We've packed up and said goodbye to the Retail Theater, and Ben and Jerry and Tony too.
Highlights of the weekend - 3 packed houses, students in to see the show to write a review for their drama classes, inappropriate gigglers (general consensus is they came to the show somehow chemically altered - we're not sure why)
This week holds a student matinee at a high school in Palo Alto, our Rossmoor performance, and the very special Hallowe'en show in SF to kick off our two weeks in SF.
Did you see the Pink Section of the Chron over the weekend? If not go here to read AD Erin Merritt's interview about Macbeth. There are also cool interviews w/ Victoria Evans Erville and Mark Jackson, talking about productions of Macbeth that they are working on if you'd like to play compare and contrast.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Now What?
The show is up. We've finished opening weekend. This is the rehearsal blog and rehearsals are over. So, am I still supposed to be checking in here? I'm not sure.
While I mull it over, here's some highlights from opening weekend:
1. my friend D_ telling me the show gave him tears in his eyes at one point
2. K, J, and C saying that I was scary
3. the gasps during the 'Casa de Macduff' fight sequence
4. re-meeting someone who had been my student in the first student production I ever directed over 10 years ago, and now she's an adult and still doing theater!
5. talking to people who had come to the show on their own (without knowing anyone connected to it), and finding out why they chose to come and see us.
While I mull it over, here's some highlights from opening weekend:
1. my friend D_ telling me the show gave him tears in his eyes at one point
2. K, J, and C saying that I was scary
3. the gasps during the 'Casa de Macduff' fight sequence
4. re-meeting someone who had been my student in the first student production I ever directed over 10 years ago, and now she's an adult and still doing theater!
5. talking to people who had come to the show on their own (without knowing anyone connected to it), and finding out why they chose to come and see us.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
See you at the Show!
Whew! Tech for this show has been a slog, but the elements are in place. On the tech/design side: Costumes (thanks Tammy), a Set (thanks Jackie), Lights (thanks Stephanie), Video projections (thanks John), all of it tied together w/buttons pushed, etc (thanks Alicia), On the artistic side: Fight Choreography (thanks Carla), cool shadow-y witch movement (thanks Lauren), general artistic vision (thanks Joan and Claire).
Whew - and then there's all the producing side that the Woman's Will company folks are taking care of - I'm not even sure who's doing what here because they've thankfully kept most of it away from rehearsals so we could concentrate on our stuff (thanks Erin, Victoria, and Woman's Will Company members.
Tonight: Final Dress
Tomorrow: See you there!
Whew - and then there's all the producing side that the Woman's Will company folks are taking care of - I'm not even sure who's doing what here because they've thankfully kept most of it away from rehearsals so we could concentrate on our stuff (thanks Erin, Victoria, and Woman's Will Company members.
Tonight: Final Dress
Tomorrow: See you there!
Monday, October 13, 2008
The 3 usual questions #3: did you guys really kiss?
Yes, just as soon as they ask about the stage violence, the young ones want to know about the stage romance.
For the less sophisticated question-asker, this question can mean - did your two mouths really actually touch? The answer to this part of the question is and has always been in my experience yes.
For the slightly more sophisticated question-asker, this question I think is a coded way of asking if the two actors are romantically involved with each other. The answer to this part of the question is and has always been in my experience no.
So here's the real problem for 'civilians' - your lips touched but you're not romantically involved with each other - how does that work? My answer here - it works the same way that all good relationships work: communication and respect about comfort level.
There's one kiss in Macbeth. I'm one of the two involved in it (the other is Leontyne, as Lady Macbeth). When we were rehearsing the scene with the kiss in it, we were getting very close to each other, and it seemed like a point where Macbeth would want to kiss his wife. I didn't do it even though I had the impulse - It was fairly early in the rehearsal process and I didn't know Leontyne very well yet and I didn't want to surprise my fellow actor and take her out of her comfort zone. But soon after that Joan, our director, stopped us to make an adjustment, and I said that it seemed like we should've kissed after a certain point in the text. We were all in agreement, so we tried it and it worked. I know that I would tell Leontyne if something about that moment were making me uncomfortable, and that she would tell me - in the same way we'd communicate about fight choreography and personal safety.
A few more thoughts about stage kisses - I have yet to be involved in a stage kiss that has open mouths and tongues moving around. In every circle I've traveled in the stage kiss is kept 'professional', that is lips only, no tongues. And, I think unless the kiss was made explicit by the stage directions or text, a conversation between at the very least, the people doing the kiss needs to happen before it happens onstage. Lastly, for the professional actor involved in stage kisses, oral hygiene is important - brushed teeth, breath mints, avoiding odorous foods. And, in a story I heard from a fellow actor - knowing if your onstage kiss partner has strong food allergies. She was in a show, and kissing an actor with a severe peanut allergy, and ate a peanut butter energy bar in between two shows, and her cast-mate had a reaction to it.
For the less sophisticated question-asker, this question can mean - did your two mouths really actually touch? The answer to this part of the question is and has always been in my experience yes.
For the slightly more sophisticated question-asker, this question I think is a coded way of asking if the two actors are romantically involved with each other. The answer to this part of the question is and has always been in my experience no.
So here's the real problem for 'civilians' - your lips touched but you're not romantically involved with each other - how does that work? My answer here - it works the same way that all good relationships work: communication and respect about comfort level.
There's one kiss in Macbeth. I'm one of the two involved in it (the other is Leontyne, as Lady Macbeth). When we were rehearsing the scene with the kiss in it, we were getting very close to each other, and it seemed like a point where Macbeth would want to kiss his wife. I didn't do it even though I had the impulse - It was fairly early in the rehearsal process and I didn't know Leontyne very well yet and I didn't want to surprise my fellow actor and take her out of her comfort zone. But soon after that Joan, our director, stopped us to make an adjustment, and I said that it seemed like we should've kissed after a certain point in the text. We were all in agreement, so we tried it and it worked. I know that I would tell Leontyne if something about that moment were making me uncomfortable, and that she would tell me - in the same way we'd communicate about fight choreography and personal safety.
A few more thoughts about stage kisses - I have yet to be involved in a stage kiss that has open mouths and tongues moving around. In every circle I've traveled in the stage kiss is kept 'professional', that is lips only, no tongues. And, I think unless the kiss was made explicit by the stage directions or text, a conversation between at the very least, the people doing the kiss needs to happen before it happens onstage. Lastly, for the professional actor involved in stage kisses, oral hygiene is important - brushed teeth, breath mints, avoiding odorous foods. And, in a story I heard from a fellow actor - knowing if your onstage kiss partner has strong food allergies. She was in a show, and kissing an actor with a severe peanut allergy, and ate a peanut butter energy bar in between two shows, and her cast-mate had a reaction to it.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Tony Roma, Ben, Jerry, Macbeth?
We've moved into our Oakland performance location. It's an empty storefront in Jack London square. On one side of us, Ben and Jerry's. On the other, Tony Roma's. I wish we had the funds to put up a giant piece of signage that would confuse passersby - I'm picturing the thoughts in their minds.
Macbeth's - is it a one-stop shop for tartan plaid clothing? Do they make burgers, fries, and shakes (Scotland PA anyone?)? Or, wait, what's going on - those people have swords - why are they running around and shouting?
So - if you're planning on joining us in Oakland - know that you'll be able to choose from a variety of pre and post show options for dining, drinking, snacking, etc.
I'd love to mention one more thing. Woman's Will is participating in the nationwide Free Night of Theater program, hosted locally by Theatre Bay Area. We'll have free tickets available on 10/8 (that's tomorrow!) for the 10/17 performance. To reserve tix for this program, you must visit www.tixbayarea.org, then follow the prompts to see available Free Night of Theater shows, and find us in the list under 'East Bay'.
See you there!
Macbeth's - is it a one-stop shop for tartan plaid clothing? Do they make burgers, fries, and shakes (Scotland PA anyone?)? Or, wait, what's going on - those people have swords - why are they running around and shouting?
So - if you're planning on joining us in Oakland - know that you'll be able to choose from a variety of pre and post show options for dining, drinking, snacking, etc.
I'd love to mention one more thing. Woman's Will is participating in the nationwide Free Night of Theater program, hosted locally by Theatre Bay Area. We'll have free tickets available on 10/8 (that's tomorrow!) for the 10/17 performance. To reserve tix for this program, you must visit www.tixbayarea.org, then follow the prompts to see available Free Night of Theater shows, and find us in the list under 'East Bay'.
See you there!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The 3 usual questions #2: how do you guys learn all those lines?
Repetition and hard work. Whether that's a method where you make a recording of your lines and listen to it over and over, or you read your lines over and over, or you write them out longhand, or you get a friend or fellow actor to run lines with you, you've just got to do them again and again.
A few things that are helpful.
1) Figure out the meaning of what you're saying - it's got to make sense to you before you can learn it.
2) Figure out the reason you're saying what you're saying - is it because you're trying to intimidate someone? or trying to flatter them?
3) Figure out what you're responding to - is this thought in response to something someone else said? Is it further clarification for what you just said?
4) Picture the action that goes with the words. Knowing that you say certain words as you fall to your knees, or turn away from a fellow actor can provide the juice that gets the lines memorized.
Other than this it's a lot of drilling and repetition. Definitely not the glamorous part, but also not the hardest. Learning lines is a basic component of every role an actor plays, so the experienced actor knows what methods work for them, and gets this part of the job done.
A few things that are helpful.
1) Figure out the meaning of what you're saying - it's got to make sense to you before you can learn it.
2) Figure out the reason you're saying what you're saying - is it because you're trying to intimidate someone? or trying to flatter them?
3) Figure out what you're responding to - is this thought in response to something someone else said? Is it further clarification for what you just said?
4) Picture the action that goes with the words. Knowing that you say certain words as you fall to your knees, or turn away from a fellow actor can provide the juice that gets the lines memorized.
Other than this it's a lot of drilling and repetition. Definitely not the glamorous part, but also not the hardest. Learning lines is a basic component of every role an actor plays, so the experienced actor knows what methods work for them, and gets this part of the job done.
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