I don't remember my actual third birthday. I'm sure my mom could tell me about it. I'm guessing there was some sort of celebration, especially since I'm an only child, the only grandchild on one side and the youngest and only girl grandchild on the other side, knowing that I'm guessing that my own third birthday passed with some sort of recognition. Today, I have the honor of celebrating a third birthday all over again.
In just a few hours, Theatre Unleashed will celebrate our third year of existence. We have made it three years. Three incredible years. We have sweated a lot, worked a lot, been accused of having too much gregarious fun at times, probably actually had too much fun at times, consumed many libations, both alcohol filled and non alcohol filled, and put many productions up on stages in Los Angeles.
Our actual day of birth occurred in a Denny's in Hollywood. Birthday one we celebrated the fact that we actually made it, that we we survived a year and managed to produce three plays. Birthday two was a celebration of continuing on, producing more, and introducing our late night series. After our year two celebration titled "Acting Our Age: The Terrible Twos" we did perhaps move into a slightly terrible two phase, I think all toddlers go through it. It's that time of discovery, time to figure out what to do with yourself now that you can walk and you are tall enough to reach more than the sofa cushions. It's a time to try new things figure out what you like, what you don't like. People start treating you like a mini person, babies get smiled at, patted on the head, told they are cute, toddlers get asked questions, they also throw temper tantrums, it's all part of toddler life.
And then year three hits. I think by this point you are starting to really understand the toddler thing...you know where you fall in the world, you know who you trust, who makes sad and you begin to realize there is a much bigger world out there waiting for you.
That's the exciting thing about being three, that understanding that there is so much more out there for you to explore, to learn and to do. That is where we are now, like most toddlers we are ready for preschool, we are ready to play with other companies at Fringe Festivals, we are ready to learn from the "big kids" at theater gatherings and most importantly like all confident toddlers we are ready to explore that big world that is waiting for us.
Happy Third Birthday Theatre Unleashed!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tying Up The Boys
It's Friday night. In just a couple hours I will be getting out my zip ties and duct tape and begin the process of tying up three of the actors in The Birthday Boys. I've become quite quick at it. I can proudly say that I can tie them all up in six minutes, it used to take fifteen but over the past six weeks I've managed to shave off nine minutes, pretty impressive right?
Now at the beginning of this whole process the three of them would willingly lay down on the floor and tell me they were ready. As we approached the end of the rehearsal process that willingness started to disappear a bit, but they didn't really fight it. It was more of a "tie someone else first" attitude. This philosophy may also be partly survival as inevitably the first one tied would have to endure odd guy pranks things like throwing a ball of tape towards their crotch or attempts to sit on their faces and if the tied one was really lucky one of the other two would shall we say add a different scent to the environment near the bound one's head. Boys will inevitably be boys!
So to counter all of this and actually get one of them to let me tie them up first I instilled the "first one in is the first one out rule." Now I don't think that actually lessened the pranks pulled on the first one restrained. All it really did was give that guy the entire show to think about what he would do in the precious 2-4 minutes he had of freedom while the other two were still restrained. Hence we end each night as we begin with the throwing of tape balls to the crotch area!
Now that we've moved into performance it's becoming even harder to get them to lie down. I find myself walking around with duct tape, zip ties and scissors begging them to let me tie them up. I find myself saying sentences like "Greg, I need to do you now!" I get the feeling I'm possibly turning into part dominatrix, but with a nice side because I always ask if things are too tight.
We've established a routine and they are very particular about the way they are restrained. I've come to the conclusion that none of them would do well if captured by real kidnappers. We usually tie Jim up first. He lays down backstage, head towards the bathroom, feet towards the dressing room. Jim puts his blindfold on while standing and then freaks out anytime someone moves around him. He also then has to find his way to a seated position on the floor so we can finish the binding. I often wonder why he doesn't sit first and then blindfold himself, but as I've come to realize actors are creatures of habit and so I let him do it his way. We always do feet first. That involves lots of duct tape wrapping. Then the hands. For him we do right hand first zip ties angling away from him, then the left, then we link them together. We tend to tighten all of his zip ties after they are all fastened. I cut the extra tips off of the ties. Finally we go to work on the hands. Jim has a bit of thumb claustrophobia and so we wrap his clasped hands together, going around the base, but leaving one thumb free to poke out and move. Once he's secured I'm off to find Greg.
Greg lays down unblindfolded just off stage. Because the space is so narrow, I lay the scissors and zip ties on his chest while I wrap yards of duct tape around his calves. Then we bind his arms. Greg requires six zip ties where the other two only need three. Every binding for him his doubled because he's able to break through on just a single tie. He likes his zip ties angled the opposite way as Jim. We tend to tighten his ties as we go rather than all at once at the end. I cut the ends of his zip ties and leave him for the moment. I'll be back to tape his hands, he sweats too much during the show and his tape tends to lose adhesive to we try to wait to the last possible moment to give it the best shot at sticking for longer. When I do come back to him he also prefers the clasped hand method. We wrap the tape around and around his hands and finish with just a couple strips over the top. The other two guys like to really be wrapped in with the top, but Greg likes the top a bit more open.
Then it's time to find Sean. Sean and I have the luxury of the stage when I tie him. He is the first one on and needs to be closest to the door, so we use the stage. He is the only one who doesn't giggle bit when I straddle him to restrain his arms. I'm not sure if that's maturity or if he honestly doesn't know I'm straddling him. We do the feet first. After the first duck tape wrapping I back up and he wriggles and writhes about the stage attempting to loosen it. Then we wrap another layer around his ankles. Sean like Jim likes his zip ties angling away from him. As I put his wrists in the ties, he grabs them and pulls them tighter then I ever would, (which probably explains why he typically has more red marks then the other two guys). Once he's tied in we add the duct tape to the hands. Sean prefers the praying hands rather then the clasped hands. He seems to prefer that I wrap him almost tight enough to cut off his circulation and so we wrap and wrap and wrap. When we're done. I'll pick up my stuff and call for another cast member to come help him hop off stage.
All of this takes place in less then 10 minutes, assuming I can get them to lie down on time!
Now at the beginning of this whole process the three of them would willingly lay down on the floor and tell me they were ready. As we approached the end of the rehearsal process that willingness started to disappear a bit, but they didn't really fight it. It was more of a "tie someone else first" attitude. This philosophy may also be partly survival as inevitably the first one tied would have to endure odd guy pranks things like throwing a ball of tape towards their crotch or attempts to sit on their faces and if the tied one was really lucky one of the other two would shall we say add a different scent to the environment near the bound one's head. Boys will inevitably be boys!
So to counter all of this and actually get one of them to let me tie them up first I instilled the "first one in is the first one out rule." Now I don't think that actually lessened the pranks pulled on the first one restrained. All it really did was give that guy the entire show to think about what he would do in the precious 2-4 minutes he had of freedom while the other two were still restrained. Hence we end each night as we begin with the throwing of tape balls to the crotch area!
Now that we've moved into performance it's becoming even harder to get them to lie down. I find myself walking around with duct tape, zip ties and scissors begging them to let me tie them up. I find myself saying sentences like "Greg, I need to do you now!" I get the feeling I'm possibly turning into part dominatrix, but with a nice side because I always ask if things are too tight.
We've established a routine and they are very particular about the way they are restrained. I've come to the conclusion that none of them would do well if captured by real kidnappers. We usually tie Jim up first. He lays down backstage, head towards the bathroom, feet towards the dressing room. Jim puts his blindfold on while standing and then freaks out anytime someone moves around him. He also then has to find his way to a seated position on the floor so we can finish the binding. I often wonder why he doesn't sit first and then blindfold himself, but as I've come to realize actors are creatures of habit and so I let him do it his way. We always do feet first. That involves lots of duct tape wrapping. Then the hands. For him we do right hand first zip ties angling away from him, then the left, then we link them together. We tend to tighten all of his zip ties after they are all fastened. I cut the extra tips off of the ties. Finally we go to work on the hands. Jim has a bit of thumb claustrophobia and so we wrap his clasped hands together, going around the base, but leaving one thumb free to poke out and move. Once he's secured I'm off to find Greg.
Greg lays down unblindfolded just off stage. Because the space is so narrow, I lay the scissors and zip ties on his chest while I wrap yards of duct tape around his calves. Then we bind his arms. Greg requires six zip ties where the other two only need three. Every binding for him his doubled because he's able to break through on just a single tie. He likes his zip ties angled the opposite way as Jim. We tend to tighten his ties as we go rather than all at once at the end. I cut the ends of his zip ties and leave him for the moment. I'll be back to tape his hands, he sweats too much during the show and his tape tends to lose adhesive to we try to wait to the last possible moment to give it the best shot at sticking for longer. When I do come back to him he also prefers the clasped hand method. We wrap the tape around and around his hands and finish with just a couple strips over the top. The other two guys like to really be wrapped in with the top, but Greg likes the top a bit more open.
Then it's time to find Sean. Sean and I have the luxury of the stage when I tie him. He is the first one on and needs to be closest to the door, so we use the stage. He is the only one who doesn't giggle bit when I straddle him to restrain his arms. I'm not sure if that's maturity or if he honestly doesn't know I'm straddling him. We do the feet first. After the first duck tape wrapping I back up and he wriggles and writhes about the stage attempting to loosen it. Then we wrap another layer around his ankles. Sean like Jim likes his zip ties angling away from him. As I put his wrists in the ties, he grabs them and pulls them tighter then I ever would, (which probably explains why he typically has more red marks then the other two guys). Once he's tied in we add the duct tape to the hands. Sean prefers the praying hands rather then the clasped hands. He seems to prefer that I wrap him almost tight enough to cut off his circulation and so we wrap and wrap and wrap. When we're done. I'll pick up my stuff and call for another cast member to come help him hop off stage.
All of this takes place in less then 10 minutes, assuming I can get them to lie down on time!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Just As Sweet the Second Time Around
In September of 2009 Theatre Unleashed received it's first "Go!" from La Weekly. It was for Friends Like These, a play that eventually went on to the New York Fringe Festival and is now gaining a life of its own outside of Theatre Unleashed. I wrote then how excited I was for that team, the cast, the directors, the writer, they all truly deserved the accolades. I believe I also wrote that I knew there would be other "Go!" headlines in the coming years and while they would each be special the first one would always mean the most.
I was wrong. I don't say that too often, but I was wrong. Yesterday Theatre Unleashed's current show, The Birthday Boys, written by Aaron Kozak, received a "Go!" The script's first go, Theatre Unleashed's second one. To my surprise this one is just as sweet and just as special as the first one.
I've said from the beginning that this show was a special one. There are certain productions where you can feel it way before tech or preview or opening night and certainly way before the critics barge in to throw down their opinion. With this one we knew were creating something extraordinary from the start. I try not to place too much stock in reviews, good or bad they are just the opinion of one person on one night. It does feel good though, hearing from the theater community, not just LA Weekly but others as well that this show has a purpose and place in the Los Angeles Theater Community.
I was wrong. I don't say that too often, but I was wrong. Yesterday Theatre Unleashed's current show, The Birthday Boys, written by Aaron Kozak, received a "Go!" The script's first go, Theatre Unleashed's second one. To my surprise this one is just as sweet and just as special as the first one.
I've said from the beginning that this show was a special one. There are certain productions where you can feel it way before tech or preview or opening night and certainly way before the critics barge in to throw down their opinion. With this one we knew were creating something extraordinary from the start. I try not to place too much stock in reviews, good or bad they are just the opinion of one person on one night. It does feel good though, hearing from the theater community, not just LA Weekly but others as well that this show has a purpose and place in the Los Angeles Theater Community.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Am I Being Unreasonable?
A couple things happened this week that made me wonder if my expectations are a bit too high. After thinking about it for a bit, I've decided that I don't think I'm being unreasonable, but I thought I'd put my thoughts out here and let others help me out.
I was told this week by a theater owner that main stage, Fri/Sat/Sun shows at his theater may not hang lights. They are expected to use the same wash he has up. Now I understand wanting to make sure that a general wash is always in place, that's expected. But in my experience as long as a lighting designer does give the space a general wash in addition to the show plot re-hanging and moving lights around is common practice and perfectly acceptable. Apparently not in this theater because as I was told "any moron who has been producing theater longer than 2 months knows you can't re-hang lights." So my question is for all of us "morons" who have been producing theater for longer than two months has anyone else run into a situation where as the main stage show your lighting designer was not allowed to move lights around to create the desired look? It seemed odd to me. Granted I may be a bit bias now because I wasn't really thrilled with the label of moron or the screaming occurring on the other end of the phone line. So please enlighten me? Have I just been exceptionally lucky in my nearly six years of theater in Los Angeles?
I'm also in the process of scheduling auditions for an upcoming production. I put up a general casting announcement on LA Casting, started getting some actor submissions and began scheduling auditions. I feel like I'm pretty reasonable when it comes to auditions. The way this service is set up you must assign actors an audition time slot, when I do that I always send an email explaining they may simply email me and request a different time slot. I'm pretty accommodating when it comes to auditions.
There are two things that bother me about what I perceive to be many of actors on this service and other similar services. The first thing is that it seems to me that the bulk of them don't bother to look at the project itself. They get a notification that they "fit" the description, in this case male/female ages 21-55 and hit submit. They don't seem to bother to read what it is or really even think about if it is something they are interested in doing. I call these people the perpetual submitters. I have a list of them in my head. I used to schedule them and remind them about the audition and then they no-show constantly. You'd be surprised how many names are on the list. I don't call them anymore, it's a waste of my time. So question number one, and I ask because I'm not an actor so I honestly can't figure out the answer to this, why would you submit to things that either you have no interest in, aren't available for the audition or are already cast in a production that runs during the same time period. When these perpetual submitters do bother to email me back or decline the audition it's with reasons such as, "sorry, have class on Tuesday nights, can't make the audition," or "sorry, cast in Twelfth Night which overlaps this production by five weeks." My confusion lies in the fact that both the audition date and the run dates are clearly stated in the audition notice, so if you know you have class on Tuesdays and don't want to miss it for an audition then you probably shouldn't submit yourself or if you know that you are Juliet in a production that overlaps this one you probably shouldn't send me your information. So my question then is, if the information regarding dates is clearly in the announcement and the actor already knows they have conflict why would they submit? All it does is make me annoyed with that person and if they do it more than once they go on my do not invite list.
The second thing that bothers me are emails like the one I received this morning:
"Please remind me of this project and location details...I do not remember the initial audition request"
See here's my issue. I did my part, I took 30 minutes, filled in all the necessary information, character breakdowns, project description, venue location, audition date, show dates. It's all there, it's all on the site. Why does this person think that it is my responsibility to send her all of that information again? It's not my job. She submitted herself for this project. All an email like that does is tell me she probably didn't read the announcement in the first, and is now too lazy to do a bit of investigation work to figure it out on her own. (I should mention that in every email our company's website is stated as well as the name of the project.) I don't mind questions that are specific. Those show me the actor knows what the project is and wants some clarification. That's fine, but this "I do not remember..." doesn't instill much confidence. So my instinct is to not reply, I'm certainly not going to send her a personal email with all the details she can find online. I'm left to ask am I being unreasonable? Is it too much to expect actors to know what they submitted for and to be a bit pro-active by doing their homework?
So between the lights and the actors I'm left to wonder if my overall expectations are too high?
I was told this week by a theater owner that main stage, Fri/Sat/Sun shows at his theater may not hang lights. They are expected to use the same wash he has up. Now I understand wanting to make sure that a general wash is always in place, that's expected. But in my experience as long as a lighting designer does give the space a general wash in addition to the show plot re-hanging and moving lights around is common practice and perfectly acceptable. Apparently not in this theater because as I was told "any moron who has been producing theater longer than 2 months knows you can't re-hang lights." So my question is for all of us "morons" who have been producing theater for longer than two months has anyone else run into a situation where as the main stage show your lighting designer was not allowed to move lights around to create the desired look? It seemed odd to me. Granted I may be a bit bias now because I wasn't really thrilled with the label of moron or the screaming occurring on the other end of the phone line. So please enlighten me? Have I just been exceptionally lucky in my nearly six years of theater in Los Angeles?
I'm also in the process of scheduling auditions for an upcoming production. I put up a general casting announcement on LA Casting, started getting some actor submissions and began scheduling auditions. I feel like I'm pretty reasonable when it comes to auditions. The way this service is set up you must assign actors an audition time slot, when I do that I always send an email explaining they may simply email me and request a different time slot. I'm pretty accommodating when it comes to auditions.
There are two things that bother me about what I perceive to be many of actors on this service and other similar services. The first thing is that it seems to me that the bulk of them don't bother to look at the project itself. They get a notification that they "fit" the description, in this case male/female ages 21-55 and hit submit. They don't seem to bother to read what it is or really even think about if it is something they are interested in doing. I call these people the perpetual submitters. I have a list of them in my head. I used to schedule them and remind them about the audition and then they no-show constantly. You'd be surprised how many names are on the list. I don't call them anymore, it's a waste of my time. So question number one, and I ask because I'm not an actor so I honestly can't figure out the answer to this, why would you submit to things that either you have no interest in, aren't available for the audition or are already cast in a production that runs during the same time period. When these perpetual submitters do bother to email me back or decline the audition it's with reasons such as, "sorry, have class on Tuesday nights, can't make the audition," or "sorry, cast in Twelfth Night which overlaps this production by five weeks." My confusion lies in the fact that both the audition date and the run dates are clearly stated in the audition notice, so if you know you have class on Tuesdays and don't want to miss it for an audition then you probably shouldn't submit yourself or if you know that you are Juliet in a production that overlaps this one you probably shouldn't send me your information. So my question then is, if the information regarding dates is clearly in the announcement and the actor already knows they have conflict why would they submit? All it does is make me annoyed with that person and if they do it more than once they go on my do not invite list.
The second thing that bothers me are emails like the one I received this morning:
"Please remind me of this project and location details...I do not remember the initial audition request"
See here's my issue. I did my part, I took 30 minutes, filled in all the necessary information, character breakdowns, project description, venue location, audition date, show dates. It's all there, it's all on the site. Why does this person think that it is my responsibility to send her all of that information again? It's not my job. She submitted herself for this project. All an email like that does is tell me she probably didn't read the announcement in the first, and is now too lazy to do a bit of investigation work to figure it out on her own. (I should mention that in every email our company's website is stated as well as the name of the project.) I don't mind questions that are specific. Those show me the actor knows what the project is and wants some clarification. That's fine, but this "I do not remember..." doesn't instill much confidence. So my instinct is to not reply, I'm certainly not going to send her a personal email with all the details she can find online. I'm left to ask am I being unreasonable? Is it too much to expect actors to know what they submitted for and to be a bit pro-active by doing their homework?
So between the lights and the actors I'm left to wonder if my overall expectations are too high?
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The View from My Booth!
So it occurred to me that I have never actually shared a photo of the view from the booth. This is what my booth currently looks like:
For any of you who were holding on to the myth that Stage Managers live a glamorous life, this should help quell those suspicions! In fact this picture was taken a few days ago, before the rain and the leaky roof set in. Now add three trashcans doubling as water containers and plastic bags over the equipment to the photo and you'll have the view I currently have. You know what the funny part is? I wouldn't trade it for the world, trash bags, water buckets and leaky roof included. I truly do have the best job in the world!
For any of you who were holding on to the myth that Stage Managers live a glamorous life, this should help quell those suspicions! In fact this picture was taken a few days ago, before the rain and the leaky roof set in. Now add three trashcans doubling as water containers and plastic bags over the equipment to the photo and you'll have the view I currently have. You know what the funny part is? I wouldn't trade it for the world, trash bags, water buckets and leaky roof included. I truly do have the best job in the world!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Erin Versus The Theatre Gods
This past weekend I produced one of Theatre Unleashed's famous 24 hour festivals, this one titled Can't Buy Me Love. All of the scripts were based off of famous Beatles's tunes. The way these 24 hour festival works is that on Friday night at 7pm the writers get their topics along with the number of men and women in their casts. They have to send the scripts to me by 9am on Saturday morning. At 10ish we meet in a park where the directors randomly select scripts and then casts. We have the day to rehearse and the show goes up at 8pm the same night. Insane? Perhaps. But what we've learned is that it truly is a way to get our creative juices flowing and show Los Angeles just what we can do in 24 hours. This time as an added bonus I added stand-up comedians into the mix, interspersing plays and stand-up through out the show.
Now I have to admit the events that led to the anger and panic may very well be my fault. You see on Wednesday of last week, I found myself thinking, "wow, the planning has gone remarkably well, I have more actors than I normally have, the stand-up comics are confirmed, the publicity is out, the venue confirmed..." and then I actually said "This has really been way too easy." See I did it to myself, I taunted the theater gods and they weren't too happy with my flaunting how simple this was to put together.
Of course the theater gods like to keep you on your toes, they certainly won't give you too much warning. So like any respectable higher power they waited until two hours after the writers received their topics. Two hours after they were planning characters and writing outlines and that's when the gods delivered their first punch. An actor sent me an email excusing herself from the show on Saturday due to work conflicts. A few moments of panic, well more than a few, a good thirty minutes of panic and a few threats to cancel the entire show followed. Fortunately my best friend of over a decade (who is also the Director of Education for TU) let me rant for a while and then offered me the solution. Her husband, another of my best friends, was writing that night and had just started his outline. She suggested I call him and ask if I could knock an actor out of his script. He said that was fine. Erin: 1 Theatre Gods: 0.
I went to bed on Friday night thinking everything was fine. I had successfully won that round. Now I'm only left to assume considering the events of Saturday that the Theatre Gods really don't like to lose. Saturday morning, the actors and directors assembled, they chose scripts and chose actors and everyone went off to rehearse. And then I get a phone call, one of them has become severely ill and must be taken to the hospital by his roommate, who happens to be in one of the other plays of the day. So at 1pm I find myself down two actors. Erin: 1 Theatre Gods:2
The panic sets in. I heard from one of the playwrights who tells me it's fine to cut his script if we don't have enough actors. His message instilled a sense of resolve in me, not to be cliche but "The Show Must Go On" all scripts must be performed, I would not be defeated by the gods of the theater. That was simply not an option.
Enter my two show-saving actors. My best friend, the same one who saved the show the night before, stepped up and memorized two shows. Our artistic director also volunteered to perform in two shows that night. By then it was nearly 3pm. They had less than 5 hours to memorize two different shows with two different casts and two different directors. I never doubted they could do it. I never asked if they doubted they could do it. They just jumped in and did it. I should add the word flawlessly, they did it flawlessly.
A testament to the strength and talent inside our company, these two along with 9 other actors, four comedians, five directors, and five writers pulled off one of the best 24 hour festivals in our company's history. Watching the show from the booth, I could not have been happier. If we hadn't told the audience, no one would have known about the last minute switches. The entire evening was a complete success. So in the end while I hate to post the final score, I do believe that with much help from a talented pool of people I can declare victory over the theater gods on this one. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. I go into tech for our next show in two weeks and I'm sure they'll be waiting to duel again!
Now I have to admit the events that led to the anger and panic may very well be my fault. You see on Wednesday of last week, I found myself thinking, "wow, the planning has gone remarkably well, I have more actors than I normally have, the stand-up comics are confirmed, the publicity is out, the venue confirmed..." and then I actually said "This has really been way too easy." See I did it to myself, I taunted the theater gods and they weren't too happy with my flaunting how simple this was to put together.
Of course the theater gods like to keep you on your toes, they certainly won't give you too much warning. So like any respectable higher power they waited until two hours after the writers received their topics. Two hours after they were planning characters and writing outlines and that's when the gods delivered their first punch. An actor sent me an email excusing herself from the show on Saturday due to work conflicts. A few moments of panic, well more than a few, a good thirty minutes of panic and a few threats to cancel the entire show followed. Fortunately my best friend of over a decade (who is also the Director of Education for TU) let me rant for a while and then offered me the solution. Her husband, another of my best friends, was writing that night and had just started his outline. She suggested I call him and ask if I could knock an actor out of his script. He said that was fine. Erin: 1 Theatre Gods: 0.
I went to bed on Friday night thinking everything was fine. I had successfully won that round. Now I'm only left to assume considering the events of Saturday that the Theatre Gods really don't like to lose. Saturday morning, the actors and directors assembled, they chose scripts and chose actors and everyone went off to rehearse. And then I get a phone call, one of them has become severely ill and must be taken to the hospital by his roommate, who happens to be in one of the other plays of the day. So at 1pm I find myself down two actors. Erin: 1 Theatre Gods:2
The panic sets in. I heard from one of the playwrights who tells me it's fine to cut his script if we don't have enough actors. His message instilled a sense of resolve in me, not to be cliche but "The Show Must Go On" all scripts must be performed, I would not be defeated by the gods of the theater. That was simply not an option.
Enter my two show-saving actors. My best friend, the same one who saved the show the night before, stepped up and memorized two shows. Our artistic director also volunteered to perform in two shows that night. By then it was nearly 3pm. They had less than 5 hours to memorize two different shows with two different casts and two different directors. I never doubted they could do it. I never asked if they doubted they could do it. They just jumped in and did it. I should add the word flawlessly, they did it flawlessly.
A testament to the strength and talent inside our company, these two along with 9 other actors, four comedians, five directors, and five writers pulled off one of the best 24 hour festivals in our company's history. Watching the show from the booth, I could not have been happier. If we hadn't told the audience, no one would have known about the last minute switches. The entire evening was a complete success. So in the end while I hate to post the final score, I do believe that with much help from a talented pool of people I can declare victory over the theater gods on this one. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. I go into tech for our next show in two weeks and I'm sure they'll be waiting to duel again!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Rolling with the Boys
Rehearsals have begun again and this time I do indeed find myself rolling with the boys. I am the sole girl hanging with a cast of 8 men and a male director and I have to admit I'm honored to be "one of the boys."
If you know me, you know that I am by stereotypical definition a girl. I don't like bugs, I don't like dirt. I wear make-up and jewelery, my hair is usually at least somewhat presentable, I like skirts and dresses, I am 100% girl. At the same time I'm a production manager and I think any female production manager has a bit of "guy" in her. I'm not afraid to climb a ladder and change a light or smack a fuse box. I'll absolutely try to move heavy set pieces and I will dig in and help with builds and strikes.
Last night as I handed the leads their costumes and watched them hop around in boxers while changing it began to sink in that I am one of them. Throughout rehearsal the sex jokes fly around the room. At times I find myself a bit confused but mostly I'm amused by their banter and occasionally I find myself joining in. Perhaps I was accepted as one of them more quickly because I know all of them already or perhaps it's because I have to tie them up every night and so after the boxer hopping each of them takes a turn placing their legs on my knee while I duct tape their ankles together. Whatever the reason I like being the sole girl on this project.
Guys in groups are fascinating, watching the three leads work last night was an incredible look into their camaraderie and trust for one another. This play finds these three guys bound at the wrists and ankles and blindfolded for the entire 90 minute production. To watch them adjust to these restraints, have complete faith in each other and in the director is amazing. I love watching them go in and out of their characters. One minute all so serious, so into the world they are acting in and then the next minute sharing one liners that I won't even begin to repeat here.
With every play you get a feeling. You know when you have something truly special in front of you and last night watching rehearsal that feeling set in. This one, this play, this cast, this is going to be one of those incredible productions that stays in your head for a while. For me, I plan on continuing to roll with the boys and savor every moment of it.
If you know me, you know that I am by stereotypical definition a girl. I don't like bugs, I don't like dirt. I wear make-up and jewelery, my hair is usually at least somewhat presentable, I like skirts and dresses, I am 100% girl. At the same time I'm a production manager and I think any female production manager has a bit of "guy" in her. I'm not afraid to climb a ladder and change a light or smack a fuse box. I'll absolutely try to move heavy set pieces and I will dig in and help with builds and strikes.
Last night as I handed the leads their costumes and watched them hop around in boxers while changing it began to sink in that I am one of them. Throughout rehearsal the sex jokes fly around the room. At times I find myself a bit confused but mostly I'm amused by their banter and occasionally I find myself joining in. Perhaps I was accepted as one of them more quickly because I know all of them already or perhaps it's because I have to tie them up every night and so after the boxer hopping each of them takes a turn placing their legs on my knee while I duct tape their ankles together. Whatever the reason I like being the sole girl on this project.
Guys in groups are fascinating, watching the three leads work last night was an incredible look into their camaraderie and trust for one another. This play finds these three guys bound at the wrists and ankles and blindfolded for the entire 90 minute production. To watch them adjust to these restraints, have complete faith in each other and in the director is amazing. I love watching them go in and out of their characters. One minute all so serious, so into the world they are acting in and then the next minute sharing one liners that I won't even begin to repeat here.
With every play you get a feeling. You know when you have something truly special in front of you and last night watching rehearsal that feeling set in. This one, this play, this cast, this is going to be one of those incredible productions that stays in your head for a while. For me, I plan on continuing to roll with the boys and savor every moment of it.
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