seagulls and porcupines Oh my!

Alison talks to the porcupines. They appear to listen.

Porcupines on the move. Slowly.

A flurry of gulls takes off.

Gulls.

Alison in the quarry, rounding up the gulls.

Gulls, living right on the edge.

Tuesday, July 28, was the first day in the quarry for the dancers from away (plus Wendee, who was here) and the porcupine costumes. It was the second time for the gull costumes, but this time they were inhabited by dancers. And it was sunny. On Sunday the bullfrog in the new pond by the edge of the amphitheater was quite vocal. This time he was pretty quiet.

And Wendy Schweikert was putting the finishing touches on a porcupine.

It was like all rehearsals, except bigger and hotter. Maybe CBDeMille worked in similar places. In order to be heard in the vastness, Alison had to pitch her voice. And in order to be seen, the dancers had to move big and fast, except for the porcupines, who moved big, low and slowly.

At this stage, like all productions, it looks as if the parts are going to be way bigger than the whole. The puzzle of putting it all together is out of the performers' hands (or feet, or wings...) for the most part, but resting on Alison and Mia's shoulders. There's still the pan band to fit in; the birdwatchers--and let's not forget Rick Weed's backhoe and Charlie Peabody's truck...

The babies who were there (Matt and Emily Kent's son Owen and Todd Devinish and Wendee Rogerson's son Everett) are not going to be in the production. They, along with an assortment of people who went to the quarry to look around and found something very interesting to look at, were just watching.