IMFourPlay

The Play's The Thing: Performance Number Two (Gala Opening)

What a fun night! There was such a wonderful sense of play that pulsed through tonight's performance. It sounds like a simple and obvious statement to say that play is important in the show (or improv in general), but it is surprising just how often the play can find itself stressed away. (Please note that while the title above is a Shakespearean reference, this was not a deliberate effort to cross promote my next SAK show, The Lost Comedies of William Shakespeare - I have at least a couple more weeks before I really need to start thinking about that!) A form as complex as FourPlay is particularly challenging in this regard. There are so many things that can make the performers slip into their head as they consider story elements, song structures and styles, and the overall flow of the show. When it's good, these issues tend to become second nature. Tonight, we found this sense of effortlessness again.

Tonight's cast was Charles, Mark, myself and Robyn - that's nearly us pictured right. Charles wasn't able to make the photo shoot, so that's Jay standing in for him with his distinctly Constant Wife look! (Thanks Denna for giving me even more photos to include here.) We had a packed house tonight, and I was particularly pleased and touched that I had so many friends and colleagues from my day gig at Rollins College in the house (although that also made me a little nervous too!) We had some minor sound issues in act one in terms of levels and hearing the band, but content was pretty strong. Mark created a great character as an X-Ray technician who was in love with a girl named Petri Dish. Love aside, what he really wanted was a stalker of his own--of an indeterminate gender. Mark, once again, provided a fantastic solo early in the show. Robyn was a techno-savvy happily married woman of 32 years who, while planning a huge event in honor of her loving (yet slightly slushy) husband, discovered that their fortunes had been squandered on an ill-fated investment. Mark and Charles provided great support characters as her servant and party planner respectively. We then followed Charles as a nature-loving but shower-loathing mountain man who double-booked dates one evening with a beautiful vixen and a more homely amateur whittler (played by Robyn and me - guess which one I was?!) Lastly, I took on the role of Barry, an internet addict who found love on his computer but needed the help of his loyal (?) friend William and supportive mother (?) to pursue her. The act ended strongly and it felt like we had given the audience four fun and viable options for the star position. (I'm intrigued as to what criteria audience members use to make this decision - post me a comment on this if you'd like.)

Barry was elected as the star of act two - I had thought that perhaps my Rollins colleagues in the house tonight may have stacked the deck a little in my favor, but I learnt at the gala party afterwards that few, if any, of them actually voted for me! Hmmmm.... Some nights it is a bit of a struggle to find the story when your character is selected, but tonight I actually felt that we had some good potentials for Barry's journey, and Gina had some great detailed observations from her vantage point in the house that provided a strong launching point. I felt good about my early solo in the act. I have a tendency to default into a soft ballad style, but attacked this song with a more uptempo feel tonight. Jim and Keith were also particularly hot in this act, with lots of fun pimps and gifts from the pit--there were musical references to Harry Potter, Star Wars and Les Mis, as well as some great style choices. Robyn had a great solo turn as Barry's mother, mourning her lost relationship to his new woman, while Mark crafted a wonderful show-stopping number as the object of Barry's eye, and Charles and I attacked the final confrontation number with finesse. I really love singing alongside Charles. But the final word of the night clearly belonged to the masterful Jim Rhinehart who, after Barry's real mother was revealed, started to play "Who Am I" from Les Mis as the final number. I had to clamp down to hit the final note, but it was a great ending. (Of course, I happened to see Eric Zivot, our vocal coach from Rollins, out of the corner of my eye as I squeezed out that high note!!! I'm sure he'll have some vocal production notes for me when I next see him at work!!)

We had a lovely gala to end the evening, with toasts and merriment. Extra kudos to Dave, Keith, Rob, Katie, Katie's Mom, and SAK's team of volunteers for all their hard work getting everything set up. Lots of kind feedback and support and a little disbelief as to what we had achieved. (No seriously, it's all made up!!)

I'd love to sit in this moment for a little longer, but alas, we perform tomorrow with a clean slate!! But I am relieved and happy and, dare I say, proud. The show has definitely grown from last season and I am confident that this will be the start of an exciting journey with this project.

Would love to hear what viewers thought of the gala performance... How about writing a comment?

Your grateful-and-slightly-gravitating-off-the-ground Director, David C.