Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Hitting One Out of the Park: Rehearsal Number Twenty-One
Another long two-run night, but a very productive one at that. The evening wouldn't be complete without some technical difficulties to begin... Honestly, there are gremlins or something in that space that have it in for me! We got off to a late start again - it's frustrating, but they are always things outside of my control.
Run number one consisted of Mark, Robyn, Chase and Ron. Act one went well, generally, with the band being particularly inventive this evening - Ron created a fun Mr. Rogers parody as the host of an ailing children's show, for example. (That's Jim pretending to listen to my directorial rantings in the photo to the left.) The show ended up following Mark who embodied a country radio station jockey with higher aspirations and an unwanted love-interest. There were a couple of stumbles in the second act (which is still a little scary to most), and the show halted for a moment, which I found personally frustrating as the finish line is now in sight and we need to keep running literally and figuratively, but the cast did well to steer the story home through a rather complex series of story elements. While we discuss some tentative story potentials backstage during intermission, I was impressed to learn that Mark's chosen star went on a radically different journey than had been originally suggested. The cast did well listening and accepting the needs of the story: Mark had some nice moments really increasing the stakes and risk of the star, particularly in the latter stages of the act, while Ron displayed his usual fearlessness as Mark's antagonist. For a newcomer to the form, I have been continually impressed by the fact that Ron is often the first to make a saving pass if the show heads into troubled waters (I think that was a mixed metaphor!) Robyn created a really nice connection to Mark as his sister, and Chase did well as a henchman character and in side support tying up some of the loose ends creatively.
One of the lessons of this first run was that less can be more. There were a LOT of story twists and turns offered in the first act in particular. On the one hand, this shows that the company is becoming stronger at recognizing the need for these choices and is struggling less to discover inventive choices; on the other hand, however, it can overwhelm the seed of the journey (and make the intermission particularly challenging in terms of isolating and solidifying each character's core want or need.) After the run, Robyn offered some good insights as to how this process could be improved.
Run number two ushered Charles, Jay, Kate and Darren to the stage. By all accounts and standards, this was a phenomenal run and really solidified many of the dynamics and choices that we've been working towards. There was just a great sense of attack, and each actor brought a physical fearlessness to the stage, but didn't allow this heightened presence to diminish their listening and teamwork. This, trust me, is a hard balance to achieve. Charles did a show-stopping number as his central character working in the airline industry; Jay literally exploded onto the stage as a skateboarder who decided to start a new tradition of sport-walking (for lack of a better term); Kate performed as a hostel-hopper and created a great group number with an odd assortment of fellow visitors; and Darren did some great physical and verbal work as an architect working in a unlit skyscraper. Gina turned to me just before going backstage at intermission and said that it doesn't get much better than that. While I agreed, we both ended up being wrong... we hadn't seen the second act yet!
The second act really came together in an almost paradigmatic fashion. We followed Jay's journey as a slighted sport-walking inventor. As he searched for success and fame, his character was propelled into a web of hostel/hostile deceit. There were so many nice moments in this act - far too many to note - and as is the case with improv, there's always the "you had to be there" factor. A few that stood out to me were a beautiful haunting duet with Jay and Kate, a typically great solo from Charles as the supportive friend, and a truly fantastic walk-off competition climax with Darren and Jay. There was such great listening and building in this act, with strong team work and strong narrative choices. Jay did superbly as the lead character, committing emotionally to his desires and fighting for them at every turn, while Kate, Darren and Charles worked almost seamlessly as his confidants, obstacles and objects of his dreams (sometimes simultaneously!) As I said to the cast, as the second act took off, there was a time that I really stopped watching as the director, and merely just started enjoying it as an audience member. As noted above, Jim and Keith were particularly strong tonight as well, pushing the players into new musical territory (Charles is particularly strong at bringing the rock and roll to the show.) Both Jay and Charles have been away for large chunks of time lately, so I was particularly proud of them for really coming to the show ready tonight.
The good news: We now know definitively that it can be done! The second show also made palpable the need for focused story choices with clear wants and obstacles. While there are still some minor tweaks that we need to make to act two in terms of dynamics and musical choices, I'm content that the form is pretty solid at this point.
The bad news: I think such a strong run can be a little intimidating for those of us (myself included) that weren't in it! Tonight raised the bar for us all, which really is a good thing, but this cast tends to be very hard on itself as it is, so I hope that this will be seen as a beacon of the good to come and not a spotlight on prior or upcoming slips.
Tomorrow is our dress rehearsal, and then we have a small invited SAK audience on Thursday. We're in a good place for this. I now have the fun (that's sarcastic) of juggling the casting combinations this week. Jay is unavailable due to Constant Wife, but I'm committed to giving everyone else at least one show in front of our sneak peak audiences in preparation for next week's official openings.
Can't wait to get this up...
Your the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-isn't-a-train Director, David C.
Another long two-run night, but a very productive one at that. The evening wouldn't be complete without some technical difficulties to begin... Honestly, there are gremlins or something in that space that have it in for me! We got off to a late start again - it's frustrating, but they are always things outside of my control.
Run number one consisted of Mark, Robyn, Chase and Ron. Act one went well, generally, with the band being particularly inventive this evening - Ron created a fun Mr. Rogers parody as the host of an ailing children's show, for example. (That's Jim pretending to listen to my directorial rantings in the photo to the left.) The show ended up following Mark who embodied a country radio station jockey with higher aspirations and an unwanted love-interest. There were a couple of stumbles in the second act (which is still a little scary to most), and the show halted for a moment, which I found personally frustrating as the finish line is now in sight and we need to keep running literally and figuratively, but the cast did well to steer the story home through a rather complex series of story elements. While we discuss some tentative story potentials backstage during intermission, I was impressed to learn that Mark's chosen star went on a radically different journey than had been originally suggested. The cast did well listening and accepting the needs of the story: Mark had some nice moments really increasing the stakes and risk of the star, particularly in the latter stages of the act, while Ron displayed his usual fearlessness as Mark's antagonist. For a newcomer to the form, I have been continually impressed by the fact that Ron is often the first to make a saving pass if the show heads into troubled waters (I think that was a mixed metaphor!) Robyn created a really nice connection to Mark as his sister, and Chase did well as a henchman character and in side support tying up some of the loose ends creatively.One of the lessons of this first run was that less can be more. There were a LOT of story twists and turns offered in the first act in particular. On the one hand, this shows that the company is becoming stronger at recognizing the need for these choices and is struggling less to discover inventive choices; on the other hand, however, it can overwhelm the seed of the journey (and make the intermission particularly challenging in terms of isolating and solidifying each character's core want or need.) After the run, Robyn offered some good insights as to how this process could be improved.
Run number two ushered Charles, Jay, Kate and Darren to the stage. By all accounts and standards, this was a phenomenal run and really solidified many of the dynamics and choices that we've been working towards. There was just a great sense of attack, and each actor brought a physical fearlessness to the stage, but didn't allow this heightened presence to diminish their listening and teamwork. This, trust me, is a hard balance to achieve. Charles did a show-stopping number as his central character working in the airline industry; Jay literally exploded onto the stage as a skateboarder who decided to start a new tradition of sport-walking (for lack of a better term); Kate performed as a hostel-hopper and created a great group number with an odd assortment of fellow visitors; and Darren did some great physical and verbal work as an architect working in a unlit skyscraper. Gina turned to me just before going backstage at intermission and said that it doesn't get much better than that. While I agreed, we both ended up being wrong... we hadn't seen the second act yet!
The second act really came together in an almost paradigmatic fashion. We followed Jay's journey as a slighted sport-walking inventor. As he searched for success and fame, his character was propelled into a web of hostel/hostile deceit. There were so many nice moments in this act - far too many to note - and as is the case with improv, there's always the "you had to be there" factor. A few that stood out to me were a beautiful haunting duet with Jay and Kate, a typically great solo from Charles as the supportive friend, and a truly fantastic walk-off competition climax with Darren and Jay. There was such great listening and building in this act, with strong team work and strong narrative choices. Jay did superbly as the lead character, committing emotionally to his desires and fighting for them at every turn, while Kate, Darren and Charles worked almost seamlessly as his confidants, obstacles and objects of his dreams (sometimes simultaneously!) As I said to the cast, as the second act took off, there was a time that I really stopped watching as the director, and merely just started enjoying it as an audience member. As noted above, Jim and Keith were particularly strong tonight as well, pushing the players into new musical territory (Charles is particularly strong at bringing the rock and roll to the show.) Both Jay and Charles have been away for large chunks of time lately, so I was particularly proud of them for really coming to the show ready tonight.
The good news: We now know definitively that it can be done! The second show also made palpable the need for focused story choices with clear wants and obstacles. While there are still some minor tweaks that we need to make to act two in terms of dynamics and musical choices, I'm content that the form is pretty solid at this point.
The bad news: I think such a strong run can be a little intimidating for those of us (myself included) that weren't in it! Tonight raised the bar for us all, which really is a good thing, but this cast tends to be very hard on itself as it is, so I hope that this will be seen as a beacon of the good to come and not a spotlight on prior or upcoming slips.
Tomorrow is our dress rehearsal, and then we have a small invited SAK audience on Thursday. We're in a good place for this. I now have the fun (that's sarcastic) of juggling the casting combinations this week. Jay is unavailable due to Constant Wife, but I'm committed to giving everyone else at least one show in front of our sneak peak audiences in preparation for next week's official openings.
Can't wait to get this up...
Your the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-isn't-a-train Director, David C.
