer & Backstage Etiquette
Mssr. Robert-Houdin Seeks Music
The Adventurers Club Invites!
To Annie's Hoop and Hair Customers
Adorn Thy Hair Opens 9:00AM
Haberdashery Open Early Friday


Still Building?
(Leslie forwards)
Just to be clear....although we would like you to finish today, Wednesday...... we will be open Tomorrow  THANKSGIVING from  10:00 - 6:00 for our team to work so if you need to be there make sure it is during those hours.

The building will then be open Event Days from 8:00am - 10:00pm


Pass House Hours
Regular Pass House hours will be 8:00AM-3:00PM on the weekends
This Friday and Saturday only, special pass house hours will be 8:00AM-5:00PM
The pass house is located in the green room bay, opposite costumes. This is where you would go to replace a lost pass (be careful with those things!) and deal with any similar paperwork issues. This is also where visiting performers check in, so if you see any lost looking morris dancers or carollers, please assist them in finding it.


Lost & Found
For the audience, lost and found will be at the Merchandise Booth at the front of the fair. For participants, it will be at the Ops Trailer in the breezeway.


Public Restroom Etiquette
Please remember not to change your clothes in the front public restrooms after 10:00 AM.  - we do have customers being escorted into the bathrooms even before we open, and we don't want to completely dispel the illusion before it's even been set.


DCF 2008 Stage Schedule
There have been a few minor tweaks to the stage schedule, now downloadable from the missives site at http://www.cattaylor.com/missives.html. This is just the grid schedule, not the pretty schedule that will be in the program.


SF State Grads Needed for News Article Interview
Anyone who is a Dickens Participant and is a graduate of SF State, please contact our publicist Adrienne Biggs ASAP (deadline Friday 11/28).  She will forward your contact info to Ted Mendoza at Xpress Magazine (the SFSU pub).

Her email is: Adrienne Biggs <adrienne@biggspublicity.com>
Thanks!  - Kevin


Notes From Costumes
At the risk of repeating myself - You all look marvelous!  Fabulous! 
Beautiful! Scummy! A huge Thank You for all your efforts to make this the best looking Dickens Fair yet!

Making a list and checking it twice . . .
Please make a list of everything you need for opening day and check it twice - 3 times if necessary.  (You might even want to pack the car Thursday night.) We will do all we an to assist in costume malfunctions but our stock is limited.

Costumes is in need of hangers
Are your closets overflowing with unwanted and un-used hangers? Have they procreated beyond your closet space?  If so, please feel free to bring the extras to us at costumes and we will put them to good use.

Reminder - Costume shop hours
Opening weekend 9 am - noon for costume approvals
We will be closed for walkies from 4 - 5
We close at 7 pm. please have any items you have borrowed back to us by then.

A big thank you to all for the offers/receipts of heaters. We are now adequately heater supplied.

Liz


Interact With Everything That Moves!
(Therese Porter forwards the following exultation)
Interact with everything that moves!  Part of the magic we create for our guests is the immersion experience - it is the constant thrum of the actors interacting with each other and the visitors that makes Dickens Fair so unique and special.  Even if it's only making eye contact and wishing "Happy Christmas," when you are in the streets and shops don't be afraid to connect with your fellow actors and with our guests.
 
Use your research, your characterization skills, your language, your love of the Fair - everything that you've spent time and energy working on these past several weeks - to the service of making each Fair day a fun, interactive experience for everyone who crosses our threshold
 
Be brave!  Be bold!  Be festive!


Performer & Backstage Etiquette
(Therese also forwards)
It is often said that those of us who work the Fair are a family (a large creative, and sometimes unruly family) or a tribe, and so we are.  That implies that we all take care of ourselves and each other. 
 
Our backstage area should be a safe and comfortable (albeit occasionally Arctic) place where we can retreat, relax, change clothes, store our stuff - all those that help us create the magical London we treat our guests to.  While we should all exercise personal responsibility for our stuff, the overall safety of the Green Room also rests on all of us keeping aware of who should and should not be there. 
 
It is probably wise to remind everyone to take care of their clothes, costumes, props, &c.  It is wise to no bring valuables to Fair unless you're prepared to keep them safe.
 
Keep your cast areas as safe as possible too (no trailing clotheslines at exactly the level of the gentlemen's adam's apples, no excess blocking of the areas through which people will dash to their gigs, that sort of thing). 
 
Occasionally a guest will wander unintentionally behind the curtain, and those folks can be warmly greeted and steered back into the London.  However, for those rare occasions when a person perhaps less benignly intentioned wanders in, there is nothing amiss in asking them (politely, of course) to leave, and alerting security of the incident.  One can be vigilant while being polite and careful without being paranoid.
 
Be aware of what to do in an emergency and urgent-but-non-emergency situation.  Treat security with respect and they ask you to do something oblige nicely.  Be friendly to our wonderful EMT's.  If security, management or a Director ask you to do something, cooperate,.  You can always discuss any problems or questions you have later.
 
Much has been said about keeping your health up.  Stay fed, hydrated and rested as much as possible.  Warm up your body and voice and take care of yourself throughout the day. 
 
If you're sick, don't come in - we are already performing in a petri dish chock full of the public, known vectors of transmissible conditions - don't add to the viral strain.  Additionally, if you are unwell the chances are very good that you will not be turning in the best performance of your life.  You can better enjoy your Fair gig if you are taking care of yourself.

Have fun, stay festive, be careful out there.


Mssr. Robert-Houdin Seeks Music
Mssr. Robert-Houdin, The Illusionist, is seeking ethereal music for his performances at 12:30 and 3:00 daily in the V & A.  This is a fluid situation.  Any musicians wishing to poke their head in & try something are most welcome.  So far, we have Mark Unger on Sitar - could well use a chanter - oboe - violin - percussion----creative genius!  {calling all Bruno's}  No complications...just come try it.  -  cheers, J. Paul  (No budget but we could all split a Fish & Chips)


The Adventurers Club Invites!
Yes, the Adventurers Club would like to invite everyone to visit them when the are "At Home" for visitors from 3:30 to 4:15 each day.  Please pay us a call, formal or informal.  We will be involved in comfortable activities like whist, needled work, chess and of course talking to our guests, the customers, and any one who comes by. 
 
In addition, this Sunday we will again be having a Shakespeare day during Bohemian hour and would like to invite other fair participants to join us to share short bits of Shakespeare....it is acceptable to read aloud but must be a reasonable book (no photocopies or paperbacks allowed....no I'm not kidding...people have tried it). We do have at least two copies of Shakespeare at the club.
 
Bohemian Hour is from 4:15 to 5.  If you want to participate try to check in with either Pamela Duncan (Miss Emily Faithfull) or Shelley Monson (Miss Emilia Edwards) before 2 on Sunday if at all possible.  If not, still come by....
 
Should you wish to get in touch before then you can reach me at:
panmela@aol.com


To Annie's Hoop and Hair Customers
The new wig order is in! To make any special arrangements for pickup, write me at ImminentIdea@aol.com. Otherwise, I'll have the goods at Phyllis' hooch across from the Green Man, and will be helping with Timegames activities. Needless to say, pre-Opening is best, though if I have time I can also drop off to booth- or environment-bound customers. Hair we must! A.


Adorn Thy Hair Opens 9:00AM
Adorn Thy Hair, the hair braiding booth (aka Madame Louise's School for Lady's Maids)
will be open by 9:00 am for participants. Discounts are available for those that sign up BEFORE 10:59 am.
See Brenda at the salon, or Madame Louise (next door).


Haberdashery Open Early Friday
Holzer & Combe Haberdashery will be open early on Friday and Saturday to accommodate all those gentleman who's valets  have  forgotten to pack the necessary apparel for a trip to London.

Lynn L Combs



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