Hello! I'm Sarah Olbrantz, another ensemble member! And I'm here to tell you the next of our sea-sorrow!
After initially working on ‘The Tempest,’ the cast as a whole felt overwhelmingly fulfilled. We had set out to accomplish the impossible. Outside forces tried to stop us, our inner voices grew weak and weary, but we pulled through and made it happen. What an achievement.
But this feeling was so good and exciting, that none of us wanted it to end. How could we sustain this energy? Like a drug, we had tasted the sweet elixir that is ‘creation,’ and desperately sought for more. In my own personal attempt to flee the country of America once again, I spoke the words that were secretly being whispered by everyone’s heart: Let’s try to take our show to the Fringe Festival in Scotland. Wheels began turning and ideas poured out.
The Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) at Syracuse had recently visited our theater department, discussing her willingness and dedication to supporting and helping young actors in any of our passionate endeavors. We all immediately thought of this and began working on an email, proposing a meeting to discuss our passionate endeavor. After spending three years at Syracuse University, we felt confident that the "powers-that-be" would be more than willing to help us out in any way possible, even if that meant just listening to our proposal.
Dean Clarke responded promptly and the next thing we knew all six of us, including supportive faculty member Timothy Davis-Reed, were meeting in her office. She loved the idea. We all took notes, discussed the grants we would need to apply for, exchanged emails and left with very high hopes that over the summer break, Dean Clarke would be able to find room for our project in the year’s budget. Some ideas that were discussed included filming a documentary, or a “how-to," on taking a show to the Fringe; allowing future students to use it as a resource for their own passionate endeavors. Some other ideas were to try and involve VPA departments other than Drama; such as Communications and Rhetorical Studies and Art and Design for all of our advertising needs, and set/prop necessities. This would open lines of communication within VPA and potentially create new, working relationships. We solidified these ideas with our Stage Manager, Chelsea Jennings, and then put our project to bed. We would have to wait until the fall to find out if our proposal was actually possible and worth pursuing.
Fast forward to the Fall of 2009: Back at school, we email Dean Clarke to see if we can meet again to discuss the progress of our potential project. We eventually meet and after solidifying details of the project, Dean Clarke and her faithful assistant Katy Foley give us the go ahead to pursue the means by which we could gain funding for our project.
Success! The six of us, seven of us including our incredible stage manager, meet and pull a proposal together (mostly our stage manager – she is remarkable). We submit it and over Thanksgiving break are granted the money from the Co-Curricular Fund. We now are officially taking a Syracuse University supported show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August of 2010.
Logistically, there was an incredible amount of work that now needed to be done. Applying to the Fringe, finding a theater, requesting that theater, being granted that theater, travel dates, rehearsal dates and space, advertising, production costs and budgeting, prop and set design, the list goes on and on! *Footnote: I personally soon discovered at this point that A) I am not interested in any facet of producing a show, and B) I love stage managers.
The Ladies began having weekly meetings in the attic of my house in Syracuse (not as creepy as that actually sounds). We discussed business logistics and conceptual ideas for the new and improved version of our show. Meetings were hard with one of our cast members interning in Chicago, but that goodness for Skype!
We ended the fall semester confident. Ready to take on spring semester, whatever it would bring. Five of us would be studying in NYC at the University's "Ariel Tepper Semester," one of us working and earning money at home in Maryland, and our fearless stage manager still in Syracuse. Could we still rehearse? How much could we actually accomplish? What exactly would this next semester bring...?
(You see how I built that suspense? It's a tactic called a "cliff hanger" to keep you coming back for more!)
