Some updates from the Barricade:
Well, I have had some success taming that slippery weasel. I've figured out a way for everyone on the team to share notes with me after rehearsals...that is helpful. Martin and I sat down and went over some nitty-geritty ideas about intensity levels and where the peaks and valleys are in the show. That was also eye-oepning. So much of the music tells an actor exactly what is needed--a pause, a build, a movement to go with a space in the music. We know from talking with Kevin McGuire that the original cast had six months (SIX MONTHS) to put the show together, so anytime they needed more music for a set change, or for business or to make a cross--they would just ask the composers to write something! No wonder everything in the show feels so perfectly in synch!
The most important (best) thing (ever! --is that we are through with blocking and general staging and are into the specific moments and decision points of the character. So much more interesting to work and play around with these moments!! We are refining, re-doing and making sure that everything is connected and makes sense. I'm also watching and listening to see if my actors are working on solving a problem everytime they are on stage. Asking them to be that specific is amazingly fruitful, and gives everyone something to do all the time. Some of my cast isn't really getting that, but I will keep asking.
We have our first Flynn rehearsal on Sunday of this week. We've been doing small scenes and a lot of character work this week--not a lot of chorus or ensemble scenes. Very exciting work, but it will be good to get everyone together again and get back some momentum. Working in the Flynn is always a double edged sword for me as a director. There is work to do, but it is done without set pieces or props. The cast can't always remember what the set looks like or where it lives--despite hours of taping form Sean and Todd--so entrances and exits and spacing is weird. The cast is so affected by the enormous, imposing space that everyone ends up playing very far upstage. I have to remember to ask them to focus on some specific things--and I have to remember that I can only focus on specific things--not everything. We are not performance ready. We are exploring the space, and doing our best to work our actions and our problem-solving in a new space.
We will also have most of our crews and crew heads there to watch the rehearsal to start seeing what they will be doing...another reason to have a full crash through, even though we won't have the barricade for Act 2.
The other thing about a Flynn rehearsal is that is suddenly makes the idea of performance very real for the actors. That huge space (1400 seats!) the dark, the quiet, the emptiness and the feeling of trying to figure out how to fill it...I'm excited for them, even if I am fretting slightly about losing a day with rehearsal sets and props.
THE BARRICADE IS AT THE REHEARSAL SPACE! Cheri, her crew and a few cast members moved it from the old warehouse last weekend. Actors have been exploring it--we will have a dedicated rehearsal tomorrow to find places and nooks & crannies to shoot, load and die! It is amazing to behold and looks even better with people on it. It's going to be enormous!! and AWESOME!
WE have had some interesting visitors at rehearsal. Kris from the Maritime Museum came to demo period weapons and to teach the cast how to simulate loading the pieces that they will be using. He is a "re-enactor"-mainly for the late 18th and early 19th century. He was extremely knowledgeable, interesting and full of useful tidbits about what real people might have done with weapons and the paraphernalia that went with it. And it was fun! The actual weapons were HEAVY! My "Barricade Brethren and Sistren" were excited and had the opportunity to check their aiming stances, ask questions about recoil of the weapon and about impact of bullets. All around incredibly useful stuff. My A team prop tart Mary connected with him and arranged the visit. (We almost didn't get to do the firing because the SB police chief didn't get the message until very late the night before. Apparently, the corporal that Mary had talked to didn't pass it on...Oops. The police department actually called every resident within a mile radius to warn them about the sound of "empty" gunfire. Pretty
impressive!)
The other visitor that came to rehearsal was Bill Reed! Finally settled on a date to have him come and address techniques for bettering diction. Even better, Bill expanded upon the ideas that I've been sharing at rehearsal about authenticity. "You are the miracle." He is so good! Very glad to have him share his stories and his ideas about performing. "There is no right, there is no wrong; there is only the truth."
I am almost done with my various articles and pieces for the program: Director's notes, the synopsis, The song and scene list, the cast list, and an article about the historical context of the novel. I love writing them even if it is time-consuming. It focuses me for the next push!
Alright...enough blogging. Back to the article that gives a historical background for the audience. Still trying to focus in on what I want to say.....think, think, think.
See ya!
KAK
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