IMFourPlay

A Spirited Closing: Performance Number Twenty-Five

And so it comes to an end with our final matinee performance. I was joined on the stage by Mark, Darren and Robyn, with Matt and Dana holding down the fort in the tech booth, Gina keeping watch from the house, and Jim and Keith keeping us moving from the pit. Today I did a little Math... With 25 public performances and two public previews, Jim and Keith have improvised 594 songs and parodies during the course of the run!! That deserves some kind of prize!

We had a lovely and generous audience in attendance, including several of my colleagues (Kevin, Lisa, Seth, Kelly and Dawn) and students from Rollins. In fact, our first character of the night, Jorge, was a former improv student. Mark took on this role as a cookie-store worker under the watchful eye of Mrs. Roberto. Jorge wanted to buy a ring for his love, Robyn's Rongobo (?!), but was thwarted by the stifling cameras watching his every movement, and his friend's constant need to have his raw cookie dough addiction fed. Darren then gave us Vince, a young man quickly making his live-in girlfriend, Heather, a football widow. Despite the warnings from his mother that he was following his father's ill path to destruction, and the overt romantic ovations of his friend Robert towards his woman, Vince continued to make bad choices and neglect his poor ignored love. The first act entered the realm of the supernatural with Robyn's Dawn who lived in an apartment above her parent's garage. When her friend, Cecilia, brought a hat to their seance on the eve of Dawn's wedding, a scorned spirit warned her that her betrothed, Jerry, was not all that he seemed. (In fact, we quickly learned that Cecilia and Jerry were developing a romance of their own). Finally, I was Chris, a mountain hiker with an emaciated girlfriend, Cheri, a nosy ex-lover, Geraldine, and a Native-American spirit and track guide, Rising Sun. Jim threw me a particularly interesting challenge for a solo, offering the theme song of Indian Jones!

Act two became a super-natural occurrence as we followed Robyn's Dawn into her pre-wedding panic. Jerry enlisted the cookie-dough addict to delay Dawn's arrival at the wedding while he continued to court his beloved Cecilia (no prizes for guessing what parody song appeared here!) Seeking advice, she went to her mother (also the mother of Vince) who advised her to "take off her shirt" and look inside herself. Summoning the feminine figure again, she was further encouraged to stand on her own to feet (to the tune of "Unchained Melody" - Jim was really throwing me some challenges today!) Jerry and Cecilia's betrayal was finally revealed in one of our more disturbing duet/dance sequences in which the lustful couple was seen in a series of awkward gymnastic positions. Mark gave a great show topping number as the emaciated Cheri, seeing love wherever she looked, and after one last push from her spirit guide, Dawn finally stood up to her husband-not-to-be, asserting her independence in a "I am woman, hear me roar" homage.

We received a generous standing ovation today, which was a nice way to go out, and while the show got a little dicy in its content at times, it made it to the station on time.

Thank you to the company for the lovely framed show poster, and to our generous and loyal audiences for their support during the run.

Any favourite show memories involving myself, Mark, Robyn or Darren as a comment?

This will probably be my penultimate entry... I'm planning on one final musing when the dust settles. (We go into tech for The Lost Comedies of William Shakespeare at the end of the week!!)

Your living-in-the-land-of-the-Bard Director, David C.

Denial Ain't Just a River in Egypt: Performance Number Twenty-Four

A great opening emotion and number tonight (thank you anonymous audience member!) It was the second of our three closings of sorts, and today we said sad farewells to Charles, Ron and Kate. One show to go...

We had four fun audience-inspired characters who were all in various states of denial. Charles began the show as Brett, a restaurant worker who preferred to spend his time fishing at the lake under the watchful gaze of his over-protective sun-screen wielding mother, One-Eyed Pete the poetic pirate, and his former girlfriend, Susan, a seductress who was bluntly honest. Brett spent his life with a woefully inaccurate image of his prowess as a ladies' man. Then came Ron as Nolan, a video-arcade addict, with a crazy friend Suzy and a condescending brother, Rick. When the owner of the arcade, flamboyant Harris, announced that he was closing the joint down, Nolan had to look deep inside as to who he was and what his future might hold. Next we met Kate as Sarah, a young woman initially denying the suffocation of her Grandma's dairy farm. Her brother, Bud, and the farm's cow mascot, Phil, brought into question whether her future with the cows could be a happy one. And lastly there was T.C., a young parent in major denial about the dangers the beach (and the world) posed when it came to his children, Penelope and Bart. While he pushed off his wife's complaints about his care-giving tactics, it quickly became apparent that her perception was considerably closer to the truth, despite his "Wind Beneath my Wings" parody claiming the contrary.

Act two continued our journey (and brought the Journey parody count to two! The first act had seen Charles sing "Don't lose your fat rolls" to the tune of "Don't stop believing.") Brett took center stage and we quickly learnt that while his former girlfriend, Susan, professed to want reconciliation, that her true motives in regards to the cheese-stick hogging man were more sinister. Enlisting the girl-desperate Nolan (Ron), she vowed to burn down his restaurant in a fun "Whatever Susie wants, Susie gets..." tango dance number with the boys in the band rocking it as always. In addition to great work in this tango number, Ron also gave us a fun Gilligan's island number as One-Eyed Pete, and Kate tackled the show-stopper singing a version of "Rainbow Connection" while standing on her head! All in all, I think we had more parodies tonight that we often have in a whole weekend. Charles was wonderfully playful throughout, and constructed a nice turn at the end when he learnt of Susan's ill deeds, casting her aside and stepping out to face life alone.

Gina copied down a slew of dialogue quotes (we were all channeling Chase Padgett tonight apparently), so I offer them here:

David as sunbathing Susan to Brett: "I took off my top. Weren't you listening?"
Later, Susan to Brett: "I could never be with a guy who doesn't notice the little things, even if they are 300 pounds."
Charles' Brett as Susan left stage: "I'll soak that up with a biscuit!"
Ron as Nolan to his brother, Rick: "Have you ever played Ms. Pacman?"
Rick's response: "Have you ever kissed a girl in real life?"
Grandma to Kate's Sarah: "You gotta treat your cow like your future husband..."
Bud, finishing and sanitizing Grandma's thought: "Feed him three times a day."
Grandma to Sarah: "You are the basket that I put my shriveled up eggs into."
Kate to One-Eyed Pete: "Somebody get this guy an ocean."
Ron as One-Eyed Pete: "They don't call me One-Eyed Pete for nothing... It's cause I got one eye."
Charles while Kate was milking the cow: "You've got to squeeze his thingies."
Ron after singing an entire song as One-Eyed Pete: "Wait a minute... my eye... I've had it open this whole time!"
Kate while singing a song on her head (to the tune of "Rainbow Connection"): "Why are there so many, songs in this show..."

This was a crazy fun show, and the audience was wonderfully playful (as was exhibited when I opened a window so that Ron's Nolan could hear the entire universe laughing at him!) Charles kept leaving stage during act two to get a drink of water when he needed to remain on, which became a game all in itself too!!

Any favourite Charles, Ron or Kate moments to share?

Your one-to-go Director, David C.

By the Book: Performance Number Twenty-Three

And the closing weekend begins... We start saying goodbye to our various company members, with tonight being the final show for Chase and Jay, pictured below. Joining Chase and Jay were Kate and I, and together we created one of the odder but more playful shows of late.

Chase got the musical ball rolling as Eddie, a pharmacist with big dreams of becoming the general manager of his CVS. Sadly, his boss, Mrs. Johnson, had an incompetent son, Robert, who despite his fascination and addiction to the various pills in the store, received the promotion instead, thereby throwing Eddie into disarray. Complicating things further was the elderly Mrs. Cunningham (no relation) who had apparently developed a little crush on our hero. How could Eddie get his life back on track? Jay then gave us the likeable Jeff, a good-natured fellow with a loving sister, Jinny, and nephew, Jimmy, who looked up to him. Sadly, his adventurous brother-in-law, Jim, was a wayward spirit, and when Jeff discovered that Jim potentially had another child, Jeff was put into a moral fix. Should he tell his sister and nephew or not? Kate's Ashley, a young woman with a disturbingly affectionate role-playing live-in cousin, Phil, provided our next episode. As her mother went through a messy divorce and mid-life crisis, Ashley's homelife became more and more uncomfortable. Her loving Dad, provided a possible out, but would he really get that job that would give him the money he needed to get a new place for them both? Lastly, I was Mike, a young man who spent a lot of time in the library cramming, much to the dismay of the highly territorial librarian, Heinrich. The apple of Mike's eye, Martha, motivated him to higher levels of learning, but when the cool French kid, Pierre, finally noticed him, Mike decided to leave behind his world of books for the real world of flesh and blood. Would Pierre, however, turn out to truly be a friend?

There were some fun story developments in our act one, and Chase had a particularly strong night in terms of fun characterizations. Mike ended up taking the vote, and the story followed his quest for love and life. Heinrich started to stalk his former book-borrowing customer, while Pierre wooed away the fickle and ever-spinning Martha. When Heinrich enlisted Ashley's construction-worker Dad (by kidnapping his daughter), things became particularly complicated. (So much, in fact, that the company had a tough time keeping the story straight!) Mike slowly realized that he needed the power of the books to help him out of his fix (despite an earlier "paper bite") and eventually the might of the written word (in the form of a rolled up blueprint) foiled the evil Heinrich, who was then stapled to the floor of the CVS as ultimate punishment. While a little convoluted, the act was playful, with Jay giving a fun show-stopping number about drug addiction with Robert in support, and Kate having some charming moments rushing from one character to another. I also enjoyed a musical duet with Chase's geeky role-playing character late in the act, and as is typically the case, Chase gave us a slew of quotable quotes throughout the evening, such as "I've got a girlfriend--albeit imaginary," and "These staples are hindering my escape to Argentina."

Despite a confusing story, and a few too many slower numbers in the second act, the show had a highly enjoyable energy and was received well. We found some fun games, such as spinning poor Kate's Martha around all the time, and made it through smiling! I also enjoyed introducing the band as Sticks Dickerson and Fingers Rhinehart.

And so sadly, it's goodbye to Chase and Jay. Any audience or company member memories of favourite moments with them on stage...?

Two shows to go. My mother-in-law will be in the house on Saturday. No pressure!!

Your the-end-is-nigh Director, David C.

You wouldn't necessarily think that a network administrator would fit in with our merry little band of behind-the-scenes FourPlayers, but Matt's human networking skills both in the tech booth and behind the scenes have sure come in handy! We were lucky to have him return for his second tour of duty as lighting technician and Slide Show operator. Matt agreed to talk to me briefly while working on lighting schemes, a downed email server, 2 remote networks and finishing off some all-you-can-eat Carolina BBQ...

Current favorite musical: Movie -- has to be Beauty and the Beast, followed closely by Hunchback of Notre Dame and Little Mermaid; Stage -- I have actually only seen 2 -- FourPlay: The Improvised Musical and Jester Theater's version of Musical of Musicals
Current favorite improv game: Narrative Collage and Crime Endowment

DC: I hate to admit it, Matt, but our recurring sound woes have, perhaps, overshadowed at least my focus on the lights (and we all know that lights need some focus every now and again!) You routinely manage to create some lovely effects with a rather limited system. Tell us a little about what inspires your light choices, or is it simply a need to practice for setting up Christmas lights on a house?

MC: Why, David, I am surprised by the question; I thought the light effects went unnoticed for the most part. I draw inspiration from the stories told on stage and the music that is provided. The first year of FourPlay taught me a lot about lighting musicals and I brought that knowledge with me to this year. Generally speaking, I have found that bright, shiny objects often distract the audiences from the fact that the same four people keep showing up on stage...

DC: I have also noticed that interesting (and at times, odd) sound effects creep into the show. Are those a result of your need to torture us with phantom doors and voices in the rafters?

MC: No, they are there to help add environment to the scene. There are times that I have found the players picking up a game of playing with the effects. The voices in the rafters must be trapped in your head; otherwise, I would have to admit that occasionally certain CD cues are left with the house volume up. Of course there are times when my evil twin appears in the booth and tries to "blow up" everyone on stage. Don't make my evil twin angry, David; you wouldn't like it if he got angry...

DC: That's fair warning! I completely agree that there's been many a night when the soundscape has really added a great ongoing game (and I promise never to mention the afternoon of explosions if you won't either!) Given that you seem to have a career in computers already, what keeps you coming to SAK?

MC: It is a winding path, but worth the time. When I first came to Orlando, I joined a service Fraternity at UCF (Alpha Phi Omega). Through them, I got involved with the Orlando Fringe Festival, where I worked as a volunteer and a Board member for 10 years. The year I moved up in the Fraternity to take a more advisory role, I had an opportunity to take the Basics class at SAK for free. They kept passing me up the chain; now I am in LabRats, where I was honored with LabRat of the Year in 2004. While working with Fringe, I had met John Valines. John finally convinced me to learn to tech at SAK and I have been doing it ever since. SAK is my mini-vacation each week from the rest of my life, and I love every second of it.

DC: And we love having you as part of the family. You mentioned Disney musicals as some of your favorites. What about them connects with you?

MC: Well, the simplicity of the songs. The way they tell the story effortlessly. The variety of styles helps as well. Music is very powerful and can touch each person in a different way. While I know that I am not a star singer by any stretch of the imagination, music that is lyrically sound and easy to follow gives me the ability to "sing in the shower" and pretend that I am that good. While I don't always identify the tune playing, my life is one big soundtrack and there are songs that are absolutely perfect for every moment in my life, significant or insignificant. The Disney musicals often underscore the true feelings I hide from most people.

DC: Wow, I never knew that music inspired you so; no wonder you enjoy being a part of this production. Don't worry--your secret is safe with me! Well Matt, thanks for giving me a little of your time... Now that you got my email working again, I can send out my announcements for the Lost Comedies of Shakespeare. By the way, is that my tie you just dipped in that BBQ sauce?!?!?

To learn more about Matt, go here.

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.

The Math of Love: Performance Number Twenty-One

And the weekend just keeps getting better... A GREAT house tonight, both in terms of size and response. I had a lot of Rollins students in attendance as well (Actually, a lot more than I realized until the meet-and-greet in the lobby. Annie Get Your Gun opens this coming weekend at Rollins, so this was the last opportunity for many to check the show out.) I'm really grateful for all the support my students have been giving - it always makes to smile to see them in the house (and there's nothing like wearing pony tails in front of your students to really complicate and equalize the student-teacher relationship!!)

The opening number rocked! We've had a spate of negative emotions as our initial song offer, but tonight a lovely young lady in the front row gave us "hyperactivity" and this got the show off to a rocking start. Charles and the boys in the band were in sync from the start, and the number built wonderfully, culminating in me breaking the chair that I was using as my mimed mechanic horse. Charles got us going as Evan, a 40-year-old man who drove an airport shuttle. His three usual customers were Captain Smith, an alcohol-soused pilot, Mrs. McGillicuddy (we seem to like that name), a devout church-goer, and Polly, an eighteen-year-old "near woman" who not-so-secretly yearned for this older man. Charles rocked the house (as always) when he sang about pursuing love with the younger Polly, despite the age difference. Jay became Joseph (one of my students, in fact, and my current peer mentor), and explored a rather odd relationship with his teacher, Mr. J., his eighth-grade teacher who was ruthlessly exploiting him to build his own house. (There was a fun "Our House" parody here between the two.) Robyn's lisping nerdy Broomie and Charles' show-choir-loving Wolly wrapped up the episode in fine form. Then came Robyn as Beth, a woman with a steep hill to climb and a steeper battle with her family for independence as her husband, a top-hat wearing butcher, and daughter, an asthmatic jogger, put various demands upon her time and energy. Jay's Clara, a triathlete nextdoor neighbor, provided additional comic relief. Lastly, I was Mike, a cowboy bar frequenting young man whose world was thrown into chaos upon the death (or was it murder?) of his favorite mechanical horse. Aided by Pedro, the slightly-stereotypical-Siesta-taking owner of the bar, and "Musician Sue," a low-talking female guitarist, Mike suspected his rival, Big Bart, as the culprit. After singing an "Ode to Joy" (the name of the metal horse), he plotted revenge upon his nemesis, regardless of the personal cost.

The intermission vote was a nail biter by all accounts, and the house management had to actually go to an ensemble member in the audience (who don't usually vote) in order to cast the deciding vote as it was originally tied between Charles' Evan and Jay's Joseph. Charles took it by a nose. We didn't actually learn of this until after the show, but as it turned out, we actually used a lot of the characters from Jay's story line in major roles, so hopefully the audience got the best of both worlds. We also had a really strong second act, so I don't think any of us can really regret the final decision. It just goes to show you though, that unlike some states in the union, your vote really does count at SAK!!!

So, we explored our second May/December relationship of the weekend as we followed Evan on his quest for albeit young love. We had discussed backstage that we were a little wary if this was the chosen story of it becoming unseemly. Jay, with typical acuity, noted that we should just make the love story simple and honest, and that proved to be a great starting point. While I definitely kept Polly's youthful exuberance, Charles did a great job of really falling for this young girl, and as the act progressed, we learnt that he was, in fact, equally as inexperienced when it came to dating and matters of the heart (a great choice on his part.) Robyn's Mrs. McGillicuddy, the founder of the "moral neighborhood watch", and Mr. J., an equally judgmental advocator of abstinence, frowned upon what they viewed as an example of sordid love, and set out to destroy Evan and his newfound love. First they blacklisted his van company, then they let the air out of his tires, and finally, Mr. J. kidnapped Polly in the basement of his incomplete house. Charles led the way with one strong musical number after another (and a really playful duet with Jay's Joseph), and Robyn stepped up to the plate and gave one our most memorable show-stopping numbers of late as the lisping and spelling Broomie. (She's admitted that she's been avoiding tackling this number, and it was a great thing to see her not only take it on, but succeed so thoroughly with it - a great culmination to what was a really strong night for Robyn overall.)

The act ended with a fun series of exchanges as Charles' Evan took on the evil pedagogue, Mr. J. Gina managed to scribble down a bunch of the whimsical quips, such as Mr. J's "Oh, your hands can't harm me... I'm a teacher," then, "What does 18 plus 22 equal?" to which Evan responded, "40," to which Mr. J. responded "Wrong. Dirty." Charles pulled out a great trump, finally, with "You're a teacher, but I'm a Republican!" and Mr. J. quickly melted into a puddle of water under the threatened budget cuts. Finally, Evan and Polly were reunited, their love proving to be pure in spite of what the moral arbiters might have thought, and as they professed their love to one another, Jay's Joseph and Robyn's Mrs. McGillicuddy planned to meet up later when Joseph also turned eighteen! Another really fun ending to a show.

Everyone was really on tonight, from the actors, to the musicians, to the technicians, to the audience! Jim, for example, gave me a particularly playful early-Disneyesque song in the second act in which my Polly sang her love to a variety of woodland creatures. Every time I mimed sending a bird away, Jim would provide a sound effect from the keyboard that would bring it back, keeping me on my toes in the process! While the jury is out as to whether I'll miss the extraordinary amount of energy and focus that this show requires each evening once we close, I know that I'll definitely miss the pure joy I get from singing in collaboration with Jim and Keith. When it hits, it's indescribable. (I had another musical savvy audience member ask tonight in earnest if the musicians were playing from a set list of songs. Most find it incomprehensible that Jim and Keith routinely improvise 20 completely original songs each night!) Charles really led a great and playful second act with some inspired songs and twists; Jay provided his usual story finesse, found some great connections and was in particularly good voice; and Robyn was extra vivacious, supplying some of her greatest characters to date--Broomie's spelling number will haunt me in my sleep! (I also liked her response to kidnapper Mr. J.'s question, "By the way, what do eighteen-year-olds eat...," "Nothing!")

I wonder if the company is slowly realizing that the end is nigh and that nobody wants to leave anything on the field... We're really taking the form and show to new levels. (No pressure Sunday cast!)

Four and counting...

Your mimed-bird-catching Director, David C.

Birthing Cletis: Performance Number Twenty

Some really fun work tonight! The cast was Mark, Darren, Kate and myself. The mood was angry. The results were predictably unpredictable. It was a little long in duration, but equally long in laughs and energy. A great start to the weekend.

Act one introduced us to Mark as David (this is going to get confusing!), a 50-year-old illiterate bellhop who had led Marcel, his 20-year-old girlfriend, to believe that he was the owner of the hotel where he worked. His earnest brother, Golf (?!), gave a helping hand with the bags, while Mrs. Higgenbottom offered a helping hand of a different sort. Mark gave a typically random and delightful solo that centered on a robin's egg as a metaphor (as well as a tendency to eat embryoes!) Then we met Darren as Carlos, a lonely guy with a Woodstock-type mother, overlooked friend, Scott, and a "fabulous" acquaintance and philanthropist Edith, who made a point of reminding Carlos just how mediocre his life was. Kate portrayed Corey, a young woman who delighted in living in a co-ed dorm. There, she encountered the towel-wearing and lustful Justin, her oddly-suited roommate Hank, and a former cheer-leading highschool friend, Ruth. Kate rocked the house with a great bluesy solo with the boys as backup. Finally, I was Josh, a young man who had a soft spot for sunsets on the beach, but whose favorite spot had been polluted by Mrs. Peterson's lost uranium, and the antics of his current "scarecrowish" girlfriend Mary Sue and slightly "off" exgirlfriend Agatha. Jim joined me on the keyboards for a parody of "Sunrise Sunset" as I mourned the fate of my favorite beach. I think that might actually be the second time we've used that song, but this time felt particularly strong.

Mark's David took the vote and we followed the travails of his character as he searched for knowledge and love. His younger girlfriend, Marcel, hid her pregnancy from her lover, and when she discovered him with a series of other women (Mrs. Higgenbottom, then Corey...), she plotted revenge with her sister, Mary Sue. Mark gave a strong opening solo, and Darren and I had great fun with a villainous patter duet where he noted down Marcel's fast-paced letter of last resort to David. (Little did she know that he was unable to read it and therefore unable to win her back!) I enjoyed, after a particularly fast verse, asking somewhat deviously for Darren's character to read/sing it back! Darren, in fact, had quite a busy and strong act, and did a great job providing a break-neck series of characters one after another as the story progressed.

I confused Mark a little with a slightly odd offer as the act neared its end, launching him into a duet with Kate about beaches. They both did a great job, regardless of my unintentional plot detour, and this became one of my favorite musical numbers of the night. One of my personal high (low?) lights of the run was my show stopping number tonight, where my towel-wearing Justin sang about the endless possibilities for love if you keep an open mind. Keith and Jim were particularly vampy in the pit, and the number climaxed with Darren catching my thrown costume towel. Finally, Mark's David and my Marcel squared off in the final duet, leveling charges at each other, until his illiteracy and her pregnancy were finally revealed (I believe Mark actually noticed an extra pair of feet emerging under my skirt if I'm not mistaken.) We had one of our most fun ending songs of the run, with the birth of their child, complete with cord cutting and baby naming (Cletis), and David declaring that he would not eat this particular fetus... You had to be there!!

The content was a little playfully dicey in places, but this was a really explosive show, with a particularly strong top and bottom of the second act. Mark really stepped up his game as the star and made some great helpful choices that set us all up for a successful act. In addition to his usual comedic finesse in his solos, he also did particularly well tonight in providing lyrics that helped to clearly propel his sympathetic star. Kate did some really fun character work throughout--I particularly liked her uranium-hiding Mrs. Peterson that was quite an original offering. Darren was also on fire in terms of his wildly quick costume changes and great plot progressions. There was so much playfulness tonight. So while we ran a little long, the audience really seemed to leave on a high, as did the company. Some good work all around, and we managed to avoid some old traps and habits. I was a happy camper.

Some fun quotes from Gina, our omnipresent AD:

David: "I'm gonna stick to him like white sticks to artificial tan"
Mark: "Mediocrity is like a toothpick 'cause only nasty people have it."
Darren (singing while wearing a towel): "Some guys like to hang out, some guys don't."
David: "If you mean by 'cook up,' kill him, I agree."
Mark: "You've got little feet sticking out of your skirt."

And the countdown ticked to five...

Your is-this-really-coming-to-an-end Director, David C?

Into the Woods: Performance Number Nineteen

Our second matinee, and the house is building slowly (much aided by 20+ students from Rollins, including my RCC class--I may have loaded the deck a little in terms of the vote today!) The set up was a little smoother today as well. It was nice to be able to breath backstage before the show, and not to already be sweaty from an 8:00 Duel of Fools. This would be my ideal way of running the show... alas.

Charles, Jay, Robyn and I stepped up to the plate for the never-decreasing challenge that is FourPlay. Charles was Jason (one of my Rollins students) who worked reluctantly at Applebee's with Fernando, an asian chef with anger issues, and "Hostess Clowny," a peppy young woman who liked to make balloon animals. Mrs. Ruth--recently divorced--a regular customer who was clearly interested in more than Jason's pot stickers, rounded out the family. In a fun twist, Charles used his solo to declare that he was going to date both "Hostess Clowny" and Mrs. Ruth at the same time as that was simply what he wanted to do! Then there was Rodney (Jay pictured left), an angst-ridden young man who was attempting to plan a birthday party for his mother, Irene, with the help of a party planner, Ty-Lin. When Rodney's Dad returned from sea, he was faced with the difficult decision of picking one parent to please. Next came Robyn's Dottie, who was inexplicably living in a kennel with a bunch of dogs and cats, and assisted by Sherry, a woman who apparently spoke "cat," and Slow Jerry, a disadvantaged youth who used sign language. Her ex, Pete, clearly had remorse about their breakup, and Dottie had to face whether or not she wanted to continue her life behind bars. Finally, I was Daniel, a young man with a great backyard that was full of trees and perhaps something a little more sinister... Jeremiah, a less-than-loyal latin friend, and Samantha, a choir-robe-wearing-tomboy, provided his less-than-supportive peer group, while Jay was Big Bart, the confrontational Ren-Faire owner who lived across the property line. Jeremiah suggested that the sounds beyond the trees were coming from a Chupacabra (sp?), and set Daniel on a course for discovery.

As noted above, I had a bunch of students in the house this afternoon, so Daniel took the vote (although, I feel that we all had made particularly strong story choices for this character as well.) Daniel was forced to go "Into the Woods" (opening shortly at OSF!) to discover the source of the very Star Wars-esque sounds that were terrifying him and keeping him up at night. While Big Bart, at first, had seemed to thwart his efforts, the Ren-Faire owner soon helped Daniel safely traverse the dangerous terrain. After gaining strength from stuffing his pockets with his Star Wars collectibles, Daniel returned to the woods one final time to discover that the noises were coming from Jeremiah's amorous actions with Daniel's current love interest (thereby breaking their brother bondship pact for the critical fourth time). Fortunately, an electric fence strategically placed by Big Bart, shocked Jeremiah back to his senses, and the two friends reunited, joining their forces together as one.

There were a lot of fun moments in the show. Jay led a great physical escape sequence through the woods with Charles and I in tow (with great Mission Impossible accompaniment from the booth.) Charles had an hysterical all-but a capella solo as his Latin Jeremiah in the second act in a wonderfully playful dynamic with Jim (barely) on the keyboards. After a slightly rocky lead on my part, Robyn and I found a fun musical duet near the end of the second act, and Jay gave us one of our more memorable show-stoppers as of late as Slow Jerry. Jim, Keith and I also crafted an original Star Wars parody as a solo, which had some strong moments, and the booth gave us some great wild forest sound effects throughout. Act two kept on pace, and while the very end is always an unavoidable act of faith, we made it through with a good amount of grace.

There were a couple of slips. We had a character endowed as "slow" which is not a choice we generally want to follow as it tends to make it difficult to even gently play against stereotypes. I let a mild curse slip in a moment of rapid wit, although it seems to have slid under the radar. We also were a little sloppy with our environments overall in act one which gave us less fruitful options for the second act. That being said, however, this felt like a really successful run and had a good general balance of playfulness, energy and story (and Jay nailed his act one duet!) So no real complaints here!

Six shows to go... Then it's off to the land of Shakespeare!

Your nearing-the-finish-line Director, David C.

Healing the Family Pain: Performance Number Eighteen

What a fun evening!! It can be difficult getting the proverbial curtain up at 10:00pm with the quick change over from Duel of Fools and an often steady stream of latecomers, but tonight the show got underway at 10:02 (and we actually finished up notes around 12:15 which must be some kind of a record too!) Kudos to the booth (Dana and Charley) and house manager Patrick's efforts for getting us underway in such style.

Act one was a hoot with a capital "H" and it feels like the show is back into high gear after a few slower performances. Chase, Ron and Kate were in rare form, and we had an act of really playful characters and promising storylines. (And perhaps, even more importantly, some great listening and team work.) Chase started strongly as George, a security guard in an emergency room peopled by Dr. Anderson, an almost saint-like physician, and the drug-addled and disease-ridden Margaret. George's young son, Brody, with his uncontrollable violent tendencies and fascination with weapons and poisons, provided ample conflict for the desperate father, and Chase used this conflict to great effect in his opening number. Ron played Tristan, a young home-bound construction worker with a psychotic and argumentative mother, Judith, a young female friend and supplier of smuggled Skittles, Trisha, and a mysterious best-friend, Bill, who inexplicably lived in the young man's closet. All but a prisoner to his mother's controlling ways and complex alarm system, Tristan craved to escape his home. Kate took on the role of Stacy, an "exchange" student who found herself assigned to an Alabama house with an oddball couple, Gertrude and Billy Bob. (Chase gave a particularly strong choice when he punched Stacy upon arrival noting that Alabama had two rules: you gotta learn to take a punch; and you can't have all your teeth!) Spicing things up further, Stacy was followed to her Alabama home by Heinrich, an impassioned young German boy that she had housed with years earlier. Last but not least, I was Rich, a young man for whom fly fishing was his "second favorite thing to do." His co-workers, helpful Bobby, lisping Sarah and born-lucky Trevor, joined Rich for a fishing expedition where it quickly became apparent that he wasn't going to catch anything of value (although we later learnt that he was really fishing for a different kind of life altogether!)

I would have been happy to follow any of these stories into the second act (which is not something we can say every night.) Chase's George took the vote, and his son's self-destructive ways continued to weaken family stability as Dr. Anderson's threats to take the boy away if he was admitted to the E.R. again loomed ominously as a real potential. The more George attempted to make his house safe for his son, the more devious acts Brody found to put himself in mortal danger. Just when Dr. Anderson feared Brody's actions had gone too far, father and son were reunited as Brody's safety helmet was revealed to have evil intents of its own. Kate provided some great physical moments as her Stacy slowly suffered in the background from an unattended wound, and Ron gave a brilliant final twist as the final song of the act culminated.

Listening was right on track tonight, and there were lots of great little details that were reincorporated playfully throughout the evening. (I particularly liked Kate's "Warning shot" reference as Stacy, and Chase bringing back a slapping game between us and the "odd and really specific" sign postings at the end of the show.) We had some great environment and physical work (Kate was particularly on fire in this regard), and there were lots of neat discovered games (such as Ron's escalating Tom Cruise references as he tried to escape his house--his repelling pose in an act one duet was a really great physical choice!) I was nervous that we weren't going to be able to find a satisfying ending, and although the "helmet of evil" was a bit of a stretch, as my right hand Gina noted, the whole company so over-accepted the choice that it almost seemed logical by the show's end!

In short, we had some good storytelling tonight. It's easy to forget in a show that has so many musical numbers (over 20) that the story really is the most important component. Chase did a nice job finding the human core and desire of our hero, and even though things became absurd at times (my rather dark solo as the son singing about how pain made me feel alive comes to mind), the company worked together smoothly to weave the various stories together.

When it's this much fun, it seems as if seven shows isn't enough to put the show to bed...

Your now-finally-writing-on-DSL-not-dial-up-and-loving-it Director, David C.

Ladies Night Out: Performance Number Seventeen

Tonight was a treat in that our two women, Robyn and Kate, got to play together alongside the two men, Mark and I, who most like to play women's parts on stage! (Internally, I've been calling this the "all woman" show!) I'd originally intended to have two men and two women serve as the casting norm each evening, but I was unable to cast a company to make this possible.

We had a strong act one. Mark was the all-American Dr. Blake (no first name given), who worked in an airport parking lot, alongside Alfredo, an ardent admirer, and O'Hara, a Scottish stereotype (!). Kate provided a mature love interest, Mrs. Havelin, the richest woman in Oakland. Mark gave a great solo about what it was to be American to his Italian immigrant friend. Robyn played Rae, a young woman who desperately wanted to please her Pop Pop (Grandpa) and his nurse/lover, Madge, by pretending to be engaged to Brandon, a self-centered and unfaithful pilot. I enjoyed singing one of my softer numbers of late to Rae about how she'd know when she had found love. Kate then portrayed Sarah, a woman with a passion for cats, a LOT of cats, that caused issues for her upstairs landlady, Mrs. Oakley, and best friend since third grade, Fezzy. Her favorite cat, Mr. Fluffy, we soon learnt had been catnapped by a mysterious high-pitched laughing figure. Finally, I was David, a young man who liked to visit his sister, Shirley, at Melbourne beach, where he pursued love. On this particular day, a young woman with an unpronounceable name was swept ashore and into his life. Mark and I got to sing and dance a Disney-inspired love song thanks to the ever apt Jim Rhinehart on the keyboards.

Mark led us into the second act as Dr. Blake's life slowly unraveled as his former underling, Alfredo, tried to slowly usurp him by becoming more and more like him. Mark and Kate gave a great duet late in the act, and Robyn hit home a fun solo as her O'Hara character. We did some good work simplifying the story tonight, but struggled a little to find meaningful plot complications. Again, the audience left smiling and supportive, but the company felt a little dissatisfied in how we handled the challenge of the second act. Generally, we don't always isolate and build the star's central desire or journey and/or offer strong obstacles from the antagonistic or supporting positions. We also missed some possible cues and offers, and need to continue to make every major choice important through strong reactions, tilts and reincorporations.

There are only eight performances left... It seems so many and so few all at the same time!!!

Your energy-tweaking Director, David C.

Playing on the Fringe: Performance Number Sixteen

Our first Sunday matinee! (If I'm not mistaken, it was SAK's first Sunday matinee ever... Does anyone know differently?) A small but respectable house gathered for this experiment in long-form improv. I think we were all a little tired (Robyn and I were both in last night's two shows), but we pulled together...

Act one, by all accounts was pretty solid and fun. Charles and Ron joined Robyn and I on the stage and we got to work generating our four possible storylines. Charles was in great voice, and did a great job as Ryan, a Fringe Festival assistant, who decided to produce and direct his own offering: a one-man naked Shakespeare show featuring the ill-equipped Simon. Robyn played a rather intoxicated and power-hungry critic, while Ron provided one of our darker characters of the afternoon as an unnamed audience member in a trench coat. Ron then dropped the coat to give us Alex, a struggling college student who made his current girlfriend, Charlene, slightly sick every time she saw him, but was apparently food for the eyes of the somewhat Spanish-speaking Josephina. Alex's mentor (and Spanish/Physics teacher?!) Dr. Bill Jones, weighed in with some rock 'n' roll advice to try to motivate Alex to action. Robyn's audience-inspired character was Karen, a woman with her own trailer, slightly challenged adult daughter, Fanzy, and next-door crush and all-around nice guy, Jerry. However, Daddy Joe, a lottery-winning power monger, threatened her happiness with his plan to destroy the trailer park to build a bingo establishment. Lastly, I was Joel, a reclusive nineteen-year-old who shared his sparsely furnished apartment (a couch, television and newly-purchased "man candle") with his equally reclusive friend, Jeremy. They were visited by Suzie, a motherly figure (who lived next door), the complex's kind-hearted cop, and a possible apparition who was able to open and close the front door at whim! I had fun with a near "Candle in the Wind" parody as my man candle burnt down to a handful of wax while I sang: "My story ended long before the man candle ever did."

The fringe contingent pulled for Ryan, and so we followed him and his would-be producer desires into the second act. (This weekend was an "all player one" weekend in terms of the votes.) Robyn's critic, Mrs. Roeper, emerged as his nemesis, and sought to thwart his artistic ambitions, writing a scathing review of his solo Shakespeare show. Thrown into despair, Ryan sought help from his younger shut-in brother, and tried to motivate his actor, Simon, to improve the show's quality. Ultimately, Roeper's own desires to perform were revealed (as were the trenchcoated observer's from act one), and she emerged as Ryan's next potential Fringe star.

While the first act was quite strong, we all agreed that act two was a little more of a struggle. We wrestled with some of the structural issues that had plagued us last night, in addition to finding a driving energy, which aggravated the problem further. Just when the show traditionally peaks, the urgency started to droop a little, and we had to scramble to find a meaningful ending. Again, rather than simplify the plot, there were many tangential complications that didn't directly assist the star in his plight, and we struggled to propel the action into several key songs. We were also a little too referential in our material, I suspect. So while this played to our Fringe guests, it may not have reached the "universal" level in terms of theme or empathy.

It is not a secret in the company that the "star" position is quite a bit of work, in spite of the best efforts of the supporting players. There is a lot to remember in terms of structure, plot points and drive, and ultimately the star provides the physical means for the play's journey. During rehearsals, there was limited time for us to all rotate into this position (I think most of us only got to play it once before we put the show in front of an audience), and currently approximately half the company hasn't played the role since we opened. Subsequently, it is generally a little nerve-racking when you're plopped into this position. However, it struck me this weekend that it's important that we all review this crucial role regularly if we're to keep the overall momentum of the show pulsing forward. I sensed a general tentativeness with all the various act two roles today that I thought we had already addressed and problem solved. It just reminds me, yet again, that this show continues to demand a level of concentration and detail that is quite daunting as a performer.

Matinee improv is difficult! We all seemed a little fatigued. That's going to be the challenge overall.

Your sleeping-a-little-less-than-he'd-like Director, David C.

Bodies, Babies and Big Boys (Oh My): Performance Number Fifteen

It was a bit of a crazy night for FourPlay! The 8:00 Duel of Fools included a special guest on Saturday, Wayne Brady, and so things were predictably a bit hectic in the lab. (On a sidenote, Wayne was an extremely generous and patient fellow, staying for a seemingly endless string of photos after the show which are now probably adorning MySpace sites everywhere!) We got off to a late start, around 10:20, but the house was sizable and supportive, and while it was unlikely from the get-go that we'd be out of there before midnight, I would posit that we kept the vast majority engaged and laughing throughout the evening.

Mark was in rare rapid-fire form providing a plethora of plot possibilities in his first position this evening. His character, Terry, worked as a car hop at Bob's Big Boy, alongside Arnelle (a Southern beauty school wannabe), Gillian (her long-lost twin separated at birth), and Kosak (an unseemly boss with secret desires). In the first moments of the show, we learnt that Terry's dead brother was being stored in the restaurant's freezer. Darren was a young man, Victor, in love with Robyn's sweet-girl Sandra, but stalked by Fenesha, an unstable young woman with an overactive imagination. Victor's father advised him atop a construction site to seek design in his life. Then Patty came along, a young woman with star-crossed roommates who invaded her space at every turn. Her only solace was Dern, the kind-hearted next-door-neighbor in her claustrophobic apartment complex. Lastly, I played Chad, a board-game obsessed man who found comfort in his basement of solitude. Plagued by his Renaissance Fair pickle-selling mother, and his pushy upstart brother, Chad's only comfort was his Lord of the Rings Risk game and imaginary friend, Sarah (who inexplicably spoke in a cockney dialect!)

Mark's Terry took the vote for the second act, and we set off into her rather convoluted mind. Along the way we experienced a fun "devil inside" duet, heard a rather whimsical song discussing various bridges in various locations, and learnt from Robyn's Gillian twin that the babies were separated at birth when one floated downstream while the other floated up! There was a lot of energy and playfulness in the act, and luckily the company's charm under stress (in particular that of Mark's Terry) made up for some rather inexplicable plot points that were left still hanging by the end of the night. Terry finally made the first step to well-being and recovery when she admitted to her boss and potential lover, Kosak, that she was completely unstable, and the performance found a relatively satisfying close as the once-fired Terry returned to work thanks to her generous friend, Arnelle.

There were many structural and dynamic mis-steps tonight, but luckily the drive of the show kept us moving. The major lesson of the night (to channel company member Jay Hopkins) is that simple is better. There was a barrage of possible plot points in both act one and act two (missing mother, dead brother, separated twins who know each other, a possible child by another...) - apart from rhyming in this overview, we struggled to find a meaningful way to put them together, and so the story felt a little less rewarding accordingly. It can be difficult to support and justify too many choices of this ilk, and subsequently, some were (perhaps necessarily) dropped from the story arc. I know that I'm personally reluctant to bring back random plot points unless I can be of assistance bringing them closer to resolution or meaning.

I'm hopeful we can bring the show back to center in terms of form and meaningful plot progression, but tonight's show had an odd but playful energy of its own that worked in its own oddball way.

Your jumbled-justifying Director, David C.

Children Are Animals Too: Performance Number Fourteen

Another wacky evening of FourPlay with some great characters and odd storylines! Chase, Jay and Kate joined me on the stage for a night of fun, furry animals and floundering fathers...

Chase started the show as Tom, a zoo-keeper with an odd co-worker, Bertha, an odder apprentice, G-Funk, and a sadly overlooked daughter desperate for attention, Shnookums. Jay gave us Berry, a man forcefully pushed through life by his devout pastor, and torn between his brother Jerry, and the girl of his affections, Agatha. We then met Mary, a divorcee with a hankering for the navy boys down by the dock. While her grandmother supposed watched the kids, and her undervalued friend Joe held the camera, she set up a rendezvous with a salty sea-man who simply went by the name, The Admiral. Finally, I was Justin, a mountain bike maniac, who wanted to meet with his crush, Megan, on the mountainous slopes. There were lots of fun moments in the act, including some great dynamics with Chase and his family of characters, a joyful confessional number between Jay and I, a rollicking good jam with Kate in the lead as she bemoaned her dating situation, and another tricky parody offer from Jim for my closing solo - "There ain't no mountain high enough."

Much to Chase's surprise (he didn't hide it well at all!) we followed his Tom into the second act as his much neglected (and diabetic) daughter was swept away into G-Funk and The Admiral's evil plans to populate their ship before sailing into the sunset. Amongst the more disturbing lyrics of the night (and there were plenty), Chase crooned: "I'll eat your lice and pick your parasites because I love you." Jay and I did a fun Gilligan's Island number, with great support from Jim and Keith in the band as always. I also had a lot of fun in perhaps one of my most pathetic parodies for a while, as Chase's unnamed daughter, Snookums. While caged in The Admiral's ship, and coming down from diabetic shock, I sang, "There is a father on a cloud" to the soaring tunes of Les Mis. However, perhaps the oddest exchanges of the night came from the ever-surprising Jay as G-Funk: G-Funk-"It's a family ferret." Snookums-"If you stroke the ferret, you're a member of the family." Hmmmmmm... As Kate's kidnapped Mary joined the final family picture, we actually closed on one of our sweeter endings, with the whole family coming back together.

We got a little ballad-heavy in the second act: we need to always pursue the up-tempo numbers - this is something Charles Gray does so well and effortlessly. I also learnt the hard way that wrestling an imaginary puma in a wild offstage exit can very nearly cause a very real injury. I was limping a little as Snookums upon my re-entrance, but (fingers crossed) it doesn't look like there's any permanent damage. Jay and Chase did nice work really crafting a meaningful reveal and ending, and we had another show without any onstage deaths (if you don't count The Admiral being swept overboard!) While I'm always looking to raise the stakes in general, it was a strong show, and I really enjoyed playing alongside my fellow cast mates tonight. And we ultimately learnt an important lesson: that children deserve all the love and attention that animals get!

Thanks, as always, to Gina for jotting down a smattering of quotes for me to include here.

Your slightly-limping-but-brightly-smiling Director, David C.

Another FourPlay Fan: The Sentinel Review is in!

Our show has been getting a little nice press as of late! I had an interview with Rebecca Swain published in the Sentinel's Calendar section last week, and today Elizabeth Maupin's review was published (on page 44 for those who want to see it in print!) Or you can just click here to see it online.

We're in the back stretch now, with our last month of shows (that sounds odd, considering that many shows only run for a month!!) Our first Sunday matinee is this weekend. I'm a little anxious about this scheduling experiment, but I'm hopeful we can get some of those non-night-owl types to come out and play with us!

What do you think about matinee improv...?

Your building-up-steam-for-a-three-show-weekend Director, David C.

If SAK could be described as a huge piece of industrial machinery, I would liken Rob's role to that of the oil. Without him, the various parts of the company wouldn't get along smoothly, and nobody would get paid (oil is as good as cash these days)! Rob and I decided to jog a few laps at the local fitness center while sipping on delicious apricot smoothies and nibbling on power bars...

Current favorite musical: Avenue Q
Current favorite improv game: ABC/Shakespeare/Should've Said

DC: Rob, you have one of those positions at SAK that seems to cover 101 different things! As a pivotal member of the SAK production team, how would you describe your average workday?

RW: Between, managing Front of House operations, juggling finances, scheduling and maintaining the SAK University program, and acting as the liaison between the SAK performers and the management team, my days are usually a bit on the scattered side. An average day around here usually involves doing a bit of workplace improv. I can come in with an agenda, and in the first two minutes of my day, realize that I have to drop that agenda and run with whatever new urgent issue has come up.

DC: In addition to your considerable behind-the-scenes work, SAK regulars can see you hosting weekend Ensemble shows or playing with the Lab Rats. I often feel that the importance and skill of SAK hosts is often overlooked or under appreciated. What do you see as you role when you are hosting, and what makes a good host in your opinion?

RW: I think a good host has to take on so much more responsibility than people even realize. As a host, you decide the general feel of the night. Are you going to play wacky, crazy games? Or are you going to focus more on story-telling narrative games? These decisions are so vital to a show. Also, as host, you are the first person the crowd sees onstage, and a good host really sets the mood for the night and gets that crowd excited and ready to play along with the improvisers. The right host intro is an essential part of the whole SAK experience.

DC: I couldn't agree more. In your spare ten seconds each day, you mentioned earlier that you also serve as the registrar for SAK University. Tell us a little about that part of SAK. What types of people typically enroll and what should prospective students know?

RW: The SAK University is actually one of my favorite extensions of SAK Entertainment. Basically, we invite our fans to learn the secrets behind what we do on stage every night. How cool is that? Through 4 levels of classes, SAK experts give you the tools you need to perform in a SAK improv show. It all culminates in a big Level 4 Graduation show, which is my favorite part of the program. As registrar, I usually deal with students from their first day in Level 1 all the way to the end, and it makes me so proud, excited, and impressed to watch their progression. The most amazing part of SAK University is the diversity of the students. Believe it or not, a lot of business professionals take the SAK classes. They often tell us how beneficial the improv and performing skills they learned in class have been when applied to their work presentations and the like. I love that, because it is so funny to to picture a group of business men in their suits performing a "sit, stand, kneel" scene in the boardroom!

DC: I find it quite amazing that in addition to your SAK duties, you are also involved with many other theatres and projects in town (including serving as a performer in SAK's own upcoming production of The Lost Comedies of William Shakespeare). I know, for example, that you had a very busy Fringe Festival this year.

RW: Uhhhh....thanks. Was this a question or a statement? Ha ha! I try to keep involved with as many theatre organizations in town as possible. It's a great benefit to SAK because I get to meet and swap ideas with some of the most creative minds in town. Orlando has such a wealth of talented people, brilliant minds, and innovative theatre groups. I feel so fortunate to live and work in the arts community of this town.

DC: Sorry to end this chat abruptly, but I think I can taste blood in my mouth - perhaps we should stop jogging and sit for a second...

To learn more about Rob, go here.

Glimpsing Underneath the Towel: Performance Number Thirteen

Nobody died tonight!! (although we may have scarred a few audience members, but more on that later...) Energy was up, the orchestra was on fire, and the tunes were particularly tuneful this evening... Jim, Mark and I got to warm-up a little at the Red Chair event, which was a lot of fun. Then Jim, Keith and I rushed back to SAK for our 10:00 show.

There was some good onstage chemistry tonight. Charles played John, a daycare worker who tried to provide healthy alternatives for his students, Blaire and Sharon, with the help of the somewhat suicidal Mr. Snackman. Robyn was an adult student, Jackie, who hoped to get ahead of her friends, Roger and Veronica, with the assistance of her former gradeschool teacher, Miss Bray (whose motivation techniques oddly resembled an avalanche of demeaning blather!) Ron was a "Mouse Town" worker, Joe, whose dreams to make it big seemed almost reachable upon the unexpected arrival of Donald Trump (perhaps the most painful impersonation I've attempted on the SAK stage in quite some time!) Finally, I was Audrey, a beach-loving girl with a secret hidden under her towel, whose nude sunbathing addicted friends, Samantha and Rebecca, tried to push her into her crush, "Hardhat Jeremy." Oh dear. I don't usually take on the identity of a woman as my audience-inspired character, but there were only young woman sitting in the un-solicited section of the audience, so why not?!? (Mark has made this choice on several occasions to grand effect, and I still remember James Newport's fantastic "boy named Sue" character from the original run last year.)

Apparently, the audience wanted to know the secret lurking under Audrey's towel as she was selected to lead act two. (On a personal note, I really liked this whole family of characters and was glad that we had a chance to explore them all further.) Robyn's Samantha, while seemingly beautiful and all together on the outside, revealed her darker nature as she plotted to discover Audrey's deep secret. Enlisting the help of her father, Mr. Snack, she vowed to steal Audrey’s towel in order to find the truth once and for all. Meanwhile, Jeremy revealed that under his hard hat there was a soft heart (in beautiful song, of course). Finally, Audrey confronted her rival, in the full light of day, and proudly uncovered what had been hiding under her beach towel all along: a tattoo bearing the name (in black and white) of her long-kindled love, Jeremy.

The band was sizzling tonight. Fun parodies were flying left, right and center, with Charles getting more than his fair share but characteristically stepping up bravely to hit them out of the park one at a time with that effortlessly soaring voice of his. He was undeniably scorching tonight too. I got to Grease it up at the end of the second act as Audrey (no Little Shop parodies for me, although maybe that’s a little cerebral!) Robyn went gangbusters creating many a memorable moment as the villain, and Ron’s Mr. Snack gave a great parody of “Mr. Sandman” towards the close of the second act with the rest of us in support. (This character also served as the subject of one of the more memorable exchanges of the show: Charles as Audrey’s protective brother, John—“Where do you want me to punch him?” Me as Audrey—“Punch him in the snack maker.” Does that even make sense?!?!)

We weaved together some fun story elements tonight, with a reveal that was a little more fulfilling artistically and less bloody than last night. I feel slightly redeemed personally! Act two, in particular, zipped by almost effortlessly and was a great deal of fun to play in.

I start my rehearsals for Lost Comedies in earnest on Monday, so I’m going to start feeling slightly schizophrenic jumping back and forth between the lands of musicals and Shakespeare! We’ve passed the halfway point with this run though, so it’s time to look ahead…

Your towel-touting Director, David C.

Death Becomes Her: Performance Number Twelve

Another rather bloody ending to the show tonight... I'll take full responsibility for this one.

We had a moderate sized house tonight and a sound show. When we've had several very strong shows in a row, it feels a little anti-climactic when one doesn't quite have that special something, but our audience was still very positive and glowing in their comments as they left, and our post-show debrief did well to remind me that there really were many very successful moments in the performance. Our energy as a cast felt a little down tonight comparatively, and we also had some difficulties getting in sync with the band on several occasions. In short, the show felt a little anxious--which isn't perhaps surprising as this was our initial emotion offer! (Maybe we're all becoming a little too "method"!)

Act one introduced us to the usual oddball array of audience-inspired characters. Mark played Richard, a young unsuccessul tractor salesman whose anxious girlfriend dreamed of honeymoons while his boss, Pico, craved a competent worker. Darren was Bill, a man whose house was thrown into turmoil as his motorcycle-riding father tried to pull him away from his all-knowing wife and light-footed seventeen-year-old daughter, Bethany. Kate played Chivon, a service woman living in the barracks with three girlfriends who all seemed to inadvertantly thwart her ambitions for success. I took on the role of Scott (or was it Bob?), a compulsive liar who finally decided to reveal his true name and identity to his girlfriend, Sharon, in the hopes of gaining some much-needed distance from his roommate, Graham, and his estranged mother, Gloria. Some highlights from the first act were Mark's great searching solo to his girlfriend, Darren's playful trio with his wife and daughter, Kate's amazingly full-voiced "Potential" song as Chivon, and Jim's tough challenge to me with the song "Sherry" (Sharon?) as my final solo of the act. He really had me reaching for some high notes there!

Scott (or was it Bob?) became our focus for the second act as he tried to reconnect with his now lost love, Kate's Sharon. Mark's mother, Gloria, emerged as a fantastic villainess and enlisted the help of Corporal Gwen, a young woman with particularly dangerous fingers. As Scott searched high and low for his love, this evil duo jabbed him at every turn, until the show climaxed in a mother/son shank face-off. I particularly enjoyed singing a Sondheim-esque number with Jim on the keyboards as I begged Sharon to answer my calls. Mark and Darren also had a wonderfully playful villain duet, and Mark later provided a great show stopper as his seventeen-year-old daughter character. I also really enjoyed the energy of our confrontation song at the end of the act, and Kate and Darren provided a great unexpected love connection in the background as Mark and I slowly sung our last bloody but tuneful notes on the forestage.

Gina's quotable quote of the night (the speaker wishes to remain anonymous): "I feel the floodgates of love filling up and I want to spill them all over you."

Mark, Jim and I are performing an excerpt of the show for the Red Chair function this evening. That should be interesting... (Just how exactly do you provide an excerpt of an improvised musical?!?!)

If those 10:00pm shows have been a little late for you, remember that September Sunday 2:00 matinees are just around the corner.

Your the-only-thing-better-than-FourPlay-twice-a-weekend-is-FourPlay-thrice-a-weekend Director, David C.

I've known Heather longer than any other company member--other than myself--and she generously agreed to return to her role as choreographer (and slightly ignored wife) for this year's production. As is our wont, we scheduled a telephone interview in our cars as we zipped between our various in-town gigs, while sipping on bottled water and chewing altoids.

Current favorite musical: A Light in the Piazza
Current favorite improv game: Opera

DC: Heather, you’ve been involved with music and musicals for the majority of your life, it seems. What is it about this particular genre that calls to you?

HC: I haven’t a clue. My poor parents could never get me to shut-up as a child. They had to create new rules and manners like singing at the dinner table is rude, or no tap dancing allowed on the kitchen floor. I just love to do it--no deep reason--there is just something about singing that lights up my heart. Ok, that’s a bit cheesy but very true.

DC: Since arriving in Orlando three years ago, you’ve already taken on an impressive variety of roles and projects with theatres in the area, working at Disney, Mad Cow, Orlando Repertory Theatre, Winter Park Playhouse, the Orlando Fringe Festival and now with OSF as the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods. What has been your most challenging or rewarding experience here in your new home?

HC: That's a very hard question to answer as I think each project brings on new challenges. I found a recent reading of Streetcar Named Desire to be immensely rewarding, as I was fortunate to get to read Stella along with the amazing Russ Blackwell as Stanley and Brooke Hanemann as Blanche. When you're running a race with Olympians your personal pace definitely increases. I still hold My Fair Lady dear to my heart. It was directed by Alan Bruun at Mad Cow Theatre. He takes such joy in the text but also likes to work with what actors bring to the table which I really appreciate. (I'm not much for being a carbon copy of other people's previous performances.) Putting together Sondheim’s Company for a hurricane Katrina benefit in 3 days and without ever having the full company together until the performance was definitely one of my most challenging and favorite things in town. (Robyn Pedretti was also in this show and she was a hoot!) And much to my surprise I gained a new appreciation for pink and adore doing My Disney Girls Perfectly Princess Tea Party at Walt Disney World. I leave on a natural high every time I finish that show. It’s fun to purely entertain and pass along the magic. I love that as a performer in Orlando you can be involved in so many different kinds of theatre at one time!

DC: You recently made the decision to join Actors’ Equity – the professional union for stage actors. I know this has been something you’ve been toying with for a while. What finally prompted you to make the move, and how has the market changed for you now that you are ineligible for non-Equity work?

HC: This was a ridiculously hard decision that I've been toying with for years. I'll admit that what finally pushed me to take the plunge was seeing my two Boston Conservatory classmates in the national tour of Wicked. I realized okay, it's time to push myself to the next step. Since then, I've been to NY several times to audition for Broadway, which is a thrill! Locally, I was very concerned about how it would affect my casting, but many people, including my dear friends at the Winter Park Playhouse, encouraged me to join and so I decided it was the right time. The summer has been good to me and my casting has fortunately not come to a halt. Phew!

DC: While you clearly earn your bread and butter as a scripted performer, I know that you have dabbled in the world of improv as well. Do you approach these two styles differently as a performer or do you find yourself using similar skills and approaches regardless of the show format?

HC: I found that after I started dabbling with improv I was able to be a bit more risky in my rehearsal processes for scripted shows. Once you have to pull a full show out of the air it makes it a lot easier to find a few new choices in a show that’s already written. As for different technique, I’d have to say no, the key to improv is listening and that’s the key to scripted theatre as well. I definitely think that a little improv training made me a better listener.

DC: Wow! That's the longest coversation we've had in two months! Last one home turns off the lights...

To learn more about Heather's latest gig, go here.

Another Killer Show: Performance Number Eleven

There was definitely a darkness in the air this weekend, as Saturday's performance shared some of the zany edge of Friday's! Though the body count was considerably less, the stakes were equally high and as a company we had an awful lot of fun with our audience. My father, who has been visiting from New Zealand, has seen about half of the performances to date, and noted that he can see the form maturing. I'm inclined to agree.

Charles, pictured right, was our first audience character of the night, playing Matt, a "barrel technician" or refuse collector. Much to the disgust of his colleagues, Jim and Jill, Matt found himself slowly pulled into the web of Mrs. Witherspoon, a recent "divorcee" whose intentions seemed less than pure. Darren played the role of Jason, a head-over-heels in love young man who fought to keep the object of his love, Julie, away from her ex-boyfriend and former best friend, Tyler. Jason's former foreign pen pal, Gaston, shook things up even further when he advised Jason to think twice about Julie's love (to the tune of the Beetles "Michelle" thanks to the ever playful Jim Rhinehart.) Then came Kate as Marie, a counselor at Camp Idawile (sp?). Bob, an entertainer from AC Ducy, and a native American greeter, Joe, spiced up her world, along with a hyper-active six-year-old Jimmy, who sought a more positive parental model. Finally, I was Charles, a young man in transition starting out his college life in a ridiculously small studio apartment with Jerry, an online D&D buddy, whose domineering girlfriend, Marva, only made life more difficult for everyone. Only the girl next door, Marla, offered him any potential for happiness.

The show followed Matt into the second act, and Charles rocked the house with his great rock 'n' roll stylings, with strong help, as always, from Jim and Keith--our boys in the band! Darren's Marva was revealed to be Mrs Witherspoon's daughter from one of her (many) earlier marriages, and both women announced their plans to continue their legacies as black widows. (I did my best to channel Sharon Stone from Basic Instinct throughout.) Charles and Kate also put me through the ringer a little! When my hyper character, Jimmy, reappeared in a scene and stole a little(?) focus, Charles revealed the "statue" of his wife that he had carved and made me pose on stage for what felt like an eternity! As the act continued, Charles' Matt had more and more narrow escapes from his new wife's plots, until the show climaxed with another bloodbath (partially thanks to Matt Cross with his trigger finger in the booth!) Charles gave a great musical ending as he forgave Mrs. Witherspoon for her mistakes while she died in his arms. Very musical theatre indeed!

In a sign that the show is clearly finding its grove, notes were done in about 10 minutes (which must be some kind of a record). I personally had a lot of fun with my colleagues tonight. I came into the show with a stressed voice, and while I had pushed a little last night, I felt that tonight I was able to still make strong energetic offers without over singing--a trap I sometimes fall into. Jim and Keith were particularly helpful in the pit, leading me into slightly gentler numbers when I had solos. I like to bat them out of the park with big vocal endings, but it was an excellent lesson in restraint for me. I'm trying to emulate some of the excellent singers in our company in this regard. I felt that there was a lot of good supporting and listening onstage, and we pulled the show into the gate with time to boot!

Speaking of restraint, we had a somewhat over eager audience member tonight who, for much of the first act, decided to loudly vocalize his own punchlines and color commentary. I don't think it was intended to be unruly and, thankfully, wasn't obscene in nature, but it was very reminiscent of a stand-up club heckler, and definitely disturbed others (including the performers). I thought he would stop when he noticed that others weren't behaving in a similar fashion, but when we passed the halfway point of the first act, I needed to address it from the stage as my Frenchman, Gaston. Taking a page out of Robyn's book, I walked to the downstage edge and closed a window, commenting on how rude the neighbors were. The audience understood my true agenda and applauded, and it seemed to do the trick. The overly-participatory gentlemen calmed down and I'm told, stayed for the duration of the show, so I think he got the message. That was definitely a FourPlay first.

I've just wrapped up my improv show at Rollins as well today. I'm slightly amazed that I've made it through this weekend. Not sure what was fueling me, especially since I don't drink coffee any more!

We starting a list of crappy rhyme set ups: up, him, now... Any of your own to add?

Your by-the-seat-of-his-pants Director, David C.

Attend the Tale of Theresa Todd: Performance Number Ten

Friday's show was certainly a departure from our normal material. It all started with the seemingly benign offer of "guilty" as the emotional starting point. Mark, with a touch of his usual finesse, got the ball rolling quickly by admitting as his dry-walling character that she (he was Theresa) had 42 bodies buried in the basement--much to the dismay of his sister (Robyn) and the surprise of his two rather odd girlfriends (Jay and me). The voting outcome was relatively clear right from this moment! Jay's audience-inspired character was a shut-in whose small house became crowded with unexpected guests and his butcher Dad. Robyn followed with a free-loading friend who had a crush on a local police detective and sought advice from an oddball fortune teller, Sai Pan. Finally, I dived into the shoes of a young man, with a younger child and an unhappy ex-wife, whose only solace was his balloon animals. (Jim offered a nice "beautiful balloon" parody for my solo at the end of the act.)

But as I said, Mark's storyline was clearly rich with violent potentials, and that was what the audience wanted, so that is what the audience got...! It was a fun second act in that it retained the structure, but reinvented the content in a surprising new way. One at a time, Mark and his murderous passion, infected the show, until nearly every character was pulled into his/her web or became the victim of his contagious intent. This even included Jay's adorable Barny character who uttered, "I'm five!" as he limped off the stage with a slashed throat. You had to be there! Mark gave a great Sweeney Todd parody in the second act, while Jay and I had our usual warped sense of fun in the antagonist duet, and Robyn provided fantastic comedic moments as both of Mark's ill-fated sisters.

My voice is still suffering from last week, so I felt like I ran out of vocal steam a little by the end of the night. Alas. Someone in the team noted that my characters all started to sound the same about half way through act two as my voice decided to shut down!

Some quotable quotes that Gina recorded...

Mark as killer Theresa: "The newspaper paints murder and bad people in a negative light."
Jay as officer Captain Joe: "I'm not stupid just 'cause I'm southern."
Mark as killer Theresa: "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the dead people room."
David as Joe's eager accomplice, Morgan: "If we catch her in the deed, it doesn't matter about the dead, 'cause the deed is better than the dead indeed."
David as fortune teller, Sai Pan: "I'm going to make this quick, 'cause man who makes it quick has time to watch big game."

Your sounding-more-and-more-like-Kermit-every-minute Director, David C.

In my list of debts for this show, John Carollo features prominently at the top! He generously came to my rescue as I became aware of FourPlay's design needs, although, as I'm sure he'll attest, I was unaware of just how extensive these needs were--ranging from designing the logo itself, to creating the flyers, posters, advertisements, t-shirts, program cover, providing the website and slide show elements... the list goes on. John is always, it seems, creating art, so I agreed to step out of my comfort zone and join him on a life drawing outing, with my pallet, box of water colors, and an eagerness to learn.

Current favorite musical: Hairspray (not that I have the use for any)
Current favorite improv game: Shoulda' said

DC: John, you have really been a knight in shining armor for this production, providing an enormous amount of design work and consultation. You clearly have a gift as a visual artist, and a generosity in sharing that gift. Do you recall how you became interested in the world of graphic design?

JC: Well, based on the recommendation of parents and high school counselors, I went off to college like a lamb to the slaughter to study business. After a semester and a half of Economics and Calculus, the results were disastrous enough that I needed to go in a different direction. I dabbled in art a bit as a kid, but more music, as I was in band and orchestra, and actually designed for and taught bands and drum corps for several years later on. There was a good graphic design program at another university, so I transferred and it turned out well. Design can be interesting, because you need to communicate the essence of a project or idea very quickly and clearly. The thought process behind the actual finished look is what I enjoy the most.

In the case of FourPlay, I wanted to have it perceived as a local production of an established, national show..hence the "crisp" design treatment. The positive feedback from those involved has been great. As far as the "sharing" business, sometimes the right presentation package will help a great product that might otherwise be overlooked get more notice. FourPlay is a great product, and I'm glad I've been able to help increase its visibility.

DC: You're too kind. You are also a graduate of SAK University and a member of SAK’s Lab Rat ensemble, which performs regularly on Tuesday evenings in the Lab. How would you compare the processes and means of performance art with those of visual art? As you have pursued your craft as an improviser, has this changed the way you approach the canvas or computer screen?

JC: It is an interesting contrast. As an artist, you are really a creator/director. You plan, shape, fine tune and polish your creation to send it out into the spotlight, where it tends to get more recognition than you do personally. At SAK I do some of that (very QUICKLY) and then am also in the spotlight, which is not a role I am terribly used to. What you learn studying improv gives you a fantastic skill set for life, as all the work on going with your instincts, not hesitating about ideas, and basically just throwing yourself out there, no matter what may happen can really bleed over into other things. I think the confidence I've gained from my participation in SAK has probably been instrumental in my finally getting the guts to show my paintings publicly, and not just my design work.

DC: Speaking of which, your work was recently honored at a regional art show. Tell us a little about that experience and any future opportunities we might have to see your handiwork.

JC: As I just alluded to, I started painting years ago in college, but had never shown anything until last November. I've now had four shows in less than a year, and it is exciting and rewarding. The event you mentioned was the Downtown Art & Living Expo at Lake Eola. It was an outdoor art festival in May. I am the Resident Visual Artist with the Voci modern dance company, a collaboration which came about through my past experience as a costume designer and choreographer, and we team up sometimes with me showing art and painting during their performances. They were going to have a tent at this festival and invited me to share the space. I madly painted my butt off to have something to show, and out of a field of over 100 artists, I was thrilled and surprised to receive a Best in Show award (and some cash too). The funny thing is I had just done that painting a week before, after not painting in a while. I showed it to friends saying, "look, I've lost it, this stinks." And that was the prize winner. Maybe it didn't stink that much!

DC: Clearly you stink... of success! [Long silence]. Sorry, I won't interrupt again. Continue...

JC: August and September will be a busy time. I will be at the Urban Think bookstore on Central in Thornton Park Friday, August 25 from 6-9PM as the featured artist of that week's Friday Night Arts event. My work will be up there for a week after. The next day, Saturday the 26th, I will be one of 15 artists showing at the Red Chair Affair at the Bob Carr. It is a swanky event to raise awareness about Orlando cultural offerings. On September 9, a show opens with myself and three other artists at the Art House, a very cool space operated by the city of Casselberry. That show runs through October 31. What have I done to prepare for all this? ZERO. Time to get busy.

DC: Indeed! I’ve linked our readers to your home site before, nakedeyestudios.com, but describe what newcomers will find here.

JC: I just updated some of the portfolio gallery sections to include some newer work and added a new "Total Package" area, which shows some projects I've worked on where I created a design look that was applied to several parts of a campaign. There are also areas for the paintings and ceramics, and a place to sign up for the email list, to be notified about upcoming art show events, etc. OH, and people should check out the "Who Are We" area to meet my staff. They are sort of on the short side, but actually do contribute to the business. A few projects coming up include: a new client who is going to produce a line of novelty clothing – I'm doing illustrations/logos for that., an annual 44 page magazine project – I'm currently creating the storyline and thematic ideas for that, and some display kiosk work for an insulation company. A little bit of everything.

DC: I don't know how you do it...! Well it looks like we're done with the paintings. Perhaps you can help me figure out how you created a beautiful portrait while mine turned out to be an ash tray...

To learn more about John, go here.

FourPlay Appears in (Internet) Ink

It was a little time in coming, but FourPlay finally received some press! Thanks to Al Pergande of Ink19, you can get an outsider's view of the show. Feel free to check it out by going here.

In other news, it looks like the show is tentatively slated to make a guest appearance at the upcoming Red Chair benefit. We'll probably be performing that well-known number from the second act where that person sings with another person about that thing that has really made working or living at that place all-but impossible. Ah, I can't help humming it right now!

In other other news, The Lost Comedies auditions are this coming Monday and Tuesday at SAK. We're looking for a few good men and women who aren't afraid of Shakespeare or tights. If you know anyone...

In another other other news, ImprOvientation runs this weekend at Rollins with Rollins Improv Players. We perform nine hour-long shows over the course of two and a half days in front of approximately 550 students and their peer mentors. Rehearsals are going well, and it looks like we might actually be ready for our first show on Friday afternoon. I'll be performing over twenty-hours of improv this weekend. Eek.

In one last another other other news, I'm scheduled for my breakdown around noon on Monday, after my first regular class.

Your improv-a-thoning Director, David C.

Like a Phoenix From the Ashes: Performance Number Nine

And I think we're there... We've had a lot of really good shows in the run to date, but this was a pivotal weekend in that both shows really broke the learning curve. It feels as if the company has really found its groove, and the structure is now successfully sticking when needed. Gina, the Assistant Director, and I shared a sigh of contented relief in that it feels that our baby is now walking on its own with more predictability. Many of my worries of a week ago are fading into the past.

What a great house! It was large in number, spirit and generosity. I had a good number of my troupe from Rollins College in attendance, and I'm glad they got to see a strong performance as well. Mark, assuming the role of a young woman, started the show strongly as a young janitorial worker who had a snobby college friend, a masculine crush, and an 85-year old grandfather who had taught her the business. The toilet humor started flying early! As always, Mark delivered a fantastic solo as his character chose to abandon her family career in order to pursue her dreams (of GAP?!) Then came Ron as a young man living in a tiny bedroom at home much to his chagrin and the ire of his demanding and somewhat superficial girlfriend. Ron and Robyn's controlling mother created a great duet, and Mark added romantic intrigue as a potential rival. In one of our more interesting offers of late, Robyn worked in a Miami refugee camp as a kind-hearted volunteer. There she was pulled by the needs of a strange variety of characters, including Ron's quirky Pedro, an older man with deceleration issues, and Poppa, an obnoxious Australian who wanted to whisk her away from it all on the back of his kangaroo. Finally, we returned to the bathroom with my character, Jordan, who liked to take books into the toilet with him. At his weekly book reading meeting we met his rival, Graham, his mentor (?) Professor Wiggins, and the apple of his eye, Jordash. Heather, our choreographer and my wife, and my father, who have both seen the last several weekends agreed that not only were the characters unique and specific tonight, but that we also lacked our usual handful of random or ill-fitting personas--an indication of strong listening and sharing in general.

Act two followed Jordan as he tried to improve his life by actually reading the books he'd been taken into the restroom. As he enrolled in college courses, his rival, Graham, turned out to be his biology TA, and thwarted Jordan's efforts at every turn. Robyn provided a great finesse in a scene where she played Graham's sidekick while burning the clothes of Jordash, a character she also embodied! Jordan entered just in time to believe that Jordash was now a pile of ashes. Robyn's character work and comedic timing was dynamite tonight. Mark, as Professor Wiggins, created some of the biggest laughs of the night, and as his former janitorial worker, nearly brought the house down when he counseled Jordan in the bathroom stalls of GAP to "spill it." Ron did great work as the villain, providing a wonderful twist at the final moment of the show, and his Pedro 10:00 number was one of the funniest and most playful we've had in a while. The final song of the show also built beautifully, with Mark leading a slow applause reveal, and Robyn emerging from the ashes (like a phoenix) just as the song culminated. Other than singing myself hoarse a little during the second act, I feel the show really went well for us all tonight, and the work was shared well and with generosity as we had on Friday.

The show is still getting out a little late. We keep starting late and having intermission extended unexpectedly. One of the difficulties of the 10:00 slot is that regardless of show quality, people get ancy around 11:45/11:50, and I'm keen that these delays don't make the show feel longer than it actually is (we rarely run past 90 or 95 minutes of actual performance time.) Has the show been feeling long to any of you blog readers? I'll keep fighting the good fight...

Your time-conscious Director, David C.

A Whale of a Show: Performance Number Eight

We had a slightly smaller house on Friday than we've been accustomed to, but we made up for it in story! The form really came together well tonight, and most of our notes at the end of the night were punctuated with laughter and joy. Our act one ran a little long - we're getting better at starting nearer the middle of a scene, but sometimes we lag a little at the end when it comes to our exits. High status characters can also be problematic - I found myself dominating a little in Chase's storyline, but he did a nice job of keeping focus, and his continual interruptions actually became part of our relationship, which was fun.

Chase was our first audience-inspired character: Al, a bomb-maker... An explosive beginning indeed! Kate was his beaten down co-worker, while Jay created a great spy character who went by the name of "Ghost" and I was a power-hungry sports-car-driving mega-industrialist just known as "Boss." Jim gave a nice James Bondish song challenge which Chase hit out of the park. We then met Jay's character--a restless young man trying to free himself from his dominating friend, bossy girlfriend, and bad-advice-giving mother. Kate took on the role of a SeaWorld employee who had the misfortune of living with one of her uppity underlings. Kate gave us another beautiful ballad in this position, while Chase and Jay's wacky sidekick characters provided some great comedy. Finally, I was Joe, another dream squelched character, who was trying desperately to escape his parents by catching the sun in his patio light catchers.

Chase's Al was selected for act two, indicating that we had a smart audience as there really were so many great and unique potentials for his journey! I particularly enjoyed the villain duet as Jenny (Kate's ill-tempered roommate) with Jay's "Ghost". It was a tango-inspired number that triggered Jim to whisper to us from the keyboard "Never again" as we left the stage! Chase led the act well, and while we were a little light on environment as a company, the stories really were quite well executed and playful. This is something we've struggled with at times. Kate had a great "awww" moment as her overlooked co-worker, and her sister duet with Chase was beautifully harmonic. The show also had a great culmination with Jay's Ghost trapping Chase and his boss (father?!) in a water tank by sewing them inside with an eyelash (you had to see it!) Chase had a great finesse calling his aquatic friends at SeaWorld to come to the rescue, and the show ended with strength (and a partial standing O!)

Story was hot, and this was a nice growth. Jay really is a fine story crafter and helped elevate this game in general. Along with Chase's refocused drive and Kate's always soulful crooning, we had a nice balanced night. I think I did some nice things too!!

I have members of my campus improv troupe (RIP) in the house on Saturday, so I hope we can keep this momentum going...

Your long-form-loving Director, David C.

300 and Counting...

Well, I've been with SAK as a member of the professional ensemble for about two and a half years now since relocating to Florida from Baton Rouge. I started tallying my number of Lab performances last year on my faculty website, largely to keep a record of my professional credits for tenure and promotion purposes. (These are the things you have to do in a tenure track position!) Regardless of the purpose, my little counter ticked over last weekend, and I realized that I had reached the 300 mark. Now that's not a golden anniversary or anything, but it has a certain ring to it that seems worthy of mention.

It's strange looking back. Prior to SAK, I had mainly been performing and working in long-form improv. In fact, while I had directed and hosted many short-form shows over the years, such as Making It Up As We Go Along at LSU with a cast of over 30 novice improvisers, it had been about eight years since I had regularly played in a short form show myself (Chicago Comedysportz in the early 1990s to be exact). I still remember my initial nervousness when I stepped onto the mainstage to play with SAK's veterans (Brendan was one of them, if my memory serves.)

While I am still avowedly a long-form junky, SAK really has rekindled my joy of short-form as a player. I think this attack has also re-invigorated some of my more experimental work.

Anyone else remember their first SAK performance as a player or audience member? (Has anyone else been so anal retentive as to tally their shows? I'm sure there are some really impressive tallies out there...)

Your number-crunching Director, David C.

Few people, if any, have put more time, energy and love into SAK Comedy Lab than Dave Russell. As the Managing Director and Artistic Director of SAK and Producer of FourPlay, Dave and I are in close competition for "longest job description on a business card," and that doesn't include the myriad of non-SAK related work he does in the Parks. Dave and I also placed highly in the recently held OVAs (Orlando Verbosity Awards). As such, I sat down with him, a court stenographer and 15 reams of paper for our little chat...

Current favorite musical: High School Musical - Don't laugh, I have kids! I have seen that movie over 100 times and the tunes are quite catchy!
Current favorite improv game: I love so many improv games. One that offers me the greatest thrill is the 4 letter word game. We start with a 4 letter word from the audience (not profane - “slip,” for example). The first speaker must use “slip” in their dialogue. The second must change 1 letter (can be any letter) and use it in their dialogue. As dialogue goes back and forth, each improviser continues to change one letter. It’s like that puzzle game – can you get from “slip” to “fine” in ten or less steps? Man, its a brain buster, and the audience loves watching the improvisers' heads almost explode.

DC: Dave, I believe you’ve been involved with SAK since its inception. I’d love to know a little about those early days, the SAK founders, and what the original company looked like.

DR: In a way, SAK has led a double life. I was not one of the original members of SAK, but joined the troupe in 1983 (SAK was officially born in 1977 in Buffalo, Minnesota). The original troupe was Craig McNair Wilson (now a writer in San Francisco), Terry Olson (a name recognizable to anyone in the Arts in Central Florida - he is now the Orange County's Department of Arts & Cultural Affairs administrator) and Herb and Bernelle Hansen (Herb works at Walt Disney World as a performer and Show Director and Bernelle lives in Minnesota).

When I joined, SAK was performing street theater mostly at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World. SAK also performed at Renaissance Festivals (its roots trace to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival), Faires and Expos around the world. In 1989 our production and performance contract with Disney ended. At this point Disney was building a comedic/improvisational pool of performers of their own with the opening of the Disney MGM Studios, Pleasure Island and eventually Animal Kingdom. Up to that point we were pretty much the only comedic and improvisational performers on property.

Having a lot of eagerness and energy to continue performing together, we eventually opened the SAK Comedy Lab in downtown Orlando in 1991. This was a second birthing of sorts for SAK. I am one of the founding members of that company of performers. In those seminal days, we had a troupe of about 12 performers creating and performing plays that we developed improvisationally, most notably Las Vegas Hospital and Fun With Science. We also developed a competitive improvisation format that was part TheaterSports, part ComedySportz, and part our own twisted version. That morphed into our very popular show Duel of Fools. Many of our original company members have gone on to do very well in television, film, writing – all kinds of disciplines. Of course the most notable is Wayne Brady, but SAK alumni include Paul Vogt (MadTV), Joel McCrary (Princess Diaries 1 & 2), Jonathan Mangum (Drew Carey Show), Aaron Shure (Writer, Producer, Everybody Loves Raymond), Paula Pell (Writer, Producer, Saturday Night Live)... And the list goes on.

DC: After your early years with SAK, you departed for the West Coast with several other former company members (as has often been the case historically). Describe the years you spent in Los Angeles with Houseful of Honkeys. What type of improv and theatre work did you get up to?

DR: The L.A. experience (as the cool dudes refer to it) was wonderful and not wonderful at the same time. There are a ton of improv groups in L.A. Some of them are pretty good, a few are great, and a lot weren’t very good at all. The Houseful of Honkeys was one of the higher end improv groups, thankfully. It was sometimes difficult to get the masses excited about improv because so much mediocre improv was being passed off around town as actual entertainment. Also, many of those groups were exploring and performing long form improvisation – much of it transplanted from Chicago where many L.A. improvisers had their roots. Although I love long form improv, its a tough sell to an audience when it’s not packaged properly in my opinion. I think it’s many times like jazz music. There is jazz music that everyone likes, and jazz music that is most appreciated by other jazz musicians who understand and appreciate the subtle musical nuances and tonal explorations. It’s the same with long form improv. So many forms leave the audience thinking “what the heck is this? Is this a show?” Other improvisers love it and appreciate it and understand the subtle nuances, but most of the general public tilts their head like a confused dog. I myself like performing long form. I just like it with a little show value spice – LIKE FOURPLAY!!!! Oops. Producers plug, sorry about that.

Long form can be fun and a rewarding theatrical experience, but the Honkeys style was short form story-based scenes, songs and games. Very much like SAK in that respect - not surprising though, seeing as though we all came from the SAK stable. As the Houseful of Honkeys, we were very lucky to make a place for ourselves in the L.A. improv world. Ask any improviser in Hollywood and they will have heard of the Houseful of Honkeys. The toughest thing we faced was finding a performance home. In Orlando, we had our own theater. None of us knew how long the SAK train would choo, and the lure of Los Angeles was very strong indeed. But we were not in a place where we could have/run our own theater. You think real estate is expensive here!!! So we parked ourselves in suitable locations – coffee houses, small improv venues showcasing many groups, etc., whose owners and operations would eventually change. We were very lucky, however, to hold a spot at the ACME Comedy Theater in Hollywood for quite a while. This is a theater similar to the Groundlings where they perform sketch comedy mostly and utilize improv workshops for material development. It was unheard of for an outside group to play there regularly. The Honkeys played there for 3 years.

DC: Several years ago, you were lured back to Orlando and to the SAK family. What brought you back to these parts and had SAK changed a lot in your absence?

DR: Lured to L.A. - Lured back to Orlando. Boy do I sound flighty. My move back to Orlando and holding the reins at SAK actually happened through a series of events that all worked together with serendipitous timing. SAK was at a bit of a cross-roads. Finances were already tough at SAK and the direction was seeming to move away from our original vision. So we were faced with a “what should we do?” Should we close SAK down? Find a new leader? Let it continue on its present course? At about the same time, in L.A. I and my family (I went out there with my wife, and now we had 2 kids - whoopee!!) were finding it increasingly challenging to have a comfortable living out there. Much of my work was as a consultant with theme parks and production companies and many of those opportunities had dried up after 9/11 (which is by the way my daughter’s birthday. “Happy second birthday honey – oh look at the news...” Interesting day.) In addition, we’d just amassed a huge debt when my appendix exploded. What a rotten thing for an appendix to do on very limited medical insurance coverage. So moving back to Orlando was a great opportunity for us to settle down financially, work to get back on track and hey, at the same time I can run SAK.

DC: You recently launched a Help Save SAK campaign. The company has been buffeted by rising parking costs, hurricanes and shrinking budgets, and yet people keep coming through those brightly painted yellow doors! What is it that gives SAK such staying power, in your opinion?

DR: That is a question I ask myself over and over again, late at night, eyes wide open at 2am. The other burning question is – should we continue to do this? Is it worth it? The answer is a resounding YES. The Help Save SAK campaign is an effort to get the word out and find ways interested folks can help us remain a force in comedy improvisational entertainment here in Orlando. The main thrust is a call for people to spread the word about SAK to as many people as they possibly can using word of mouth, myspace, e-mail, and also ask (or remind) folks to come to our theater – come often, and bring a friend.

As to the staying power? It’s just starting to sink in. When I came back, SAK was in a very challenging place financially and emotionally. My plan at first was to prepare to shut it down, but do it in celebration for the wonderful years we’d had and not crashing in flames. We slowly started to work our way back and then a funny thing happened. I found myself standing in our theater on numerous occasions – sometimes as a performer on the stage, sometimes in the house, sometimes in the lobby as our audiences were coming or going. I just loved what I felt. Everyone seemed so filled with joy. College students, high school students, little kids 10 and 12 years old, their parents, somebody’s grandma and grandpa. All laughing and smiling and filled with joy. Our mission statement is “To create an audience, people who want joy, by playing together.” Playing with our audiences and creating a joyful environment where they are encouraged to participate with us is a SAK signature. From our street performance days when we’d narrate Romeo and Juliet in 20 minutes and pick senior citizens to play the parts of Romeo and Juliet to the shows you see 5 nights a week on the SAK Comedy Lab stage to the Corporate shows we do regularly - people are filled with joy. How can you not want that to continue - despite the hardships and challenges. God has always been gracious to help us when the chips are down. These economic and operational trials and tribulations help bring those who know us closer in to us. That’s actually not a bad thing. We would just love for LOTS more people to know about us.

DC: Here, here! Oh dear, the stenographer's fingers seem to have caught on fire and I'm not sure if the internet actually has enough memory for me to publish all of this, so we'd better stop here. But thanks so much for all the great stories.

To learn more about Dave, go here or here.

DR: One final note: Slip, slit, slot, soot, foot, fort, fore, fire, fine.

Hello Cornelius: Performance Number Seven

Although we're three weeks into our run, Saturday was actually our last opening night for one of our own, Jay Hopkins, who joined us for the first time after wrapping up his obligations with Mad Cow's Constant Wife. (That's Jay with the fun "just-ache", or moustache of justice, standing in the foreground below.) It was neat to see his excitement and feed off his energy tonight. Along with Charles, Kate and myself, there was a good playful mood tonight, and a real sense of supportive ensemble. His lovely wife, Diana, also provided some much needed shirt drying during intermission...

A really nice show tonight. We ran a little long. Some of this was some old challenges with starting on time from the 8:00pm show and an intermission that can tend to get lengthy as we try to quickly recap our storylines before launching into act two. Some of this was, quite frankly, us enjoying ourselves just a little too much at times as performers, especially when it came to sharp starts and ends to scenes. Some of it was that we had some good story potentials to explore when we got into the second act. Our run time, once again, is actually within the ballpark of our goal, that is, approximately 90 minutes of performance. But when these factors make our end time creep up on the midnight hour, it feels long for audience and cast member alike, so it's something we need to keep an eye on. When you see the clock ticking close to midnight, the show is going to feel long even if it is, in fact, the expected actual time in terms of performance minutes.

Our new way of getting ask-fors from the audience is working well (although Jay's personal example may have added about 2 minutes here!!). Charles was a mortgage broker who found potential love when his trainee turned out to be a former high school crush. Jay returned to his former high school as the new principal, and sought advice from his old coach and mentor as to how to motivate the seemingly obtuse student body. Kate struggled with her dorm living situation when her roommate invited an elderly gentleman she'd meet online to join them as a third wheel. I enlisted my younger brother, Barnaby, to help me escape the control of my mother and over-critical grandfather. My character, Cornelius, with his brother (played by Jay) went into the second act as the stars. Can anyone say Hello Dolly!? We had some fun adventures as we tried to find and claim our manhood, only to discover, ultimately, that we needed our mother after all and that "home is where the sweat is" (the fitting title of our closing song)! It was a hot evening in more ways than one.

There were lots of strong moments. Charles' mother character was extremely strong and provided a great motivating force for the second act. He also provided a suitably nasty senior citizen internet stalker in Kate's storyline that got some great audience response. Kate had yet another stand out solo set to a Billy Joel parody in the second act as an over controlling grandfather (yet another brilliant stroke from our maestros Jim and Keith) and crafted some poignant moments as her torn student looking for some personal space as her major character in act one. Jim also pimped me into a very fast-paced jazzy number as Jay's high school secretary/adviser in the first act. This was one of those songs that moved so quickly that I didn't have a second to contemplate my lyric. A bit scary, but a whole lot of fun. Jay had a great opening night overall, but I was particularly fond of his Barnaby character that was so joyful and earnest. I really enjoyed playing alongside him as Cornelius' journey unfolded (particularly as he spun me around during a dance break!) He also had several unexpectedly quick costume changes offstage as he moved quickly amongst his four characters of the evening. Fun, fun, fun.

A really strong show overall. We had strong story elements which really can make all the difference.

I have my first pre-production meeting and a primer workshop for The Lost Comedies on Monday, and go into rehearsals for ImprOvientation on the campus of Rollins College on Wednesday, so I have to start to shift my gears a little...

Any one have any thoughts on the new way we elicit our initial offers from the audience? (Has anyone noticed that we've tweaked this?!?!)

Your soon-to-be-thrice-directing Director, David C.

On Style and Substance: Performance Number Six

Another good house that included original company members James and Krisha tonight. Great to see them back in O-Town! Act one was pretty solid, although there were some focus/sharing issues in places and we ran a little long accordingly. Act two was more problematic, although there was still much enjoyment from the house. The show, however, veered a little from north in terms of its energy and style. I don't really want to re-hash it all again here as we had a lengthy chat after the show and I've just sent out my lengthy notes for the rest of the company. There were some good lessons to help us move forward though, and is often the case, when the show slips into territory that doesn't quite match my intent as the director, it helps me and the company further fine tune our definition of the production's overall goals.

And so, with that in mind, I offer some quick tid-bits:

1. The show is really an earnest attempt to create a "legitimate" musical (what exactly does that mean?) With that in mind, we need to fully commit to our characters and their worlds in order to enable a journey of note and interest. Needlessly commenting on the choices of others in the creative equation can steadily undermine the viability of this world and lower the stakes.

2. FourPlay is really an ensemble piece that demands a great deal of generosity on the part of all those involved: performers, musicians, technicians... We need to strive to support our fellow players and work to move focus appropriately throughout the performance while accepting offered gifts with good spirit and joy.

3. Laughter is merely one form of audience response, and while we surely want good doses of this (as it is a musical comedy afterall), we shouldn't be afraid of pursuing some softer or more sincere moments as well.

4. There is no substitution for passion and active choices. At the end of the day, we need to find and connect to our characters' drives and use these to fuel our journey. Over-the-top personas and choices create great energy and humor, but ultimately, they need to be in the service of something that is relatable to us individually and to the audience as a whole. This attitude also serves the notion that FourPlay celebrates that anyone's life, no matter how seemingly simple or unassuming, is worthy of being musically dramatized.

And that, I think, sums it up quite nicely.

Although we had a smashing gala opening by all accounts, I am currently unaware of any posted or published reviews. Does anyone know differently? Does anyone care to share an informal review of their own?

Your style-polishing Director, David C.

I was personally relieved when Gina agreed to return to this year's production of FourPlay as my Assistant Director. We developed a great directing chemistry last year, and it continually amazes me how often we're on exactly the same page when it comes to what needs to be done next in the process. Now that we've reached the performance stage, Gina is instrumental in keeping the show running smoothly and strengthening throughout the run. Gina agreed to meet me on the roof of the Centroplex Parking Garage where we caught some rays, sipped on unsweetened iced tea and enjoyed a little Ben and Jerrys.

Current favorite musical: As you could probably tell by my audition for the show, I don't know musical theatre, but know more than I did before I worked with FourPlay. I'm a big fan of Disney movies, though. Does that count? They sing a lot.
Current favorite improv game: Scene Three Ways or Alphabet, Shoulda Said, Shakespeare (I like the torture)

DC: Gina, as someone who was inextricably involved in last year’s debut production of FourPlay as well as our new and improved version 2.0, how would you characterize these two processes and products, and what distinguishes our current offering?

GD: What does inextricably mean? No, really, what does that mean? One question into the interview, and I'm stumped.

DC: Sorry about that. Let me try again... You have a unique perspective each evening, as our eyes in the house during the performances. For those who have seen you frantically taking notes in the house, what are you looking for as the production unfolds?

GD: My job is to watch everything to review later. Any one of 4 main characters can be chosen as the story we follow in Act II. I look for the character who will pose the biggest obstacle(s) to the hero in Act II. Also, we see 16 characters the first half - 4 are inspired from the audience, but the other 12 are made up instantly. The actors are coming up with real relationships with these crazy characters on the spot, making up lyrics, and changing costumes, all the while having to remember what they've created. I help them keep track of that. I write everything down, and at intermission, my job is to remind the actors of the little stuff they do and say ("Chase, don't forget you said your character's dad's left eye was eaten by a baby pig.") and to also find possible connections between any of the 16 characters ("Robyn, you said your character grew up on a farm - maybe that farm had pigs.") Then we save the little gem that maybe Robyn's pig ate Chase's dad's eye for later. Maybe they use it, maybe they don't, but they have it in their back pocket as a possibility. We review the characters at half time, and I try to keep that short so our audience doesn't have to wait too long. If you're waiting for a long time, my apologies, but you have to realize how inextricably linked these characters are. It's not always easy.

DC: Nice word usage! You’ve been involved with SAK for some time now as an Apprentice, Host and member of the Generation S ensemble, but as of late you’ve taken on another role and project. Tell us a little about the process of co-creating SAK’s inaugural High School League. How did this idea come about, and where do you see it going?

GD: Improv is pure joy. Somehow we talked about how cool it would have been if improv was around when we were in school and how cool it would be to offer something like that now. Then someone asked why we didn't, and we didn't have an answer...so John Hunter (co-creator & all around swell guy) and I figured it out and helped develop the program. We had 4 schools involved this year, and they got to do 2 shows. There was such joy surrounding the project. Eventually, we think it'd be great if schools could have a whole improv season where they have matches against other schools, and it becomes something in which your school just has to be involved!

DC: I became involved in improv during my high school days in New Zealand. I'm glad that you're giving this opportunity to students in our area. As an improviser, you’ve also been involved with several interesting projects outside of SAK in the last few years. Are there any particularly interesting highlights that you’d like to share?

GD: Why yes, David, I worked with you in a Fringe show. It was a grueling rehearsal schedule by this slave driving director, but one of the most amazing shows I've ever done, which I can't really describe because "you had to be there." Also, John dared me to get something out of my car when I was naked two nights ago. That wasn't so much of a project as a one-time thing, but it was "interesting" and "outside of SAK," and John said it was a "highlight."

DC: I'm not quite sure how to respond to that...

To learn more about Gina, go here or, apparently, wait outside her car late at night.

A "Magical" Show: Performance Number Five

I had fun tonight! Our mics were generally working; our good-sized house was equally receptive; our stories were quirky but concentrated... All the ingredients for a little magic!

I took the stage with Charles, Darren and Kate - the latter two are pictured in this rehearsal photo on the left. Even though we were a little sagging in our energy backstage, we soon exploded playfully into the space. (On a sidenote: I tend to find that I am a little more focused as a player when I start a show a little tired. Does anyone else share this experience?) I'm not sure if I'm going to always reiterate the basic storylines here, but Saturday's were particularly fun. We adjusted how we get our initial ask-fors--just a little--and I wonder if this also helped to set us up for some wonderful adventures. Charles started the show as a penny-pinching bell-boy at the Marriott, trying to please Mrs. Witherspoon, an eighty-year-old vamp, and the Gunther brothers (Sebastian and Perry if memory serves) who were magicians on the way down. Charles impressed all with a great Hotel California parody (yeah Jim!). Darren followed up with a young working civilian on a military base who toiled alongside a love-struck intern much to the chagrin of his recently "converted" father (don't ask!). Kate was a young woman, Hope, searching for love in her tent, only to have the object of her affection, a native American called Chest to Impress, stolen by her friend Joy. How ironic. Kate gave a truly wonderful soulful solo here, one of the musical highlights of the night. Finally, I wrapped up the act as David (a name I could actually remember for a change!) who liked to pile all his friends and family into his tiny jacuzzi, but was hiding the fact that he had given up the sauce, particularly from his heavy partying buddy, Skittles. A fun act all around.

Charles took the star into the second act and the fun and goofiness just continued to climb as his once well-tipping magician clients worked to foil his every plan and ambition (or were they really just testing him?) Kate had another stand out solo as her eighty-year-old vamp, with several lines that I'd love to repeat here, but don't think I can legally or ethically! I think that she finally felt the success tonight for herself that the rest of us have been seeing in her all along. Charles did a great job as the star, building his character's energy and momentum and attacking the stage and his musical numbers with great success. I also particularly enjoyed working closely alongside Darren as his European magic-challenged brother. We had such a playful energy together and a wonderful unspoken trust. As I (literally) tried to pull a solution out of my hat at the end of the show, he was an inspired collaborator and we seemed to almost read each others' minds. Freaky! Bad pun aside, it really was one of those magic shows where the pieces came together nicely and, perhaps even more importantly, the company worked seamlessly together sharing the work, rewards and spotlight with ease.

Some other little things that were little successes that I hope we can repeat on a regular basis:

1. Our sound check was much more efficient, and after just a few initial trips, the soundscape of the show was back on track. Yeah Dana.

2. The ask-for tweaks resulted in some great starting points and created a nice bond with our audience in general and our surrogates in particular.

3. Our physical and location work was more consistent and dynamic, with several scenes having clearly defined and contrasting environments. There was a lot less standing and talking in nowhere land.

4. We simplified our wants as the main characters but retained a diverse array of supporting and goofy characters that gave the show a lot of energy and humor.

5. We played, and laughed, and then played some more, and I all-but kicked my Director's hat to the curb during the performance! Yeah!

It's a whole new weekend next Friday, but the show keeps getting stronger as we become more confident and energized...

Anyone have any questions about the show that you'd like me to answer for a mid-week blog...? And/or, should I keep summarizing the storylines?

Your it's-a-kind-of-magic Director, David C.

Back on the Horse: Performance Number Four

It's a novel feeling to actually have some time away from the show! The build up to the opening weekend was pretty intense, but now that we're settled into our normal run, it was a little odd not to have numerous rehearsals leading up to tonight (odd, but nice!)

We had a strong house for a 10:00pm show (actually, a larger house than the 8:00pm show so I can't complain). I liked a lot of the stories and dynamics that were set up in our act one as well. Chase was a stable boy who had dreams of owning and racing his own horse. Ron was a wannabe rap artist whose great grandmother overshadowed him on the stage. Robyn was a newly-wed with a very shiny ring who had to move in with her in-laws while she saved for a house of her own. I was a truck-obsessed young man who put it all on the line with a race-off against my former scorned girlfriend. Some of the stories got a little muddied or nearly resolved in act one, which can be a little problematic, but I loved the story potentials here. Ron took the vote for the second act (my own father didn't even vote for me but for Chase's stableboy!) and we set off into the land of rap. There were some strong moments here as Ron excels in this style, although we got a little stuck in this musical genre at times. Ron got sealed in a telephone booth and was about to be exported to Spain - not something you see every day! That friend of mine, Mic, apparently raised his ugly head again and several of the cast went without amplification for much of this act.

Some listening issues popped back up tonight, but the adrenalin of a crowd often ushers in this problem. We also need to create more physically distinct environments and choices, and not rush the stage quite so much. This combination of boys can be particularly aggressive when it comes to providing a volley of offers. Act two's drive dipped a little from that of act one, but there was a lot of fun playful work and some really clever characters and character combinations. Our sound woes got us off to a slow start with our post-show debrief, but there was much to celebrate and enjoy. I'm a little wary when Gina and I lead notes, that for the sake of brevity we tend to concentrate on where we'd like to go next rather than always acknowledge how gloriously far we've come. Ah, the life of a perfectionist in an improv show...

The answer to my earlier blog question - I've started to think of IM as standing for Impossible Mission as an homage to the MI movies...

I've been told I need to retire my standard lead-in of "As musical theatre performers don't have any personalities of their own..." at the top of the show. Am I the only one who liked that...? No, seriously...?!

Your intro-tinkering Director, David C.

It is rather difficult to describe Dana's position and responsibilities when it comes to FourPlay. Suffice it to say, that if something needs to get done, and we're not sure who to ask, it's probably Dana who ends up doing it! Dana agreed to talk to me briefly in the SAK tech booth while soldering a mic connection with her left hand, refocusing a light with her right hand, and painting a flat with her feet...

Current favorite musical: Mamma Mia!
Current favorite improv game: ABC/Shakespeare/Should've Said

DC: Dana, we've joked a lot throughout this process about how difficult it is to define or describe your position. From painting the stage, to refocusing the lights, to mixing the sound, to stage managing, you've been involved with practically every physical aspect of the production. Is there a particular area that you enjoy working in most?

DR: I enjoyed working on all aspects of the production. When I stage manage at other theatres I usually get into all aspects of the show because I want to know that they are done the way they are supposed to be. I love painting and I wanted the show to have a fresh look when we opened it. Sound is my weakest area of technical theatre (but I am trying to get better at it) and I am always up for a challenge.

DC: You are clearly a theatre addict! How long have you been involved in the world of theatre, and what brought you to the SAK family?

DR: I originally got involved in theatre in high school (like most theatre people) but it wasn't because I liked theatre. I wanted to go into TV Production and had been in it at my high school up in Maryland. When my family moved down here, I tried to get into a class in that but there were not enough people so they cancelled the class. Then my guidance counselor said that I could take a humanities class (where I would have to read books) or stagecraft (what the hell was that?). Read books or do something else? Yes, I took stagecraft. That is how I started. I worked with Chris [Drew] at VCC on a few productions and he had just started back at SAK. At the beginning of our spring break, I asked him if he needed any help that week and I haven't left since.

DC: You mean that literally, don't you...?! In addition to your considerable work at SAK, you've also been involved with several other theatre companies in town. Tell me a little about that.

DR: I started my major theatre experience at VCC. I then met director John DiDonna and stage managed for him at VCC. He liked what I did and he took me to Theatre Downtown to stage manage Long Days Journey Into Night and The Rocky Horror Show. He then started a theatre company called Empty Spaces Theatre Company and I am the Production Stage Manager for it. I have also stage managed for shows at Fringe, Playfest and Play In A Day and worked with the Rich Weirdoes who do The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Universal. Needless to say I am all over the Orlando theatre community and I LOVE IT!!!

DC: As one of the few people who have seen the vast majority, if not every, public performance of FourPlay last year and this season, do you have a favorite memory or moment that you'd like to share?

DR: Yes, I think I am the only person on the face of the earth that has watched every public performance of FourPlay last year and so far this year. I loved all of your parodies from last year. And I loved Charles's version of the Styx song (I think that was done during rehearsal).

DC: Thanks for giving me a little of your time... How you ever managed to make that popsicle-stick log cabin while we were talking, I'll never know!

To learn more about Dana, go here.