Tina Fabrique as Ella Fitzgerald in Ella, photo by T. Charles Erickson
There are occasions where what is going on backstage during a show can be every bit as interesting as what goes on in front of the audience. During the second act of the first preview performance of Ella, a huge lightning storm rolled through the New Haven area. After a few lightning strikes in the area, the power flickered in the theatre and briefly went out. The work lights – meaning the non-theatrical lighting – came on and the performance went on, ostensibly, without a hitch.
However, what was going on behind the scenes was quite a different situation. For about 5 minutes, things got slightly tense backstage. Staffers working on the Stage II side of the building saw the lights go out and immediately ran over to the Mainstage to help. Computers were restarted and connections checked, all while backstage personnel worked quickly to get everything back online. The sound restored very quickly, but the lights were taking a bit more time. The moving lights were the first to come back and the regular theatrical lighting returned shortly thereafter. “The company just played and sang through it all and were justly rewarded for their efforts,” the stage manager Rich Costabile wrote in his nightly report.
“The audience absolutely loved it,” said Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein, who was in attendance that night. “The power outage kicked it up a notch on a very special event.”