Teaser Trailer: Macbeth

Macbeth - Teaser from The Tempest Ladies on Vimeo.

Here is a sneak peak of our video collaboration with film maker / animator Tómas Pichardo.
Please take a look and feel free to share it with friends.
Filmed at R/GA Studios
Director and Editor: Tómas Pichardo
Director of Photography: Can Misirlioglu
Music: Cem Misirlioglu

More is thy due than more than all can pay

As our Macbeth workshop dates get closer and closer. We cannot help but feel overwhelming gratitude and love for all of the people out there who support us. There are a few choice people out there that deserve special shout outs.

The Bergs. All of the Bergs, especially Mike and Shirley, for all of their support over the years! They made our trip to Istanbul so special. Not only did they come to all four of our shows (now that’s support!!) they also took on roles as our Public Relations Representatives. They helped us fill seats and even find a venue (they've helped us fill seats for this workshop as well!). Shirley designed our beautiful poster for our Tempest and she will design a fantastic image for our Macbeth. They have made all of us feel like their daughters and we are happy to have them in our Tempest Ladies family!

Have you noticed the amazing website: tempestladies.com? Or maybe our amazing poster/flyer design for our Macbeth? These were both beautifully executed and maintained by the talented Will Hart. At the ripe age of 16 (I know) he has built his own graphic/webpage design company WSH5. Any time we need something added or uploaded or designed he generously donates his services to us for next to nothing (we have the sibling discount). If there are any up and coming theater companies out there that want to develop a website or need other design help I would highly recommend him. He is utterly professional, skilled, enthusiastic, and fledgling theater company friendly!!! Contact: will@wsh5.com

Last but not least, our fearless leader Lindsay Tanner! We knew that when we started meeting about Macbeth in May that we needed a director who would have a clear vision and creative aesthetic. We got all of that and more with Lindsay. She not only heard what we all envisioned for Macbeth but she brought a myriad of intelligent, insightful and fun ideas of her own. She both supported and challenged us as artists while creating the amazing world of this play. We are eternally grateful that she said yes to leading us on this journey!

We are beyond excited for our Macbeth workshop! We managed to sell out both nights and we are in talks of adding one more workshop night to accommodate the influx of waitlist reservations. We hope to see most of you at our workshop, our three week run or perhaps in Turkey!

All of our love and gratitude,

The Tempest Ladies

Outsider's Perspective

Hello wonderful theater lovers! We are busy working on our production of “Macbeth” and it is shaping up to be, if I do say so myself, quite extraordinary.

I struggled, at first, to see the big picture of this play. I know these characters. I know what they want and why they fail or succeed throughout the course of the play. We had done extensive table work and text analysis, but I still didn’t quite understand what exactly the world of our version of “Macbeth” was going to be, until we really started really exploring the witches.

Without giving too much away, we decided in initial meetings about this production that we wanted the witches to be the storytellers. This is from their perspective; their version of the story of “Macbeth.” Then the questions really begin: who are these witches? What does it mean to be a witch? Why are they telling this story?

Lindsay, our wonderful director, told us to start thinking of these witches as outsiders. For whatever reason, choice or force, they live outside of normal society. Maybe they are deformed or maybe something happened to them that has forced them out of society. The more we explore the life of these witches the more I understand why they are telling the story and what their “Scotland” looks like. It is deformed. It is a co-dependent community of outsiders that need to tell this story.

I am very excited to explore this further. I am very excited to bring this all together!

Holly for The Tempest Ladies!

A Long Time A-Comin'

The title of this blog refers to the fact that this is the FIRST post here for yours truly, Julia Giolzetti. I have been with the Tempest Ladies for almost 2 years (!!!!) so this post is well overdue.

Aaanyway, we are now well under way with Macbeth rehearsals, and even have preliminary blocking down for a few scenes. This is insanely exciting, especially for me, since I was brought in after all this work had been done for the Tempest. The collaborative efforts I am experiencing are invigorating and my spirit is lifted after every meeting with these gals.

I must also mention that we have a director this time around! Lindsay Tanner, who is a dear friend of Stacey and I from Tisch, is joining our madcap ensemble as an outside eye, Shakespeare text detective, and all-around ringleader. Our first day with her consisted of hours of witchy role-playing in dim candlelight. Last Sunday, we reviewed how to walk like a man, talk like a man, walk like a man my s-o-o-o-n. Sorry, I'm listening to Frankie Valli as I write this. Anyways, we puffed out our chests, broadened our shoulders, balled our fists, and flattened our steps. We noticed how, even though we don't consider ourselves to be girlie girls, our hips have a natural sway to them. But when inhabiting a male character, it's all about taking up as much space as your body permits. That means your steps are wider and, by default, your hips stay facing straight ahead.

I've been trying out my dude moves in public, particularly on the subway. If you're a female who has taken public transit, you're probably familiar with the phenomen that is men using their legs/thighs to take as much space as possible. With my new dude moves, I'm able to claim my own space in the way men do. It's a far more comfortable ride after you push a man's legs out of your space with your own legs.

But back to Macbeth. It's very important for us to be as accurate as possible with our male characters--once the audience stops noticing we're actually women, they can focus more on the story. Some would ask, why then wouldn't we just cast men? Well, for one, our company is the Tempest Ladies, but the main reason is if this play was done with all the right genders, only 3 or 4 women would have a speaking role in a cast of 20. Same goes for the Tempest, where the female roles come to a whopping ONE. Same goes for Hamlet (2), Romeo and Juliet (4, 1 of whom is Lady Montague which....come on), Julius Caesar (2), and even Antony & Cleopatra (2!) And let's not even start on the History plays (looking at you Henry IV, BOTH PARTS). Being a Shakespearean actress is not an easy venture outside of this company. In fact, most of the shows I've done outside the Tempest Ladies have ended up being male roles anyway (Boy in Henry V, Pisanio in Cymbeliene, Snug in Midsummer). Plus, the theater community is already over saturated with talented attractive 20 something women, so even getting seen for a female Shakespeare role is like finding an empty cab during a downpour--unlikely.

On top of all that, given the opportunity, what woman wouldn't want to take a crack at Mackers? Lady M is of course one of the best roles the Bard ever wrote for women, but her husband is equally complex, compelling, and completely bonkers by the end. Don't assume that because we are performing an all-female Macbeth that this will be all about girl power and Lady M...quite the opposite. While we are putting a lot of emphasis in these early rehearsals on the witches' storytelling/framing aspects, our discussions always come back to the man himself. You will see each of us take him on, both in scenes and in soliloquy. We aim to offer a truly unique production of this show, where you physically see Macbeth's mind contort, transform, and internally struggle with his murders. By the frantic final showdown, you will see 5 Macbeths full of impotent rage, ready to take on a castle of rebels.

I'm afraid I've already revealed too much. Thank you for reading this far, and stay tuned for more Mackers updates!

Love,
TTL

Illegal Behavior

I had the amazing fortune of going to Washington DC over the weekend to visit my brother. I had never been before and though I knew about the obvious attractions; the White House, the Kennedy Center, the Presidential Memorials… etc., what I was not expecting to find was my way into the exclusive Shakespeare library of Henry Clay Folger.

I have to tell you, the staff at Folger’s Shakespeare Library is very accommodating to young ladies travelling on their own. I noticed that few tourists venture further east of the Mall than the Capitol Building and so I sensed a deep and amused appreciation that I, a tourist and not a scholar, a young woman travelling alone, would be one of the few attracted to this library. I also think it was this appreciation that saved my ass later.

When you enter the building, the first and only room you see is a long hall with different relics. It seemed more like a museum than a library… which is fine. Immediately to your left as you enter is a glass case which holds one of the First Folios. The folio was standing up with the dedication page open, and you could flip through the rest of the pages on a digitalized screen beneath. I swiped through the pages of Romeo and Juliet and teared up at the experience. I felt a bit silly but reading the First Folio in person was amazing to me.

But just wait.

My eyes filmed up and my skin prickled at an ELECTRONIC copy of the First Folio… so you can imagine the sensation that coursed through me when I found, behind thick, heavy, dark green velvet curtains, a door that was left unlocked, and entered into none other than the actual Folger’s Shakespeare Library.

It was massive: two floors, stain-glassed windows, mahogany tables, old authoritative looking people behind big desks… and it was frigidly cold. It was what you would expect of any “off-limits to the general public” library. I pretended like I was meant to be there and I walked straight to the first shelf. I skimmed through dictionaries, many faded red/green/blue covered colossal books that all look identical to the next and eventually found The First Folio in person. It weighed at least 10 pounds. I crossed the room and took my seat and flipped through each and every page. The first play was ‘The Tempest’ which I felt was deliciously appropriate. Each time anyone passed by me I buried my nose deeper into the bind of the book. I realized quickly that in order to be there you had to be an authorized “Reader”. That means a professional researcher who has been granted special permission to access the library for research. I could say I was there for research and I wouldn't be lying, but I was no “Reader.”

As you can imagine I, of course, got caught on the way out because the door by which I had entered was locked by the time I was finally ready to leave. I had to go out the main entrance where I was asked to show proof of my “Readers Pass”. I played dumb, the guard played dumbfounded. She sent me back into the library where I looked for another escape route. I was considering a window when the main librarian found me. She luckily was extremely sweet and amused by the situation. She told me she had a feeling I was not meant to be in there but it was her fault for not catching me sooner. She escorted me out and that was that.

I think the only thing missing from this story is a more severe punishment at the end but as I said earlier, there is something kind of great about a young person sneaking into a library to read a book. No? I would admire that and I think that the staff at Folger’s felt the same way.

Overall it was an exceptional trip, and this anecdote was just the cherry on top of the sundae.

**Fun fact: The First Folio was assembled by Shakespeare’s friends/members of his theater company, The King’s Men, a few years after his death. It was a gesture to commemorate their dear friend and a means for his work to live on for years after his life. They compiled all of the pages of his work that they had between them and sculpted together the first full works. They received a publishing deal and printed only around 750 copies of the First Folio. Of those 750, only between 240-250 copies survive today and Folger’s owns one third of them. Due to the printing mechanism of that time, no two copies are exactly the same. Cool, huh?

Cuts, cuts, cuts!

"Is this a dagger which I see before me..."

"They met me in the day of success..."

"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow..."

How can you possibly cut the beautiful words of William Shakespeare? Let me explain that sometimes this truly is a painful process. There is so much important information in the text because at the time that was all Shakespeare had! Fortunately, now we have the tools to effectively tell the story of Macbeth without all of the text.

We spent one whole rehearsal meticulously reading through the script and cutting. We always keep scansion in mind, but we especially pay attention to important story details. We certainly cannot cut out Duncan’s death right? (Whoops sorry for the spoiler)! We even cut something that got put back in. Our fearless and talented director, Lindsay Tanner (who will be introduced in the next post), was able to shed light on a scene that we were too quick to judge as unnecessary!

We hope for the show to run 90 minutes without an intermission!

Our Next Venture: Mackers!

Hello Readers! Long time no blog! I'm sure you all are aware of how busy we have been traveling, teaching, performing and creating these past months!

You’ve all especially been hearing our updates about our upcoming production of Macbeth. But what does a Tempest Lady production entail? The next series of blog posts will, hopefully, shed some light and get you as excited as we are about this production!

Pick the show: Originally we all had discussed continuing on with Twelfth Night, but after some reconsideration we decided that Macbeth was the best choice for a next piece.

But why Macbeth?

First, from a marketing stand-point, since we have been expanding our educational department we decided it would be a good idea to choose a play that is taught in schools. That leads us with four options: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer’s Nights Dream, Hamlet, and Macbeth. All of these plays are wonderful but there is something about Macbeth that drew us to it.


The driving force in this play is ‘the witches’. They start the show. They are always present. We have toiled with theatrical magic before with The Tempest but dark magic is something entirely different.


That brings me to the next point, Macbeth is completely different from The Tempest. Aside from the fact that it is a tragedy, it is also a much more psychological. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both descend into madness because of this need for absolute power.

So much of the play revolves around the idea of manhood. Many of the characters, including Lady M, find their manhood or question it throughout the play. Lady M goes as far as to change herself into a man or an androgynous being so that she has no remorse for the death of Duncan. How can we, an all female company, shed more light on this issue?

These were a few of the major factors that helped us pick the beautiful and dark play to be our next installment!

Stay tuned for the next important step: Cuts!!!

Love,
TTL

In Light of Thanksgiving - We're Thankful For Our Swings!

Introducing the newest members of The Tempest Ladies ensemble: Stacey Bone, Mallory Hammond and Stephanie Strohm!

Stacey Bone is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Some recent credits include an exciting turn on the Biography Channel as Debi Mazar in Celebrity Ghost Stories, a musician singing Shakespeare’s words to Joan Baez’ music in As You Like It (Harold Clurman Lab Theatre), Whitney in Surprise (Turtle Shell Productions), a plethora of crazy characters in Under Milk Wood (Rebellious Subjects Theatre), and Sophie/Celia in Everett Beekin (Stella Adler Studio). She also spent a summer apprenticing at the Williamstown Theatre Festival where she performed and worked on workshop and main stage productions; including being an "ensemble" member in Alex Timbers' production of Beyond Therapy.

Mallory Hammond could not be more excited and honored to join the Tempest Ladies. Born and raised in sweet home Alabama, Mallory moved to New York excited to pursue acting. She attended Auburn University where she earned her BFA in Acting. Since graduation she has toured the southeast as a Spanish mother in Zorro, and the midwest and northeast as a little boy mouse in Stuart Little the Musical. When Mallory is not performing she is writing, watching 30 Rock, or most importantly cheering for Auburn football. WAR EAGLE!

Stephanie Strohm is a Connecticut Yankee and red velvet cake aficionado who traveled further north to study history and theater at Middlebury College. Since then, she has performed in more than 25 states, mostly as a frog. NYC credits include Crave (C) with PTP at Atlantic Stages, Pink! (Abby) at the Abingdon, Platonov (Sasha) at Columbia University, and Suzy for President! (Dawn) at the American Theater of Actors. Regionally, she has played Juliet, Maria, Titania, Luciana, Lady Macduff, and the Princess of France. Her first novel, Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink, is being published this spring (HMH Graphia.) She is proud to be a founding member of MaineStage Shakespeare, and very excited to be a swing for the Tempest Ladies.

I Do Not Know One of My Sex

The following was taken from Jana's personal blog:
________

On Sunday I had the distinct privilege of sitting in on The Tempest Ladies’ swing auditions. It was a victorious audition experience. Not only did we find our swings, but we were overwhelmed by how many talented actors showed up to play. Everyone aced – no one bombed. That says a few things: This city is filled with LOTS of great actors. This city doesn’t have enough acting jobs for these great actors. And these great actors all want to be a part of our all-female Shakespeare work specifically.

That last bit – the bit that all of these women wanted to be a part of the work we do was both overwhelming and encouraging. It also revealed something to me that I’d never considered before. To prepare for the audition, we asked that each woman bring in two contrasting monologues – one comedic and one of a male character. Wondering if anyone would be able to rise to the male character challenge, we were, again, pleasantly surprised as Hamlet, Cassius and Prince Hal came confidently into the room. In fact, I would go so far to argue that the male monologues were stronger than any contrasting female monologue we saw that day. And I had to ask myself – why are the male monologues better?

The Writing is Stronger? Is it because Shakespeare’s males experience higher stake situations and, therefore, require stronger, and, perhaps, better written pieces of text?

There is Male Confidence? Is it because playing a male automatically allows for a certain confidence that doesn’t come naturally when playing a fair sexed woman?

It allows Freedom? Is it because playing someone opposite to your own sex allows for a certain freedom that you could never experience without making a 180 in sexuality?

If it has to do with freedom, I have to take this a step further and wonder what that says about where our society is today. Yes, for women, we’ve made strides and experience things that even women of twenty years ago wouldn’t have experienced. And yet, there is still an unspoken amount of inequality, isn’t there? Maybe it’s subconscious, but it’s there. Why else would playing a man make us so liberal in our stage choices? So vocally stable and sound? So empowered and grounded? So strong and confident? Because as a male character in the room, these actors suddenly found the authority of a man. The authority that says, “This is my right. I’m entitled to this acting gig. I’m a good actor. I can tell a good story.” Does playing a man assert a certain right? And what does it say that we, as the casting directors, saw more power in the male monologues? Does that mean we have been conditioned to abide by the male right and to accept the male character as more confident, stronger and right for the choosing?

I don’t know that I have the answers to these questions. I certainly wouldn’t be so bold to claim any of this as fact, but there’s something about these questions still lingering with me a week after the audition that speaks volumes to what our culture has been taught and what we still follow based on learned behavior. I don’t know that it is good or bad. I think it is, however, uneven, off-kilter and skewed.

________

That said, we underwent a very difficult decision-making process immediately following the auditions. We took time going through each headshot and discussing each actress. Everyone had brought something worthwhile to the table and it became harder and harder to narrow down the pile of people. Finally, we arrived at a final three. We had initially aimed at casting two swings - in case one ensemble member and one swing couldn't make it, we would have another swing to fill in. However, with three actresses left in front of us and six tracks to cover, we thought: why not cast three swings? Each swing can cover two tracks. So that's what we did - we added three swings to the ensemble! Without further ado, we welcome Stacey Bone, Mallory Hammond and Stephanie Strohm to The Tempest Ladies!

Signing with Gardner Arts Network

As many of you already know, on September 15th 2011, The Tempest Ladies signed with our very first booking agency, Gardner Arts Network! What you may not know, however, is the story behind how this new partnership came about.

Jana, (who is back from gallivanting across the UK; we’re happy to have her back,) had contacted Jeannette Gardner back in January 2011 while we were all furiously promoting our showcase of ‘The Tempest’ for the APAP conference. The running joke amongst us Ladies is that Jeannette was very nearly the only person that actually answered her phone during that time. After countless calls to different presenters, endless answering machines, Jeannette picked up the phone and informed us that she was unable to attend our showcase but to keep her in the loop for our upcoming performances.

We did. We invited Jeannette to our spring performance at the Players Theatre and luckily she was in town and available to come. On a side note I’d like to add that those two shows at the Players Theatre were our most solid and gratifying performances yet. After two and a half years of working on ‘The Tempest,’ everything seemed to miraculously fall into place that night. The two new ensemble members of course brought a new light and energy to our group and performance, but as a whole, we all reached a point where we were able to simply relax into our production. We were able to play with the text, our props, each other, the audience and ultimately ourselves more than we ever had before. I can safely speak for all the Ladies in saying that it was a tremendous night of shows and our audiences also added an enormous amount to their success.

Jeannette was in our 7pm audience and after the show she told us she had thoroughly enjoyed it and would be in touch with us the following week. We were elated by this and I’m sure it was that prospect which boosted our energy enough to be able to get through a second run of this exhausting show with little to no break in between.

We followed up with Jeannette and after a short e-mail exchange we had our first meeting with her in mid June. To say the meeting was long would be an understatement. We left her office two and a half hours later than when we had arrived with a handful of instructions and a renewed sense of possibility. She told us to design a flyer and poster for our group, film a promotional trailer of our show and draft a study guide for the educational component that we’re currently developing.

Stella’s mom had done a painting of us in our harpy position once before and we all loved it. Therefore, we had the idea of asking her to paint another picture of all of us in different hats and different physical movements to use as our flyer. She agreed, felt honored and produced a painting which is electric, colorful, accurate and imaginative. The final product came out far superior to anything we could have even imagined. We are so thankful for and proud of her beautiful work. (http://cargocollective.com/shirleyverrette)

The study guide was entirely our responsibility. We divided the sections up into a summary of the show, a list of major characters, a series of different exercises and thought provoking questions, information on the period the play was written in, information on Shakespeare, information on The Tempest Ladies, and a series of different workshops. Although we were all involved in the creation of the study guide Julia Giolzetti deserves particular recognition for her work and contribution to it. And Laura Borgwardt takes all of the credit for the different workshop ideas and games. As individuals we all have our strengths but as a group we make up quite a unique force.

The video- you already know about. If you don’t know about it, read the previous blog!

We met with Jeannette periodically throughout the summer to touch base on the progress of our materials and to also look over our professional agreement. There were questions we had about the contract which Jeannette patiently answered. We felt we needed time to look over the contract more thoroughly and she likewise didn’t want to jump into anything before she saw our finished promotional video. We completed the teaser and the trailer by the middle of August and presented it to Jeannette. She had one minor criticism about the sound in one section but generally and genuinely loved it. The last and final thing therefore, was the printed materials for her to take along with her to her first conference.

She required 2 laminated posters, 100 flyers and 10 DVDs of our trailer. We had already designed our flyer and poster and so did research on an affordable yet high quality company and had those printed. As for the DVDs we thought it would be special to print a custom image on the face of the DVD itself. We settled on the image of our eyes which we also had used as our postcard image for our June 2nd announcement. The eyes on the DVD look great and surprisingly eerie. You can’t quite tell which way is right side up and which way is upside down. Spooky. We also took it a step further and had a stamp made of our Tempest Ladies Logo. On the DVD sleeve we stamped our logo on the front. The package as a whole unit is very innovative and utterly DIY. Merely because it’s a stamp and had to press each one individually, each cover is slightly different. To give you an example, on one of them I pressed the stamp so hard on the paper that our lady came out with a very distinctive handlebar moustache.

At the completion of all of the printing production, we met with Jeannette one more time. She approved the posters, the flyers and the DVDs. She went over a few details regarding the Performing Arts Exchange which is the first conference she is representing us at (It’s actually occurring this weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and we are crossing our fingers that it’s a success.) She also told us that after sending out an e-mail blast about us, a theater upstate responded within ten minutes stating they were interested and wanted more information. That was definitely an exciting addition to an already exhilarating day! At the end of our chitchat and answering all final questions, The Tempest Ladies signed our name to be represented by Gardner Arts Network.

It is easy and simple to say that we are all very excited and positive about this next chapter of The Tempest Ladies. We could not have come this far without the support of others and the determination of ourselves.

With much love,

The Tempest Ladies

Teaser Trailer

Click here to view our Teaser!

Click here to view our Trailer!

xoxo,

The Tempest Ladies

The Filming of our Promotional Teaser and Trailer

Things have been stirring lately that haven't been documented as our diligent and devoted blogger, Jana Stambaugh, has been off gallivanting through the UK. I think it's OK to admit that we're all a little jealous of her for it but she is also sorely missed. That said, our newly produced and soon to be released Promotional Trailer for 'The Tempest' deserves some blog attention so I'm stepping up to the plate.


Following our June 2nd performance at the Players Theatre we have been meeting with a potential booking agent which is very exciting. In our first meeting, along with a series of other suggestions, she recommended that we film a promotional trailer of our show as soon as we could get our hands on a camera. The obvious reason being for those who haven't seen our show to get an accurate sense of who we are, what we do and what is unique about our version of this sacred text. We attempted to film our June 2nd performances and even with two cameras and two shows we failed to capture what we had set out to. Luckily, a close friend and the creative director of R/GA, Can Misirlioglu, saw our show, witnessed the epic fail with the footage and offered to film our promotional trailer at the R/GA studios for us. R/GA is a well known advertising agency and to be able to shoot there is an enormous honor. We had no choice but to say, "Yes."


Then the reality of creating a film and all the steps involved in producing a film sunk in. The date of the shoot needed to be confirmed; the space needed to be rented out; the time frame needed to be solidified. All six actresses, the director of photography and the editor needed to know the schedule far in advance so as to clear each of their chaotic schedules. Then came the realization that we didn't have an editor, that one of those actually needed to be found in order for the footage to be assembled in some coherent fashion. Cem Misirlioglu, who composed and performed all of the music for The Tempest Teaser, suggested a friend of his from Parsons, Tomas Pichardo. Within one e-mail exchange and one glance at his website http://tomatico.net/ it was very clear that he was perfect for the job.


The next step was to create the storyboard to give to the creative director and the editor. We had an eight hour time limit in the space and it was inconceivable to film the entire show. For the purposes of this film specifically we needed to focus on capturing the elements that a) tell the story but b) more importantly, set our show apart. We needed to portray the qualities that would "sell" us to those in the market to "buy" Shakespeare. The process was surprisingly challenging. We went through the entire show, moment by moment, and discovered that there are quite a number of moments that are rare and special to our show. (That was an exciting discovery!) But we also didn't want to give away all the secrets at once. Therefore, we began with the main characters and plot points then quickly transitioned into examining the common thread between our physical phrases. We realized a significant portion of our movement has a whirlwind, circular, swirling quality to it and thus the storyboard was constructed using this imagery and pattern. The music was inspired from these themes as well.


Storyboard done, all we could do was wait for the day. On July 31st, we arrived thirty minutes earlier than 10:00 to get coffee (with a fly drowned in it,) and put our costumes and man-faces on. After the stage set-up came the lighting and mic set-up; all seamlessly done by Can, Tomas and Cem who were all there for the entire duration of the shoot. After that came the sound check. A few sound level trials later we were finally ready to begin. We began with the storm. We filmed it once through without stopping and it was shaky. We were off center in the frame, some of us hit our heads on metal things that weren't generally on the stage with us, the thunder sound completely drowned out the text and as it had been a month and a half since any of us acted through the storm- we were out of breath immediately. Four takes later, one immediately after the other, I personally was beat and my voice was coarse. BUT! It was exhilarating! Everyone working on the project was so focused and committed that we were able to film everything we had set out to film in exactly the amount of time we were allotted. Can informed us at the end of the day that others rarely succeed in finishing everything on time.


Next came the technical stuff. We converted all of the files onto the desktop, saved them onto external hard drives and began the editing process. Tomas and I sat together on this first day and walked through the storyboards for both the teaser and the trailer. We had decided at the beginning to create a teaser version from the footage to release prior to the full length trailer. We wanted to build up every one's anticipation and hunger for the full deal. The teaser took only a day to complete with only a few slight adjustments to the first draft. It looks fantastic and is currently streaming at: http://vimeo.com/27402258. The trailer took an additional five days to complete. Our wonderful, patient and talented editor Tomas worked harder than I could have ever dreamed, lost lots of sleep and created something to be truly proud of. The trailer is also finished and will be out live tomorrow evening, 8/18/2011!


Meanwhile, we were constantly sending footage and e-mails back and forth to our composer who was working during the entire editing process. Cem came up with a few samples and themes with the material he had to work with and then once he had the final versions, was able to record the official tracks. The music is hauntingly mesmerizing. He managed to create music that is simultaneously harmonious with the action but also eerily contradictory to it. The final product heightened the videos to a truly remarkable level.


Last but not least, the final edits and final tracks for both the teaser and the trailer were sent back to Can for color-correction. We choose a treatment that kept all the colors but made them more vibrant and yet have more contrast. The end product is sensational and exactly what we had envisioned.


Most recently, the booking agent has seen the teaser and the trailer and is thoroughly impressed. Our intention and goal now is to use this work to enable us to book shows both nationally and internationally. Our next international goal is to bring 'The Tempest' to Istanbul, Turkey for the 2012 IKSV theater festival. We are working very hard on this and will keep you posted as it develops!


On a parting note, We felt this was a journey and a process that should be shared with all of you. The Tempest Ladies couldn't be more fortunate to have such a talented group of friends nor can they be more fortunate to have such wonderful supporters and followers as you all. We are blessed and eternally indebted to all of you.


So much love,


The Tempest Ladies

Whose hat is it anyway?

Hey all,

We had a wonderfully productive rehearsal today in which we examined Prospero's final soliloquy and came up with a wonderful new movement piece to complement it. We are all so excited to show it to you. It's really powerful and fuels Act V with the energy it needs to see us through to the epilogue. One thing is for certain: This epilogue will be earned.

We are also looking at playing with the switches in Act V. If you've seen the show or have been following the blog, you know that we switch roles throughout the play so that by the end of it, we've each played many, if not all, of the parts. We're looking at re-examining the switches in V and using it as an opportunity to have a blast with all of the character opportunities. We're looking at the ideas of:

When does it serve the character to switch?
When does it serve the text to switch?
Who hasn't played this character yet?
How do we include the audience from the get-go in the "switching game?"
How do we keep the increase in switches clear so that the characters don't get lost in the actors?
How do we keep the storyline clear so that the arc of the play is realized and fulfilled?

These are a few questions we will keep in mind as we delve deeper into the text and figure out how we can keep the energy alive and bubbling. We'll also be looking at how we can reveal the switches in character so that the audience doesn't always see when they happen. We'll be crafting it so that everyone is present on the stage and the switches are happening, but not always in plain view. This keeps the audience on their toes and always guessing. We want them to take delight in the stage magic of it all.

Stay tuned for more details!

Tomorrow is the first Monday rehearsal we've added to the schedule. We'll be working a mark to mark with full props for the first time. This included drums and the beloved "boinger" instrument. Not to mention hats, a robe and sheet metal - we mean, thunder.

Love,

TTL

June 2nd - and the Countdown Begins!

Okay, so we may have gotten a little distracted since our last posting that promised to bring you more blog posts. Can you blame us? We only work three day jobs, make our beds, make some coffee, make our lunch, go to work, eat our lunch, get another coffee, call our moms, go to an audition or a rehearsal or a show or a movie or a friend's second 21st birthday party and then try to sleep. Are we complaining? Never.

The Sonnet Slam was a blast. While it was cold and a little bit gray, we still loved hearing Shakespeare being read aloud from the Naumberg Bandshell on April 22nd. It was such a neat way to commemorate the Bard right before his birthday and it allowed each of us to show off our enthusiasm for his work. We read Sonnets 121-127 and it was worth the wait to do so. There were some awesome guys rapping the sonnets. There were little redheaded boys who had memorized their sonnets and brought a charlie brown-esque quality to the event. There were sonnets for lovers, sonnets for pining crushes and sonnets simply admiring beauty. And isn't true beauty enough?

Up next we have our show - The Tempest - on June 2nd at Off-Broadway Players Theater. Shows are at 7pm and 9pm and we are looking to fill up houses of 50 people for each show! It's going to be a great night followed by a reception afterward. We can't wait. For ticket reservations, visit Brown Paper Tickets.

We're thrilled to be debuting our newest Tempest Ladies, Julia Giolzetti and Laura Jernigan, on June 2nd. They have been doing incredible work on the show. We're also thrilled to be bringing a new original movement piece to Act V, which will be a physical venture you won't want to miss.

All in all, things seem to be on the up and up as we move toward the show and invite as many people as possible with excitement and delight. We're realizing more and more who we want our target audience to be and how to go about getting in touch with them. We're launching all kinds of campaigns from mass mailings and email blasts to personal calls and postcards. We're also continually grateful for people like you who loyally follow us on the web wherever we go and support us with your words, thoughts and good energy. Thanks for continuing with us on this ever-expanding journey.

With Love,

TTLs

Sonnet Slam

Hey everyone,

I promise to be more diligent in writing here. We are in the midst of our third rehearsal process and second remount. Hard to believe how far we've come since our first performance at Syracuse University in 2009. It's been a real gift to explore this text as much as we have. With each remount we sink deeper and deeper into Shakespeare's farewell piece.

We are enjoying new ensemble members, Julia Giolzetti and Laura Jernigan. They bring a vivacious new energy to the piece, which is just what we need as we look forward to our May performance.

Our latest endeavor as an ensemble will take place on April 23rd as each of us reads a sonnet for the Shakespeare Birthday Sonnet Slam in Central Park.

Check it out on Facebook:

Willful Pictures Presents a Shakespeare Sonnet Slam in honor of Will's birthday. Various readers will be reading aloud all 154 sonnets at the Bandshell in Central Park. This event is FREE.

This event will be videotaped under a SAG Agreement for possible inclusion of the doc: How Shakespeare Changed My Life.

...We will be reading Sonnets 121-127. Specific times to follow - but you can be sure to find us on April 23rd in Central Park's acoustically pleasing Bandshell.

Hope this post finds you readers well.

We will be in touch as more adventures reveal themselves!

Love,

TTL

It's about time

Hey All,

It's about time for another post I'd say. Well, we've really been through a loop. We came out of APAP with a bang and then found ourselves a little stalled due to scheduling conflicts. We've since re-adjusted and have made a new game plan for the spring. We decided the best way to move forward is to put our show up again in May. This will allow us three months' time to regather, regroup and remount the show.

While three months seems like a long time, it's really just enough time as we will be rehearsing about twice a week and this time (unlike APAP) will be remounting the show in full - rather than just highlighted segments. We also want to allot for enough time to market to any and everyone who might have missed our show in the past. We are making a point of catering people who would not only enjoy a family-friendly and Shakespeare-accessible piece, but we are hoping to entice people specifically in and around the NYC area.

Our long term plan would be to put the rehearsal time into the piece over these next three months, put the show up in May and then secure "gigs" as they came in. So if we were to get a call from a school in September saying they wanted us to do an educational workshop along with the show on such and such a day, the show would be ready to go and we could do it. This would also apply to a theater should they want to pick us up for a run in their space or send us out on the road under the umbrella of their theater company, etc.

I must say we're learning quite a bit in regards to business. A lot of us have found in observing the businesses of our day jobs, that so much of marketing and keeping up with contacts falls heavily to concise, clear organization. It's a matter of making a list of who you have met, including their contact information and when you last contacted them. You make several contact lists of who you have met in the past, who you want to meet and who you need to meet. You figure out who you know and who they might know. You get in touch with the people you need to meet and you do your best to correspond with them and establish a relationship. Of course, as I type it, it sounds rather simple, rather obvious, but it comes down to DOING it. And I think that's where a lot of actors and artists fall short. It's easy as an artist to get caught up in the work - that's where we have the most fun. But the truth is, the work can't go anywhere if no one sees it and no one will see it if you don't put your business cap on and make a list.

I think we're excited to have the time to pursue these business relationships, while also continuing to play within the piece. We are so blessed to have a piece that has snowballed as far as it has. We can't wait to see how it continues.

Signing off,

TTL

Leave not a rack behind

APAP weekend comes to a close and we find ourselves rejuvenated and inspired by our experience. We had a wonderful time performing our showcase. We performed our piece nine times on Saturday and four times on Sunday for wonderfully varying groups of people.

We left the performances with many APAP presenters to follow up with. We met APAP presenters from places as close as New Jersey and places are far reaching as Hong Kong. We were stunned to find we had managed to entice people from across the map to our showcase.

I think what was really rewarding for us was to be so well-received in yet another venue. We were thrilled by the responses we got from both audience members and audience numbers. I don't think we knew what to expect going into this, but we weren't expecting as much as we got and so we, once again, found ourselves extremely blessed by the continued affirmation and encouragement we found in our pursuit to move forward as a company.

It was also so important to be reminded of what a visually vibrant piece we are working with. Will, Holly's darling brother, filmed the teaser/trailer and in playing it back, we finally got to see the visual pictures we create as an ensemble. We always had an idea of what the pictures looked like, but never got to see them as a whole since we each make up an essential part of the picture. It was great to step back and see what each of us contributes to the piece visually.

We must say another huge thank you to all of our supporters. Friends, families, donors and blog-readers: we wouldn't be where we are without you and we appreciate your following us this far and seeing us even further. You're the best.

We meet tonight for an APAP de-briefing and will decide where to go next - how to take Tempest further and how to expand with new projects. Looking forward to it.

We'll be in touch!

Love,

TTL

APAP, Day 1

Dear Friends,

We made it through our first day of performances at APAP and had a really wonderful day. We had people in APAP badges come, which was an incredible feat by itself. However, we also found that people in general were excited to see our theater. We had friends from work show up, people waiting for auditions in other studios join us and people from off the street - innocent tourists, looking for a good time at the theater in NYC - give our Tempest a try. It was a really delightful atmosphere and we had a great time doing the show again and again and again... I think we did our fifteen minute showcase nine times - plus a warm up/run through before our 2pm opening... so 10 times, really.

We especially appreciated the little girls who came into our audience at one point. The delight on their faces was more satisfying than any of the APAP badges that graced our seats. We find we enjoy performing for kids and we realize just how family friendly our show actually is.

We had the opportunity to film our showcase thanks to Holly's brother, Will, who continues to be our techie and lifesaver. We hope to put that up under the video footage page on our site - so that you can have an idea of what we've been working on/working towards as of late.

Btw - we do have a Tempest Ladies website now that our own techie, Will created. You can visit it at: tempestladies.com

Looking forward to another day at APAP tomorrow - will keep you updated!

Best,

TTL

Kickstarter and APAP Updates Galore!

Dear Friends and Followers (does anyone else think Followers sounds like you're in a cult),

We have to say a very late, but very large thank you to everyone who supported us on Kickstarter. We wouldn't be participating in APAP this weekend without you.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Each of us took a nice break and are returning to the city with energy and enthusiasm for the fifteen minute showcase of our flagship production of The Tempest.

We have included the very best spectacle parts of our piece in the showcase, along with some rich text and new choices.

We begin with our very powerful ship image - constructed with our bodies - and move through the storm sequence, into the romance of the lovers, to the relationship between master and servant as Prospero sends Caliban out to collect wood. Caliban meets the drunks and the doubles scene ensues, which leads into the murder plot within the royal court - this is cut short with the vicious interruption of the formidable Harpy and then we move to the delight of the lovers' wedding and sail back home on the ship. It's really simple and fluid and we think that everyone who sees it will be delightfully surprised by its originality.

We have had two really wonderful rehearsals to start of the week leading to APAP. We stumbled through the entire teaser/trailer after having taken time off from working on it - and were relieved to find it in good shape. It was only a matter of taking it through the paces and smoothing out the wrinkles after that.

Yesterday, we spent a lot of time with the drunks, got distracted by Lady Ga Ga, but refocused to polish the Harpy and connect the drunk scene and the Harpy scene together with precise fluidity.

We're really pleased with where this project continues to take us and we look forward to where it goes next.

Stay tuned!

TTL

APAP Changes

First of all, I have to say that Kayla and Cordelia are incredible women. Not only are they so supportive of this project, but they have plunged in head first and taken on these roles with a new energy that is delightful to watch. Their interpretations of the text are unlike anything that I are or the rest of the ladies could ever think of and it's wonderful to work off of them and see how things shift for the newer and deeper level.

Second of all, everything we thought we were doing for APAP has shifted. Don't worry, we're still doing it, but we're going to approach it a little differently than before. Instead of doing a full length production like we were planning (over ninety minutes in length), we've decided it will be more practical and beneficial to develop a twenty minute "trailer" to showcase at APAP. This way we can showcase the "trailer" many times during the time we have the venue and give people many opportunities to come and see us (rather than a limit of ONLY three shows). We made this decision because we wanted to maximize in numerous areas. For one, we wanted to make sure all of the highlights in our show were seen (Harpy, Goddesses, Storm scene - all of the physicality, etc). We also wanted to ensure that people could come and see the show at a time that is convenient for them and in a way that is enjoyable. I'm not saying that ninety plus minutes of Shakespeare won't be enjoyable, but because there are so many other showcases to be seen during APAP, we decided it's better that people come and see us for 20 minutes rather than no one coming to see us because we offer an overwhelming ninety minutes.

We have launched another Kickstarter and appreciate any donations that anyone can spare to help pay for our Presenters Booth (area designated for networking with potential touring companies) and our Off Broadway venue on 43rd Street.

Click here to check out our Kickstarter page, find out more about us and find out how you can help us get to APAP!

In other news, we're also looking to raise money with a Christmas party set in the 1920s at the Hotel Chelsea! Yes, it's cocktails, live entertainment and Hotel Chelsea history at the tips of your fingers for the low cover charge of $10. So if you're looking for fun on December 3rd - stop by the Hotel Chelsea between 9:30pm and 12:30am. Guaranteed - you won't regret it. ;)

That's where we stand and sway from side to side and physicalize the storm... we're very busy rehearsing.

Until next time, which should be sooner rather than later,

TTL