This year I appeared in the VVC projection of South Pacific! Suddenly I've got a few plays under my belt so when I say that this projection was the most elaborate, I'm speaking with a bit of experience. The sets were massive and beautiful, the costumes were authentic and visual spectacles on their own, and the music was exceptional. This was a play which featured live music. I've done Music Man and Pirates which both features a full orchestra in the pit and many of the musicians were appearing again for this performance. They really went all out to give the audience a treat and performed perfectly. I still am amazed with how well they can play when they are in such cramped quarters.
Kirstie had the lead for a show and without question it was the best performance of the run. She is extremely talented and not only nailed all the musical numbers (which I knew she could do) but was the best actress on stage by far. I'll say it right now, she brought me to tears. That isn't easy to do, especially with this play.
The story is dated and doesn't hold up that well. It really doesn't. There is a train of thought which dictates that stories which are considered classics are above scrutiny. I can understand where this mentality comes from but when performing the play it's impossible not to read it with a critical eye. The actor is tasked with developing and portraying characters and so it falls to reason that they will read the scrip to find out what drives their characters. What is the character's core? In the case of South Pacific, the core of many characters isn't that deep.
They are happy to be together, working quietly and docily, dying when ordered and otherwise not thinking too much. This keeps the story skipping along, but doesn't provide many hooks for empathy, at least for anyone with discernment. Kirstie somehow manages to infuse her character with emotional weight that she carried the story past some tedious points, and did it with ease and grace. It was awesome!
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Monday, March 30, 2015
Friday, February 28, 2014
Waiting for RENT
I'm backstage right now waiting for the opening night's performance of RENT to draw to a close. I've got a few moments to spare so I'm giving a quick update here. OK. You know the truth of the story. I've got LOTS of time to spare because RENT is a play that takes forever to end. So I'm free to make this a lengthy update without worrying about missing the final number.
Wow, this play goes on for longer than 525,600 minutes.
I finished my painting for the lobby. VVC did a call for art which specifically requested pieces to be inspired by RENT in some fashion. I couldn't resist this call. After thinking it over for a bit, an image occurred to me which captured my particular take on the production. A fresh canvas and some brush strokes later, and I was done.
I'll post a picture of it here, if I haven't already. It features two cartoonishly middle-class audience members clapping in ecstasy while watching an actor draped in a Gay Pride flag. The actor is performing a song from the musical while standing in a garbage can. The title of this piece is "Refuse Mediocrity". I'm very proud of this piece.
If you are one of the lucky few dozen people who have had no experience with RENT, the setting centers around the antics of a group of New York 'bohemians' complain about how their dysfunctional relationships aren't working out. The play is the epitome of surface-deep emotion. A parade of the mundane. The songs are hastily written dialog purposely mistimed to any attempt of melody. A more capable playwright would have been able to match dialog to music, but failing that was only able to swear that the end result was intentional. I'm not blaming him. We all have to pay our bills somehow. Everyone except the cardboard characters on the stage.
There is a cast party right after tonight's performance, so at least that will be a highlight for this crew's hard work and dedication. But I'm leaving the moment someone launches into a song from the production.
Wow, this play goes on for longer than 525,600 minutes.
I finished my painting for the lobby. VVC did a call for art which specifically requested pieces to be inspired by RENT in some fashion. I couldn't resist this call. After thinking it over for a bit, an image occurred to me which captured my particular take on the production. A fresh canvas and some brush strokes later, and I was done.
I'll post a picture of it here, if I haven't already. It features two cartoonishly middle-class audience members clapping in ecstasy while watching an actor draped in a Gay Pride flag. The actor is performing a song from the musical while standing in a garbage can. The title of this piece is "Refuse Mediocrity". I'm very proud of this piece.
If you are one of the lucky few dozen people who have had no experience with RENT, the setting centers around the antics of a group of New York 'bohemians' complain about how their dysfunctional relationships aren't working out. The play is the epitome of surface-deep emotion. A parade of the mundane. The songs are hastily written dialog purposely mistimed to any attempt of melody. A more capable playwright would have been able to match dialog to music, but failing that was only able to swear that the end result was intentional. I'm not blaming him. We all have to pay our bills somehow. Everyone except the cardboard characters on the stage.
There is a cast party right after tonight's performance, so at least that will be a highlight for this crew's hard work and dedication. But I'm leaving the moment someone launches into a song from the production.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Pool Chalk For Music Man
Here is the graphic I made to hand out at Music Man for 'favors' for the cast. The image is sized correctly to be printed out and used to replace the standard wrapping on a cube of pool chalk. I've just printed out a dozen and I think they look great!
Et tu, anvil? (Part II)
With impending dread, I see the last line of the scene coming up, and realize there is no way to gracefully do this. Cleaning up the scrap metal has to be done front and center, not quietly off to the side because that is impossible at that point. Trying to hide the fact that I'm picking up the pieces of a prop would just draw more attention to it. So I've got to charge ahead and resist every urge to flee the stage as quickly as possible.
The last line is delivered...
I immediately fall to my knees and start stuffing the scrap metal into the remains of the suitcase while muttering aloud about how much I have it in for the Music Man and how much I can't believe how easily the people of River City are taken in by him. I look up during the tirade and realize that the Music Man and his sidekick have fled the stage leaving me to my own devices. HA! I can't blame them in the slightest, I'd have been sorely tempted to do the same thing!
When the last piece is finally put away, I growl something and stalk off the stage into the comforting edges of the stage. Thankfully this is the last scene that I need the anvil for, and we don't have any more performances for the rest of the day. All in all, it was by far the most exciting opening night I've ever been involved in!
The last line is delivered...
I immediately fall to my knees and start stuffing the scrap metal into the remains of the suitcase while muttering aloud about how much I have it in for the Music Man and how much I can't believe how easily the people of River City are taken in by him. I look up during the tirade and realize that the Music Man and his sidekick have fled the stage leaving me to my own devices. HA! I can't blame them in the slightest, I'd have been sorely tempted to do the same thing!
When the last piece is finally put away, I growl something and stalk off the stage into the comforting edges of the stage. Thankfully this is the last scene that I need the anvil for, and we don't have any more performances for the rest of the day. All in all, it was by far the most exciting opening night I've ever been involved in!
Et tu, anvil?
Ok, here is the full story of what happened.
I made the suitcase/anvil for my character Charlie Cowell for the play "The Music Man". My character is a traveling anvil salesman who has a suitcase with "ANVILS" painted on the side in big letters. The humor of the prop is that whenever he puts the suitcase down, there is a massive crashing noise like a pileup on the highway. Slapstick humor, essentially.
For this prop I took a travel case for an old slide projector. The case is made out of plywood or some similar substance, and I added a form around it to give it the shape of an anvil. After some spraypaint the prop looks fantastic. I then loaded it up with scrap metal to give it some weight, but mostly to give it the ability to make a massive clamor when the case is slammed down on the stage. After a few trial runs, I determined the effect to be perfect. It was light enough to carry easily, but makes a huge racket when thrown around.
There are three scenes where I drop the suitcase. It was in the third scene during opening night for the S.R.O. production of the play when the catastrophe happened.
Here is how the scene is written.
Music Man is in the center of the stage.
Charlie Cowell enters, slams down the suitcase and yells at the Music Man.
Charlie Cowell picks up the suitcase and storms off.
(end scene)
Simple, right? This is the smallest scene of the whole play and was the one I practiced the least because I only have two or three lines. There isn't any coreography really, just stand and deliver the line. With me so far?
Here's how it went wrong.
Music Man is in the center of the stage.
I enter, give him a glare and say my line:
"Crazy? I'll say I'm crazy! Missed my train, probably lost my job!"
I slam down the anvil. The anvil goes off like a bomb. The bottom of the case splits and an avalanche of scrap metal spills out at my feet. My mind is racing with the usual adrenaline of being on the stage, so I quickly improvise the line "And you broke my anvil!"
Then I go with my line "But I've got the goods on you... etc." At this point my mind is on autopilot because I'm in the routine of the script and the scene is going forward exactly the way it should. However, I'm madly trying to think of how this scene is going to end. Because the way the playwright wrote the story, Charlie storms off the stage taking his anvil with him. He DOESN'T leave a pile of scrap metal behind!! Also, in about two minutes the next scene is going to happen, and leaving a prop on the skirt of the stage would just... well... it's just not done. Somehow I've got to gather up all these pieces and get them off before the next act begins, and do it while everyone in the audience is watching, including the director.
I made the suitcase/anvil for my character Charlie Cowell for the play "The Music Man". My character is a traveling anvil salesman who has a suitcase with "ANVILS" painted on the side in big letters. The humor of the prop is that whenever he puts the suitcase down, there is a massive crashing noise like a pileup on the highway. Slapstick humor, essentially.
For this prop I took a travel case for an old slide projector. The case is made out of plywood or some similar substance, and I added a form around it to give it the shape of an anvil. After some spraypaint the prop looks fantastic. I then loaded it up with scrap metal to give it some weight, but mostly to give it the ability to make a massive clamor when the case is slammed down on the stage. After a few trial runs, I determined the effect to be perfect. It was light enough to carry easily, but makes a huge racket when thrown around.
There are three scenes where I drop the suitcase. It was in the third scene during opening night for the S.R.O. production of the play when the catastrophe happened.
Here is how the scene is written.
Music Man is in the center of the stage.
Charlie Cowell enters, slams down the suitcase and yells at the Music Man.
Charlie Cowell picks up the suitcase and storms off.
(end scene)
Simple, right? This is the smallest scene of the whole play and was the one I practiced the least because I only have two or three lines. There isn't any coreography really, just stand and deliver the line. With me so far?
Here's how it went wrong.
Music Man is in the center of the stage.
I enter, give him a glare and say my line:
"Crazy? I'll say I'm crazy! Missed my train, probably lost my job!"
I slam down the anvil. The anvil goes off like a bomb. The bottom of the case splits and an avalanche of scrap metal spills out at my feet. My mind is racing with the usual adrenaline of being on the stage, so I quickly improvise the line "And you broke my anvil!"
Then I go with my line "But I've got the goods on you... etc." At this point my mind is on autopilot because I'm in the routine of the script and the scene is going forward exactly the way it should. However, I'm madly trying to think of how this scene is going to end. Because the way the playwright wrote the story, Charlie storms off the stage taking his anvil with him. He DOESN'T leave a pile of scrap metal behind!! Also, in about two minutes the next scene is going to happen, and leaving a prop on the skirt of the stage would just... well... it's just not done. Somehow I've got to gather up all these pieces and get them off before the next act begins, and do it while everyone in the audience is watching, including the director.
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