Hello!
"Good morning - I mean - good afternoon - I guess it's afternoon - I - "
"What?" asked the horribly bored girl behind the desk at the gym.
"I - uh - I just thought it was morning when it was afternoon - "
"Sign in there."
Right...so we slept in till about 11:22 this morning. And we got up and we did our own thing. In my case that would be the gym for forty minutes too long and, of course, the library. What would I do with a day off besides wallow in front of a computer and try to advertise us just a little bit more? ...Well, probably sit in the park with an iced coffee and do nothing... So I will sit here with an iced coffee and type till I have carpal tunnel and then I will go sit in the park with an iced coffee and do nothing. But I repeat myself...
So! Yesterday was a WONDERFUL rehearsal. I'm so pleased to report this. We all woke up feeling remarkably rested - having been in some strange sort of all-encompassing degree of fatigue the day before - and we went into rehearsal at 11am. We made remaining props and costumes. This included but was not limited to: Sewing Caliban fur onto Caliban headbands. Cutting points into a gold, sparkly casino-going old lady's visor to make Alonso's crown. Fringe checking the fabric that makes the Goddess's headdress. And sanding down the sheet metal that is our storm thunder. Have I given everything away? You wish.
We then proceeded to go around the circle of four cast members present and we let each cast member pick something they wanted to work on. For some that was to run through a scene and cement the lines. (We know the lines but are, at times, exchanging the word "Follow" for "Come on" and the word "Island" for "Isle..." So we needed to get that straight). Others chose to work through a scene and have remaining cast members watch it. Most helpful in having an outside eye let the actor know what was clear and what what evident.
We then called it a half day. Some went to the gym. Others stayed to cement movement that is transitioning through the play and where to enter and exit around the muslin fabric - have I mentioned how big that thing is? It's HUGE.
I, myself, stayed to choreograph movement through a very early piece of dialogue I have which takes a great amount of motion and breath and leaves me sweating profusely onto the first row of audience members (warning) - I'm just kidding...but, really. :P
So here we are with a day off. We all treated ourselves to sushi dinner last night. Today, well. Gym. Gym. Gym. Blogging. Singing. Eating. Going to park? Pool? Dinner. Who knows.
I hear rumor of going to "the larger mall in America" tomorrow. It will be nice to get off of campus.
Thanks for reading.
With love always,
Jana x
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
In Edinburgh in a week!
Hey all,
We're looking at Edinburgh in a week! We fly out next Thursday and will wake up in the city of Edinburgh next Friday! We realized this upon waking this morning and started shrieking and squealing as we lay on our air mattresses trying to stretch out our cramped bodies.
Yesterday we finished up the tightening of transitions. Then we did a speed through of the transitions - going from a cue line into a transition to the next cue line into a transition. Finally, we ran the show through for the second time. We shaved off five minutes. We need to shave off about fifteen minutes more.
One thing that we all took note of during the run was that we were watching it and trying to do it. We were working as actors with director's eyes. We realized that we've taken the time we need to direct. The stage pictures are set. The piece looks the way that it needs to. It's now time to play with each other. We know the text. It's time to play within it... that's probably the hardest part of the actor's work - a least for me. You do all the work and then you have to forget about it - let it be and just have a good time.
We're already discussing how we want to see Edinburgh castle and all the sights. Looking forward to it.
Today we're missing two members who went out of town for varying and necessary circumstances. We have a half day of rehearsal today to make remaining props and look at a couple of scenes before we take two much needed days off (Saturday and Sunday) and resume rehearsals on Monday. We have three more full rehearsals! How did this happen?
With lots of love,
Jana x
We're looking at Edinburgh in a week! We fly out next Thursday and will wake up in the city of Edinburgh next Friday! We realized this upon waking this morning and started shrieking and squealing as we lay on our air mattresses trying to stretch out our cramped bodies.
Yesterday we finished up the tightening of transitions. Then we did a speed through of the transitions - going from a cue line into a transition to the next cue line into a transition. Finally, we ran the show through for the second time. We shaved off five minutes. We need to shave off about fifteen minutes more.
One thing that we all took note of during the run was that we were watching it and trying to do it. We were working as actors with director's eyes. We realized that we've taken the time we need to direct. The stage pictures are set. The piece looks the way that it needs to. It's now time to play with each other. We know the text. It's time to play within it... that's probably the hardest part of the actor's work - a least for me. You do all the work and then you have to forget about it - let it be and just have a good time.
We're already discussing how we want to see Edinburgh castle and all the sights. Looking forward to it.
Today we're missing two members who went out of town for varying and necessary circumstances. We have a half day of rehearsal today to make remaining props and look at a couple of scenes before we take two much needed days off (Saturday and Sunday) and resume rehearsals on Monday. We have three more full rehearsals! How did this happen?
With lots of love,
Jana x
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Press Day
Hello! We're already to Thursday and leave for Edinburgh ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! What?! Sooo thrilling! :)
Yesterday we polished the storm. Polished it till there wasn't any polish left and we were essentially rubbing the piece raw. We had to leave it where it was. It's in good shape. We're just getting anxious and having trouble trusting ourselves with the time running out.
We proceeded to work through the rest of the show, speeding through wherever possible and hitting transitional points and musical complements. We found where music assists the piece - particularly underscoring and filling transitional gaps - and we found ways to transition as quickly as possible - we're hoping this will eat up some excess time that we still need to shave off the piece.
We made it through Act III.iii for transitions and music yesterday. We will pick up where we left off and finish up with Act IV and Act V before we do a speed through of transitions (working through what we just found all in a row without stopping so that there is a flow in our thinking and physicality). We will then do our second full run of the show.
We have people from "the hill," or from campus, coming down to interview us on our process and on our project this afternoon. So rehearsal once we're through our run, we will be looking at getting camera ready, answering questions, and posing for photo call. The best part is that we get to use any photos taken of us for promotional purposes and advertising. This will be especially useful when we start publicizing the New York show.
That's all I really have...Anyone have any great suggestions for what we should see/do in Edinburgh besides see incredible theater?
With Love,
Jana x
Yesterday we polished the storm. Polished it till there wasn't any polish left and we were essentially rubbing the piece raw. We had to leave it where it was. It's in good shape. We're just getting anxious and having trouble trusting ourselves with the time running out.
We proceeded to work through the rest of the show, speeding through wherever possible and hitting transitional points and musical complements. We found where music assists the piece - particularly underscoring and filling transitional gaps - and we found ways to transition as quickly as possible - we're hoping this will eat up some excess time that we still need to shave off the piece.
We made it through Act III.iii for transitions and music yesterday. We will pick up where we left off and finish up with Act IV and Act V before we do a speed through of transitions (working through what we just found all in a row without stopping so that there is a flow in our thinking and physicality). We will then do our second full run of the show.
We have people from "the hill," or from campus, coming down to interview us on our process and on our project this afternoon. So rehearsal once we're through our run, we will be looking at getting camera ready, answering questions, and posing for photo call. The best part is that we get to use any photos taken of us for promotional purposes and advertising. This will be especially useful when we start publicizing the New York show.
That's all I really have...Anyone have any great suggestions for what we should see/do in Edinburgh besides see incredible theater?
With Love,
Jana x
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Oogly Boogly
Dear Blog People,
Oogly Boogly Doogly Dah...I'm quite tired today...and quite hysterical...but that's to be expected this deep in the theatre process.
Yesterday, we spent the first half of our rehearsal making rain sticks. Yes. A very long and tedious, but necessary task. Why did we spend so much time making rain sticks out of chicken wire and rice? Well, we need them for the storm scene, of course, and we all know the storm scene needed work. So we made the music and sounds and proceeded to re-stage the storm after lunch. We kept our original opening image of a ship, made beautifully with our bodies. We then proceeded to experiment with how to make sound throughout the rest of the scene. Not an easy task as every actor is on stage during the storm and we, therefore, must carry our instruments with us throughout the scene. We came up with a rough outline which we will fill in today with fresh brains.
We also hope to work through the play - slowly, hitting each scene with the necessary transition and song work, so that when we're finished working through it we will have killed two birds with one stone. We will do this so that tomorrow (and, of course, this is subject to change) we can do another full run of the show before meeting with PR people for interviews/photos...wow, that sounds fancy...
That's about it, really. We're looking at tightening and polishing. We're looking at hydration and, hopefully, rest. We're looking at Edinburgh one week from tomorrow.
With love,
The Tempest Ladies
Oogly Boogly Doogly Dah...I'm quite tired today...and quite hysterical...but that's to be expected this deep in the theatre process.
Yesterday, we spent the first half of our rehearsal making rain sticks. Yes. A very long and tedious, but necessary task. Why did we spend so much time making rain sticks out of chicken wire and rice? Well, we need them for the storm scene, of course, and we all know the storm scene needed work. So we made the music and sounds and proceeded to re-stage the storm after lunch. We kept our original opening image of a ship, made beautifully with our bodies. We then proceeded to experiment with how to make sound throughout the rest of the scene. Not an easy task as every actor is on stage during the storm and we, therefore, must carry our instruments with us throughout the scene. We came up with a rough outline which we will fill in today with fresh brains.
We also hope to work through the play - slowly, hitting each scene with the necessary transition and song work, so that when we're finished working through it we will have killed two birds with one stone. We will do this so that tomorrow (and, of course, this is subject to change) we can do another full run of the show before meeting with PR people for interviews/photos...wow, that sounds fancy...
That's about it, really. We're looking at tightening and polishing. We're looking at hydration and, hopefully, rest. We're looking at Edinburgh one week from tomorrow.
With love,
The Tempest Ladies
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Warm o' My Troth!
Well, the sickness scare appears to be over. With A LOT of hydration, good nutrition that, admittedly, included an icecream run and some well-deserved and much-needed rest, we are feeling better.
We stumbled through the show yesterday - wow -so informative. It ran at about an hour and forty minutes. We have about fifteen more minutes left to shave, which we think will be doable with lines and transitions tightened. We clearly need a transition rehearsal. We need a lot more music. The gaps that are transitions need some sort of informative musical element to complement the last scene and lead the audience into the next scene.
I know that for me, personally, I had many an acting line for myself by the end of the run. But this is a good thing - it will give me something to focus on and aim for during the next run or work through of the scenes, which excites me and prods me to keep going.
We had Chelsea on book for the last time yesterday. We are now 'on our own' and will start to receive line notes (a piece of paper that tells us where we flubbed for lines, where we switched one word for another word in a line...etc). This is a very good and very necessary step...I'd even go so far as to say: It's about time.
Last night we brought dinner over to Olga's and had flowering tea (a tea that is a bulb that blossoms in hot water and tastes delicious while looking spectacular). She shared some stories about life in Russia. Told us how Felix was a legend there and we all agreed that if anyone was a legend, it would be Felix. She reminded us of the Stanislavsky quote: Love the art in yourself. Love yourself in the art. And she shared with us that she and Felix believe this new wave of art is that of "Stanislavsky Rock and Roll," in that it is free moving. We get together to do something and we just go - we do it. She said that's what we're doing - Rock and Roll. ...I think it's clear that we adore these two people and see them as both mentors and grandparents.
I'm also pleased to announced that: We have pants! Yes, it's been a long time coming. We're talking endless searches through NYC's Forever 21, Target's $10 bargains and finally - Old Navy! We walked in, saw the pants, tried them on, made sure they fit and bought them! Voila! Our costumes are now complete thanks to Sarah, who purchased our matching blue leotards in bulk before arriving in Syracuse.
Today, (dare I even guess what we're doing today?) well, actually today, I don't know what we're doing because we didn't decide. And it's just as well because if we decided one thing, you know we would probably do another.
And so I leave you with the mystery of what today brings. I hope it surprises you, too.
With Love, of course,
J x
We stumbled through the show yesterday - wow -so informative. It ran at about an hour and forty minutes. We have about fifteen more minutes left to shave, which we think will be doable with lines and transitions tightened. We clearly need a transition rehearsal. We need a lot more music. The gaps that are transitions need some sort of informative musical element to complement the last scene and lead the audience into the next scene.
I know that for me, personally, I had many an acting line for myself by the end of the run. But this is a good thing - it will give me something to focus on and aim for during the next run or work through of the scenes, which excites me and prods me to keep going.
We had Chelsea on book for the last time yesterday. We are now 'on our own' and will start to receive line notes (a piece of paper that tells us where we flubbed for lines, where we switched one word for another word in a line...etc). This is a very good and very necessary step...I'd even go so far as to say: It's about time.
Last night we brought dinner over to Olga's and had flowering tea (a tea that is a bulb that blossoms in hot water and tastes delicious while looking spectacular). She shared some stories about life in Russia. Told us how Felix was a legend there and we all agreed that if anyone was a legend, it would be Felix. She reminded us of the Stanislavsky quote: Love the art in yourself. Love yourself in the art. And she shared with us that she and Felix believe this new wave of art is that of "Stanislavsky Rock and Roll," in that it is free moving. We get together to do something and we just go - we do it. She said that's what we're doing - Rock and Roll. ...I think it's clear that we adore these two people and see them as both mentors and grandparents.
I'm also pleased to announced that: We have pants! Yes, it's been a long time coming. We're talking endless searches through NYC's Forever 21, Target's $10 bargains and finally - Old Navy! We walked in, saw the pants, tried them on, made sure they fit and bought them! Voila! Our costumes are now complete thanks to Sarah, who purchased our matching blue leotards in bulk before arriving in Syracuse.
Today, (dare I even guess what we're doing today?) well, actually today, I don't know what we're doing because we didn't decide. And it's just as well because if we decided one thing, you know we would probably do another.
And so I leave you with the mystery of what today brings. I hope it surprises you, too.
With Love, of course,
J x
Monday, July 26, 2010
Changes
Well, I feel like from now on I can't tell you what we're going to be doing with a day because it always changes. Yesterday we came in and poor Sarah was feeling sick with migraine symptoms. She felt quesy and was really sensitive to light. We took a quick inventory of what we still needed prop and costume-wise for the show and figured out where everything would have to be set at the top of the show and where it would move and where it would have to be for each scene...and then we called it a half day and sent everyone home. Sarah slept her sickness off for the most part and woke up feeling much better.
I must confess that I, now, am feeling quesy and as I sit here typing, I'm wondering how quickly I can wrap this up and go lie down so that I, too, can rest up and recuperate as we're supposed to do our stumble through of the show today before taking dinner of to our costumer, Olga, and going to Old Navy to by pants for our costumes. Any good vibes or prayers you have to offer for our health are much appreciated as we're really getting down to the wire and are suffering symptoms of 'overdoing it,' as my doctor dad put it. Haha...
So, there you go in a tight nutshell. Hope you're better than we are.
With Love,
The TLs.
I must confess that I, now, am feeling quesy and as I sit here typing, I'm wondering how quickly I can wrap this up and go lie down so that I, too, can rest up and recuperate as we're supposed to do our stumble through of the show today before taking dinner of to our costumer, Olga, and going to Old Navy to by pants for our costumes. Any good vibes or prayers you have to offer for our health are much appreciated as we're really getting down to the wire and are suffering symptoms of 'overdoing it,' as my doctor dad put it. Haha...
So, there you go in a tight nutshell. Hope you're better than we are.
With Love,
The TLs.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
So much Sunday
Hey All,
We're winding down with the last day of rehearsal in our week. Tomorrow we have a deserved day off before we head into the last week of polishing and head overseas!
Yesterday was a jumble. We finished up Act V and ran through it enough to put it into our bodies. We also recounted what we did with the storm in the original production, trying to put it back into our bodies. This proved to be harder than we thought it would. We were haven't trouble recalling the original physicality, having done it over a year ago... and it didn't help that we're now playing new characters through the scene...so to remember where we each were and then trying to figure out where we now should be was quite messy. We finally came up with a rough draft of what we had originally done - this was done by tracing out movement diagrams and flow charts on lined paper after reading the scene out loud over and over again and picking out key 'cue' words that dictated the movement. We now have an idea of where to move as our new characters. However, we know there is much left to explore. Ariel talks about fire in her Act I.ii speech as she recounts the storm - so we know we need some elemental devices within the storm that were neglected the first time we did the piece.
Felix came in briefly yesterday with instruments that we can use and take abroad with us. We didn't have the opportunity to work with him on actual musical phrases, but we trust that with the instruments he brought us, we'll be able to jam and find the music we need. He also took Sarah, Stella and Laura to his place after rehearsal so that they could look at fabrics with his wife and costume designer, Olga. Olga has graciously agreed to help us sew Prospero's robe together and to provide fabric for us to use in the various magical scenes/transitions. We are so grateful to them for passing on their passionate knowledge. I remember when we had tea with them last week Olga said something along the lines of, "We want to give what we know." And that's exactly what they're doing...
Today we're going to stumble through the ENTIRE bare bones of the show. We're ready. We're also exhausted. So once we take our time figuring out where everyone needs to be from one scene to another (we're talking transitions here - like where is someone when one scene ends and where do they need to be for the beginning of the next scene and how do they get there...) we'll know what's missing regarding props/costumes and we can make last minute store runs to purchase extra items and put everything into its final place. We're looking at the end. We'll be polishing and fine tuning very soon. It's all very thrilling. It's like watching a circus tent go up and realizing what's about to take place within it.
With Love,
J x
We're winding down with the last day of rehearsal in our week. Tomorrow we have a deserved day off before we head into the last week of polishing and head overseas!
Yesterday was a jumble. We finished up Act V and ran through it enough to put it into our bodies. We also recounted what we did with the storm in the original production, trying to put it back into our bodies. This proved to be harder than we thought it would. We were haven't trouble recalling the original physicality, having done it over a year ago... and it didn't help that we're now playing new characters through the scene...so to remember where we each were and then trying to figure out where we now should be was quite messy. We finally came up with a rough draft of what we had originally done - this was done by tracing out movement diagrams and flow charts on lined paper after reading the scene out loud over and over again and picking out key 'cue' words that dictated the movement. We now have an idea of where to move as our new characters. However, we know there is much left to explore. Ariel talks about fire in her Act I.ii speech as she recounts the storm - so we know we need some elemental devices within the storm that were neglected the first time we did the piece.
Felix came in briefly yesterday with instruments that we can use and take abroad with us. We didn't have the opportunity to work with him on actual musical phrases, but we trust that with the instruments he brought us, we'll be able to jam and find the music we need. He also took Sarah, Stella and Laura to his place after rehearsal so that they could look at fabrics with his wife and costume designer, Olga. Olga has graciously agreed to help us sew Prospero's robe together and to provide fabric for us to use in the various magical scenes/transitions. We are so grateful to them for passing on their passionate knowledge. I remember when we had tea with them last week Olga said something along the lines of, "We want to give what we know." And that's exactly what they're doing...
Today we're going to stumble through the ENTIRE bare bones of the show. We're ready. We're also exhausted. So once we take our time figuring out where everyone needs to be from one scene to another (we're talking transitions here - like where is someone when one scene ends and where do they need to be for the beginning of the next scene and how do they get there...) we'll know what's missing regarding props/costumes and we can make last minute store runs to purchase extra items and put everything into its final place. We're looking at the end. We'll be polishing and fine tuning very soon. It's all very thrilling. It's like watching a circus tent go up and realizing what's about to take place within it.
With Love,
J x
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Lucky Charms
Here we are again. Saturday morning. I must admit I had a hard time of it this morning. Being in a college town means many stores and shops are closed during the summer - so I debated for a long time, walking the hills of Syracuse, on where to risk trying to get a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning, finally settling on Starbucks. So here I sit with another blog to write - so exciting!
Yesterday was quite a whirlwind. We started rehearsal later to accommodate Felix. Unfortunately, Felix was caught in the torrential downpour traffic coming from NYC and couldn't make it to us in time. We proceeded to work through Act IV as a brush-up, really defining and polishing. The Goddess is looking better and better with each run, although we are, admittedly, struggling with singing and dancing at the same time. Our ensemble is comprised of only two musical theater majors, so you will understand... We went on a break and Tim Davis-Reed, our Fringe Faculty Advisor and the cinematographer of our promo video, came in to set up a camera to begin filming our "how to take a show to the Fringe" video. This video is our gift to the college and to future students interested in creating their own theater and taking it somewhere beyond Syracuse. Tim shot the rehearsal as it proceeded with another run of Act IV into Act V - the act of all acts. We spent the next hour and a half debating the final transition from Sorcerer Prospero into Man Prospero. Yes, an hour and a half. You must give us credit, though, because it is a very key transition. Quite possibly the most important transition of the show. We found it had to be a transition on the emotional level and not a quick physical trick. What we came up with is, in my opinion, very powerful. I'm Ariel during this switch and have the privilege of watching it, which gives me goosebumps.
We walked through more of Act V after another break and saying thank you to Tim. We got through...hmm...I want to say about half of the Act. We have a really cool magical element that we're using with drums... We're working to find how we can bring ALL thirteen of the characters onto the stage with only six bodies. We will pick up with Act V and finish blocking it out today.
Felix comes in at 2pm today to do music, of which we are in desperate need. We know the Goddesses need some more music, which will be a nice challenge as we're all moving and singing and dancing through the piece - so now we'll just do all of that with instruments in our hands. We also need to figure out a nice underlying theme for each of the characters. In our original production, we had a phenomenal musician, Dave Snyder, hide behind a piano and do the music for the show. Felix had helped Dave to create themes for each of the characters that were used with each entrance of that character throughout the show. We decided in bringing the project forward to the Fringe that we wanted to do the music ourselves, carrying instruments with us and having everything come from us as the actors. So, having made that decision, we're now juggling the challenge of it. We want to create and expand on the character's themes and we want to figure out when music supports and doesn't take away...
We were hoping to get to the storm today, but seeing as we're still in the midst of Act V, I think we'll probably finish that out and work with Felix on music. Hopefully, we'll reach the storm tomorrow and then do a nice, light stumble through of the ENTIRE show! Wow! This is all so exciting.
Including today we're looking at nine more rehearsals! Edinburgh in thirteen days! CAN'T WAIT!
This is Jana for the Tempest Ladies x
Yesterday was quite a whirlwind. We started rehearsal later to accommodate Felix. Unfortunately, Felix was caught in the torrential downpour traffic coming from NYC and couldn't make it to us in time. We proceeded to work through Act IV as a brush-up, really defining and polishing. The Goddess is looking better and better with each run, although we are, admittedly, struggling with singing and dancing at the same time. Our ensemble is comprised of only two musical theater majors, so you will understand... We went on a break and Tim Davis-Reed, our Fringe Faculty Advisor and the cinematographer of our promo video, came in to set up a camera to begin filming our "how to take a show to the Fringe" video. This video is our gift to the college and to future students interested in creating their own theater and taking it somewhere beyond Syracuse. Tim shot the rehearsal as it proceeded with another run of Act IV into Act V - the act of all acts. We spent the next hour and a half debating the final transition from Sorcerer Prospero into Man Prospero. Yes, an hour and a half. You must give us credit, though, because it is a very key transition. Quite possibly the most important transition of the show. We found it had to be a transition on the emotional level and not a quick physical trick. What we came up with is, in my opinion, very powerful. I'm Ariel during this switch and have the privilege of watching it, which gives me goosebumps.
We walked through more of Act V after another break and saying thank you to Tim. We got through...hmm...I want to say about half of the Act. We have a really cool magical element that we're using with drums... We're working to find how we can bring ALL thirteen of the characters onto the stage with only six bodies. We will pick up with Act V and finish blocking it out today.
Felix comes in at 2pm today to do music, of which we are in desperate need. We know the Goddesses need some more music, which will be a nice challenge as we're all moving and singing and dancing through the piece - so now we'll just do all of that with instruments in our hands. We also need to figure out a nice underlying theme for each of the characters. In our original production, we had a phenomenal musician, Dave Snyder, hide behind a piano and do the music for the show. Felix had helped Dave to create themes for each of the characters that were used with each entrance of that character throughout the show. We decided in bringing the project forward to the Fringe that we wanted to do the music ourselves, carrying instruments with us and having everything come from us as the actors. So, having made that decision, we're now juggling the challenge of it. We want to create and expand on the character's themes and we want to figure out when music supports and doesn't take away...
We were hoping to get to the storm today, but seeing as we're still in the midst of Act V, I think we'll probably finish that out and work with Felix on music. Hopefully, we'll reach the storm tomorrow and then do a nice, light stumble through of the ENTIRE show! Wow! This is all so exciting.
Including today we're looking at nine more rehearsals! Edinburgh in thirteen days! CAN'T WAIT!
This is Jana for the Tempest Ladies x
Friday, July 23, 2010
Oh Hey, Friday!
It's Friday and I'm sitting in Funk 'n' Waffles. If you know Syracuse, you know this is the only place to get breakfast at 2:26 pm. We got to sleep in today and will rehearse from 4pm-10pm tonight as that's the time Felix can work with us.
We slept in till 10:30am and had many dream stories to recount after spending last night seeing Inception (A must see if you haven't seen it already!) After waking up, we worked our way to the gym in a torrential downpour...and I'm not exaggerating. We had umbrella and raincoats buttoned and were still soaked through. I had two nice puddles on the pedals of my elliptical machine when I was finished.
After hearing the beautiful story that is Sarah Olbrantz's life pre-Syracuse, I'm here to catch you up on the on-goings of yesterday's rehearsal.
Act IV. Dear Lord - I don't think any of us realized the amount of thought and effort that would go into the physicality that is Act IV. We bring in a spectacle of Goddesses that we have shaved down to literally about two minutes of stage time and we spent the better half of five hours figuring out how this would be compassed. It looks great. We found a way to create a huge, beautiful Goddess with two actors, while creating spirit nymphs on the stage. There is a song and a dance and it doesn't take up half the show. Mission Accomplished. And we're exhausted.
Today we do the storm and music. We are so close to completely the shell that will be our show - and then we'll just fill it in with tons of fun and play. We have the storm today and Act V tomorrow. Act V will be a *itch - but if we go into it knowing that, we should be able to push through it.
I say this with brevity and love.
J x
We slept in till 10:30am and had many dream stories to recount after spending last night seeing Inception (A must see if you haven't seen it already!) After waking up, we worked our way to the gym in a torrential downpour...and I'm not exaggerating. We had umbrella and raincoats buttoned and were still soaked through. I had two nice puddles on the pedals of my elliptical machine when I was finished.
After hearing the beautiful story that is Sarah Olbrantz's life pre-Syracuse, I'm here to catch you up on the on-goings of yesterday's rehearsal.
Act IV. Dear Lord - I don't think any of us realized the amount of thought and effort that would go into the physicality that is Act IV. We bring in a spectacle of Goddesses that we have shaved down to literally about two minutes of stage time and we spent the better half of five hours figuring out how this would be compassed. It looks great. We found a way to create a huge, beautiful Goddess with two actors, while creating spirit nymphs on the stage. There is a song and a dance and it doesn't take up half the show. Mission Accomplished. And we're exhausted.
Today we do the storm and music. We are so close to completely the shell that will be our show - and then we'll just fill it in with tons of fun and play. We have the storm today and Act V tomorrow. Act V will be a *itch - but if we go into it knowing that, we should be able to push through it.
I say this with brevity and love.
J x
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Elephant in the Room
Dear Blog People,
I must keep this short and simple - we have thirteen minutes until rehearsal begins. We've started working off a new and rather fluctuating schedule. I haven't quite adjusted to the new routine and, therefore, have not allotted myself enough time in the morning for the lengthy blog entries I like to write.
Clip Fragments of what we did yesterday:
Massages. Voice Work. Massages. Voice. Script. Tablework - Act IV. Work. Work. Play. First half on feet. Work through. Logistics. Goddesses? Fools. Lunch Break. Elephant. Large Elephant in the room. Energy SHIFTS. Two huge muslin canvases. Hung from the light grid attached to the ceiling. Small break between the two canvases. How to play? How to enter? Exit? Can this canvas be a tree? Can Caliban enter from...? Sigh. Run I.ii. Work through Caliban entrance. Again. Again. Again. Feedback. Blocking. Feedback. End day. Plan for Thursday: Act IV. Friday: Storm (Act I.i) and music rehearsal with Felix. Saturday: Act V. Sunday: ??? :)
Will write later about today...and hopefully it will be more detailed. Love!
J x
I must keep this short and simple - we have thirteen minutes until rehearsal begins. We've started working off a new and rather fluctuating schedule. I haven't quite adjusted to the new routine and, therefore, have not allotted myself enough time in the morning for the lengthy blog entries I like to write.
Clip Fragments of what we did yesterday:
Massages. Voice Work. Massages. Voice. Script. Tablework - Act IV. Work. Work. Play. First half on feet. Work through. Logistics. Goddesses? Fools. Lunch Break. Elephant. Large Elephant in the room. Energy SHIFTS. Two huge muslin canvases. Hung from the light grid attached to the ceiling. Small break between the two canvases. How to play? How to enter? Exit? Can this canvas be a tree? Can Caliban enter from...? Sigh. Run I.ii. Work through Caliban entrance. Again. Again. Again. Feedback. Blocking. Feedback. End day. Plan for Thursday: Act IV. Friday: Storm (Act I.i) and music rehearsal with Felix. Saturday: Act V. Sunday: ??? :)
Will write later about today...and hopefully it will be more detailed. Love!
J x
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Trial and Error...mostly just error
Dear Friends,
I write this blog later in the day because we began rehearsals at 9am this morning. We need to pick up our muslin fabric that will serve as a screen behind which we can store props, costumes and our bodies throughout the show. We rehearsed for three hours and now have an hour lunch break in which Dana and Chelsea are going to get the fabric. When they return we will explore Act I.ii with the fabric and new props/costumes that Laura, Sarah, Dana, Chelsea and Stella purchased last night.
Yesterday we table-worked Act I.ii. We then walked through the exposition at the beginning of the scene and reviewed the physicality we had found to illustrate it while working in NYC. We stumbled through the rest of the scene, introducing a good majority of the characters. This scene took us thirty minutes to work through. Needless to say we'll have to polish it up and hope it runs at a shorter time...or else make some cuts.
The title of this post comes out of an idea we had for the expositional characters. They are a memory of Prospero's and an image of Miranda's imagination. We wanted them to be physically neutral - especially facially. We put black stockings over our faces to take away our facial expression. Unfortunately, the stockings were sheer and instead of hiding our faces, they only distorted them so that we looked like oompa-loompa pin heads...not the effect we were going for. Sarah, who plays Prospero at the beginning of this scene, couldn't play it seriously...neither could the oompa loompa pin heads.
We scrapped the stockings and found black masks that cover the face from forehead to nose. We'll try those out today...hopefully!
The muslin fabric will be a big help today. We hope to work through I.ii and/or feel out the Goddess' physicality in Act IV. It's time to get these minimal props and costumes into play so that the changes, switches and shifts can be quick and smooth and not take away from the limited time we have to perform.
That's about it. I'm sure this sounds like we're slow going, but if you could see Act I.ii and sat through the thirty minutes it currently takes to do it, you'd understand why.
After we figure out I.ii and Act IV, we only have Act I.i and Act V. They're going to be physically intensive, but we're really winding down to the end of the mounting process. Then all that is left is play. Felix left us with that last Saturday, "just play and enjoy."
...Guess we will. :)
Love,
J x
I write this blog later in the day because we began rehearsals at 9am this morning. We need to pick up our muslin fabric that will serve as a screen behind which we can store props, costumes and our bodies throughout the show. We rehearsed for three hours and now have an hour lunch break in which Dana and Chelsea are going to get the fabric. When they return we will explore Act I.ii with the fabric and new props/costumes that Laura, Sarah, Dana, Chelsea and Stella purchased last night.
Yesterday we table-worked Act I.ii. We then walked through the exposition at the beginning of the scene and reviewed the physicality we had found to illustrate it while working in NYC. We stumbled through the rest of the scene, introducing a good majority of the characters. This scene took us thirty minutes to work through. Needless to say we'll have to polish it up and hope it runs at a shorter time...or else make some cuts.
The title of this post comes out of an idea we had for the expositional characters. They are a memory of Prospero's and an image of Miranda's imagination. We wanted them to be physically neutral - especially facially. We put black stockings over our faces to take away our facial expression. Unfortunately, the stockings were sheer and instead of hiding our faces, they only distorted them so that we looked like oompa-loompa pin heads...not the effect we were going for. Sarah, who plays Prospero at the beginning of this scene, couldn't play it seriously...neither could the oompa loompa pin heads.
We scrapped the stockings and found black masks that cover the face from forehead to nose. We'll try those out today...hopefully!
The muslin fabric will be a big help today. We hope to work through I.ii and/or feel out the Goddess' physicality in Act IV. It's time to get these minimal props and costumes into play so that the changes, switches and shifts can be quick and smooth and not take away from the limited time we have to perform.
That's about it. I'm sure this sounds like we're slow going, but if you could see Act I.ii and sat through the thirty minutes it currently takes to do it, you'd understand why.
After we figure out I.ii and Act IV, we only have Act I.i and Act V. They're going to be physically intensive, but we're really winding down to the end of the mounting process. Then all that is left is play. Felix left us with that last Saturday, "just play and enjoy."
...Guess we will. :)
Love,
J x
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
We are such stuff as dreams are made on...
Hey Everyone,
I'm back! I told Sarah it was so lovely to have her write. It felt like I had a guest to my column. We were both talking about the different outlets we have to create. Sarah gets up and sings every morning before rehearsal because that's what she enjoys doing on top of every other creative thing we come up with through the day.
I realized, upon talking with her, that I look forward to getting up and writing...even if it is on a blog - but sometimes I write on my own, too. In fact, because I realized how much I actually look forward to this, not only will I be making the effort to write here, but to write for myself, too. So, thanks for reading and being a writing encouragement.
So many things. My dad texted me this morning with: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." This was his way of letting me know he has started to research the show. My adorable dad likes to research where he and everyone in his near vicinity is going so that we can each appreciate and enjoy every millisecond or where we are... (he's also told me about a whiskey shop in Edinburgh where I can, well, you know...) Anyway, this quote is a very famous one from the Tempest. It comes from our protagonist, Prospero, at one of his more vulnerable moments. And I think it blends right into what Sarah was saying yesterday and what we, as young artists, must acknowledge in the early part of our career. We are such stuff as dreams are made on. I guess I see this as absolute permission and absolute encouragement from the bard himself. We - artists - are the stuff that dreams are made on. And who better to dream than a creator? But doesn't it also reflect the life of a person - artist or no? We, people, are such stuff that dreams are made on. We each need a dream this early. This young. Freshly graduated. Why shouldn't we dream? And why can't a dream be built on us? It is a reminder of the necessity for our hopes for ourselves. ...Thanks, Dad.
Yesterday we all slept in nice and late. Hit the gym. Bought a Starbucks...well, I did...and used up all my Starbucks money. This morning I reverted to "People's Place" on campus which has cheap - and strongish - coffee. Tomorrow, I am restricting myself to instant. My mother asked me if I had ever had instant before. I replied, "Yes. And this stuff is in tea bags, so it brews in the cup." My mother winced.
We got our card for our zip car account. The account allows us to borrow a car for a certain amount of time and 'zip' anywhere we might need to go (in this case wegman's and target) The cupboard was getting bare, so mother hubbard was happy.
I don't know that I got to cover what we did on Sunday (since I took Monday off) so I will recap briefly by mentioning that we did a run through of Act II.i to Act III.iii. We did this twice and it took us about 45 minutes. We're not up to proper pacing, so I'm sure the time will be shaved once we start flying. The first run through felt very scattered. We stumbled through - grasping for lines, blocking. It was like a review before the test. We took a break and came back and it was much smoother. The lines were in better shape, we were solid on blocking and we were connecting in wonderfully sweet ways.
Today we mount Act I.ii. This will be ambitious. It contains the exposition, which we are choosing to illustrate physically. The meeting between master and servant and master and slave and the beginnings of the love story. Lots of magic to be had. We're very excited.
The promo video is done. I need the okay from the cast and then I can post it here, where you will all be free to snigger at its campiness. Please note: corny was an artistic choice. :P
This is Jana with Love. x
I'm back! I told Sarah it was so lovely to have her write. It felt like I had a guest to my column. We were both talking about the different outlets we have to create. Sarah gets up and sings every morning before rehearsal because that's what she enjoys doing on top of every other creative thing we come up with through the day.
I realized, upon talking with her, that I look forward to getting up and writing...even if it is on a blog - but sometimes I write on my own, too. In fact, because I realized how much I actually look forward to this, not only will I be making the effort to write here, but to write for myself, too. So, thanks for reading and being a writing encouragement.
So many things. My dad texted me this morning with: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." This was his way of letting me know he has started to research the show. My adorable dad likes to research where he and everyone in his near vicinity is going so that we can each appreciate and enjoy every millisecond or where we are... (he's also told me about a whiskey shop in Edinburgh where I can, well, you know...) Anyway, this quote is a very famous one from the Tempest. It comes from our protagonist, Prospero, at one of his more vulnerable moments. And I think it blends right into what Sarah was saying yesterday and what we, as young artists, must acknowledge in the early part of our career. We are such stuff as dreams are made on. I guess I see this as absolute permission and absolute encouragement from the bard himself. We - artists - are the stuff that dreams are made on. And who better to dream than a creator? But doesn't it also reflect the life of a person - artist or no? We, people, are such stuff that dreams are made on. We each need a dream this early. This young. Freshly graduated. Why shouldn't we dream? And why can't a dream be built on us? It is a reminder of the necessity for our hopes for ourselves. ...Thanks, Dad.
Yesterday we all slept in nice and late. Hit the gym. Bought a Starbucks...well, I did...and used up all my Starbucks money. This morning I reverted to "People's Place" on campus which has cheap - and strongish - coffee. Tomorrow, I am restricting myself to instant. My mother asked me if I had ever had instant before. I replied, "Yes. And this stuff is in tea bags, so it brews in the cup." My mother winced.
We got our card for our zip car account. The account allows us to borrow a car for a certain amount of time and 'zip' anywhere we might need to go (in this case wegman's and target) The cupboard was getting bare, so mother hubbard was happy.
I don't know that I got to cover what we did on Sunday (since I took Monday off) so I will recap briefly by mentioning that we did a run through of Act II.i to Act III.iii. We did this twice and it took us about 45 minutes. We're not up to proper pacing, so I'm sure the time will be shaved once we start flying. The first run through felt very scattered. We stumbled through - grasping for lines, blocking. It was like a review before the test. We took a break and came back and it was much smoother. The lines were in better shape, we were solid on blocking and we were connecting in wonderfully sweet ways.
Today we mount Act I.ii. This will be ambitious. It contains the exposition, which we are choosing to illustrate physically. The meeting between master and servant and master and slave and the beginnings of the love story. Lots of magic to be had. We're very excited.
The promo video is done. I need the okay from the cast and then I can post it here, where you will all be free to snigger at its campiness. Please note: corny was an artistic choice. :P
This is Jana with Love. x
Monday, July 19, 2010
TGIM - Our First Day Off!
In honor of our first day off from rehearsals, (mind you we all slept in 'til noon) Jana has also taken her first day off from blogging! This is Sarah! And I'm here to bring you my personal, end-of-week re-cap!
This week has been exhilarating, exhausting, yet most of all, educating. Everyone began in high spirits, ready to work. The days kept coming and the days kept going, each one a little more difficult to get through. Not that we weren't excited to work, there were many variables involved here! A) Most of us had to recover from traveling/adjust to the new time zone. B) Our show is very physical, AND we all seem to find it necessary to go to the gym after each rehearsal. C) Our living conditions are that of true bohemian artists, (3 of us are sleeping on air mattresses in the living room/kitchen of a school friend) and D)Syracuse, NY is very, very hot... and humid. Needless to say, these factors added up and began to take a toll.
So how does one do it? How does an actor jump over all of these hurdles and still bring a fresh, positive and lively energy to the rehearsal room? This is where I find myself "continuing my education."
The answer...? I'm still not sure yet. But, I do know that you have to take care of, and be kind to yourself. Lots of water, SLEEP, and good, healthy food have all been my saving graces thus far. I also find that once IN the rehearsal room, it's important to take a moment for yourself, see where you are that particular day, how you are feeling, acknowledge those emotions, and then leave them. You can't be completely present and ready to work if you are thinking about all of the other countless projects you want to be working on, or whatever it is for you personally. I know, our teachers tell us this all the time... but guess what? It's actually true.
The other biggest thing I am learning is that completely self producing your own show...? Harder than you think. I knew from the beginning that we all would be responsible for every aspect of the show, but this is TRULY an undertaking. In the same breath, the reward of being able to say that you accomplished something like this, far surpasses the difficulty of it all. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Yes it's stressful, yes it's hard work and yes, I'm exhausted. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love creating theater. And any way I can do that is a blessing.
Someone once said, "If you love what you do, it's not work." And I guess that's exactly what I'm learning, every day. So there you have it! My, personal, end-of-week re-cap! Jana will be back tomorrow and who knows, maybe I'll make another appearance next Monday! ;)
This week has been exhilarating, exhausting, yet most of all, educating. Everyone began in high spirits, ready to work. The days kept coming and the days kept going, each one a little more difficult to get through. Not that we weren't excited to work, there were many variables involved here! A) Most of us had to recover from traveling/adjust to the new time zone. B) Our show is very physical, AND we all seem to find it necessary to go to the gym after each rehearsal. C) Our living conditions are that of true bohemian artists, (3 of us are sleeping on air mattresses in the living room/kitchen of a school friend) and D)Syracuse, NY is very, very hot... and humid. Needless to say, these factors added up and began to take a toll.
So how does one do it? How does an actor jump over all of these hurdles and still bring a fresh, positive and lively energy to the rehearsal room? This is where I find myself "continuing my education."
The answer...? I'm still not sure yet. But, I do know that you have to take care of, and be kind to yourself. Lots of water, SLEEP, and good, healthy food have all been my saving graces thus far. I also find that once IN the rehearsal room, it's important to take a moment for yourself, see where you are that particular day, how you are feeling, acknowledge those emotions, and then leave them. You can't be completely present and ready to work if you are thinking about all of the other countless projects you want to be working on, or whatever it is for you personally. I know, our teachers tell us this all the time... but guess what? It's actually true.
The other biggest thing I am learning is that completely self producing your own show...? Harder than you think. I knew from the beginning that we all would be responsible for every aspect of the show, but this is TRULY an undertaking. In the same breath, the reward of being able to say that you accomplished something like this, far surpasses the difficulty of it all. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Yes it's stressful, yes it's hard work and yes, I'm exhausted. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love creating theater. And any way I can do that is a blessing.
Someone once said, "If you love what you do, it's not work." And I guess that's exactly what I'm learning, every day. So there you have it! My, personal, end-of-week re-cap! Jana will be back tomorrow and who knows, maybe I'll make another appearance next Monday! ;)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Another Day, Another Post
Hey Everyone,
We've made it to Sunday! I remember last Sunday we had our preliminary meeting and then a day off on Monday before we started working on our feet on Tuesday. Everyone felt so restless on Monday and we all found ourselves brainstorming ourselves out of our minds with ideas, wanting to sprint into action...now we all realize we'll really need these Mondays to rest.
Today we're going to run the string of scenes we've worked through this week. Starting with Act II.i and finishing with Act III.iii. We will then begin tremendous work on I.ii, in which there is a ton of exposition, movement, puppetry and hypnosis. We don't have all of our props and costumes to explore with yet, but we need to tablework through this scene more thoroughly and mark out much of the movement. Because we have limited time in the venue in Edinburgh, we're shaving as much of the exposition as we can and replacing it with movement phrases so that the background to the story is still clear. This is a challenge. I think we've made some good decisions thus far, though.
Yesterday we polished up the Harpy, which is running very smoothly. It's such a force of power now that the thoughts are flowing and building on top of each other. The movement also corresponds directly with what the piece is saying, which is also proving to be very effective. We worked through the scene that surrounds the harpy yesterday and worked transitions in and out of the harpy, which are still tricky without basic costumes to work with. We'll see how the timing plays out once we've gone prop shopping.
Felix, our faculty advisor from the first show, came in to work with us yesterday. We showed him the physicality we found in II.ii, the drunk scene, and asked him to help us with specific transitions that we were only doing sloppily. He cleaned them right up...he really is magical. When we showed him the harpy, he said something in his dear Russian accent along the lines of, "it's good, not need my help." We're feeling confident with Felix's watchful eyes supporting us. He also gave us food for thought in how each character can have a "stock" movement, meaning if you tighten one area of your body and let the other muscles relax, you notice how that tight muscle changes and effects the movement of your body as a whole and creates a character. We found that if we tighten our butts, we have a really great Trinculo (the jester) walk. ...Try that one out at home. :P
I started editing the promo video yesterday. If I can get that up in the next few days I will see about some harpy footage. It will be brief harpy footage if I get it up because I want those of you who see the show to still experience an element of surprise.
We lost Dana's promo video footage - having the camera on while we weren't shooting her and having it off while we were - but we're reshooting her work today and will have that to throw into the mix, which will be quite helpful as far as editing the story goes.
Alright. That's that. Thanks for reading. For commenting. For making me feel like this is worth my time. :P ...I would do it anyway...I like it.
J x
We've made it to Sunday! I remember last Sunday we had our preliminary meeting and then a day off on Monday before we started working on our feet on Tuesday. Everyone felt so restless on Monday and we all found ourselves brainstorming ourselves out of our minds with ideas, wanting to sprint into action...now we all realize we'll really need these Mondays to rest.
Today we're going to run the string of scenes we've worked through this week. Starting with Act II.i and finishing with Act III.iii. We will then begin tremendous work on I.ii, in which there is a ton of exposition, movement, puppetry and hypnosis. We don't have all of our props and costumes to explore with yet, but we need to tablework through this scene more thoroughly and mark out much of the movement. Because we have limited time in the venue in Edinburgh, we're shaving as much of the exposition as we can and replacing it with movement phrases so that the background to the story is still clear. This is a challenge. I think we've made some good decisions thus far, though.
Yesterday we polished up the Harpy, which is running very smoothly. It's such a force of power now that the thoughts are flowing and building on top of each other. The movement also corresponds directly with what the piece is saying, which is also proving to be very effective. We worked through the scene that surrounds the harpy yesterday and worked transitions in and out of the harpy, which are still tricky without basic costumes to work with. We'll see how the timing plays out once we've gone prop shopping.
Felix, our faculty advisor from the first show, came in to work with us yesterday. We showed him the physicality we found in II.ii, the drunk scene, and asked him to help us with specific transitions that we were only doing sloppily. He cleaned them right up...he really is magical. When we showed him the harpy, he said something in his dear Russian accent along the lines of, "it's good, not need my help." We're feeling confident with Felix's watchful eyes supporting us. He also gave us food for thought in how each character can have a "stock" movement, meaning if you tighten one area of your body and let the other muscles relax, you notice how that tight muscle changes and effects the movement of your body as a whole and creates a character. We found that if we tighten our butts, we have a really great Trinculo (the jester) walk. ...Try that one out at home. :P
I started editing the promo video yesterday. If I can get that up in the next few days I will see about some harpy footage. It will be brief harpy footage if I get it up because I want those of you who see the show to still experience an element of surprise.
We lost Dana's promo video footage - having the camera on while we weren't shooting her and having it off while we were - but we're reshooting her work today and will have that to throw into the mix, which will be quite helpful as far as editing the story goes.
Alright. That's that. Thanks for reading. For commenting. For making me feel like this is worth my time. :P ...I would do it anyway...I like it.
J x
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Freaky Friday
Hello, hello! We made it through another rehearsal and face another one today. I think we're starting to feel the fatigue that comes with the end of the week. Yesterday's rehearsal was rather low-energy and yet, we still accomplished quite a bit.
We finished the Harpy. I took some footage of it and am debating posting it now or waiting until we go to Edinburgh and use it to entice people to NYC. We'll see how I feel after I play with it. The harpy is looking great. The movement is full, energetic, powerful, forceful, sharp, smooth and, well, freaky. I can't wait to terrify the audience with it in all honesty... :)
We also looked at the scene the harpy fits into again - III.iii. We questioned some of the previous cuts we made in regards to this scene. What we're struggling with now is making enough cuts to the show so that we can get in and out of the Edinburgh venue space in 2 hours while also keeping the clarity in the throughline of the story. This proves to be harder than it sounds because we know the text backwards and forwards, so if we make a cut, we still know exactly what's going on...we need to make sure that people seeing it for the first time will still know exactly what's going on.
Another interesting challenge that we took into account yesterday is in switching roles throughout the show, we need to make sure that one person's play of a character supports that of another person's play of a character in another scene. This way it won't look like each character is starting over when a new person picks them up and plays them. We want a continuous, building arc and a very solid journey.
We decided that we would add a journey rehearsal to our list of upcoming and necessary music and transition rehearsals. We want to play the scenes that one set of characters are in back to back to back - to follow their progression and see how it plays, builds, and caps off. We can do this several times for several different groups of characters that work together throughout the show.
Whew. Today we are looking at the physical elements in the scenes we've done thus far. Our faculty advisor and movement specialist, Felix Ivanov, is in from NYC this weekend and has agreed to come in and tell us what he sees in our work. What's working, what needs clarity...etc. We are so blessed to have him. We will continue to work through III.iii since the transitions in and out of the harpy are still vague and we have done more text work that feet work with this scene. We hope that the work done today will leave us with the opportunity tomorrow to run the string of scenes we've worked on so far.
I say this with love, peace, hope and laughter....
Jana for the Tempest Ladies x
We finished the Harpy. I took some footage of it and am debating posting it now or waiting until we go to Edinburgh and use it to entice people to NYC. We'll see how I feel after I play with it. The harpy is looking great. The movement is full, energetic, powerful, forceful, sharp, smooth and, well, freaky. I can't wait to terrify the audience with it in all honesty... :)
We also looked at the scene the harpy fits into again - III.iii. We questioned some of the previous cuts we made in regards to this scene. What we're struggling with now is making enough cuts to the show so that we can get in and out of the Edinburgh venue space in 2 hours while also keeping the clarity in the throughline of the story. This proves to be harder than it sounds because we know the text backwards and forwards, so if we make a cut, we still know exactly what's going on...we need to make sure that people seeing it for the first time will still know exactly what's going on.
Another interesting challenge that we took into account yesterday is in switching roles throughout the show, we need to make sure that one person's play of a character supports that of another person's play of a character in another scene. This way it won't look like each character is starting over when a new person picks them up and plays them. We want a continuous, building arc and a very solid journey.
We decided that we would add a journey rehearsal to our list of upcoming and necessary music and transition rehearsals. We want to play the scenes that one set of characters are in back to back to back - to follow their progression and see how it plays, builds, and caps off. We can do this several times for several different groups of characters that work together throughout the show.
Whew. Today we are looking at the physical elements in the scenes we've done thus far. Our faculty advisor and movement specialist, Felix Ivanov, is in from NYC this weekend and has agreed to come in and tell us what he sees in our work. What's working, what needs clarity...etc. We are so blessed to have him. We will continue to work through III.iii since the transitions in and out of the harpy are still vague and we have done more text work that feet work with this scene. We hope that the work done today will leave us with the opportunity tomorrow to run the string of scenes we've worked on so far.
I say this with love, peace, hope and laughter....
Jana for the Tempest Ladies x
Friday, July 16, 2010
Rehearsal/Film/Thunder Storm
Whew - Friday morning! This week is going by so quickly! I don't know what to do with it...rehearse maybe?
I have to make this brief. There is so much to say and so little time to say it.
We rehearsed III.iii yesterday - the Harpy scene - and got through about half of the Harpy. We made some very necessary changes to it. We worked on it while in NYC and changed it there. Yesterday we got on our feet and tried to find what we did in NYC...struggled and scrapped everything we changed, rebuilding the entire piece. We examined the text more and divided it among ourselves differently so that the thoughts meld with each other and the piece builds with power and clarity. We then proceeded to put it on its feet and started to find movement with it to correspond to the action of the text. This isn't to say we were completely lacking before.... however, because we have time to explore we are taking advantage of the opportunity to unearth layers in the text that were not revealed before.
We ended rehearsal at four and immediately switched artistic gears, getting "camera ready" and putting on make up for the first time in four days. We filmed our "promo" video in Thornden Park...and gathered a lot of attention. Not only were our costumes something to snigger at, but everyone wanted to be in the film. We got comments like "Is this a joke?" and " Is this going to be on MTV?" and - my favorite - "Is this for Lady GaGa?" ...We told them all "Yes."
Today we are looking to finish basic work on the Harpy and do a run of the scenes we've worked through to this point. It feels like we've accomplished half of the play, but the scenes we have left to work are ones that will require even more physical effort than what we've already exerted, so we still have "miles to go before we sleep." Seeing as we're having such a good time, I don't think this will be at all burdensome.
It thunderstormed last night - I slept through it - but the girls texted each other saying, "Listen to that Tempest." We think this is a good omen for our project...the elements support us!
With Love,
The TLs
PS - We had the pleasure of meeting new SU Drama Chair, Ralph Zito, yesterday. We had a wonderful time divulging our project to him and we look forward to sharing our work with him in Edinburgh. The Department is very lucky to have him.
I have to make this brief. There is so much to say and so little time to say it.
We rehearsed III.iii yesterday - the Harpy scene - and got through about half of the Harpy. We made some very necessary changes to it. We worked on it while in NYC and changed it there. Yesterday we got on our feet and tried to find what we did in NYC...struggled and scrapped everything we changed, rebuilding the entire piece. We examined the text more and divided it among ourselves differently so that the thoughts meld with each other and the piece builds with power and clarity. We then proceeded to put it on its feet and started to find movement with it to correspond to the action of the text. This isn't to say we were completely lacking before.... however, because we have time to explore we are taking advantage of the opportunity to unearth layers in the text that were not revealed before.
We ended rehearsal at four and immediately switched artistic gears, getting "camera ready" and putting on make up for the first time in four days. We filmed our "promo" video in Thornden Park...and gathered a lot of attention. Not only were our costumes something to snigger at, but everyone wanted to be in the film. We got comments like "Is this a joke?" and " Is this going to be on MTV?" and - my favorite - "Is this for Lady GaGa?" ...We told them all "Yes."
Today we are looking to finish basic work on the Harpy and do a run of the scenes we've worked through to this point. It feels like we've accomplished half of the play, but the scenes we have left to work are ones that will require even more physical effort than what we've already exerted, so we still have "miles to go before we sleep." Seeing as we're having such a good time, I don't think this will be at all burdensome.
It thunderstormed last night - I slept through it - but the girls texted each other saying, "Listen to that Tempest." We think this is a good omen for our project...the elements support us!
With Love,
The TLs
PS - We had the pleasure of meeting new SU Drama Chair, Ralph Zito, yesterday. We had a wonderful time divulging our project to him and we look forward to sharing our work with him in Edinburgh. The Department is very lucky to have him.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Rehearsal Number Three
Hard to believe it's now Thursday and we are over halfway through the week. I think we're all getting used to the idea that we will be staying here and are really settling in. We spend many a giddy night laughing at different ways to plug our show and advertise our ensemble...we play with lines in the script, sing diddies, and make up really bad slogans so that we laugh until we ache.
Yesterday was spent reviewing the two scenes - II.i and II.ii - that we did the day before, Tuesday. We played with II.ii briefly and did a run of II.i into II.ii working the transition. This made us realize that we will probably need a rehearsal solely for transitions because there are many of them and we don't want a slow transition to waste the precious time we're allotted in the Fringe space.
We also went into working scenes III.i and III.ii. These were really great scenes to play with. Each of these scenes contains three key characters. So Holly, Stella, and Sarah play the characters in III.i and Dana, Laura, and I (Jana) play the characters in III.ii. We ended up tableworking the scenes as a group, reading through our respective parts, discussing what's happening in the scene, discussing what's happening between the characters - what the characters want...etc. Then we put one scene in one room and one scene in the hallway and played within our scenes. This was the perfect scenario because it allowed everyone to work and progress for the next hour through their scene, finding things and discovering things without the pressure of outside eyes. At the end of the hour, we came back together and showed each other what we had found. It was so encouraging to have friendly outside eyes looking in. We loved each other's scenes - not just because we love each other - but because we love what each other came up with...and we know we'll find more. We told each other what we saw and what we thought worked within the scenes and encouraged each other to keep exploring.
This leads me to recognize the value in working with a group of trusted friends. It's important to have someone who can tell you the truth in love and to have someone to wants to see you succeed and will give you the motivation you need to do so.
All this said, we're making a lot of progress through the show. We've connected four scenes in a row and will add a fifth scene to that string today - working on the HARPY, which many of you thought was strange after watching our Kickstarter promo video. :P
After rehearsal today we're shooting our next promo video...which I must now chart out so that editing will be remotely possible...I will say goodbye for now.
As always, thank you for reading. Your eyes, thoughts, feedback, and love are always appreciated. x
Yesterday was spent reviewing the two scenes - II.i and II.ii - that we did the day before, Tuesday. We played with II.ii briefly and did a run of II.i into II.ii working the transition. This made us realize that we will probably need a rehearsal solely for transitions because there are many of them and we don't want a slow transition to waste the precious time we're allotted in the Fringe space.
We also went into working scenes III.i and III.ii. These were really great scenes to play with. Each of these scenes contains three key characters. So Holly, Stella, and Sarah play the characters in III.i and Dana, Laura, and I (Jana) play the characters in III.ii. We ended up tableworking the scenes as a group, reading through our respective parts, discussing what's happening in the scene, discussing what's happening between the characters - what the characters want...etc. Then we put one scene in one room and one scene in the hallway and played within our scenes. This was the perfect scenario because it allowed everyone to work and progress for the next hour through their scene, finding things and discovering things without the pressure of outside eyes. At the end of the hour, we came back together and showed each other what we had found. It was so encouraging to have friendly outside eyes looking in. We loved each other's scenes - not just because we love each other - but because we love what each other came up with...and we know we'll find more. We told each other what we saw and what we thought worked within the scenes and encouraged each other to keep exploring.
This leads me to recognize the value in working with a group of trusted friends. It's important to have someone who can tell you the truth in love and to have someone to wants to see you succeed and will give you the motivation you need to do so.
All this said, we're making a lot of progress through the show. We've connected four scenes in a row and will add a fifth scene to that string today - working on the HARPY, which many of you thought was strange after watching our Kickstarter promo video. :P
After rehearsal today we're shooting our next promo video...which I must now chart out so that editing will be remotely possible...I will say goodbye for now.
As always, thank you for reading. Your eyes, thoughts, feedback, and love are always appreciated. x
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sensuality in the Storm
Hey All,
We rehearsed for the second time here in Syracuse. Instead of boring you with a play by play that begins every paragraph with "and then," I will describe our time together in the 900 block black box space with word fragments.
Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy....just kidding. ;)
Walk down. Jog down. Down the hill. Starbucks in hand. Iced Coffee. Iced. Enter the space. Blank. Black. Yellow line of tape. One step to audience members. They will wear the hats. Talk. Stretch. Talk. Laugh. Huh-hum. Breathe. Blow it out. Exhale. Breathe. Stretch. Laugh. Stranger. In rehearsal space. Exits. Laugh. Questions. Answers? Play. Walk through. Word through. Work through. Repeat. Discuss. Repeat. Repeat. Break. Half a granola bar. Back in action. Two more runs. Next scene. TRANSITIONS?! AHHH. Laugh through. Bridge. Under, over, crab walk. Collapse. Bridge up...yikes. Switch over. Switch. Triangle staging. Sit out. Time out. Play out. Work through. Work again. Spin out. Doubles. Doubles. They get it. Promo video discussion. More cuts? Shave it down. 10 minutes. Break. Breathe. Internet.
...Get the picture? Duh.
...Yeah, I reverted to middle school today. Call it a safe play?
Love,
The TLs
We rehearsed for the second time here in Syracuse. Instead of boring you with a play by play that begins every paragraph with "and then," I will describe our time together in the 900 block black box space with word fragments.
Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy....just kidding. ;)
Walk down. Jog down. Down the hill. Starbucks in hand. Iced Coffee. Iced. Enter the space. Blank. Black. Yellow line of tape. One step to audience members. They will wear the hats. Talk. Stretch. Talk. Laugh. Huh-hum. Breathe. Blow it out. Exhale. Breathe. Stretch. Laugh. Stranger. In rehearsal space. Exits. Laugh. Questions. Answers? Play. Walk through. Word through. Work through. Repeat. Discuss. Repeat. Repeat. Break. Half a granola bar. Back in action. Two more runs. Next scene. TRANSITIONS?! AHHH. Laugh through. Bridge. Under, over, crab walk. Collapse. Bridge up...yikes. Switch over. Switch. Triangle staging. Sit out. Time out. Play out. Work through. Work again. Spin out. Doubles. Doubles. They get it. Promo video discussion. More cuts? Shave it down. 10 minutes. Break. Breathe. Internet.
...Get the picture? Duh.
...Yeah, I reverted to middle school today. Call it a safe play?
Love,
The TLs
Signed, Sealed! Off-Off Broadway here we come!
Hello avid blog readers! Now that we have settled into our prospective living spaces and have gone to Wegmans to feed ourselves for the next three weeks it seems it is time for an important blog post. There is much to report on for our NYC production happening this fall. As you all know our kickstarter was successfully funded by our many supporters. On Wednesday June 30th we successfully booked our space for the last week in September. The space is the Off-Off Broadway Theater at the Roy Arias Studios on 43rd street.
The entire process for booking the space went smoothly. The manager was very excited to have us there because he has an affinity for Shakespeare (smart man). We put down our deposit and now we are good to go! At the bottom of this post is a link to their website! They have a lot of spaces for rent at reasonable prices. This is the perfect place for any up and coming theater artists.
http://royariasstudios.com
Check it out!
See you all in NYC very very soon!
Love,
The Tempest Ladies
The entire process for booking the space went smoothly. The manager was very excited to have us there because he has an affinity for Shakespeare (smart man). We put down our deposit and now we are good to go! At the bottom of this post is a link to their website! They have a lot of spaces for rent at reasonable prices. This is the perfect place for any up and coming theater artists.
http://royariasstudios.com
Check it out!
See you all in NYC very very soon!
Love,
The Tempest Ladies
Park Picnic/Prop Meeting
Hey Everyone!
We're heading into rehearsal number two in about an hour, but I wanted to take an opportunity to update you on our recent endeavors.
Last night we met in the park for a picnic dinner and some updates on where we are in our Fringe process. Chelsea, our stage manager, is doing a beautiful job in keeping us connected with all necessary sources. We talked luggage, fliers, and venue/housing locations in Edinburgh.
The torch was passed to Sarah, our other chief organizer, who had us brain storm for prop lists and costume pieces. The show, while very simplistic, does require certain items to accent and clarify the action on stage.
Stella and Dana are very excited to make some of the hats for the characters. They made some of the hats in the original production, but want to remake them so that we will carry a fresher look into Edinburgh.
Laura is showing a great interest in the music scene and seems to have a ball thinking of different products/items we can turn into musical instruments. We've decided as an ensemble that we want all actors present on the stage for the majority, if not all of, the show. This means that if an actor isn't in the action of the scene, they will always be supporting the scene with different musical underscoring. I'm excited to see where that goes. Different musical item ideas thrown around were: milk jugs, coconut shells, finger piano, kazoos, tambourines...etc.
We also decided what we want for our "commercial." We think this video will be a great way for us to promote our show to Edinburgh papers and media. We want them interested in seeing us before we arrive in Edinburgh. We think if we get them excited early, we will have a better shot of filling up our venue's houses from the beginning of the run. ...I will also add that I'm particularly thrilled with the opportunity to play with the editing of said video.
OH! We're also looking to have photos done of the ensemble in the rehearsal process. Holly astutely pointed out that these would be really useful for promoting the show later on in NYC...so we're hoping we will have access to those...
That's about it...will write more later when we have another rehearsal to report on.
This is Jana for The TLs... x
We're heading into rehearsal number two in about an hour, but I wanted to take an opportunity to update you on our recent endeavors.
Last night we met in the park for a picnic dinner and some updates on where we are in our Fringe process. Chelsea, our stage manager, is doing a beautiful job in keeping us connected with all necessary sources. We talked luggage, fliers, and venue/housing locations in Edinburgh.
The torch was passed to Sarah, our other chief organizer, who had us brain storm for prop lists and costume pieces. The show, while very simplistic, does require certain items to accent and clarify the action on stage.
Stella and Dana are very excited to make some of the hats for the characters. They made some of the hats in the original production, but want to remake them so that we will carry a fresher look into Edinburgh.
Laura is showing a great interest in the music scene and seems to have a ball thinking of different products/items we can turn into musical instruments. We've decided as an ensemble that we want all actors present on the stage for the majority, if not all of, the show. This means that if an actor isn't in the action of the scene, they will always be supporting the scene with different musical underscoring. I'm excited to see where that goes. Different musical item ideas thrown around were: milk jugs, coconut shells, finger piano, kazoos, tambourines...etc.
We also decided what we want for our "commercial." We think this video will be a great way for us to promote our show to Edinburgh papers and media. We want them interested in seeing us before we arrive in Edinburgh. We think if we get them excited early, we will have a better shot of filling up our venue's houses from the beginning of the run. ...I will also add that I'm particularly thrilled with the opportunity to play with the editing of said video.
OH! We're also looking to have photos done of the ensemble in the rehearsal process. Holly astutely pointed out that these would be really useful for promoting the show later on in NYC...so we're hoping we will have access to those...
That's about it...will write more later when we have another rehearsal to report on.
This is Jana for The TLs... x
Sunday, July 11, 2010
First Rehearsal
Hey All,
We've made it safely to Syracuse. We arrived yesterday via plane and train and got settled into our apartments - a little later than we may have planned, but we're all snug now. With a Target run for a shower curtain and fan we should be good to go. :)
We had a read through with our newly chosen characters today. We make a lot of switches during the show - from one character to another - and it made us laugh with just how many switches there are and just how quickly one of us must exit the stage with the last line of one scene and enter again with the first line of the next scene. All in all the read through sounded great. It felt so good to sink back into the text as an ensemble.
We're looking to get onto our feet this Tuesday. We came into these rehearsals completely memorized and off book, so we're anxious to get moving, working the text through our bodies.
We'll also be working to produce a "Tempest Trailer" that will show everyone what's "coming soon" to Edinburgh.
Needless to say, we'll be occupied and busy, but in the best sense. I think we're looking at a great time with great people in some great places.
So here's a shout out to you for reading - and we hope you'll stay tuned!
We've made it safely to Syracuse. We arrived yesterday via plane and train and got settled into our apartments - a little later than we may have planned, but we're all snug now. With a Target run for a shower curtain and fan we should be good to go. :)
We had a read through with our newly chosen characters today. We make a lot of switches during the show - from one character to another - and it made us laugh with just how many switches there are and just how quickly one of us must exit the stage with the last line of one scene and enter again with the first line of the next scene. All in all the read through sounded great. It felt so good to sink back into the text as an ensemble.
We're looking to get onto our feet this Tuesday. We came into these rehearsals completely memorized and off book, so we're anxious to get moving, working the text through our bodies.
We'll also be working to produce a "Tempest Trailer" that will show everyone what's "coming soon" to Edinburgh.
Needless to say, we'll be occupied and busy, but in the best sense. I think we're looking at a great time with great people in some great places.
So here's a shout out to you for reading - and we hope you'll stay tuned!
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