Thursday, July 13, 2006
Who is This Mike Guy and Why Does He Have It In For Me: Rehearsal Number Twenty-Two?
Yet another two run evening for tonight. Thursday we have an in-house preview after SAK's regular 8:00 Duel of Fools show, so the regular rehearsal period is starting to come to an end. The company and crew have shown incredibly patience and commitment over this last week. Heather, our choreographer and my wife, joined us this evening to give our dancing a good last once-over. The first run, with Mark, Kate, Charles and Ron was extremely strong. A very playful and specific first act provided ample story and character potentials for the second act. Charles needed to get a shot at playing the star role, so I loaded the vote accordingly, but his storyline was strong and would have been in the running in front of an average audience (Ron's rapper character would have given him a run for his money though, I'm sure.) We followed Charles' role-playing character as he ventured out of his basement into the real world, tempted by a gangster-rapper gang led by Ron, fueled by a needy and ignored mother recovering from a divorce (that doesn't sound funny, but as Mark played it, she was hysterical in both senses of the word), and counseled by an undercover Irish (?) dance veteran turned peace activist played by Kate. Act two was truly a rollercoaster of plot turns and complications, and there were several times that I was genuinely surprised in the audience by the cast's surprising and surprisingly apt connections. A great run - a tough one to follow....
The second run got off to a rocky start. My mic (mike) decided not to work, and despite Dana's best efforts to create a fix, we ended up starting the run quite late and I had to go on without a mic at all. It's moments like this that the skeleton staffing situation becomes extremely problematic - poor Dana ends up having to solve a lot of these issues single-handedly. I know this got into my head and coupled with the fact that I was playing in position one for the first time since this process started, I wasn't in a very good place to start the show. I think all of our playfulness levels were subdued by the long wait and circumstances. Jay, Robyn and Chase joined me for the show. Our first act was a little heavy in that our anxiousness to begin translated into a less joyful attitude and play style. I really love playing with these three improvisers, but as I look back on the run, I don't think I personally communicated that to them or the audience during the run-through. I also tend to slide into the realm of the ballad when left to my own devices, and my mood going into the run definitely predisposed me to this tonight. As the act unfolded, we were introduced to Jay as a nice soon-to-be-newly-wed man who had difficulties putting together his vows, Robyn as a jazz-a-size instructor at a retirement home and Chase as a competitive young man fighting to make his garden a prize-winning entry.
As I hadn't yet experienced playing the star role, I asked Gina to put me in this spot tonight as it was my last chance before we started playing it in front of an audience. I knew, going in, that my union carpenter character was not the strongest candidate for this position, but with the changes made to the form, I wasn't particularly thrilled to attempt that role for the first time in front of a paying audience. The energy and playfulness did pick up for the second act, but my story line was a difficult sell, despite the best efforts of us all. We fell into too many ballad styles again - I've asked Jim and Keith to pimp us out of that if they notice it happening again, but I'm sure they were suffering from the tired energy that we were all fighting at that point (and they were unable to hear me well due to the mic situation.) We found some more light moments: Jay and Chase did particularly well in this regard. The run solidified the act for me, but didn't personally feel very artistically or comedically satisfying. I need to remember that this isn't the type of show that you can work through - you really have to play through it. The first run tonight was a prime example of how far a playful attitude can go. Those of us in the second run also tended towards "normal" characters as well and needed to heighten our attitudes in order to provide stronger comedic potentials.
The show is definitely ready to be seen artistically. I'm nervous about some sound and lighting issues, but these are being worked on as best as is possible under the circumstances. An unfulfilling run can be a hard thing to shake off as an improviser, but I have great confidence in my fellow performers. (One of the things I love about improv is that every show starts with a clean slate.) While we will still tinker as the run continues, I'm starting to feel that I can move my primary focus away from directing to performing. The nitty-gritties of directing can often be fun squelchers, but I need to make sure I give my fellow players all my joy, love and playfulness on the stage as an actor.
Your multiple-hat-wearing-and-too-loud-even-without-a-mic-apparently Director, David C.
Yet another two run evening for tonight. Thursday we have an in-house preview after SAK's regular 8:00 Duel of Fools show, so the regular rehearsal period is starting to come to an end. The company and crew have shown incredibly patience and commitment over this last week. Heather, our choreographer and my wife, joined us this evening to give our dancing a good last once-over. The first run, with Mark, Kate, Charles and Ron was extremely strong. A very playful and specific first act provided ample story and character potentials for the second act. Charles needed to get a shot at playing the star role, so I loaded the vote accordingly, but his storyline was strong and would have been in the running in front of an average audience (Ron's rapper character would have given him a run for his money though, I'm sure.) We followed Charles' role-playing character as he ventured out of his basement into the real world, tempted by a gangster-rapper gang led by Ron, fueled by a needy and ignored mother recovering from a divorce (that doesn't sound funny, but as Mark played it, she was hysterical in both senses of the word), and counseled by an undercover Irish (?) dance veteran turned peace activist played by Kate. Act two was truly a rollercoaster of plot turns and complications, and there were several times that I was genuinely surprised in the audience by the cast's surprising and surprisingly apt connections. A great run - a tough one to follow....The second run got off to a rocky start. My mic (mike) decided not to work, and despite Dana's best efforts to create a fix, we ended up starting the run quite late and I had to go on without a mic at all. It's moments like this that the skeleton staffing situation becomes extremely problematic - poor Dana ends up having to solve a lot of these issues single-handedly. I know this got into my head and coupled with the fact that I was playing in position one for the first time since this process started, I wasn't in a very good place to start the show. I think all of our playfulness levels were subdued by the long wait and circumstances. Jay, Robyn and Chase joined me for the show. Our first act was a little heavy in that our anxiousness to begin translated into a less joyful attitude and play style. I really love playing with these three improvisers, but as I look back on the run, I don't think I personally communicated that to them or the audience during the run-through. I also tend to slide into the realm of the ballad when left to my own devices, and my mood going into the run definitely predisposed me to this tonight. As the act unfolded, we were introduced to Jay as a nice soon-to-be-newly-wed man who had difficulties putting together his vows, Robyn as a jazz-a-size instructor at a retirement home and Chase as a competitive young man fighting to make his garden a prize-winning entry.
As I hadn't yet experienced playing the star role, I asked Gina to put me in this spot tonight as it was my last chance before we started playing it in front of an audience. I knew, going in, that my union carpenter character was not the strongest candidate for this position, but with the changes made to the form, I wasn't particularly thrilled to attempt that role for the first time in front of a paying audience. The energy and playfulness did pick up for the second act, but my story line was a difficult sell, despite the best efforts of us all. We fell into too many ballad styles again - I've asked Jim and Keith to pimp us out of that if they notice it happening again, but I'm sure they were suffering from the tired energy that we were all fighting at that point (and they were unable to hear me well due to the mic situation.) We found some more light moments: Jay and Chase did particularly well in this regard. The run solidified the act for me, but didn't personally feel very artistically or comedically satisfying. I need to remember that this isn't the type of show that you can work through - you really have to play through it. The first run tonight was a prime example of how far a playful attitude can go. Those of us in the second run also tended towards "normal" characters as well and needed to heighten our attitudes in order to provide stronger comedic potentials.
The show is definitely ready to be seen artistically. I'm nervous about some sound and lighting issues, but these are being worked on as best as is possible under the circumstances. An unfulfilling run can be a hard thing to shake off as an improviser, but I have great confidence in my fellow performers. (One of the things I love about improv is that every show starts with a clean slate.) While we will still tinker as the run continues, I'm starting to feel that I can move my primary focus away from directing to performing. The nitty-gritties of directing can often be fun squelchers, but I need to make sure I give my fellow players all my joy, love and playfulness on the stage as an actor.
Your multiple-hat-wearing-and-too-loud-even-without-a-mic-apparently Director, David C.
