BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND . . . FANTASMIC!

Several weeks ago,one of my readers 'wanted more stories about Fantasmic!". So here I go delving into the mental archives. Just so you know, my experience with the show was the opening rehearsals and eight to nine months during the run of the show. After that it was sporatic. . . very sporatic.

As I was trying to conjure up memories from 'umpteen' years ago, I remembered one that is more about the people who worked there and than the show itself. A vast majority of the techs and stage managers were, at one time, entertainers, ex-performers and garage band musicians, so one day. . . I mean night, after the show, they had a Rock Concert in the rehearsal room. And believe it or not, they were actually pretty good. Nothing was planned. Nothing was scripted. It was just a matter of "Hey, you know this one?" and they'd all start playing. I watched for a while, but around mid-night I left. I think I saw more vente Starbucks than usual the next morning.

Do you want to know the quickest way to turn a room full of adults in to children again ? . . . Hide Easter Eggs. Costuming sponsored a Easter Egg hunt and hid around 500 + - plastic eggs around the back stage area. Everyone impatiently waited through the usual pre-shift meeting with thier hunting paraphanelia near by. When the stage manager sounded like he was done, they make a break for the door. The manager yelled, "HEY, I'm not done yet." They all came back and sat down. He said a few more things, then they made a break for the door again. He tried to stop them a second time, but this time everyone knew he was just messing with them and they kept running. We had two shows that night and they even went out with the tech's flashlights between shows. . .talk about your dedication. HMmmm I wonder if anyone ever DID get that one out of the trailer hitch ?

When some one left the show, like "I'm leaving the company" or "I'm moving up to a new job never to return to this world again" gone, the cast always had a certian. . .endearing way of saying goodbye. It usally included a canister, or two, of baby powder and a trip to the locker room shower. nothin' says livin' like being tarred and feathered with babypowder in the shower. Originally, the 'leavee' would get thrown in the moat the night they left. However, concerns about what was exactly in the water stopped that practice early on.

The water in that moat is interesting. You can see to the bottom. . . usually, but then you start to think about all of the fuel that gets pumped through the gas lines for the 'lake on fire' scene, a large (i beleive four engine) steamboat chugging around the moat in an enclosed enviroment and just mother nature in general and Ewww. I never saw three headed ducks, but we always tried to keep them scared off the water. And yes, the seatmboat is on a track, but it does move on it's own power, thus is why we had a rescue boat that was able to also push a broken down steam boat back to the dock. I'll always remember when they drained the moat to work on it and found several missing costume pieces. Belle's crystal medallions from her dress. Mary Poppin's umbrella. The handle looked okay, but the fabric was rotted away leaving just the wire frame work. One day we set up the stage and left a large cloth bin preset off to the side. We didn't thing about it being as windy as it was. But when we came back fromour break, it was gone. And yeap, it was on the bottom of the moat. A tech armed with a grapling hook went fishing for it.

In the beginning, Mickey, as the Brave Little Tailor, was supposed to walk on water as he goes out to fight Chernabog. There's good trivia question for you. What is the name of the demon / dragon monster that appeared in Fantasia? Chernabog. . . Anyway, back to my blog. The 'powers that be' decided the walking on water image wouldn't set well with the conservative Christians of the world, so they added rocks and built a pathway out into the lake. I recently heard rumors of them wanting to reviving the water walk. We'll see.

In the beginning, the one thing we all loved about working at Fantasmic! was that we were able to park at the stage. No parking in the cast parking lot and traepsing across the park like they have to now. At certian times of the day there wasn't even a security guard at the gate. We'd clock out and be in on the road home in one minute flat. Then 9/11 happened and all of our parking became centralized and the techs got large parking lot to store stuff in.

One of my fondest memories of working there was New Year's Eve. We would usually have late shows that night and would still be at work at midnight. So we'd go out to our parking lot and watch both the Studio's and Epcot's fireworks go off. It was like fireworks in stereo. One year we even had fake champaign. . . you know, the non alcoholic sparkling grape juice :) to toast in the New Year.

So on that note, CHEERS !! and good night.