And so my current production, Little Me, enters tech week. Some people don’t care for this part of the production process, but for me it has always been a favorite. I enjoy – and am inspired by – the feeling of pulling different strands together and creating a finished product. That sensation is especially apt in a show like this, where actors, musicians, designers, technical operators, stage/crew managers and directors all work together on the same goal.

It fits right in line with my three Cs of theatre work: creativity, community and collaboration.

It will also be notable to work in our performance venue, the West Park Band Shell in Ann Arbor. The stage is just outside the main downtown area and has a sense of history to when regional development might have been more modest and less car dependent. And it’s outdoors which brings its own unique splendor.

Tech does have its challenges and can certainly be stop and go at times. But as we go through the work of the next few days I will be thinking of the big picture and the prize of opening the show to a live paying audience – just four days from now.