The first draft of "'Sweetie' Tanya" is done and sent off to the musicians and those performers who have already been cast. I am by no means finished with the script, but having something with a beginning, middle and end is vastly satisfying. Now I just need for songs to come back so I can see what needs to happen before and after them and adjust the non-singing parts appropriately.
Aggressively casting 'The Chinese Angle' while keeping an eye out for people for 'Tanya' is rather peculiar. The cast requirements for the two shows are quite different, and the shows are months apart, so it isn't like I'm poaching from one project for the other one. There's no stealing from Peter to pay Paul. Still, it feels like I have this secret agenda all the time.
Of course the real secret agenda involves fleeing the country. I bought tickets today for myself and Mayu to fly to Tahiti in early July. I'm waiting to hear back from the small local airline down there for our secondary flights to Rangiora and Bora Bora. I'm not going to be bringing much with me... just a suitcase of SPF 99 lotion and a speedo. I'll be the viscous pillar walking along the beach.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
by one's own mouth
I have never been a Jerry Falwell fan, not even when I was a preacher man.
Mark Morford has assembled a list of Falwell's public statements as his sendoff to the highly influential public figure, and I think it's worth perusing.
And the even more frightening thing is that he, and many others like him, would be proud of that legacy.
Mark Morford has assembled a list of Falwell's public statements as his sendoff to the highly influential public figure, and I think it's worth perusing.
And the even more frightening thing is that he, and many others like him, would be proud of that legacy.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
ancient history
This is not new information, but I just came across it. I'm in talks with my friend Kurt about "'Sweetie' Tanya" and realized how very little I know about his musical past. I knew he was much happier doing what he's doing now, and I've always been interested in his new musical projects, but I made a rather conscious choice not to go from friend to fan-boy and went the other extreme of not checking *anything* out. Well, I finally decided to check out some of his older work, and found this fascinating account of what went down with him and VH-1 back in the 90's.
I'm no lover of "Reality shows", and have a general distrust of the news media in general and of entertainment news in particular. Kurt's experience is not terribly surprising, but revealing look at Behind "Behind the Music".
I'm no lover of "Reality shows", and have a general distrust of the news media in general and of entertainment news in particular. Kurt's experience is not terribly surprising, but revealing look at Behind "Behind the Music".
Monday, May 14, 2007
in other news
Aside from me being a whiney boy, congratulations to Nina, i.e. the Slackmistress on her wedding this weekend!
Also, kudos to Rick and Megan Prelinger for their article in Harper's this month! (you currently need to be a subscriber to Harper's to read it, but I think it'll be available to the general public soon....)
Also, kudos to Rick and Megan Prelinger for their article in Harper's this month! (you currently need to be a subscriber to Harper's to read it, but I think it'll be available to the general public soon....)
head under the pillow
At some point I crossed the threshhold into "too much to do" land. I'm not exactly sure when it was, but I think that once I've finished the first draft of Sweetie Tanya and cast The Chinese Angle, I'll be a much less stressed monkey.
This weekend was one in which very little "work" got done. I was able to get the essential edit of Radiostar done before Mayu made it over on Friday, and Saturday was spent with my Mom. She's in town for the week, and for Mother's Day wanted to spend the day with meon Saturday and wanted to meet Mayu. Mother and Girlfriend got along famously, so all is good and right with the world.
We had considered either going to see Paul Jennings and Stephanie DeMott in Macbeth out in Berkeley when we got back home in the evening, but we got back too late to make the curtain time (again). We also considered going to the fireworks/live music spectacle KaBoom, but it was startlingly chilly out and that became a less attractive option. So we went home and Mayu was out like a light, victim to sun and mexican food. Sunday brought us Volleyball in the park, leaving us both with impressive sunburns (mine more impressive than hers... but then she has melanin). Radiostar that night was a good reunion, with Jennifer Jajeh rejoining us after a long absence.
Still, this morning I awoke with a deep awareness of how much is not yet done. There is a Bay Area Professional Small Theatres meeting tonight, I need to get people into the rehearsal space, I have auditions for the Chinese Angle on Thursday and Friday, and I'm getting the last few musicians lined up for Sweetie Tanya and I haven't finished the script yet. I awoke in the midst of a dream of magic, class warfare, crime sprees, and crushing responsibilities and wanted to pull the covers over my head. An apt response to a Monday if ever there was one.
This weekend was one in which very little "work" got done. I was able to get the essential edit of Radiostar done before Mayu made it over on Friday, and Saturday was spent with my Mom. She's in town for the week, and for Mother's Day wanted to spend the day with meon Saturday and wanted to meet Mayu. Mother and Girlfriend got along famously, so all is good and right with the world.
We had considered either going to see Paul Jennings and Stephanie DeMott in Macbeth out in Berkeley when we got back home in the evening, but we got back too late to make the curtain time (again). We also considered going to the fireworks/live music spectacle KaBoom, but it was startlingly chilly out and that became a less attractive option. So we went home and Mayu was out like a light, victim to sun and mexican food. Sunday brought us Volleyball in the park, leaving us both with impressive sunburns (mine more impressive than hers... but then she has melanin). Radiostar that night was a good reunion, with Jennifer Jajeh rejoining us after a long absence.
Still, this morning I awoke with a deep awareness of how much is not yet done. There is a Bay Area Professional Small Theatres meeting tonight, I need to get people into the rehearsal space, I have auditions for the Chinese Angle on Thursday and Friday, and I'm getting the last few musicians lined up for Sweetie Tanya and I haven't finished the script yet. I awoke in the midst of a dream of magic, class warfare, crime sprees, and crushing responsibilities and wanted to pull the covers over my head. An apt response to a Monday if ever there was one.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
for what it's worth
This is my new favorite online clip. Colbairt with Steinem and Fonda... pure brilliance.
sorting the headshots
I packed my bag full of headshots yesterday morning, thinking that I'd polish off yesterday's Radiostar show and sort through them after work, before my tango class. About halfway through the morning I checked my calendar to realize that I didn't have class tonight, but a BAPST leadership meeting over at the Theatre Bay Area offices. Whoops! I was able to get the show up thanks to lunch and breaks, but I lugged all the headshots to the meeting and was able to do a preliminary sort while we met.
The first pass of headshots is an amazingly superficial part of the casting process. I have hundreds of headshots in my files (or in this case, in my backpack) and I simply sorted them into two stacks. One stack had asian men and women, young white men and white women in their twenties to early forties. Everyone else went into the other stack. That split my headshots into two, fairly equal stacks. It was literally as basic as putting a headshot into a pile every time my eyes rested downwards for a second.
Once I got home, I did a second sort. Asian males in one stack, asian females in another. White men in one, white eomen in another. Sort through the Asian males into stacks of "Wilson Woo" and "Johnny Tanaka". Sort the asian women. Anyone too young looking goes into the reject pile. If they don't sing, they go in the reject pile. What is left is in the "Lily" pile. Tackle the white men. Anyone who looks over 30 at a second glance goes in the reject pile. Anyone with an area code that looks like they are more than an hour drive to rehearsals goes in the reject pile. Anyone without an email address on their resume goes in the reject pile. Yep. I'm not making two dozen phone calls to get people into auditions. Still too many people. I only want to see about 15 people for the role. I think more and more about the character. Wealthy, a bit naive, but a noir character. Not too soft. More go into the reject pile. I finally get it down to 15. Now the white women. I'd like to look at latinas and black women, but the script has as a plot point that these are white women. I make two stacks, older women for "Sydney" and young women for "Ruby" and "Ellen". I go through the Sydney's first. Same process. Distance and ease of contact are the first items. Then a more considered pass. Ex-cop, private investigator assistant, tough... but intimidated by authority figures. I get the stack down to about 12 people. On to the young women. Another stack into two piles. "Ruby" is tough, rude, ambitious and mean. All the femme fatales go in a pile. "Ellen" is by all appearances wholesome, if not completely innocent. They go into the other pile. If a "Ruby" doesn't sing, she goes in the reject pile. Otherwise, it's the same routine, although I have to go through the "Ellen" stack several times. She has to look like she could be in a noir film. Difficult at times with headshots, especially as I've written on more than a few, "looks nothing like headshot" from when I saw them at the Theatre Bay Area General Auditions. If I've written otherwise good things, I keep them in the pile anyway.
By this point I've got the stack down to about 50 headshots, maximum, for six roles. I've already sent out audition notices for people I've worked with before.
It should be enough. I've already gotten back some emails with requests for particular slots in the schedule, and more with people who have moved to LA or NYC since I got the headshots in the first place. I'd like to have this cast in the next two weeks though. This is the least fun part of the process, after all.
The first pass of headshots is an amazingly superficial part of the casting process. I have hundreds of headshots in my files (or in this case, in my backpack) and I simply sorted them into two stacks. One stack had asian men and women, young white men and white women in their twenties to early forties. Everyone else went into the other stack. That split my headshots into two, fairly equal stacks. It was literally as basic as putting a headshot into a pile every time my eyes rested downwards for a second.
Once I got home, I did a second sort. Asian males in one stack, asian females in another. White men in one, white eomen in another. Sort through the Asian males into stacks of "Wilson Woo" and "Johnny Tanaka". Sort the asian women. Anyone too young looking goes into the reject pile. If they don't sing, they go in the reject pile. What is left is in the "Lily" pile. Tackle the white men. Anyone who looks over 30 at a second glance goes in the reject pile. Anyone with an area code that looks like they are more than an hour drive to rehearsals goes in the reject pile. Anyone without an email address on their resume goes in the reject pile. Yep. I'm not making two dozen phone calls to get people into auditions. Still too many people. I only want to see about 15 people for the role. I think more and more about the character. Wealthy, a bit naive, but a noir character. Not too soft. More go into the reject pile. I finally get it down to 15. Now the white women. I'd like to look at latinas and black women, but the script has as a plot point that these are white women. I make two stacks, older women for "Sydney" and young women for "Ruby" and "Ellen". I go through the Sydney's first. Same process. Distance and ease of contact are the first items. Then a more considered pass. Ex-cop, private investigator assistant, tough... but intimidated by authority figures. I get the stack down to about 12 people. On to the young women. Another stack into two piles. "Ruby" is tough, rude, ambitious and mean. All the femme fatales go in a pile. "Ellen" is by all appearances wholesome, if not completely innocent. They go into the other pile. If a "Ruby" doesn't sing, she goes in the reject pile. Otherwise, it's the same routine, although I have to go through the "Ellen" stack several times. She has to look like she could be in a noir film. Difficult at times with headshots, especially as I've written on more than a few, "looks nothing like headshot" from when I saw them at the Theatre Bay Area General Auditions. If I've written otherwise good things, I keep them in the pile anyway.
By this point I've got the stack down to about 50 headshots, maximum, for six roles. I've already sent out audition notices for people I've worked with before.
It should be enough. I've already gotten back some emails with requests for particular slots in the schedule, and more with people who have moved to LA or NYC since I got the headshots in the first place. I'd like to have this cast in the next two weeks though. This is the least fun part of the process, after all.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Everyone's sweet on Sweeny
I was proufoundly amused today to get the brochure for the 2007-2008 season for American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.), which is the biggest, baddest theatre in downtown San Francisco. It seems that they are bringing the production of Sweeny Todd that I saw in London to San Francisco in August and September. It's been huge on Broadway, as it was impressive in London. So, A.C.T. does Sweeny Todd in August/September, Tim Burton's Sweeny Todd comes out in December, and Sweetie Tanya comes out in January. People will either be primed for this show or they'll be sick of it before it comes out.
As it is, it's already diverged so much from the inspiration that I'm half tempted to change the name. Tempted, but not that much. While the final play's connection to Sweeny Todd will be tenuous, I may well be able to toss enough parody elements into the mix to make it worthwhile. One thing is certain: this is a much darker and more serious work in its own right than I originally intended. This is perhaps not so surprising since the subject matter is not something that is easily treated both lightly and respectfully.
Another composer is tentatively on board and I've approached yet another. I hope to have confirmations available here soon. The script is moving along slowly but nicely. It will probably be the shortest script I've written, although I believe it will still run 90 minutes. This shouldn't surprise me too much, as it's all in how a play is written. "Nothing in the Dark" transcribed to less than six full pages, but ran for 25 minutes and didn't lag for a split second. It didn't even have musical numbers, and Tanya looks like it wil have up to fourteen!
In other news, I swung by the SF Playhouse, Stage 2 to look it over in preparation for "The Chinese Angle", the show I'm directing for Savage Eye Productions in the fall. It's another small house, but it has a decent sized stage, and we should be able to use the space well. I hope that I don't terrify the producer too much with my ideas for how to stage this show. But it's not my fault that they came to me with a script that was set entirely in a Chinatown nightclub in the 40's...
As it is, it's already diverged so much from the inspiration that I'm half tempted to change the name. Tempted, but not that much. While the final play's connection to Sweeny Todd will be tenuous, I may well be able to toss enough parody elements into the mix to make it worthwhile. One thing is certain: this is a much darker and more serious work in its own right than I originally intended. This is perhaps not so surprising since the subject matter is not something that is easily treated both lightly and respectfully.
Another composer is tentatively on board and I've approached yet another. I hope to have confirmations available here soon. The script is moving along slowly but nicely. It will probably be the shortest script I've written, although I believe it will still run 90 minutes. This shouldn't surprise me too much, as it's all in how a play is written. "Nothing in the Dark" transcribed to less than six full pages, but ran for 25 minutes and didn't lag for a split second. It didn't even have musical numbers, and Tanya looks like it wil have up to fourteen!
In other news, I swung by the SF Playhouse, Stage 2 to look it over in preparation for "The Chinese Angle", the show I'm directing for Savage Eye Productions in the fall. It's another small house, but it has a decent sized stage, and we should be able to use the space well. I hope that I don't terrify the producer too much with my ideas for how to stage this show. But it's not my fault that they came to me with a script that was set entirely in a Chinatown nightclub in the 40's...
Monday, April 30, 2007
changes
Lots of evolutions and changes, large and small, going on around here lately.
I got a bit more of Sweetie Tanya written this weekend, and sent off the script thus far to Rachel Efron, along with a song farther down the storyline called "Cat and Mouse", but she actually wanted to "I'm So Much Younger Than You" instead. I had originally intended for the role of the other barista to be one of a series of roles played by a single actor, but the more I write the more pivotal she has become to the plot. I don't write small casts, it seems. At this point, this is going to be a cast of seven, although that might grow a bit. I hope not, however, as the larger a cast grows the less likely it is to be produced by small companies.
Indeed, as cool as the model is that I'm developing for this piece, I am beginning to see how it's going to complicate the future life of this show. Having multiple composers is going to make it very exciting, but should any other company seek to do it, negotiating fair payment for all the writers is going to be a challenge. Very soon I am going to need to write out contracts for the composers, and I will not only need to specify copyright ownership and rights of use (the composers retain copyright but I retain distribution rights in as far as they are attached to the project, and they get distribution rights in any other format) but also how they are to be recompensed for this and any future production. To do that I am going to need to do some "pie in the sky" wish making, in the event that his show is as successful as I could possibly dream of it being.
Jeffrey Bihr has received his song, "I Know I Shouldn't", and will be working on it over the next few weeks. Steve Kahn will be composing the theme. I'll be announcing more composers as I get confirmations.
Some of my earlier assumptions about the script are already beginning to fall away. The one-off joke about the lovers subplot in Sweeny is out the window, I think. There's just too much going on in Tanya's story to waste time on it. I may change my mind again, but I doubt it. The plot is getting more and more simplified, as the strength of the songs becomes mroe apparant. I'm used to relying heavily on dialogue and surprise plot twists, but that isn't really what this piece is about. It's a comedy, but a black comedy, blacker than I originally thought. Some horrible things happen, and sometimes to people who don't deserve it.
Sweetie Tanya changes aren't the only ones in the works. I had hoped to produce a show for Cassandra's Call Productions, with Dylan Russell directing, this fall. We haven't found the right script, however. Actually, we have found the right script but can't get the rights released to us yet. Maybe in 2008. In the meanwhile, we've relaxed our timeline to "when we find what we want, plus six months". This actually works out well for me, as I've just been tapped to direct "The Chinese Angle" by Hal Savage at the SF Playhouse, Stage 2. Hal played Gino the priest in "Get it? Got it. Good!" and I'm very excited to dig into the script. It's a noir musical and promises to be a good deal of fun.
I don't think I've mentioned that I'll be performing in Antero Alli's new film project, The Forest War, filming in late July and early August. I'm playing an actor playing Prospero in a series of exercises in the forests of California. Check out the website for full details, but here's the synopsis: "An obsessed theatre director brings his troupe out to a forest to ritualize his version of French Surrealist Antonin Artaud's vision of a mythic theatre of gods, ghosts and spirits. They stay at a privately owned campground that includes its own cook, a deaf
mute woman whose secret spirituality engages the hallucinagenic mushrooms that grow wild in the woods. Unbeknownst to the group are her good intentions of spiking their final night's meal with these mushrooms so they may enter and engage the spirit realm, that she believes, they are truly looking for."
Due to this project, I'm growing my hair and beard out, which is a bit of change in and of itself. I've had my hair long before, longer than it will be for this project, but my beard has already reached the longest it's ever been. I can only imagine how it will look by the end of July. Mayu, thank goodness, has no complaints about it.
Still, I am a shaggy mountain man.
I got a bit more of Sweetie Tanya written this weekend, and sent off the script thus far to Rachel Efron, along with a song farther down the storyline called "Cat and Mouse", but she actually wanted to "I'm So Much Younger Than You" instead. I had originally intended for the role of the other barista to be one of a series of roles played by a single actor, but the more I write the more pivotal she has become to the plot. I don't write small casts, it seems. At this point, this is going to be a cast of seven, although that might grow a bit. I hope not, however, as the larger a cast grows the less likely it is to be produced by small companies.
Indeed, as cool as the model is that I'm developing for this piece, I am beginning to see how it's going to complicate the future life of this show. Having multiple composers is going to make it very exciting, but should any other company seek to do it, negotiating fair payment for all the writers is going to be a challenge. Very soon I am going to need to write out contracts for the composers, and I will not only need to specify copyright ownership and rights of use (the composers retain copyright but I retain distribution rights in as far as they are attached to the project, and they get distribution rights in any other format) but also how they are to be recompensed for this and any future production. To do that I am going to need to do some "pie in the sky" wish making, in the event that his show is as successful as I could possibly dream of it being.
Jeffrey Bihr has received his song, "I Know I Shouldn't", and will be working on it over the next few weeks. Steve Kahn will be composing the theme. I'll be announcing more composers as I get confirmations.
Some of my earlier assumptions about the script are already beginning to fall away. The one-off joke about the lovers subplot in Sweeny is out the window, I think. There's just too much going on in Tanya's story to waste time on it. I may change my mind again, but I doubt it. The plot is getting more and more simplified, as the strength of the songs becomes mroe apparant. I'm used to relying heavily on dialogue and surprise plot twists, but that isn't really what this piece is about. It's a comedy, but a black comedy, blacker than I originally thought. Some horrible things happen, and sometimes to people who don't deserve it.
Sweetie Tanya changes aren't the only ones in the works. I had hoped to produce a show for Cassandra's Call Productions, with Dylan Russell directing, this fall. We haven't found the right script, however. Actually, we have found the right script but can't get the rights released to us yet. Maybe in 2008. In the meanwhile, we've relaxed our timeline to "when we find what we want, plus six months". This actually works out well for me, as I've just been tapped to direct "The Chinese Angle" by Hal Savage at the SF Playhouse, Stage 2. Hal played Gino the priest in "Get it? Got it. Good!" and I'm very excited to dig into the script. It's a noir musical and promises to be a good deal of fun.
I don't think I've mentioned that I'll be performing in Antero Alli's new film project, The Forest War, filming in late July and early August. I'm playing an actor playing Prospero in a series of exercises in the forests of California. Check out the website for full details, but here's the synopsis: "An obsessed theatre director brings his troupe out to a forest to ritualize his version of French Surrealist Antonin Artaud's vision of a mythic theatre of gods, ghosts and spirits. They stay at a privately owned campground that includes its own cook, a deaf
mute woman whose secret spirituality engages the hallucinagenic mushrooms that grow wild in the woods. Unbeknownst to the group are her good intentions of spiking their final night's meal with these mushrooms so they may enter and engage the spirit realm, that she believes, they are truly looking for."
Due to this project, I'm growing my hair and beard out, which is a bit of change in and of itself. I've had my hair long before, longer than it will be for this project, but my beard has already reached the longest it's ever been. I can only imagine how it will look by the end of July. Mayu, thank goodness, has no complaints about it.
Still, I am a shaggy mountain man.
Friday, April 27, 2007
DRM, RIAA, WTF?
the East Bay Express has an article about Gracenote that functions as a kind of "state of the union" on issues of digital rights management.
I'm of a mixed mindset on this. I think that it's important for things to be available, but I also think that artists and content creators should be recompensed for their efforts. Granted, Radiostar is free, but it would be nice if we got something other than satisfaction out of the deal. We're actually looking at putting out some "Best Of" CDs which would have some extra content that you can't get online.
One thing that I think helps is streaming technology. Having a song or a video stream through a flash environment or other system that makes it technically inconvenient to do more than listen to it once or twice as a kind of demo, seems fair. I want to listen to the new Tori Amos CD before I buy it, so I can stream it off of her site and if I like it, or just like parts of it, I can then buy the mp3s. That's workable. I'm not buying a whole CD based on a single I heard, or off of reputation, but I get to know what I'm getting. I can find new bands in the same way. Go to the site, see what I like, and then I have the option to buy. Can these things be hacked? Sure. Everything can be hacked, but 95% of users wouldn't know how to get an MP3 file out of a flash player so that they could store it permanently on their machine and then play it on their iPods.
I'm not happy about the "sue anything that moves" methodology, but sadly that seems to be how Americans do business.
As for me, I'm all about Creative Commons, which allows content creators to determine how much or little their work can be appropriated, reused, and reshaped.
I'm of a mixed mindset on this. I think that it's important for things to be available, but I also think that artists and content creators should be recompensed for their efforts. Granted, Radiostar is free, but it would be nice if we got something other than satisfaction out of the deal. We're actually looking at putting out some "Best Of" CDs which would have some extra content that you can't get online.
One thing that I think helps is streaming technology. Having a song or a video stream through a flash environment or other system that makes it technically inconvenient to do more than listen to it once or twice as a kind of demo, seems fair. I want to listen to the new Tori Amos CD before I buy it, so I can stream it off of her site and if I like it, or just like parts of it, I can then buy the mp3s. That's workable. I'm not buying a whole CD based on a single I heard, or off of reputation, but I get to know what I'm getting. I can find new bands in the same way. Go to the site, see what I like, and then I have the option to buy. Can these things be hacked? Sure. Everything can be hacked, but 95% of users wouldn't know how to get an MP3 file out of a flash player so that they could store it permanently on their machine and then play it on their iPods.
I'm not happy about the "sue anything that moves" methodology, but sadly that seems to be how Americans do business.
As for me, I'm all about Creative Commons, which allows content creators to determine how much or little their work can be appropriated, reused, and reshaped.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Sweetie Tanya
I'm writing a play that will go up at the Darkroom Theatre in January. It's a musical serial killer comedy about sexual harrassment in the workplace called "'Sweetie' Tanya, the Demon Barista of Valencia Street". As the title indicates it's a loose riff on the fantastic Sondheim musical, "Sweeny Todd", although in the end I expect that the show will actually bear only a superficial relationship to the source material. If anything, Sweeny Todd will serve as a substrata of the play, offering a variety of in-jokes for those who enjoy such things.
I was hesitant to approach a single musician to score the play, as the last musical I wrote has been indefinitely derailed due to life happening. (It took me three years to write the first draft, and the composer has had a variety of life altering events happen since then)
So I had the idea of contacting a variety of musicians and asking them each to contribute a song. Top of my list was Rachel Efron, who has played before a couple of my other shows. The opening song is a direct riff on Sondheim's score, but the second song was one that I immediately knew I wanted Rachel to write. I hadn't heard a word from her in about six months, but I fired off my proposal and the lyrics for the first piece I had written, letting her know that I was in no way committed to those particular words.
She got the email after returning from a trip and immediately went for a walk. When she returned from her walk, she had "A Fearful Thing to Dream" completed in her head. I went over to listen to it last night.
If every song is this good, this show is going to go very, very far. She had taken the mood of what I had written and a few of the images and core phrases and created something infinately more haunting and beautiful than anything I could have conceived of. And to make it even better, she asked if I wanted a second song and played me a melody that she has in her head that needs some words. It was light and fun and playful and I am going to use it for the middle of Tanya's killing spree.
I have the lyric outline ready for the next song "I Know I Shouldn't" and will be passing it on to the next composer in the next day or two.
I was hesitant to approach a single musician to score the play, as the last musical I wrote has been indefinitely derailed due to life happening. (It took me three years to write the first draft, and the composer has had a variety of life altering events happen since then)
So I had the idea of contacting a variety of musicians and asking them each to contribute a song. Top of my list was Rachel Efron, who has played before a couple of my other shows. The opening song is a direct riff on Sondheim's score, but the second song was one that I immediately knew I wanted Rachel to write. I hadn't heard a word from her in about six months, but I fired off my proposal and the lyrics for the first piece I had written, letting her know that I was in no way committed to those particular words.
She got the email after returning from a trip and immediately went for a walk. When she returned from her walk, she had "A Fearful Thing to Dream" completed in her head. I went over to listen to it last night.
If every song is this good, this show is going to go very, very far. She had taken the mood of what I had written and a few of the images and core phrases and created something infinately more haunting and beautiful than anything I could have conceived of. And to make it even better, she asked if I wanted a second song and played me a melody that she has in her head that needs some words. It was light and fun and playful and I am going to use it for the middle of Tanya's killing spree.
I have the lyric outline ready for the next song "I Know I Shouldn't" and will be passing it on to the next composer in the next day or two.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Casting Director
Diana Brown once forcefully reminded me that in my own small way, I hold people's hopes and dreams in my hands. I have a hard time seeing that, as my productions are small theatre and my company is still finding its feet, but nevertheless it's true. Every show you do is a stepping stone to the next one, and every connection you make pushes you farther in your career. As much as I tend to underplay my role in the theatre community, I am a provider of work for local actors and artists.
So, I shouldn't be surprised when I get unsolicited headshots and cover letters in the mail. I got one about a week ago, as I was heading out to look at a potential venue out in Fruitvale (a rather rough district in Oakland). I ended up using the large envelope to take copious notes on, but didn't look at the headshot until later.
A few notes, for those of you who are doing headshots and resumes. Firstly, ask yourself what it is that you want to communciate about yourself? This particular headshot went from the bottom of the bust to the top of the head, and she was wearing an outfit that was sleeveless and completely open all the way to cleavage. About 25% of the area of the photo is exposed skin from cleavage to chin and shoulder to shoulder (thin straps) and a large necklace that could be a sunburst or could be a paint splatter... like a pattern you might get from a paintball gun. On the back of the resume, under Skills, at the very end but spaced so as to give it emphasis are the following factioids: "I speak fluent Ob", "Former Girl Scout" and "My tongue is long".
Granted, her resume makes it clear that she does musicals, stand up comedy, improv and more. Still, it is not terribly wise to submit a headshot and resume that draws focus primarly to your upper torso, with a large metal symbol that looks like a liquid struck you at high impact right above your breasts, and point out that you have a very long tongue.
Well, depending on what kind of work you're looking for, maybe that is what you want to send out.
So, I shouldn't be surprised when I get unsolicited headshots and cover letters in the mail. I got one about a week ago, as I was heading out to look at a potential venue out in Fruitvale (a rather rough district in Oakland). I ended up using the large envelope to take copious notes on, but didn't look at the headshot until later.
A few notes, for those of you who are doing headshots and resumes. Firstly, ask yourself what it is that you want to communciate about yourself? This particular headshot went from the bottom of the bust to the top of the head, and she was wearing an outfit that was sleeveless and completely open all the way to cleavage. About 25% of the area of the photo is exposed skin from cleavage to chin and shoulder to shoulder (thin straps) and a large necklace that could be a sunburst or could be a paint splatter... like a pattern you might get from a paintball gun. On the back of the resume, under Skills, at the very end but spaced so as to give it emphasis are the following factioids: "I speak fluent Ob", "Former Girl Scout" and "My tongue is long".
Granted, her resume makes it clear that she does musicals, stand up comedy, improv and more. Still, it is not terribly wise to submit a headshot and resume that draws focus primarly to your upper torso, with a large metal symbol that looks like a liquid struck you at high impact right above your breasts, and point out that you have a very long tongue.
Well, depending on what kind of work you're looking for, maybe that is what you want to send out.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
self destruction
I have long been of the opinion that the human race is not getting any worse, but that we are simply more aware of the horrible things we do to each other on a global basis. Atrocity in your local community is one thing to take in, atrocity across the globe... made as immediate as if it happened in the next city, is something else.
The planet, however, I think is getting sicker and sicker, and we're at the core of the problem. Jeffrey Rowland has been referencing the Bee issue quite a bit, and linked to this article about the potential link between cell phone usage and the vanishing of bees... and I wonder exactly which of the many ways we are killing ourselves will be the one that does us in. I don't use my land line anymore. I rely completely and totally on my cell phone. Hell, I have two. One for work and one for home. I'm not worried about low sperm count, and I don't text enough for RSI injuries, but I'm not too fond of the whole brain tumor thing. If the bees keep dying, though, it won't really matter since we'll all die of starvation long before my little tumorous buddy shows up.
So, what's it going to be? War? Famine? Disease? Global Flooding? I saw a film online called "End Day" that appears to have been pulled from Google video, but that gave a rather chilling look at some of the more likely scenarios to destroy us all. The Strangelet theory is the least likely option, but still rather terrifying because it could theoretically destroy the known universe eventually... and who knows if it hasn't already happened somewhere else and that the void approaches us at this very moment? But a new plague, a meteorite collision, a tsunami, a super volcano... these things are extremely likely, if not inevitable. We will be hit by meteorites again eventually. We will experience another super volcano eruption, like the one that obliterated Krakatoa and that is rapidly building again... and it might happen in other locations that are more densely populated. In a world of rapid international air travel, the idea of a virulent airborne virus that kills rapidly spreading across the entire globe is not too far fetched.
But again, will we even be here if such a thing happens?
I don't worry about it a lot. One cannot live in a state of constant fear. But this cell phone thing, and learning how biofuels are actually increasing global warming is leading me to the desire to never leave my apartment.
The planet, however, I think is getting sicker and sicker, and we're at the core of the problem. Jeffrey Rowland has been referencing the Bee issue quite a bit, and linked to this article about the potential link between cell phone usage and the vanishing of bees... and I wonder exactly which of the many ways we are killing ourselves will be the one that does us in. I don't use my land line anymore. I rely completely and totally on my cell phone. Hell, I have two. One for work and one for home. I'm not worried about low sperm count, and I don't text enough for RSI injuries, but I'm not too fond of the whole brain tumor thing. If the bees keep dying, though, it won't really matter since we'll all die of starvation long before my little tumorous buddy shows up.
So, what's it going to be? War? Famine? Disease? Global Flooding? I saw a film online called "End Day" that appears to have been pulled from Google video, but that gave a rather chilling look at some of the more likely scenarios to destroy us all. The Strangelet theory is the least likely option, but still rather terrifying because it could theoretically destroy the known universe eventually... and who knows if it hasn't already happened somewhere else and that the void approaches us at this very moment? But a new plague, a meteorite collision, a tsunami, a super volcano... these things are extremely likely, if not inevitable. We will be hit by meteorites again eventually. We will experience another super volcano eruption, like the one that obliterated Krakatoa and that is rapidly building again... and it might happen in other locations that are more densely populated. In a world of rapid international air travel, the idea of a virulent airborne virus that kills rapidly spreading across the entire globe is not too far fetched.
But again, will we even be here if such a thing happens?
I don't worry about it a lot. One cannot live in a state of constant fear. But this cell phone thing, and learning how biofuels are actually increasing global warming is leading me to the desire to never leave my apartment.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Transitions
Just a quick note as I'm sitting in the Phoenix pub in the Mission, preparing to go and see excerpts from the one-woman show that Suraya is working on.
As of last Thursday, I am officially "off" the Help Desk at WestEd. I can now focus on project work and on training. This was promised to me back in December and I had officially given up hope of it happening. I moved into the smaller office next door on Monday morning, although I still have a lot of rearranging to do. I'm extremely happy about this. Although I am still fielding help desk requests from time to time, my phone barely rings anymore and I've been able to make some serious progress on some projects and am re-learning how to do ActionScript in Flash.
The BAPST meeting on Monday went well enough. We're still trying to figure out what we are and how to meet our dual mandates, but I think that it gets clearer and clearer each time we meet. The trick at this point will be to connect and communicate with certain parties that are forming opinions about us without having actually talked to us about what we're trying to do. Gotta love that. Theatre Bay Area asked me and two others to lead a group designed to improve services and communication among the small theatre community (a good third of their membership) and some of those theatres are immediately taking affront to it. All miscommunications and misunderstandings, but nothing worthwhile came without struggle.
I'm very excited to announce that Rachel Efron and Jeffrey Bihr have both agreed to compose songs for "'Sweetie' Tanya". I'm extremely excited about this project and am hoping to get more of the script written down by the end of this week.
That being said, I'm off to a show.
As of last Thursday, I am officially "off" the Help Desk at WestEd. I can now focus on project work and on training. This was promised to me back in December and I had officially given up hope of it happening. I moved into the smaller office next door on Monday morning, although I still have a lot of rearranging to do. I'm extremely happy about this. Although I am still fielding help desk requests from time to time, my phone barely rings anymore and I've been able to make some serious progress on some projects and am re-learning how to do ActionScript in Flash.
The BAPST meeting on Monday went well enough. We're still trying to figure out what we are and how to meet our dual mandates, but I think that it gets clearer and clearer each time we meet. The trick at this point will be to connect and communicate with certain parties that are forming opinions about us without having actually talked to us about what we're trying to do. Gotta love that. Theatre Bay Area asked me and two others to lead a group designed to improve services and communication among the small theatre community (a good third of their membership) and some of those theatres are immediately taking affront to it. All miscommunications and misunderstandings, but nothing worthwhile came without struggle.
I'm very excited to announce that Rachel Efron and Jeffrey Bihr have both agreed to compose songs for "'Sweetie' Tanya". I'm extremely excited about this project and am hoping to get more of the script written down by the end of this week.
That being said, I'm off to a show.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Expo
Last night was the Theatre Bay Area Expo. I got a booth for Cassandra's Call Productions, marketing the rehearsal room, Radiostar, and our improv groups for corporate events. I hadn't been to a TBA Expo before, so I wasn't sure what to expect but it seemed like a pretty good sized crowd given what it was. We had a decent amount of traffic and sat next to Custom Made Theatre, which was appropriate since our rehearsal room is next door to their theatre space. I think I was able to raise awareness and hopefully I'll see some new renters for the space and new listeners for Radiostar. A lot of the folks there were actors, though, and they would have probably been happier if we were advertising general auditions.
Still, I saw Dylan Russell, and had a good chat about getting me information on scripts she wants to do this fall, so that seems to still be a viable option. I was also able to chat a bit with Michael Rice over at Cool As Hell Theatre podcast, who has interviewed me a few times.
In any event, it's one more thing off my list of things to worry about.
I got chapter seven of the novel finished, finally, thanks to the gracious support of Mayuko. Who knew that having a girlfriend might actually *help* my productivity? Tonight I hope to edit another couple of episodes of Submergency and do some work for my outside clients. Tomorrow's Radiostar show is done, fortunately, so there's no need to sweat that at all.
I've taken on another project as well. I'm working with a principal in the Fruitvale district of Oakland about getting their old auditorium up to snuff to be used by the community as a performance and cultural center. I did a lot of assessing last week and need to write up a proposal for what needs to be done to make it all happen. I don't think that I'll be able to be the primary person on this, with everything else that is going on, but hopefully I can get it jump started and connect the school with the artists who can make things happen. It's all very exciting, but also very intimidating as the building hasn't really been touched in decades.
In further news, I've accepted a role in Antero Alli's next film, "The Invisible Forest." I'll be playing myself playing Prospero. It looks like it will be an interesting project, although it is requiring me to grow my hair and beard long for the role. We start shooting in late July, so I'll be very, very shaggy by that point. Mayu is being exceedingly accepting of my big bristly face.
On the social front, this weekend was full of goodies. Tristan Goldstein had a birthday party, we had lunch in Japantown with Mayu's friends, and volleyball in Lake Merritt park with coworkers. People keep asking me how I fit it all in, and I'm honestly not sure.
Still, I saw Dylan Russell, and had a good chat about getting me information on scripts she wants to do this fall, so that seems to still be a viable option. I was also able to chat a bit with Michael Rice over at Cool As Hell Theatre podcast, who has interviewed me a few times.
In any event, it's one more thing off my list of things to worry about.
I got chapter seven of the novel finished, finally, thanks to the gracious support of Mayuko. Who knew that having a girlfriend might actually *help* my productivity? Tonight I hope to edit another couple of episodes of Submergency and do some work for my outside clients. Tomorrow's Radiostar show is done, fortunately, so there's no need to sweat that at all.
I've taken on another project as well. I'm working with a principal in the Fruitvale district of Oakland about getting their old auditorium up to snuff to be used by the community as a performance and cultural center. I did a lot of assessing last week and need to write up a proposal for what needs to be done to make it all happen. I don't think that I'll be able to be the primary person on this, with everything else that is going on, but hopefully I can get it jump started and connect the school with the artists who can make things happen. It's all very exciting, but also very intimidating as the building hasn't really been touched in decades.
In further news, I've accepted a role in Antero Alli's next film, "The Invisible Forest." I'll be playing myself playing Prospero. It looks like it will be an interesting project, although it is requiring me to grow my hair and beard long for the role. We start shooting in late July, so I'll be very, very shaggy by that point. Mayu is being exceedingly accepting of my big bristly face.
On the social front, this weekend was full of goodies. Tristan Goldstein had a birthday party, we had lunch in Japantown with Mayu's friends, and volleyball in Lake Merritt park with coworkers. People keep asking me how I fit it all in, and I'm honestly not sure.
Friday, March 30, 2007
All gas is deadly, not just mine
First off, thanks to Christopher DeJong for alerting me to this article about Biodiesel fraud.
Here's an excerpt: "Already we know that biofuel is worse for the planet than petroleum. The UN has just published a report suggesting that 98% of the natural rainforest in Indonesia will be degraded or gone by 2022. Just five years ago, the same agencies predicted that this wouldn't happen until 2032. But they reckoned without the planting of palm oil to turn into biodiesel for the European market. This is now the main cause of deforestation there and it is likely soon to become responsible for the extinction of the orang-utan in the wild.
But it gets worse. As the forests are burned, both the trees and the peat they sit on are turned into carbon dioxide. A report by the Dutch consultancy Delft Hydraulics shows that every tonne of palm oil results in 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, or 10 times as much as petroleum produces. I feel I need to say that again. Biodiesel from palm oil causes 10 times as much climate change as ordinary diesel."
Welcome to the road of good intentions, folks.
-----------
My XBox 360 came in the mail and I hooked it up last night. Say goodbye to productivity, although I have a few things that will force me away from the controller for a bit. Still, I got it all set up and will activate my XBox Live account this weekend. Drop me a line if you want my ID. I'm currently playing Oblivion, which I'd seen on Kurt Larsen's PC a year ago, and it looks even better on my wall.
-----------
While I still don't know what we're doing for a Fall show, I have confirmed a project for Cassandra's Call Productions for the Darkroom Theatre in January. I am currently writing "'Sweetie' Tanya, the Demon Barista of Valencia Street", an exploration of sexual harassment in the service industry masquerading as a musical horror comedy. I'm pleased to announce that Bryce Byerley has already agreed to play the narrator, "Mad Biscuit". More details as they develop.
-----------
Finally. for those interested in seeing Julie Kurtz completely "face" me during our last Submergency show in December...
Here's an excerpt: "Already we know that biofuel is worse for the planet than petroleum. The UN has just published a report suggesting that 98% of the natural rainforest in Indonesia will be degraded or gone by 2022. Just five years ago, the same agencies predicted that this wouldn't happen until 2032. But they reckoned without the planting of palm oil to turn into biodiesel for the European market. This is now the main cause of deforestation there and it is likely soon to become responsible for the extinction of the orang-utan in the wild.
But it gets worse. As the forests are burned, both the trees and the peat they sit on are turned into carbon dioxide. A report by the Dutch consultancy Delft Hydraulics shows that every tonne of palm oil results in 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, or 10 times as much as petroleum produces. I feel I need to say that again. Biodiesel from palm oil causes 10 times as much climate change as ordinary diesel."
Welcome to the road of good intentions, folks.
-----------
My XBox 360 came in the mail and I hooked it up last night. Say goodbye to productivity, although I have a few things that will force me away from the controller for a bit. Still, I got it all set up and will activate my XBox Live account this weekend. Drop me a line if you want my ID. I'm currently playing Oblivion, which I'd seen on Kurt Larsen's PC a year ago, and it looks even better on my wall.
-----------
While I still don't know what we're doing for a Fall show, I have confirmed a project for Cassandra's Call Productions for the Darkroom Theatre in January. I am currently writing "'Sweetie' Tanya, the Demon Barista of Valencia Street", an exploration of sexual harassment in the service industry masquerading as a musical horror comedy. I'm pleased to announce that Bryce Byerley has already agreed to play the narrator, "Mad Biscuit". More details as they develop.
-----------
Finally. for those interested in seeing Julie Kurtz completely "face" me during our last Submergency show in December...
Monday, March 26, 2007
crisis of faith
It can be frustrating to put a lot of effort and talent into a project and have it received well... by a very small number of people. This weekend was the brief run of "Nothing in the Dark" for the Twilight Zone festival. Friday night was respectably full, but Saturday brought inclement weather and only ten to fifteen audience members. Sunday afternoon brought a similarly small crowd.
The show was good, but fewer than 60 people saw it. This is the danger of small theatre, but it really hit me this time out. Why do I keep investing so much into endeavors that bear so little fruit? Am I still paying dues, or just choosing the wrong projects?
Granted, within a few hours I was contemplating future projects, so I suppose that the addiction won't be shaken so easily.
The show was good, but fewer than 60 people saw it. This is the danger of small theatre, but it really hit me this time out. Why do I keep investing so much into endeavors that bear so little fruit? Am I still paying dues, or just choosing the wrong projects?
Granted, within a few hours I was contemplating future projects, so I suppose that the addiction won't be shaken so easily.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Nothing in the Dark
When setting up a rehearsal schedule, the primary question in my mind is usually "is this enough time to get this show ready?" In the case of "Nothing in the Dark", the 22 minute Twilight Zone adaptation I'm doing for the Darkroom Theatre, the answer has been "yes, and then some." It's a strange thing to be able to cancel rehearsals and know that it's not going to hurt the project at all. Once again, my actors have brought it to the table with a speed and skill that causes me to marvel. Granted, it's not a long piece, but 5 to 6 weeks for a two hour show is standard, so 2 weeks (and only 4 days a week) for a half hour piece seems about right. As it is, I cancelled one night of rehearsal, and let them go home early on Saturday.
Mayuko watched rehearsal on Saturday and was especially impressed with Marilyn Kamelgarn, our lead. She's taken the character into a more frightening and eerie place than the original episode suggested. This has been the joy of this project. The original episode was brilliant, but working with these performers and Hal Hughes' deeply disturbing fiddle score has really allowed us to explore the script in a way that I'm sure the original cast and crew were unable to. The original "Wanda" was sad and fragile and sweet, and the meditative aspect of the script dominated the episode. In ours, the fiddle leads us to reflection, to be sure, but also to the madness and despair that fills the dilapidated and condemned little basement apartment where this woman has barricaded herself for years. Shades of "Misery" have creeped in, and I hope that the audience has as much fear and concern for the well being of "Harold Beldin", the injured police officer who lies incapacitated and bleeding on her bed, as for the old woman with fits of paranoia and terror who is keeping him essentially prisoner.
We tech Wed, and open Friday. It's only three shows, which is a shame, but I think that the fortunate few who make it will be in for a lot of fun.
There's a lot of good stuff out right now, actually. Mayu and I caught "Nathan the Wise" with TheatreFirst and Ripe Theatre's "Hardly Breathing" and really enjoyed both shows. What really grabbed me, though, was SF Playhouse's production of "Jesus Hopped the A Train", which was mind bogglingly powerful.
In totally unrelated news, I saw on the controller for my PS2 last week. This resulted in my ass pulling on the cable that leads up to the PS2 itself, up on the shelf above my couch. This resulted in the PS2 being yanked off the shelf and making a 2 point landing on my head. Fortunately, the flat part of the unit made contact, so I got off with a sizable lump on my head and a bruise on my knee where it finally landed after bouncing off my head. Amazingly the unit wasn't damaged, although the game inside was pretty badly scuffed.
I've been considering getting an XBox 360 for a while, since my crew are all on that platform anyway, and this pretty much decided me. I need wireless controllers at the very least!
Mayuko watched rehearsal on Saturday and was especially impressed with Marilyn Kamelgarn, our lead. She's taken the character into a more frightening and eerie place than the original episode suggested. This has been the joy of this project. The original episode was brilliant, but working with these performers and Hal Hughes' deeply disturbing fiddle score has really allowed us to explore the script in a way that I'm sure the original cast and crew were unable to. The original "Wanda" was sad and fragile and sweet, and the meditative aspect of the script dominated the episode. In ours, the fiddle leads us to reflection, to be sure, but also to the madness and despair that fills the dilapidated and condemned little basement apartment where this woman has barricaded herself for years. Shades of "Misery" have creeped in, and I hope that the audience has as much fear and concern for the well being of "Harold Beldin", the injured police officer who lies incapacitated and bleeding on her bed, as for the old woman with fits of paranoia and terror who is keeping him essentially prisoner.
We tech Wed, and open Friday. It's only three shows, which is a shame, but I think that the fortunate few who make it will be in for a lot of fun.
There's a lot of good stuff out right now, actually. Mayu and I caught "Nathan the Wise" with TheatreFirst and Ripe Theatre's "Hardly Breathing" and really enjoyed both shows. What really grabbed me, though, was SF Playhouse's production of "Jesus Hopped the A Train", which was mind bogglingly powerful.
In totally unrelated news, I saw on the controller for my PS2 last week. This resulted in my ass pulling on the cable that leads up to the PS2 itself, up on the shelf above my couch. This resulted in the PS2 being yanked off the shelf and making a 2 point landing on my head. Fortunately, the flat part of the unit made contact, so I got off with a sizable lump on my head and a bruise on my knee where it finally landed after bouncing off my head. Amazingly the unit wasn't damaged, although the game inside was pretty badly scuffed.
I've been considering getting an XBox 360 for a while, since my crew are all on that platform anyway, and this pretty much decided me. I need wireless controllers at the very least!
Monday, March 05, 2007
Transitions
The show went well! We had odd little glitches here and there; light cues that were a bit off at points, drinks that didn't always end up in the faces they were intended for, interesting circumlocutions of lines; but people seem to have really enjoyed the show and that's what counts. I'll certainly do it again next year if they ask me back.
Radiostar was a bit odd last night, though. I'll write about that on the RadioStar blog.
Tonight was a meeting of the Bay Area Professional Small Theatres. Our second larger meeting, and the first chance those of us on the steering committee (or whatever the hell we are) were able to present some of our thoughts and work to the group. It was extremely informative, to say the least, and I think we have a clearer idea of how to proceed and which things are important for those of us building the organization and which things are important for the group that we represent. We've all got a lot of learning to do. The most frustrating thing for me right now is waiting for Theatre Bay Area to provide us with some of the communication tools that I could whip up myself in a flash, but we want everything to be integrated with the website. Realistically, between Radiostar, Vial, and Nothing in the Dark, I should be glad for the reprieve. Still, I wish we could start being a little more action oriented, but without a proper communication channel that's just not practical.
Tomorrow is the first rehearsal of "Nothing in the Dark". Unlike Vial, I don't have any concerns regarding set or props for this one, but I do have a costume quandry to resolve. Most of the challenge with this piece will be in how to work the development process. I've never worked like this before, which is a little scary. Still, I think we can make something truly neat with this.
Radiostar was a bit odd last night, though. I'll write about that on the RadioStar blog.
Tonight was a meeting of the Bay Area Professional Small Theatres. Our second larger meeting, and the first chance those of us on the steering committee (or whatever the hell we are) were able to present some of our thoughts and work to the group. It was extremely informative, to say the least, and I think we have a clearer idea of how to proceed and which things are important for those of us building the organization and which things are important for the group that we represent. We've all got a lot of learning to do. The most frustrating thing for me right now is waiting for Theatre Bay Area to provide us with some of the communication tools that I could whip up myself in a flash, but we want everything to be integrated with the website. Realistically, between Radiostar, Vial, and Nothing in the Dark, I should be glad for the reprieve. Still, I wish we could start being a little more action oriented, but without a proper communication channel that's just not practical.
Tomorrow is the first rehearsal of "Nothing in the Dark". Unlike Vial, I don't have any concerns regarding set or props for this one, but I do have a costume quandry to resolve. Most of the challenge with this piece will be in how to work the development process. I've never worked like this before, which is a little scary. Still, I think we can make something truly neat with this.
Friday, March 02, 2007
opening and healings
I am feeling considerably better today, although I would not refer to myself as "healthy". Still, I am functioning as well without drugs today as I was with them yesterday. Nyquil is unspeakably nasty, but terribly effective in shutting me down so hard that my body can go into hard core repair mode.
The show opened last night, and it had remarkably few glitches in it! Two slightly-off light cues. A couple of flubbed lines, nicely covered. The laughter was subdued, but present, which is appropriate for the piece. It's ostensibly a thriller, but we found a good amount of humor in it. Still, it's complex enough that I could almost hear the audience leaning forward, paying attention to each detail as it was revealed. I'm pleased with it, and look forward to the comparative ease of the next three shows.
I'll actually get to watch the first two pieces tonight, which will be nice, although I'll never see the one that immediately precedes us. That's a shame, but what I get for taking on the role of the butler.
Three more days of Vial, and then it's done. On Tuesday we begin rehearsals for "Nothing in the Dark" and three more weeks of discovery.
The show opened last night, and it had remarkably few glitches in it! Two slightly-off light cues. A couple of flubbed lines, nicely covered. The laughter was subdued, but present, which is appropriate for the piece. It's ostensibly a thriller, but we found a good amount of humor in it. Still, it's complex enough that I could almost hear the audience leaning forward, paying attention to each detail as it was revealed. I'm pleased with it, and look forward to the comparative ease of the next three shows.
I'll actually get to watch the first two pieces tonight, which will be nice, although I'll never see the one that immediately precedes us. That's a shame, but what I get for taking on the role of the butler.
Three more days of Vial, and then it's done. On Tuesday we begin rehearsals for "Nothing in the Dark" and three more weeks of discovery.
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