Updates & Labels

UPDATE: 1/16/07
RIDE THIS BEAST WITH US!
You can follow the evolution of our latest show TALE END from page to stage. Just click the Tale End label and through blog posts and the occasional video you'll get an insider's view of what happens. Think of it as a "Making Of" as it's happening.

Just follow the Labels below to where you want to go!

Tech Rehearsals - check!

from Marcel
Tale End teched yesterday at Dianna's South between 3:30 and 4:30 PM. Considering we really only have about 7-8 cues in the show we decided to use up the full hour with a cue-to-cue. Also, it gave the cast an opportunity to feel out the stage which is a little bigger than what they have been used to.

Our crack SM can't make the first performance this Saturday so a friend who is kindly taking over tech duties was being taught the cues. It all went pretty smoothly. Tried to keep everything as light and as airy as possible.

Our performance schedule? Here it is...

$7

All shows performed at Dianna's South, 726 N. Fulton

Sat. March 3, 8:30 PM
Sun. March 4, 4:00 PM
Wed. March 7, 10:00 PM
Sat. March 10, 7:00 PM

Yeah, even after 50 odd shows a new show opening is still thrilling. My own personal (and somewhat private) delight is sitting in the audience and feeling out the energy around me. In the old days when nobody knew me from Adam it was easier to get an "objective feel" of how the show was actually doing. Now I almost have to sneak in at the last minute in the dark to do the same thing.

It certainly will be interesting to see and feel what and how the audience responds to. But there are still miles to go before we sleep.

Cheers!

Ya know... I think we may have a show!

from Marcel
Tonight was the second of three pick-up rehearsals before the premier at Rogue 2007. There were 2 runs tonight... both went well. The second better than the first but both engaged the audience (me) and I am happy and proud of my cast and crew.

A friend who has followed the process right here from the eastern seaboard commented to me that "this show of yours seems like a big love fest. Surely things have not been as good as you guys are blogging about!" The answer simply is ... yes... better actually. I don't think any of us blogging about it have really managed to capture half the essence or the "feel" of this particular project... at least within the work setting. When we decided to record the process our mutual agreement was that it would be "warts and all". Really, we haven't whitewashed a darn thing. No "difficult episodes","external dramas" or "flare-ups of frustration". (My own sense of karma almost buys into the notion that this was the payoff for the challenging write.)

Perhaps it's because everyone involved agreed from the start that we would all bring to the project without imposing on it. Allowing for experimentation within the context of the play. Yet allowing for sometimes broad and bold choices to present the possibility of veering into unthought of territory. Then exploring those choices as an ensemble of co-creators without the fear of failing. Because we grew to understand that not to try was the real failure. Then weaving those choices (we decided to keep) into the tapestry of the fabric that is this play.

Tonight for instance... we were all still discovering and "playing" with more options and choices. This is as it should be. The beats and transitions are sharper and overall it really seems like a different show than that was played for the previews. A more pointed one that seems deeper with more silky layers added. There were subtleties and nuances that emerged tonight that I had not been witness to before. A simple turn of the head. A flash of engagement. A slight beat between lines driven or supported with sharp intent. Nothing wasted... nothing empty. All these little touches just brings it closer to a beauty that is within grasp.

If this keeps going I think the performances during the festival will be definitely worth catching. The audience will get it's moneys worth and more. Not so much for the piece (yeah, the play is good) but more for the stellar performance of the cast. It's a cast that still likes playing the play and the time we spend at rehearsals just zipps by like a roadrunner in heat.

It is a joy... and that is something that I rarely admit to... but it is. I couldn't ask for a better and more creatively rewarding work experience than this one. Bottom line... the people I work with make it so. Now to just keep the push constant and become even more relentless on the marketing so we can get decent houses for the Rogue.

Now to Nail this Sucker.

from Marcel
Over the past 9 rehearsals we played. We tried this and that. We exercised our creative muscles in ways we may not have thought possible. It yielded results... a bounty spectacular that would make a pirate's eye gleam. We even stumbled on Monday. Strangly, it provided more meat to what started off as a skeleton which was the blueprint of the script. The hiccups proved that ploughing through was possible... even if elements were misplaced.

We've recovered and regrouped from Mr Murphy's visit on Monday. Last night's rehearsal was a little languid but good. We meet again tomorrow to squeeze some air out of it and on Friday and Saturday the piece gets bounced off an audience.

During rehearsal last night I did see some places that may need a little trimming. Just ideas that perhaps were a little over stated that can be nipped and sharpened. Though that work will come after the previews when we release the playwright from his exile in the gulag for a furlough.

The show is fallible if played without a certain focused intent. Definitely not a show that can be pulled off by just going through the motions. It will crumble if that tact is taken. Yet its structure does still provide for a spectrum of interpretations in the playing... but only if supported with the required investment of focus.

The blessing and curse...

from Marcel
... in what I do and how I do it... is that I've never followed convention. I have never looked at it as good or bad... but merely as how I do it.

Weather it is in the writing or directing... the piece created is what I would pay to see onstage. Sure, I steal from a lot of sources. I would be a delusional idiot if I thought that everything that I do hasn't been done before. (Afterall, there are only 36 plots and subsets thereof that really exist in the entire world.) It's the spin now that makes it original. My peers may take umbrage to what I do and how it's done. But that's them and I'm me. I can only stay true to me... warts and all.

I value opinion... in as much as it is that. Though I have found that opinion in my field is almost always dictated by "conventional wisdom"... that only became convention from whence it was once radical and dared the same-old to be otherwise. This, I have found especially so with those who have known me (and my work) for a while. I love being challenged... though sometimes their regard (or disregard) of my work can be suspect. There are times I have to wonder about the motivations behind their opinions. I am never arrogant enough to think that an opinion given is totally moot.

Yet, there is a part of me that almost wants to disregard opinions given by peers who are practitioners in this craft. That in form, content or execution... the journey crafted took them to an unexpected country... and they rail simply because it's not what they would have done... or where they would have gone. But they did not create the path or the destination... we did. No, I'm not Neil Simon or Shakespeare... nor do I pretend to be. The paths and destinations they created are theirs... this is ours... and I'm quite happy of that being so.

We had guests at rehearsals last night...

... and the show is beginning to cook. I dare say that many who practice this game in town would even say that last night's rehearsal was performance worthy. Those of us riding this particular beast are not willing to leave it at that. I'm confident enough (having worked with these stellar actors thus far) to say that we are collectively striving for more... much more.

Our guests were impressed, entertained and totally sucked into the piece. Their reactions were sought right after and they gave them freely. One was blown away to find out that this was only rehearsal number 5. To our guests... a big hearty Thank You!

There is a thing of beauty within our grasp... and right now we are pointed in that direction. (Hey, the sick and wrong can be a thing of beauty...really.) Two more rehearsal nights this week. Then, we prep for previews with an invited audience on the 26th & the 27th.

Cheers!

OK... the rewrites work.

from Marcel
I was pleased with the results. A flow has been re-established in the play. Cutting, rearranging and just plain rewriting the last 7 pages makes it a better show. Now that fucking playwright can just stay out of our way and allow us to breathe some life into this piece of shit that he hacked. From this point on... he is to be interned in the gulag while the real work goes on.

Rehearsals went well too. It was the first run off book and the troops handled it well despite the frigid temperatures in the rehearsal space. We really need to get another heater in there. Yeah, it was a little bumpy... but first runs are supposed to be. Bear in mind that we are also not working with a stage manager or even someone on book. This cheap ass, commie operation won't even spring for the basics. But we forged ahead undaunted by the limitations.

S even tried doing it with certain costume elements... as flimsy as they were. Got to hand it to that girl... she goes for the gusto. At one point... we had to insist she put some clothes back on as the little that she wore was shimmying with her shivers. H, too was throwing some new readings and nuances into the creative pool we were swimming in. Thus giving his character a bit more of a "journey" in the play. There are still miles to go before we sleep... but these travel companions are adventurous and that makes for a delightful ride.

My main computer is hiccuping at the moment... so accompanying pictures will have to wait.

Cheers!

OK, last night's rehearsal...

... gave me a boner.

That's all I'm going to say about that.

...from Marcel

Rehearsal Night 1

from Marcel

Actors turning up on time... I like that. Just sets the right tone to things. Everyone is happy. Everyone is relaxed. Perfect conditions to create in.

A half hour before they arrived I spent clearing up the space. There was a table with lighting instruments sitting in the middle of the floor that just had to go... and the propane heater to fire up. Our rehearsal space (aka my garage) can be fucking cold on nights like these.

First rehearsals are always a little awkward and anxious affairs. It's natural and perfectly normal. Even for the director.

Noticed I said director? Yeah, a little of the playwright is still hanging around... only till the end of this week. Only until the rewrites that we are determining together are solidified. After that... we throw that hack out. Then it's time to really brutalize the piece... and I've been known to be a real bastard with my own work.

We started with the first 20 odd pages of the script. Ran through it about 4 times in the span of 2 hours... trying this and that along the way. By the second run... something was starting to show. Nothing to nail down yet... but I think we are discovering some material together that we can start to build on.

Night 2 tomorrow. I think we had a bloody good start though. Thanks R & G... you are certainly making this a fun ride on the beast.

Rehearsals begin today!

from Marcel...

It's finally here... the next leg to this journey. At 6 PM the actors will gather. The propane heater will be fired up and the piece will begin to be fleshed out.

The Schedule
The difference this time (from a normal show) is that I've elected to base rewrites on the actors input... for this week only. Besides, we only have a 3 week rehearsal period. That will be followed by a couple of previews for a small invited audience on the 26th and 27th. This will give the piece time to adjust and smooth out any rough spots before premiering at Rogue 2007.

On Working Fast
I like working fast even with a brand new piece. It provides the actors with enough time to become confident with what they are doing yet leaves enough room for spontaneous combustion in performance on stage. Being well rehearsed does not mean having the life of the piece being beaten out of the performers.

On Following This Journey
Also, from this point on, posts over here will not be as sparse as they have been. Expect a new post at least every other day. Yes, it will feature warts and all.

Cheers!