Play Out the Play!

Twelfth Night: Dance Rehearsal

I wanted to make sure I got a blog entry up about Sunday's dance rehearsal. 

I've got to say, I don't think I've ever done a dance rehearsal for a show-- especially with non-dancer actors-- where it was such a pleasure and a joy.  All of these actors had a long and arduous day prior to the rehearsal helping to build the new, semi-permanent stage in the Woodward Park Glen.  They were tired and had a rehearsal call on a Sunday afternoon, which no one really likes.

But during the rehearsal, even with the heat, half built set, sore muscles, and late arrivals, everyone was on board for whatever I asked them to do.  I heard no grousing about being written out of a dance, as a few gentlemen had to be.  There were no complaints about having to get up off of their asses.  There was no resistance to my direction and suggestions during the dumb show (an old-school theatrical conceit that a lot of actors look down on as being quaint and antiquated).  In fact, everyone rolled with the time they had to sit out a dance and those that danced every dance stayed focused and worked each set the best they knew how.
Because of this tremendous positivity and professionalism among this cast, they managed to learn two new 1 and a half to two minute dances in just about two hours.  And for non-dancers, that's really some good work. 

Because these actors didn't feel that any part of this process was beneath them or their performance in this show, I think the bookending of the dances and dumbshow will be a strong and well-executed image for teh production-- instead of an afterthought as I've seen in other local productions in recent years.  For me, a girl who loves the vintage dances of the 16th-19th centuries, to have actors so wholly unacquainted with the artform embrace it so well and not feel like coming to this rehearsal was beneath them was a real blessing.

And so, I've uploaded three videos of the rehearsals of the dances and dumb show to my YouTube account.  (When viewing, please bear in mind that these are still early dance rehearsals-- our second one total-- and the first time they've learned two of these pieces.  We have some work to do, but right now, these actors are doing great!)

PS: I have a few new costume snaps on my flickr album. I'll keep a running total on the photostream.

A costuming update

So, wanna see what my life looks like right now?  I've been sewing, organizing, pulling, begging, borrowing, stealing. .  well, not stealing, but you get the pic. I have made some changes to my design plan. . . getting rid of a lot of sleeves, reserving them only for the most formal of characters (Malvolio and The Officers).  I found that on Toby's coat, adding sleeves made it too obviously a Matrix coat (despite the added paso doble panels in the sides and back).   And the folkloric vests tend to be sleeveless and they're on an ISLAND so I wanted a more breezy, less stuffy feel to the costumes.  Besides, what use is a puffy shirt if you can't see the puffy sleeves? 

Here's my work station in the den (right next to the puter).  You can see the stacks of reference materials, toile envelopes, patterns and sketches. .  and the ubiquitous Tudor Tailor book. 

My costume room looks like thus:

Men's Rack:

Women's Rack:

Orsino's doublet:

Toby Belch's Coat:

Andrew Aguecheek's kit:

So, I'm off to rehearsal tonight.  I'll take some more snaps there-- not of costumes but of rehearsal randomness.  I know my three readers who are WSF fans will want to know.  Right?

 

Pre-production-- Twelfth Night

Well, we're in our last week of pre-production meetings for WSF's Twelfth Night.  Actually, we're overlapping pre-production and auditions this week! 

But I sit down for a second sketches meeting with Lars Thorson, the director, on Thursday.  Right before he conducts callbacks for casting.  I'll be hanging out in the back scoping the actors.  I've changed a few sketches of a few characters. . Toby Belch and Malvolio being the principles.  I also have a sketch of Antonio to show up-- straight up Pirate-tastic like he requested.  (I'll probably omit the eyepatch, though!  LOL!).  Toby's costume is straight up Commedia Pantalone-tastic. 

It's been tough combining Italian renaissance, baltic folklore, pirates and commedia as his original precis had in mind, but I think I've done a good job of marrying the Renaissance silhouette with some folkloric touches-- primarily heavy on the embroidered trims and embellishments and a few specific pieces for flavor. But overall, I hope they look like they all exist in the same world. The show is supposed to have a romantic, sea-floral, breeze-strewn feel to it.

Below are my sketches as they stand right now: