IMFourPlay

Ron Weaver is new to the SAK stage but is clearly no stranger to the world of theatre. His impeccable improvisational instinct first came to my attention in our classes together with SAK University, where he quickly became a stand-out (but in a good, sharing stage and giving kind of way!) Ron and I sat down over partially melted Frosties and flat Sprite Zero on the steps of the Bob Carr Center while pan-handling for our taxi fare home.

Current favorite musical: Singin' in the Rain, mostly for Gene Kelly and all the great dance numbers.
Current favorite improv game: "The Harold" is my favorite long form and "Blues Line" is my favorite short form.

DC: Ron, you are a relatively new face to our regular SAK audience, having just graduated from SAK University the week before FourPlay rehearsals kicked off. (You might just be setting some kind of a record there!!) Tell us a little about your theatre background. What do you want your audience to know about you?

RW: I feel particularly fortunate to be involved since FourPlay is such an ambitious and challenging show. My theatre background is as a song and dance man. I started out young and have performed in and choreographed scores of musicals and dance numbers.

DC: Those skills will surely be put to use! While you're a recent SAK U graduate, I have a feeling that improv has been a part of your life for quite some time. Do you remember when you first caught the improv bug?

RW: It was one of the first things I was exposed to as a performer, at age 10. I was an instant fan of games like "Freeze Tag" and "Forward/Reverse" because they were simply so fun to play. In high school a group of theater buddies and I would often get together and try to improvise songs in musical theater styles. We were awful, particularly since none of us could provide piano accompaniment more sophisticated than things like "Heart and Soul". But eventually I was exposed to better improv training at Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama.

DC: I'd love to chat more about your experiences there later. In terms of our little corner of the world, you recently joked with me about your initial reaction last year when you heard that someone was trying to pull off a fully improvised two-act musical. What were you expecting when you first saw the show?

RW: I was honestly expecting a stinking mess. Hearing the words "improvised musical" I pictured a high school Thespian competition with a bunch of over-exuberant musical buffs (like me) hanging out between numbers just bursting into song, chaotically tripping over each other in their excitement and hunger for the limelight. But that's definitely not what I saw. It was a surprisingly controlled, but nonetheless spontaneous concoction that actually created memorable characters and an entertaining story. I couldn't imagine how it could be done until then. And once I saw that you could pull it off, I really wanted to jump in.

DC: We're glad you felt that way!! Hopefully that won't change over the next few weeks. You've got quite an extensive performance resume (particularly as a song and dance man as you put it). What would you consider your favorite role or experience in the theatre?

RW: My favorite role is the one where I met my wife Meggin, playing her brother in Meet Me in St. Louis (incest was our spark). My most memorable stage experience though was playing "Hero" in Forum. One night I cut my head badly doing a prat fall. I insisted on going back out so we bandaged my head. With each subsequent prat fall in the show I added another bandage or wrap to that area of my body. That became its own gag and I found out later that most of the audience never knew I'd really cut my head... until they saw the EMT's at the stage door. This was a matinee show so the director had to go on for me that night while I was in the hospital getting stitches!

DC: We have a lot in common! I also met my wife on stage (in Hello Dolly!) and last year I cut my head badly doing a prat fall on the SAK Stage! Are you sure we're not related?

RW: I sure hope not...

DC: Enough said.

To learn more about Ron, go here.

Jim Rhinehart does double duty in FourPlay once again, returning to his roles as musical director and improvisational accompanist (although those titles really don't seem to do his crucial contributions justice). A regular in SAK's pit, Jim's finesse on the keyboards has garnered him adoration from company and audience members alike. I perched high on a sturdy maple tree limb beside Jim as we watched the pedestrians below, lapped up syrup, and mused on the oddity that is musical improvisation.

Current favorite musical: West Side Story, and Act I of Wicked
Current favorite improv game: For me to play? I suppose "Song Cue." To watch? I have no idea - there are so many!

DC: Jim, in addition to holding down a demanding day job and serving as a regular improv accompanist on the weekends at SAK (and fellow FourPlayer Mark Baratelli's Improv Cabaret), you've had a pretty busy year in terms of theatre projects since we last engaged in FourPlay together. What have you been up to?

JR: You know, David, I just had a wonderful experience performing in The Musical Of Musicals: The Musical! with Jester Theatre Company. In addition to playing, I get to be onstage with four incredibly talented, funny actors! Definitely one of the highlights of my year. And it's happening again in December!

DC: Heather and I loved the show. You clearly work with ease in both the traditional scripted theatre realm and that of improvisational theatre. Do you approach these types of projects differently as a musician?

JR: Honestly, on my best days, no. Whether scripted or not, one still has to be aware of (and part of) the "flow" of the production. The greatest challenge often seems to be staying in the moment, not ahead of, and not behind, the players.

DC: That's apt. As the lead musician on each FourPlay show, you are responsible for creating roughly twenty original accompaniments each performance. It makes my head spin just to think about it! Have you found any specific ways to jumpstart your own creativity under this pressure, or does it all come as second nature at this point?

JR: Um, you know, I hadn't really thought of it like that! Geez, that's a lot of music! Maybe this isn't such a good idea . . . But seriously, for inspiration I just go to the source - soundtracks! In preparation for this show, I find myself listening to songs in a different way, and trying to find connections and similarities across the repertoire. It's like learning composition, or martial arts, or chess: First you LEARN the rules (and conventions), then you can figure out the most effective ways to break them!

DC: Do you have any future projects on the horizon that we should eagerly await?

JR: I am hoping to record a CD of original solo jazz piano this summer, and am currently working on several new compositions. Definitely check out Musical of Musicals in December, and before that is The Lost Comedies of William Shakespeare, here at SAK - another David Charles inculcation!

DC: Let me know what happens with your CD - that sounds like a great project. And on that high note of unapologetic cross-promotion for The Lost Comedies, I will give you that $20 as promised and stop calling your home number late in the evenings. Now... how do we get down from this tree?

To learn more about Jim, go here.

Stumbling Through Act Two: Rehearsal Number Eleven

Only eleven rehearsals in and we have VERY tentatively pieced together the basic form! This seems both early but also late considering we have our producer preview in just six more rehearsals! Crazy! The agenda today was initially just to work the second half of the second act, but it's all very intellectual until we actually put it on its feet and fumble around a little. While an act two run is always slightly absurd without running an act one to generate the characters and initial plot points, we faced the implausible and gave it a shot. Darren, Kate and Charles bravely joined me on the stage for a piece together, and we sailed off into the great unknown...

First impressions? The changes made to the format seem to be promising at this point, although it's a little early to tell completely. Overall, the adjustments to the top and bottom of the act seem to work. We're still struggling with the second number in the act in terms of how to create a montage feel without it quickly solidifying rhythmically into a traditional verse/chorus structure. Jim (pictured left) and I chatted afterwards about this and we're thinking of letting Keith drive this number initially on the drums so as to give more melodic freedom. Due to the number of songs in the piece, I'm keen to have certain dynamics set throughout the story arc to guarantee some variety and musical surprises. We're also tripping on a new climax scene/song cascade dynamic - but it is still so new to us that I'm not worried at this point. It's designed to increase the protagonist's peril as we move into the last third of the act. However, without a true developed story and stock of characters, this progression often feels a bit conceited. An old habit also resurfaced tonight as well - namely, avoiding conflict or character change. This is particularly an issue for the protagonist who has to react to an awful lot of choices being thrown at him/her. Ironically, the qualities of our company that are making the process so joyful (namely level-headedness, calmness, being centered...) sometimes lessen the dramatic energy on the stage. Most of us are socialized to avoid conflict in life!

Tonight's stumble/bumble/humble through has, however, put us a little ahead of the game. I'm hopeful that we can now do a true full run next Saturday when we meet again. This will, ideally, solidify the form for us all and give me a chance to see where the structure itself is causing woes and where we need to focus our work. Gina DiRoma, my loyal Assistant Director from last season, will then join us on Sunday for the first time. We chatted briefly last night, and while she could make it sooner, it struck me that it might be helpful to get her first gut reactions once the format is up and running (or limping as the case may be).

Regardless of the roughness of the form tonight, I must confess that I started to feel that performance high that pulled me back to the director's chair. I so enjoy this year's company, and amidst the confusion and attempts to make sense of this seemingly crazy structure, there were many wonderful little jewels - Kate's crazy smoking lady, Kate and Darren's harmonious sibling duet, Charles' drug-addled friend and villainous thief, Jim torturing me on the piano while I was singing as Darren's bitter mother... I do love long form!!

We're officially at the half way point tonight between the first rehearsal and the first preview audience. Wow!!

Your in-the-middle-of-it-all Director, David C.

It Takes Two to Duet: Rehearsal Number Ten

Monday night was our second of three public master class workshops. The focus tonight was duets and building the structure of the song. I was pleased to see that we pretty much had everyone return from last week. In addition to this being a nice ego stroke (!), it also enabled us to jump to it a little quicker. Jim provided a fun vocal warmup - it was a little shock to see him step out from behind his keyboard, but it did end the rumours that he never wears pants at SAK! There is something almost inspirational about 16 or so voices singing together (even if it's just scales).

Then we jumped into some harmonizing, rhythmic and rhyming exercises after a stint of Last Letter Slap-Clap-Snap. (It's one of my favourite warm-up games, but it tends to make everyone feel a little clumsy, myself included!) With such a healthy group size, I was keen to get to the song exercises a little quicker than last week, so we then explored a series of echo duets/songs. While this worked reasonably well when Jim and I conducted this series last year, this group really seemed to attack the format, and there was a lot of immediately evident growth. Loosely speaking, the duet simply consists of one player taking the lead by singing individual lines of lyric that the second player then repeats or echoes (hence the ever-so-original song title!) It can be a very liberating way of creating verse lyric as each player's role is simply defined and inter-related, and I love that it also has the added benefit of encouraging active listening between the singers. So often, you can disappear into your head when the music starts up on the stage. There were many fun examples of quirky relationships developing through the song format: Greg was a gruff homeless man trying to pick up someone else's bride, Robyn (literally) at a train station; Charles and BC were two unconventional high-voiced wrestlers with a bawdy tattoo; Chase and Ronda explored forbidden sibling love in a hospital waiting room; Stephen and Richard displayed finesse as love-torn breakdancers; and Jose and Darren competed for a plumbing position in a creative one-up-manship number.

After the break, we looked at the elements of song structure and how they can help shape and build a number. While most of us have an inherent knowledge of song verses, choruses, hooks and bridges, as improvisers it's helpful to explore the purpose of these features in song construction. This ended up being a lot of fun! We culminated with each pair selecting a song structure secretly - I would like to take credit for this last idea, so I will! ;) Again there were some great relationship songs, such as: Chase and Sheri as party-crashing siblings; Richard and Kate as a squabbling couple on an ill-fated road trip; Larry and Mark channeling a soon-to-be-released-blockbuster as dead pirates; and Ron and Jamie as a doctor and patient arguing over the state of a liver.

I'm taking some of these duet formats and skills into Tuesday's FourPlay rehearsal, so I'm hopeful we can build on this strong foundation.

I've been told I need more gossip in my blogs to make them more juicy! Sadly, I don't have any - so feel free to attach your own in the comments...

Thank you to those who are periodically checking in on my rants. And to those of you aren't... well, you might just become the focus of some good gossip!!

Your stereo-songster Director, David C.

Starting Act Two: Rehearsal Number Nine

It was a bit of an awkward start today. I had printer issues so was a little late myself to find that I was still earlier than most - although I knew of some conflicts: Robyn is teaching Improv I at SAK so can't be there right at 2:00, and Chase was also coming from work in the Parks. Props to Jim and Ron who are always on time. It's hard to do any real kind of warm-up or skill building without a full house, so we reviewed some of the trickier song formats while we waited. Robyn had been gone for a week, so I was anxious to introduce her to some of the song formats that are new or improved from last year. I've attempted to ask company members to catch up on missed material outside of normal rehearsal times, but in reality, this isn't always very practical. (Few of us have access to a musician like Jim after hours!) A guy can keep trying though...! Secretly I dream of having a company that has no rehearsal conflicts, or pockets deep enough to provide a living wage during the rehearsal period...

While the first act breaks down quite nicely into the four character episodes, act two demands a more flexible structure. This is made even more complicated by the fact that we don't even know its featured character until this is announced on stage after the first number! This was a deep breath rehearsal for me. Without a stock of act one characters to base act two choices on, it is almost an exercise in absurdity trying to model and build the structure. However, we can't stumble through the units without first understanding their purpose and song potentials. Classic Catch 22! While everyone was patient and generally focused, I was personally frustrated as I tried to provide enough information and coaching to guide the discoveries without overwhelming everyone with details that may be important later but will probably only clutter things now.

Much of the rehearsal focused on a format I'm calling a "Montage Song" that is replacing the "Inner Thoughts" number that stood in its place last year. Loosely speaking, it's a madrigal-type variation with multiple voices weaving in and out (inspired in part from the similar device in "Who Will Buy" from Oliver!). This was surprisingly difficult! Our first attempt worked well, but we had a difficult time pulling the number apart so that we could recreate this style. As we played, it became clear that if the accompaniment was too rhythmic initially, we tended to provide less interesting vocal choices (I believe Charles was the first one to vocalize this.) With the addition of a bridge section and a higher energy close, the number seemed to take shape. There was some good group trouble-shooting as we tinkered with this new device.

Gradually, we pieced together the first half of the act with an odd assortment of particularly random characters! Jim had a gig and had to leave early, so we squeezed in a quick stab at the first half of the act. Content aside, I think it roughly modeled the desired steps. Major points to everyone for just throwing themselves into it! My favorite moment? Dancing around Robyn in a circle led by Mark!

We have the second group workshop this evening, and will piece together the remainder of the act on Tuesday. I'm keen to get that awkward part of the process behind us so we can start some tentative runs and solidify the big picture. Ron has generously agreed to take a look at the slides we use throughout the show. I'm hoping we can have some new surprises there and incorporate John's overall graphic style.

Your big-picture-craving Director, David C.

Bridging the Act Two Divide: Rehearsal Number Eight

We've already managed to rough out act one with some surprisingly quick success, so it's that time when we have to start facing the beast that is act two! The second act poses some unique directing challenges that I've mentioned briefly in earlier blogs. While there were many second acts that I felt hit well last season, as a whole, this portion of the show was more challenging and problematic. It's hard to rehearse something that is sooo dependent (especially in terms of content) on the act that came before. The structure I developed also didn't work as well on the stage as it did in my head - it made logical sense but not always dramatic sense for the first-time viewer. As a result, I've taken much of the act back to the drawing board. This is exciting but also a little unsettling as a director. The complexity of the form tends to push the company outside of their performance comfort zones as it is - if I appear too unsure as to the show's overall direction, this can make everyone even more nervous. I do, however, love the opportunity to strengthen the overall format!

I've given a lot of thought as to how to resituate the second act after taking into account some good feedback garnered from the first run. Consequently, I had a couple of agendas for today: Jay and Mark rejoined us after various times away and so they needed to be brought up to speed and folded back into the group; I also was keen to explore some modifications of song formats that I wanted to incorporate as set pieces for act two.

Sometimes the company very much feels like two groups: those who performed in the run last year, and those who are new to the show. For those returning, I am always fearful that there may be resistance as I change structural elements that were once familiar. In particular, I wanted to polish the opening and closing songs of the second act. Last year, the opening number felt pedestrian in that it often wandered and lost steam or finesse, while the last improv song often lost its precision and focus (it frequently landed on the shoulders of the star almost exclusively who was a bit sung out at that point.) With that in mind, we workshopped these two numbers and set some fun dynamics and singing sequences. Luckily, both returning and new players saw the value of these changes and jumped on board. We also played with a crescendoing song format that I'd like to introduce to the act as a way of building energy and suspense. It's loosely based on the short-form game "Entrances and Exits" and I've used this general idea earlier in my improvised Opera structure, (Your) Opera in a Trunk that tours with Pensacola Opera. The dynamic seems promising, although it hasn't quite found its button yet. Heather then joined us for the last hour and we danced the afternoon away!

Sunday's rehearsal will involve loosely stringing together the first half of the act. We're getting to the point that we need the overall structure in place so that we can run it and explore content more fully. We get Robyn back tomorrow (yeah!) but loose Jay and Darren (booh!). The comings and goings are a bit frustrating as it tends to slide us back when we have to explain old material to missing members... but to be an optimist, it also gives a chance to review key elements and structures.

Your act-two-contemplating Director, David C.

A New Look for FourPlay...

Drum roll please...

John Carollo of nakedeyestudios.com has just finalized the new logo look for the show and you are all getting to see it first! In addition to being wonderfully talented and a fine collaborator, John has also displayed great generosity in working for our little production in a talent trade relationship. It's been fun working alongside him over the last few weeks getting this put together. He's currently putting the fine touches on the show flyer so that we can get that to the printer next week. It's a slick new look for the show that I'm, for one, very excited about.

So what do you think? Do you recognize the posed figures? We're thinking of putting a variation of this on a show t-shirt. Would you buy it?

I'm going to keep this entry short just to prove that I can! (And I have rehearsal in 5 minutes...)

Your dressed-up-in-a-new-look Director, David C.

Kate O'Neal is a returning member to the FourPlay company, and brings with her an amazing level of vocal virtuosity and variety. If you haven't heard Kate sing, you surely are missing out. Kate agreed to meet me for afternoon nibbles in a new age vegan rice cake and tea shop where we nibbled on alfalfa sprouts and bok chou dipped in a spicy tahini. It wasn't long before our conversation turned to the current project at hand...

Current favorite musical: The Musical of Musicals: The Musical; Wicked
Current favorite improv game: ABC Game

DC: Kate, you have arguably one of the strongest voices in the company (as was recently made evident in Jester Theater's sold-out production of The Musical of Musicals: The Musical.) Tell us a little about your professional work as a singer and vocal artist.

KO: I grew up singing, performing with my sister and my Dad. He would teach us songs and I would almost always provide the harmony. That's mainly because my sister was bossy and always wanted to sing the lead! I didn't mind. I found it to be more of a challenge, and that makes me happy. My first band was when I was in college at Indiana University. I sang in a new wave beach band called Astrosurf. We made an album and performed around Indiana. I moved to Florida to pursue my singing, and got a gig with a top 40 band, a rock band, and then a country band. Through the years, I've sung new wave, rock, country, jazz, gospel, and done some formal quartet work.

DC: That's quite an impressive array of styles! I wouldn't peg you as a country singer in particular, and yet you've served as the warm up act for some interesting talent! Do you have any interesting stories to share from the road?

KO: My favorite is when I was warm up for Willie Nelson. At the time, there was a singer by the name of K. T. Oslin who had a hit song. It was fairly new and the song was big, but not many people had seen her. Well, I happened to love her song, which was called "Hold Me" and decided to open with it. My band played a number and then called me out: "Please welcome to the stage... the one and only K... T... O'Neal." Then they started playing the intro to the song. The crowd went wild. I mean crazy loud. I was shocked and then realized... oh crap... they think I'm K. T. Oslin!!! I finished the song, and again, the applause was amazing. My parents were in the audience - I'm sure they were smiling and thinking, "Wow, they love her! Ha! That's our daughter!" ...I never broke it to them.

DC: You'd better not tell them about this blog!! When did your attention start to move from the world of music to that of improv, and what is it about this crazy genre that attracts you?

KO: I honestly can't remember how I heard about the SAK classes, but I did. At the time I was so horribly unhappy, suffering the effects of mercury poisoning, not doing anything creative, hardly singing, miserable in my marriage, just having moved into this town and not connected to anyone. And I thought, "I've got to do something for myself or my soul will whither up and die," and so I signed up for the Improv I class. I had done community theatre, mostly musical theatre, and loved it, but this improv thing -- whatever it was -- looked different. I was curious. Charles [Frierman] was my teacher and he was so positive and so nurturing. I was absolutely hooked. Improv to me has been frightening and freeing at the same time. I never realized, before I did improv, how passive I can be at times - how concerned I was about what other people thought. All the things I needed to work on in my "real" life were being thrown into my face in my improv classes. It has been the catalyst in my evolution as a person.

DC: I had a similar level of self-discovery when I moved into the theatre arts. It's sad to think that many people might never have that moment of self-realization. You're quite familiar with the rather complex structure that is FourPlay: The (Improvised) Musical, having worked on the show last year. What is it about this format that most challenges or excites you as a performer?

KO: I have rhyming anxiety! My biggest challenge is to get myself out of the way to allow the creativity to flow. I feel like a bit of an adolescent in improv: still a little bit awkward, and not as confident as I'd like to be, but I'm ready for a growth spurt! My greatest fear about doing improv is that I will be a burden to the other players. As I get stronger, this fear will subside. As for what excites me: everything!! Even the things I fear excite me, because facing them brings me closer to the person I want to be! I love the complexity, how things are interwoven, the chance to play four characters, the caliber of the people I'll be working with... I could go on. Plus, I'm thinking it will be fun too. If it's not, I'll be pissed. And now that I'm not passive any more, I'll let it be known! This pisses me off! Where's the fun?!?!

DC: Well said. Now, would you mind terribly putting me down? People are starting to look...

To learn more about Kate, go here.

Mark Baratelli joins the ranks of FourPlay this season, bringing with him an undeniable flair for singing, dancing and all things musical theatre. A clear audience favourite at SAK, Mark is a formidable riffer - so don't get him started! I sat down with Mark over dirty martinis and Atkins-approved flatbreads (ie. pieces of lettuce) in a small imported French Cafe located in an obscure alleyway behind Chucky Cheese.

Current favorite musical: My favorite musical will be Mary Poppins when I see it. I just know it! I loved the movie and I am sure watching the musical will be amazing.
Current favorite improv game: Should've Said

DC: Mark, you've trained and worked with a wide variety of impressive improv companies and troupes around the country, such as the Upright Citizens Brigade, Dad's Garage and the Improv Asylum, and now perform as a professional player for SAK. Tell us about a favorite improv project or experience before the days of SAK and FourPlay.

MB: Gosh I don't know. Dad's Garage did so much more than improv: scripted shows and sketch comedy. I liked the variety there - I got to be in friends' original scripted pieces as well as do improv. UCB was amazing because I'd take classes during the day and then watch half the cast from SNL and the Daily Show perform that night. And opportunity was everywhere there. Scouts were always lurking. One night I started a convo with a lady sitting next to me in the audience. She turned out to be a scout for MTV. Oh! The big one! This was huge: I got to see an actual audition for SNL in NYC. Twenty or so guys did their best 5 or so minutes in a packed comedy club while Lorne Michaels and his posse sat int he very back corner of the club and watched. The audience didn't know it was an SNL audition. A friend of a friend was auditioning, scouted from LA. It was thrilling.

DC: Speaking of thrilling, you just closed your own highly successful (Patron's Pick) Orlando Fringe production of a one-man Improv Cabaret. What did you learn from that experience, and do you have future plans for that production?

MB: First, surround yourself with positive, supportive people who believe in you and your ideas and who also happen to be insanely talented, creative and giving of their time and ideas. Second, question yourself at every turn: "Why would someone pay to see this?" It makes you make your product better. Third: have fun. I performed better when, right before I went on, I thought about Mariah Carey, cotton candy, melisma, things that make me happy. I'd like to remount it again in the future. Maybe another city's Fringe Festival or some of the national improv festivals. Don't know really. You want to produce it for me?

DC: Let me get this show up first and then I'll check my calendar! It sounds like it was a great experience. Jim Rhinehart also served as the Musical Director for Improv Cabaret. Don't let the fact that I'm a big fan of Jim's work skew your response (!), but how did you like collaborating with him?

MB: Jim is an improviser first and foremost. He is a player on stage with you, listening and giving and playing the scene with you, which is why he is so good, in my opinion. I feel like we formed a very close connection onstage between the two of us -- a trust. I told him this at the final performance, that the show was two things: a giant risk on both our parts and a giant display of trust for each other's abilities. I can turn on a dime during a song and he's right there with me. I try to do the same with him, but I'm not as good at it as he is. And when I watch the videos of Improv Cabaret, I see how much he added to the show, more than I was realizing while performing with him.

DC: You certainly worked well together. I agree that Jim seems to handle his side of the creative bargain so effortlessly that it can be easy to forget just how much he's offering at every turn. Finally, the issue on everyone's lips: those who know you well are familiar with your infamous Mariah Carey impersonation!! When did you first start to wail like the diva?

MB: From you, David. I learned it from watching you. And Darren [another FourPlay company member]. He does a pretty good Mariah. You should see us doing battling Mariahs.

DC: I have, I believe, and you really should stop watching me sing in the shower...

To learn more about Mark, go here.

Finding That Group Sound: Rehearsal Number Seven

Today we spent some focused time on some of the group song formats that tend to appear in act one of FourPlay. As I've mentioned before, these are the most tricky numbers as they require a high level of listening, blending and teamwork - something that you can't preempt as you put together a new company (even one that is made largely from a former company!) While the solos can and typically do have a higher level of freedom, as they essentially entail close work with just the musician and the singer, the group numbers require a higher level of discipline amongst the performers. From personal experience, group songs can be problematic for a number of reasons:

1. If there are numerous improvisers on stage, the musician is often left in the lurch vamping forever if nobody steps up to get the song moving.

2. Players can tend to bail on these numbers during the initial stages by quickly throwing the lead away before the number has found its starting structure. While it seems as if they are being generous by singing the first line, a quick bail typically leaves the song without a clear drive, style or guiding voice.

3. A quick gag or lyric line (often sung with disregard to the music's organic structure) can derail the song's flow, getting a quick pay-off, but ultimately disconnecting the singers from the musician(s). This often happens on the SAK stage as a song is moving towards its ending, collapsing the song's power right when you want it to climax and resolve.

4. Similar to above, players will often take focus for a brief moment, in order to add to the story, but may then relinquish that focus without a clear "give" or offer to another to continue. As with any other improv scene, focus needs to be deliberately managed with care and finesse.

5. The nervousness of singing can lessen the level of close listening. Group songs suffer when the first singers establish a strong game, dynamic or "voice," only to have this missed by those who join later. This game may involve a lyrical style or "hook" (repeated phrase), a verse length or pattern of lyric exchanges, or a clear building dynamic centered on a particular character or singer. Once established, these choices become an improv game like any other - the joy for the audience emerges from watching the game build, continue and change from deliberate offers. While we often talk about finding the tilt or changing the game, this is less successful if the song's game hasn't been firmly established and recognized. (We've found that a musical bridge also is a natural fit for this type of choice or moment.)

To address these tendencies, we reviewed some of our more challenging song formats and introduced some new possibilities. For the purpose of our show, I distinguish between "group songs," where the inherent game usually passes the lead position to each onstage singer with some predictability, and "soloist driven" numbers, where one singer typically remains in charge of driving the number or moving focus while the remaining singers provide backup to enrich the musical sound. Generally, however, the goals are the same. The formats set a certain expectation as to what each player will contribute to the number, in addition to providing a blueprint to establish the song's pattern or game so that it will, more probably, build to a satisfying ending. For example, one format is built on the premise that each player will provide a sequential line of lyric in turn in order to create each verse. Once established, players have to commit to meeting this particular game if the song is to keep moving. That's where the discipline comes in!

It was nice to have a chance to play with the nitty-gritties (that's official Director-speak) of some of these dynamics. We also played with some bad staging tendencies that Mark had identified in an earlier rehearsal. Often, the supporting singers inadvertently took center stage, thereby forcing the soloist to upstage him/herself or work hard for focus. This was a simple observation that has opened up some interesting discoveries. Ron, with his dancing instincts, also did some nice work nudging the rest of us into some fun spontaneous choreography.

Mark and Robyn rejoin this weekend while Jay leaves us for a week or so for The Constant Wife tech week with Mad Cow. John has also finished our new show logo which I'll include here soon. Very exciting...

Your focus-fashioning Director, David C.

Improvising Solo: Rehearsal Number Six

On Monday night our numbers swelled a little. Alongside about half our cast (that's Ron Weaver pictured below), we were joined by nearly a dozen other improvisers for the first of three workshops Jim and I are offering in tandem with the FourPlay rehearsal process. We did this last year as well to provide some in-house training for those not involved with the show, and as they were quite successful, we'd thought we'd repeat the experiment. (This year I also pitched the workshops as a means of generating some non-traditional budget funds for the production costs of the show itself to help out with SAK's ailing bottom line.)

The first of the three sequential workshops shares the title of this entry: Improvising Solo. It's a bit of a challenge designing a series of skill-building sessions for what is, essentially, an unknown combination of unseen improvisers. While I'm keen to make strong progress each session, I'm also wary that I don't want to lose those who may not come to the table as well equipped. That's always a tough balance to achieve. Rather than just work solos, then, I elected to work specific skills that are essential to a strong solo, such as building rhythm, utilizing rhyme, exploring melody and examining methods for collaborating with the musician during the opening phase of a song. (These are all skills that we need to polish amongst the FourPlay company as well, which is a secondary agenda for the workshop series.) I find this last area of focus, beginning songs, to be of particular value. For the novice singer, it provides a more confident launch that better enables a strong pattern to continue into the body of the song itself. For the more advanced singing improviser, it provides a set of skills that can be used to provide greater variety or a more nuanced choice initially. When creating a show with so many improv songs, this variety is particularly important as it can provide elements of surprise and risk for the audience.

We had a good variety of participants as expected, with players from SAK's LabRats, Generation S and Ensemble, as well as two welcome players from the Bay Area Improv Theatre. I was particularly happy to see former FourPlay cast member Richard Paul, whose new position at Disney has taken him largely out of the SAK pool this year. The evening was full of laughter, risk-taking, gospel outbursts (perhaps a little too much of this!), and some wonderful "Inner Monosong" scenes at the end, where we put all the pieces together. (Why don't we play that game more on the SAK stage?! It's one of my favorite musical games.) I particularly enjoyed an extremely well-shared scene about a less-than-traditional band forming, topped by recent LabRat of the year, Stephen Kadwell, bemoaning that he only had a bucket to offer. Darren provided a memorable just-walking baby (ten-year-old?!?) to parents Ronda and Greg, the latter who walked, with a brilliant comedic finesse, just like his neophyte child. There was also a wonderfully dysfunctional married socialite couple (Sheri Schifter of BAIT and SAK's BC Murphy), cast into turmoil by Steve Sherill's drunken party guest (with a particularly enjoyable and succinct solo), and Chase's indentured butler. Finally, in a moment of explosive hilarity, Jamie Bridwell managed to throw Jay off his game (that practically never happens) with a rather dubious endowment in a scene about complex identity issues... Actually, I've just described all the final four scenes, so obviously I liked them all!!!

Workshop two happens next Monday at SAK focusing on duet techniques and how to shape and share a song. There are some slots left, so if you're reading this and are interested in joining our merry little band, contact SAK by going here or feel free to post a comment for me.

Tonight our numbers dwindle again as we get back into the details of our act one and explore some new song structure possibilities. I'm looking forward to Robyn and Mark returning so we can show them what we've achieved and forge ahead to new uncharted territories...

I'd love to hear from any blog readers if you have questions or comments about the show, this process or my blog itself.

Until tomorrow...

Your "improvising solo" Director, David C.

Charting the Course of Act One: Rehearsal Number Five

Our numbers were more robust today with seven of the nine company members in attendance (and Dana joining us for a while to take some candid photos as seen below). Today's agenda: can we make it through the first act with some finesse? Act one is book-ended with two ensemble numbers: the first introduces the four obtained characters to the audience in a given emotional state, while the second recaps the four separate journeys and (hopefully) provides little teasers for the audience prior to the voting at intermission. We spent the first hour of rehearsal walking through these song formats and quickly reviewing some others for Charles and Darren.

And then we jumped head first into the act! (Yes, that does say "rehearsal number five" above!) We managed to make it through two runs so that everyone could have a chance to play. We began with Chase, Jay, Kate and Darren. Some great stories and songs emerged. Chase created a slightly beleaguered teacher seeking tenure with a vacuous Dean, dazed student and potential love interest in the form of a fellow faculty member. Jay's verse in a group song as the Dean was particularly clever, while Chase's love solo was typically impressive with some great mathematic puns. Jay's story centered around a young man trying to regain his wife's attention (Chase) away from his mother-in-law (Darren) with the possible help of his favorite waitress at Panera (Kate). Kate then led her episode as Samantha, a hard-to-live-with dormed student with a new roommate, "Duchess" a non-traditional drummer, a helpful mild-mannered advisor, Bill, and a potential love-interest, Toby, who had just moved in next door (but is he engaged to someone else?) There were some nice twists in this story. Finally, Darren took on the role of Brad, a young man with a passion for a particular buffalo-wing-serving restaurant and its waitresses, who had to wrestle with the needs of his cockney exchange student wife, favorite hostess and talented chef friend respectively. In addition to fun characters and interesting plot potentials, the form already moved along with many moments of finesse. A couple of song formats are still nascent in terms of their attack, but we all seem to be on the same page as to how to meet these challenges.

Run two featured Charles, Ron, Kate and myself in the four positions. Again some stories and relationships developed that are worth quickly paraphrasing here. Charles portrayed a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse worker (say that five times fast!) with a hen-pecked manager, slightly stereotypical bus boy, and a low-tipping well-to-do customer. Charles did a particularly fine job of finding the game in his episode while commenting on some of the choices the rest of us pimped him into (well, okay, it was mainly me who pimped him!!) Ron took on the part of newly enlisted Roger who, with his best buddy, Dan, and the slightly nervous (and late named) Duke, had to face off against Kate's great aggressive Drill sergeant. We then followed Kate as Marny, a young woman torn between her beliefs, personified by her sister Jessie and the Reverend, and the keg-tapping next-door-neighbor that she had been listening to with a glass against the wall. Jim noted that I did a good job of making Josh, the neighbor, relatively masculine. Finally, I played Steve, a Star Trek obsessed young man pushed on by his rival, Winston, a pushy and opinionated reporter, and a small-time Trekkie actor who we later learned (not so subtly on my part) is, in fact, his biological father. Jim challenged me on the piano by leading me into a solo with the Star Trek theme! I was pleased, again, to see that this exploration opened up many interesting possibilities for a second act. We struggled a little with the drive of some of the group numbers, but the act held together surprisingly well.

I am really excited about the variety of characters that are already appearing and the positive energy and attack of the company. There is already a growing fearlessness on the stage which is truly invigorating. We had to condense the scenic elements today to guarantee two runs, so I'm looking forward to easing that pressure a little on Tuesday. We need to polish a couple of the group song formats, and further explore and apply the device of the asides, but there has been so much good work over the last two days that I'm anxious not to glow too much for fear that I might raise my readers' expectations too high!!! A particular shout out should go to our new members, Ron, Jay and Kate, who are attacking the show as veterans and as such, are allowing the process to move quickly and with ease.

I've got the first of three musical improv workshops tonight at SAK, so should review those materials.

Your breathing-a-little-easier Director, David C.

Bit by Bit - Putting it Together: Rehearsal Number Four

We were a little depleted in our numbers today, but made up amply in terms of our output. It seems a little odd to think that only four rehearsals into the process we're starting to piece together the episodic elements of act one, but that's exactly what we did! We've been looking at some specific song structures over the last week, and today we had a chance to put them into the narrative flow of the piece. After a little dancing (what's a rehearsal without building up a little sweat!), and workshopping two new song formats, we rolled up our proverbial sleeves and got to creating...

I think the notion of "home positions" is working well, as this allowed us to really concentrate the focus of each episode and give new players an opportunity to really find a groove. There is already a fine flow between the company and an innate understanding of how to build the dramatic tension and provide each home character with interesting story possibilities. Many memorable moments - here is a smattering:

Kate and Jay created an awesome awwwee duet entitled "Too Many Maybies" dealing with Kate as an unhappy border and Jay trying to resolve some girl issues. Kate set up a simply beautiful melody line and chorus that Jay capitalized on nicely. I love that song dynamic! (Earlier in Kate's story, Chase had created a wonderfully strange homeless man who fed tacks to the birds.)

Ron worked well with Jay and Kate in a scene/song where his loyalties were torn between his brother and his lover. There were some great story discoveries in his songs, and he attacked them with his signature strength.

I enjoyed singing a rather dark advice song to Jay's under-appreciated student character as Professor Sanchez. After commenting on an extensive list of Jay's not-so-joyful qualities as a character, I lauded his honesty in a rousing chorus of "Be Who You Are."

Finally, Chase led a highly successful episode as a Burger King worker torn between love, work and found finger nails (thanks to Kate). I particularly enjoyed the ensemble work song here and Chase's trademark love-sick crooning in his solo as Lewis.

Sunday we have Charles and Darren rejoin our ranks, and we'll put the top and bottom on the act. Today was a good confidence builder for us all. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!

Until we meet again in cyber space,

Your loudly optimistic Director, David C.

Chase's raw energy and palpable excitement were a large asset in last season's production of FourPlay, and as such, we're glad to have him back in the company. A gifted vocalist and instrumentalist, Chase is retiring from his former part-time role as guitarist in the FourPlay band so that he can devote all his attention and passion to the stage. I invited Chase to join me on the seesaw at Wekiva Springs for some hotdogs, cherry soda and a little reflection on what it was like to be back in the heat of FourPlay.

Current favorite musical: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Current favorite improv game: Narrative Collage

DC: Chase, if there was anyone in all of Florida who was more anxious than I was to remount FourPlay it was undoubtedly you!! What is it about this particular project that so speaks (or should I say sings) to you?

CP: Hmmm good question. Well I have only done short form improv [prior to FourPlay] and this gives me a great chance to stretch my improv muscles in a way that I don't get elsewhere. I get to do things that I just wouldn't normally do. That, and I had such great memories from last year.

DC: Yes, you definitely created some crazy and memorable characters in the last run at SAK. Do any of them stand out as personal favorites?

CP: Another good question. Well, I have two that stand out for me. The most memorable would be Curtis Jackson, the old wise blues player, and the unnamed angry Dad that berated anyone he could. The former character was the only time I have ever been applauded while the scene was still going.

DC: I remember both of those characters well too. You clearly had a great chemistry with the audience and unquestionably have music in your blood. In fact, you’re in the final stages of your music degree at UCF (my competition institution, but I won’t hold it against you). Tell us a little about your capstone project (and feel free to say some nice things about Rollins College while you’re at it!)

CP: Great question once again. Did you come up with these yourself or did someone help you? Well my capstone project, at the time of this posting, will be me just learning a bunch of songs. Not classical standards but pop tunes that I could play in bars or restaurants. Song knowledge is one of my weaker areas and I need to fix that.

DC: That sounds like a great project. I believe that you’re the youngest member of the company (though some might want the audience to think otherwise!) As you look down the road, where do you see improv going, or, perhaps, where would you like to see it going in your career?

CP: This question is pretty standard so I guess you came up with these on your own. I had hoped for more David. Anyway I want to move when I graduate and try improv in either Chicago or New York. I have also given thought to teaching guitar or music in elementary school.

DC: I'm so sorry to disappoint you with that last question. Perhaps if you were more interesting, it wouldn't have been so difficult... No, please... stop crying. It was a knee-jerk reaction. I didn't mean to be so defensive. No, seriously, Chase, if you keep sobbing like that... Come on! Come back to the seesaw - it's no fun without you...!

To learn more about Chase, go to his house and ask him questions.

Darren Vierday returns for a second season of FourPlay after entertaining audiences last season with a wide array of kooky characters. Known for "going political" early, Darren brings an edge to his onstage work. I joined Darren at an obscure political rally located in some untamed swampland in Southern Florida (with a can of mosquito repellent, a personal navigation device and a clean pair of socks) for some sychronized chanting and a little Q and A.

Current favorite musical: I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch recently at the Fringe Festival. I can't get the music out of my head.
Current favorite improv game: It varies. Right now, I'm itching to play Tag-Team Monologue.

DC: Darren, you're a natural fit for this production as music and singing have been a part of your life for quite some time. Several weeks ago, I particularly enjoyed a romantic and jazzy onstage duet with you during a Slice of Life -- I was the woman, of course! Before hitting the SAK stage as a regular ensemble player, you sang with several choirs and choral groups. Tell us a little about that.

DV: Thanks, David! I started singing at Chamberlain High School in Tampa, FL. I was part of the concert choir and a vocal ensemble group, Act I, in which we did contemporary music. My director, Daniel Compher, stressed finding the correct pitch, and then how to blend those pitches with the overall chord. I went on to sing with USF's University Singers during my first attempt at college, and continued with a private vocal teacher, Zanda Moore. Zanda not only gave me techniques I still use, she also recruited me for a carolling group which I still sporadically sing with today. I think that's why I enjoy duets, especially when the harmony "locks in."

DC: That is a great feeling when the singers and musician completely find each other. While music has long been part of your life, improvisation training came a little later for you. What brought you to SAK University to study all those years ago?

DV: I was following a girl I with whom I had spent Valentine's Day 1993 in Olustee, FL at a Civil War reenactment. I lost her number, then drove to Longwood to drop by (once I had found her address). She was surprised to see me, and sad to tell me she now had a boyfriend. They were going to this place called SAK that night, and invited me to be a third wheel. The evening was not as awkward as one might think, and I started classes later in that year. I eventually moved to Orlando in 1995, and worked my way up through the classes, from Next Generation (which is what our Lab Rats were called back then) to Ensemble member.

DC: The things we do for love!! You just closed an original improv show at the Orlando Fringe Festival, The McGrawsky Files, a fast-paced long-form wacky crime drama parody created with fellow SAK alums Francisco Laboy, Charles Frierman and Chris Dinger. How was that experience?

DV: I have had the pleasure of working with SlothCo for the past few Fringes. It is always a pleasure to work with those guys. McGrawsky was fun, because I love all those TV cop shows, especially CSI.

DC: I still recall an extremely clever offer you made in our initial run of FourPlay when you endowed a mysterious character played by Robyn Pedretti (a fellow returning member) as a phantom lady of the lake during the last moments of the second act. Do you have a favorite memory from the last run that you'd like to share?

DV: We had a great confrontational song in the second act of a show. I can't remember the details, but I remember you really shoved me hard. Not hard enough to injure me, but enough to fuel our song, which turned into this Valjean/Javert duet that really advanced our story. If you touch me again, though, it will erupt into fisticuffs, my good man.

DC: I've been warned... Hey, Darren - you've got a little something on your shirt... Gotcha...

To learn more about Darren's politics, go here.

The Interviews are Coming, The Interviews are Coming!

Guess what? Yes, that's right. The company interviews are coming... tomorrow! Get to know more about the improvisers who people the stage of FourPlay: The (Improvised) Musical. In our ten-part series, "Before the Footlights," you'll get to know the people you'll see playing in the trenches on the SAK stage. I don my hat as a David Letterman wannabe and ask the questions you've been dying to ask. And to make things even more fun, Darren Vierday has been hard at work creating some one-of-a-kind company posters featuring our merry band of players that you won't want to miss!! Pitch aside, it's actually been a fun process where I've discovered a lot about this very talented group myself. Hopefully, you'll learn a little too about what makes us tick! All going according to plan, I'll do a similar series with those "Behind the Scenes" a little later in the process.

Speaking of interviews - Dave Russell was featured recently in an Orlando Sentinel article discussing the state of SAK in the face of some tough times. He's linked it off his new blog (blogging is all the rage you know) which can be reached by going here. The arts community is fortunate to have such a strong advocate in Elizabeth Maupin who has come to the aid of SAK and other local theatres on numerous occasions.

Some good news in the face of these hard times that's worthy of mentioning: the Dean of Faculty Office at Rollins College led by Hoyt Edge has generously agreed to pledge some considerable funds for our current production to assist, in particular, with publicity and promotion. I am extremely grateful to Rollins for being so willing to help a colleague pursue his artistic goals during such a trying time for the live arts in Orlando. I am reminded, once again, of just how lucky I am to be affiliated with such a supportive community.

Our fourth rehearsal is this Saturday where we'll be starting to gently piece together some of our act one with a rather depleted ensemble. That seems a little crazy when I see it in print!

Your smiling-in-the-face-of-adversity Director, David C.

Merging Our Voices: Rehearsal Number Three

Sorry - no cute photo for today! More to come soon, hopefully. (If you have some - get them to me.) Today was an important rehearsal as it was the first and last time we'll have the full company of nine (ten with Jim) for the next three weeks... I had to front load some of the more difficult song structures, as a result, which led to both some highly memorable moments, but also a little stress as well. The group numbers of FourPlay are definitely challenging, especially when you dive into them for the first time. As there are only four voices in any given show, however, it's particularly important that we explore different ways of combining, building and showcasing vocal dynamics so that the numbers don't start to feel too similar or redundant.

Charles and Robyn had to join us a little late tonight, so we spent the first hour or so really drilling the opening choreography. What a difference two days makes! It really came a long way and already looks as strong as it often did in the production last year!!! Heather's adjustments seem to have really helped, and the company has jumped into it with both feet. Yeah!!

Then came the group songs - I don't want to spoil the surprise of these dynamics for those who haven't yet seen the show, so instead of detailing the structures, I'll just highlight some of the fun stories and characters that emerged. There were many surprising characters that would have been fun to see expand in the larger format: Darren created a particularly politically incorrect police deputy; Mark's worker in a plant nursery provided some good laughs; Chase gave voice to a fun jive-talking school student; Jay gave heart to a rather pathetic Momma's boy; and Robyn gave some chuckles with her too-soon interrupted compulsive shopper.

Several larger group numbers also started to come together quite nicely. Three stand out to me: Chase ushered in a strong underscore with Robyn and Jay as impatient children on a schoolbus, while Kate did some truly impressive patter as their frenetic teacher. Mark showed similar vocal finesse in an earlier attempt at the same form with Charles, Ron and myself providing backup support. I also particularly enjoyed working alongside Charles and Darren in a scene with Ron as a once-confident bridegroom. Charles introduced a strong chorus refrain and a fun "fast-talking" dynamic that Darren and I ran with. Ron did extremely well moving the story along becoming less and less confident at the thought of his impending marriage as some fun harmonies and vocal stylings formed behind him. While we accidentally abandoned him a little at the end of the number (oops) there was quite a fullness of sound that was fun to play within. I love it when that kind of vocal attack hits...

We were also joined by John Carollo of nakedeyestudios.com at the end of the evening. A recent recipient of one of four Best in Show awards (from a field of over 100 artists) at the Downtown Art & Living Expo, John has kindly agreed to help our humble show with some logo and graphic design work. He took some action photos of some of the company to use as reference points. Keep watching this space as I'm hoping to debut his design efforts here in the next week.

All in all, a successful rehearsal, although clearly a little frustrating at times for some of the company due to the nuances of the song formats.

Sadly, we lose Mark and Robyn to New York for the next week, but I'm sure they'll return recharged and with a rekindled passion for musicals! Three days off for the rest of us...

Time to recharge...

Your harmony-humming Director, David C.

Three Lessons Learnt from FourPlay: Part Two

Due to much-needed SAK company party festivities (and particularly delicious Asian-themed nibbles) there was no rehearsal this evening. As I am trying to commit to near-daily entries, however, I will not disappoint my avid readers (all two of you!) and have decided to provide a second entry considering the lessons learnt from our first production last year. As noted in my earlier posting, there were several good lessons learnt from the first run in terms of what should be changed structurally. As a silver-lining pursuer, I should also note that the structure clearly succeeded in certain places as well. And so I offer for your discussion three elements of FourPlay that I found to be generally solid and worth repeating. (Feel free to agree or disagree by posting a comment of your own below.)

1. End you act with a bang (even if the act itself whimpered in places!)

I think most viewers from last season will agree that, generally speaking, act one was the more consistent act in terms of energy, drive and quality. This was often the case for many predictable reasons: it was the more rehearsed act so most of the company, myself included, were more comfortable with it; the structure for act one had a clearer thrust - namely, let's meet four characters and their respective acquaintances (act two, by necessity, was never quite so predictable in terms of structure for the company); lastly, the first act, by design, was largely about freely throwing out possibilities, while the second act required weaving those random threads together into a coherent whole. This second process proved to be the more formidable challenge overall. All that being said, I felt the song structure at the end of the first act proved to serve its purpose well - amping the energy up a notch right before the intermission. I personally thoroughly enjoyed this number (almost without exception) as it got the whole company singing full out together, typically had a fun percussion solo, and got the audience rocking and hopefully wanting more. The lesson learnt: just as in any improv scene, an audience will forgive a lot if you get out of the scene - or in this case, act - with a strong, energized button and exit.

2. Giving an audience a little of what they know goes a long way

As the show progressed in its run, we became a little more confident as a company in terms of pimping each other into parodies of other songs in the repertory. These moments were often a highpoint of the evening, receiving some of the most enthusiastic audience responses. Some parodies that I found myself in were "Maria" from Westside, "Send in the Clowns" (I know it's Sondheim, but I'm not sure of the source actually), "I Want to get Physical," and "Piano Man." I personally found that it was a lot more difficult to create new lyric for songs that were from popular sources rather than the musical theatre canon. That isn't surprising, perhaps, in that musical theatre numbers are (ideally) designed to move the plot forward, and so lend themselves to this type of storytelling. (It might be an interesting challenge to try to focus our parody offers for this reason.) Through it all, however, a lesson was clear to me: Audiences love it when you give them something familiar or recognizable so that they can truly be in on the joke and more fully appreciate the risk level of the game.

3. Stop to smell the proverbial musical flowers

The show has two "set" duets - one in each act. This, loosely speaking, means that each act pivots on a musical number where two characters' voices and ideas are musically juxtaposed. Again, the content, style and melody lines are completely improvised each evening (I promise), but the performers know when to move the energy of the journey towards these benchmark moments. In my opinion, these were often some of the most moving and rich musical episodes of the show, with soaring melodies, harmonies and passionate attack. (Charles Gray had some particularly memorable moments.) Many also resulted in the aforementioned awwwee that I so love as a performer. While act two was sometimes a little too duet heavy - something I'm striving to remedy this time around - these vignettes often encapsulated the more earnest energy that (I hope) creates a more fulfilling evening for the audience. In addition to the parodies discussed above, these songs were often those that I heard audience members discussing after the show. The lesson learnt? Earnest, soft, soulful songs have an important place beside the parodies, uptempo jaunts and patter songs.

Reflection done! I would love to know from those of you who are familiar with the show if these insider perspectives are in sync with your experience from the audience. Please feel free to post a comment below. I'd love to hear from you about what has remained with you, if anything, after all these months.

If you're reading this, you probably know about the "blog" link on the SAK homepage but there's also a new FourPlay musical link (thanks to Dave Russell) from this page too, with show dates, times and updates.

Also, I'm working to get some photos of the new company up on this site soon. I only have a few from last year (and I'm in them all - this is not deliberate on my part, I promise)!! Look for the first company interview and poster coming later this week...

Is that the time...? Oops...

Your slightly obsessive-compulsive Director, David C.

Dancing Our Cares Away: Rehearsal Number Two

We stepped back from the joys and challenges of song construction today to dive into some character and relationship work. (Much thanks to the Rollins College Department of Theatre and Dance for providing a rehearsal space.) A primary device of FourPlay is the use of asides by several select characters in order to "jump start" relationship dynamics and story potentials. While the format is definitely a musical comedy, I'm interested in exploring and heightening the dramatic (read "sincere") aspects of the format. I loved the moments last season when we went from thunderous laughter to soft "awwwes" - it gives the show a more surprising arc. Why give the audience what they're expecting when you can also sneak in a little of what they're not expecting!?! We also found that sometimes the easier laugh or, dare I say, gag moment on stage could deflate the energy or stakes of a scene or a character journey. In shortform, such a choice can be annoying, but relatively benign. In longform, if you continually deflate the risk factor that faces the characters, it can make it very difficult to truly craft a meaningful, interesting or entertaining journey. Ultimately good longform, in my humble opinion, demands a certain level of connecting empathy. If everyone is just a whacky caricature, the audience can quickly disconnect from the action. My own personal aesthetic also craves characters that explore meaningful and personal issues - even if this is done with a healthy wink and dose of playful parody.

This is all very well and good in theory, but a little more difficult to achieve in reality, though we made some good headway Sunday afternoon. To set a style for the asides, we worked a little describing real people in our own lives through this device. This was surprisingly difficult (for me at least) but also very interesting. Not only did I get to learn a lot about my partner for this little exercise, Kate O'Neal, but it also made me think a little about my own relationships. I'd like to explore this tactic further. As we moved this style into a rudimentary version of the show format, some of the "pimping" returned, but I think the company became more aware of the untapped potentials of these moments. Some fun bold endowments are definitely part of the game, but the show can withstand some more heart-felt moments here also.

And then we danced!! Heather joined us around 4:30 and we started to (re)choreograph the opening number, taking into account our earlier discoveries discussed in my earlier blog: "Three Lessons I Learnt from FourPlay." It's definitely a unique challenge re-learning choreography! Your body can't help but go back to what it once knew. The changes Heather made, though, have already amped up the playfulness level, and while (generally) our newcomers understandably feel less comfort with the steps, I think we're well on our way to meeting our revised goals. However, as the photo above amply illustrates, I am still well aware that I'm no Baryshnikov!

Time to leave my office and rejoin the land of the living!

Your left-footed but right-hearted Director, David C.

Getting the Ball Rolling: Rehearsal Number One

Well, we certainly jumped into the deep end on Saturday, starting the process with lyric exercises and some solo and duet formats. Quick jumping aside, there was a lot of fine floating, and some impressive early moments of swimming! It was great to finally have the majority of the company in the one space - although it was a bit of a rehearsal of comings and goings. One of my favourite things about this process is just the sheer volume of funny and whimsical material that's created each day. I've chatted with Darren - pictured right - about trying to upload some song excerpts to this site in the next week or so so we can share some of our successes (and particularly amusing struggles) with you all!

Here are a few memorable moments from my perspective:

1. Charles Gray singing gloriously as "Fatty" about his dark devious past deeds to his sister (Ron) during a pizza party. For the sake of decorum, I won't mention his later song at a certain "bank" where he was making a deposit.

2. Kate crooning melodically and brilliantly to "Fire" (a brilliant finesse from Jim at the keyboards) as a wanna-be fire-breather at circus school.

3. Ron asking his absent founding fraternity brother if he was going to be a success, only to be met with a surprising final silence from Jim (hard to describe, but that's why we're looking into adding sound files!)

4. A rather disturbing dungeon duet between Jay and I - I'll leave it up to you to figure out the context of that one.

5. Darren as an English Captain in the trenches in a dramatic death scene trying to lead me into a song seeking forgiveness - I was surprisingly dense!!

6. Mark's remarkably pointed song offer - "You look guilty." Simple, and understated!

7. And the lyric of the day? I believe it resulted from Mark's offer above. Chase Padgett coining: "I'm as happy as I can be / With children aged one to three..." as a childcare worker... but it still felt awkward!

There was some strong headway already in terms of providing better contextualization and launches into song, which bodes well, and some exercises seeking simpler, more concrete lyric, also look promising.

A good rehearsal overall. Although several of us went from rehearsal (which ended at 6:00) into two back-to-back shows in the lab that evening and I, for one, was absolutely exhausted by the end of the night. (Ask Mark about his memorable character in the Slice of Life!!)

Rehearsal Number Two starts in about half an hour, so I need to meander over there.

I should be posting the first of the company interviews in the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled for those.

Until next time, your a-little-tired-but-still-excited Director, David C.

Three Lessons Learnt from FourPlay: Part One

The first rehearsal is only a day away now, and as I'm assembling all my materials like a good little director, I thought it would be appropriate to consider what could/should be learnt from the last run. So here it is: three random reflections in no particular order:

1. We're not dancers (generally speaking)!

While I'm still committed to the concept of an "impressive" musical theatre opening, the start of the show last year nearly killed half of us! As there was very little time for pre-production, there wasn't enough play time for this component: my collaborators gave me everything I had asked for, but I may not have asked for quite the right things. For those of you who saw the show early and then later in the run, you'll have noticed that after a bit of good prodding, I trimmed the opening number down a bit. I've continued this trend this year, and gotten rid of the patter lyric that practically no-one had memorized and even less of the audience could understand. (Rooky lyricist mistake 101: lines that look good on the page may not communicate well on the stage.) Heather, our lovely choreographer (she's my wife - I'm contractually obligated to include a cutesy prefix in all blog references!) is also simplifying the choreography so we don't lose the playfulness, and Jim is helping us breathe with some well placed musical vamps. (No seriously, I nearly died.) I'm hopeful that will get us back on the right page. So lesson number one: if you don't want a bunch of playful improvisers to start a show in their head and secretly swearing at you, don't give them an opening number that sucks out their playfulness... Hmmm, so simple when I put it like that.

2. This is an almost schizophrenic form.

I don't want to bore those of you who don't know the show well, but simply speaking, act one consists of four episodes that sequentially introduce the four characters obtained from the audience. While the content is completely improvised (I promise), there are structural guidelines that help move and shape the action in such a way as to provide variety (five slow ballads in a row, for example, might just about kill the average audience member). Last year I discovered that each of these four positions demanded certain skills that fit specific improvisers better than others. During the original rehearsal process -- before this had become clear to me -- I had tried diligently to juggle everyone through the various spots in order to make sure they got to try them all out. Sounded like a good idea... but instead of everyone becoming comfortable with all the spots, many ended up feeling a lack of confidence in any of them. I am a firm believer in making new mistakes in life, rather than repeating old ones, so this year, I am assigning "home positions" right out of the gate. This should, hopefully, give everyone a greater sense of how to make it through the first act with less confusion. Some will also "shadow" a second position so as to guarantee good casting combinations once we get into the performances, but even this choice halves their act one work load. Sadly, act two's structure will still remain a little overwhelming initially, but that is a story for another blog. Therefore, lesson number two: if you don't want a company of improvisers to become schizophrenic, then you shouldn't ask them to think of a structure through four different lenses as they start a rehearsal process. Again, so simple when I say it aloud.

3. Twenty songs seems too many if we don't use them well.

The concept for FourPlay was and still is centered on the notion of creating a very song-intensive production, along the lines of Sondheim and the modern rock operas that have very little (if any) spoken word - think Rent. As I knew this was a LOT of songs, much of last year's rehearsal process centered on devising and practicing a wide variety of song structures and styles - ways of putting our voices together so that every song wouldn't sound the same. This is still, unavoidably, a large part of what needs to be done this time around; however, I'm also hoping that we can concentrate a little more on what is said and achieved dramatically through these songs. Songs happen in musicals to push the story forward, complicate the emotions, draw out backstory, throw characters into trouble, and a whole bunch of other things. Again, perhaps a natural repercussion of our incredibly short rehearsal process was that many performers were still concentrating on the form of the songs rather than the content. Don't get me wrong - there were a LOT of great songs in the last run, but if there were even three or four in an evening that seemed unnecessary or forced, it tended to slow the pace of the show and require some patience from our audience. This often happened a little by the end of the second act, once we were all sung out, so I'm also specifically looking to build the climax of the show in a different way. Although I still need to make sure we're up on these song structures, I also need to pay closer attention to why the characters are singing and help the ensemble pursue stronger lyric choices. It follows then... lesson number three: strong songs emerge from strong stories with strong characters fighting for strong wants while pushed up against strong obstacles.

There are many other lessons that could be included here, but that's a good start. As we don't have Jim on Sunday, I've inverted my original plan to start with narrative exercises and then move into solo songs. However, ironically, that may give an opportunity to start contemplating this last issue right at the very first rehearsal.

Well, I need to go and do some reading and preparation...

Your backward contemplating but forward-looking director, David C.

The Casting of an Improv Musical:
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blu [sic]

Well, after several days of wrestling with conflicts and the like, the new FourPlay company has finally come together. We had good attendance at the auditions this last weekend, especially considering the niche nature of the project. I was particularly relieved that much of last season's strong talent was willing to throw their name back into the hat! Here's the cast list as it stands on this fine Thursday evening:

Mark Baratelli
David Charles
Charles Gray Jr.
Jay Hopkins
Kate O'Neal
Chase Padgett
Robyn Pedretti
Darren Vierday
Ron Weaver

Jim Rhinehart and Keith Dickerson will be returning to their crucial roles as our live improvising band, and the original SAK production team remains in place.

I'm sure it's common to most directors, but casting always leaves me a little restless. For every company member that I'm excited to add to the list, there's another player that I wish I could include, but we definitely learnt last time that too many company members caused problems as individuals didn't feel they got enough rehearsal time on stage. While the company is only slightly smaller, nine instead of ten, I don't have a single rehearsal before our opening in mid-July in which I will have full attendance (such joy!), so I definitely need a little wiggle room. Also, while a strong singing voice is alluring (and good singing chops is a must), we discovered that the sheer complexity and length of the piece demanded players with strong story and improv instincts and experience. We're looking to craft a two-hour story afterall!!

There's a lot to be excited about. We have something old. (Get used to the puns and word play - it's apparently what I do!) Our great band is back -- anyone who saw the show last year knows just how integral they are and how fortunate we are to have a musician of Jim's ability on deck in the lead position as musical director. Also, two-thirds of our current cast were involved last year, so this should give us a chance to forge ahead quickly to new terrain. I'm sure those of you who saw our fledgling attempt last year will also be glad to see that most of your favorites are back.

We have something new. In addition to some new changes to the form itself, we also have some great new talent joining us on stage. Ron is joining us as a fresh newly minted graduate of SAK U bringing with him great energy, excitement and a lot of muscial theatre under his belt; Mark, a natural for this form if ever I've seen one, comes to the production after just finishing his own improv cabaret with Fringe and will clearly be an asset; and Jay, a true SAK veteran, will undoubtedly raise the improv bar for us all with his remarkable listening and story telling skills. FYI - You can find out more about many of the company members by checking out SAK's website, and I'll be posting some blog interviews with them here in the next few weeks.

We have something borrowed. As mentioned above, I've a LOT of conflicts to contend with as we go into production, so much of the company feels borrowed! Jim has a regular evening gig with Universal for the remainder of the month; Jay is appearing with my wife, Heather (our choreographer) in Mad Cow's The Constant Wife, which provides some challenges; Mark may be joining the company of Bath House: The Musical which will run in tandem with FourPlay. (An oddly apt pairing of projects perhaps!!!) Put on top of that several scheduled vacations, day jobs, class schedules and the like, and this is very much a rehearsal scheduled formulated on borrowed time!

Finally there is a tinge of blue in that some strong players from last season -- Richard, Lisa, Krisha and James -- are unable to join us for a variety of reasons. The latter two are now in Tennessee (not Kentucky - who would ever think such a thing!) with their daughter, Hanah Blu, who was the unofficial company mascot last season! James was becoming particularly adept at working her into his scene work during rehearsals. And who wouldn't miss that cute little face (I'm talking about James of course)!?!

Well, in the spirit of a good improviser, I've justified my own punny title, so this would seem to bring my entry to a close. (And people say I'm verbose?!?)

Only two days now until the first rehearsal, so it's time to start fleshing that out...…

Your schedule-crunching director, David C.

The Dawning of a new age of FourPlay: The (Improvised) Musical!

And so the journey begins...

I'm new to this land of blogging, so you must forgive me if I stumble a little along the way.

So, I'm now truly underway with the madness of mounting an entirely improvised two-act musical (again!) with SAK. While the memories of the last run are starting to fade a little now, I would still liken the process to giving birth to a bowling ball without the benefits of modern medicine. It was messy, brutal at times, involved a lot of kicking and screaming, but ultimately resulted in something quite beautiful in its own odd way. Strained metaphors aside, the restless nights are already starting to settle in as the excitement starts to grab me again.

And that's the answer to the why in the "why do this" question. It is an undertaking, to be sure, but I've been involved with few improv projects on this scale and with this inherent level of risk. As the last cast will attest, I have this odd fascination with the balance between improv structure and freedom, and FourPlay really pushes that balance to the extreme. I love that! I'm a regular with SAK's short form show, Duel of Fools, but anyone who knows me well knows that I'm really a long form junky at heart.

FourPlay is deceptively difficult to describe to someone who hasn't seen it - I had a job last year pitching it in its largely raw form to SAK for that reason. Simply put, it features four players each evening who, in turn, create four characters each that interact and grow through approximately twenty improvised songs over the course of the two-act performance. While on some level, it is a musical parody, poking fun at some of the conventions and song devices of the genre, I really want it to be an earnest (albeit tongue-in-cheek) attempt at creating a new plausible two-act musical each evening. My theory is that no-one really wants to watch something that stays at the level of a parody for an entire performance (and there are other game formats that already do this quite well, such as SAK's short form, "Song Cues" or "That sounds like a song" game.) That goal, however, definitely raises the bar for us as a company and production team.

And in some ways, that's why I've been almost obsessed in my efforts to remount the show. Especially by the end of the run, I think we nearly had figured out how to realize the structure well enough that I could start to pinpoint where the structure itself might have been incomplete or getting in the way. So, a second stab at it gives me a chance to tamper a little with my own concept -- the show's DNA is you will -- with a new(ish) company of players who now, at the very least, know that what we're attempting can and has been done! It's surprising what a huge difference this little knowledge can make for a team of merry improvisers as they skip into the seemingly unknown horizon.

For those of you who saw the show last year - welcome back! Expect some new surprises. We're reworking the opening, tinkering with the second act a little, playing with some new song structures, and inviting some new talented folk into our midst. It'll be like a good friend with a facelift: oddly familiar but unsettling new... (I seem to have a knack for penning oddly disturbing metaphors.)

So if you love all things improvisational and musical (and I hope you do), then keep checking back here for updates on the madness that is mounting a longform improv show. And why not check out www.sak.com while you're at it, or my homepage, http://web.rollins.edu/~DCharles. We're just wrapping up the casting process, so I'll be posting the new company here in the next day or two.

Until then, keep doing what you're doing and checking IMFourPlay for news, gossip and directorial ranting...

Your humble and soon-to-be-mad director, David C.