Monday, September 18, 2006
Thanksgiving Comes Early: Performance Number Twenty-Two
Sunday Matinee number three, and we had a surprisingly nice house (thanks in part, I'm guessing, to Scottie's efforts from Rollins who arranged a cross-promotion effort.) These three-show weekends, though, I must admit are pretty hard on the body, mind and voice. I always get to this point of the weekend and just want to create characters who sleep a lot on stage!
This afternoon's cast was Chase, Ron, Kate and myself. Chase was Thomas Hemmingway (apparently related to THAT Hemmingway), and built missiles for a living. It's odd that I actually think that's the second time we've had an armament choice like that in this run. Terry, his project leader, suffered from a series of odd physical deformities (such as a second tail), while Jessica, a smuggling co-worker seemed to struggle with the concept that she had been fired. Life was no smoother at home, as his wife of three months, Martha, craved a more romantic and poetic husband in addition to the odd turkey leg. While Thomas pledged to re-prioritize in dulcet song, it was apparently too late as Martha had already decided to leave him. Next came Ron's Steve, a Latin-loving student under the tutelage of Mrs. Winslow, a rather dominating lady. Steve loved to escape into his mythic imagination, but he was always pulled back into reality until his friend Augustus offered potential glory at a Greek (?!) competition. Then there was Kate as Jess, a young woman who had the good fortune (or was it?) of living with two eighteen-year-old brothers. The boys, Tyler and Trent, knew little of hygiene or cleanliness, much to Jess' pain, and the arrival of Tyler's equally simple girlfriend, Nadine, didn't make things much better. Ron gave one of my favorite lines of the afternoon as this character. After I noted as Tyler that "I have the brains but Trent has the brawn," Nadine inexplicably added, "I nearly had a baby!" Rounding off the act was my Mike, a man with a backyard filled with an ever-increasing number of turkey vultures. Despite the best efforts of Mike's best friend, Jeremy, and his ever-loving mother, the menacing birds slowly took more and more control of his world. Ron's Anthony, who preferred to go by "Nightshade" provided an element of dark intrigue as the mysterious next-door-neighbor. The four of us created a fun circling song here, which was one of the musical highlights of the act.
The audience selected Mike as act two's star (I think it was all those turkey vultures that did it!) We had some interesting characters to play with, and Jim offered a fun Les Mis parody, complete with waving flag thanks to Ron, early in the act. Night Shade emerged as Mike's nemesis, seeking to punish him through a variety of increasingly bizarre means for his withheld friendship. As the vultures' threat increased, Mike turned to his missile-making friend for help. In exchange for building a missile, Mike wrote Thomas' wife a love poem in an effort to rejuvenate their failing marriage. I really enjoyed created this song with Chase. After a bout of voodoo and some faulty explosives, Mike's Mom's words ultimately won over the day, and Mike invited the turkey vultures and his next-door-neighbor into his home in an act of love.
Our act two became a little convoluted in terms of plot, and it was an act of faith to find an ending when all was said and done! We also had some old sound issues tonight, with Chase having to finish up the show on a hand-held corded microphone (although he handled it like a pro). We also had an uncharacteristic barrage of explosions from the booth, which complicated the story in less-than-helpful ways. When we were on today, there was some great ensemble work (Kate's episode in act one seemed particularly playful). When we were off, the story became a little unwieldy or unclear and the scenes/songs started to meander on stage too long. We've got to keep it simple. It's becoming a standard disclaimer (but a true one) that the audience seemed quite receptive and complimentary as they left, but the show was a bit glitchy overall with some technical, story and drive issues. I also personally felt a little off due to a complete lack of sleep last night. We did have some particularly fun characters today though, such as Chase's Jeremy, Ron's Nadine and Kate's Jess.
Next week we begin our series of "last shows" for the individual company members. Even when I'm this tired, that thought makes me a little sad. We've really come such a long way with this run...
Three to go.
Your sleep-seeking Director, David C.
Sunday Matinee number three, and we had a surprisingly nice house (thanks in part, I'm guessing, to Scottie's efforts from Rollins who arranged a cross-promotion effort.) These three-show weekends, though, I must admit are pretty hard on the body, mind and voice. I always get to this point of the weekend and just want to create characters who sleep a lot on stage!
This afternoon's cast was Chase, Ron, Kate and myself. Chase was Thomas Hemmingway (apparently related to THAT Hemmingway), and built missiles for a living. It's odd that I actually think that's the second time we've had an armament choice like that in this run. Terry, his project leader, suffered from a series of odd physical deformities (such as a second tail), while Jessica, a smuggling co-worker seemed to struggle with the concept that she had been fired. Life was no smoother at home, as his wife of three months, Martha, craved a more romantic and poetic husband in addition to the odd turkey leg. While Thomas pledged to re-prioritize in dulcet song, it was apparently too late as Martha had already decided to leave him. Next came Ron's Steve, a Latin-loving student under the tutelage of Mrs. Winslow, a rather dominating lady. Steve loved to escape into his mythic imagination, but he was always pulled back into reality until his friend Augustus offered potential glory at a Greek (?!) competition. Then there was Kate as Jess, a young woman who had the good fortune (or was it?) of living with two eighteen-year-old brothers. The boys, Tyler and Trent, knew little of hygiene or cleanliness, much to Jess' pain, and the arrival of Tyler's equally simple girlfriend, Nadine, didn't make things much better. Ron gave one of my favorite lines of the afternoon as this character. After I noted as Tyler that "I have the brains but Trent has the brawn," Nadine inexplicably added, "I nearly had a baby!" Rounding off the act was my Mike, a man with a backyard filled with an ever-increasing number of turkey vultures. Despite the best efforts of Mike's best friend, Jeremy, and his ever-loving mother, the menacing birds slowly took more and more control of his world. Ron's Anthony, who preferred to go by "Nightshade" provided an element of dark intrigue as the mysterious next-door-neighbor. The four of us created a fun circling song here, which was one of the musical highlights of the act.The audience selected Mike as act two's star (I think it was all those turkey vultures that did it!) We had some interesting characters to play with, and Jim offered a fun Les Mis parody, complete with waving flag thanks to Ron, early in the act. Night Shade emerged as Mike's nemesis, seeking to punish him through a variety of increasingly bizarre means for his withheld friendship. As the vultures' threat increased, Mike turned to his missile-making friend for help. In exchange for building a missile, Mike wrote Thomas' wife a love poem in an effort to rejuvenate their failing marriage. I really enjoyed created this song with Chase. After a bout of voodoo and some faulty explosives, Mike's Mom's words ultimately won over the day, and Mike invited the turkey vultures and his next-door-neighbor into his home in an act of love.
Our act two became a little convoluted in terms of plot, and it was an act of faith to find an ending when all was said and done! We also had some old sound issues tonight, with Chase having to finish up the show on a hand-held corded microphone (although he handled it like a pro). We also had an uncharacteristic barrage of explosions from the booth, which complicated the story in less-than-helpful ways. When we were on today, there was some great ensemble work (Kate's episode in act one seemed particularly playful). When we were off, the story became a little unwieldy or unclear and the scenes/songs started to meander on stage too long. We've got to keep it simple. It's becoming a standard disclaimer (but a true one) that the audience seemed quite receptive and complimentary as they left, but the show was a bit glitchy overall with some technical, story and drive issues. I also personally felt a little off due to a complete lack of sleep last night. We did have some particularly fun characters today though, such as Chase's Jeremy, Ron's Nadine and Kate's Jess.
Next week we begin our series of "last shows" for the individual company members. Even when I'm this tired, that thought makes me a little sad. We've really come such a long way with this run...
Three to go.
Your sleep-seeking Director, David C.
