I just completed my first 10-of-12 rehearsal ever.
10-of-12 means you rehearse for 10 hours in the span of 12. We had a 2-hour dinner break about midway through. I'd say half the cast (or so) went to a Thai place, and it was delicious and it was fun to hang with them (and chat above a whisper--which is what we'd been doing in the wings all day).
This show is technically epic. The play is episodic in nature. We don't have scene changes, we have transitions. The set doesn't really change, so all the locales in the Odyssey are signified by costumes, lights, and sound (and "living" set pieces--which you kind of have to see to believe). It's a cool combo of high-tech and low-tech at the same time. (For example, the sailors in Odysseus' crew create the boat with their bodies, shields, and other props)
Given those circumstances, tech has become an arduous process. I'm pretty sure I heard that there were over 40 cues the stage manager had to call within the first five minutes of the play.
We'll get through it all. I'm slightly concerned about the element of costumes (which has yet to be added). I have some quick changes that I'm not quite sure are possible, but I've decided to not worry about that until I have to. Other actors have WAY more complicated changes than me. But I'm not worrying about it.
I think there are some really cool effects. Four of us ran a new move in the very opening of the show (where we create the prow of a ship that is going over large waves and then comes crashing down)--this is all with our bodies, and nothing else--think "Cirque du Soliel-lite." Anyway, after we did the rep, the rest of the cast and our movement choreographer genuinely "oohed" and "awed". I hope there's a way I can see a bit of video footage or something to see how it all looks (same with puppeteering for Polyphemus, the cyclops), but that's unlikely.
In the end, I have to trust the design, direction, and the audience.
Our first preview is on Friday!
I better get ready for today's 12 - 9:30 call. We get a 90-minute break somewhere. I don't think today will be as demanding. My responsibilities are very Act 1-heavy, and I have less to do in Act 2. That's good, because I have some marketing deadlines to meet for Monday....
Showing posts with label tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tech. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Quotes from tech
We’re in tech/previews now.
The great thing is that we get 5 previews and are able to rehearse in between. As our director said yesterday: “Everything we do is 50%, the other 50 is the audience.” She also informed us to “breathe with the audience.”
We had about 20-some people for the first ever preview. It was great to have them there. They were hesitant to laugh (we’re not quite sure how funny this show is). Afterwards, I chatted with a couple and one guy said that this reminded him of a Coen brothers film. I thought that was extremely appropriate.
Here are some other fun quotes. I’m not sure how well these translate on a blog post, but here we go:
• Director to the cast: “There’s no reason to be nice to each other…let it be the most dysfunctional family in 2010…it’s not a comedy of manners.”
• Director: “Is it time? Should we be acting?” (We had been on break for a while)
• Jeffrey Hatcher, who wrote the adaptation of this script: “I think Foldal should enter holding his severed foot.” (He’s describing a character whose foot is run over by a sleigh and comes limping on stage.)
(The director had moved a chair onstage to explain some blocking. It moved off its spot, which had yet to be marked with spike tape)
• “We’ll just work through the show—I’ve got a list that could choke a horse.”
(The director met with the cast after the first preview performance the next day for rehearsal)
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A major note I received from our second preview is this tendency to move during funny lines. This distracts the clarity of the humor; it pulls focus and the joke is lost. I should know better right now, but it's been difficult to ascertain which lines are actually funny. Now that we have preview audiences, we're getting more accustomed to the laughing bits. I shall be still from now on!
I've also had a fun challenge of acting with both a hat (a back military-type thing) and some black gloves. The show takes place in the winter in Norway, so things are cold (duh). There's some precision with these accessories that cannot be taken lightly. The last thing you want is a whole bunch of glove lazzi when you're trying to tell your mother off on an exit.
A lot of the work that I'm doing with this show has been an exercise in clarity and focus. We've been working a lot of details that make all the difference in the world. Until now it's been a bit dodgy and inconsistent from my perspective, but I get the sense that I'm starting to lock in the character. The director says my performance has been growing steadily. The self-consciousness is slipping away, thank goodness.
The great thing is that we get 5 previews and are able to rehearse in between. As our director said yesterday: “Everything we do is 50%, the other 50 is the audience.” She also informed us to “breathe with the audience.”
We had about 20-some people for the first ever preview. It was great to have them there. They were hesitant to laugh (we’re not quite sure how funny this show is). Afterwards, I chatted with a couple and one guy said that this reminded him of a Coen brothers film. I thought that was extremely appropriate.
Here are some other fun quotes. I’m not sure how well these translate on a blog post, but here we go:
• Director to the cast: “There’s no reason to be nice to each other…let it be the most dysfunctional family in 2010…it’s not a comedy of manners.”
• Director: “Is it time? Should we be acting?” (We had been on break for a while)
• Jeffrey Hatcher, who wrote the adaptation of this script: “I think Foldal should enter holding his severed foot.” (He’s describing a character whose foot is run over by a sleigh and comes limping on stage.)
- Director: I just messed this up.
(The director had moved a chair onstage to explain some blocking. It moved off its spot, which had yet to be marked with spike tape)
• “We’ll just work through the show—I’ve got a list that could choke a horse.”
(The director met with the cast after the first preview performance the next day for rehearsal)
--------------------------
A major note I received from our second preview is this tendency to move during funny lines. This distracts the clarity of the humor; it pulls focus and the joke is lost. I should know better right now, but it's been difficult to ascertain which lines are actually funny. Now that we have preview audiences, we're getting more accustomed to the laughing bits. I shall be still from now on!
I've also had a fun challenge of acting with both a hat (a back military-type thing) and some black gloves. The show takes place in the winter in Norway, so things are cold (duh). There's some precision with these accessories that cannot be taken lightly. The last thing you want is a whole bunch of glove lazzi when you're trying to tell your mother off on an exit.
A lot of the work that I'm doing with this show has been an exercise in clarity and focus. We've been working a lot of details that make all the difference in the world. Until now it's been a bit dodgy and inconsistent from my perspective, but I get the sense that I'm starting to lock in the character. The director says my performance has been growing steadily. The self-consciousness is slipping away, thank goodness.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Enter: Tech Week
We're in tech week. The last time I had tech was for The Rainmaker, which is a 2.5 hour long romance/comedy (or "romantice" as it said on the cover of our scripts). It's not a show that requires a lot of technical wizardry.
The 1940's Radio Hour is an entirely different beast. We've got three microphones (well, four, actually) and a different playing space than what we've been using all year. It's a bit more proscenium-y and less thrust-y. BUT we are using the entire house of the theatre (stairways and booths and audience seating).
The music is canned, so it's all pre-recorded. And the cast changes which mics they sing in throughout the show.
Needless to say, our entire world has been rocked slightly.
This afternoon was a slow four-hour spacing rehearsal. We just marked the show and finessed blocking and traffic patterns. No music, no tech, just getting used to the stage. Previous to this, we've been in the rehearsal hall, pretending there were levels when we were just acting on a single flat surface. Now, we're in the actual theatre space, using doors and staircases and the mini stage for our radio show. It's exciting, but slow-going work.
Tonight was a music/sound night. It's complicated, and I got a little frustrated at one point. It got hard for me to loosen up during a duet song I sing. I don't do well with compartmentalized information. I'll get a technical/music note and then get an acting kind of note right after that and it's difficult for me to combine the two. Plus, there's a small dance break. I knew tonight wasn't about performing; I was trying to be extra-sensitive about the monitors and mic levels and how I had to work with the mic. So I let the performing attitudes slide and I think that was rather detrimental. I was just going through the motions so that I could pay attention to the sound. Not everyone else was buying into that and it was just kind of a muddled mess.
The weirdest thing happened also: I had absolutely no energy at the beginning of the rehearsal. Once I was finished with the duet section, I had a bit of a break. I just sat down and read a bit of a magazine. Then, for whatever reason, this jolt of energy happened. We did the tap number and that was very energizing for the end of the rehearsal. Right when I was hitting a good stride, the rehearsal was over and we got a note to come back tomorrow ready to go.
I know a lot of this has to do with trekking up to the Cities for a day and hanging out with friends really late at night. I'm a bit behind on sleep right now, so I should just rest up now and get a good breakfast in, because (like they say in the song "Strike Up the Band"):
There is work to be done, to be done!
But I also need to figure out how to get jazzed about this work from the very beginning.
The 1940's Radio Hour is an entirely different beast. We've got three microphones (well, four, actually) and a different playing space than what we've been using all year. It's a bit more proscenium-y and less thrust-y. BUT we are using the entire house of the theatre (stairways and booths and audience seating).
The music is canned, so it's all pre-recorded. And the cast changes which mics they sing in throughout the show.
Needless to say, our entire world has been rocked slightly.
This afternoon was a slow four-hour spacing rehearsal. We just marked the show and finessed blocking and traffic patterns. No music, no tech, just getting used to the stage. Previous to this, we've been in the rehearsal hall, pretending there were levels when we were just acting on a single flat surface. Now, we're in the actual theatre space, using doors and staircases and the mini stage for our radio show. It's exciting, but slow-going work.
Tonight was a music/sound night. It's complicated, and I got a little frustrated at one point. It got hard for me to loosen up during a duet song I sing. I don't do well with compartmentalized information. I'll get a technical/music note and then get an acting kind of note right after that and it's difficult for me to combine the two. Plus, there's a small dance break. I knew tonight wasn't about performing; I was trying to be extra-sensitive about the monitors and mic levels and how I had to work with the mic. So I let the performing attitudes slide and I think that was rather detrimental. I was just going through the motions so that I could pay attention to the sound. Not everyone else was buying into that and it was just kind of a muddled mess.
The weirdest thing happened also: I had absolutely no energy at the beginning of the rehearsal. Once I was finished with the duet section, I had a bit of a break. I just sat down and read a bit of a magazine. Then, for whatever reason, this jolt of energy happened. We did the tap number and that was very energizing for the end of the rehearsal. Right when I was hitting a good stride, the rehearsal was over and we got a note to come back tomorrow ready to go.
I know a lot of this has to do with trekking up to the Cities for a day and hanging out with friends really late at night. I'm a bit behind on sleep right now, so I should just rest up now and get a good breakfast in, because (like they say in the song "Strike Up the Band"):
There is work to be done, to be done!
But I also need to figure out how to get jazzed about this work from the very beginning.
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