Play Out the Play!

Paul Harvey and The Rest of the Story

So, “Lex” – the active commenter in the “Lizzie Awards, 2006” post—seems to have the tiniest bit of the inside line on the personnel workings of Enchanted April. Lex used an example of one of the actors in EA “taking control” of the lighting in order to illustrate the perils of doubling up job duties in the theatre. 

This being my blog, I get to expound on that experience and what I’ve learned from it.  Perhaps Lex will comment. If Lex has a blog, I hope a link will be posted and more thoughts explored there. I’m all about the cross-germination of the blogosphere!

Anyway, first to the general state of civic theatre:

In civic theatre, directors are often forced to design their own sets, pull their own costumes, design their own lights, run their own sound, take on parts. . . .etc.  It's unfortunate, but until a means of recruiting and developing a larger acting and technical pool is found, I'm afraid it’s the nature of the beast. 

It is very difficult to wear multiple hats and keep your directorial eye on the ball. If the director—as the person with the ultimate responsibility for the navigation of the ship—has to look in too many directions, there are icebergs that are bound to go unnoticed. 

So, yes. . . I agree that it is best when everyone has a place in a well defined hierarchy and everyone follows through with that job. 

But in civic theatre, people have day jobs, previous commitments, family illnesses, personal tragedies.. . . these things must be given as much sensitivity and deference as can be spared. So occasionally, people have to fill in. And with fewer people to cover the same ground. . . it makes the turf thinner. If you catch my loose metaphor. 

And yes, occasionally, in the spirit of pitching in for the team, job lines get blurred and personnel conflicts bubble up.

But managing those problems and getting past them requires *everyone* to be upfront, honest, and *communicative* when they feel undermined. Not doing so only leads to misperceptions, misunderstandings, and unnecessary resentments that are harder to resolve later on. 

But these are things that those who aren't present in the situation won't fully understand-- no matter how detailed the story they got secondhand. Even the people who are present only see certain aspects of a situation and forget that there are other things going on: other things contributing the chaos surrounding them. 

The truth of the matter is probably somewhere in the median between the various experiences.

Okay.. . .now lets get into specifics (I have discussed this issue with everyone involved so I hope that it’s okay that I admit to my folly publicly. If I embarrass anyone, you have my number. Let’s talk!)

Enchanted April was a difficult show to get personnel lined up for. The few technicians the Ice House had were burned out by the time they got to EA.  The lighting technician had done every show up until then (if you saw every show, Lex, it's the techie in the black. . .you know the one I mean!). She made the commitment to do my show in October, but then got signed on to do two other shows in between her November commitment and EA—in March/April. She was a tired young woman, for certain. Had a job to keep, school to tend to, and a tremendous loss to grieve. Most certainly things that come first. 

Then, I had to cast my Rose at the last moment from an internet contact. Sight unseen! 

My Mrs. Graves had to drop because of a family illness. After two weeks of asking around, I finally stepped into the role myself. Thus the beginning of my split focus.

I went through two Costanzas before we even started the run with a third. 

Couldn’t find a sound technician to save our lives. When we finally did, he didn’t want to listen to the technical director/stage manager. There was definitely some bargaining that had to happen just to keep him from dropping out.  And at that, he was gone for three days of the run so the SM had to run the sound and try to call cues. 

We had no stage hands. Not even one. So the actors took on the shift changes of their own accord. 

The effects projector decided not to work until final dress. 

One of my principal actors was out the entire week before tech. 

Shall I go on?  The only way we got through it was because we had a hands on producer who helped out.

With each and every one of these things hitting me from all sides—and I, the director, feel I have to figure each and every one of these things out—I was hardly the most objective or focused person to work with. 

So, as it happened, my cast, with whom I had bonded thoroughly because I was also a fellow actor, stepped up to the plate. B- and Kristin, most especially. B-, who observed that our SM was busy trying to figure out the effects projector and teach the sound guy how to properly deliver a cue without arguing with her, offered to choreograph the shift changes. She spoke to me about it. I agreed to let her. I failed to speak to my technical director. She was busy. I was busy. It didn’t happen. My fault. 

As such, during the run, the changes were choreographed one way and the SM/technical director would give a different order and the cast members would be confused. And when cast members are confused, they get contradictory. 

On another occasion, I called B- to the house during light hanging to look at colors on the scrim. The purpose for this? She’s the costumer as well. I was speaking to her, in the presence of my co-lighting designer/technical director, as a fellow designer. She has to have input on the color scheme because she has spent hundreds of dollars in fabrics for the costumes she’s almost finished making. She gets input on saturation levels and how the lighting colors will affect her costume design (because the lights are easier to change than specially made costumes).

A few times, my technical director would ask for my input on the effects projection. I was happy with it a number of ways and she wished to keep pushing ahead with getting the projection moving. I had given up by that time.  She’s a perfectionist—one of the things I admire about her. 

Anyway. . . what ultimately happened, unbeknownst to me, was that my technical director felt undermined and unappreciated on a number of occasions. Because of my swimming head, I didn’t realize that I had set up a situation where there were a number of cooks but no top chef. That is completely my responsibility as the director. 

The actors who stepped up to handle such elements as shift changes, scene study, and properties crew are not to be blamed for taking ownership of an area where there was a need. They were pitching in to make the production as good as it could be and had no other motive for it at all. What are sometimes perceived as power struggles are really just a desire to do things as well as possible. 

My technical director is also not to blame for this situation. The only thing I have asked of her in the future is to communicate when she’s feeling undermined or set aside as a contributing member of the staff. I can’t do anything about the problems unless the problems are communicated. 

As it was, I didn’t know about her feelings until several weeks after the show had closed. I can’t do anything about it then. All I can do is exactly what I did: have a frank and heartfelt conversation with her, explore what really went down (more than just her perception of what went down), and promise to improve in the future. 

Which is what I intend to do. I know perfectly well that I cannot lose myself so thoroughly in a production as I did on EA. The rehearsal process was a bear on all of us. The performing was a joy for most of us. All in all, a group of really talented people created a really good show—technically and performance-wise. 

On Enchanted April, regardless of whether I was wearing too many hats, as the director-- when the conflicts were finally brought to my attention-- I took full responsibility and made what amends I could. 

No matter what else I am, I AM the director. My name is on the flyer. I am ultimately responsible for whatever conditions I set up-- and for the results of those conditions. It may be nobody’s fault or everyone’s fault, but it’s my responsibility. 

I may be attached to my own vainglory from time to time, but I’m not bullheaded. I know that I can’t do what I do without the commitment and talents of others. I do try to be an adult when it really counts. 

In the work we do together, it really counts. 

And that’s the inside scoop, Lex. From where you were sitting while watching EA, you couldn’t see the whole story. None of us could.

The Arts Consortium write up in Choices by Irene Morse

http://cityguide.visaliatimesdelta.com/fe/Arts/20060428-2278977.asp

(Apparently, acting notations on Craig Wilson and Tom Nance were cut by the editor for space considerations.)

Second Weekend Down

So we just finished our second weekend of performances of EA at the Ice House.  The response from audiences has been incredibly good.  Effusive, even.  And not in that "I'm going to tell you I enjoyed it and run to the parking lot as fast as I can" sort of way.  People have wanted to stay and chat and ask questions and really show their appreciation.  And that's awesome. 

We had one lady come back stage and tell us how amazing we all were with such profound energy and commitment we were all a little taken aback.  But not wanting to be those distant performers who can't take a compliment, we hugged her and smiled and laughed and let her leave to tell everyone she knew to come down and see it. 

And that is something we need more of:  word of mouth. 

The houses have been dreadfully mediocre thus far.  Today we had the largest audience we've had yet. To be fair, there are a lot of events and entertainments going on "out there" in town these days.  And we've had really good press, including a three column write up on page 3 of Choices (the local paper's entertainment magazine) which pushed the Enchanted Playhouse's preview of Sleeping Beauty to the side (how they must have hated us!).  We've had good flyers, ads out there, newspaper write ups.. .  granted we could certainly work harder to utilize radio more, but I didn't have the energy to pursue that this time around.  But really, we've done everything right.

And that isn't to say that the houses have been pitiful.  It's not like we're playing for 11 people out there.  We're sitting at about 30% houses right now.  And the optimistic part is that houses tend to swell during the last weekend.  And we'll have to see what the free performance on Saturday does for us.  Here's hoping. . . .

In the meantime, though, I am very proud of the "reviews" I've gotten from trusted artistic colleagues who have come to see the show.  Christien was kind enough to call me today to tell me again how lovely it was.  And that is such a pleasure for me to hear. 

It's a well executed ensemble piece with a cast that truly enjoys each other.  Despite its trials and challenges, it has truly been a pleasure. 

Thank God!

EA: Opening Night

The AudioBlog:

(in mp3 format):

http://madwomansattic.net/Audio/EAAudioBlog4-21-06.mp3

So the press interviews have begun. . .

Today begin the ritual-like interviews with the press.  I've done these interviews live, on the phone, and via e-mail in the past.  And while I've never been quoted grandly out of context (knock on wood), I do find it interesting which bits of an answer makes it into a preview story and which gets left out. 

Don't get me wrong.  God bless the editors and reporters who give us press coverage.  And having written feature articles myself, I totally understand how the process happens.  I'm not bitching at all.  In fact, I often love to see how my lengthy and verbose answers get boiled down to the pithiest responses possible. 

Anyway, the following is today's e-mail interview with my complete answers intact.  This one was with the South Valley Fresno Bee:

What made you decide to do the Pay's the Thing?
The Pay's the Thing! is something new for the Players.  Many metropolitan theatres-- professional and non-profits-- have one day a season where they charge no admission fees.  The VCP took their cue from them by adding one "no box office" performance to our season. 

It is an outreach effort.  The primary purpose is to open our doors to the community at large and encourage more than just our regular patrons to come out and experience live theatre.  The Pay's the Thing! will hopefully encourage those who haven't been exposed to live theatre-- or who haven't been to the Ice House specifically-- to get a small taste of it. We hope that once they get a taste of some engaging local creativity they'll want to come back. The second purpose is to say "Thank You" to the community that supports us.   We are the Visalia Community Players, after all.  This is a way to give back the community.

 

What do you like about this play?
This play had all of the things I typically look for in a good script: it is well-written with lovely dialogue, it has literary merit as a story, and its theme (of rebirth) is engaging and powerful. 

But aside from that, I resonated with the simplicity of it-- that after life has gotten you down, you need to find something beautiful to help you back up.  My family rents a vacation house in Santa Cruz every year for several weeks.  As a family, we are very different people when we leave than when we arrived.  The idea that everyone needs a place to go where they can relax, renew, forgive and rediscover the better angels of their nature is something that we all have in common. 
 
  How have you updated this play?
In essence, it isn't updated at all.  We haven't changed a word of the script or the time period.  However, as a director I tend to rebel against the literal.  I don't like literal sets with walls and massive scene changes.  Therefore, I prefer the set, costumes and lighting design to suggest a certain idea and emphasize a concept related to the theme of the show.  As a result, the set is inspired by an art nouveau post card from the early 20th century and is framed accordingly.  The costumes are very 1918-1922 authentic, but they have elements of modern whimsy to them.  The characters' clothing goes from being very confined and shut off to very open-- like they're shedding their old skins.

Have you seen the movie?
Yes, I have.  Many times.  I own a copy from when it first came out on VHS in 1993.  I am a huge fan of all four women in the film and think it beautifully done.  The play version is just as delicately rendered as the film-- and as true to the original novel.  But they're not carbon copies.  They are two different media highlighting their strengths.  With the film, its strengths were its visuals and the internal dialogues of each character.  Theatre can't complete with the realism of film (nor should it try) so the play highlights the lovely language and interesting characters.

 

Was it hard to find a Rose and a Lotty?
What a strange story that is!  Typically, you can't throw a cat around here without hitting a talented actress.  On this show, Rose and Lotty-- the two leading ladies-- were a challenge to find.  They are such interesting characters, fun to play, real "acting with a capital A" parts.  But I didn't have a single appropriate woman come to audition for those parts.  So, I called up Kristin Crase, with whom I worked on The Fourth Wall's As You Like It, and she was excited to be offered the role. 

But casting Rose was proving to be difficult.  At the very last minute, I received an e-mail through my website from this young woman, Linnea George,  asking about opportunities to act in the area.  After a Google search, I found a photo and a list of credits for her.  We met, worked together at the Rogue Festival in Fresno (with Woodward Shakespeare), and then she was cast!  And guess, what. . .SHE'S FANTASTIC!  Supremely talented. 

It just goes to show how, with some positive outlook and a commitment to making the experience a good one for everyone involved, things usually work out in the end.  "Enchantment," some would say. .

Could you provide a quote about why Crase works for Lotty?
Kristin is wonderful as Lotty because she possesses great energy onstage and has a terrific capacity for making others respond to her. I needed someone who could exhibit tremendous heart to an audience, and Kristin always fits that bill.   

EA: Press Release

I just thought I'd publish the full press release:

April is Enchanted at the Ice House Theatre   

Enchanted April opens April 21^st.

   

 "Were it only that some enchantment would step in for us all, to change what we have for what we wish for. To bridge the awkward gap between all of our many befores and afters."

The Visalia Community Players are pleased to present the acclaimed jewel, Enchanted April by Matthew Barber, which was nominated for the Tony for Best Play in 2003.

   

The year is 1922, and two rain-soaked London housewives, Rose and Lotty, join glamorous socialite     Lady Caroline and lonely widow Mrs. Graves in a rented castle in Italy for the month of April. There, under cascading wisteria and Mediterranean sunshine, their spiritually dampened lives blossom, and they are transformed. It's a captivating, story of rebirth and renewal, reminding us life can take new turns if we discover the enchantment that lies within.

   

Continuing in her love for exquisite literary adaptations and theatrical classics, director Heather     Parish (Turn of the Screw, The Importance of Being Earnest) has staged this adaptation of Elizabeth von Arnim's 1922 novel with a modern-looking     twist. The unit set employs the use of a scrim and an  effects projector to achieve an updated version of an art nouveau design.

   

 The centerpiece of the production, however, is the engaging cast.

   

 Rose and Lotty-the heart of the story-are portrayed by Linnea George and Kristin Lyn Crase. Crase is a Tulare native who studied at Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts and produced an all-female production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Tulare in 2004. George, an accomplished violinist, is a newcomer to the area and an alumnus of the University of Illinois. She most recently appeared with     the Woodward Shakespeare Festival at the Rogue Festival in Fresno.

   

Also onstage are Ice House veterans Peg Collins (Mrs. Graves), Brooke Aiello (Lady Caroline), Craig Wilson (Mellersh Wilton), and Tom Nance (Frederick Arnott). Rounding out the cast are Randi Saul-Olson as the colorful Italian cook and Chase Darwin as Wilding, the castle's dashing owner.

   

 The Los Angeles Times called Enchanted April "a lush, thoroughly refreshing theatrical holiday.  Escape has seldom seemed so sweet." It runs April 21, 22, 28, 29, May 4, 5, 6 at 7:30 p.m. and April 23 and 30 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 on Fridays and     Saturdays; $8 on Thursdays and Sundays. Reservations: 734-3900. For more information click to www.madwomansattic.net

   

* * * * *

   

The Pay's the Thing!

   

The Ice House Theatre is offering an additional     performance of Enchanted April with NO BOX OFFICE! That means that everyone in the community is invited to attend the performance for whatever donation they feel they can afford: A few coins, a few bills, or a grand donation. . . they'll  all get you in the door! Your admission is exactly what you can afford-or exactly what you think it is worth!

   

 The Pay's the Thing Performance of Enchanted April will be held at 2 p.m. on May 6^th at the Ice House Theatre. Reservations will not be taken for this performance. General admission only. Come out and enjoy some terrific theatre in your community!

More stitchery. . .

. . . woo hoo!  A few minor miracles:  We're almost fully staffed.  We finally landed a sound technician today. 

And the generous and fabulous AJ's Tuxedo Junction of Visalia has donated all of the men's formalwear for the show:  two tuxes and three full white dinner jacket ensembles.  Rock On!

Things are slowly stitching themselves together

We are now in the roughest part of the whole process on this show. 

Usually, at this point, things hit a good, solid stride and everyone's confidence goes up.  That's not to say that this isn't the case here.  I think everyone is as confident and good spirited as they can possibly be under such strangely "stop and start" circumstances. 

We did a full run through on Friday night and it went well, but it lacked energy.  People were really more focused on the mechanics of the entire show.  "Which way do I exit?  How long do I have until my next entrance?  When/Where will I quick change."  It's good to get an idea of that, but it doesn't lend itself to hitting it hard when returning on Monday. 

Add to that our working on set/costumes for a full 20 hours this weekend, and you have a tired company!

But. . . I sat and watched the first act tonight (all but the one scene I'm in) and it really is shaping up charmingly.  Really. . I'm not just saying that.  It's cleverly acted.  The actors have such lovely deliveries-- very original.  They really LISTEN to one another, RESPOND, and MAKE A CHOICE thereafter.  They don't just go through the motions.  They are exploring these characters and these choices.  It was very engaging to watch.  Just some straight up good acting and staging of a good script right there. 

The only thing it lacks is that elusive quality called "energy" and "focus".  I use the image of the white hot, pin-pointed light of a laser beam shooting out toward the audience.  Our laser is warm, but not quite of lethal proportions.  Yet. 

I know we just need to keep reinforcing for the next two nights of rehearsal.  Fix a few very minor problems (that the actors feel but the audience likely won't even notice).  Then we break for Easter and come back and hit techs full throttle. 

Something tells me pretty assuredly that these people will come to life under fully lit lights and in lovely formalwear. 

I can feel it coming. 

As is always the case. . .

. . . a show that is worthwhile is always a bit of a roller coaster ride. 

I was dreading last night's rehearsal after the difficulties of rehearsal on Wednesday.  But I knew that my attitude had to be corrected before going in.  No cast deserves a poor attitude from a director-- particularly one asking them to bear with her under less than ideal circumstances. 

But I had spoken to B on the phone earlier in the day and expressed my frustrations with the acting/directing situation.  Somehow, that got communicated to Kristin, and the next thing I know, I'm on my feet and we're tag team directing a scene that I'm in.

What relief!! 

So that lead to an impromptu comment to the cast that this is now very much a collaborative process now and that anyone should feel free to make suggestions at any point. 

(Of course, immediately thereafter a cast member who is still new to the theatre world gave me a suggestion on a line reading I have in the earlier scene.  Bless her heart, she didn't understand that suggestions on line readings and an actor's choices just isn't done.  Her suggestion was an obvious one and one I had considered but discarded as not the direction I want to present Mrs. Graves.   But to her defense, she has no training and no one has ever told her how to make suggestions and how not to do it.  So you really just have to chuckle).

Later in the evening, though, the way in which to make a suggestion was perfectly illustrated by the fabulous Craig.  While watching B and Tom struggle with the staging of a particularly interesting moment, he simply leaned over to me and said. . .without any hullaballoo or prefacing. . . "Perhaps she should rest her hands on his arms. . . . " and, after I nodded my assent to try it out, proceded to explain his idea to the two actors.  It  worked like a charm. 

I think from that moment, everyone in the cast knew that they could have more input into this process than just being a puppet for someone else's intentions. 

As a result, the rehearsal went grandly and everyone left on a positive note. 

Including myself.

Let me just say this. ..

. . . everything looks better when you had some sleep!

Oatmeal cookies help, too. 

So. . in play-related news, I've been in contact with a teacher from Fresno Pacific University's satellite campus.   She's going to come in and purchase 19 advance tickets. 

We don't have the manpower for regular advance ticket sales, but man would I love to have them.  And this also brings up another area of exposure of shows-- to schools, colleges, etc. and their arts appreciation courses.  So many theatre programs-- high school on up-- are geared toward making new performers.  God knows we need them. 

But what I think people lose sight of is simply this:  Out of the 30 or so students with whom I studied at C.O.S.'s theatre arts program, perhaps 8 of them continue to create theatre regularly.  That other 22?  Well, they are your most likely targets for your new audiences. 

Arts programs don't just create artists, they create art lovers and consumers.  We should think about that next time we pooh-pooh outreach to educational programs.