time goes quickly when in production... (sometimes)

(The facade of the Theater Am Potsdamer Platz, where Dirty Dancing Berlin will open is a few weeks' time)

February came and went, and now we're in March and in tech! The cast went on stage the end of last week and so began tech. It's great to be in the theater finally, working days and evenings, and being able to walk to work. It makes all the difference in our sleep quantity and quality.

Tech has gone fairly well, the theater is great and the cast looks wonderful. David is excited to be working with the dancers on stage, he truly thrives on this process and it is beautiful to see. We've had a quiet time mostly - unlike Chicago, which was full of parties and from where we barely survived with our livers in tact. We have had a couple of cast parties sponsored by the production, which have been great fun. Last weekend there was a big welcome party at the theater, and that was excellent good times - the older actors got onto the dance floor along with the dancers and dirty danced the night away, quite literally. We even witnessed Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher (the old characters) gyrating away, killing it on the dance floor. Incredible. All in all, though, David and I have remained sensible in our partying. We've opted for time lounging at home when we can, or going to the movies (we live near the Sony Center, which has a beautiful cinema that shows films in English, not dubbed or subtitled), or watching DVDs. "Normal" things we don't often get to do. We love our Berlin apartment, so our apartment has been an oasis for us away from the occasional chaos and stresss of work.

On Sunday I leave for London for 2 weeks of prelimiary casting. THIS, will surely be chaos, as we will do two days of open dance auditions, which expect 600 girls and 400 boys. A zoo. And then I will see a series of actors, singers, the usual. David and I haven't been apart in a while so 2 weeks seems like a extraordinarily long time in the middle of tech - but I shall be back in Berlin in time for previews.

For now, here are some recent snapshots from Berlin:

(Close up of the fancy Opening Night invitations - and there we are! Me and David on the invites - we have come a long way since we last did the show in Germany...)

(Dirty Dancing seems all over Berlin... even on back of taxi receipts!)

[At the welcome party at the theater... FROM LEFT: David, me, James (director), Claudia (who plays "Lisa") and Michael C. (our production stage manager)]

(John O'Connell - aka Cha Cha - came through Berlin and we had drinks with him - we had not seen him since the Sydney DD opening, so that was a nice catch up, especially for David)