FIRST PREVIEW OF TIMON OF ATHENS!
But first, we had our first student matinee of As You Like It.
The audience was a bit of a tough crowd, to be honest. We've been spoiled with generous houses in the past weeks. I don't mean to disparage this house. It just goes to show that, as a troupe, we can't get too comfortable with the ebb and flow of response and laughter. Not every Romeo and Juliet matinee that we had last year was raucous and I don't consider As You Like It is not wild romp of a show. It's witty and amusing (and the beginning is FULL of tricky exposition and quite dark, actually), but not full of all the bawdy humor that R&J has in the first half. Anyway, It was a good lesson in picking up cues when the jokes don't audibly land on students like they do with adults. Also, there's definitely a culture about attending performances at the Blackfriars. For those who aren't accustomed to how immediate and interactive, it can be daunting. I think seeing plays here demands a lot on the audience (for the better, I believe). This is not a passive theatre-going experience. But if you're not used to that kind of thing, it can be a bit disorienting.
As much as I grumble about waking up earlier for student matinees, there is something incredibly energizing about telling these stories for students. I'm always certain that a matinee performance is the first time some have ever seen this play, possibly the first time they've seen Shakespeare live. I also bank on there being at least one kid whose life is altered by a show. And I gotta say, it's endearing to see kids sing along with a song like "Royals" during the interlude.
After the matinee, we had five glorious hours off before the preview. I took that precious time to relax.
I arrived at the theatre a half hour early and still wasn't ready for the pre-show. One of the hardest parts of this job is opening a show--especially when there's a lot of backstage business. My mind is preoccupied with finding the backstage path of least resistance. Sometimes it's actually easier to keep some costume changes in the dressing room--other times, that's just impossible. I have one major change from my messenger into Flavius (it's, thankfully, not a quick change) but then I'm shuffling around instruments and props, paging curtains, etc. With the exception of Timon and myself, it seems that everyone else in the troupe has anywhere from four to seven changes throughout the night. This routine gets exponentially easier every time we do it. So I'm not worried. But it is my world right now.
There were about four moments when I wasn't completely sure what the next line was and that dash of panic set in. But my mouth knew the words, and if I can just get out of my own way and trust the preparation, the story does come along. Timon is one of the first shows since I've been here where I have very little down time (absolutely none in the first half). Quite a change from Servant and As You Like It.
We had a talkback after the show and some folks were keen to discuss about the play's reputation. This is not a play without issues (which one doesn't though? That's part of the reason we get to revisit these stories over and over and over).
But I don't think it's a "bad" play. It helps to have a strong cut (and ours is a swift one). I think it's fascinating and think we've assembled a story that's full of sizzling, epic language. This is a play that will get people talking afterwards. And I'm honored that this production will be the first time many will have ever it. It doesn't have the interpersonal/familial relationships. It's political, but doesn't deal with the lives of royalty and kingdoms (I suppose you could argue that Athens is a kind of kingdom). There's really nothing like it in Shakespeare's canon.
We officially open tonight. We've got a block of time to sort out any remaining issues (and some songs need attention). But then, the rest of the weekend is devoted to repping three shows.
On Tuesday, we begin Epicene rehearsals. I'm thrilled and terrified for that one.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Music Portal: Flavius
This is a mesmerizing video and a bit of a portal into Flavius in Timon of Athens:
...When our offices have been oppressed
With riotous feeders, when our vaults have wept
With drunken spilth of wine, when every room
Hath blazed with lights and brayed with minstrelsy
Have I retired me to a wasteful cock*
And set mine eyes at flow.
*He means a leaky faucet/tap (not some lazy rooster or something)
We've got our first preview this evening!
...When our offices have been oppressed
With riotous feeders, when our vaults have wept
With drunken spilth of wine, when every room
Hath blazed with lights and brayed with minstrelsy
Have I retired me to a wasteful cock*
And set mine eyes at flow.
*He means a leaky faucet/tap (not some lazy rooster or something)
We've got our first preview this evening!
ARS Day 27
I'm up at 7:30 am this morning. It's been a while since I've been awake this early. We've got our first student matinee of As You Like It and I'm determined to get in early and work on Epicene lines before our call. The morning has been the most productive time for line memorization.
Yesterday was a frenzy. We worked on the first half of the play, which includes all the complicated bits I've mentioned in previous posts. I tried the work-thru in half-costume, set my props and costumes where I thought they should go, and then we were off. I did my best to be as forgiving on myself as possible. This start-and-stop run of the first half was to joggle the memory and get the panic out of the way before the dress rehearsal. It's a circus backstage. I think some of the actors have three or four changes within the first 15 minutes of the play (not kidding). There's a lot of shifting props/furniture/instruments backstage. It's all quite exciting.
This is all part of the deal. Right now, honestly, it's difficult to root myself in the circumstances of the story. There are so many marks to hit. I just need to remember this is not a new feeling; the fussing over backstage traffic and other technical bits will melt away eventually and leave room for the acting.
In fact, the dress rehearsal we had today went much better than I thought. I did call "prithee" once. I'm actually glad I did that and not what I was considering: jumping 10 pages to a different scene. Already, within a day, the frenzy (for me, anyway) began to fade. Soon, it will become routine.
I'm excited for people to see this one.
Yesterday was a frenzy. We worked on the first half of the play, which includes all the complicated bits I've mentioned in previous posts. I tried the work-thru in half-costume, set my props and costumes where I thought they should go, and then we were off. I did my best to be as forgiving on myself as possible. This start-and-stop run of the first half was to joggle the memory and get the panic out of the way before the dress rehearsal. It's a circus backstage. I think some of the actors have three or four changes within the first 15 minutes of the play (not kidding). There's a lot of shifting props/furniture/instruments backstage. It's all quite exciting.
This is all part of the deal. Right now, honestly, it's difficult to root myself in the circumstances of the story. There are so many marks to hit. I just need to remember this is not a new feeling; the fussing over backstage traffic and other technical bits will melt away eventually and leave room for the acting.
In fact, the dress rehearsal we had today went much better than I thought. I did call "prithee" once. I'm actually glad I did that and not what I was considering: jumping 10 pages to a different scene. Already, within a day, the frenzy (for me, anyway) began to fade. Soon, it will become routine.
I'm excited for people to see this one.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
ARS Day 26
It's hard to believe we're almost done rehearsing (officially) Timon of Athens.
Today, we worked through the second half of the play (which is supremely less complicated for most of the troupe). This is all "Timon at his cave" stuff (which isn't to say the acting challenges aren't any less complicated).
We also spent a good deal of time working out the masque in context. I'm providing the music (bongos), but since there's no way for me to play the bongos and be on stage, I have to do an intense amount of counting backstage. For whatever reason, this is a giant challenge for me. It'll come, and we ended up in much better shape than when we started. Hooray for progress!
We also worked on a festive little ditty to start off the show. I think it will be the bridge between celebrating the fact that Timon marks the completion of Shakespeare's canon performed on stage at the American Shakespeare Center. The music is fun (but wicked for the valve/finger combos on the trumpet).
For the rest of the afternoon, we kept chugging away on music and hunting down final costume elements.
I'll have more to report on tomorrow with some rehearsal and our first dress!
Today, we worked through the second half of the play (which is supremely less complicated for most of the troupe). This is all "Timon at his cave" stuff (which isn't to say the acting challenges aren't any less complicated).
We also spent a good deal of time working out the masque in context. I'm providing the music (bongos), but since there's no way for me to play the bongos and be on stage, I have to do an intense amount of counting backstage. For whatever reason, this is a giant challenge for me. It'll come, and we ended up in much better shape than when we started. Hooray for progress!
We also worked on a festive little ditty to start off the show. I think it will be the bridge between celebrating the fact that Timon marks the completion of Shakespeare's canon performed on stage at the American Shakespeare Center. The music is fun (but wicked for the valve/finger combos on the trumpet).
For the rest of the afternoon, we kept chugging away on music and hunting down final costume elements.
I'll have more to report on tomorrow with some rehearsal and our first dress!
Monday, January 27, 2014
ARS Days 23 - 25
Happy Monday "Morning" (it's morning for me because I slept in)!
This weekend was full of performances and a bit of Timon rehearsal. The exciting thing about this weekend is we had our rock star Symmonie go in for John since he was out of town for a wedding. She went on as Touchstone and Pantalone. This meant that on Friday, we devoted rehearsal for put-ins. She had the lines down, even stepped in to sing an interlude song that John sings right before we start the second half of As You Like It. It's always fascinating to play with an understudy. Things are just inherently different. In fact, I discovered some new things in my various interactions with Touchstone as a result.
We also had to do some music shuffling. John is a stalwart in the music parts of our troupe. He's mostly covering on the brand-new upright bass. I'm not sure how well it carries into the playhouse, but that instrument is critical for the ensemble in holding down the roots of all the chords. I most missed it during the interlude music during As You Like It. We did end up cutting two songs in each pre-show, which just meant that we delayed when the musicians came out to play for the audience.
All in all, it was a good weekend. It wasn't without some glitches. I'm starting to understand the true excitement of Ren Season. I'm quite used to repertory now, but rehearsing Timon for three 8-hour days and then revisiting Servant after not touching it for a week is a little nerve-wracking (and I'm hardly even in that show). I can imagine it will only get more frantic as we add the other two shows....
I had a great treat on Saturday to have my voice/text teacher, Sara, visit Staunton. It was wonderful to catch up with her. She just finished coaching Private Lives at PlayMakers Rep in Chapel Hill, NC. She has a great little interview on the URTA website for those who are looking into grad school. I owe a lot to her teaching.
On Sunday, we rehearsed for a couple hours in the evening (this is our Friday night, need I remind you...). We finished blocking the play (the epitaph scenes). Since I wasn't in those scenes, I worked on figuring out the notes to an opening "party" song that will start off the show. If all goes well, Greg and I will trade off noodling on our respective horns to help set off the festivities of Timon's great banquet. After that, we plugged everyone into the Masque. There's dancing, a leap/backbend off a table, music, and lots of revelry. I'm doing my best to play the bongos. It's about as Baz Luhrmann as you can get on the Blackfriars.
I'll provide a link to some rehearsal photos. But I will say there are some possible spoiler alerts if you'd like to keep some parts of the show a surprise, you may not want to see some of them. But here it is...
Okay, I'll leave at that. I want to see Inside Llewyn Davis today, but I only deserve that if I make uber-progress on my Epicene lines (and review all of my Timon lines).
This weekend was full of performances and a bit of Timon rehearsal. The exciting thing about this weekend is we had our rock star Symmonie go in for John since he was out of town for a wedding. She went on as Touchstone and Pantalone. This meant that on Friday, we devoted rehearsal for put-ins. She had the lines down, even stepped in to sing an interlude song that John sings right before we start the second half of As You Like It. It's always fascinating to play with an understudy. Things are just inherently different. In fact, I discovered some new things in my various interactions with Touchstone as a result.
We also had to do some music shuffling. John is a stalwart in the music parts of our troupe. He's mostly covering on the brand-new upright bass. I'm not sure how well it carries into the playhouse, but that instrument is critical for the ensemble in holding down the roots of all the chords. I most missed it during the interlude music during As You Like It. We did end up cutting two songs in each pre-show, which just meant that we delayed when the musicians came out to play for the audience.
All in all, it was a good weekend. It wasn't without some glitches. I'm starting to understand the true excitement of Ren Season. I'm quite used to repertory now, but rehearsing Timon for three 8-hour days and then revisiting Servant after not touching it for a week is a little nerve-wracking (and I'm hardly even in that show). I can imagine it will only get more frantic as we add the other two shows....
 |
| Though this picture doesn't seem like things are that frantic: William and Silvius crush some candies... |
On Sunday, we rehearsed for a couple hours in the evening (this is our Friday night, need I remind you...). We finished blocking the play (the epitaph scenes). Since I wasn't in those scenes, I worked on figuring out the notes to an opening "party" song that will start off the show. If all goes well, Greg and I will trade off noodling on our respective horns to help set off the festivities of Timon's great banquet. After that, we plugged everyone into the Masque. There's dancing, a leap/backbend off a table, music, and lots of revelry. I'm doing my best to play the bongos. It's about as Baz Luhrmann as you can get on the Blackfriars.
I'll provide a link to some rehearsal photos. But I will say there are some possible spoiler alerts if you'd like to keep some parts of the show a surprise, you may not want to see some of them. But here it is...
Okay, I'll leave at that. I want to see Inside Llewyn Davis today, but I only deserve that if I make uber-progress on my Epicene lines (and review all of my Timon lines).
Thursday, January 23, 2014
ARS Days 20-22
Let's see what I can remember about Tuesday and Wednesday...
Tuesday, January 21
And so, we begin Timon of Athens rehearsals in earnest. René (playing Timon) created a schedule for the entire rehearsal period--with the hope that we can at least work on the entire show twice before our first dress rehearsal next Wednesday. (This is similar to what we did with Servant). HOWEVER, he has not done it in order of scenes. The first day was a hodgepodge of working out of sequence. I'm sure this is just like television/film work. My first scene was a biggie, and Flavius has to weep. Oy...it's a tough one for many reasons (but oh, so cool). The rest of the day was a mix of hunting down costume possibilities, tinkering with music, and staging more scenes.
Wednesday, January 22
It was banquet day for the troupe. Timon holds two big parties in the play. The first has a lot of moving parts. The troupe is in and out of doors. Most folks are playing two characters in the first couple scenes. A large table with chairs and drinks are needed. There's even masque! It took a lot of time to figure it all out. After lunch, we moved to the "water" banquet, which is much sparser and less complicated (but it still involves a long table and stools). Choreographing all of the furniture movement is always a trick. It became immediately apparent to all of us that Timon is a show that could thrive on having a larger cast (even just three more people). The doubling is fun and a great challenge, but it can be extremely restricting for a show like this. On the flip side, without that luxury, it does hone our options and we make do with what we've got and still serving up a powerful story.
Thursday, January 23
We were supposed to have an As You Like It student matinee this morning, but it was canceled (it's FREEZING, and there was a big ol' snowfall on Tuesday, covering Staunton in snow and ice. So we got an extra four hours of rehearsal. We determined it would be best to work through the first half in sequence to get a feel for how all the scenes flow together. This was an immense gift. Otherwise, it would have been a week before we touched on those scenes again. We had some extra time at the end of the block, so we also incorporated water into the second banquet. The banquet guests got into t-shirts they didn't mind getting wet. Greg brought up a stack of towels from the costume shop, and René went on his water rampage. It was pretty stellar. I'll say no more--you'll have to see it for yourself.
The afternoon was devoted to Timon at the cave. There is one long scene (close to 500 lines) where different folks visit Timon outside the walls of Athens. René had some great ideas about the "scenery" and transforming the Blackfriars stage into a wilderness. There are tons of props that Timon uses (including rocks to throw at Apemantus).
Meanwhile, downstairs in Tyson, some of the women worked up their "cupid dance/bacchanal" with some of the gents for the first banquet. I'm providing some bongo drumming, Andrew's on the spoons, and our star ASM/intern/violinist extraordinaire, Clare, is playing a great Romanian (I believe) folk tune to accompany.
I had some time off to go costume hunting. I'm trying to find something that says "steward" within the world that René has suggested (think Capitol City in The Hunger Games). After some trial and error, I've come up with something conservative that's a little "out there." Flavius is in the serving class, but he's top tier in Timon's estate, so there has to be a kind of reserved opulence involved in the clothes. It's like the downstairs crew in Downton Abbey. The footmen, valets, and butlers are impeccably dressed in black and white. I think my Paris suit from Romeo and Juliet will be incorporated (probably not the jacket). It's sleek. I still need to figure out something for my little messenger guy in the first scene, but I've got six days to drum up something. I also managed to find a great doublet/pants combo for Epicene. The fit and color are fantastic.
Then, René and I worked on our final meeting at the cave. I'm the last visitor to appear in that scene, and I think it's quite touching. Flavius manages to get Timon out of his funk (briefly, anyway). For only running it a couple times, I'd say it's in great shape.
All in all, I think the stress of the season is starting to creep in, but the troupe powered through a giant day of work. Tomorrow, we're having put-in rehearsals for Symmonie (John's going out of town for a couple days for a wedding) and Timon music. Then we've got an As You Like It performance to begin the weekend's rotation. It seems like it's been months since we've touched on Servant, but I'm sure we'll get back into the groove quickly enough.
Tuesday, January 21
And so, we begin Timon of Athens rehearsals in earnest. René (playing Timon) created a schedule for the entire rehearsal period--with the hope that we can at least work on the entire show twice before our first dress rehearsal next Wednesday. (This is similar to what we did with Servant). HOWEVER, he has not done it in order of scenes. The first day was a hodgepodge of working out of sequence. I'm sure this is just like television/film work. My first scene was a biggie, and Flavius has to weep. Oy...it's a tough one for many reasons (but oh, so cool). The rest of the day was a mix of hunting down costume possibilities, tinkering with music, and staging more scenes.
Wednesday, January 22
It was banquet day for the troupe. Timon holds two big parties in the play. The first has a lot of moving parts. The troupe is in and out of doors. Most folks are playing two characters in the first couple scenes. A large table with chairs and drinks are needed. There's even masque! It took a lot of time to figure it all out. After lunch, we moved to the "water" banquet, which is much sparser and less complicated (but it still involves a long table and stools). Choreographing all of the furniture movement is always a trick. It became immediately apparent to all of us that Timon is a show that could thrive on having a larger cast (even just three more people). The doubling is fun and a great challenge, but it can be extremely restricting for a show like this. On the flip side, without that luxury, it does hone our options and we make do with what we've got and still serving up a powerful story.
Thursday, January 23
We were supposed to have an As You Like It student matinee this morning, but it was canceled (it's FREEZING, and there was a big ol' snowfall on Tuesday, covering Staunton in snow and ice. So we got an extra four hours of rehearsal. We determined it would be best to work through the first half in sequence to get a feel for how all the scenes flow together. This was an immense gift. Otherwise, it would have been a week before we touched on those scenes again. We had some extra time at the end of the block, so we also incorporated water into the second banquet. The banquet guests got into t-shirts they didn't mind getting wet. Greg brought up a stack of towels from the costume shop, and René went on his water rampage. It was pretty stellar. I'll say no more--you'll have to see it for yourself.
The afternoon was devoted to Timon at the cave. There is one long scene (close to 500 lines) where different folks visit Timon outside the walls of Athens. René had some great ideas about the "scenery" and transforming the Blackfriars stage into a wilderness. There are tons of props that Timon uses (including rocks to throw at Apemantus).
Meanwhile, downstairs in Tyson, some of the women worked up their "cupid dance/bacchanal" with some of the gents for the first banquet. I'm providing some bongo drumming, Andrew's on the spoons, and our star ASM/intern/violinist extraordinaire, Clare, is playing a great Romanian (I believe) folk tune to accompany.
I had some time off to go costume hunting. I'm trying to find something that says "steward" within the world that René has suggested (think Capitol City in The Hunger Games). After some trial and error, I've come up with something conservative that's a little "out there." Flavius is in the serving class, but he's top tier in Timon's estate, so there has to be a kind of reserved opulence involved in the clothes. It's like the downstairs crew in Downton Abbey. The footmen, valets, and butlers are impeccably dressed in black and white. I think my Paris suit from Romeo and Juliet will be incorporated (probably not the jacket). It's sleek. I still need to figure out something for my little messenger guy in the first scene, but I've got six days to drum up something. I also managed to find a great doublet/pants combo for Epicene. The fit and color are fantastic.
Then, René and I worked on our final meeting at the cave. I'm the last visitor to appear in that scene, and I think it's quite touching. Flavius manages to get Timon out of his funk (briefly, anyway). For only running it a couple times, I'd say it's in great shape.
All in all, I think the stress of the season is starting to creep in, but the troupe powered through a giant day of work. Tomorrow, we're having put-in rehearsals for Symmonie (John's going out of town for a couple days for a wedding) and Timon music. Then we've got an As You Like It performance to begin the weekend's rotation. It seems like it's been months since we've touched on Servant, but I'm sure we'll get back into the groove quickly enough.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
ARS Days 17 - 19
Friday, Jan 17
Opening Night!
We had a short rehearsal. Some folks wanted to look at a few spots in the show, and then we worked on music for a while. I was able to get out of rehearsal a good 90 minutes early (and able to get some much-needed grocery shopping done).
Then, it was showtime! The house was pretty big and very generous. The pay-what-you-wills are always a nice hometown crowd at the Blackfriars.
Afterwards, some of us got drinks and a lovely couple who had just seen the show paid for our tab. We were able to shout a thanks to them after they left (and we found out about it from our server). It was such a nice gesture. And on the chance that you're reading this blog (I don't know their names): THANKS AGAIN!
And for no reason, here's an incredible cover of "I Want You Back." We've been jamming to this in the men's dressing room:
Opening Night!
We had a short rehearsal. Some folks wanted to look at a few spots in the show, and then we worked on music for a while. I was able to get out of rehearsal a good 90 minutes early (and able to get some much-needed grocery shopping done).
Then, it was showtime! The house was pretty big and very generous. The pay-what-you-wills are always a nice hometown crowd at the Blackfriars.
Afterwards, some of us got drinks and a lovely couple who had just seen the show paid for our tab. We were able to shout a thanks to them after they left (and we found out about it from our server). It was such a nice gesture. And on the chance that you're reading this blog (I don't know their names): THANKS AGAIN!
And for no reason, here's an incredible cover of "I Want You Back." We've been jamming to this in the men's dressing room:
Saturday, Jan. 18
Two show day, but now we're repping! (I'm getting really spoiled by doing theatre in repertory. The prospect of just doing one show is becoming foreign to me) The afternoon was As You Like It. We hadn't done it in a week--which is a long time, especially when our brains and bodies have been concentrating on Servant. But I think we got into a groove.
Then we jumped back to Venice in the evening. It was another good crowd with some familiar faces. I'm beginning to understand the rhythm of my track for the show. I reviewed Timon lines in the first act (which I'm not in at all--it's strange to do a set of music and the pre-show speech and then have at least 45 minutes "off"). After the bell rings for the first interlude, it's go-time for me.
Sunday, Jan. 19
We had a good-sized crowd for the As You Like It matinee this afternoon. The music went much more smoothly than the night before, I thought. I can't believe we've been performing this show for three weekends already. This season is going to pass quickly.
After a dinner break, it was time to begin work on show number three (!): Timon of Athens. This show will mark the completion of Shakespeare's cannon at the ASC (and quite nice that it happened during it's 25th Anniversary). I'm excited about this show.
We just did a read-thru, and it clocked in at 1:50 minutes or something like that. We'll probably add some more time, but the cut is quite swift. Critics seem to hate this play. I don't understand it. No, it's not perfect, it's not without its issues (but, you can say that with most of Shakespeare's plays). The language is percussive and oozing with brilliant imagery (it's biting and often ferocious). There are some great, iconic scenes and images. I think it'll leave audiences with plenty to think and talk about, and I think we're already headed in a great direction. I can already "see" this play in my mind after this first reading with the troupe (plus Rene's great idea for the "world" he'd like to create--he's playing Timon). I'll keep mum about any more details for now.
Tomorrow's a glorious day off. I'll have to set aside at least a couple hours to work on Epicene lines, but you can bet I'm gonna sleep in and do a hefty amount of lounging.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
ARS Day 16
It's the day of the show, y'all!
We had a longer-than-usual morning meeting. The big debate was about interludes. We've settled on having two ten-minute interludes that fit nicely within the three-act structure of this play. Each interlude has two songs, it really only adds five minutes to the total running time, which isn't too bad because this show is likely our shortest of the season. I think it clocks at just over two hours if you include the interludes.
The other gigantic change (it is for me, anyway), is that we have done away with the B sign for Brighella's inn. An outside observer said it's more confusing to have it. I'm totally fine with this, and I was about to bring it up if no one else would. This eliminates the amount of time I have to run up and down the stairs. I was willing to be a trooper, but now I have an entire act to work on lines before I go on stage. Music and pre-show speech aside, I don't have to enter on stage for a good 50 minutes or so.
We spent the afternoon chunk spot-checking some scenes and working on the music full-tilt.
Then: the first preview. It was a good crowd, and they seemed to love the show. That's the next element we need, methinks--especially with comedies, figuring out where jokes and bits need to land. It's a big ol' experiment (like a lot of this season).
We have more time for rehearsal tomorrow, and then the show is off and running. Two down, three more to go!
(Note: I've allowed comments on the blog now. It was only restricted to blogger users, but we'll try this out if anyone has questions or remarks they'd like to make)
We had a longer-than-usual morning meeting. The big debate was about interludes. We've settled on having two ten-minute interludes that fit nicely within the three-act structure of this play. Each interlude has two songs, it really only adds five minutes to the total running time, which isn't too bad because this show is likely our shortest of the season. I think it clocks at just over two hours if you include the interludes.
The other gigantic change (it is for me, anyway), is that we have done away with the B sign for Brighella's inn. An outside observer said it's more confusing to have it. I'm totally fine with this, and I was about to bring it up if no one else would. This eliminates the amount of time I have to run up and down the stairs. I was willing to be a trooper, but now I have an entire act to work on lines before I go on stage. Music and pre-show speech aside, I don't have to enter on stage for a good 50 minutes or so.
We spent the afternoon chunk spot-checking some scenes and working on the music full-tilt.
Then: the first preview. It was a good crowd, and they seemed to love the show. That's the next element we need, methinks--especially with comedies, figuring out where jokes and bits need to land. It's a big ol' experiment (like a lot of this season).
We have more time for rehearsal tomorrow, and then the show is off and running. Two down, three more to go!
(Note: I've allowed comments on the blog now. It was only restricted to blogger users, but we'll try this out if anyone has questions or remarks they'd like to make)
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
ARS Day 15
January 15
Surprise, surprise: I'm tired.
I got to the theatre early to hammer out a solo horn section for Belafonte's "Jump in the Line." I believe the original is a trio (?) of screaming trumpets. We're working with two clarinets and two trumpets. I divided it into three parts. The tricky part was modifying the rhythms. It's a calypso-y song that works on a lot of up-beats and syncopation. (Not my expertise). Anyway, I got it figured out, and we were able to plug it in during music rehearsal.
Working on music is really what fries my brain in these rehearsals. We work at a pace that is faster than what I'm used to. I'm also not a theory/composition master. And most of the musicians in the troupe play by ear. Or they're able to print off guitar tabs and just roll with it. I can sing out parts till I go blue in the face, but the trumpet music needs to be written down, and I often have to work on it by myself (not always), which means getting more homework done with the music. For whatever reason, working on chords--even when I'm playing piano on the occasional song--is so much easier. I'm not sure why. Well, part of the reason is I don't have to transpose with the band when I'm on piano...
Anyway, I'm underestimating the time it takes. I think for the future shows in the Ren Season, I'm going to have to re-adjust my prior standard of "only working on music during rehearsals." Plus, I've got a lot more stage time in Timon and Epicene.
When I have the notes figured out and written down, I can fly (it's very similar to knowing lines). Okay, enough about that.
We had about 2 1/2 hours to get through the back half of the show. A big debate among the troupe is when our interlude will take place. We're considering having two, even. This play is structured in three acts, and the end of act 1 and 2 is really clean. Our proposed interlude is clocking in at well over an hour (which is asking a lot of an audience). I think we may lean toward two ten minute breaks (or maybe a 15 and then a quick 5). We'll see. Another option is to have the interlude end right after the dinner scene, but it's still pretty late in the play.
Dress Rehearsal Time:
We're quite the marvelously eclectic bunch. You'll have to wait for pictures next week. I'd post a selfie (I have no shame), but I honestly look like any waiter at a modern restaurant. Black pants, white shirt, a white apron thing, and a maroon-ish tie. I experimented with parting my hair down the middle (because Josh, playing the innkeeper Brighella is). My hair's pretty short (and thinning...) but I did what I could.
The big fun in the run was Greg and I managed to jump a fair amount in the Dinner Scene. It had never happened before, but we had also never run that scene with the whole front half of the play before us. (Truffaldino is a GIANT responsibility, and Greg's doing a great job.)
I was SO CLOSE to improvising a bit to get us back on track, but went ahead, dashed offstage and told everyone back stage that we jumped. This is the closest I've ever felt to what I think it must be to be a quarterback--making snap decisions. I don't claim to have any athletic propensities whatsoever (especially football), so this is a risky simile.
Thankfully, it turned out A-OK. I think I made the right decision. If a major collision to happen in this scene, I'm not sure what would happen. I'll just be light on my toes and be ready for anything (and trust in the precision of my scene partners).
We've got our first preview tomorrow night. This is the first time this play has ever been done at the Blackfriars.
Surprise, surprise: I'm tired.
I got to the theatre early to hammer out a solo horn section for Belafonte's "Jump in the Line." I believe the original is a trio (?) of screaming trumpets. We're working with two clarinets and two trumpets. I divided it into three parts. The tricky part was modifying the rhythms. It's a calypso-y song that works on a lot of up-beats and syncopation. (Not my expertise). Anyway, I got it figured out, and we were able to plug it in during music rehearsal.
Working on music is really what fries my brain in these rehearsals. We work at a pace that is faster than what I'm used to. I'm also not a theory/composition master. And most of the musicians in the troupe play by ear. Or they're able to print off guitar tabs and just roll with it. I can sing out parts till I go blue in the face, but the trumpet music needs to be written down, and I often have to work on it by myself (not always), which means getting more homework done with the music. For whatever reason, working on chords--even when I'm playing piano on the occasional song--is so much easier. I'm not sure why. Well, part of the reason is I don't have to transpose with the band when I'm on piano...
Anyway, I'm underestimating the time it takes. I think for the future shows in the Ren Season, I'm going to have to re-adjust my prior standard of "only working on music during rehearsals." Plus, I've got a lot more stage time in Timon and Epicene.
When I have the notes figured out and written down, I can fly (it's very similar to knowing lines). Okay, enough about that.
We had about 2 1/2 hours to get through the back half of the show. A big debate among the troupe is when our interlude will take place. We're considering having two, even. This play is structured in three acts, and the end of act 1 and 2 is really clean. Our proposed interlude is clocking in at well over an hour (which is asking a lot of an audience). I think we may lean toward two ten minute breaks (or maybe a 15 and then a quick 5). We'll see. Another option is to have the interlude end right after the dinner scene, but it's still pretty late in the play.
Dress Rehearsal Time:
We're quite the marvelously eclectic bunch. You'll have to wait for pictures next week. I'd post a selfie (I have no shame), but I honestly look like any waiter at a modern restaurant. Black pants, white shirt, a white apron thing, and a maroon-ish tie. I experimented with parting my hair down the middle (because Josh, playing the innkeeper Brighella is). My hair's pretty short (and thinning...) but I did what I could.
The big fun in the run was Greg and I managed to jump a fair amount in the Dinner Scene. It had never happened before, but we had also never run that scene with the whole front half of the play before us. (Truffaldino is a GIANT responsibility, and Greg's doing a great job.)
I was SO CLOSE to improvising a bit to get us back on track, but went ahead, dashed offstage and told everyone back stage that we jumped. This is the closest I've ever felt to what I think it must be to be a quarterback--making snap decisions. I don't claim to have any athletic propensities whatsoever (especially football), so this is a risky simile.
Thankfully, it turned out A-OK. I think I made the right decision. If a major collision to happen in this scene, I'm not sure what would happen. I'll just be light on my toes and be ready for anything (and trust in the precision of my scene partners).
We've got our first preview tomorrow night. This is the first time this play has ever been done at the Blackfriars.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
ARS Day 14
Confession, I'm writing this after completing Day 15 (1/15), and I'm a little fried. I'll see what memory I can muster.
I believe we determined that we would work from the Dinner Scene through the end of the play--stopping and starting as needed. John suggested that we add some underscoring during the scene to keep an extra current of energy flowing through it. I think it's a good touch. It's not very loud, but still noticeable. We're still figuring out the details but it's going well.
Chris, our props man extraordinaire, has taped down plates and the non-edible food to the platters (there are six in addition to the silverware, dishes, glasses, breadbaskets, and clean and dirty napkins. We're doubling props when possible, but there's not a whole lot. To facilitate the backstage flow, we've got plans for handing off dishes to each other. Sarah (playing Clarice) is on stage left door duty. Because of all the flying about, she sits behind the door to keep it shut when it needs to be shut. This allows the actors who don't have time to carefully shut the big wooden doors to breeze in and out of the scenes with ease. I'm in a fight with the big center curtains at times, but it's kind of a funny obstacle to workthrough. When my hands are full, I'll either use my feet or rear end to open doors from on stage--which is what waiters do. I know, I've been one.
We spent a good chunk going through that scene today. It got better every time. I think we're in the position to add in an audience, which is good because they're coming on Thursday night for our first preview!
The last half of the morning block was devoted to music. The core band worked on "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers while John and I worked out Dionne Warwick's "Always Something There To Remind Me." The song has two key changes. John was thinking about raising the song up a step, which was okay with me, but it does prevent me from playing the trumpet stuff up an octave (it gets too high). After some noodling around, we brought it back to the original key. Now the song's stuck in my head again.
LUNCH!
Once we finished working through the last half of the show, we went back to the top (I could be mistaken; it's all a blur) for the afternoon. I made a little post upstairs offstage from the balcony and reviewed Timon lines.
After that, we put together "Always Something..." with the whole band. It's a lot of fun. You'll have to come to a show and see for yourself.
Tomorrow's dress rehearsal day. I can't wait to see what people have chosen for their costumes. It's going to be all over the sartorial map, but I think that's fitting for this zany show.
I believe we determined that we would work from the Dinner Scene through the end of the play--stopping and starting as needed. John suggested that we add some underscoring during the scene to keep an extra current of energy flowing through it. I think it's a good touch. It's not very loud, but still noticeable. We're still figuring out the details but it's going well.
Chris, our props man extraordinaire, has taped down plates and the non-edible food to the platters (there are six in addition to the silverware, dishes, glasses, breadbaskets, and clean and dirty napkins. We're doubling props when possible, but there's not a whole lot. To facilitate the backstage flow, we've got plans for handing off dishes to each other. Sarah (playing Clarice) is on stage left door duty. Because of all the flying about, she sits behind the door to keep it shut when it needs to be shut. This allows the actors who don't have time to carefully shut the big wooden doors to breeze in and out of the scenes with ease. I'm in a fight with the big center curtains at times, but it's kind of a funny obstacle to workthrough. When my hands are full, I'll either use my feet or rear end to open doors from on stage--which is what waiters do. I know, I've been one.
We spent a good chunk going through that scene today. It got better every time. I think we're in the position to add in an audience, which is good because they're coming on Thursday night for our first preview!
The last half of the morning block was devoted to music. The core band worked on "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers while John and I worked out Dionne Warwick's "Always Something There To Remind Me." The song has two key changes. John was thinking about raising the song up a step, which was okay with me, but it does prevent me from playing the trumpet stuff up an octave (it gets too high). After some noodling around, we brought it back to the original key. Now the song's stuck in my head again.
LUNCH!
Once we finished working through the last half of the show, we went back to the top (I could be mistaken; it's all a blur) for the afternoon. I made a little post upstairs offstage from the balcony and reviewed Timon lines.
After that, we put together "Always Something..." with the whole band. It's a lot of fun. You'll have to come to a show and see for yourself.
Tomorrow's dress rehearsal day. I can't wait to see what people have chosen for their costumes. It's going to be all over the sartorial map, but I think that's fitting for this zany show.
Monday, January 13, 2014
ARS Days 10 - 13
I thought this was going to be a daily endeavor, but there's not too much to report (and there's no denying: I'm busy). We also had a full weekend of As You Like It performances. Here's a photo:
You can see more production photos here.
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Letsee...on Sunday night, we met for a couple hours to solidify more music for Servant. I'm jumping on accordion for a song--an instrument I've never played. But the licks I'm playing aren't too bad. I think I'll get the hang of it. The song I've been doing the trumpet transcription for is going over quite well. Many fellow troupe members have been complimentary for that. I've got some more notes to work out for a couple other songs, and I think the bulk of the work is done! We'll be in good shape to preview Servant on Thursday (if I have the schedule correct).
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For the past couple years, I've been using Pinterest to collect images (and some videos) that have some kind of link to the shows I'm working on. Often, they are photos from other productions. But paintings from the era or ones that evoke the right tone appear too. There's also costumes and locations that offer pathways to more imagination. Here's my AYLI board (which includes a lot of pins from when I was playing Touchstone back in grad school).
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Other than that, today I've been enjoying the day off, working on more lines and other odds n' ends.
We start back up tomorrow with a full day of Servant rehearsal, which reminds me, I need to work on the pre-show speech for that (more on that later).
 |
| Sarah Fallon (Celia) and Tracie Thomason (Rosalind). Photo by Pat Jarrett. |
You can see more production photos here.
--------------------------------------
Letsee...on Sunday night, we met for a couple hours to solidify more music for Servant. I'm jumping on accordion for a song--an instrument I've never played. But the licks I'm playing aren't too bad. I think I'll get the hang of it. The song I've been doing the trumpet transcription for is going over quite well. Many fellow troupe members have been complimentary for that. I've got some more notes to work out for a couple other songs, and I think the bulk of the work is done! We'll be in good shape to preview Servant on Thursday (if I have the schedule correct).
--------------------------------------
For the past couple years, I've been using Pinterest to collect images (and some videos) that have some kind of link to the shows I'm working on. Often, they are photos from other productions. But paintings from the era or ones that evoke the right tone appear too. There's also costumes and locations that offer pathways to more imagination. Here's my AYLI board (which includes a lot of pins from when I was playing Touchstone back in grad school).
--------------------------------------
Other than that, today I've been enjoying the day off, working on more lines and other odds n' ends.
We start back up tomorrow with a full day of Servant rehearsal, which reminds me, I need to work on the pre-show speech for that (more on that later).
Thursday, January 9, 2014
ARS Day 9
As of today, we've blocked out the entire play.
I spent a good chunk of the morning on EPICENE lines. Then, the whole cast assembled to discuss transitions. We've decided that there are some big leaps of scenery within the play and we can help the audience out a bit with music and one bit of "scenic design" a banner with a B that serves as branding for Brighella's Inn. Anytime a scene occurs inside or outside the inn, the B will be flipped over the balcony. Major shifts in space (whether it's the inn or not) are accompanied by some "Italian" music (usually accordion, mandolin, and guitar).
Anyway, since I work at the inn and I'm not in a lot of scenes, I volunteered to flip the sign up and down when needed. This significantly alters my track for the show. I have to be "on call" about every 175 lines or so. I think I'll be setting up "camp" in the stairwell by the musician's balcony for most of the show with my other scripts. Once I get better at tracking the show aurally, I'll be able to know when my cues are coming. I've made a cue cheat sheet, but what I really need to know is a major cue to help out with when I need to be on deck. This will all come in time. But I'm impatient and want to have it all figured out now.
That last paragraph was exciting, wasn't it?
In the afternoon, we ran the dinner scene out of context, and then plugged it into the context of the show. It's a doozy. It's even more of a doozy for Greg (playing Truffaldino). I'm a bit concerned about how funny the scene is right now--not my job, I know. There were some earnest chuckles from troupe members and stage management. (There were also some unintentional crashing dishes backstage...I'm surprised there hasn't been more.) The key is to get it clean and machine-like. The humor can only live with the precision, which is coming along.
As You Like It is stretching my acting muscles with variety in playing multiple characters. Servant is stretching technical skill and agility. Timon will offer me more flex on a mental/dramatic/emotional side (and very tricky verse). And Epicene will try all of these and more. I haven't even thought about Maid's Tragedy, and I am just fine with that--keeps me saner, I believe. That's three plays from now.
Tomorrow, we've got a four-hour block to work more Servant, and then review some As You Like It, because there's a performance in the evening! Rep, rep, rep.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
ARS Day 8
Today we worked through the big dinner scene. Once we figured out the main entrance of the waiters, and an onstage table, it went pretty smoothly. We've got a great system and my other waiters along with Abbi have been immensely helpful in handing off props or receiving them. This will just take reps and more reps.
We also worked through the other scenes I was in--not too major, but I did end up calling "prithee" for every line I had in one scene. Not my proudest moment. I'll be sure those are worked out cold.
Other than that, I kept plugging away with the trumpet duet transcription for this one song we're planning to do. It'd be easy if it was just one trumpet, but we've got the players and it's a beautiful line. This is not a skill that comes easily, and it's been tedious (especially when I consider how much other work there is to be done). Still, I'm confident it will be awesome. Chris and I were able to check some of the phrasing in the afternoon, and it made all that work begin to pay off.
This does bring up another interesting issue: how much work does one do outside of work? It's tough. Our rehearsal days are eight hours long, and we manage to crank out a lot. But there's always more to be done. Right now, I'm working on lines outside of rehearsal (there's no other way), but when it comes to music--especially trumpet stuff--I'm devoting time I have off during regular rehearsal hours to commit to that. We still have another week before SERVANT has dresses and previews. I think we're managing to get through the skeleton of two songs each day. This should get us on track for next week's opening.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
ARS Day 7
Yesterday, I had a much-needed day off. I slept in, got a haircut, bought groceries, watched Sherlock. I also worked on lines, primarily some big speeches I have in Epicene, and I also memorized Flavius's big soliloquy in Timon of Athens.
Today was our first big day to work on The Servant of Two Masters. Alli (playing Smeraldina) provided a schedule for the day. The only commitment I had to the rest of the group was to talk over the props with the other waiters (Traci and Andrew) about the big restaurant scene were Truffaldino serves to both his masters. It involves a lot of props (my posts on Servant will likely revolve around this scene, so get ready). We figured out which props could be doubled and decided that one prop table should work backstage. The minute it comes back stage, it will return to its home whether we use it or not again in the scene (like the soup tureen--a dish that is called for both Beatrice and Florindo--we'll just use the same one).
Music rehearsal was set for the end of the day. I stayed at the theatre and worked on music the whole time. Troupe members offer suggestions for songs on a white board. I created a YouTube playlist for all the songs, so everyone had easy access. As always, it's an eclectic mix. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing a lot more trumpet for this show. A big project was transcribing a haunting trumpet duet line from a song (I'll keep the songs a secret for now). If it's a trickier line, I will sit at a piano with the song on my iPad and plunk out the notes. This still requires transposition--the trumpet is a whole step lower than the piano and other C instruments. But for this song, I think Greg wants to bring it down a half step. So I will only need to transpose these lines up a half step. I'm nearly finished with the initial C transcription.
Oh yes! I managed to track down my costume today. This show is going to cover a wide span of time periods. The waiters have decided on a pretty classic (modern) look: black dress pants, white dress shirt, an apron, and some ties. We found matching ties in the costume shop, so we've got ourselves a nice little uniform going on.
I also volunteered to work on the pre-show speech for this show. I think my fellow waiters and I can work up some restaurant/service industry gags for that.
While all this is going on, the rest of the troupe managed to get through what I think is the first third of the show. We're going to tackle the big restaurant scene first thing tomorrow, which will be a lot of work. Most of the cues are visual cues, rather than vocal cues. Timing and coordinating the backstage flow is going to be key (as well as memorizing the sequencing). I better review all of that tonight before I go to bed and again tomorrow morning.
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| The ASC posted this photo of me on Facebook today. In celebration of the 25th anniversary, you'll see some photos of ASC actors in 1988. I call this my Titus Andronicus audition. |
Today was our first big day to work on The Servant of Two Masters. Alli (playing Smeraldina) provided a schedule for the day. The only commitment I had to the rest of the group was to talk over the props with the other waiters (Traci and Andrew) about the big restaurant scene were Truffaldino serves to both his masters. It involves a lot of props (my posts on Servant will likely revolve around this scene, so get ready). We figured out which props could be doubled and decided that one prop table should work backstage. The minute it comes back stage, it will return to its home whether we use it or not again in the scene (like the soup tureen--a dish that is called for both Beatrice and Florindo--we'll just use the same one).
Music rehearsal was set for the end of the day. I stayed at the theatre and worked on music the whole time. Troupe members offer suggestions for songs on a white board. I created a YouTube playlist for all the songs, so everyone had easy access. As always, it's an eclectic mix. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing a lot more trumpet for this show. A big project was transcribing a haunting trumpet duet line from a song (I'll keep the songs a secret for now). If it's a trickier line, I will sit at a piano with the song on my iPad and plunk out the notes. This still requires transposition--the trumpet is a whole step lower than the piano and other C instruments. But for this song, I think Greg wants to bring it down a half step. So I will only need to transpose these lines up a half step. I'm nearly finished with the initial C transcription.
Oh yes! I managed to track down my costume today. This show is going to cover a wide span of time periods. The waiters have decided on a pretty classic (modern) look: black dress pants, white dress shirt, an apron, and some ties. We found matching ties in the costume shop, so we've got ourselves a nice little uniform going on.
I also volunteered to work on the pre-show speech for this show. I think my fellow waiters and I can work up some restaurant/service industry gags for that.
While all this is going on, the rest of the troupe managed to get through what I think is the first third of the show. We're going to tackle the big restaurant scene first thing tomorrow, which will be a lot of work. Most of the cues are visual cues, rather than vocal cues. Timing and coordinating the backstage flow is going to be key (as well as memorizing the sequencing). I better review all of that tonight before I go to bed and again tomorrow morning.
Monday, January 6, 2014
ARS Day 6
Sunday - January 5
Got to the theatre a bit earlier than call to do a good ol' fashioned voice and body warm up. My voice was pretty tired. I'm glad I took the time to do that. I don't really have a pre-show ritual at the ASC. Each show requires different preparation. More often than not, it depends what my voice/body needs and what show it is.
I have a 12-minute walk to the theatre, which is a great time to listen to any songs that I need to do a lyrics brush-up on or listen to music that helps focus me on the show--a soundtrack of sorts.
Last fall, I went through all of my lines before every Troilus & Cressida performance. We usually only did it once a week, and I had a couple big speeches and scenes I needed to keep cycling through my voice and head.
Here, there's so much activity going on before a show: props and costumes to set, instruments to warm-up and tune, fight/dance/music call. Often, we all get to the theatre 90 minutes before the show begins (and don't forget, we've got the pre-show music). Now I have to add graying out my beard for this show. I'm considering just having a goatee for this season; it's less gunk to put on my face.
After the show and a dinner break, we returned to the theatre for our first The Servant of Two Masters rehearsal. Part of the evolution of the Ren Season (I guess) is to hold a Sunday evening read-through of the next play. It gives the troupe a chance to get a sense of where people are headed with their characters and such.
This play is FUNNY. It's also never been done on the Blackfriars stage before. (A bit of trivia, with the exception of As You Like It, the rest of the plays for this ARS are Blackfriars premieres!) I think people will love this. It has some challenges, of course, and I will likely elaborate on those as we dive into rehearsals.
After the read, we got on the same page with the pronunciation for the Italian proper names (and I have the pleasure of saying "Singor Pantalone dei Bisognosi"). I believe some folks started work on the fights afterward. I'm just bracing myself for the big restaurant scene and learning a lot of music. This is the smallest role I have in the whole season, which will be nice given that I still have quite a lot of lines to learn for Epicene (which is definitely on my homework list for Monday).
Got to the theatre a bit earlier than call to do a good ol' fashioned voice and body warm up. My voice was pretty tired. I'm glad I took the time to do that. I don't really have a pre-show ritual at the ASC. Each show requires different preparation. More often than not, it depends what my voice/body needs and what show it is.
I have a 12-minute walk to the theatre, which is a great time to listen to any songs that I need to do a lyrics brush-up on or listen to music that helps focus me on the show--a soundtrack of sorts.
Last fall, I went through all of my lines before every Troilus & Cressida performance. We usually only did it once a week, and I had a couple big speeches and scenes I needed to keep cycling through my voice and head.
Here, there's so much activity going on before a show: props and costumes to set, instruments to warm-up and tune, fight/dance/music call. Often, we all get to the theatre 90 minutes before the show begins (and don't forget, we've got the pre-show music). Now I have to add graying out my beard for this show. I'm considering just having a goatee for this season; it's less gunk to put on my face.
After the show and a dinner break, we returned to the theatre for our first The Servant of Two Masters rehearsal. Part of the evolution of the Ren Season (I guess) is to hold a Sunday evening read-through of the next play. It gives the troupe a chance to get a sense of where people are headed with their characters and such.
This play is FUNNY. It's also never been done on the Blackfriars stage before. (A bit of trivia, with the exception of As You Like It, the rest of the plays for this ARS are Blackfriars premieres!) I think people will love this. It has some challenges, of course, and I will likely elaborate on those as we dive into rehearsals.
After the read, we got on the same page with the pronunciation for the Italian proper names (and I have the pleasure of saying "Singor Pantalone dei Bisognosi"). I believe some folks started work on the fights afterward. I'm just bracing myself for the big restaurant scene and learning a lot of music. This is the smallest role I have in the whole season, which will be nice given that I still have quite a lot of lines to learn for Epicene (which is definitely on my homework list for Monday).
Sunday, January 5, 2014
ARS Day 5
Opening night!
We had two "pay-what-you-will" previews today: a matinee and then opening night, and I think they went rather smoothly.
We changed the end of the wrestling match after the matinee. Orlando's language says that he's ready to keep fighting after he takes down Charles. For the first two previews, the audience gave Orlando a big cheer before he says those lines. We had some action that indicates the fight is clearly over. So we cut some business to make the end of the match a little more ambiguous before Duke Frederick officially declares him the winner.
For the evening show, Greg suggested to me that I enter first in the beginning and immediately head downstage. He has been entering first (since he's the first to speak), I hang up stage a bit and then make my way downstage. Admittedly, that cross has been feeling weird for the couple shows we've done. This solution has solved two problems. The Ren Season allows for changes, even after we've opened (something that usually doesn't happen).
I don't really have anything else to report. There was a fun opening night party in the Cutaia Lounge after the show. It was fun to chat with the audience (and eat some delicious smoked Gouda).
We had two "pay-what-you-will" previews today: a matinee and then opening night, and I think they went rather smoothly.
We changed the end of the wrestling match after the matinee. Orlando's language says that he's ready to keep fighting after he takes down Charles. For the first two previews, the audience gave Orlando a big cheer before he says those lines. We had some action that indicates the fight is clearly over. So we cut some business to make the end of the match a little more ambiguous before Duke Frederick officially declares him the winner.
For the evening show, Greg suggested to me that I enter first in the beginning and immediately head downstage. He has been entering first (since he's the first to speak), I hang up stage a bit and then make my way downstage. Admittedly, that cross has been feeling weird for the couple shows we've done. This solution has solved two problems. The Ren Season allows for changes, even after we've opened (something that usually doesn't happen).
I don't really have anything else to report. There was a fun opening night party in the Cutaia Lounge after the show. It was fun to chat with the audience (and eat some delicious smoked Gouda).
Saturday, January 4, 2014
ARS Day 4
It's the day of the show y'all!
We had a morning meeting to go over what we would do for the next four hours. It amounted to about one hour of scene work/blocking issues and then three hours for music. Chris managed to learn how to play "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones in twenty minutes, so that was plugged into our pre-show lineup. I spent some time before rehearsal to transcribe the guitar/sax solo in the funk song "Couldn't Get It Right."
I had a good hour to work on my own while everyone else was rehearsing other songs I wasn't in, so I used that time to look at my big Flavius soliloquy in Timon of Athens ("O the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us!"). At a first glance, it looks like a long list of saying the same thing over and over. That is dangerous. But as I looked at the language/verse more closely, I realized that Flavius changes his mind toward the end and fully commits to sticking with Timon, even though both of their lives are essentially ruined. So, Flavius blasts away the compounding factors of Timon's downfall. Navigating those shifts will help memorizing and keep the drama pumping in a seemingly "speechy" play.
Anyway, after a 90 minute break, everyone returned to the playhouse to get prepped for our first "Pay-What-You-Will" Preview. HOLY COW! There were at least 200 people in the house. Greg (playing Orlando), told me he startled a bit right after saying the first line of the play ("As I remember, Adam..."). He plays the drums for the pre-show music and can't really see the crowd.
I've opened quite a few shows in my young professional acting life, and it's always nerve-wracking to step on stage and say the words the first time for a full house. I only have three lines in the first scene, but I admit I was relieved getting offstage after that first scene.
I guess a few "prithees" were called (what we say instead of calling "line"). But the audience doesn't seem to mind. Yes, we have a prompter sitting just to the side of the stage for the Ren Season. There are some legendary "prithee" moments in past Actors' Renaissance Seasons. Perhaps we'll have our own; it's all part of the fun.
Tomorrow, we have two more previews (with the official opening on Saturday night). We're actually done rehearsing As You Like It. The music still needs some work; luckily, we always have a music call before each show, which will give us time to work out the kinks. With the first show, this is the most time-compressed we are for music. The others have some more time to let the songs marinate.
Out-of-context quote of the day: "Are those supposed to be sheep noises? Because they don't sound like sheep."
 |
| Photo by Jay McClure, which he snapped while I was rehearsing a scene as William. |
We had a morning meeting to go over what we would do for the next four hours. It amounted to about one hour of scene work/blocking issues and then three hours for music. Chris managed to learn how to play "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones in twenty minutes, so that was plugged into our pre-show lineup. I spent some time before rehearsal to transcribe the guitar/sax solo in the funk song "Couldn't Get It Right."
I had a good hour to work on my own while everyone else was rehearsing other songs I wasn't in, so I used that time to look at my big Flavius soliloquy in Timon of Athens ("O the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us!"). At a first glance, it looks like a long list of saying the same thing over and over. That is dangerous. But as I looked at the language/verse more closely, I realized that Flavius changes his mind toward the end and fully commits to sticking with Timon, even though both of their lives are essentially ruined. So, Flavius blasts away the compounding factors of Timon's downfall. Navigating those shifts will help memorizing and keep the drama pumping in a seemingly "speechy" play.
Anyway, after a 90 minute break, everyone returned to the playhouse to get prepped for our first "Pay-What-You-Will" Preview. HOLY COW! There were at least 200 people in the house. Greg (playing Orlando), told me he startled a bit right after saying the first line of the play ("As I remember, Adam..."). He plays the drums for the pre-show music and can't really see the crowd.
I've opened quite a few shows in my young professional acting life, and it's always nerve-wracking to step on stage and say the words the first time for a full house. I only have three lines in the first scene, but I admit I was relieved getting offstage after that first scene.
I guess a few "prithees" were called (what we say instead of calling "line"). But the audience doesn't seem to mind. Yes, we have a prompter sitting just to the side of the stage for the Ren Season. There are some legendary "prithee" moments in past Actors' Renaissance Seasons. Perhaps we'll have our own; it's all part of the fun.
Tomorrow, we have two more previews (with the official opening on Saturday night). We're actually done rehearsing As You Like It. The music still needs some work; luckily, we always have a music call before each show, which will give us time to work out the kinks. With the first show, this is the most time-compressed we are for music. The others have some more time to let the songs marinate.
Out-of-context quote of the day: "Are those supposed to be sheep noises? Because they don't sound like sheep."
ARS Day 3
Dress Rehearsal Day!
During our morning meeting, we determined to go through the whole play, stopping and starting as needed. Before that, we had a music rehearsal for the in-show songs. If I'm not mistaken, As You Like It has the most songs of any Shakespeare play:
"Under the Greenwood Tree"
"Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind."
"It Was a Lover and His Lass."
"What Shall He Hath That Killed The Deer."
"Wedding is Great Juno's Crown."
We also bring "Blow, Blow" back at the end with a dance.
We managed to make it through the show in the morning. I used it as a practice dress rehearsal and tried out all my costumes, since I wasn't exactly sure how much time I had for my changes. Backstage, stage management has posted a scene chart with the number of lines in each scene along with who's in that scene (remember, we've only been provided with cue scripts). It's a good way to gauge, early on, how much time we've got before the next entrance. I learned my changes are pretty easy. There are some times when actors have to leave a scene as one character and enter in the next as another. We're working with some creative ways to get those people off stage earlier to help with the quick change.
I MUST MUST MUST write in new entrance cues for some of my scenes. Often a character will say "here comes ______________" and that's the cue to enter. But given that we've got doors on the Blackfriars Stage, it doesn't make the most sense for a character to magically know that another is entering without seeing them. This means the cue has to be bumped up a line or two.
After an hour lunch break, we got ready for our dress rehearsal. We used music call to work on the interlude music. Our pre-show music is not quite ready. I think we're using the four hours we have on Friday's rehearsal to use for that. Some staff from the theatre staff showed up for the dress. We even had a person sit on the gallant stools on stage--always helpful.
I imagine we'll get some notes about how everything looks and flows on Friday. I know there's a few blocking snafus that I'd like to adjust in a couple of my scenes. They may or may not get rehearsal. We can discuss as needed. I love how open and willing everyone is when it comes to addressing concerns or little problems. There's absolutely no ego involved.
During our morning meeting, we determined to go through the whole play, stopping and starting as needed. Before that, we had a music rehearsal for the in-show songs. If I'm not mistaken, As You Like It has the most songs of any Shakespeare play:
"Under the Greenwood Tree"
"Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind."
"It Was a Lover and His Lass."
"What Shall He Hath That Killed The Deer."
"Wedding is Great Juno's Crown."
We also bring "Blow, Blow" back at the end with a dance.
We managed to make it through the show in the morning. I used it as a practice dress rehearsal and tried out all my costumes, since I wasn't exactly sure how much time I had for my changes. Backstage, stage management has posted a scene chart with the number of lines in each scene along with who's in that scene (remember, we've only been provided with cue scripts). It's a good way to gauge, early on, how much time we've got before the next entrance. I learned my changes are pretty easy. There are some times when actors have to leave a scene as one character and enter in the next as another. We're working with some creative ways to get those people off stage earlier to help with the quick change.
I MUST MUST MUST write in new entrance cues for some of my scenes. Often a character will say "here comes ______________" and that's the cue to enter. But given that we've got doors on the Blackfriars Stage, it doesn't make the most sense for a character to magically know that another is entering without seeing them. This means the cue has to be bumped up a line or two.
After an hour lunch break, we got ready for our dress rehearsal. We used music call to work on the interlude music. Our pre-show music is not quite ready. I think we're using the four hours we have on Friday's rehearsal to use for that. Some staff from the theatre staff showed up for the dress. We even had a person sit on the gallant stools on stage--always helpful.
I imagine we'll get some notes about how everything looks and flows on Friday. I know there's a few blocking snafus that I'd like to adjust in a couple of my scenes. They may or may not get rehearsal. We can discuss as needed. I love how open and willing everyone is when it comes to addressing concerns or little problems. There's absolutely no ego involved.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Ren Season Days 1 and 2
I'm exhausted.
We've had two days of rehearsal. That's 16 hours. As You Like It is on its feet--music, fights, and all (to some degree at least).
On the first day, we started off with a meeting. It was full of introductions and notes about costumes, props. We have help from people in costumes and props to guide us, but it's up to the actor to figure out what he/she wants to use for the show.
Some advice from the seasoned pros who've done the Actor's Renaissance Season:
--"Your idea is better than my no idea."
--"Don't freak out about only getting 15 minutes to work on a scene. You can get a lot done in that time." (some paraphrase of that, anyway)
--"It's fine. It'll be fine."
Then, we were off to the races.
Tracie (playing Rosalind) made a schedule for the day. The goal was to get through the first act by the first day. There's some figure of allotting so many minutes to rehearse a set number of lines. It worked pretty well, from what I can tell. Whenever folks weren't on the stage working on scenes, they worked on music and undergo the great costume hunt.
Day two was similar. I got into the theatre a half hour early to go through the costume stock (when I wasn't working scenes, I was figuring out a bunch of music stuff. It was a minimal costume day while attempted to get my bearings). This version of As You Like It is in a kind of vague 1920s/30s world. I say that pretty loosely--we're not afraid of anachronisms here (thank goodness). I'm playing FIVE characters (the most I've ever done for a show): Adam, Martext, William a Page, and Hymen. I think I've found a pair of pants that will work for Adam, William, the Page. The stuff I'm wearing for the other characters can just go over the pants. I've got a variety of hats pulled. I need to track down a couple shirts yet. I don't think my costumes changes are too fast (but I'll find that out tomorrow).
I played around with a cane for Adam, but that impairs his mobility more than I'd like. So I scrapped that. Maybe it'll come back. That prop does allow to signify age since I'm not doing any kind of makeup or hair (that could all change). But I know of some spry 80-year-olds....
THERE'S A DRESS REHEARSAL TOMORROW AFTERNOON.
I'm not too worried about this show. I do need to transcribe a trumpet solo from this great song: "Couldn't Get It Right" (which will take some time) and I'm also singing this song ...
(Our version isn't quite like this, but I think should you all watch this)
There's a lot more I could write. But I'm exhausted. I'm not too worried about this show (and I'm incredibly grateful that I've done AYLI before). There's a lot of work to do, but from what I can tell, we're in okay shape.
The other shows however...I have a lot of work to do on those. Servant of Two Masters starts on Sunday night with a read-through. And then there's three more plays after that...
G'night.
We've had two days of rehearsal. That's 16 hours. As You Like It is on its feet--music, fights, and all (to some degree at least).
On the first day, we started off with a meeting. It was full of introductions and notes about costumes, props. We have help from people in costumes and props to guide us, but it's up to the actor to figure out what he/she wants to use for the show.
Some advice from the seasoned pros who've done the Actor's Renaissance Season:
--"Your idea is better than my no idea."
--"Don't freak out about only getting 15 minutes to work on a scene. You can get a lot done in that time." (some paraphrase of that, anyway)
--"It's fine. It'll be fine."
Then, we were off to the races.
Tracie (playing Rosalind) made a schedule for the day. The goal was to get through the first act by the first day. There's some figure of allotting so many minutes to rehearse a set number of lines. It worked pretty well, from what I can tell. Whenever folks weren't on the stage working on scenes, they worked on music and undergo the great costume hunt.
Day two was similar. I got into the theatre a half hour early to go through the costume stock (when I wasn't working scenes, I was figuring out a bunch of music stuff. It was a minimal costume day while attempted to get my bearings). This version of As You Like It is in a kind of vague 1920s/30s world. I say that pretty loosely--we're not afraid of anachronisms here (thank goodness). I'm playing FIVE characters (the most I've ever done for a show): Adam, Martext, William a Page, and Hymen. I think I've found a pair of pants that will work for Adam, William, the Page. The stuff I'm wearing for the other characters can just go over the pants. I've got a variety of hats pulled. I need to track down a couple shirts yet. I don't think my costumes changes are too fast (but I'll find that out tomorrow).
I played around with a cane for Adam, but that impairs his mobility more than I'd like. So I scrapped that. Maybe it'll come back. That prop does allow to signify age since I'm not doing any kind of makeup or hair (that could all change). But I know of some spry 80-year-olds....
THERE'S A DRESS REHEARSAL TOMORROW AFTERNOON.
I'm not too worried about this show. I do need to transcribe a trumpet solo from this great song: "Couldn't Get It Right" (which will take some time) and I'm also singing this song ...
(Our version isn't quite like this, but I think should you all watch this)
There's a lot more I could write. But I'm exhausted. I'm not too worried about this show (and I'm incredibly grateful that I've done AYLI before). There's a lot of work to do, but from what I can tell, we're in okay shape.
The other shows however...I have a lot of work to do on those. Servant of Two Masters starts on Sunday night with a read-through. And then there's three more plays after that...
G'night.
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