[Qaedon]

Today we had our first real “Production Meeting.” We held auditions 2 weeks ago. Since then, I’ve been on vacation to Washington D.C. Inspiration can be found anywhere, and I always like to have a vacation before rehearsals. I also like to catch at least one Musical within 90 miles of my home/ (which isn’t always easy to do). I saw “High School: The Musical” by the Broadway travelling show. While on vacation, I saw and recorded on my CD all YouTube.com records of anything related to “OUAM.”
I’ll have a set of white, Neo-Classical marble. The costumes will be of cartoon colors, vibrant and shimmery and in contrast to the set. I want the floor to be painted like a chess board. Light specials and sound effects will punch it up. This is going to be a slightly anachronistic feel reminiscent of a fantasy.
The chess concept is key. This is a musical about manipulation. The Queen has the power and is only outshined by the king during the “end game.” She is the central focus of manipulation. But sometimes, the other pieces need to move independently from her based on another player’s moves. Larken will be the queen on the opposite end of the chess board. Her costume will reflect that. Larken plays defense immediately but dissolves into resolute action in the end. Larken and Agravaine are selfish. But Larken wins the show in the end by realizing she is just a chess piece herself.
Sextimus is the King who cannot control the events directly. His objectives are only realized by influencing the other pieces. Everyone wants to protect him, if only to win. Others would give up their lives to him; so he’s got to be charismatic and persuasive, with the “common good” in mind.
I’ve got pages and pages more to say. I’ll just stop here.
And I welcome any responses.

[ConverseSneaker]

Interesting theory! Unique, but true as well.

[Set_Buildin_Dad]

I like it. A new twist on the story. It will be interesting to see how you fit some of the sub-plots into your motif. How do you fit the King's lecherous nature into this vision, or do you suppress it? What chess role does Fred play, a knight? Who is on who's side? In the show the queen only has one ally, the wizard.

[Qaedon]

Much of this will be in the discovery phase of rehearsals. But what I think so far is that the king has time to play. Everyone else is running around vying for position. But he is the king and is unthreatened. The queen runs the plot and Larken runs the sub-plot. And as for Fred, I'm really not certain she is a piece per se. She is more like the arbiter, isn't she? The wizard is simply a pawn fighting to get to the other side to be queened. But Dauntless gets queened in the end.

[Qaedon]

Monday's are vocal rehearsals. Last Monday was our very first rehearsal. It was from 6:30-9:00pm. At first, The Production Staff re-introduced ourselves to the cast, gave them our expectations, then vocal rehearsals began. We started with "Opening for a Princess" and "Quiet." The complex timing, rhythm, chord changes and especially harmonies came very natural to them. They could sing this song tomorrow and wow the crowd.

"Quiet" was a piece of work. We managed to get all the way through it, but peoples' hands were red and nothing was really memorized. We're doing a "Stomp" version. We'll put props in their hands at the next rehearsal (i.e. Jesters Canes to bounce against the floor and against each other).

A very good first night. Remarkable, actually.

Tonight was the second rehearsal. "Acting" rehearsals are Wednesdays/Thursdays from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. We ran pgs 15-34. It was amazing how quickly we found common themes. Simple movements repeated... a snort from Winnifred put strategically throughout the show, Larken's way of manipultaing people, the King's focus on sex...

I told them, "Not one word is wasted in this show. Every word shines, so make it so. Including you, king." Our King is a fantastic actor. 54 years old? And built like a brick out house. He was amazingly small-gestured. Over the past 25 years with the Theatre Company, he's experienced very soft-shelled directors. Dring this time, his praise came as the rehearsals went along. He was "getting it." But tonight I threw a curve ball at him. He had to know exactly how he was going to express himself for every line. People had a tendency to let him start, then they would step on his "lines." He had a tendency to do the same. I told him to pantomime everythig from start to finish. If he expressed pregneant, he not only had to circle his hand across an imaginary belly, but he had to waddle with his hand behind his back. His funniest scene was when he pantomimed the "trap." He set this huge mouse trap, then acted like a lady, brushing back her hair and swiming her hips, until she was trapped and ended up laying on his back with his legs straight into the air. Such a simple statement from the script became this whole episode. It is much more complex than I am describing it now. That is exactly what I want from this King. To make him COMPLETELY understood by the audience, and to make him LOVEABLE, irregardless of his sexual faults. He's the "Three Stooges" with a touch of "Bennie Hill." Or he will be after I'm done with him.

For the first night, we had 2 ideas pertaining to the "chess idea." pg 15-34 had Fred leaving, but also had Larken leaving. They each took one step SL and the other 3 characters also took one ttep SL, one after the other. It ain't exactly chess, but it follows themes.

After the first "acting" rehearsal, the actors commented how exciting it all felt. yay!

[Qaedon]

The AccompanEase people were geat. We had to download this program that had specifically OUAM on it. It was all piano and adjustable, so I could easily divid the singing sections as well as the lead singing sections.

At first, no one was able to log on and run this program except me. It had to do with the authentication codes. I spoke to them at first, and told them that at least 12 of my cast members were unable to authenticate the program. His first question was, "Did they cut and paste the authentication code?" Come on. This authentication code was 15 billion characters long! "Of course," I reassured him. "12 people tried to authenticate. I doubt every single one of them hand-typed it in."

I had to get a call-back because the programmer(?) was at lunch. It was Jeffrey who called back, the president-o. He was bend-backwards helpful. He assured me that the one sure way to fix this was to send a different authentication code. He also assured me this problem was irregular.

Another e-mail from him and an e-mail blast from me, and people were downloading it. BRAVO!

[Qaedon]

Opening for a Princess: Princess Quiz
"Are you ready for the next question?"
"Yes."
Queen reaches into her pouch, pulls out a generic question (the bright red one is used for the final question) and hands it to Dauntless who hands it to the king who hands it to Sir Studly who hands it to another night who hands it to the wizard.
"Name 3 kings. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
Wizard hands the scroll to the knight who gives it to Sir Studly who gives it to the king who gives it to Dauntless who gives it to the queen who puts it into her pouch.
"Can you repeat the question?"
Queen reaches into her pouch, pulls out a generic question and hands it to Dauntless who hands it to the king who hands it to Sir Studly who hands it to another night who hands it to the wizard.

[Qaedon]

So far during the rehearsal process, I've seen 2 children plays in the park, 3 one-act musicals, and Bette Midler in Las Vegas.

I strongly suggest you go out and experience. It not only lends you inspiration, it gives you "networking."

Of course, Bette gave me the most inspiration. Trees came down there were made from cut-out cloth. I thoght, "What? No paper mache'?" It's amazing how much preparation you do, you tend to box yourself in to preconcieved ideas on how to do things.

The "Stomp" routine they did with the umbrellas gave me the idea of doing a "Stomp" routine with jousting sticks during "Quiet."

Quantam physics say observers can change their reality. Theater says it too.

[Qaedon]

The costumes for our leads are done!


http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?start=all

[Qaedon]

Here's the first day of construction. The bed-frame and the throne/gazebo dais. The dais is hinged so that we can lift the half-circle do reduce the width of the dais so that we could fit them through the doors. The bed-frame has a bare back so we can pull stuff out of it... including a small boy!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=ConstructionBedframeperspective.jpg


http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=ConstructionDias.jpg

[ActingDude17]

Please don't...sextuple post?

[Qaedon]

Why? Maybe at 41 years old I'm not savvy to BBS etiquette. Oh, see? BBS. Antiquated term.

I did make the subject: "It's a Process." It's an obvious attempt at a theater blog. A process.

How about I'll do it just once a week. That won't kill you. That's a maximum of 6 more consecutive posts. Then the postings can die in obscurity. I have a Theater Arts degree and a Language Arts degree. Its hard not to combine the two when on a message board about theater musicals.

When searching this particular newsgroup for anything particularly exciting about OUAM, I found PLENTY of inspiration. I was just hoping to return the favor.

[ActingDude17]

[Qaedon]

Maybe that's why you got irritated. I didn't title it,"It's Process: A BLOG." If I call it a blog, then it becomes a blog and then everyone understands that. You taught me etiquete, so I will you.

At a formal dinner, when there's a dozen forks, use the fork on the outside first, then work your way in as the courses progress.

I read two books.: "How to Direct a Musical: Broadway your way" by David Young published by Routledge copyright 1995, and "Staging a Musical" by Matthew White (also published by Routledge). But I found neither book inspirational, and neither mentioned "Once Upon A Mattress." Finally, I found them both outdated. So I came to this board to see what was happening in theaters across the nation. SO much good information.

But there were gaps. The wizard doing his magic tricks. How did that happen? Where in the H-E-double-toothpick do you find a rubber chcken? What, exactly, is the best scedule for rehearsals? AccompanEase. A god-send, the AccompanEase program. $250 well-spent.

You're looking at this blog as an actor I think. Think of this particular blog from the perspective of a director.

I thought I might write a little about my own specific experiences while directing this show. Just to help others. If you're reading this particular board, you're interested in the NOW of directing/performing it.

[ConverseSneaker]

[ActingDude17]

I did not mean to make you mad, Qaedon. I'm sorry.

[Qaedon]

You didn't make me mad.

[idTAPthat89]

[ActingDude17]

[Qaedon]

Now that that's over, we can continue with our regularly scheduled program. Just know that I'm taking this opportunity to write a longer blog note than normal. We have a lot of catching up to do

We're dropping the chess idea. The audience sits below the stage, so they wouldn't be able to see the chess-painted floor of the stage.

We're concentrating on "surprise." It's an old stand-by. Comedy is most funny when it's surprise. "What are you going to do to surprise the audience?" I'm always asking. Last rehearsal, Dauntless kept falling down during that scene where he's alone with mama. Queen Mama lies to Dauntless about how earnest she is that he get married. She comes towards him like a missile, and he falls down. Is that a surprise that he falls down? You fall... okay. Surprise funny. If you do it again, is that a surprise and is that at all funny? How is that going to surprise the audience by doing it a second time?

Okay, first time, Dauntless falls down. Surprise. Funny. Then, the second time, he falls down but is CRAWLING AWAY from mama. Okay, surprise and funny. Surprise and funny. But how can we amp it up a bit? Ah. While Dauntless tries to crawl away, Mama Queen grabs him by the ankle and pulls him back center stage. All the while, talking during her huge monologue. Surprise, funny, surprise, funny, surprise funny. Comedy comes in threes, you know

E-Mail: I've found communicating with the actors to be very productive. Some people use the TO: line to add their e-mail addresses, and some also use the CC: (carbon copy) line to add more addresses. But there's a third option, something I will never forget. Use the BCC button (Blind Carbon Copy). You send e-mails to the BCC: list and give your instructions. But it's "blind" so no one knows who you're e-mailing to. So when they respond, they can only respond to you.
Use the cc: list when e-mailing the production staff, though. We all need to know what each other is doing. Experts talking among themselves. There's not that tired old re-entry student sitting in the front row, still trying to "get it" and raising their hands every 5 minutes. If you're a re-entry student, don't reply to this commentary. It'll only make matters worse.

Video: I'm also showing the cast the pictures and videos I post to photobucket.com. They're all talking about it. "Did you see your performance last night?" Etc. Self-awareness is only enhanced when using video. And I just leave it open and don't write to them about what I think about it. Let them come to their own conclusions. I can use certain aspects of the video when I instruct during rehearsals. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Last year when I did "Christmas Carol," I decided we were in so much disarray, that anything I said would go over their heads. It was an intensely stressful time... we weren't ready. So two nights before opening night, I showed them the video I did the night before. There was so much instructional opportunity here. They were all interested in what they, specifically were doing. I used a laser pointer on the screen to show parts I wanted to highlight. Then, during Final Dress Rehearsal, we rehearsed in jeans and t-shirts. The most surrealistic Final Dress Rehearsal I have ever done. But they had taken in everything that had to be said about the show. It wasn't only me speaking, but it was the CAMERA. And we had a much better opening night than we would have without the camera.

But that's another story...

[Qaedon]

Normandy

My coreographer asked me what my vision was. Vision? VISION? VISION?!!! I had no vision!

<gulp>

So an hour before rehearsals, I was frantic. What do I do? What do I do? Vision? Cryminee... it's work just keeping everybody quiet! What does she mean, "vision?"

There are two things I do when I am in crisis mode regarding a production. First and foremost, I READ THE LINES! It is incredible how easy character blocking becomes when one reads the lines. "Normandy" was about the Minstrel and Jester talking the Lady Larken into going to Normandy with the Minstrel. Previous posts suggested to me that the Minstrel would be more than happy to have Larken go with him. But it was clear Larken required Harry to be her mate. After all, they, uh, mated. What to do? What to do? Read between the lines. Ah, my second line of defense,

The second thing I do is approach the scene with things I have read in the past from other productions. SUCH AN EASY THING TO DO in this new era of YouTube, Musicals.net and the like. I mean, come on! How easy was it only 10 years ago when we loved a musical because of the one DVD - cross that - VHS we watched on the show? There was nothing else that spoke of the process of becoming. Really, the internet is an inspiration above everything else, beyond even watching Bette. (I love Bette. Diva, come my calgon-lover: take me away!!!!! Bubbles and all!!!)

I digress. Where was I? Of course. Okay. Minstrel in love with Larken. Larken, not in love with Minstrel. The Minstrel isn't really in love with Larken, he is more in "lust" with Larken. Ah, he needs a heart.

A heart.

Tin Man.

Wizard of Oz.

Okay:
Larken - Dorothy
King - Cowardly Lion (how perfect is that? He needs courage).
Jester - Scarecrow. Needs a brain. Perfect again.
Minstrel - wait for it, wait for it..... TIN MAN!!!

Honestly, this makes me wonder if the group from Tamiment adult summer camp resort actually thought of this. It makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

So here's our first try. Only 20 minutes of rehearsal. We really had to get on to bigger and better things. So watch with a gentle heart. We have all the props from Wizard of Oz a few years ago. Dorothy with Dorothy braids. King with the mane. Jester with the hat and straw. Minstel with the cone top. We will add this in too.

Remember, this is nothing short of impromptu. Honestly, it will be polished to a shine:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=Normandy1.flv

[Qaedon]

We practiced "Yesterday I Loved You" for the first time tonight. It drove me crazy that we could never fill it in earlier.

Well, what you see is 1 hour's of rehearsal. I'm sorry that they break up in the middle of the piece. They've been doing it the whole hour. But I didn't lose patience. It is a love piece between a 17 year old boy and a woman who is older. I can't tell you Larken's age because she'd kill me. So the tension had to go away via them having breaks. I figure, this is their first time. Stop them if it becomes a habit. Otherwise, tension is broken. And since this is the first time we rehearsed this, don't be too hard on them.

I was exhausted from blocking "Normandy" and "In a Little While" in the same week. So Larken and Harry had, basically, the time it took them to walk from the piano into their places to work the scene between themselves. Rehearsal took an hour, so they practiced this scene more seriously every time we did it.

At the end of rehearsals, I told Harry he had to kiss Larken at the end of this piece. "Oh God! If I were only 20 years younger!"

Larken's in costume only because the costumer popped in for a little fitting. It coincided with our rehearsal, so we put the two together. It was a good opportunity to see how the costume flowed.

Anyway, again, I ask you with gentle heart to just watch this clip. I'm magnetized and mesmerized. I'm dumbfounded. They're fantastic!!!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=YesterdayIlovedyou1strehearsal.flv

[Qaedon]

The Chamber of Commerce had a final show this year for Concert in The Park. We were lucky to be added in at the last minute. This concert is free to the public. Unfortunately, we have a very small public We are in a high wind area. Outdoor concerts are hit with wind at least 1/2 the time, if not 3/4 the time. Well, we were hit with the wind. Not only that, but the keyboard stand I had did not fit the keyboad that was played. I did an introduction (more about that in a second) and then I had to run back to the keyboard to hold it steady as our pianist played.

Anyway, just before the performance, I told my AD how to run the camera. I knew and know she is technically challenged, but how hard could it be to turn on the camera and press the record button? Well, it was beyond her capabilities. I love her to death, but there are some things she is fantastic! super! wondeful! and remarkable! at, and there are some things where, well, she just sucks. After the performance, she came up to me an said, "Your camera jus said STANDBY. Is that important?"

Fortunately, one of the mothers recorded the performance. She only pointed her camera at her daughter, unfortunately, but sometimes she turned her camera to the men.

Our prince was gone during this labor day weekend. So was about 6 other performers. We did what we could. It was expresse to me by a cast member before the performance, that she was worried with so many people gone, we'd be giving a second rate performance. I assured her, as well as the rest of the cast, in the most inspiring speach I think have ever given. The audience doesn't know what we are mising. Only we are aware of it. The audience will not know hor much they are missig because they don't know how many are sepposed t be in the performance. It's like when some one misses a line. Fine. Audience doesn't know better. Only the actors do.

So, 3 weeks before opening night, I present to you, a free advertizement.

Oh, and you won't see me. Even my foot or my hand. The mother who took this video wasn''t at all interested in my introduction or anything. It as just her daugher that she was concerned about. AND WHO WOULD EXPECT OTHERWISE? Although I was most proud of my introduction... anyway, here it is, the two pieces. Wind and all.. And we didn't have any microphones at all, so I tol them to expell as much air as they can!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv0E1b4VZQw

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=ConcertinthePark024.flv

__________________

This next piece was our very first rehearsal for what we call the "Skrim Scene" which is the ballet scene at the beginning of the show. I want them to be shadow dancers. Unfortunately, Dauntless was unavailable tonight, so he wasn't there for the rehearsal. But, but, BUT, we have a young shadow dancer who will perform counter to him. She is extremely talented. Our choreograher was shouting out French moves tht made my stomach rumble. "Saute" and the like. Our performer understood what the scrambled eggs all meant. We worked this piece for the first time tonight. And we're only 3 weeks from curtain.

So, here it is...

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=Prologue1strehearsal.flv

__________________________________________

"Quiet" took much longer than one rehearsal. When you have a group of people to direct, you must remember that they are the most important ones in the musical.

OUAM has chorus mostly in the first act. I didn't really get a grasp on this concept until a week ago. But my instincts were good. Work the ensemble! We're in the middle of Labor Day weekend, and the folks that told us they could not make it this weekend were right. So we were prepared. A knight and his daughter, a Lady in Waiting, arrived oer an hour late. I was just overjoyed by their appearance, that I was amazed at how he was beating himself over the head for being late.

Remember, it i much easier to blame a person for being late than it is for a person missing the rehearsal altogether. Out of site, out of mind.

Okay... here is our "QUIET" still to be perfected. Without major players. An attrempt.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=Quiet4rehearsals.flv

[Qaedon]

September 4th, 2008

Politics in Community Theatre, 101


I'd post this message now , but it's not my time yet. Gotta wait until a week passes from my last blog. Gotta follow the rules I set for myself

NEWBIES:
In Community Theater, you have so much variety in the amount of experience people have. Hurt feelings might arise if a Newbie criticizes a Veteran or visa versa. Chances are, the Newbie doesn't realize who s/he criticizes actually is a Veteran, but you can't count on that all the time. In contrast, sometimes the experienced people are arrogant to the Newbies. I came to this conclusion at yesterday's rehearsal. Newbies, separately created chaos where there didn't need to be any, in response to two (or more) Veterans giving un-asked-for advice.

Almost all of conflicts in this arena have to do with expectations. What do they expect? How can I express to them what to expect?

So I ask them all:
"Count the number of musicals you've been in. Your entire life since gradeschool. Hell, add Kindergarten in if you want. How many?"

I gave them 5 minutes. Starting......... NOW!

"How many people have been in more than 10 musicals?"

And I work down from there, illustrating the fact that Newbies should suck up the knowledge of the Veterans, and the Veterans should expect some very fresh insight from Newbies.

There was another sub group I needed to recognize. Everything is compared to last year's mucical. Who did what? What theater group was doing what production last year? Our cast is comprised of people experienced in so many venues. Church, being at the top. Church choirs perform/rehearse on a discretionary basis with few rehearsals.... really? YES! Church Choirs. Church Choirs are so resilient and flexible with change. Embrace them.
____________________

The MD asked me what style I wanted for "Happily Ever After." I said, "Winnifred's gotta pretend she's puffing on a cigarette and gulping down a martini." Voila. Our MD kept telling Fred, "Throw that line away. Toss it over your shoulder, like a tired old drink." Which is totally against my style of, "Throw NOTHING AWAY!" A good-bye, a simple statement, etc., must, must must NEVER be thrown away. USE EVERY WORD! So I confirmed in Fred an easy way to reconsile with this ideal. The point: You're okay throwing away a line, as long as you are purposefully doing so. Therefore, it's not throwing the line away, it's poignantly targeting that line (which is supposed to be thrown away). Get it?

09//06/08

We open September 18th. So it's 12 days away. 8 more rehearsals. The tension is there. We worked today, Saturday, combining the orchestra into our set construction. Leads had from 10:30am-noon to practice with the orchestra. It's a small orchestra consisting of 7 people.

Check out the pictures. We made faux mattresses - varying colored strips of cloth filled with batton attached to a square box of foam core. The mattresses were of varying sizes. To make them more realistic. It actually looks like we have 20 mattresses!!!!

I've gotten nervous about making the set completely white marble. So I'm allowing Winnifred's room to have a varierty of colors. The Wizard's room is black. The corridor has 4 shield crests and nothing else.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?start=all

[ConverseSneaker]

Happy Birthday Qaedon!

[Qaedon]

Thank you! There's nothing better than listening to a cast of singers sing "Happy Birthday."

[Qaedon]

First of all, I lied. I must confess. I never did do the quiz for the cast to see the amounts of experience some actors have had. For one, I just didn't have time. But a second reason was because the cast spent Sunday at a cast party, watching the DVD of the movie. They bonded. Problem solved.

I wasn't there, because Sunday I was with my family celebrating my birthday. But I'd rather have been there at the cast party! Heck, it's election season. Add that to a birthday party, and you get tears, slammed doors, and nervous pets.

At least my birthday party didn't get all that bad. My two nephews were "secretly" filling their super soakers to come up and shoot at us. But there were 7 of us adults that secretly held pitchers of water. When the boys were close enough to us, thinking they had cornered us, and just before they started shooting, we adults threw the pitchers of waters on the boys, ran inside the house and locked the door.

Satisfying.

Anyway... back to the show. Last night was our first full run-through. I was very happy with it. Run time including intermission was 2 hours anad 45 minutes! Eek!

Tonight we did pictures for the newspaper and for the program, so we could only run the show to "Soft Shoes." Monday, we'll run it from "Soft Shoes" to the end of the show. Then we'll run the entire show again.

Our rehearsals have lately been 6pm to 9pm. We've stretched that to 10pm. But I honestly don't see any reason to run it past that (including notes).

Tonight was our first night off script. I felt what a parent feels, a certgain amount of satisfaction of "I told you so!" to those performers who had not memorized their lines yet.

Tomorrow is the last day to dress the set. We've rented a gorgeous backdrop for the outdoor scene ($650!) and tomorrow we paint the indoor scene, put cushions on the throne, add 2 feet to a part of Fred's bed chamber, finish the bed, god! HELP ME NOW! At least 10 or 50 other items to be finished by tomorrow.

Here's an earlier rehearsal of "Quiet":
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=Quiet4rehearsals.flv

Here's "Quiet" as it is 3 rehearsals away from performance:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=QuietDressRehearsal.flv

Here's "Swamps of Home" as it is now, 3 rehearsals away:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v470/qaedon/Once%20Upon%20A%20Mattress/?action=view&current=SwampsofHomeFinalRehearsal.flv

___________________________________

Donations
We've sent what we call a "begging letter" to the businesses in town. Especially to those businesses that have a connection to our actors. And what a variety! The newspaper, a mortgage company, a realty company, a construction company, a major local restaurant called Cousins (where the host/ess and wait staff greet you with "Howdy, Cousin!" Ah, welcome to Eastern Oregon Then there's a jewelery shop, a gradeschool, a floor covering company... well, you get the idea. Our letter explained to them that we are a non-profit organization. The royalties alone cost such and such, then there's rehearsal space rent, then performance space rent, cost of costumes, special effects, etc. We try to break it down into blocks to make them realize, "Jee whiz!" Then we offer them space in our program for advertizements in spaces incremental to the amount of donation they give us. For us, it's $100 for an honorable mention, $101 for a business card donation, clear up to $400 for a full-page add. We have received a thousand dollars so far.

[what_the_heck013]

[Qaedon]

MdN. That's what we call it? COOL!

I love to write about what I'm doing. On vacation, I write daily blogs and cc 6 or 7 people. But they talk to people, who talk to people, and by the end of my blogs, I've got 50 people to cc ! I like to inspire. And let people recognize that they've felt what I felt, and it's okay.

The only anachronistic version I've seen of this production was on YouTube. And it was totally anachronistic. No one costume related to the other. They only related to the character that was wearing it. There was an opera singer with the horned cap, a wolf, etc. Very fascinating. And the hop hop/rap thing was something I wanted added to the show as well. The choreographer added one move. During "Shy." It was between Dauntless and Winnifred. Crossing the wrists at knee level with splayed hands.

I'm going to order "Assassins to West Side Story" right away. Thank you for the advice.

[Qaedon]

It is a process, ladies and gentlemen. 4 nights of performances resulted in 315 audience members, including comps.

We pumped up the advertizing for this show even more than we alreay have. And we've done a lot. Tri-folds, posters, even billboards. We were on the front cover of the newspaper last week, and we were on the front cover today (accompanying our "Did the Princess pass the 'pea' test?" advertizement).

I wrote a Letter to the Editor explaining to people that good entertainment is only a few miles away. We don't have to drive 180 miles to/from Portland, Oregon. We can hop to the High School and see very nice entertainment.

We'll see how it goes this coming weekend. The cast doesn't seem diminished by the small crowds. Tonight we had a pick up rehearsal. We were able to tighten the conversational scenes and force the actors to anticipate and run their line quickly but distinctly. But 99.99% of the rehearsal was just jokes and gags. Which I wouldn't allow if the cast wasn't already ready. And they were perfectly ready. Opening night was flawless. So why not add a bit of fun and bonding time?

Which was perfectly acceptable, because they're doing GREAT! The show is fantastic. It really is. I've done shows in Portland with a population of 2.5 million. The Dalles has a population of 12,000. But still, I expected a stronger response. Last year we did "A Christmas Carol: The Musical," while the other theater company did "Grease" and the H.S. did "Peter Pan."

Maybe the audience members are inundated?

During pick up rehearsal, somehow we got 4 lovely love scenes between Fred and Larkin. Still don't know what happened there...

We're so ready for a rocking final weekend. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[Qaedon]

Well, today we had 185 audience members. That brings the total to, I think, 800 audience members. With senior/children/student discounts, and including comp tickets, it equates to almost $10/pp = $8,000 which was the cost of this production (I'm thinking we were really lucky).

This is not a well-known show here in our little town. "Oklahoma" and "Fiddler on the Roof" and "A Christmas Carol" brought in gross revenues of $18,000 each. OUAM will be lucky of it brings in 1/2 as much in gross revenues.

We're all trying to figure out why the attendance has been so low. Not a well known play is my first guess. The economy, a second. The posters not being iconic enough, a third. Lack of consistent musical performances, a fourth.

Well, tomorrow is our last performance. I need to give the speech one last energetic punch. And remind them that everything they do from here on out is that lats time they will do it. Cherish it. Make it the best performance, the one that you remember.

[Qaedon]

This is my final post to the blog. It's been 2 months since we performed OUAM.

We broke even (plus or minus $200). Breaking even wasn't the half of it. It broke my heart. Not because of the performance, which was excellent, but because of the audience attendance. We're probably doing "Beauty and the Beast" next time I direct a musical. Name-familiarity means a lot to this little community I guess.

The video (only available to cast and crew and not, not, not, not sold to the general public) finally came out two days ago. Since it was only available to cast and crew, half of the DVD was spent on back stage stuff (i.e. rehearsals, getting dressed, makeup-room humor). Then I watched the performance, and I am really happy about it.

I see it differently now. Since the lead roles were so competent, the audience felt relaxed to watch the other performers. You know how it is if a lead role is not being performed correctly. The audience's attention is focused on him/her just in case s/he made a mistake. But our leads were so strong, people could feel very comfortable watching the entire stage. And the ensemble was so proficient in bringing their particular characters to life.

Drunkard Guy: Not in the script, but he was the drinker at the "F.R.E.D." song. He kept falling down during the entire show, and somehow, I missed it until I actually watched it on DVD. Hilarious!

Honk, honk laugh Girl: Actually, this woman was THE contender for the Queen role. She had everything that our Queen had, but missed in only one categorie (weight, a lot of it. She was slim as a 2 by 4). We offered her the Jester role and she turned it down, wanting to simply take the part of chorus. And she stole the show. Audience always told me, "I loved the woman in the orange dress. She was hilarious."

Nightengale of Simarkand: I really wanted a whistler or a true musical performer to do this role. But, lacking any men to spare for this style, I decided to call up the best local comedian (he could carry a tune). The Nightengale shared with Winnefred during her "trying to get to sleep" segment. Neither one of them stole from each other, but they managed to control the stage by balancing each other out and sharing the spot light. But at the end of the scene, the audience knew it was all about Winnefred, all the while soaking in the Nightengale's performance. His timing was spot on.

"Normandy": We transformed it into a "Wizard of Oz" skit. I think it really elevated the song.

"Quiet" was extraordinary. I guess watching "STOMP" and "CIRQUE DE SOLEI" had a lot of influence on this piece.

We had a really good time.

And I had a really good time doing this blog. Hey, I'm an amateur. (ah hem, albeit with a B.S. in Theater Arts). Just writing what I know and disregarding the rest. But I did do my homework, and I read everything on MdN that there was to say on this show before I directed it.

I'll use the same technique with "Beauty and the Beast."

A good performer (and director) is a good thief

[wHit.!]

i think the chess idea is GENIOUSSS