This past Sunday, late morning to early afternoon, I
played hooky from my "responsibilities" and felt
not one microbe of guilt. The last couple years I haven't
been taking advantage of all this lovely forestry in my
back yard very often. I am not allowing myself to be too
busy this season. Besides the fact that all this incredibly
beautiful land is why I chose to live where I live, to
begin with, the title of this little home movie is a key
clue to why I will spend more time in these places:
"Stress Reduction."
I have had some really bad bouts with stress in
recent time and it's time to counteract that
dilemma. The less stress, the better the
creativity. There's enough inherent stress in the
world of artful things as it is; managing it
better does not occur to me to be a bad plan.
Soon I will be engaged with a talent agent again. I have a couple choices;
one is more likely than the other. I do still need to get new headshots,
and I do still want to go with the concept of splitting the photo session
in half so I have pics of me with a beard then without. The problem is I
had to shave the growth I had for a few months before the last UD Law gig,
so it will be a while before I'll have a bearded face that would work
well. I may ditch the idea, I may not. I can't afford the headshots in the
immediate future anyway. Still, the agent plan's afoot.
It's probably not necessary to remind most of you five that April
15 is looming in the near future. I'm essentially done with the
process of organizing all my tax info together, actor and
rent-payer. All I
need to do is a last check to be sure I've forgotten nothing. My
big worry is that I have not kept the reserve of personal
withholdings in my savings account; I have dipped into it so deeply
that I actually owe it more than $1000. The idea is to keep 30% of
all wages earned from acting gigs, none of which ever has withholding
deducted by the issuers. That way if my actor's business deductions
don't keep me from owing, I have the funds on reserve to cut the
check. If that happens this year, I could be arranging payments.
On the bright side of looking at this, I should have built up the
largest personal withholdings I have ever built up because this
year I earned more as an actor than I ever have before. Not that
it was enough to support me. It's still, by economic standards,
supplemental income. But, there are two professional theatre gigs
to report on this tax return, as well as several UD law gigs and
some industrial web videos, the latter two done in 2012, but the
checks didn't arrive until early 2013. Yeah, no fortune, but still,
some sort of progress financially. And bigger steps just in
terms of professional work.
Cue the whistling from
Monty Python's "Bright Side of Life."
There won't be much, probably no tax work done today. I have a gig
tomorrow at the
Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Building.
It's a scenario I've done before, but it's been a few years and there is a
lot of detail to know. So today is overwhelmingly about study for that.
Thus, today is declared a "No TV Zone" day. At least most of it
is. Maybe tonight, but probably not. When I need to take breaks, the TV
will not be a part of those.
Okay, technically, the TV will be
on, but it will be on iTunes
internet radio through Apple TV,
my choice of station most probably
Groove Salad from Soma FM,
a personal favorite, I believe I've mentioned here before.
Here are a couple recent or upcoming things that I know about from the
professional art lives of some friends.
*Just a reminder this can only be a small sampling of the
professional work of my friends and colleagues. I'm simply not
going to be aware of all their good fortunes. Plus, I may screw up
and learn of something and forget about it ‐‐ I can be that
way, easily. But if I know (and remember), I'll give a shout
out for the pro gig successes!
I'M NEITHER A MECHANICAL ENGINEER NOR A VP/ASST.CEO, I
JUST PLAY THEM IN MOCK COURT:
Mostly I feel reasonably good about my level of preparedness for
Prof. James Kelleher's
trial class tonight at
Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Building.
Yesterday, I did spend the whole day working on both the witnesses I
play tonight: the expert witness (mechanical engineer) for the plaintiff
and the VP/Asst.CEO of the company being sued in the wrongful death suit.
i"m always paranoid that I don't have the material quite committed to
memory as I should. I have holes today in which to drill and study further.
Monday night's UD Law gig with
Prof. James Kelleher's
trial class at
Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Building
went well. I made no blunders that I am aware of and authentically
portrayed both the retired engineer, expert witness and the VP/asst. CEO
of the company in hot water.
This afternoon is trial prep for the medical malpractice mock trial this
Saturday.
Next Monday it's a murder trial when I played the accused as well as a
bereaved witness.
Tonight and tomorrow night I am watching the full-run rehearsals of the
show so I become at least somewhat familiar with the blocking (where the
actors move on stage) of the show. More importantly, I am looking for those
interesting moments that I can use in the promocast ‐‐ without using
spoilers, of course.
Principal photography will be next Tuesday evening, perhaps Wednesday, if
I feel it necessary. Thursday only if absolutely necessary, but really I'd
rather be editing. Honestly, I'd rather start editing Wednesday evening,
so wrapping the shoot Tuesday is my target.
The pre-production work on technical aspects is on-going. Yesterday I took
hit three Goodwill stores, looking for a prop video camera. I'm calling it
"The Beardcam," as it is the non-functioning prop camera that
Dougie the cameraman will use. Mounted on it, or installed in it, will be
a smaller, HD WiFi camera, which will send a signal that will be utilized
for the real-time images of the action on stage that get fed to monitors
on stage.
AND ON ANOTHER NOTE:
I kind of wish he'd taken a year off from the US.
Louisville is only a little more the 2 1/2 hours.
I am weak.
I am also pretty close to broke.
But Addiction is a persuasive sumbitch!
Some premium ticket packages go on sale for Louisville in less than a
half-hour as I finish this and post it.
Trial prep, yesterday, for the medical malpractice mock trial this
Saturday, went well. The student lawyer in one of the two renditions of
the case was able to come up with some strategies to combat the silly
misstatement I had made during the deposition. All of us actor/witnesses
are checking up on some things before the trials Saturday, as requested
by the lawyers in both versions of the case.
Next Monday it's a robbery/murder trial, again for
Honorable Mary Katherine Huffman,
and again at the
Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Building,
where I play the accused as well as a bereaved witness. I received the
material Tuesday evening, but haven't had a chance to start studying. The
process of creating my index, flash cards starts at lunch today.
I'd love to think I have most of the weekend to work on it, but, aside
from the mock trial Saturday morning and afternoon, I really need to
otherwise give as much of the weekend as I can to the 2013 tax return.
And I actually still have some minutia of actor's expenses from 2013 yet
to calculate.
Also, there's this before the weekend.
Last night I audited the full-run rehearsals of
An Inspector Calls
and will so again tonight. As I said yesterday, this gives me a good idea
about usable moments. I also will know where I need camera's B & C to
be positioned and where I need to be with camera A (the mobile camera)
during those usable moments I want to shoot.
My goal is still to wrap principal photography Tuesday and have Wednesday
and Thursday to edit to final cut. Wouldn't mind getting to final cut
Wednesday ‐‐ but I'm not greedy (nor
naïve). Since the new target, for the "promocasts"
is five minutes or less, it's not impossible to wrap Tuesday. I just need
to not be disappointed if I am not done with the edit before Thursday.
Trying to get in on the pre-sale yesterday was a bust. Since I don't have
an American Express card, I couldn't buy just a ticket at Ticketmaster
on-line; only these uber-expensive "Premium Packages" were on
sale for non-AX holders. Two of the packages actually included attendance
at Paul's sound check, which would be a sweet thing, but the lower tier
of the two was $1500. I didn't even look at the price of the top-shelf
package.
I do have pre-sale privileges through paulmccartney.com, but after
I rushed there I then clicked on the wrong link and was scrolling through
a few dozen foreign venues before I realized my error. When I got to the
right link to buy a ticket for Louisville on June 26, I was way back in a
queue. By the time I was in to purchase, there were only "premium"
seats on the back of the floor. Those may carry a premium price, but they
are not premium seats. They are the worst seat in the house. They
should cost less than seats at the very top of the arena bowl. The front
section of the floor and the first dozen rows on the front portions of the
stands were all gone.
Bottom line for me: I'm not spending the premium money for a seat on the
back of the floor, or any money for one too far up in the bowl. And I'm
not driving all that way for any such mediocre seat.
If I see Paul live this year, it'll be a show not posted yet. So here's
hoping more dates pop up.
The Nutter Center, just in my
back yard, would be good ‐‐
‐‐ but it's really not big enough. It has about a 12,000-seat total
capacity (less a good 750-1000 behind the stage). I don't think Paul does
arenas that small any more.
This morning, as I left for the
rent-payer,
on this. April 15, three and a half weeks after the
Vernal Equinox (i.e.:
"THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING" ).
But, no further comment from me, except that it is
kind of a cool pic, no?
The medical malpractice mock trial is over for 2014. No surprises save
for neither set of defense councils went as deep as I expected or even as
deep as they had suggested during trial prep that they were going. I also
got pretty much softballs from opposing council.
As were the other actors, I was asked if I would want to return to this
semester-long case next year; save for a currently unknown project that
conflicts, I am in.
Last night I did another mock trial as both a witness for the prosecution
and the defense. When the case was first described to me it didn't seem
familiar, but after I startred looking over the material I realized I
did do this one a few years ago. This one has some problems with
the material that the actors get. All of us had incomplete information and
some of us had inconsistent facts from others. I don't think these are
planned discrepancies, which is not outside the realm of possibility, but
are rather errors in the construction of the exercise.
Today is Tax Day in the ol' U.S. I am finished with mine, I am
happy to say.
Here's the skinny on my 2013 tax return. I spent late Saturday
afternoon into the evening diligently following along with all
the small business deductions, charitable deductions (the latter
mostly mileage), and all the minutia of inputs that Turbotax
guided me through. It was a several hours of painstakingly and
patiently filling every appropriate field, sometimes doubling back
to make sure I missed nothing. AFter all that time, for the year
when, as ultimately minuscule as the sum is, I earned more as an
an actor than I ever have, and with over $3600, almost $4000
with some depreciation figured in, Turbotax informed that I
was better off with the standard deduction. My return this
year will be 75% of what it was last year. Well, hey! I could
have owed.
On a most-related note: I also, last week,
brought all my actor's expenses and mileage for 2014 up-to-date,
as well as my volunteer's mileage. And I have since made all the
appropriate new entires.
No income to record yet; the UD gigs will all hit in
one check after the spring semester ends. Here's hoping other
actor's income is generated.
The trick is to keep this year's
records current for the whole year. . . . .
The goal of wrapping all principal photography tonight is in a
little jeopardy, but it can't be helped. One of the cast members had to
suddenly leave town a few days ago on urgent personal business and may or
may not be back in time for tonight's
tech/dress rehearsal. The
contingency plan is to shot all that I can tonight, then if necessary I will
come back tomorrow or Thursday and get footage of that actor to cheat in.
As to how deep that cheating would be depends on when the actor returns. If
it's for tomorrow night's rehearsal, then it's simply getting that footage
as pickup. If the
actor doesn't make it back until Thursday, then it will be pick-up as well
as inserting the actor into the edit, which I would work on tomorrow
night without that actor's footage.
In fact I am starting the edit after work today, getting at least the
opening flourish out of the way. With the exception of two actors' pics,
I have all the graphic inserts done. Here's the story on those pics. If
you're a Dayton theatre person you may realize that the two young actors,
Leonardo and Maximillian Santucci are twin brothers. Now because of
individual grooming and personal style, these two young gentlemen are
in fact distinguishable when you meet them ‐‐ see them ‐‐ in person.
However, with the headshots of them it's not as easy to discern which is
which. When I was processing the images a few days ago, I had to contact
Max, send him one of the two photographs and ask, "Is this you or
your brother?" The last thing I want to do is display the two with
their names switched. Now that I know who's who, I can get that dealt
with quickly.
‐‐ with principal photography,
at least. All cast members were present and accounted for and I shot all of
the first two of the three acts. I should be able to find sixty to
one-hundred-twenty seconds of interesting moments to use from the
seventy-some minutes of footage. Technically I have two-hundred-plus minutes
but it's the same seventy-ish minutes from three different cameras.
The opening flourish ‐‐ the promocast logo, the show logo and the little
opening flourish musical scale ‐‐ is already edited together. I also
bought and licensed some royalty-free music from
D.A.W.N Music,
"Agitatissimo from
Kreisleriana, Opus 16,"
by Schumann, as the underscore for the main body of the promocast. Last
night on the way home, I decided I needed one more graphic processed for
the promo: a group cast photo, which I can easily acquire and process
today for the evening's editing session.
I have no reason to believe I won't reach final cut
tonight, which is probably a statement that tempts fate.
The pre-production work toward the technical aspects is still very much
underway, but there has been lethargic progress. My search for the
"beardcam," (the prop camera that the working, small WiFi HD
camera will be merged with) has not been successful. We've also had no
luck locating some light towers, which our scenic designer, Jeff Sams,
wants for the set.
Some technical aspects are probably close to in place. There is
some AV signal-splitter software I will probably download today in order
to investigate the interface. We need a signal splitter to deal with both
live feed and DVD material during performance.
This is another production where since I am in the show, principal
photography of the rehearsals needs to be altered ‐‐ I ain't on a camera,
at least not much. There may be some moments I am not on stage and
can shoot other actors as they rehearse, but, due to the nature of my
character, the network TV camera man in the play's universe, there are
probably not many. Certainly I can set up stationary cameras, but there
needs to be mobile camera shots in the promocast; it's simply more
visually interesting to have a good portion of such in the mix. Greg
Nichols will be on set a lot, but he'll probably be too busy. And I
haven't even thought about when I edit the damn promocast ‐‐ clearly I
take at least one vacation day the last week of May.
Meanwhile, auditions are this coming Monday and Tuesday. *See below
until Apr 23.
Since last we met here I have good sources for the beardcam. I will pick
up two cameras and see which one works best for the production.
We have a production meeting tomorrow where I am sorry to say it will
mostly be the case that we find we aren't as far along as we all wish we
would be. But then, I mau just be a pessimist and it may turn out that we
are dong just fine.
Later today I will download some AV switcher software that we hope will
work to handle the signals from the small HD camera shooting the live
action and the DVD player running the pre-recorded TV commercials.
The first two performances have gone well. I was in the building, but it
was the typical situation that I was working house management so I did
not attend to the performances themselves.
The audience feedback was positive and the actors felt good about their
work, however.
Had another production meeting Saturday. As said before, we are not where
we wanted to be on technical pre-production, but we are not horribly behind,
either. There are some signal carrier issues to work out and we do have a
late-breaking kink in our system but it;'s something that be worked around.
And a reminder, auditions are tomorrow night and Tuesday, at the Guild.
*See below the current blog entry until after this Tuesday.
>ANNOUNCING THE DAYTON THEATRE GUILD 2014/2015 SEASON
1) Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music, by Lee Blessing
Directed by Ralph Dennler
showing weekends, Aug 22-Sep 7, 2014.
*auditions Mon & Tue, July 14 & 15, 2014
2) Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Debra A. Kent
showing weekends, Oct 3-19, 2014
*auditions Mon & Tue, Aug 25 & 26, 2014
3) **HOLIDAY EXTRA** Isn't It Romantic, by Wendy Wasserstein
Directed by Marcia C. Nowik
showing weekends, Nov 21-Dec 7, 2014
*auditions Mon & Tue, Oct 6 & 7, 2014
4) 4000 Miles, by Amy Herzog
Directed by Kathy Mola
showing weekends, Jan 9-25, 2015
*auditions Mon & Tue, Nov 24 & 25, 2014
5) Desire Under the Elms, by Eugene O'Neill
Directed by Craig Smith
showing weekends, Feb 27-Mar 15, 2015
*auditions Mon & Tue, Jan 12 & 13, 2015
6) Criminal Hearts, by Jane Martin
Directed by Saul Caplan
showing weekends Apr 17-May 3, 2015
*auditions Mon & Tue, Mar 2 & 3, 2015
7) Heartbreak House, by George Bernard Shaw
Directed by Patrick Hayes
showing weekends, May 29-June 14, 2015
*auditions Mon & Tue, Apr 20 & 21, 2015
*audition dates are subject to change
Shows run three weekends
First Weekend: Friday 8pm, Saturday 8pm, Sunday 3pm
Second & Third Weekend: Friday 8pm, Saturday 5pm, Sunday 3pm
The next week will be some heavy work on getting the technical aspects of
the multi-media for the show into shape as well as possible. I have two
different "beardcams," one donated by an individual, local
film maker Andrew Estevez,
the other loaned by DATV (Dayton Access Television).
Both sources are the result of help by Megan Cooper, a local actor, but,
in this case, she was acting through her capacity as executive director of
film dayton.
There are many ducks that not only need to be put in the proverbial row,
we need to get our hands on them in the first place ‐‐ we need to pick
which ducks to lay hands on. We need to define and build the
equipment pathway between the HD WiFi cam and the flat screen TVs, with
pathway intersection for the prerecorded material. Most of the prerecorded
material was provided by associates of the playwright and the original
production: the title sequence for the faux TV show of the play, and the
mock commercials. We plan to shoot some of the reality TV testimonials
in the script, as well. And there's some talk of shooting some location
moments, but that is not farther along than discussion, at this point. All
this A/V production needs to be fast-tracked now.
Auditions are, of course, done, although the last I heard the cast is not
100% locked in. That should be happening soon, probably be the end of today.
"IN MY GREEN METAL SUIT, I'M PREPARING TO SHOOT UP THE CITY!":
The graphic above is, of course, an approximation of where
I will sit. Row 15 may be up or down a little, and seat
eight may be left or right a little ‐‐ probably more right
as you look at the image.
And
the ring at the end of my nose
Makes me
look rather pretty
It's
a pity there's nobody here to witness the end
Save for my dear old friend and
confidant, Mademoiselle Kitty.....
Louisville on June 26 may have been a bust. Chicago on July 9 is a
GO!
So I am going to Chicago at least once this summer.
This means that in a week's time I will have seen both living Beatles in
concert. Ringo on July 2 at
The Fraze Pavilion, next door to
Dayton, in Kettering, Ohio; a week later, to the day, Paul at
The United Center in Chicago.
I have a better seat for Ringo in Dayton than Paul in Chi-town. The first
couple times I tried to get to the order page this morning the server
blipped me out with a message that said, "Oops! Something happened!
Try again!" That was enough space of time for the better seats to be
eaten up.
Okay, William Shatner & Kaley Cuoco, now it's your turns ‐‐ for
Chicago, at least.
As predicted, the cast was locked in Wednesday evening. It's a strong cast
with three completely new faces to The Guild stage. The
table read is this Sunday
evening after the curtain for An Inspector Calls, and rehearsals
begin in earnest ‐‐ ie: blocking
‐‐ on Monday.
Though not quite yet in panic-mode, I am feeling some small anxiety
creeping into my veins about the tech issues and how we need to close on
them soon. I have solicited some advice about various hardware and
software needs and how-to's. It's eleventh-hour for this technical world
of the production and it needs to begin manifestation in fulfilled concept
and material reality.
As for the promocast DV movie, and the potential difficulties of being the
producer/director while I am in the cast of the show, I think this one is
going to be much easier to produce with a lot of work-arounds. There will
be footage shot as part of the multi-media aspect of the show. I can and
will use a hefty amount of that. In conjunction, I will be able to keep
the need for someone to shoot other promocast footage to a minimum. I don't
really need to be in much of it, anyway. I'll still probably bring someone
in to do a little promocast shooting, but not much.
I've also turned some focus onto the sound design for the show. This one
won't be one of the complex designs, but there certainly will be some good
measure of ambient sound as our hero, Eldon, makes his one-week sojourn.
The pre-show and intermission will be interesting as I believe the
soundtrack will be music Eldon has in his record collection. I believe
between myself, our director,
Saul Caplan, and our
Eldon, Chris Hahn, I'll get a good play set going.
You five regulars here may remember that I have often experienced a
production problem when trying to record audio in the theatre building at
The Guild. I get what is called radio-frequency interference or RFI, more
broadly known as
electromagnetic interference.
Frequently, especially when in the actual theatre space, I pick up a local
radio station and that signal is incorporated into the background of
whatever I am trying to record ‐‐ usually a synchronized soundtrack for DV
movie footage I am shooting of actors doing commentary for a podcast.
I also shoot what is known as an archival recording of all our productions,
and I have done the off-board synchronized audio recording for those, in
hopes of having better audio. The radio station signal has made an
appearance on every single synchronized recording I have made for the
archival DV movies.
About six weeks ago I sought advice from Shaunn Baker
(World Stage Media &
film dayton) about what might be the
problem and what solution there might be. I had some theories but mine
were, by in large, uninformed theories. I needed input from someone who
knows of that which they speak. Shuann is one such person.
After some Q&A, Shaunn rendered some advice. To set that up, again,
you five may recall that my usual system for recording audio as either
synchronized soundtrack or as voiceover, I run the mics into a small mixer,
using cables that are
XLR out of the
mic but have quarter-inch plugs (like what goes into a guitar and its
amp) on the input side, which is what my small mixer uses. From the mixer
I use a stereo audio cable with two RCA small 1/4 inputs down to a 35m
input that then plus into an iMic, which then plugs, via USB2, into my
MacBook Pro. There I
record the audio digitally with
garageband. Though not
a closeup, the pic to the right shows this configuration.
Shaunn's assessment was that the biggest problem with my set up is the
computer connection itself. The little 35m plug isn't going to shield
anything. Shaunn says it's been a problem for a lot of film makers using
DSLRs too. He said the mics I'm using need to have XLR connections, which
they do, but, my mic cables have quarter-inch plugs on the end that fits
into the amps or other machines. The 1⁄4 inch going into the mixer may be
another likely culprit.
"XLR connection," Shuann says, "is a 'balanced' audio
system. Balanced systems have 3 wires ‐‐ two carrying the signal, and one
ground which works as a shield."
The bottom line: balanced mics with XLR connections are crucial to
eliminate radio or other noise. "The XLR connection is your
friend," Shaunn says. He also suggested there could be other
contributing variables such as the mics themselves (though not probable);
the cable going from my mixer to the 1/8 inch plug going into the MacBook.
He told me that standard computer mic inputs are notoriously problematic.
He then added the suggestion that I find another recording device, which
might be my best option. And here we are.
As I have been entrenched in procuring all sorts of A/V related equipment
for The Guild, for The Dead Guy and other DTG projects, it tickled
the nerve and my intentions to get myself a digital audio field recorder
as recommended to cure my RFI problem and also because it would be good to
have one, otherwise. I went hunting and landed my eyes on the subject of
this section, the TASCAM DP-03 8 Track Digital Portastudio Recorder.
A few days back I found one on sale at a ridiculously low price, pretty
much half off retail list, but that company is out of stock and will not
have any until after I need to employ the recorder. So I spent almost $100
more ‐‐ still not retail ‐‐ to purchase it from another vendor in
order to have the machine in my hands before I need to use it for both
Dead Guy production work and for the synchronized soundtrack for the
An Inspector Calls archival DV movie. I do need to get straight XLR
cables for my mics still, as well. Not really a problem.
The donated camera from Andrew Estevez, sitting on the
tripod loaned by Fred Boomer
Blocking rehearsal began Monday evening. Dougie doesn't have a whole lot
of lines but he's in a lot of scenes; he's the camera man capturing the
action for the reality TV show in the universe of the script. To keep me
from obstructing the view of audience members, Dougie is on his knees
shooting quite a lot. Kneepads are in order, sooner rather than later.
It's a god bet I stop in the sporting goods store between
the rent-payer and
rehearsal tonight. We are rehearsing offstage in the boardroom office,
with carpet, and there's already been a toll on my knees. The hard floor
of the Mirkin stage is only going to be worse.
Unfortunately I cannot report that I am off-book (have my lines memorized).
There's not that much to commit, but I haven't had the time to attack it.
That should come soon. I do want the book out of my hands as quickly as
possible so I can work with the prop cameras all the way through each
scene. I already am as much as I can. There are many scenes where I have no
or very few lines, I am using the cams in those. If I have a lot of lines
I am not because holding the book and the camera is too awkward. So,
getting the book out of my hands sooner is better.
I need good sense of how Dougie is shooting everything, plus I need to
get my body used to holding the camera. Some muscle stress and cramping in
all of my shoulder, arms, neck, and legs has been proving an issue this
week. The leg cramps are from the crouching positions that Dougie is in
quite often.
I have figured out a very good way to use both the prop cameras we have
been graced with for the production. Because it came with a tray for
fastening the cam to a tripod, we are using the camera that
Andrew Estevez donated for
the scenes where we need Dougie's camera on a tripod. The tripod, by the
way, is on loan from Fred Boomer ‐‐ I wanted a heavy-duty one that looked
like a part of a professional TV production; the ones I own are most
efficient for my use but lack the look we need for the show. For the
hand-held scenes we are using the one on loan from
DATV (Dayton Access Television) and
Steve Ross.
We may need to alter some of the vision for the multi-media aspect of the
production. Without getting into too much detail there is an issue
concerning the live-feed. The problem is that any wifi HD camera we can
get hold of for the production will not have a powerful enough processor
to prevent there being a latency in the image on the flatscreen TVs. The
action would likely be anywhere from one to three seconds delayed. That
simply would not work.
We are making every attempt to find a viable work-around, but thus far we
have not found one. There is the idea of using a cable instead, but that
is not tenable on our thrust stage. It also doesn't make sense that Dogie
would be cabled in all these location shots wehere he is shooting remotely,
on the go in amusement parks and hospitals, etc., etc. The suggestion was
also made by a consultant that we send a wide-screen standard definition
image, but I have found no wifi cams that will send such.
The multi-media aspect will still be strong in the show, it just may take
a turn from what was originally planned. There are plenty of pre-recorded
spots, provided by the original production, as I;ve mentioned before. In
lieu of losing the live feed to the TVs during scenes on stage we will
pre-record more of the reality TV participant's testimonial
sequences, as well.
There's still a last-ditch effort to save the live-feed, but it's not
looking like it will happen. Though there is a much better chance of one
particular scene being live on the screens. No details, though; that'd be
a spoiler of a sort.
I have not yet given this much more focus but will begin that soon, within
the next few days. I do have a strong idea what music I would like to see
at curtain call. There does not seem many places during the show, itself,
where scene-change music is called for. Most changes will be covered by
the pre-recorded commercials, provided us, or some of the testimonials
that we will shoot.
There will be some location ambient sound needed and some sound effects,
such as several cell phone ring tones. yet, as I've said before, this will
not be a terribly complex sound design.
There has been no production on the promocast whatsoever. But I do have
the premise. And I am likely to do some pre-production (for post-production)
soon; it would be such things as logo graphics for the DV movie, the text
of the credit roll at the end, and procuring the underscore music, that
music which I have a strong idea about what I want. I also still need to
secure clearance to use the television program's opening splash. I have
clearance from Playwright Eric Coble to
use text from the play. The provided pre-recorded material is separate
clearance.
I saw the show Sunday as an audience member. Fine work on stage! Some of
the performances were down right excellent. Everybody was good.
Major kudos go to Dave Nickel (Inspector Goole). Earlier in the week Dave
injured his back; he almost was not able to do the show this past weekend.
However, Dave summoned the fortitude to go on, and I'm sure with more than
simply the feeling of discomfort. There are a few physical actions Goole
has to take that were reassigned to another actor. However, between Dave's
perseverance and the seamless manner the duties were passed off to another
(Jamie McQuinn), the audience was none the wiser that anything was out of
the ordinary.
My new nickname for Dave: Dave "The Show
Must Go On" Nickel.
Until only a few minutes ago it seemed that when I wrote that my new
TASCAM DP-03 8 Track Digital Portastudio Recorder "arrives probably
Tuesday," I was apparently too optimistic. As late as only a few
minutes before I am writing this sentence I had no evidence that the order
had yet been processed, at all. Earlier in the day I'd emailed the vendor,
inquiring about an ETA on when it will be shipped, and I still have not
received a response. I also note that the charge has not hit my credit
card account yet, even as a pending charge. The worry began to arrise that
I would not have the machine in time to use it to record off-board audio
for the archival recording of An Inspector Calls this weekend.
All is well. The machine is in my hands! Despite that the charge has not
hit, the order has been completed as far as its arrival to the customer.
I also note that the invoice lists a different vendor. I wonder if
newegg (where I ordered the TASCAM
from) changed the supplier due to the first vendor not having the machine
in stock. Well, it's of little matter now; and though my card has not yet
been charged, I have not doubt it will be.
As well, I have ordered two 30-foot XLR mic cables for use with the
TASCAM, and that order has shipped with delivery expected on Friday.
SOMETHING COOL THIS WAY COMES:
Another project I have and am involved with in the technical aspects is a
new feature of The Guild that the board has been working on for a few
months. Stay tuned for a big announcement in the near future
Dead On, or: Not ‐‐ The little icon may say that this
sub-section is about "the actor, preparing," but it's really
about "the actor hasn't yet done much preparing." Dougie is not
what I'd label a major challenge to embody, but I have not spent hardly
any time on him, in terms of character or lines.
Lines won't be too much work; he doesn't have a lot of them. Character?:
again, he isn't a deep, complex psyche to delve into, but what character I
have attempted, and only actively in rehearsal, has not been on the mark,
or close to it. The problem, I believe, is that I have consciously avoided
playing the obvious clichés or stereotype that the text suggests. I
think I need to forget that tactic to some extent as well as develop a
general focus on inviting Dougie onto the stage with me, that latter which
I clearly have not yet done. I've been preoccupied with the tech aspects
of the show as well as tech aspects for
The Grand Illumination of the new DTG electronic marquee. It's time
to get Dougie into shape.
The Dead Or The Living ‐‐ As the event horizon of
the black hole that is "Tech Ready" looms, the concept of the
real-time, live-feed simulcast feature for the show becomes more and more
unlikely. Several people, who know what they speak of, have been consulted
and none have had a solution for doing wireless feed, without latency, at
a price that our meager budget can withstand. The towel has not been thrown
in yet, but it's poised for the toss ‐‐ we are getting too close to the
need to have the tech aspects up and running; the decision of what road
we're taking needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Dead Sound Germination ‐‐ The plan is to get as much
of the sound designed built tomorrow as I can. I'd be happy with virtually
all of it done, save for the tweaks that can't be done till we start
throwing it into rehearsals. I'll probably over design and have some
things either cut or toned down, between my own initiative or the behest
of Director Saul.
THE TASCAM DP-03 8 TRACK DIGITAL PORTASTUDIO RECORDER:
*I'm going to have to update this graphic to
reflect the new toys being employed
Success!
The new machine, on the counter in the tech booth at DTG,
in position for its maiden voyage
Aiming the double-cams at the main stage for the
archival video recording of An Inspector Calls.
Another view of the double-cams.
Mixing down from the TASCAM to the MacBook Pro.
Before anything else, I just need to put this out there:
LOOK MA! NO MORE FRIKKIN' SPANISH
RADIO STATION IN THE BACKGROUND!!
It's not that I have anything against it being a Spanish radio
station in the background of the audio recordings I do at The Guild, it's
that it's ANY radio station. You five will remember that I
was prompted to get the TASCAM based on this recurring dilemma I faced due
to what is known as RFI (Radio Frequency Interference, AKA
electromagnetic interference).
Although, truly there are many other reasons to have upgraded my audio
recording system.
Of course, the TASCAM arrived last week. As excited as I was/am it
arrived, I had little time to give it much attention. You five may remember
that I wanted it in time to use for external audio for the archival video
recording of An Inspector Calls ‐‐ I shoot an archival for all The
Guild shows. Also I needed the XLR mic cables to show up, or using the
eight-track recorded would be of no value, since the RFI would still
attack my recording. The XLR cables arrived Friday, so I was good to go.
Sunday's utilization of the TASCAM was pretty much flying blind ‐‐ I had
not test-ran the equipment beforehand, but slightly. I counted on my basic
knowledge of such equipment, as well as the user's manual, to know enough
to get the tracks recorded. That I did, after some false starts, prior
to the show, during my "testing."
At first I was concerned because it seemed I would not have the volume to
properly pick-up the voices on stage from where the mics where set, in
either corner of the down stage seating section. However, I discovered that
there was
gain
control in the EQ settings, so the concern was unfounded.
As for getting the recordings from the TASCAM onto my MackBook Pro and on
into the
Final Cut Pro X
event folder? There are a few ways to do it. There is a procedure for
exporting the audio wave files
from the machine to computer; I also could remove the
SD
card and use my small universal card reader to transfer the wav files.
Either of those mean I have to convert the files to
AIFF
files, as that is what most is seamlessly editable in my Mac software.
The conversion from WAV to AIFF is not a problem. However, I opted to play
back the audio in real-time on the machine and run the line-outs into my
Mac, via a stereo splitter cable, into iMic then on into the laptop and
re-record the audio with
garageband.
My reason was two-fold: 1) time was tight and I didn't want to deal with
learning how to use the machine's interface to export; 2) more importantly,
I would not need to synch two sound files for each take. I used two mics
and two channels to record the audio for each act. I placed one mic stand
in the back of house left (down stage right), the other house right (down
stage left), each mic aimed slightly left or right of up stage center.
With the two mics placed so, a true stereo mix is possible ‐‐ so if an
actor walks from left to right on the screen, while talking, his or her
voice and foot steps will stereographically move coincide, if one is
watching on a system with stereo, of course.
I recorded Act I on tracks 1 & 2, Act
II on 3 & 4, and III
on 5 & 6. I didn't want to have to bother to synch each of those pairs
of sound files together. That meaning that track one was the left side of
Act I and 2 was the right. As two separate
WAV or AIFF files, I would have to be sure, if mixing them on sound
software on my laptop, that the signals from both tracks would be
perfectly synchronized or one side would be an echo of the other.
By running the playback from the TASCAM into my laptop and re-recording it
with garageband, I was able to simply set the stereo pan I wanted, and
let the audio from each act play out. My stereo mix is not total channel
separation but still enough that the listener gets a good sense of left
and right on stage. This may not always be how I do it, and if I haven't
recorded in stereo, it would be unnecessary, but I am sure I will again.
There is a slight drawback of it being a real-time rendering. It took
more than two hours, because all three acts added up to such. In this case
that wasn't a problem.
The new window panels for the light booth.
On a loosely related subject, we now have several window panels spread
across the opening of the tech booth at The Guild. The purpose is to
deflect the sound from stage back and keep it from being absorbed into the
back wall of the booth. It seems to be successful. However, as the guy who
shoots the said "archival videos" of each production, the window
panels make doing more of a challenge. I shoot from the booth because that's
really the only out-of-the-way spot that will work. I used to be able to
pan the hand-held camera and get
cut-away
shots that could follow an actor over a bit of distance. I also had total
freedom to shoot an angle for an actor in either the
down left
or down right
vom ‐‐ which would be out of frame of the fixed camera on a tripod that is
shooting the whole stage. There is an opening between two panels, just at
the center of the booth facade that allows the setting of a stationary
camera to shoot the main stage, but, the panels on either side of that
mid-point opening are close enough that I ca no longer pull back enough to
get a
wide shot
that can encompass all of the playing space. Ironically, it's the top and
bottom of the wide shot frame that is compromised. So for An Inspector
Calls, I had to use two of my three cameras to shoot stacked wide shots
of the main stage: one favoring the upper part of the stage, the other, the
down (lower) part of the stage. Camera 3 was for the cut-aways.
I can shoot cut-aways through the glass of the window panels, but
following actors across stage is no longer an option unless their
movements are limited enough I don't get a border of a panel in frame.
Only thing to do is adjust accordingly.
BUT HEY!: NO RADIO STATION!!!
DEAD ELEMENTS:
DEAD WHAT ‐‐ By Tuesday I was starting to be happy with
where I was going with Dougie. At this point there's nothing else to write
about this except that I'm only starting to be happy with him.
DEAD VIDEO ‐‐ With some room for change and
adjustment, most decisions about how we are doing the video technology for
the show have been made. Wednesday I ordered more than $500 worth of items,
all designated to be re-purposed at The Guild after the show has closed.
The items will arrive from the various vendors by Wednesday, at the
lastest. Because our lead actor is out of town, there is no rehearsal
Monday and Tuesday. It would thrill me to no end if I could test run some
of this system we are cobbling together on those nights, or at least
Tuesday. It will depend on when things make it to my hands.
DEAD DECIBELS ‐‐ Saturday I started the sound design
and where I made progress, it was far more lackluster a ground-gain than
I'd hoped. I've identified needed cue files and pulled the ones I have
from my library, as well as grabbing a couple others from on-line. Much of
Saturday I did not watch TV, though I did have an internet piano
jazz station through iTunes
on my Apple TV whilst I did a
lot of the work. Later I did put on some TV shows; most of the day was, in
my mind, however, a
No TV Zone.
I have yet to build anything, or Foley
anything, but that begins tonight when I record the cast as a whole chanting
a couple phrases that protestors in the script are chanting in Act II.
I will have them repeat each phrase enough times that I can successfully
layer them to multiply the crowd. There may be some other presently
upcoming chances to record other people and add the to the mix, which I
will do if I can.
DEAD PROMOTION ‐‐ Along with receiving clearance from
Playwright Eric Coble to use dialogue
from the play, I have also just been granted clearance to use portions of
some of the pre-produced stage multi-media movies, we've licensed, in the
promocast, as well. To refresh, there are pretty-well produced faux
commercials as well as the TV show opening sequence and various count-down
videos, that theatres doing the play can license from
Stages Repertory Theatre in
Houston, Texas. I don't plan to use much of this material, but what I do
use will enhance the promo greatly.
I'll be back later with much, much more to say about this production, but
for right now I want to at least remark a little on the opening weekend.
By and large the weekend went well. The punk
has been around a lot and certainly this past weekend. There were some
incredibly badly-timed video tech malfunctions that interfered greatly
with some key moments in the show, the same spot two nights in a row. I am
"cautiously optimistic" that the issue has been solved. I,
in fact, am dropping in to the theatre tonight to do a little private tech
rehearsal just for the sake of my own sanity and anxiety level ‐‐ and,
well, yeah, mostly foremost because it's the due diligence for the sake of
the show reaching its best success level.
Despite the tech issues the performances were at their usual high levels
this past weekend.
Tuesday evening I auditioned for the three staged readings for the
forthcoming
Dayton Playhouse FutureFest 2014.
I usually only go for the fully staged shows, but this year I need a break
from all the dedicated hours it takes to rehearse and get off-book for a
fully staged show. I just need to slow down from all that right now.
Besides, Monday evening, which was the only time I could have auditioned
for the fully staged shows, I was dead asleep, from about 5:30 onward.
To be honest, as for the Tuesday auditioned, I have no great sense that I
did fabulously, and there were plenty of men there who matched me, at the
very least. I have no strong confidence I will be cast in a show this
year.
THE GRAND ILLUMINATION OF THE NEW DTG DIGITAL MARQUEE:
The weekend before The Dead Guy opened, Saturday, May 24, the
theatre held our Grand Illumination ceremony for the new digital marquee.
There were probably sixty people in attendance. It was a nice, exciting
event. Both Peter Wine and I shot DV movie footage of the event, The
product of that is forthcoming.
*The photos of the event that appear here, above and below, are
courtesy of Rick Flynn.
I've ended up planning another annual excursion to Chicago:
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders*
It started with my missed chance for a good ticket to see Paul McCartney
in concert in Louisville on June 26. Shortly after, he added a date in
Chicago to appear on July 9. Always looking for an excuse for a road trip
to Chicago, I went for it. Then I decided to make the trip more eventful.
*from "Chicago" by
Carl Sundburg
You five regulars will know that my trips to Chicago have always involved
attendance at a theatre production ‐‐ and up to now, one with
William Petersen.
I decided a Chicago summer 2014 theatre production might be good to add to
my McCartney trip. The only theatres I've been to thus far are
The Victory Gardens Theater
and steppenwolf.
Steppenwolf's July offering,
This Is Our Youth, by
Kenneth Lonergan,
didn't immediately appeal to me, but as I've learned more I may have to
eventually check it out. I looked to see what will be up at VGT and was
thrilled to see
Death and the Maiden,
by Ariel Dorfman
and starring Sandra Oh.
Sandra is, as many will know, best known for her work on
Grey's Anatomy,
which I have to admit, I've not seen a full episode of, ever. But I have
friends who like her work on the show, a lot, and I trust their judgements.
And Death and the Maiden is both an intriguing story idea and
well-received critically, so it seems like a good bet. Tuesday, July 8,
I'm there.
This will be my ninth time seeing Paul live. Of course, I've met people
who've seen him nine times on one tour, so I'm not presenting my number as
magnificent. Nine times is still pretty good. I've seen him at least once
on every major U.S. tour, but I've missed him during some of the short tours
when he's done only a handful of shows and usually nowhere close to Ohio.
I would have loved to have made one of his book store shows in New York or
L.A. Seriously: seeing Paul perform in such an intimate setting?
I'm not going to repost the seating chart image here, but in a past blog
entry I showed that I have a reasonably good seat for the show. Not the
best I've ever had, but more than acceptable. So there's my July 9th
evening.
Check out the cool video for,
"Appreciate," my favorite song off Paul's new album,
NEW:
I've not been to
The Goodman,
yet, and when I mentioned my idea to add a play to the July trip, a friend
reminded me that The Goodman was a good theatre. So, shortly after I
bought my VTG ticket I thought, well, you know you're not driving back
to Ohio after the concert, so you should see what's at The Goodman on
Thursday. So:
Brigadoon,
and a 2:00 matinée, no less. I can sneak in another show and still
hit home by 10 pm, maybe 11 pm, but still. I was an un-interested kid when
I saw
the movie
on TV, and I've never seen the theatre production. I will July 10. The
cool thing about it is that, if you'll notice,
Brian Hill,
(re: The Story of My Life),
revised the book for this production.
I am not sure precisely how I am financing this trip. The tickets are, of
course, covered. I have not secured a hotel room, yet. I have considered
staying at
The Oak112 Hostel
again, as I did last year. It's cheap, it's in The Gold Coast, and it's
only a few blocks from a hopin' section of downtown. I'll hit
Priceline.com
sometime soon. I actually looked a little yesterday and found some rooms
at a decent rate, but I'm not sure about the locations save that they are
close to Lincoln Park. Beyond rent there's food, gas, certainly
memorabilia from the Macca show, if not at least a coffee mug from each
theatre. I've had all sorts of occasional bills hit recently, and I've
paid for some Dead Guy electronic stuff out of my own pocket. I am
pretty tapped for money to drop on several days in Chicago.
BUT HERE'S THE THING: I'VE HAD A LOT OF STRESS, A
LOT OF ANXIETY, A LOT OF FRUSTRATION THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS.
I am going on vacation for several days in Chicago and
doing so in some sort of style, even if it favors a more modest style.
But I'll have a decent room, I will eat in restaurants that charge more
than I am used to, I will buy souvenirs from the events, and I will walk
around Chicago, drinking in the "City of the Big Shoulders." If
I have to take out a signature loan to do so, then so be it!
WIth the exception of possible rehearsals, though I have a feeling not,
my vacation actually starts Wednesday evening, July 2, where a week before
I see The Beatles' old bass player for the ninth time, I see The Beatles'
old drummer for the second time, and again at
The Fraze Pavilion
in Kettering, Ohio, where I saw him several summers ago. One perk is that
in the All Starr Band is
Todd Rundgren,
who I saw in concert about twenty-five years ago, and in Chicago, no less.
I'm hoping that Todd is stationed stage left so he's closer to where I am
seated in the second row, house right (house right & stage left are
the same side, you see).
DOUGIE ‐‐ As the actor portraying Dougie, I
eventually have arrived at the conclusion that he's come along better than
I was initially judging. It goes back to a conversation I had with a work
colleague at the rent-payer.
The guy has only a passing interest in the whole art and craft of acting.
To the best of my knowledge his biggest connection to it is a minor
curiosity based on a work friend being a local actor.
"So how's the play coming along," he asked.
Long, verbose explanation from me about the technical hurdles we've
faced.
"So how you doing with your part?"
"I don't know," I said, "It's going okay, I suppose. It's
not the most brilliant work I've ever done. Actually I'm not feeling like
there's much of a performance going on there."
"Isn't that what you always say you want?" he said, "Isn't
your idea to not perform but just be the character?"
Yep. That's what I always say.
Less Acting, More Being:
that is my prime tenet as an actor. I decided to attend to what I was
doing with a different critical eye. My report to you ‐‐ and me ‐‐ is
filtered through my lack of an outside viewpoint. Given that, I at least
can say I am "happy" with Dougie, or at least not
"unhappy" with him. He seems to be presenting on stage as a
person in the universe of the play and not an actor playing a role. My
other way of phrasing "less acting, more being" is to state that
I don't want be "caught acting" on stage. It at least feels
like I am being Dougie, that his words and actions don't come off as an
actor doing a part, but as Dougie, the camera man and editor of a TV
network reality show, who is doing his job, and being occasionally
passive-aggressive toward his boss, for whom he feels some contempt even
if not a lot of such.
Throughout the rehearsal period I've experimented with his speech pattern,
and to some extent his dialect. Dougie is a geeky burnout. For a while
there was no question what I was doing sounded forced, at least to me it
seemed that way. I don't feel that now. I was resisting what seems to
amount to a stereotype speech pattern; it seemed so cliché. In the
end, that classic burnout speak ‐‐ shades of Tommy Chong ‐‐ is what feels
correct, or a speech pattern that borrows heavy from it.
As for his status as a geeky burnout, he's a most functional burn out,
and despite a suggestion that he's dumb, he is not dumb. He's probably
relatively well-read, likely much better than I (as well as the person who
made the contentious suggestion). The qualifier for "well read"
would be that much of his library would be fantasy and science fiction:
Tolkien, Lovecraft, Heinlein, etc. etc., but also Asimov (including
non-fiction), Poe, Twain (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthor's Court
surely his favorite). If Twain's on the list, Vonnegut is. Certain others
of the traditionally classic writers, too. He certainly would have read
enough Dickens to be aware of the true literary origin of a reference he
makes in the play, especially the particular reference being made. You
can bet he's read virtually all of Carl Sagan's, Stephen Hawking's, Machio
Kaku's and Neil Neil deGrasse Tyson's books, and fully grasps them.
He's got a BA in production from at least a mid-level university, though
there's little chance he came close to the honor role. Not that he didn't
have the brains to be there, he just wasn't a good enough student.
Maybe the fact that I can easily assert these things is why I am feeling
better about what I'm dong on stage.
VIDEO TECH ‐‐ Back eons ago when last I journaled on
the topic of this production, I told how I had ordered a slew of tech
equipment for the video portion of the show, and was awaiting the arrival.
Though I did this in the recent past, it seems like months ago, so much
has transpired in the meantime; that bitch
has been heavily involved in most of this process, by the way.
• HDMI CABLES: I ordered one 60-foot and three
30-foot
RedMere
HDMI cables. Digital signals degrade rather quickly over HDMI
(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cables. RedMere cables have chips
in them that boost the signal over distances of more than twenty feet, such
as the fifty-plus from our tech booth at the theatre back to upstage where
the two wide-screen TV's that will display the production video are
stationed. The game plan was to run the sixty-foot from the signal HDMI
signal switcher in the booth to the HDMI signal splitter upstage; then run
two 30-foot cables from the splitter to one each of the TVs. So that's
ninety feet from the source (the switcher) to the display (the two TVs).
That's seventy more than the usual good HDMI signal length. The
third 30-foot is for the camera for real-time live action during the
performance ‐‐ hence the reason for the signal switcher in the booth, and
also making that 120 feet to the display ‐‐ 30 feet of cable before the
switcher.
Yeah, well, the 60-footer RedMere carried no signal. So I sent it back and
replaced it with two new 30-footer RedMeres, along with an HDMI amplified
coupler to connect them for the signal journey to the splitter back stage.
That worked.
• THE HDMI SPLITTER: As stated, it sets back
stage, behind the platform stage for the show. The coupled cable line
running from the switcher in the booth goes into it, each 30-foot cable
to a TV comes out of it, both sending the same video information, of
course. The splitter, like the coupler and the switcher amplifies the
signal; it's the last point of signal amplification, and it has thus far
successfully worked.
• THE HDMI SWITCHER:
has been having a lot of fun with this one! He's been having way too much
fun with this one. In fact, he is absolutely the only one who's enjoyed
his shenanigans. There have been signal connection problems, signal relay
switching problems, power connection problems. It seems at some late point
the unit may have at least partially toasted. At least the cost came out
of my pocket and not the budget of the show. Of course, I found out when I
once again brought Shaunn Baker in
to consult, that HDMI switchers that are probably up to the task we are
asking for run about $1500 or more. I paid much less.
Shaunn's been consulted several times since last I wrote on this stuff,
by the way. In terms of moving this shillelagh toward a walking stick and
away from a billy club, he's been most valuable.
• HD BOX SURVEILLANCE CAMERA: It seemed like a
good idea. However, I could never get a usable image on the TV screen. All
I got were big, unfocused blocks of colors. It was suggested by one person
whose advise I solicited that perhaps there was no lens provided with the
camera. It seems to me there was. That concept came after I had already
returned it for a refund.
• THE SET-UP AND IT'S
-RIDDEN
JOURNEY: Let me remind you that I did not come on board this project as
the spearhead of assembling the video network for the production video
technology. I was to be Dougie, the cameraman in the play; I was to be the
videographer, both of live feed throughout the performance ‐‐ as Dougie ‐‐
and of pre-recorded moments from the script that would run during the
performance along with video we leased rights to: the fictional TV show's
opening sequence and various other production footage related to the TV
show, as well as several professionally produced mock commercials.
Getting that stuff from the sources onto the two flat-screen TVs was not
to be my job. I am not an electronics tech head and of a lot of the
technical variables involved in this are beyond my "expertise."
Circumstances beyond anyone's control, however, eventually placed the
spear in my hand because there was no one else to have hold. I set about
soliciting advice and doing what research I knew to do.
That disclaimer made, we had what looked at the start of tech week like a
workable configuration. There were a few minor signal glitches that
seemed to be quickly identified then fixed.
You may or may not know that the original tech vision was that I, as Dougie,
would have a camera on my shoulder throughout the play that would send a
wireless signal to a router, or switcher, and then to the two mounted flat
screens. We'd still use all the pre-recorded video as well, both what we
leased and what we would generate ourselves. Early research, however, proved
that the big-boys'-and-girls' cameras that could transmit good HD video
wirelessly would cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $4000 by the end
of the run, maybe more.
We came up with a work-around that made sense. When I say "we,"
I mean Greg Nichols.
It was planned to get our hands on an old or broken field camera, buy a
small wireless webcam or wireless surveillance camera, mount it on or
inside the "beard cam," and we'd be in business. Between myself
and Greg, who had to drop out of the project to deal with some pressing
issues, we determined that the price for the small wireless camera would
run between about $100 and $300.
I know you five may remember that After some hunting for the "beard
cam" with no success I put a plea to various places, including
facebook, but more importantly to Megan Cooper at
film dayton. She passed the request
along and we ended up with two different cameras, both that we are using
in the show. One was donated by local
film maker Andrew Estevez,
the other is on loan via Steve Ross and
DATV (Dayton Access Television). Having
both for the show solves a logistics problem for us. There are two scenes
close to the end of the show where we need the camera mounted on a tripod.
Before that, all the camera use is on Dougie's shoulder. Actually, there
is a scene in between the two tripod mounted scens where we need Dougie
to have the camera free. We are using one unmounted and the other mounted
so we don't have to deal with mounting and dismounting in the short time
it would need to be done during the scene changes. As I wrote in another
past post, film maker Fred Boomer has loaned us a heavy-duty pro tripod
that looks much better than the skimpy plastic ones I use. Mine are
efficient for my use but just won't sell &qout;network production" on
a stage. With the two cameras and the tripod we were a little further
along in getting the video tech together.
Then the realization hit us all that small wireless cameras would not be
able to send a signal fast enough to prevent a latency, 1/100th to perhaps
even a half-second delay, between the living breathing action on the stage
and the image of that action on the screens. One one-hundredth would be
distracting enough and unacceptable itself, a half second might as well
be ten seconds. On our stage, Dougie cannot have a camera on his shoulder,
following people around with cables attached, which was our only
alternative. It wasn't the wirelesses, by the way, it was that those sort
of wireless cameras don't have powerful enough processor chips to process
the images into signals and send them. It would take the $2500-$4000
rental cameras for that.
probably didn't have anything to do with this, but I'm sure I heard his
graveled giggle off in a back stage corner somewhere; so he was at least
entertained at our expense: the jerk.
So we settled on having live feed in the last scene only, since that takes
place in a TV studio and having a cable run from the camera, which could
be rationally stationary on a tripod, would be acceptable, even logical.
Then the problem with the box surveillance camera reared it's head. I've
sent that back for a refund. I drafted on of my
Canon Vixia HF R40 HD cameras
to take the place mounted on the "studio beard cam."
We leased the majority of the DV movie footage used from
Stages Repertory Theatre in
Houston, Texas, who produced the footage for their 2006 production of the
show. They provided the opening sequence for the TV show in the universe
of the play, as well as day tags for the show, and count-down video, and
several commercials based on
Playwright Eric Coble's text for such
in the script. I shot footage of some of the reality show testimonials by
Eldon (Chris Hahn) and his mother, Roberta (Teresa Connair), plus a
cutaway of brother Virgil (Aaron Brewer). Also shot were several spots of
Gina, the creator/producer of the TV show (Amy Askins) in some of her
on-screen narratives for the TV show. I married some of the footage we
leased with what I shot: the Dead Guy logo from the TV show, the
count-down video footage, the day taggers, and the commercials. Thus, my
credit as "video designer" is valid, despite that we used the
pre-produced, leased footage.
We are running the movies from my
MacBook Pro
using QLab 3, of which I bought the professional license (video only, not
audio) specifically for this show. The learning curve was a little steep
at first, and the developer, Figure 53,
does not do a stellar job of providing good user manual documentation, but
between myself and our video tech in the booth, Phil Wiedenheft, we've
garnered enough knowledge to successfully run the show. Of course, after
June 15 I have to find a reason to justify the $400 I spent on the
license. I have no immediate plans to start running shows with it for
people, theatres or organizations, though I suppose I am a little closer
to being in position to do such ‐‐ a little closer. Another step
might be to drop another $400 for the pro audio license.
Yeah, not happening soon.
At Final Dress a new signal interruption problem came up. At this point I
can't remember specifically which one it was, but it was. The problem
managed to get fixed before the rehearsal started in earnest, almost. We
had a glitch during the first recorded video, but the rest of the night
was
-free.
Things went virtually perfectly Opening Night. Saturday and Sunday did not.
The performances by the cast were top-notch. The technology acted up and
did so at the absolute worst place both performances. The same place,
seriously diluting the moment by sabotaging what is the most important
video of the show.
So, enter Mr. Baker once last time. Shuann dropped in and offered his time
to help us solve this problem. We looked at the whole network as configured.
That was when we found that the HDMI switcher just was not up to the task
at handAgain, it was a question of the model that would do what we needed
would cost
WAY
more than our budget would allow; at bare minimum about 700% more. For
our second weekend on, we pulled the switcher, and subsequently the live
video feed for the last scene, from the configuration. So far as video
is concerned, we've been glitch-free.
Three more shows with a reasonable level of cautious confidence......
SOUND ‐‐ The sound design has gone much smoother.
This one doesn't call for the most complex design. There aren't a tine of
sound effects needed. I have done some ambient sound for several scenes:
a bar scene, a restaurant scene, a hospital scene, a little bit of air
tone for a roof scene, all subtle. There are some incidental sounds to
help with setting and a few sounds that are germaine to the text.
One sound needed for a cue is a child screaming/crying, off stage. The
best sound file I found initially was not a perfect fit but it was what I
could find that wasn't too creepy for a comedy, and also that was
in the correct age range ‐‐ mostly the child screams and cries out there
are infants, which would not work here. However, late in tech week I
discovered that one of our cast, Carly Risenhoover-Peterson, can do a
great kid crying, so I brought her in, recorded her and that became our
new, and more appropriate, kid crying off-stage.
Other than that the fun was picking music to use for some scene changes in
Act II and for pre-show and intermission. All
song that would be in Eldon Phelps' CD collection. There was one great
suggestion for a scene change from Stage Manager Shannon Fent, the perfect
choice for that particular scene transition.
promocast
‐‐ The promo DV movie has a premise I am
pleased with, but it has a couple flaws that I am likely to be fixing. I
put it out with the flaws in the interest of immediacy, but I decided I
am not happy with the opening narrative; I don't like the way it sounds.
I used, I believe the wrong mic and ultimately the quality of the
recording is not satisfying.
Also, I was given the wrong spelling of someone's name so it is misspelled
in the closing credits. I might as well fix that while I'm fixing the other.
All tech issues aside, the audience response to the show has been quite
favorable. People are taking more of a liking to my work as Dougie than I
would expect, too.
Not cast in anything in
Dayton Playhouse FutureFest 2014.
I only read for the staged readings, because I want a break from the
commitment needed to rehearse and learn lines for a fully staged show, as
I believe I said before. Of the shows three I did audition for I was sure
I would not be cast in pone of them; there was only one role I could have
gotten, but another actor was so clearly perfect for the role I knew I
would not be cast ‐‐ there's just no way the other guy could not get the
part. There were roles for me in the other two, but the directors clearly
thought someone else was better. In one instance, I was not even read for
the role; I believe I should have been.
That next audition?: Tomorrow morning is the time to set the appointment
for the 2014/2015
The Human Race Theatre Company
general audition. They are later this year than they usually are, being
June 21 for plays only and June 27 & 28 for musicals. At the moment I
am not sure about auditioning for a musical this year. I really ought to
think about it because it probably enhances my chances of making it on
that stage. That's not because I am some great double or triple threat as
much as because there's more chance of a bigger cast and I can at least
carry a tune. Two of the three times I've made the HRTC stage it has been
in a musical. I like straight plays more, in fact, I prefer them, and I
can't wait until I get a decent role in one there. Love for it to be this
season though I see only a few roles that I can type into; the lower
number pits the odds against me, as a local non-Equity guy.
Many have probably heard that Paul McCartney was hospitalized a few weeks
back in Japan with some sort of viral infection, and that the entire
Asian leg of his 2014 tour was postponed until thus far undetermined dates.
Following his doctor's advice, Paul has also moved all his June U.S. tour
dates to October. At this point the July 9 show in Chicago is still on.
Since I have tickets for shows in Chicago besides the Macca concert, I
will be going regardless.
My appointment for the 2014/2015
The Human Race Theatre Company
general audition is set for June 28, at 1:12 pm. As I have before, I am
again trying my best to ensure I do a song no one else will do. I am
99.9∞% sure I will sing something fresh to the ears of the auditors.
I alluded in the last post that
Mame is my
best bet for making it onto the HRTC stage this next season, so, though I
was on the fence somewhat about whether I would do an audition for a
musical, I ultimately decided that I have to do so.
Like last year, the auditions specs say that the auditioning actor should
sing a song "(up to 32 bars) in the style of the show(s) or
from the show [the actor is] interested in." Last year I picked the
"from the show" option; the year before I chose the "in
the style of" route, and I am back to the latter for this one. When I
set the appointment this morning I did not know what song I would do. Not
but a few moments after I hung up it came to me. It is, I believe, an
almost perfect choice. It absolutely fits the style of Mame, yet I
just can't believe the sheet music I bring will grace the accompanist's
eyes during any other appointment over that weekend ‐‐ 99.9∞% sure
of that belief.
Also, it so happens that my siblings' youngest sibling is
celebrating a birthday today. That person not being quite as old
as the U.S. Flag, though a few years now past the age of consent.
*Just a reminder this can only be a small sampling of the
professional work of my friends and colleagues. I'm simply not
going to be aware of all their good fortunes. Plus, I may screw up
and learn of something and forget about it ‐‐ I can be that
way, easily. But if I know (and remember), I'll give a shout
out for the pro gig successes!
As a self-involved sidebar, My Fair Lady was the first
production I was ever in. I played the role of Jayme, one of Alfie
Doolittle's sidekicks. I had a couple scenes and sang with Alfie
(AKA: Jim Rittenhouse) in "With a Little Bit of Luck"
and "Get Me To the Church On Time." Is was May, 1974 on
the stage of Wilbur Wright High School, under the superlative
direction of Stage Director Charles (Chuck) Scott and Musical
Director Robert G. Johnson.
Another show and another night's stay in the "City Of Big
Shoulders" has been added to the Chicago Vacation Extravaganza!
Yeah, I just added another show to the Chicago vacation agenda. Rob Koon,
Chicago actor and playwright, who has adjudicated several times for
FutureFest, is in this added show. I just learned about it and Rob's
involvement yesterday. With this one opening on July 10, I decided
what-the-hell, and bought a ticket for the opening night. Thus, Thursday
it's a matinée of
Brigadoon,
but now, instead of driving home after that, I drive home the next day,
and see a fourth show (third play) during my trip.
Of course, I also now have to pay for another
room night at whatever lovely place William Shatner and Kaley
Cuoco-Sweeting are able to set me up in......
In the couple days or so I'll post a little end note about The Dead
Guy experience.
Would have last night, except I really didn't want to. Too much mental
energy would have been involved.
Besides, I had to create the A Small Fire poster.
For a brief period it looked like I might have to change the song I have
picked for my June 28 general audition for the
The Human Race Theatre Company
2014/15 season. My first choice (only choice) was not available at
sheetmusicplus.com, which I
had assumed it would be.
My intial web search that followed did not seem to render a replacement
service. Later the same day I searched again and came upon
musicnotes.com, which does have
the score I was looking for. I am also sure that this site was unavailable
during that first search because I do believe it was a search result that
gave me a 404 message
when I clicked on it.
Well, irrelevant now; it did come up the second time. I have the sheet
music I want so I can start rehearsing, after I've made the score cut.
I've already written a bit about who I came to see and play Dougie as. For
instance, there's no question for me that in the Disney scene there are
two bags of pot: the bag Eldon has that is out and touted, and the other
in Dougie's sock. But to elaborate more on what I wrote of Dougie in the
June 10 post, Dougie is not dumb. His numb-brained, burn-out demeanor is a
red herring. He's highly skilled as a cameraman, which means he has the
inherent ability to know what's a good shot, what's action worth shooting;
to be a camera man at his level of production proficiency, one has to be
intelligent. Had he the ambition, he could be a DP (director of
photography). There's no question he's been an assistant DP. Were it not
for his poor people skills, he'd be a good film director: he'd have a
worthy vision but not the ability to communicate it comfortably. As I
alluded to before, Dougie no doubt grew up reading constantly and is
likely far better read than his boss, Gina (who probably is pretty
well-read, herself). Let's say Dougie was good for several dozen books a
year. He is socially inept, however, and though he's been on dates, he's
not been on a lot of them. Oh, and, he doesn't think a whole lot of Gina.
To be honest, I was a little taken aback by the audience response to
Dougie. He won the audience over a bit more than I anticipated, well,
legions more, since I really had no anticipation of such. I also truly
underestimated how big of a role Dougie was. He has a total of about
three dozen lines ‐‐ and some of them only one word ‐‐ in the whole two
hour play, including one odd monologue. Yet, he makes an appearance in
every scene but one, and is more of a presence and force in the show as
played on stage than the text of the script reveals.
When I would walk out for my turn to bow in the curtain call the volume
of the applause would get louder, which really surprised me. After each
show people would make a point of letting me know they enjoyed Dougie,
and I got some nice comments in the press: such things as calling Dougie
"acerbic" or my performance "enjoyably understated."
Yeah, sure, I'll take it. Why not?
Dougie turned out to be a more interesting part than I would have guessed.
The tech glitches aside, we put on a damn good show. It could have been
tempting to have played the characters as two-dimensional pawns of a
gimmick-oriented production. Fortunately, everyone decided to fill their
characters out to a full three dimensions.
Some of the characters certainly are a bit quirky and some of those have
no real depth written for them, but that doesn't mean the actors couldn't
play them beyond flat stereotypes, even if colorful ones. The script
didn't supply any depth to the hookers or the hospital aid Leon, the
Disney security guard, or even Sheila, the mother of the little girl in
the hospital. On the surface these are just comedy set-ups, but if the
actor plays for a real person and with some honesty in the work, these
characters can transcend beng simply tools for the gag, and probably end
up being more effective comically. I am, however, the first to admit, as I
have so often before, that I am not Mr. Comedy, by any stretch, so on that
last point, I may not know what I write of, whatsoever.
Regardless of the comedy factor, everyone in the cast played their roles
with honesty and humanity and I believe that made for a fuller experience
for the audience. There were real people to eavesdrop on and to be
entertained by. It was a disappointment that we lost all of the live-feed
video, even in the last scene, but if the show suffered from the loss, it
was only superficially.
HRTC 14/15 SEASON:
You five may already know that I was able to procure the sheet music for
the song I have chosen to use for my
Human Race Theatre Company
2014/15 season general audition on June 28. It is, by the way, a song I am
familiar with, that I have sung in the past, though only ever for leisure;
yet, still, it's not new to me. On the other side, even though I barely
read music (and that's way too kind of a description of my deficiency), I
am sure the piano part is different from the original recording I have.
I'd like to hear exactly what I will be singing to in the audition before
I am actually standing there singing to it in the audition.
I decided I need a proficient pianist who can play for me beforehand, my
cut of the sheet music. Actually, I want to record the accompaniment so I
can rehearse to that recording. I know a few musicians who could help me
with this and I didn't get too far down the list before I was able to
arrange a session. It's Monday after work with
Ms. Becky Childs,
whom, among her many musical theatre credits, was one of the accompanists
for The Guild's 2012 production of
The Story of My Life,
along with her sister, Ramonde Rougier. So, I'm set for my song. Now all I
gotta do is settle on a monologue ‐‐ and I need to that soon; such as:
before the end of today!
THE KETTERING/CHICAGO VACATION EXTRAVAGANZA 2014 UPDATE:
That means he'll most probably be on the house right side where I'm sitting
at The Fraze Pavilion
on July 2!
Mr. Starr
will surely be Down Center and moving about freely all over the place, so
I might as well get a good view of the other musician I am there to see,
as well.
Three nights booked in a downtown Chicago hotel at a reasonable rate for
a downtown Chicago hotel. I am not sure there's as much in close walking
distance from my hotel as I'd like but I'll figure something out; I might
be wrong and it might be just fine. Plus I think there is an
L train station
close by, so there's an option. Might even get me to some if not all the
shows.
Still playing with the financial numbers to pay for the four days, three
nights. I don't think there's any way around it; I am going to have to
take out a signature loan for this trip. I am not whole-hog enthused by
that, but I also am willing to go the route if necessary. I need this trip.
Over the weekend I picked the monologue for this Saturday's
Human Race Theatre Company
2014/15 season general audition. I had somebody email me a PDF of a
script that I know will work at the audition. Sunday I headed to my
favorite office for script work,
John Bryan State Park, read the
play then picked a sixty-second cut. Now the process of infusing those
168 words into my brain cells is underway.
Yesterday afternoon I met with
Becky Childs
who went over the actual piano accompaniment for the song I have chosen.
I sang it a few times and she, as well, played the instrumentation alone
for a rehearsal recording.
I was correct that what the piano does on the sheet music is not exactly
the same as what the piano does on the original recording, so it's good
that I made this appointment. First I will not have what could have been
a jarring surprise on Saturday. Second, and probably more importantly, I
can rehearse the song without it being a sing-a-long with the original,
fully-produced and arranged recording, and the original singer. I can
rehearse with just my voice and the piano part, which is the better way to
do it.
*No, I did not use my eight-track
Tascam DP-03 digital
recorder; I used my
iPhone;
the reorder on it is pretty damn good, much better than what I had on my
MyTouch Android phone.
The view I had from where I was stationed for a
predominance of my time beginning the memorization of the
dramatic monologue. It happens to be one of my favorite
spots at which to be.
See what arrived in the postal mail last Friday? A new offering to
suggest that the July tour dates will not be postponed.
On a more general vacation extravaganza note, I did indeed apply, and
received approval, for a signature loan to fill out the expenses for the
whole trip to Chicago, as well, I might admit, to help with memorabilia
from the "pre-ChiTown Vacation" day with Ringo.
Another
Caroline, or Change
alumnus, the uber-talented
Ms. Brittany Campbell has,
not a gig, but she has released a new album,
Heroes,
available on iTunes. I believe this is her second full-length album.
She does gig in NYC clubs on a very regular basis. Getting back to
Heroes: it's a good listen!
*Just a reminder this can only be a small sampling of the
professional work of my friends and colleagues. I'm simply not
going to be aware of all their good fortunes. Plus, I may screw up
and learn of something and forget about it ‐‐ I can be that
way, easily. But if I know (and remember), I'll give a shout
out for the pro gig successes!
Such a vibrant part of the fabric of the theatre arts that
one might miss attending to his presence like one does the
amazing painting that has hung on the wall there all your
life ‐‐ until it's taken down and the space is empty. What
a fabulous career and body of work.
When I worked with
Becky Childs
this past Monday the original idea was to just hear and record the bona
fide piano part on the sheet music, which I had rightly suspected was
not the same as the original recording I have. While there, I did sing
it with the correct accompaniment a few times and Becky suggested there
was a note I was slipping into falsetto to reach that I can do in full
voice. I think between having a bit of a hoarse throat and also maybe,
perhaps, possibly not being as wholly warmed-up as I could have been, I
had not been hitting that note successfully in full voice, if I had ever
tried, which I am not sure I had.
Becky was running me though scales and then said that I can hit that note
in ful voice, and I subsequently did. In practice since then I have found
that I do have to make sure I have a diaphragm full of air at the start of
the phrase, however, or the note is either weak or just a tad flat. It is
the very top of my full-voice register.
There are several notes in the song that I absolutely must switch to
falsetto to hit. And in order to hit them with a dynamic punch I again
have to be sure I have strong diaphragm support ‐‐ i.e.: take a deep
breath at a calculated spot just beforehand of each of these notes.
Fortunately, the style of the song lends itself to these jumps into
falsetto, so that keeps them from presenting as awkward.
On the monologue off-book status, I am what I would say is about 80%
there. I haven't arrived at the point where I don't have to think about
what's next. This is simply a case or rote repetition and wholly infusing
the intent of the words into my consciousness/subconsciousness.
• Meanwhile, young and amazing Luke Williams,
(musical director for
The Gifts of the Magi
at DTG earlier this season)
is the musical director for South Pacific
at The Jenny Wiley Theatre in
Prestonsburg, Kentucky. Luke will also soon be hitting the road as
Assistant Conductor in the national tour of
Anything Goes.
*Just a reminder this can only be a small sampling of the
professional work of my friends and colleagues. I'm simply not
going to be aware of all their good fortunes. Plus, I may screw up
and learn of something and forget about it ‐‐ I can be that
way, easily. But if I know (and remember), I'll give a shout
out for the pro gig successes!
Rather than jamming and cramming every moment of the past several evenings,
I've approached the rehearsal and honing of my program for the
HRTC 2014/15 General audition
tomorrow with a quasi-nonchalance. I'm still seriously working on the
material, of course, but I'm keeping it relaxed and letting anxiety know
it's not invited to the party.
I have gotten to the place with the monologue where I can spit it out with
no errors. It's not been perfect every time but I am hitting the mark more
than I am not. I think with an earnest rehearsal period tonight, and then
a bit of woodshedding before the audition tomorrow, I will be in good
shape. The most important part is the mental and emotional state of
feeling good and confident about the words.
The big trouble spot with the song is the one specific note that I was
urged to hit at full voice. As I wrote before, it's right at the top of my
middle register, so I have to be very sure I have the breath and the
abdominal support to push it through, otherwise it comes out weak and the
falsetto approach would be better than that particular result. I also have
not cared for the quality of that note in the phrase, as I have done it thus
far in full voice, even the best efforts. By the end of this evening, if I
have not achieved an execution on the note at full voice that satisfies
me, I will likely choose the falsetto voicing.
A cursory look showed me that all the venues for my Chicago trip were
readily available from my hotel without the need to drive. Then I did
something I should have already done. I had the occasion to read some
feedback from past patrons of the hotel I "was" booked in.
Um. Well. Not glowing. And when the words
"bed bugs" enters into the mix.....
Now I'm spending a hundred-dollars more on the whole hotel bill, but I am
booked somewhere else, a hotel that is still within reach of everything via
The L,
the bus line, or, actually in one case, a nice walk.
I can take The L to see
Death and the Maiden
and
A Small Fire;
I can take a thirty-minute walk to see
Brigadoon,
and am likely to, since it's a matinée. And I can take the bus to
see Paul. Though, I may drive to the Macca show even though parking will
be at least $22. Not sure about that yet. I might not want to cart a bag
of memorabilia on the train. I also don't know if I want to hassle with
the parking and traffic. In the words of Dear Old Dad: "We'll wait
and see."
Then there's that failed visit to
The Art Institute of Chicago
last summer when I came in to see
Slowgirl.
This summer, it's only a twenty-minute walk from my hotel ‐‐ less than ten
by bus. I think it's happening this time! Maybe, perhaps some other
museums, as well. Oh, and
Millennium Park,
which is right there by the art institute.
Play It By Heart at The Human Race Theatre Company
‐‐ Thanks to a sweet deal I will get to see this. I couldn't make Can
Night *(the final dress rehearsal,
open to audiences through a charitable donation as admission),
and with a lot of recent expenses, including the forthcoming vacation, it
was going to be difficult to swing a full-price ticket. However, just
yesterday, The Race made all unsold tickets for Tuesday through the end of
the run just $25. So I will be there Tuesday evening, sort of a
pre-vacation event.
There likely are still some tickets available. The show closes July 6. If
you want tickets,
CLICK HERE.
Given one word to use, I'd say my audition was "solid." The song
went very well; the monologue was fine though I have complaints. But there
were no train wrecks in the audition program, so, it was a successful
five minutes.
My monologue was a very abridged version of Vanya's long rant toward the
end of Act II of
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike ,
one of the shows on the season. It is, I know, a little ambitious for me
to lay sights on that role on an
Equity stage, but then:
Why the
fuck not aim for it, anyway?
I did go up a little on a line,
but I worked around it ‐‐ that was the big "complaint." I
also got a little flummoxed there, but I kept it in character and made it
be Vanya who was flummoxed, so that was fine, though not as good as it
would have been to have gotten the line verbatim and kept the through-play
smooth.
But, what-a-ya-gonna-do? And it
wasn't disastrous, just a bit of a blemish on the delivery. Plus, the
Vanya that I stood in front of
Kevin Moore
and Tara Lail felt good to me. He may not have been one that was being
looked for, but he was a valid interpretation of the character.
As for the song: I've already wrote here that I judge my best chance of
getting on The Race stage this coming season will be in
Mame. I was
allowed to sing a song from the show, as I was allowed to use a monologue
from Vanya and Sasha..., but I decided to not sing one from that
musical, or any musical. As I've done before, I decided to again
pick something that would be unique, that I was sure Kevin and Tara would
not hear from anyone else in any of the auditions for the season, but a
song that would still fit well into the feel and style of Mame.
I did that a couple years back, going after both
Next To Normal
and
Avenue Q
by using the Lennon & McCartney song (actually a McCartney solo
composition)
"You Never Give Me You Money,"
which The Beatles released on
side 2 of their
Abbey Road
album. This time I picked another Paul McCartney song, from his
Wings era.
Through his career, Paul has indulged his appreciation for more
traditional pop music, music of the
Tin Pan Alley
genre, as well as comparable musical theatre ballads. As a Beatle, he covered
"Till There Was You,"
from
The Music Man,
on the band's second album,
With The Beatles
(1963), and has since written a decent cannon of originals in the styles
of musical theatre and Tin Pan Alley. One such song is
"You Gave Me the Answer"
off the 1975 Wings album,
Venus and Mars Are Alright Tonight.
Actually, the song is credited to Paul and Linda McCartney; my guess is
that Linda contributed some lyrics.
I picked "You Gave Me the Answer" because it is perfectly in
the style of the music from Mame. I believe I wrote the other day
that when I hung up from making the appointment for the audition, I did
not know what song I would use. I was about to fire up the original
B'Way cast album of Mame to see what song would be good to use, then
the McCartney song hit me and I realized it was a perfect fit,
stylistically. One important point: Paul is a first tenor and I am a
second tenor. The song is written for his voice so, as I wrote before,
there were some register challenges for me. One particular note was
especially challenging. There's a phrase in the bridge:
Heading back to old familiar places
The note for the first syllable in "places" is High G, just above
the treble cleft, and it's the top edge of my middle register. Like I
wrote before, to sing it full voice in my middle register and have it be
strong, I have to be sure I take a good breath before the phrase and keep
the abdominal support tight. I actually can't tell you if I did it full
voice or slipped into falsetto for the note at the audition. I had
rehearsed it both ways and was still on the fence when I walked into the
room. Yes, I had written Friday that if I had not achieved a strong
delivery on the note, full voice, by bed time that night, I would opt for
falsetto. I indeed did settled on falsetto that night. But as I rehearsed
a little before the audition yesterday, I tried it both ways and landed it
satisfactorily a few times in full voice. As I sang it in the audition, I
went with my instinct, but to be honest I don't recall what my instinct
dictated.
All I know for sure is that despite minor flaws in the overall program, I
feel the audition was successful. Now, the wait.
Oh, and just for the
record, I did go into the audition room clean-shaven and with short hair.
The longer hair and the beard you may have noticed in the pic of me posted
June 25 were for Dougie in
The Dead Guy.
Thanks to the cast and crew of Monty Python's Spamalot at
Beavercreek Community Theatre for
a fun evening, last night.
We recorded in the tech both at
The Guild because, though
it certainly is not sound-studio quiet, the relatively enclosed environment
along with the padding on the back wall make it reasonably sound dead,
which keeps a significant amount of unwanted ambient sound and room-tone
echo off the recording. We got some nice recordings for the show.
And, Yes, I used my eight-track
Tascam DP-03 digital
recorder, though I only utilized one track.
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‐‐ but it's really not big enough. It has about a 12,000-seat total
capacity (less a good 750-1000 behind the stage). I don't think Paul does
arenas that small any more.
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has been around a lot and certainly this past weekend. There were some
incredibly badly-timed video tech malfunctions that interfered greatly
with some key moments in the show, the same spot two nights in a row. I am
"cautiously optimistic" that the issue has been solved. I,
in fact, am dropping in to the theatre tonight to do a little private tech
rehearsal just for the sake of my own sanity and anxiety level ‐‐ and,
well, yeah, mostly foremost because it's the due diligence for the sake of
the show reaching its best success level.
