Taking the tour of the Oregon Contemporary Theater the same day that I attended the show was a really cool experience because I got to see the backstage and rehearsal areas that were used to make the show as great as it was. Something that I took away from the tour was how much detail and precision was needed to execute a play, even at the small-production, low-budget level that the OCT was producing it at. I didn’t get to asking any questions, but I still wonder two things:
- What was their budget?
- How much time was needed for preparation and rehearsal of the play?
Seeing the seemingly huge amount of work put into such a small production blew my mind at how much time and money a major production needs to be as good as possible. My guess would be hundreds of thousands of dollars and months of work. For “Silent Sky” I would still guess that months of work was put in, but not as much money as a bigger production play.
The Broadway musical “Wicked” probably cost a ton of money
The smaller scale play “Silent Sky” probably cost less money
Seeing “Silent Sky”, and the detail that was put into making it as good as it was, it made me want to create a perfect final project, made up of a perfect blog site and a perfect visual. Although that has been my goal since week one, this play inspired me to do so even more. However, it’s tough to get that kind of inspiration at the end of week eight, especially when my final project is due in less than two weeks. That being said, I still want to do all I can to make my project awesome, and I credit a portion of that motivation to the on-point production and direction of “Silent Sky”.
After hearing about how both under appreciated and breakthrough Henrietta Levitt was in her day, it made me wonder how many other women and people have not gotten the credit and recognition they deserve for their findings over history. I bet there are tons. Scientific discovery is something that happens every day, and can sometimes be overlooked. Sometimes it is inevitable to happen, but when it happens depends on people themselves. For example, although Alexander Graham Bell was credited with inventing the telephone in 1874, the American electrical engineer Elisha Gray was also a pioneer who’s work was very similar to Bell’s around the same time. The Italian Antonio Meucci was even working on the idea of a telephone in 1849, and in 2002, the US congress officially recognized him as being the inventor of the telephone. Although Alexander Graham Bell is the name everyone knows, Gray and Meucci both had huge parts in the invention of it, if not bigger parts than Graham Bell himself. That story goes to show how some names can be swallowed in time and forgotten, and the wrong people get all of the fame and attention. The same thing that happened to Gray and Meucci happened to Levitt, and just like them, she is only being recognized in the modern day as being a pioneer in her field.
Proof I went to the show:
Me and Ryan before the show
Me and Julian before the show
The show program
My ticket to the show
Some of the great inventors and scientists will be lost in time, but I am interested in finding out the under-represented breakthroughs and hearing their stories. Let the researching begin!