Talkback - Timon Edition

We're gearing up for our opening of The Maid's Tragedy. We've had a dress and a preview earlier this week. I think it's coming together quite well. I think a giant sigh of relief will release once we get backstage after curtain call tonight. I'll write more about that later.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you some common questions that some folks have asked during talkbacks--particularly as they pertain to Timon of Athens. We had a performance of that last night and it was fun to engage with the audiences about this show. I love participating in talkbacks. We usually have one after every student matinee, and they are more generalized questions about the Ren Season or life as an actor at ASC. The comedies usually get that kind of response as well. But last night (And every Thursday night, we hold a talkback) was a bit different; folks asked more questions about Timon. I'll relay some of those questions and share my thoughts or what other actors said (this is all paraphrasing):

• How does costuming work?

We are in charge of coming up with costumes. Typically, the actor who's done the most work on the play (whether he or she cut the play or is playing the largest role) has done some thinking about the "design" of the play and comes up with a costume. The rest of the troupe follows suit (or doesn't). In the case of Timon, the logistics of many quick costume changes (I think some of the women have four or five changes in the first twenty minutes of the play). The folks who have to play many characters in this show agreed on having a black base so that they could drape other pieces over without having to do many elaborate changes.

• How do the speeches grow/change over the course of the run? Do you ever get bored?

In my experience so far, it's never a dull moment during the Ren Season. Timon doesn't get boring, ever. And we're doing this show once a week. Everything deepens and strengthens over time. The language in Timon is wonderful. It's Charles Mingus jazz. The audiences help in "teaching" the play during this season. Our rehearsals of the plays happen while we're performing them.

• What's the deal with Apemantus?

Josh (playing the role) said that Apemantus is a kind of Fool in this play (even though there is an actual Fool in one scene). Fools speak the truth; however, because that truth is difficult to swallow for many characters, no one really listens to him. There is a kind of cynic/jester role he plays--especially in the beginning. Partygoers laugh at him. In this production, his punk/alternative vibes suggest a warped sense of luxury. It's almost as if having him around makes Timon's household and parties even more special. And come on, that cave seen between Timon and Apemantus is awesome. 

• What's it like to play so many characters in one show?

I play Flavius for 98% of this show. I do play the messenger of Ventidius at the beginning of the play. It's distinguished with costume, and I deepen my voice a bit. I think my messenger is looking for temp work. He's trying to make some extra money. But anyway, Chris answered this question in the talkback last night. He mentioned that there's a lot of trust with the audience that goes on with doubling/tripling/quadrupling in shows at the ASC. The text is the ultimate guide. Costumes are a big help.

Honestly, the largest hurdle in playing multiple characters in one show is finding the flow of the costume changes backstage. Otherwise, an actor's job deals with investing in the lives of so many different characters. When we're playing a bunch in one show, it's just heightened/concentrated.  For something like As You Like It, I made an effort to change my voice, make significant costume changes, and carry my body in different ways. For some characters, it's not as necessary. The pages who sing "Lover and Lass" are seemingly inconsequential. I didn't develop a giant backstory about that character. I think he's a bit tipsy and fully embracing the forest life. The banishment has been good to him.

When the doubling becomes more significant and switches back and forth frequently, it can be challenging. I haven't had to work on any extreme doubling. I do have an odd doubling that's upcoming in Much Ado: Claudio and the Sexton. Right after the wedding scene, I'm the Sexton for the "Writ down an ass" scene with Dogberry, and then I jump back to Claudio with very few lines to spare for the next scene. It's fast in addition to jumping between high drama and comedy.

• The second half of "Timon" feels like Shakespeare, but the first half doesn't so much. Can you tell when there are Middleton parts in this show? 

I'm not suited to be an authority on this. I have no experience with Middleton. Critics claim that Middleton is responsible for the character of Flavius. I don't really care. It's my job to deliver the text and tell the story. The only thing I have noticed is how irregular the verse is (which is typical of later Shakespeare). It's clumsy, but in a good way. There's a lot of enjambment and parenthetical phrases. All of that is useful for playing a character who is conflicted and deeply agitated. Flavius also speaks, however, with a lot of rhyming couplets. That suggests a certainty and strength. I love the chance to play with a wide spectrum.

The first half is all over the place. Many scenes span lots of locations and characters. Part of that has to do with our swift cutting of the play. The second half is almost entirely at the cave. I love that shift. Shakespeare's plays are all full of conundrums. Some people think this play was a rush job and that this is an early draft. I won't say it's not without its issues, but at the end of the day, as an actor, I can't worry about those issues while I'm playing the scenes. At the end, if the play has got you thinking, asking questions, and talking with fellow audience members, our production has done something right.

• How do you like performing an "obscure" show that audiences aren't so familiar with rather than something like "Midsummer"?

I'm loving this. You can feel the audience lean forward. Most of the folks coming to see Timon have no prior experience. They may have heard of its reputation, but there's not really a "All the world's a stage" line or speech in Timon--in terms of its familiarity. Hamlet is chock-full of familiar phrases. I've heard of one production where the guy playing Hamlet wrote "to be or not to be, that is the question" on a chalkboard and then commenced with the rest of the speech. I think the idea being that when something so oft-quoted and familiar can send people out of a production. Who knows. On the other hand, familiarity can be a wonderful thing with audiences. 

But with this show, we get to give the gift of something new to the audience. I haven't done a lot of new work before, but this experience with Timon has felt like that, and I expect many audiences would say the same. That's exciting. They're leaning forward. It's difficult to know what jokes are going to land (yes, Timon has funny moments). This production feels more alive and vital for whatever reason.

Week Wrap-Up

To be honest, I'm losing steam with this. I wish that weren't the case, but alas. I think part of the reason is that these posts can, on occasion, meander through the day-to-day. I want to continue writing about the work, but I think honing the focus will help things out.

Anyway, the season is winding down (in the sense that we're going to stop rehearsing). We've got three weeks left?!

From what I can tell, the first three shows (As You Like It, Servant of Two Masters, and Timon of Athens) are in some kind of well-oiled machine land. Servant may be less so given the challenges of rapid-fire comedy. But since I don't have much going on in that show, it's hard for me to tell.

Epicene will continue to be a bear. We did a Sunday matinee yesterday (our first for this show), and it wasn't our strongest effort. I got to the theatre an hour early to stretch, warm-up, and review my second half lines. I felt pretty good energy-wise, but the long week caught up with me. There were some flukey mishaps throughout the show. None of them were major. But we were white-knuckling this a bit. I wish that weren't the case. This is a hard one for me, and I'm going to be thinking/learning about this whole experience for a long time.

Before the show, the cast assembled to finesse some storytelling moments. I think they were good fixes. These "changes" involve either delaying or cutting a group response (something of that nature). There's a puzzling moment still--and I won't get into the nitty gritty details--and I wouldn't be surprised if that requires some ironing. The more I do this show, the more confounding it becomes.

Yours truly and Andrew (as Dauphine) in Epicene. Photo by Pat Jarrett.

A big characteristic of this play is that everyone is serving Truewit's plotting, but the folks are at different levels of consciousness of the plotting. Even his "helpers": Cutbeard and Otter, are pawns and subject to Truewit's ridicule. The Collegiates are also accomplices, but Truewit banks on their natures, rather than letting them in on the whole jest. To throw another wrench into the mix, Truewit isn't even privy to the ultimate jest of Epicene's identity... While this all makes sense to me, it becomes difficult to orchestrate group reactions in the big scenes. Each of the characters has a supremely individual response to the action, which can be problematic for the larger storytelling (my kingdom for a director!)

Epicene may not ever get to the well-oiled machine land, which is a shame because this show could use it. I think the best solution to this is doing this show more than once a week. A Jonson City Comedy needs to fire on all cylinders and quickly. I will continue to give my body and mind the best prep before it arrives for the remaining weeks. I'm also optimistic the show will start clicking along.

I should point out that I'm not saying Epicene is a failure. This is more of an artist's "divine dissatisfaction." Audiences who venture to the playhouse to see an obscure 17th century comedy have been enjoying it, and I think we've drummed up some vivid characters in some hilarious predicaments.

MEANWHILE, while all this is going on, we're rehearsing The Maid's Tragedy!

I'm grateful for the break in responsibility, but others have giant loads to bear. I'm in full support mode with these rehearsals. We have our first dress tomorrow afternoon, and I need to make sure I review everything before then.

And in other news, I published by new website. Take a look if you'd like (there are more Epicene photos there).

Double Day: As You Like It & Epicene

It's so late. I should be sleeping, but I'm wired from ice cream and pouring over Austin Kleon's new book Show Your Work. Austin has been an artist/writer/creative/inspiration for the past couple years. I remember stumbling across a list of tips he wish he'd learned in college. Those tips later became the book "Steal Like An Artist."

He got his start with Newspaper Blackout poetry.

Anyway, I've been following his work ever since (on Twitter and his blog and whatnot). He lives his life as if it were one long DVD special feature. That's partially why I thought blogging about the Renaissance Season would be fun to do. I'm a fan. If you're at all interested in embracing a creative life, follow him. I'm going to be exploring more of his advice in the future.

With that commercial over, I'll get back to more Ren Season updates.

The wigs of the men's dressing room.

Yesterday we had a two-show day: As You Like It matinee and then an evening performance of Epicene.

The matinee had more than 300 students. It took them a bit to warm up to the pre-show music, but once we busted out the Doobie Brothers, they were grooving. Yesterday's show also marked the most kids singing along to "Royals." Typically, there's at least three people mouthing along or moving to the song. But yesterday, there were many groups scattered throughout the playhouse singing along. I love when that happens.

In between shows, I did some cooking and reviewed some Epicene lines. I also did a great hatha yoga routine. It had been far too long.

Then: performance I'd been a little concerned about. My voice has been slowly getting back to where it was before the great cold/opening of Epicene last week. I knew I couldn't push it, but I also knew that I was able to give the audience and my castmates a show they deserved.

I guzzled as much water/tea as I could. I did my best to keep a calm headspace going before the show. I knew I had to groove but I absolutely could not push things. And on the flipside, I couldn't be overly worried or nervous about this. It's hard. Truewit is a ringleader, a trapeze artist, and a clown in this show. I believe this character thrives on verbal pyrotechnics, which requires using the extremes of the voice.

The greatest blessing from last night's show was the most generous, giggly audience of 30 I've ever witnessed. The intimate energy of that show was just what I needed for working on the delicate balance of being kind to myself and driving the show. Especially with comedies, you cannot force an audience to laugh. I do what I can to keep the cues tight and listening intently. With this small house, I think we found a good pocket of energy. I think it went well for me (from what I can tell). If nothing else, my voice felt great afterwards.

I'll leave you with that for now. We're doing As You Like It and Epicene again on Saturday in the same order. I'm hoping I'm back to 100% for those shows but that I can still maintain the delicacy with the theatrics for the rest of the run.

Recovery

I've lost track of the number of days. Maybe I'll figure it out sometime. Here's a quick recap of things:

THURSDAY, FEB 20
Epicene preview. I was a bit nervous, but doing the show once yesterday was a gift. The folks seemed to like it. Our pace is just off. But that is to be expected for a comedy that we've only been working on for, what, ten days or so? John Harrell mentioned in the talkback that Ben Jonson plays need to click along, and I agree. I feel a pang whenever there's a little gap in the action. The troupe is getting more and more solid with lines (myself included). Another wrench: I've picked up a cold that's been hovering around the Blackfriars. A couple of us have it. It's just a pesky cold (exacerbated by this schedule, no doubt) but it's supremely annoying.

FRIDAY, FEB 21
The afternoon we had a four-hour block to look over stuff. We tweaked some things here and there. We cut a couple lines out of the final scene, which helped smooth out some jagged edges. They both affected my cues and lines--so I made sure to review those again before the performance. We opened Epicene to a great house. The pace quickened. I nearly stopped the show on the line "How? Maim a man forever for a jest?" There was a moment of panic when I forgot to grab a gallant stool for an intricate prank scene, but I was able to get things back on track. I felt great before the show. The energy continued throughout. It was just plain ol' fun. I know I went beyond what was healthy for my voice though, and...well...you'll see how that plays out in the days to follow...

SATURDAY, FEB 22
The adrenaline got the best of me and the cold sort of returned with a vengeance. My voice felt pretty ragged. I opted out of singing "MoneyGrabber" for Timon and "Hongry" in Servant. The shows went just fine. I was incredibly hoarse during Servant, however. Fortunately, it's a tiny part. Been sipping water and teas all day.

SUNDAY, FEB 23
In bad shape voice-wise. My body/energy felt fine. The cold is pretty much gone. The vocal folds, however, are probably in shock. I did, however, sing "Royals" during the interlude. It's not a demanding song range-wise (we changed the key from the original). But my Hymen Hymn was something else. I made up the melody. I attempted to figure out a way around the hymn and the vocal choices I made, but nothing came to me. If this hadn't been the last show of the week, I may have even asked for an understudy, or some kind of re-staging of Hymen. I dunno... The end of this race was something just short of a trainwreck. I immediately went on vocal rest after the show. Our stage manager Sara appointed Symmonie (our all-time understudy) to read my lines for The Maid's Tragedy read-through that evening.

MONDAY, FEB 24
Woke up feeling incredibly rested. But remained on vocal rest through the whole day. It's getting better. This day off is exactly what I needed. I got some reading done. Worked on my cue cards for The Maid's Tragedy. I also started working on a new actor website. It's simple and pretty easy to manage. I'll share it someday once it's finished.

TUESDAY, FEB 25
That's today. I have nothing more to share (other than I'm on the lookout for a job during the months of April, May, and June).

ARS Day 35

Double-Show Day: Timon of Athens matinee + As You Like It on a Saturday night (! -- it's been a while)

No Epicene rehearsal.

We had a nice mid-sized crowd for Timon this afternoon. I thought the show went pretty well. BUT...

(sigh...) I called prithee at the beginning of my cave scene with Timon. (What we say instead of "line" at ASC.)

I went blank when I discovered "yond despised and ruinous man...full of decay and failing." It was a moment when I had no idea what was coming. I considered trying to struggle through it, but it was a little soliloquy, and my attempt to patch up the memory lapse would have resulted in laborious paraphrasing and stumbling that the audience would have wince at. After some quick deliberation, I called prithee. Chris, as prompter, was primed (probably alert to the longer-than-normal pause), spoke the next two words, I immediately knew where I was line-wise. It was pretty terrifying in that instant. But I think I handled the situation as best as I could.

I don't want to call "prithee" if I don't have to (I don't think anyone wants to, really). I fully expect that to happen in Epicene (not that I'm banking on it--I just know it's possible, if not likely for this particular show). There have been some moments in Timon when I've mentally jumped to other scenes. Flavius has language in speeches that, on paper, seem very similar in others. He repeats turns of phrase often enough.

Anyway, it's out of my system. It may happen again, and I'll just keep going along.

That evening we had a large crowd for As You Like It, which was a treat. We hadn't done a Saturday evening AYLI for quite some time, and it was fun. Saturday nights are often the big ticket each week. I knew we were in store for a fun show from the very beginning when people snickered throughout at Orlando's first speech. Greg has navigated it clearly, it's full of tension and some good little parenthetical remarks. He manages to create a young man with strong convictions, but also lets his doubts slip to audience members and Adam. And there's humor in that.

ARS Days 29 - 31

Well, folks, the 2014 Actors' Renaissance Season has opened three plays within a month.
That's quite the feat. The shows couldn't be more different from each other.

On Friday, we spent a bit of time looking at a couple big crowd spots, but most of the time was devoted to working up a song ("Everybody Knows"). Meanwhile, I spent some time at the theatre to work on more Epicene lines.

I was pretty nervous about opening. For whatever reason, this evening felt like a "real" opening night. There was a big home-town crowd with many familiar faces. I think the show went well. The standing ovation we received at the end was the rare "leaping out of seats" kind of ovation (which I haven't experienced for a while). People laughed a lot too. My scene with Timon at the cave had plenty of chuckles. I was startled by it (because Flavius is a pretty vulnerable situation). Afterwards, I realized that if people are laughing this late into the play at a man who has been railing against humanity for the past 45 minutes, I think we're doing something right. I'm not saying this was a laugh-riot scene, but it was energized, and people keenly listening.

I'm not above taking costumed selfies. Here's what I'm rockin' as Flavius.

The next day we had an As You Like It matinee (with 200+ people!) and then a Servant performance that evening. This was the first AYLI were people sitting in the middle section of the Lord's Room (the balcony that sits above the stage where we play most of our music during pre-show and interludes). That was a new kink into playing Hymen from above. I could only see a few actors. There was even a moment when I got on my tip-toes and had to stay up in "relevé" for a few lines. I'm not quite sure what was going on. I was most likely shouting and spitting into the ears of those young women, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Servant went just fine, I think. The long weekends of rep tend to get blurry (and I'm writing this on Monday afternoon).

On Sunday, we had a matinee of Timon. I jumped in on trumpet for "Everybody Knows." It needs some work still, but I'll get it. I wasn't thrilled with my performance. I don't wanna get bogged down by it or make excuses. But it was a long week.

I decided to give myself the rest of the night off and spend Monday (today) working on Epicene lines. I actually watched The Talented Mr. Ripley. It's been on my Netflix list for a while, and after hearing about Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, it just felt like the right thing to do (and I don't care about football). I'm always saddened to hear about the death of great artists, but this one has struck quite a nerve (one that I wasn't expecting).

ARS Day 28

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.

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!

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.

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!

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....

Though this picture doesn't seem like things are that frantic: William and Silvius crush some candies...

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).

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.

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:

Sarah Fallon (Celia) and Tracie Thomason (Rosalind). Photo by Pat Jarrett.

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).

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).

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).

ARS Day 4

It's the day of the show y'all!

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.

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.

What I'm Working On

This is what I'm working on at the American Shakespeare Center:

• A season of five Early Modern plays in repertory (think Shakespeare and his contemporaries)
• Each play also includes pre-show and interlude music, performed by the troupe
• Each actor chooses his/her own costumes
• Each play has roughly two days to rehearse
• There's no director

So....yeah that's my next contract: the 2014 Actors' Renaissance Season. I thought it'd may be of some interest to three of you. If nothing else, I want more responsibility on my plate. I also need a break from learning lines and playing Candy Crush.

THE PLAYS

As You Like It - Shakespeare (playing Adam, Martext, William, a Page, and Hymen)

The Servant of Two Masters - Carlo Goldoni (playing the First Waiter)

Timon of Athens - Shakespeare (playing Flavius and the occasional Messenger/Attendant)

Epicene, or The Silent Woman - Ben Jonson (playing the loquacious Truewit)

The Maid's Tragedy - Beaumont & Fletcher (playing Diphilus and Night)

THE STRATEGY

I've got my lines for As You Like It memorized. I think my next move is to learn a couple Timon scenes, then learn a couple Epicene scenes (which is the largest line load I've had in a long time). Lather, rinse, repeat.  I do have some Epicene scenes learned already.

When I want a break from that, I'll probably work out some melodies for the songs in AYLI. 

I'm not even thinking about The Maid's Tragedy right now. It's the last play and the line load is very manageable. 

Somewhere in there, I can't forget about Servant. I don't have a large part, but I am the head waiter for the big restaurant scene. Cues and props galore! This is also the second play.

(are you dizzy yet?)

I've recorded my scenes for AYLI and Timon, leaving room for me to speak my lines. I've put all the scenes/tracks on my iTunes, which will also get on my iPod. I'm also chipping away at recording the scenes for Epicene.

I've made line flashcards for AYLI and Servant. I don't think I'll be doing that for Timon or Epicene. The flashcard thing works with heavy dialogue scenes--speeches, not so much. We'll see.

Every actor has received cue scripts for their roles in each play. It's a document with a few words before our entrances, blocking, and lines. The scripts don't even tell you who is speaking the cue before. You gotta listen. We do have the full cut provided, just not in hard-copy form. For Epicene, I've made a document of the full text of every scene I'm in. I printed it out and had it bound at Staples for $11. It's a great investment. I will continue to spiral bind every script I get from here on out (especially those fat Arden editions of Shakespeare plays).

I'm grateful that AYLI is the first play we're doing; I've been in that before. Although I am terrified of tracking down five costumes for that.

So, my "strategy" isn't as systematic as I would like it to be. But I'm feeling okay about things--at the moment. I'm going to work on some Flavius speeches now.

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For more information on the Actors' Renaissance Seasons at the ASC, there are some useful blog entries here.

The Winter's Tale

I loved it. The more I think about it, the more I enjoyed it. I'm going to stand by my opinion. I haven't read any reviews, no one else I know has seen it (yet). 

I say all this because the big G gets quite a bit of gruff from theatre folks in the city. There's a TON of theatre, and I would love to see it. But not too many companies do shows on Sunday nights. Anyway, the Big Blue Palace is a source of contention for some and not for others.

Before we dive into my "review," I'm going to give you some background factoids.

SOME BACKGROUND FACTOIDS:

1. I had a pretty bad cold.
2. I popped some DayQuill for the second time that day 1 half-hour before the show.
3. I had a cheap ticket (it was a Facebook discount).
4. My seat was in the fourth row on the stage right side of the thrust.
5. I was sitting next to a director or designer or coach of some kind. I'm not sure who; but it was clear they were part of the production/creative team from the papers I spied. (I did everything I could to see the notes, but anymore staring and I would have been given strange looks. I should have just asked him what his role was. Of course, he darted up the stairs at intermission and at the top of the show. Needless to say, I realized I was a bit self conscious about how I was taking in the play. That went away once I figured out just what the heck was going on).
6. I went by myself. (I have no shame in this)
7. I have never seen nor read the play.
8. The only information I know about the play is as follows: it has the famous stage direction "Exit, pursued by a bear"; people have a difficult time labeling it (is a tragedy? is it a comedy? is it something else all entirely?)
9. Prior to seeing the play, the actor playing Odysseus mentioned that at its core, the play is about jealousy and that it's pretty odd. He admitted to not knowing a whole lot beyond that.

I mention all these bits because A) I'm having fun writing this and B) I feel like I have an unusually "objective" reading on the text. 

This review/whatever you want to call it contains spoilers about the story and this specific production.

Here we go:

The basic story is that Leontes (King of Sicily) is married to Hermione. His good friend, brother (?) (Polixenes) is seen "canoodling" with his wife (my word). Leontes gets jealous over the assumed affair (that is NOT happening), throws his wife in jail, and sends his wife's newborn daughter out of the country. This tears the kingdom apart.  There's a lot of shouting, sobbing, and death at the end. It's a whirlwind of action. And it'd brutal.

The woman playing Paulina was stunning. She pleaded for her case brilliantly. I'm sorry I'm not giving any context for this character. But she's rooting for truth and hoping to alleviate the situation (but to no avail...until the very, very end).

Leontes orders Antigonus to take the child away (he was hellbent on killing her...). So Antigonus goes to Bohemia, says farewell to the newborn (this was one of the most touching and beautiful moments of the show) in the middle of a terrible storm. He leaves with her some royal papers explaining her royal birth and lineage.

[This is when the bear enters, chasing Antigonus offstage and mauling him to death]

After the storm, a lowly shepherd discovers the young girl and takes it as his own (thinking it's the work of the fairies). This is when directorial magic happens:

Up until now, the baby was this little bundle in purple cloth. As the shepherd begins to unravel the wraps, a young woman appears on stage opposite a young man. It's so clear that time passes and she ends up falling in love with this young lad. There's no text or anything. And BAM, it's intermission.

(SIDE NOTE: when the shepherd began unraveling the cloth bundle, a woman shrieked behind me. She must have though the baby was going to be flung onto the floor or something. But I wasn't fooled. I thought this was a brilliant move of sharing that this tale is far from over)

Up until now, the set has been this stark, icy blue gray. There's not much set (aside from the wall/door unit far upstage). It's cold and uncomfortable.

But then we travel to Bohemia.

This little girl (Leontes' daughter, named Perdita) is the adopted daughter of the shepherd.
She's in love with Polixenes' son, Florizel. This lad has no business loving a common country bumpkin, but he says "screw it."

Polixenes hears word of his son's recent strange behavior, disguises himself, and enters this flower/party/thing (just short of a marriage) in the heart of Bohemia. The set is full of flowers, color, strange 60s costumes, debauchery, dancing, music, and fun!

ANYWAY, through a turn of events Florizel and Perdita end up on a ship to Sicilia to escape from Polixenes (because love conquers all and everything). The shepherd remembers Perdita's royal lineage and manage to get on the same ship).

TO MAKE AN ALREADY LONG STORY LONGER:

Everyone's identity and family is unveiled. There's a whole bout of forgiveness and restoration (and a really weird statue-coming-to-life moment that I won't even begin to explain). People get married. ALL IS WELL!!

This has a weird combination of standard Shakespearean tragedy and comedy blended in one doozy of a play. It spans over 16 years.

I was really only lost a couple times. The very beginning took a while. I was really working to figure out what was going on. I'm sure this is the case with most folks. But once I got locked in with the drama, I was pretty much there the whole time. 

The Guthrie did something very clever at the beginning. Before the play even started, the company is on stage for a New Year's Eve party. People are just dancing with a kind of lounge singer. It's festive and fun and gives a great promise of a large scope. Because once the play starts, it gets rather bleak pretty quickly. Leontes is consumed with paranoia. It poisons him (love the "spider in the cup" lines).

I'd say with the exception of a few actors, everyone gave dynamic, honest performances.

I had a bit of trouble hearing at some points. Whenever actors had their back directly to me, it got a bit lost. I have (and hope) to assume that if I were a bit higher up, that wouldn't be an issue. It wasn't so bad, but I strained to hear more than once.

The set, costumes, lights, and sound were very striking and iconic even. I would say more, but I've been writing this for a long time and need to get to bed.

Overall, I really did love the production. The play is risky and unbalanced in the sense of most Shakespeare that I've ever seen. But I think this production handles it well when it's all said and done.

I WILL SAY, HOWEVER, that the statue stuff at the end was so lost on me. Hermione (apparently) dies, but then Paulina makes a statue of her. But then it comes to life. Somehow she was in hiding (I assume), but I didn't quite get the rationale behind the restored life. I'm going to have to do some more digging. I think I was so obsessed with seeing if Hermione would move while she was a statue, that essential text was gone. I totally went to a place of "how does she do that?!" because she didn't move at all (until she "came back to life"). So, maybe it's my own fault?

I am also going to look at the role of the shepherd's son for some comedic monologues. I doubt they're in verse, which is too bad because that's what most people want to hear when you use Shakespeare for auditions. But that seemed like a nice role to examine. That's a nice bonus, anyway.