In my last blog post, on the closing day of
Superior Donuts,
by Tracy Letts,
I stated that I'd have a
post mortem
on it sometime in the near future, but in the meantime I'd probably
post a little something about the show, probably the next day, i.e.:
one week ago. Well......
Yes, we did indeed go out with a BANG!
We had a great closing weekend to compliment a fantastic run
of the show! We closed our run with another performance that
I am personally proud of, and I can confidently say the rest
of the company
was proud of, too. We closed out a stellar
DTG
season the right way! "So, K.L., why the frowny-face
in the background?" you may ask; I discuss that a
little further down below.
First off, I loved being able to play the role of Arthur
Przybyszewski (Shoo-ber-SHEF-ski); second, it was a
blast playing off of the performances of my strong
castmates, with a special mention of the excellent work of
Andre Tomlinson (Franco Wicks) and Heather Martin (Officer
Randy Osteen) ‐‐ because those are the two key,
relevant interactions for Arthur ‐‐ but that's not
to underrate the rest of the cast nor their characters'
importance to the play's story.
Mike Beerbower's Max Tarasov was marvelous; Maximillian Santucci's
Irish mobster, Luther Flynn was truly intimidating; Percy Vera's
Officer James Bailey was the perfect Star Trek nerd;
Jennifer Lockwood was funny and sometimes poignant as the
wino, Lady Boyle; Brandon Teeple was spot-on as Luther's
creepy and dangerous henchman, Kevin Magee; and though he
didn't have much stage time, Patrick Wanzer was more than
simply the script's sight gag, Kiril Ivakin; Patrick made
the most of his few minutes on stage as the hulking Russian,
about whom Luther exclaims, "It's Ivan Drago, for God's
sake," making him a human being, not simply a gimmick.
Then, there was the superb leadership of
Director
Jared Mola, who had a strong vision for the production, yet
still collaborated with the whole company and gave us all
space to make our roles our own. Personally, I'm speaking
as both an actor and a
sound designer,
even though this is far, far from one of my complicated
sound designs.
Though I do have to admit that one of the best
production music
choices for this one was Jared's, not mine.
There's no way I cannot mention the fantastic
fight choreography
Kayla Graham cooked up for Max Santucci and me, nor how much
fun it was to play it out on stage with Max.
Because of, rather than in spite of all this, I've had the
condition theatre folk can sometimes get known as
post-show blues.
The stage rats
reading this will know exactly what I mean. For the rest of
you, this show is indeed one of those hard ones to let go
of. It was nothing but a fantastic experience all the way
around. The level of talent and skill on stage and off
stage, the lovely camaraderie the whole company shared,
the brilliance of the material we were working with, the
highly-appreciative response all nine audiences gave us:
that's all something I just have to miss for a little
while; though, a week-and-a-half out, the post-show blues
have dissipated some, though I still miss the show.
What I miss the most is Arthur. I really enjoyed playing
this man. As I believe I've written in an earlier blog post
and I have recently intimated to a few people, both in person
and through the keyboard, I often felt like I wasn't
doing too good of a job because portraying Arthur, climbing
into his skin, was not a difficult task. Arthur and I certainly
have many differences, in terms of history and temperament.
Yet still I'm a lot like Arthur and I got him my very first
reading of the script. I knew this was a role that I could
do. But the lack of real struggle to get to him after I was
cast threw me, made me sometimes believe I was failing at
my task as the actor in the role. Still, even in those places
of self-doubt, I was loving trying to get inside Arthur. I
loved being Arthur and I loved being him in the world that
Jared, the cast, and the rest of the team created. Arthur's
going to be a hard one to shake.
If the run had been extended by weeks I would have been just
fine with that. However, it wasn't. That is the transient
nature of live theatre. You have your moment with the role,
with the production, with the temporary family that the cast
so often becomes, then, the production goes
dark
for the final time, it's time to move on, and you're left
with that post-show funk.
To help me move on, I got rid of some of Arthur's
physical attributes: the beard is gone ‐‐ I
stopped shaving after reading the script, months and months
ago, specifically because Arthur has a beard; The Monday
after closing. I got a haircut; and I trimmed my nails the
Sunday evening we closed, I'd let them grow out some for
the specific reference Franco makes about them needing to
be trimmed.
And, just one more time I want to exclaim just how
much I enjoyed working with this cast. They were
all fun and easy to play off of on the stage, and
almost as important, I enjoyed working with them
off stage. It was a relaxed, drama-free atmosphere,
with a group of actors, all likable, all there to
get down to business and collaborate. It was the
same with the crew.
Let me revisit the stage combat for this play. Again, the
choreography was most impressive and the audiences loved it.
As I suggested above, Max and I made a good team working on
this great fight. We pulled off this well-planned sequence
excellently, and the feedback from the audiences told me so.
There were a couple costume malfunctions, both
concerning my head-band ponytail wig: it almost completely
came off during one performance, but fortunately we were
behind the counter and I was able to quickly bend down
behind the counter to get it back in place out of the view
of the audience. It started to come off at the end of the
fight sequence one other time, as well. I am not sure any
audience members caught either incident. Hey: Live theatre.
My one big negative criticisms of my work here was that I
had too many line flubs during the run. There was nothing
major, but still, blowing lines, even when the audience has
no clue, is a great-big undesirable thing for me. There
were probably a few that audience members did pick
up on but forgive. Still, I hate it. That is however,
another thing about live theatre: Word Perfect is a rare,
rare animal for virtually all actors.
This isn't a negative criticism of anyone, but I was not
thrilled with that head-band wig for Arthur's ponytail. I
must acknowledge that it was the best solution for the problem,
since my own hair was not quite long enough for a convincing
ponytail of forty years, and it is too thin for an extension
to have been successful. Yes, the head-band wig, indeed, was
the best solution, but I had to pull it down on occasion
during the show, and you saw above about the one stage
combat incident. But again: live theatre. I also would
rather that Arthur didn't wear a head band, at all, but,
there ya go.
Now, here are a few production photos from
The Guild's
staff photographer,
Rick Flynn:
Andre Tomlinson (Franco) & me
(Arthur)
Heather Martin (Officer Randy Osteen)
& me
Percy Vera (Officer James Bailey)
& Andre
Jennifer Lockwood (Lady Boyle) &
me
Mike Beerbower (Max Tarasov) &
Patrick Wanzer (Kiril Ivakin)
For a little bit of catch-up, looking back to the Tuesday, June 25
rehearsal,
I cancelled the call
for all the available cast members, save our newest, Susie Gutierrez,
because a third cast member was not able to attend in addition to
the two already excused because they were out of town. I saw no point
in trying to run
all the scenes with a third actor missing. But since Susie is the
newby to the show, I decided it was advantageous to run her scenes,
even if I was standing in for her scenemates; I would have been
doing that anyway for two of her scenes since those are the two
actors who were out of town that week.
Then that Thursday we were only down one actor, and this past
Sunday, the next rehearsal, and our first of four
quasi-tech rehearsals,
we had our full compliment. I'm calling them quasi-techs
because the lighting is not a part of these rehearsals; there will
be a light tech
at Encore Theatre whom I will call our light cues to; in rehearsal,
I am calling out when and where the lights go up or down. They are
tech rehearsals now because I have started playing the sound cues.
At our next rehearsal, which was last night, we worked out and
incorporated the set-up and
strike
of the set, those actions being a part of our allotted forty-five-minute
performance time. A cast member could not be there due to circumstances
beyond their control, so tonight that person will get plugged into
the set-up/strike. Meanwhile, by delegating the organizing of the
set-up/strike to Becky Howard, who has
stage manager
experience, the set-up and strike are each in the neighborhood of
about a minute or two, which gives us a lot slack for those actions
to be within our 45-minute time limit.
We also found out yesterday that one of the other theatres had to
pull out of the festival due to some conflict having to do with the
rights to their excerpt. Thus, our performance is moved up to one
hour earlier.
Now it's homestretch time. We have rehearsal tonight and Friday,
then, Saturday morning at 10:30, at the
Encore Theatre in
Lima, Ohio, it's
GAME ON!
WHAT? LOOMING DEADLINES? NO PROBLEM!-(?):
Obviously, with
FutureFest 2024
just around the corner (July 19-21), I'm giving as much time and energy
as I can to the
sound work
for the festival. July 13 is the start
of its tech rehearsals,
and that date is looming BIG on the horizon.
I am experiencing some stress about having every show's sound
ready in time for that. In the midst of all my other current theatre
work, I'm trying hard not let myself feel overwhelmed. I've been meeting
with directors and I'm in various stages of putting their sound designs
together, from inventory of their needs through to programing their
sound cues into
Show Cue Systems.
With Superior Donuts
now closed,
Wednesday's Child
at OCTA
just about off the table, and the early
Upton Sinclair
audition for Campaigns, Inc. also just about out of the way,
I should have breathing room to get the FF24 sound in shape.
But it's gonna be down to the wire.
Yeah: I'm trying hard not let myself feel overwhelmed.
THE EARLY AUDITION FOR UPTON SINCLAIR:
Any of you five regulars reading this may remember that this play
calls for a short
DV movie,
that which we will be shooting in early August, and the movie
necessitates casting two actors early. I
pre-cast
one of those actors in the spring, in the role of
Charlie Chaplin,
and next week are
auditions
for the other role of
Upton Sinclair.
I auditioned one actor Monday because that actor could not make
the announced July 10
open audition.
Right now, of the theatre stuff I have going, Campaigns, Inc.
is the lightest load, though there is some more
preproduction
for the short movie that needs attended to. But I do have a
production team
to delegate to, don't I? There's a probably a certain amount of
preproduction for the show in general that can also get started
sometime soon. For instance, it's shortly time to get the
audition specs
for the whole cast out there into the wild. That will be happening
soon, probably the general
casting call
will be made public on July 10, the same day as the early open
audition for Upton Sinclair.
SOME AMATEUR POLITICAL COMMENTARY ON THE
2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
I'm not exactly a powerful political pundit, or even a
political commentator of any merit. I'm certainly no old,
white-guy version of Heather Cox Richardson, or anyone else
who so eloquently and thoroughly gives us good commentary
on the political landscape. I'm just a citizen who votes
at every election and tries not to be completely ignorant
of the issues. I'd last about a minute or so in a debate
with any heavy-hitting political thinkers. But on this
particular Fourth of July I have something to say, for
whatever it's worth.
I just saw a statement from someone: "Only a vote for
Trump is a vote for Trump. Saying otherwise is not helpful."
To be blunt, I find that quite naive.
It's just a fact of reality that the United States is a
two-party system. To make it more than two-party is a longgame
that those who want such either don't know how to play or
don't want to. There would have to be lots of third-plus
parties getting elected at local levels to integrate the
popularity and power of third-plus parties into the bigger
picture. Third parties just don't have the cachet to do more
than spoil a national election for one of the two choices,
from the Democratic or the Republican party. And since third
parties tend to be left leaning, it's almost always the
Democrat whose bid is hurt. This is especially true for the
presidential election.
Four months from now, this country is once again, as it was
the last time, faced with one of the most important
presidential elections ever. This one, as far as I can tell,
is the most important one, certainly in my lifetime,
and I think in the history of this country. We are faced with
the choice of continuing our democratic system of government
or allowing a person, and an administration who has publicly
acknowledge that their plan is to radically alter the nature
of American governmental power, to take power and invoke what
they, themselves, call a new revolution.
Project 2025
is real and it is remarkably viable to execute. It would move
the U.S. into an authoritarian, neuvo-fascist quasi-theocracy.
It would. The architects may not see it that way, but
that's what it would do. And they may just actually
know it, too.
Further, the six "conservative" members of the U.S.
Supreme court have handed the president the cart blanch to
take any actions he wishes, regardless of the legality,
constitutionality, morality, or ethics; and they specifically
granted this to the most immoral and unethical being to ever
have occupied the oval office, who is vying to again occupy
that office. One who has vowed to seek revenge on his opponents,
and has just been given the right to do so with impunity by
those six members of the Supreme Court. And he will have the
staffing to do it. With implementation of Project 2025 he
will have the backing of pretty much the whole government.
And the agenda is far more than simply the dictatorial
retributions against DJT's opponents. The people he will
be bringing in have big plans, dismantling plans, elimination
of any real separation of church and state plans, and much,
much more.
This coming presidential election is far more about which
administration is in power in the White House than it is
about who occupies the oval office ‐‐ though it
is about that, too.
Here's the bottom line: if we keep the White House as a
Democratic administration, there is some hope for the future.
There is the opportunity for better ideals for future executive
branches, and for the continued struggle toward a better
democracy and better civil rights (and a restoration of some
that have been ripped away). And there is a chance for a
future where a more progressive candidate can occupy the
oval office.
On the other hand, if we allow the White House to go into
the hands of the current version of the Republican party,
a concerted and highly likely successful effort to transition
to that authoritarian regime is going to happen. It's not
going to be good for pretty much anyone but straight, white,
right-wing, "Christian" men. And for the wealthier
ones it'll be even better.
And here's another thought: I believe that the possibility
that a U.S. Cabinet made up of appointees by a Democrat,
meaning President Biden, would be far, far more likely to
invoke the
25TH Amendment
if it would seem necessary, than would a Cabinet appointment
by the current Republican candidate, were he to regain the
office. I believe there's absolutely no chance in the latter
case; it just would not happen.
In the end, more so than ever before, in November we will
be voting for a White House executive branch. It's been said
so much the last few months that it's sort of becoming a
cliché but we are voting for Democracy or for an
American brand of Fascism. And one can try to rationalize
it, deny it, or reject it, but a vote for a third party is
at best a wasted vote, and in reality it's a vote for DJT.
And if you're going to protest vote because of the Gaza
situation, that for which, in my mind President Biden is
greatly misstepping, well, just wait to see what happens if
the Dems lose the White House. You think it can't get worse?
It can. It would. And a refusal to vote because you don't
like either candidate is this time incredibly irresponsible
‐‐ and the argument that the two are almost the
same is indefensibly ignorant: the vast and incredible
differences greatly outnumber any similarities, and those
vast differences are fundamentally, crucially important. For
instance, one of them (President Biden) is not a megalomaniacal,
sociopathic fascist. The other has never shown anything
remotely resembling decency, morality, or ethics.
We cannot let the Republicans have the White House. If we do,
the U.S, Democratic experiment is more than likely over, in
pretty short time. And this will be possibly the last Fourth
of July to have any true merit. If you don't want DJT back
in the office, if you don't want that authoritarian,
neuvo-fascist, quasi-theocratic executive branch, then you'd
best vote for the Democratic ticket, if you don't, like it
or not, you're voting for Trump and his administration,
even if you don't vote.
In my mind the ideal outcome would be Democrats in the White
House and Democrats as the majority in the Senate and House.
Four additional liberal members of SCOTUS wouldn't be a bad
move, either. That all would be nice....
Wednesday was our penultimate rehearsal and, unfortunately, once
again we were down an actor due to a situation they could not avoid.
I had wanted to run the show twice ‐‐ we had the
time ‐‐ but the actor is a quite
principal character
and I didn't see a point in running the show again with me reading
that character's lines from the audience and the other actors
addressing a phantom on stage for a second time. The situation wasn't
ideal, but that's the way it goes, and my cast is a group of rock
stars, so they'll do just fine, tonight
AND
tomorrow.
GETTING THERE....:
Not a whole lot to report, but I am plugging along. As before, I am
in various stages of
sound work
for various of the five shows, from harvesting their sound needs to
programing their shows in
Show Cue Systems.
Last night I recorded another actor speaking lines for a different
show than the last time.
I'm still a little anxious about getting everything finished before
tech rehearsals
begin for the festival. I'm sure I'll make it, but I am terribly
aware of that finish line not far down this final stretch of racetrack.
6:35 a.m.:
Just minutes away from leaving my abode with the rental truck and
drive north about 75 miles to the
OCTA Western Regional
Festival at the Encore Theatre
in Lima, Ohio.
Last night's final
rehearsal
was just what I expected it would be from this great cast. They were,
indeed, on their games. They rocked! I believe that in just a few
hours, this cast is going to kill it on the Encore stage!
The cast and me by the side of the rental truck
last night, after we'd loaded it: left to right
‐ Jamie McQuinn (Det. Dixon), Heather Atkinson
(Sam), Ryan Hester (Martin), Susie Gutierrez (Becca),
Stephanie Henry (Susan), Becky Howard (Strutt),
Ghiovanna Dennis (Det. Valez), and me, kneeling.
Wednesday's Child
may be going as an alternate along with the Troy excerpt, a
concept that I do not understand; we will know about that in about
a week.
I will say right here and right now that my cast gave an all-around
outstanding performance, regardless of what awards we garnered.
Here are the awards the we took home:
Excellence in Ensemble
Heather Atkinson ‐ Award of Merrit as Prof. Samantha Sutton
Ghiovanna Dennis ‐ Award of Merrit as Det. Aleese Valez
Susie Gutierrez ‐ Award of Excellence as Becca Conner
Becky Howard ‐ Award of Excellence as Molly Strutt
Jamie McQuinn ‐ Award of Excellence as Det. Walt Dixon
The verbal responses we got from the three responders, directly after
our performance, seem to suggest that there would be more awards
and that many, if not all, would be at the level of Outstanding,
but it seems we all misread that. There were a few suggestions
about staging that I will consider if we do perform this at
State, specifically dealing with where the
set pieces
would be placed. Some other staging and directorial suggestions were,
well, that person's opinion, but to my mind that person didn't get
it ‐‐ i.e.: the suggestions are a matter of opinion that
I don't agree with and they ain't happening.
Here's the bottom line: the cast DID, as a whole and
as individuals, give
OUTSTANDING(!!)
performances regardless of the unfortunate fact that they were not
justly recognized for such, and we all well know it.
Our rehearsal space on the Guild mainstage at
Friday's rehearsal.
Earlier that day, on my apartment patio office,
working on the sound.
Right now, I've spent too much time on this blog post, so I'll
blog about this sound work, later; I have to actually do some
‐‐ [MUCH] ‐‐ work on it, starting
shortly after I finish this and post it. I already feel like I'm
running to catch a bus that's speeding away!
For the last week, or so, most of my awake-time, when not at
the rent-payer,
has been focused on FF24
sound design.
I've even used
vacation-leave
hours for a little more time. I will confess there have been some
more of those moments of stress, about the soundwork, that I wrote
of in recent entries. It's not been anything I can't handle, but
there have been moments of: "Okay,
K.L., take some deep breaths and chill-out."
The festival opens this Friday with Unabashedly, by
Mike Teverbaugh.
We are in the midst of
Tech Week,
with each show now getting their one and only
dress/tech rehearsal;
I suppose you could call each one a
Final Dress,
which is technically true, but Only Dress is more accurate
‐‐ such is the way with most play festivals.
Unabashedly happens to be the first Dress, tonight. This past
Saturday through Monday was the festival's
Tech Weekend:
two shows on Saturday, two on Sunday, one, Monday evening.
You see the
sound tech
icon up above because, unfortunately, the person who had signed on
to run sound had to drop out, or backed out, or something. The
FF committee was working to replace the sound tech, but had not by
Sunday afternoon when we had already done those first techs on three
of the five shows. Really, the sound op needs to be at both these
first tech rehearsals and the single dress rehearsals for
all the shows, otherwise, hitting the cues correctly during the
festival performances becomes precarious. So, despite that I
really, really, REALLY want to sit in the audience for the
festival, I've decided to be in the
booth.
In case you didn't pick up on it, I would much rather experience
the weekend from an audience seat. Not this year.
And, the festival weekend starts tonight with
Unabashedly, by
Mike Teverbaugh.
This year the festival has slightly changed the format, presenting
only five plays, rather than the six they presented in the past
festivals, and all the performances will be some form of
reader's theatre,
from straight readers to
staged reading.
But the festival is no longer producing
fully-staged performances.
THE CAST & DIRECTOR:
The opening show of The Guild's
2024/2025 season has it's cast, but also a little bit of a
production-team
shake-up; unfortunately, the original
director,
Ray Gambrel ‐‐ who would have been making his directorial
debut at DTG ‐‐ has had to drop out due to unavoidable
circumstances. Debra Kent has stepped in to direct the show, and
she finished up the casting of the show toward the end of this week,
while, I might add, in the finishing stretch of rehearsals for the
FutureFest 2024
play she's directing, The Four.
Here is the Cast of The Enchanted Cottage, (in order of
appearance):
CHARACTER
ACTOR
Mrs. Minnett
Karen Righter
Laura Pennington
Racheal Tingley
Major Hillgrove
Dave Williamson
Oliver Bashforth
Frank Maranje
Mr. Corsellis
Don Campbell
Mrs. Corsellis
Rhea Smith
Mrs. Smallwood
Caitlin Larsen Deer
Mr. Smallwood
Jim Walker
Rigg
John Spitler
SAVE ONE OF THESE DATES FOR A STAGE MANAGER WORKSHOP:
On another DTG
note, the theatre will host a one-hour stage manager workshop, three
times on three separate occasions: August 24, September 1, and
September 4. The workshop will be free, but registration will be
required. The exact times of the workshop and more information will
follow soon.
Two people, with a past they had no idea they shared, meet in the
newsroom of a major American newspaper and are drawn inexorably together.
Deangelo Powell as Young Man
Brandon Shockney as Dave
Dylan Reed Roll as Robert
Kelli Locker as Helen
Addie Imundo as Amy
Cynthia Schindler as Catherine
They were best friends when their children were growing up, but now
one of their sons has committed a violent racial act that has attracted
national attention. Can an interracial friendship sustain that kind
of stress? How far do you go to protect a child whose actions you
abhor?
Cassandra Engber as Joan Welch
Jeff Engber as Jack Welch
Jamie McQuinn as Ken Kincaid
Ghiovanna Dennis as Didi Kincaid
Derek Dunn-Melvin as Tyler Kincaid and others
Daniel Cox as Zack Welch and others
THE CHRYSALIS, by
Joe Ricci
Directed by Aaron Eechaute-Lopez
How do you say goodbye to a houseful of memories? It’s been over a
year since John Sicura’s beloved wife of 45 years passed away. When
his adult children (artsy Vicky, workaholic Kerri and her husband,
stay-at-home-dad Colin) come for Sunday dinner to their childhood
home, John announces he is selling the house. Over an epic eight
weeks of preparing the house to be sold, digging through boxes and
boozy late-night talks on the roof lead to self-reflection and
surprising confessions.
Jim Walker as Dr. John Sicura
Carly Risenhoover-Peterson as Kerrigan Sicura
Jordan Ostrum as Colin
Jackie Randall as Vicki Sicura
Jordan Lopez as Olivia DeSantos
Carly Wheeler as Reader (Narration & Stage Direction)
THE CURE, by
Alex Dremann
Directed by Saul Caplan and Sarah Caplan
When her twenty-four year old son wills himself to death and donates
all his organs, Joan goes on a quest to understand why. Along the
way, she meets five of the organ recipients who all seem to remind
her of different parts of her son’s personality, but it’s not until
she meets her son’s heart that she finally learns the truth.
Libby Scancarello as Joan
Tim Welsh as Matt, et al.
Kerry Simpson as Annette
Jenna Gomes as Amanda
Mandy Shannon as Nancy
Tracie Puckett-Knight as Dagney
THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS, by
Erik Gernand
Directed by Matt Meier
Judith Benson runs a world-class high-school newspaper program in
a small town in Indiana where she convinces her students to strive
for truth in journalism. When an act of graphic vandalism rocks the
small, quaint town where everyone used to get along, Judith goes on
a mission to catch who did it.
Jennifer Lockwood as Judith Benson
Melissa Ertsgaard as Deeann
Cydnie Hampton as Chelsea Carter
Dave Williamson as Principal Frank Benson
Matt Lindsay as Gregg Humphrey
Reed Meeker as Micah
Yes, it's been over a week since I've posted anything here. I just
didn't get around to carving any time out for this. Not completely
sure when my next window will be. But, there's a window right now,
so.....:
SIDES & CAMERAS:
The auditions
for Will Allan'sCampaigns Inc. are just less than a month away. Last night I
finally got all the
audition sides
for the cast in general together, into PDFs, and posted for the
auditioning actors to prep for the audition.
Principal photography
for the short movie the production needs will be Saturday, the 10th,
with the 11th slated for possible
pickups.
Of course, I've had to
pre-cast
the actors for the movie, though technically I've only thus far cast
the principals;
there are three, minor
supporting roles
I need to cast, too; and this week would be best.
For those who don't know, the HRTC Playwright Race is where a few
playwrights, some directors, and some actors will put together
impromptu short-short plays from conception to performance. We'll
meet Friday night at
The Loft
where the teams ‐‐ a playwright, a director &
PA,
and several actors ‐‐ are chosen by lottery, then the
topic or theme of each teams play is also picked by lottery. Then,
the playwright is charged to write the short-short play (about ten
minutes); they usually are writing most or all of the night into
the morning. Then the teams get together in some space in The Loft
theatre and rehearse the play, Saturday morning. Then, we hit the
streets of Downtown Dayton in the afternoon to do a little
street theatre.
The first two year (2022 & 2023) each
troupe
moved to different locations to perform the play several times.
This year we all be in the same location. I still believe we will
each give multiple performances, but may be wrong about that.
JUST HOW ENCHANTED DOES THIS SOUND NEED TO BE?:
This one opens in just 24 days, and I have not even began to do the
soundwork.
Fortunately, I have been told that it won't be horribly complex
‐‐ but I've been told that before....
Tonight I actually crack the script open and look for myself.
JUST CALL ME "ALICE":
So, once again, I fell down that damned proverbial rabbit hole! I
had an idea for something to add to the ridiculously, obscenely
gargantuan
story bible
for the universe of the characters in my novel, my
full-length play,
and, now, one short-short play. Of course, as is always the case
when I add to this story bible, it was not a quick get in,
add, and get out. Nope. I had get to a through place that felt like
a completion. So, I spent more time the last few days on the story
bible than I should have.
In my opinion, and I am not alone in this opinion, this was a strong
festival year. The festival has, as noted before, trimmed down the
festival by one script, from six to five. And the five that were
presented were all quite good. The winner was The Cure, by
Alex Dremann,
but the other four shows were all good works.
I, of course, experienced the shows from the
booth
this year, rather than my preference of an audience seat, but it
was still a nice weekend of theatre for me.
I have been known to take and post a crapload of festival photos.
This year, however, I took not even one photo during the entire
weekend. I don't know why; I just did not. Maybe it was that
this year I didn't feel as immersed in the festival as I have in
the past. It all seemed a bit more detached for me this time. A
couple festival-wide traditional gatherings didn't happen this
year, and I know that is part of it. It was still a good weekend
though.
Obviously, right now, preproduction
for Campaigns, Inc. consists of
preproduction
for the DV movie, i.e. the newsreel shown during performances of the
play.
Sunday afternoon I dropped into The Guild
to scrounge together the
set
from set pieces,
props,
and scenic accoutrement from the theatre's inventory. We'll shoot
in the basement of the building, right next to where we did the
early rehearsals for the West Regional OCTA
Festival performance of the excerpt from
Mark St. Germain'sWednesday's Child.
Our set is between that and the large space where we store a
plethora of our Guild set pieces. I am, in fact, going to get part
of that storage area in a shot, because, in context of the newsreel,
and the playwright's intent of that particular shot, the inclusion
of set pieces in the background will work superbly.
One potential sticking point is that a prop I ordered on-line (a
vintage microphone prop) was supposedly delivered Monday
afternoon, but there was no evidence that it was. If I couldn't get
the order or a replacement order by Friday afternoon the prop would
be of no use to the production, since I need it for the shoot on
Saturday. It ended up actually being delivered yesterday. To
tell the truth, the prop is not exactly what I thought it would be,
however, it still works for the purpose of the newsreel; I just
need to modify it some, as I am with what I am passing off as a
soundbox.
In the casting of the
supporting roles,
I still have one left to cast, a non-speaking role that happens to
be for the shot just written about, above. I had someone in mind to
ask but I realized they have a scheduling conflict. There's only a
few days to plug someone in, so I guess I best be getting my ass on
it.
One preproduction thing I have done is learn how to get a
final cut
that's in the correct 4:3
aspect ratio.
That was the aspect ratio of 1930s newsreels and, in fact, that of
feature-length films
of the era. It took me a hot minute to discover how to render a DV
movie to 4:3 in Final Cut Pro X,
without pushing a squeeze-distorted image into a 4:3 space, or
without a pillerbox
image in today's standard 16:9 aspect ratio screen. I can make the
full screen 4:3, which is good for the projection. Now all I gotta
do is learn a little of either
Powerpoint
or Keynote, whichever
will be smoother for projecting a DV movie. Either way, if we are
using my MacBook Pro (2019 build),
which we likely are, then I need to get an HDMI adapter. Hey, I
kind of need one anyway, so....
Three photos of the primary newsreel movie set, in
black & white and close to the 4:3 aspect ratio
the finished product will have.
The lectern and its background, first from a distance
to show the room and areas out-of-frame, then the
medium closeup that will be used in the DV movie.
There will, by-the-way, be different lighting than
the florescent overhead in these photos.
The shot that will get the set piece storage in
it, with the current, make-shift version of a
soundbox, which I will be fiddling with to make
look better, probably tonight.
This is pretty much the only
street theatre
sort of acting I've ever done, and I'm happy to keep it as a yearly
tradition for as long as, and whenever, I can. The
troupe
I was in this year consisted of
Playwright
Karen Righter, Director
Annie Pesch, PA
Brian Buttrey, and fellow actors S. Francis Livisay and Brandon Shockney.
Our play, Under the Sea was inspired by the painting
My Conversation with an Octopus. by local painter,
Tami Beale. I played
Captain Wise, S. Francis was Sailor James/Octopus Charley, and
Brandon was Sailor McEwen/Octopus Sam. We did our five performances
on the Courthouse steps at 3rd & Main. We were originally to
be across the street but there was no foot traffic from the festival.
Even a bigger negative was that we were being bombarded by the sun
in 90+° heat, which was not a popular notion with any of us, as
our original location faced West, meaning no relief until the sun
went behind a building around the time we were to wrap it up. It was
going to be an issue for us and it certainly would have been an
issue with anyone who might stand in that to watch us, even
for a five-minute play; especially since they would have been doing
similar elsewhere. The steps gave us ‐‐ and the
audience ‐‐ shade right from the start, and though
our first performance was in front of a total of five people,
the later ones had a decent crowds, usually about a dozen; for
street theatre, a dozen ain't bad.
The whole shebang was loads of fun. We certainly had a great time
doing our little play, and it was fun to see what the other four
troupes cooked up. We actors were not expected to be
off-book,
though a few were. Full disclosure, I was not one of those, but both
of my
mumble-mumble
castmates were! Damn them. So, what if it was only three pages?
What's yer point?
For those who have a facebook account,
you can watch the recording of the HRTC live video of one of our
performances by
clicking here.
I'm the guy with the script in my hand.
Looking forward to the fourth annual in 2025.
Here was this year's HRTC Art in the City Playwrights Race
company:
And here are some pics from the day. I'm embarrassed to admit it,
but I am bot 100% surer about matching a few names to a few faces,
so, wit the exception of our Beneath the Sea/My Conversion with
an Octopus troup, I'm not going to identify people below:
The whole 2024 Human Race Theatre Company Art in the
City Playwrights Race company.
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
I was an hour early for the initial Friday
evening gathering, so I sat outside the
building for a little while, waiting for
staff to show up.
Our troupe meeting Friday evening to explore
how to manifest our play inspired by Ms.
Beale's painting. Down-left: Karen Righter;
middle-left: Annie Pesch; top-left: Brian
Buttrey; top-right: Brandon Shockney;
middle-right: S. Francis Livisay; down-right:
me.
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Our cast and director with the actual painting,
at our original location on Main Street in
front of the
Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.
Photo courtesy of Brian Buttrey
The abstract painting, My Conversation
with an Octopus, by
Tami Beale.
Our cast during the Saturday morning
Show‐&‐Tell performances on
The Loft stage.
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Our whole troupe, setting up for
Show‐&‐Tell.
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
The location where we settled for our four
performances, on the landing of
The Old Montgomery County Courthouse,
where you see Brandon standing by himself.
The audiences sat on the steps below the
pillars and we played facing them.
During one of our performances.
Photo courtesy of Annie Pesch
One of several pics of the Friday night
gathering in The Loft lobby for orientation.
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
From this point forward, no captions, just enjoy:
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of Jeff Sams
Photo courtesy of Tamara Winters
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of Jeff Sams
Photo courtesy of Tamara Winters
Photo courtesy of Jeff Sams
Photo courtesy of Marley Masterson
Photo courtesy of Tamara Winters
Photo courtesy of Marley Masterson
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of Marley Masterson
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
Photo courtesy of The Human Race Theatre Company
MEANWHILE THERE'S THE OPENING SHOW:
Last evening I met with Director
about the sound needs of the show. I'll start that
soundwork
shortly, probably as early as Sunday. Actually, I'll do a little
bit of work today, of the curating variety, looking for certain
types of
production music.
STILL CALL ME "ALICE":
Although quite a bit more measured, I have still added some
material to that "ridiculously, obscenely gargantuan"
story bible
for the universe of the characters in my novel, in my
full-length play,
and in that newer short-short play. It may not be as apropos to say
that you could "still call me 'Alice,'" but it's probably
not wholly off the mark, either. I haven't really been adding a lot
since last I posted here, but I do have projects needing my
immediate attention, so any distractions should be considered
obstacles.
Yesterday was our
principal photography,
at The Guild, for
the needed newsreel for the stage production. Things went well,
very well, much better than I had expected. Not that I was bracing
for a terrible shoot, but it just all went so much better than it
could have. There were virtually no snafus, no mischief from the
gremlin, save
for a part of the white bedsheet used to diffuse some florescent
lighting coming loose a few times. That lighting was right above where
the principals
stood on the main set; I wanted some overhead illumination there but
not the harsh, hot lighting coming directly from the florescent tubes,
so I used the bedsheet to tame the lighting down.
Other than that bedsheet we had a good shoot and I definitely
made the day.
In fact, the call
was for 10:00, with my hope that we'd start shooting by 11:00. We
were actually done with the main part of the movie by 11:00. And
that was with six takes.
I had set a goal of being done with that part, what I designated as
Scene 1, by 2:00. We were actually done with "Scene 2,"
the endbit for the newsreel, by 1:00. I was seriously anticipating
at least a bit more gremlin
action ‐‐ not that I'm grieving over the lack thereof.
The evening before, I dropped in after my day at
the rent-payer,
for the last of
preproduction.
I finished creating the "soundbox," dropped off some other
props,
and did the lion's share of
shot set-up
for the next day. That set-up included my impersonation of a
gaffer,
where I pretended I know more about lighting a movie
set
than I do.
The day prior I had cast the last of the four,
supporting roles,
a 1930s movie-set stagehand who operates the soundbox in the movie.
Our little movie has a cast of six: The two principals, Matt Lindsay
and David Shough, and four supporting roles, Heather Atkinson, Ryan
Hester, David Williamson, and, well, me.
Having wrapped
the shoot so early, I could have started
postproduction
last night. To some extent, I did. I migrated the footage from my
DV camera into Final Cut Pro X,
but beyond grabbing the
still frames
you can see below, I did nothing more with the footage. I will edit
the DV movie, the newsreel, to
final cut
today.
And now some photographs, from Friday and yesterday:
Rigging the vintage mic prop for the lectern, Friday
night.
My recipe for a 1930s "soundbox": a
vintage crank phone, laid on its back; a small
traffic cone; a can of dark-gray spray-paint; and
a roll of black duct tape.
And some old newspaper, for the spray-paintin'
Using a white bed sheet to diffuse the overhead
fluorescent lighting.
Some initial shot set-up on Friday night.
The set on Friday while the "soundbox"
was still covered with newpapers, letting the wet
spray-paint on the "amplification cone"
dry.
Some still frames from the footage shot yesterday.
First seen are Matt Lindsay, David Shough, and Ryan
Hester.
In these still frames are Heather Atkinson, some
dorky dude, and David Williamson.
Because of unforeseen personal conflicts that have arisen for a
couple of people, the
production team
line-up has changed a little bit. But we're still in great shape
as far as our membership goes. Now all we need to do is circumvent
everyone's uber-busy schedules to have a
production meeting
consisting of as many people as possible; ideally everyone will be
able to meet, but that may be a pipe dream.
Last night I dropped in to audit the first
full run rehearsal
of The Enchanted Cottage
to make some notes for the
sound design.
The good news is that I did not encounter any needs for
sound effects
or production music
that I hadn't already discussed with
Director Debra Kent,
though I did get a new music idea. The bad news is that
Tech Sunday
is this Sunday, the one in three days. But, more good news
is that the sound design demand is not eccessive and I have everything
already in my sound library,
so, though I've not really sat down to put it all together, I can
have it ready for the
dry tech
on Sunday.
AS MY WARRIOR QUEEN MUSE WHISPERS A NAG INTO MY EAR:
That nag to get back to music is buzzing in my ear again, as it has
in intervals the last few months. I've written of plans to develop
into full songs some of the
scene-change music
I composed and recorded for
Wednesday's Child.
Several of these keep popping into my brain and I've started mentally
composing more for them, musically and at least ideas for lyrics.
As well, I've thought about musical arrangement and the recording
process. Then, some of my music from last century keeps occurring
to me as strong candidates for a new project, as well. I also have
two instrumentals already recorded that could be dropped into a new
project; both were for
promo trailers
for Guild shows:
The Wednesday's Child trailer
and, before that,
The For the Loyal trailer.
Technically, both have been published, but they aren't on an album,
an EP, or even a single. I don't see a lot of windows, soon, for
much music project work, but I've decided that once I'm done with
Campaigns, Inc, I'm at least getting something
started.
UNEXPECTED CONCERT:
Tonight I get to attend the
Happy Together Tour 2024,
at the Fraze Pavilion, because the
wife in a couple I know can't make the show, so her husband put her
ticket out there for grabs and I was the first one to respond. This
tour happens every summer with some variation in the band line up.
This year it is
The Turtles,
Jay and the Americans,
The Association,
Badfinger,
The Vogues,
and The Cowsills. I do
believe The Turtles are always on the roster, I mean it is
called "The Happy Together Tour" and
"Happy Together"
is the best known of The Turtles' hits. I will be hearing a lot of
songs tonight that I've forgotten about, yet, I am sure many of
the lyrics will immediately come back to me. I'm especially
interested in hearing Badfinger, with their original member
Joey Molland.
You know, Badfinger's first hit,
"Come and Get It,"
was written and produced by
Paul McCartney, and if
you even slightly know me you may realize I am a fan of Paul's.
I'LL BE CLAPPING WITH BOTH HANDS:
On the topic of Paul, the
documentary
One Hand Clapping: Paul McCartney & Wings
is screening in Dayton at The Neon,
next month. I've got my ticket. The doc has a limited theatre release
and I will buy it (DVD or digital), but I want to watch it
on a big screen.
AT LEAST I GOT THE HIKE IN:
You five regulars may remember that in last Sunday's post I said I
was going to go for a hike after uploading the post, before I got
to various theatre business for the day. Well, I did get that hike
in. None of the theatre business was then attended to that day, life
crap came up; ya know how that is. But I did get to the
Siebenthaler Fen,
which is a section of the
Beavercreek Wetlands,
not terribly far from where I live. Below are three pics from the
excursion. I took a lot more and they'll eventually get posted
when I have caught up the
Vacation
& Recreation
section. But who knows when the hell that will be.
The Beavercreek.
Me, by the Beavercreek.
My hiking stick, leaning in a corner of the
observation deck of the tower at Siebenthaler
Fen. I took the picture after I returned to
the tower, having almost gotten to my car
before I realized I had left the stick on
the tower deck. I'm lucky that the several
groups who visited between my departure and
return were ethical people. The photo
documents my DOH!-ness.
Tomorrow is
Tech Sunday
for The Enchanted Cottage.
Most of last evening and pretty much most of today is about
sound design
for the show. There is a Guild
board meeting this morning, but after that, I won't be leaving the
theatre for a while. I will be camped in the
tech booth
for a few hours, probably more hours than I'd rather, but there ya
go. This isn't the most sophisticated sound design I've ever been
charged with, but I have found that it always takes longer
than I expect it to take. Plus, there's an auxiliary sound tech
issue I need to work on. And there's another tech issue that I need
to address, as well. I have spent the night in that building before,
and I'll be bringing stuff in case I need to tonight.
AM I WHAT, TWELVE YEARS OLD AGAIN?:
I had a nice time Thursday night at the
Happy Together Tour 2024
at the Fraze Pavilion. The show was
about an hour and forty-five minutes long, with each act doing about
four of their hits. There was a tour band playing all the backing,
though some of the acts played instruments as well.
The first act out was
The Cowsills, and I will
have to admit, I enjoyed them the most, even though I enjoyed all
the acts. Something that I learned when they performed it was that
they sang the theme song to the late-60s/early-70s TV show
Love American Style.
Or, if I had known that fact, I forgot it, because it came as a
surprise to me at the show. They, of course did their big hits,
"The Rain The Park And Other Things," "Indian Lake,"
and "Hair" ‐‐ and, of course, the aforementioned
"Love American Style."
On a related note, you all should check out this
YouTube video,
featuring the Cowsills. This lovely young couple is one of my youtube
addictions. They have a music reaction channel,
Rob Squad Reactions,
that I usually go down a rabbit hole watching. Here they are with
the Cowsills talking about The Cowsills' hit "Hair" ‐‐
Click here to see the segment.
PS: there are a couple more segments on the Rob Squad channel featuring
The Cowsills.
Joey Molland
of Badfinger,
whom I was most interested in seeing, was next. It was actually,
only Joey, Joey and the the tour band, no other members of
any configuration of Badfinger were there. Joey did "Baby Blue,"
"Come and Get It," "Day After Day," and
"No Matter What." It was kind of weird not hearing either
Pete Ham or
Tommy Evans
singing the hits, both who have been gone for decades. Pete sang on
three of the four, with Tommy on "Come and Get It." Joey
does sound a bit more like Tommy, but his and Pete's voices are
not at all the same. It was still an enjoyable performance.
It was a fun evening. Just a little before "The Turtles"
came on, we started getting got a little light rain, but it wasn't
too bad; no downpour or anything, just a little drizzle. I am grateful
for my benefactor, Grant Root for the nice evening with a great stroll
down the memory lane of my youth, my early adolescence when I was
first starting to pay attention to music.
The tour band's set-up, preshow
My one photo of Badfinger's Joey Molland.
I didn't realize until it was too late that
he was looking away when I snapped it.
Me and my benefactor for the concert ticket,
Grant Root.
Here's a photo Grant took of Joey Molland. The
stage lighting at the moment makes him a tad
blurred, but at least he's facing the audience in
this one.
The Enchanted Cottage'sTech Week
at The Guild concluded
last night with a fine
final dress rehearsal.
Actually, I watched much of the final dress on the monitor in the
greenroom,
where I was editing the lobby movie for the show together ‐‐
that being the movie about the show that runs on the TV screen in
lobby before the opening curtain of each performance. It basically
gives the same information as does the printed
playbill.
Tech Week for the show has gone well, though I missed the Wednesday
night rehearsal. I wasn't feeling well, so after doing a volume-level
check with Director
Debra Kent for a few SFX
she wanted louder, I went home. But Monday, Tuesday, and last night
all went well, with each night showing significant improvement, as
it should be.
As indicated in the last blog post, some of last Friday and a good
portion of Saturday (the afternoon into the late evening) was dedicated
to the
sound design.
I was in the tech booth
for at least ten or eleven hours, not counting my dinner break. But
by about 1:30 or 2:00 Sunday morning, all the sound and music was
harvested, curated, processed and the show was programmed. Of
course, during the week things have been tweaked, but that's what
Tech Week is for.
Principal photography,
as it were, for the
promo trailer
was Monday night, during the
full runtech/dress.
The play is in
public domain
so I would not have had to get permission to use dialogue in the
DV movie, but, frankly, I've been so busy I did not sit down to
really find a good minute or so to use in the trailer. Thus my idea
was to simply set up multiple DV movie cameras, shoot, then grab
still frames
from that footage for a montage. Just a few minutes into the
rehearsal, however, I changed my mind, cut the DV cameras and took
photos with my iPhone.
I took photo bursts of at least ten images, sometimes as much as twenty
or more. Then I narrowed down to the best two or three (sometimes
only one) from each burst. Though if you watch the trailer you'll
see that in a couple cases I kept all the images in the burst to
created halting movement a couple times. In the end I had 205 photos
to choose from, plus I used a few still frames from the DV footage.
I edited to final cut
the next day and by Tuesday afternoon the trailer was on-line.
The next eight photos are from my apartment patio
movie editing suite last Tuesday, where I edited
the promo trailer together.
The last three photos are from last night, in the
greenroom at the theatre, as I edited together the
lobby movie while I watched the final dress on the
greenroom monitor.
THE CAMPAIGN SEASON ‐‐ THE 1934 CALIFORNIA
GUBERNATORIAL ONE ‐‐ IS ALMOST UPON US:
Wednesday I had a
production meeting
for Will Allan'sCampaigns, Inc. with our
scenic designer,
Red Newman. Saturday afternoon I meet with the rest of the
production staff
for another production meeting. I'm reasonably sure all the other
team members will be there.
Auditions
are this coming Monday and Tuesday. I am not sure how many people
are interested in attending, but I know of a few people.
It's about time to wade into some of the
sound design
for the show, which will start with curating early 1930s popular
recordings for production music
as well as pre-show music.
There's not going to be a bevy of
sound effects
needed for this one.
Hate to confess it, but I haven't yet edited the short-short movie
we shot a couple weeks ago for the show. It probably will get done
this weekend.
Well, jeez! In just eleven days we'll be sitting down for our
opening table read!
Our open auditions
for Campaigns, Inc were Monday night and last night. We
didn't have as big a turn out as we did last season for
Wednesday's Child,
it was actually a pretty small turnout this time, but at least I got
good actors auditioning. The real upside is that I won't have to tell
as many actors who gave me good reads that they aren't cast, since
the population of auditioning actors was so much smaller.
I've not made all my final decisions and actors have not yet been
contacted to confirm their acceptances of the roles offered, but
there should be a cast list announced soon.
ANOTHER STRONG SEASON OPENING FOR THE GUILD:
As pretty much always, unless I'm out-of-town, at another function,
or on stage, in the cast, I was there for
Opening Night
last Friday, but I was on
house manager
duty so I wasn't really too conscious of how the performance went.
I can say that the cast members and the director felt good about
the opening and the audience clearly liked the show. A large portion
of them stayed for the Opening Night Gala,
and there was but a few pieces left, of the gourmet pizza that
Wheat Penny Oven & Bar
always provides for the gala, when I closed the theatre for the
night. Those two factors are always strong evidence of a successful
show. There was a pretty good sized audience there for the show, too.
I don't think the audience sizes were as full Saturday and Sunday,
but all feedback is the performances went well and the audiences,
again, like the show. So, get yer tickets!!!
The table with the
audition sides
from this past Monday & Tuesday. Yep, there
were 12 sides; one might be able to accuse me of
overdoing it.
It took a few days longer than expected, but we have our full
Campaigns, Inc. cast. There were a few different issues that
were obstacles to casting a couple roles. There was no one there
Monday or Tuesday who was a good fit, or who had reasonable schedule
conflicts, or who was willing to accept other than a specific role,
or some combination of those things. So I had to do some outreach,
in no particular order, to actors I know who would be good in the
roles. There were, of course, more deal-breaking schedule conflicts,
and for one role, I had to post a
casting call
later in the week.
In the last post I wrote that "[the] real upside [was] that I
[wouldn't] have to tell as many actors who gave me good reads that
they [weren't] cast, since the population of auditioning actors was
so much smaller," but I still had to send some of those emails.
Hey, I'm an actor, I receive those emails ‐‐ well,
I receive them in
non-professional theatre,
but in
professional theatre
you get a call if you're cast, otherwise you get no notice, unless
you have an agent who might follow up with the theatre then let
you know. Getting those emails myself makes me sensitive to sending
them, especially when I'm sending them to actors who auditioned well.
But, there are only so many roles, the director has a vision for the
show and concepts about the characters, there's the chemistry
between actors, and often some actors just have too many or the
wrong conflicts with the rehearsal schedule, as was the case here
with a few actors. I said "no" to some really strong talent.
All that aside, I am far more than happy with the cast I have.
Here's the Campaigns, Inc. cast:
CHARACTER
ACTOR
Leone Baxter
Stephanie Henry
Clem Whitaker
Dustin Schwab
Upton Sinclair
David Shough
Charlie Chaplin
Matt Lindsay
Frank Merriam
Jim Walker
George Hatfield
Ryan Hester
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(and others)
Jamie McQuinn
Eleanor Roosevelt
(and others)
Carly Risenhoover-Peterson
Reporter
Sandy Lemming
A MUSICAL OF MUCH ENTERTAINMENT:
I saw
A Man of No Importance
last night at
Beavercreek Community Theatre.
It's a really fine, fine production: good book, good music, and
top notch performances. If you read this in time, there's a 3:00
matinée today, an 8:00 show tonight, and another 3:00
matinée tomorrow. But, hurray, tomorrow is the closing
performance. It'll be worth your time!
Tonight, rehearsals
begin with our first
table reading.
We'll be missing a couple actors who have conflicts, but that's the
way it sometimes goes when your doing a
community theatre production
where your volunteer actors have jobs and other personal commitments.
By necessity, non-professional productions often have to work around
conflicts and absences that would not be acceptable in an
Equity show
or other productions involving paychecks, especially paychecks that
are more than simply a stipend.
There are going to be a few more rehearsals with one or more actor
absent, but I have a strong cast, so though the attendance situation
will not always be ideal, I'm confident the actors will be vigilent
and stay on top of their games. It doesn't hurt that though there
are certainly some
leading roles,
this piece is relatively close to an
ensemble cast,
so we will have plenty of important moments and things to focus on
with whomever is there. It's also good that the conflicts are
sparse during the second half of the rehearsal period.
We have wrapped our first
rehearsal
week, with our
table reading
this past Tuesday, then
table work
on Wednesday and last night.
Biased as I may be, I am happy with how well it all went and I saw
and felt lots of great promise for our show. We were down one actor,
who is attending a day-job conference this week, but I have confidence
in the actor, and really, if one had to miss a whole week of rehearsal,
this was the week to miss. I sat in, reading that actor's
lines for all the readings.
Monday will be a long day for me. We start the
blocking rehearsals
in the evening, and I will be in the
mainstage
space, (AKA: "The Sirkin"), during the day, plotting out
that blocking; I'm taking a
vacation
day from the rent-payer
to facilitate that. Tomorrow, I will be at the theatre hunting down
the set pieces
that will make up our
black-box-like set
on our
thrust stage.
Before I start plotting the blocking, I have to decide what set pieces
go where to represent what locations in the world of the script. That
will be my first order of business Monday morning ‐‐
remember
The Enchanted Cottage
doesn't close until this Sunday and the
set strike
won't be done till around 7:00 or so that evening. The space won't
be clear for Campaigns, Inc. until after that strike, which,
as per usual, I will be there for. In fact, I'm taking advantage
of having people there to help me haul my set pieces up from the
basement and from the first-floor storage areas. It's conceivable
that I'll arrange at least some of my set Sunday night; we
shall see.
Properties,
at least key ones, are also imminent on the agenda list. I'll be
getting with my two
prop managers
soon to start that process. These are all going to be period props,
since our story takes place in the fall of 1934. There's no getting
around it, at least one will have to be crafted: a 1935 LA Times
newspaper. There may be a few more than need to be made. While we
are in the blocking phase, we obviously don't need props, but before
we know it, the actors will need props in their hands, at, least
do-fers
at first.
I still haven't edited the
final cut
of the short-short movie we need for the production. That is the
agenda for this evening
AUDITION DATES CLARIFICATION:
For anyone who's looked at the
Dayton Theatre Guild audition notices
here, at The Guild's website
or DTG on facebook,
you'll notice that the dates given are Sunday, October 13 and
Monday, October 14, rather than the usual Monday and Tuesday. That's
not an error. The director,
David Shough, has a scheduling conflict on Tuesday, the 15th. David
also happens to be in Campaigns, Inc., which has a 3:00
matinée that Sunday, so he'll be at the theatre for a bit of
time that day.
Just as planned, I dropped by DTG
yesterday and spent an hour or two scoping out potential
set pieces
for the show. I looked in all of downstairs, upstairs, and in the
heavy furniture area on the first floor. I found some stuff that
will (or can) work. I sent out photos of such to my
production team
and have petitioned thoughts and feedback from them ‐‐
because, hey, if someone has a good (i.e.: better) idea, we wanna
go with that.
I want to get those pieces onto the Mirkin
mainstage
space after the Enchanted Cottage set strike
today. Even if we later swap things out for something better, I want
at least to have do-fers
in place for blocking rehearsals.
I'm in the audience for Enchanted today and I’ll be in early
to get my show's pieces more accessible ‐‐ in aisles, etc.,
where they are currently housed ‐‐ so they are easier to
haul onto the cleared mainstage.
I wrote on Friday that "It's conceivable that I'll arrange at
least some of my set [tonight]," and at this point, it's
pretty much a given that I will.
Well, gosh-darn it, I still did not get to the editing of the DV
movie that will be shown during the performances. Between some
thought being given to what parts of the
thrust stage
real estate will be dedicated to locations and scenes in the script,
I didn't get to it. With blocking
starting tomorrow, this was a priority.
I also needed to scope out the script for
props.
Of course, I do have two extremely capable
prop managers
who I am sure will catch some things I've missed, or, will have some
good ideas not necessarily specified in the script. Nevertheless,
I went hunting in the script last night for prop needs, a time I had
planned to finally get to that DV movie editing, and it ended up being
1:15 in the morning when I sent the email to the props people. Since
I have a big day today, I knew it was time to go to bed. But I am
going to at least start the movie editing shortly after I upload this
blog post.
Directed by Debra Kent
Produced by Barbara Jorgensen, Michael Welly, &
Brian Buttrey
The Enchanted Cottage is a charming and romantic fable,
written in 1921. It ran on Broadway for 65 performances in 1923 and
was made into a film in 1945. It was, in fact, produced here at The
Guild in the 1953/1954 season. Socialite Oliver Bradshaw returns home
from WWI disfigured by war wounds and convinced that no one will
accept him as he is now. He hides from his family and the rest of
the world, taking a secluded cottage overseen by a mysterious
housekeeper. Laura Pennington, a painfully shy young woman from the
village comes to look after Oliver. She tells him that the cottage
in which he is staying is in fact a very old honeymoon cottage. The
two begin developing feelings for each other and ultimately fall in
love and marry. They discover the enchantment of the cottage has the
power to transform. This play is about true beauty lying within, and
about acceptance. Everyone deserves to love.
The Cast of The Enchanted Cottage
(in order of appearance)
It's not just New York
It's not just Washington
It's not just Shanksville
It's not just the buildings
It's not just the airplanes
It's not just the field
It's not just the symbols
It's not just the pictures
It's not just the dead
It's not just the heroes
It's not just the hearts
It's not just the sorrow
It's not just the nation
We're just about done with the
blocking rehearsal
phase; at this point, about 75% of the show is
blocked.
Because of the myriad of actor's schedule conflicts I've mentioned
in earlier posts, the scheduling of scenes for each night of the
blocking rehearsals has been somewhat convoluted. We've had to block
scenes on nights when all the actors in the scene could be there;
more to the point, we had to skip scenes with actors who could
not be there on a given night. But after our rehearsal
tomorrow night, we'll have the whole show blocked ‐‐ save,
of course, for the adjustments.
Though blocking rehearsals are a hard focus on where bodies go, my
cast, being the good actors they are, have clearly already started
their script study,
and obviously, in a couple cases, some
dramaturgy,
and thus I'm already seeing the results of some good
character work.
I'm not 100% on board with all their current character choices, and
that's predominantly about some particular
line readings
more than anything else, but we are still in the blocking phase, so,
again, where bodies are on stage and which way on the
thrust
anyone is facing at any given time, is what is my focus right now.
Their character developments don't become my focus until Tuesday.
Though I do admit I have given a few
notes
pertaining to line readings while we've been blocking, and a few
about intent during particular moments. But those type of things
become the point starting Tuesday. I have to say that with the
instincts these actors have, I will mostly only be helping them
tweak their work.
Although we've got a few
do-fers,
we already have most of our
set pieces.
I picked up two more yesterday. I've also grabbed a few
props,
and the prop masters
are working on more stuff. I've also found a little bit of
set dressing,
though that's likely not done.
Hunting for set pieces last Sunday.
An oversized chair that was potential, but
has been rejected.
The beginnings of the set.
One of several times I moved this set peice.
"What set pieces do I need on stage,
tonight?"
Earlier Monday, plotting out some blocking for our
first blocking rehearsal that night.
With tonight's final
blocking rehearsal
the blocking
phase is out of the way, save for the inevitable tweaks and revisions.
From tomorrow, onward, we are into the nitty-gritty work of bringing
the characters and the story alive.
I finally started the edit of the movie the script calls for to be
shown during the performance. I won't be able to get back to editing
until Friday at the earliest, so the
final cut
is not imminent, at least not until next weekend, possibly.
YESTERDAY I SAW A BEATLE IN CONCERT:
Yep! I saw
Ringo
in concert last night for the third time. Some time in the relatively
close future ‐‐ which is a subjective term ‐‐
I'll blog about it, with some pics.
Another week of rehearsals are done. We finished the
blocking
Monday, as planned, reviewed what had been blocked Monday and the
previous Thursday, on Tuesday, then Wednesday we began working the
first half of the show ‐‐ what is now Act 1; Thursday it
was "Act 2,"
One of our actors had unscheduled absences most of the week due to
circumstances beyond their control. There were other absences that
were known ahead of time, and we just got to a point where some
scenes were not worth doing during some rehearsals because now too
many characters were missing. Other times, I stood in for missing
actors.
It was still a good week of rehearsals, and the cast is still doing
great at progressing their character development.
Last night I finally edited that DV movie, to be shown during the
performances, to
final cut.
It didn't really take all that long to pick up from the small amount
I'd already done and finish the project. Although it would have
taken probably more than an hour less time if I hadn't had to deal
with a technical problem I'm currently having with my
MacBook Pro
*(see "My #%@&#$#@#$% laptop is acting
up!!," below). For a few minutes it looked like I wasn't
going to be able to work in Final Cut Pro X,
a prospect which stressed me out about last night's work as well as
looking at the things I need to do on my laptop in the next few weeks.
Fortunately I found a work-around and got the DV movie finished as
well as easing my anxiety. Again, see more about the computer issue,
below.
As soon as I post this blog entry I will begin in earnest on the
sound work
for the show. The first order of business will be to comb the script
to identify every spot where I need
scene-transition music
and sound effects.
I don't know that I'll be actually curating any music or SFX today,
but I might get that ball rolling. There's a pretty strong chance
the curating will be a part of my lunchtimes this week at
the rent-payer.
And, no, I don't know what will be the music into the show, nor
what the
curtain call music
will be. I plan to be in the theatre this coming Saturday working
on the sound, as well as other aspects of the show. I'd like to have
all the curation done by the end of the Saturday session.
Honestly, if the sound design is close to done, or finished, by then,
that's quite okay with me, if not, by the end of the planned session
the next day is close second.
NOW WE GONNA BLAST SOME SOUND, AT THE GUILD!:
On the subject of sound work, several productions ago, the external,
8-channel sound card for our sound computer in
The Guildtech booth
had a few channels go out, so we've been running sound only in
stereo, through the up stage
PA speakers for the last part of last season, as well as for our
opener this season,
The Enchanted Cottage.
Last week I ordered a new 8-channel, external sound card, well,
technically a
7.1 surround sound
external card. I bought a
Soundblaster X4.
Yesterday afternoon I installed it. It took me a little while to
figure out how to get channels 3 through 8 detectible in our
sound design
software, Show Cue Systems,
but after a bit of frustration,
and perhaps a little bit of swearing,
we now have our standard 8-channel setup.
So
MY #%@&#$#@#$% LAPTOP IS ACTING UP!!:
Back to this laptop problem, a few days ago my
MacBook Pro
began an annoying malfunction that I can only guess may get worse.
The curser would occasionally start moving to the right on the screen
of its own volition. Other seemingly random similar actions are
happening, such as, as if something or someone ‐‐
perhaps that
f@#$%$ggremlin
‐‐ was cascading through the File pull-down menus, etc.
I blew compressed air under the mouse pad and the keys, though the
openings are pretty tight. I also went to several on-line user groups
and got answers for the several problems this laptop behavior could
be a possible symptom of, as well as recommended actions to take to
fix the issue. None I could readily do solved the problem.
This is a problem I need to fix soon; I use my Macbook for so many
things: this blog, for starters,
as well as sound design,
all the various types of DV movie editing
(DTGpromo trailers
& lobby movies, my
music videos,
and others, see above), the
mixing and
mastering
of my music, the creation and editing of graphics (including photos),
my script writing, any other creative writing, any writing in general,
my financial banking and records, as well as all my other business
(personal, music, and all theatre related).
As a work-around, I've plugged in my old Mac keyboard and my external
mouse, which has lessened the crazy cursor, and like, behavior quite
a bit, but not completely eliminated the issues. At least I can
still work, if with an annoying, unpredictable limp in my productivity.
Clearly, as soon as there's a good window, the machines got to go
to a Mac repair place; it's gonna cost me, I'm sure, but not as much
as buying new one ‐‐ which I REALLY don't wanna do
just yet; it's a financial draw I don't want or need at the
moment.
I finally get to see Neko Case
in concert. She is famous for not allowing photos to be taken; and
even though the tickets don't say photos are prohibited, I'm guessing
they are, so probably no pics at all from this one, at least none from
the show.
Yesterday, I didn't get past the process of identifying the spots
in the script where there are sound cues
(production music
& SFX),
but I did, at least, get that finished.
The next step is to start havesting the SFX and curating the music
choices. The first of the latter will be the production music, then
the preshow
and intermission music.
As I believe I've indicated before, I plan to start programing the
sound design
into Show Cue Systems
this coming Saturday, and, I hope, finish then, with the exception
of the inevitable tweaks that will later come up.
Now that blocking rehearsals
have now been technically and officially over for a week, and the
blocking reviews are done. We are now full-on into focusing on
character development
and script analysis.
Though the depth of the script analysis for character work is on the
actors, I'm certainly going to play a part, especially in the aspect
of my takes on what
readings
the actors are giving their lines, and what I believe might work better.
I gave some notes
this past Wednesday and Thursday, but it steps up, starting tonight.
This Wednesday the cast arrives at that first stumble through of
"Act 1" without their books in their hands. We reach the
off-book night
for the first half of the script. The off-book night for the rest
of the show hits next Monday. So the ever-familiar sound of actors
saying, "Line,"
will soon make its strong appearance in rehearsals. It's already made
a small appearance, as a couple of our cast members have been giving
off-book
a try, at least for some of the script. That's usually my tactic. I
try off-book early so I can still have the security of the script
in my hand while I try not using it. It usually helps to have access
to my blocking notes, too. And I think about how few rehearsals this
cast gets to bond with their blocking before their scripts are gone.
But, not counting table work,
we were only allotted four weeks of earnest rehearsal before
Tech Week,
so it's been wear your Big-Game jerseys for the cast, and for
the crew, too, for that matter.
Yesterday, at my
HORRIBLE
home office, marking sound needs in my script.
LAST NIGHT I SAW AN OCCASIONAL 'NEW PORNOGRAPHER':
Just like
Ringo
before her, I'll recount this show as soon as I can. And no, no
pictures of the show, itself.
ZOOMIN', SCENE WORKIN', OFF-BOOKIN', SOUNDIN', & WE NEED SOME CREWIN':
There are no photos of it, but Monday, at the end of
rehearsal,
the cast,
our SM,
and myself had a brief Zoom session
with our playwright,
Will Allan.
Will and I had planned this a few weeks back, or maybe longer, but
I sprung it on the cast last night. It was a fun twenty minutes or
so and a great way to close out a good rehearsal session.
In terms of good rehearsal sessions, we've been having them. The
character development
by all the cast members is just getting better and better. There's
really nice chemistry evolving between the characters, too. These
things are just going to be getting stronger as we zip along in
this process. The actors are coming up with some good ideas to add
to the collaboration, as well.
Tonight there will be a significant step-up in calling for lines,
as this is the off-book night
for Act 1. Although, now that I think about it, it may not be too
significant an up-tick since the cast has been attempting
off-book,
to one extent or another, for several rehearsals and have been pretty
damned successful. They get to start playing with
props,
or at least do-fers,
for Act 1, anyway, now that scripts are leaving hands.
A little bit of progress has happened on the
sound design.
I've got things a bit more organized, for one thing. Tonight, I'll
be recording the one
voice-over
the show needs. I also think I've solved a challenge that
presented itself. The issue was exactly how to plug the audio from
the newsreel into the sound board. Without getting into the details,
it isn't as straightforward as some might think. But I believe,
with the use of 1/4-inch sound-plug splitters, I have my solution.
We will see....
WE NEED SOME STAGE CREW
‐‐ we are in search of several stage crew members. Crew
will be responsible for moving set pieces and props on and off stage
during scene changes and possibly some assistance to cast-member
costume changes.
My unashamed self-promotional postcard is designed and at the
printers, waiting for me to pick it up on the way to the theatre
today.
This one is a little less self-focused since I am not acting in
the show. I'll be sending it out to various friends, family,
acquaintances, and theatre colleagues. just as one more reminder
that in one way or another I have show is coming up.
Just for the record, this is not an official promotion from
The Guild, this is
personal promotion, so it won't go on any DTG social media accounts.
ANOTHER WEEK DOWN & WE STILL NEED RUN CREW MEMBERS:
We've just finished another productive week and I am feeling good
about our show!
The second half of our just-finished
rehearsal
week, Wednesday and Thursday, were
off-book nights
for Act 1, as stated in previous blog posts. The cast did well,
calling for lines
at a respectably low rate. They also didn't really get a lot of
line notes
from Stage Manager
Shannon Fent, either. I would say the cast's
off-book
status is in good shape. Monday starts off-book time for the
second half of the show, which in our mounting, is "Act 2."
We had a full run
scheduled for Thursday, but I scrapped that to do some serious
tweaking of the
blocking
in several scenes in Act 1, as well as one in Act 2. We did run all
of Act 1, but it took longer because I re-blocked the scenes while
we ran them. I wanted to see everybody's movements in real-time in
the space to make the changes that needed made.
The placement and movement of actors on a
thrust stage
can get complicated and sticky. It's true of
theatre-in-the-round
and traverse stages,
too. If the blocking isn't well planned, an actor can have their
back to a part of the audience for too long, especially on a thrust
or in-the-round. Keep an actor in the same spot long enough and
they'll block action and other actors for too long, especially if
said first actor is standing. Of course, on a thrust, unless the actor
is facing down
while being far
upstage,
they have their back to some portion of the audience. Typically,
they will have their back to some part of the audience for all or
most of the show. The trick is to not allow each instance for too
long a period of time. You need to move them on occasion, so the
audience members who just spent the last several minutes seeing them
from the back now get a view of them from another angle: a profile,
or a full-frontal, or some degree of those.
This was the issue, or the challenge, I was facing with some scenes,
especially the scenes taking place in
Frank Merriam's
office. Some other scenes in other environs had the same issues.
A lot of problem spots were ones that bothered me, but Shannon pointed
out a few, as did some actors. So, between my thoughts and some good
recommendations from the SM and the cast, we fixed a lot of
blocking problems Thursday ‐‐ in Act 1 and in one major
scene in Act 2. We'll tackle the rest of Act 2 on Monday, but,
honestly, I think the bulk of the blocking issues have been
addressed.
Here's another version of an entry that I'm going to write frequently:
the cast's
character developments
are just getting better and better. I am quite lucky to have the
actors I have. Every time I've directed it's been this way, and
this one keeps the streak running. Once again, that old theatre &
film adage, "Ninety percent of a director's job is to cast
well," has shown itself to be the gospel truth.
Some movement forward on the
soundwork
has been done. I have at least migrated the recording of the
voice-over
from my Tascam eight-track recorder
to my MacBook Pro.
I've done a little more organizing and cataloging of the sound
needs. We've also made the decision to cut one recorded
SFX
and go with the organic
production of that particular
sound cue.
I'll be heading to the theatre not long from now today and soundwork
is on the agenda as a main priority.
WE STILL NEED RUN CREW
MEMBERS ‐‐ we are still in search of stage crew
members. Crew will be responsible for moving set pieces and props
on and off stage during scene changes and possibly some assistance
to cast-member costume changes.
Jeez!
Tech Week
is only a week from tomorrow! Opening Night
is only two weeks from yesterday!
NO BRIDGES LAST NIGHT, BUT BUTTERFLIES TONIGHT:
I had a ticket to see
The Bridges of Madison County,
by Brown &
Norman,
at Dayton Playhouse
last night, but a large swath of the
Dayton area
lost power because of remnants of
Hurricane Helene,
and the Playhouse was in that zone, so last night's performance was
cancelled. Unfortunately, I can't get to tonight's or tomorrow's
final shows, which is too bad because I've heard lots of raves about
the production.
Tonight I do get to see
Butterflies Are Free,
by Leonard Gershe,
at Actor's Theatre Fairborn.
My former work-colleague,
Mandy Shannon, is in the role of Florence Baker. Actually,
technically, Mandy was my boss's boss. Mandy is one of my
favorite local actors.
Fun fact: Actress Eileen Heckart,
a native Ohio Buckeye,
won the Oscar
for Best Supporting Actress in 1972, as Florence in the
film version of Butterflies...
The big connection is that The Guild
has done two plays by Eileen's son,
Luke Yankee,
for which he has flown to Dayton both times. One was one of
the earlier mountings of his play
The Last Lifeboat,
which has become a quite popular production in
community
and regional
theatres, and has even had several international productions. We
also did a very early mounting of his
The Man Who Killed the Cure,
something like only the second or third full production. I
designed the sound
for both our DTG mountings, and Last Lifeboat is one
my favorites from all my soundwork.
Both plays are historically based, the first being based on
the events surrounding the sinking of
The Titanic.
And it's noteworthy that local actor Matt Lindsay, who
played Titanic owner
J. Bruce Ismay,
is playing historical figure
Charlie Chaplin
in our soon-to-open Guild production of
Campaigns Inc., which, of course has me as the guy
pretending to be the
director.
WORKING AT THE THEATRE & WE'RE STILL LOOKING FOR RUN CREW MEMBERS:
I ended up not going to
The Guild yesterday.
The sound design
work on the agenda didn't requite me to be in the
tech booth,
anyway, so I did it at the abode, and worked some semi-critical
pathway action to do some house chores in the same time period.
I've harvested the
SFX
that I need, which included getting a couple from one of my go-to
SFX sites, Sound Rangers.
I am heading into the theatre today, because I have other work to
do on the show, some dealing with
props
and set dressing,
plus I need to start setting up the system to project the
short movie that's in the performance.
I doubt I accomplish all of these things, but I am going to take out
as much as I can.
WE'RE STILL LOOKING FOR RUN CREW
MEMBERS ‐‐ the production still needs stage crew
members. Crew will be responsible for moving set pieces and props
on and off stage during scene changes and possibly some assistance
to cast-member costume changes.
There's one more performance today at 3:00. If you read this in time
you still make it.
Today, it's been forty-two years since I last had
any alchohol, illicit drugs, or any mood alter
chemicals, the latter with the exception of those
administered for medical emergencies or surgery.
HEADIN' TOWARD THEM AUDIENCES & WE'RE STILL IN NEED OF RUN CREW:
We start our penultimate week of rehearsal tonight. Then
Tech Week
is upon us!
I've started the process of curating
production music,
pre-show music,
and intermission music
for the show. At this point, no actual curating has been done, but
I have started my research into the popular music of the era our
story takes place and have begun to harvest music. I'm confident
I'll find quite a lot already in my music library, but what I've
havested so far, has been off a research list of big hits of 1934.
I'll probably troll 1930-1933 as well, and may go back into the
late 20s. I've also had an intriguing suggestion from
SM
Shannon Fent that I am seriously entertaining, and I am keeping
under wraps.
That music harvesting was done at
The Guild yesterday
after I finished another task. What the day was mostly about was
setting up the projector to show the short movie that will run
during Act 2. I braced myself for a technical headache but it was
far more straightforward than I anticipated.
Several years back, pre-COVID pandemic, DTG purchased an
Epson Home Cinema 660/760HD/1060 projector.
I believe our former board member ‐‐ and former president
‐‐ Kathy Mola instigated the purchase. What I didn't
realize was that the machine had never been taken out of the box
and used; it was still factory-sealed when I took it out yesterday.
My memory was we had bought it for a show; but it's clear that what
happened was, we had borrowed a projector for several productions in
the past, and the decision was made to own one for future productions.
Well, it took us a few years, but now it's being employed.
Now, here's where I pretend I'm qualified to be legitimately called
a "Tech Geek.":
There were a couple work-arounds I had to devise. For one thing, the
projected screen was much too big, even at the most reduced setting
on the Epson. The only way to get the screen down to a good size
is to put the projector far too close to the wall
the movie will be projected on. The solution: in
Final Cut Pro X I
rendered a version of the movie only 25% of the size of the original
rendering. Technically, the new movie is actually the same size as
the original; it's just that most of what's on the screen is black,
and the images from the original version are in the middle, at the
bottom, at the reduced 25% size. When the new version is projected
all that black won't show, or won't show much. I probably ought to
test that last assumption tonight, with lights down in
the house,
before rehearsal.
The other issue that needed a work-around was one I actually mostly
addressed about a week ago. The question was how to get the audio from
the movie coming out of the house PA speakers. In order to get the
seperation for each of the four PA speakers, as well as any additional
ones we may use for specific shows, we don't run the sound out from
the sound mixing board to the amps through its main stereo bus
channels. We run direct from channel inputs to channel outputs.
What is plugged into the channel 1 input comes out of the channel
1 output, etc, etc. The master faders on the board do not control
volume for any signals coming out of the board. As well, the audio
signal from each channel goes to a specific PA speaker, and only
that speaker: Channel 1 goes to the downstage right speaker; 2
goes downstage left; 3 ‐ upstage right; 4 ‐ upstage left.
I can't plug any audio source into channels 5-plus and have sound
come out of any of the PA speakers.
I want the audio from the movie to come from the two upstage PA
speakers. The only way to achieve that is to have the audio source
for the movie plugged into channels 3 & 4. Easy enough, right?
"Just do that," you say, "problem solved."
Yeah, sure, except that the movie is going to start coming off of
some scene-transition music
that, if time right, will be in the last breaths of its fadeout.
Production music, with very few exceptions, plays in all four PA
speakers, and, as
sound designer,
I do not want this to be an exception. If it has to be, it will be,
but I don't think it will have to be. My work around is that I
plugged audio splitter adaptors into channels 3 & 4. Now, each
can have two audio sources plugged into it. So, as usual, channels
3 & 4 from the external sound card are plugged into the
corresponding channels on the board, and now each of those channels
on the board also have one part of the duel mono signal from the
movie audio source plugged in.
The issue with this setup is that the signal from both sources is
cut in half so volume needs to be pumped significantly for both those
channels on the board for 3 & 4 to match 1 & 2. They need
to match for all the music, preshow, intermission and production,
as wel as any other production
sound cues
that will come from all three; in other words, I need decible parity
between all four channels. To get this, I boosted the main,
universal volume, that on the
tech booth
laptop, the audio source, with our sound cue software,
Show Cue Systems. I
also pushed the gain on all the channels. And, for this show, the
faders for 1 & 2 will be set lower than their usual parking
place of "0." Meanwhile, 3 & 4 will be higher than 0.
I'll tweak to the exact settings this Wednesday. I'm taking most of
the day off from the rent-payer,
first to do a little promotional stint for the show, than I'll head
to the theatre and spend much of the rest of the day, until
rehearsal, in the booth, with some time out of the booth for some
props
work.
The first thing I do after leaving the
job
for the day on Wednesday, is head to
WDPR FM and record
an interview with
Larry Coressel
for the WDPR feature,
ArtsFocus.
That was going to happen on Friday, but Larry asked if I could move
it up a couple days.
Tonight is the first
off-book night
for the whole show. But, you know what? I believe the cast is going
to be fine.
WE'RE STILL IN NEED OF RUN CREW
MEMBERS ‐‐ the production still needs stage crew
members. Crew will be responsible for moving set pieces and props
on and off stage during scene changes and possibly some assistance
to cast-member costume changes.
"The dog ate my script!" ‐‐
with evidence provided. And since the actor
was actually off-book, no sense in even
suspecting a ruse.
The setup of splitter jacks for channels
3 & 4 on the sound board.
Our Guild image projector, fresh out of the
sealed box.
Setting up the A/V setup to run the movie during
performances. Note the very small white square on
the editing screen in Final Cut X in the far right
photo ‐‐ that is the new reduced-image
of the movie to make a better size in the projection
during performance.
I CLAP WITH ONE HAND:
Yesterday I saw the Paul McCartney
film
One Hand Clapping: Paul McCartney & Wings
at The Neon, just a
seven-to-ten-minute walk from The Guild. It's a nice little film,
but more so if you're a Macca or a
Beatles fan. There's
nothing especially noteworthy about it and it was not some
"AMAZING" experience.
For one thing, the cinematography is pretty unimpressive. It looks
like it was shot with a VHS camcorder and nothing was done to
enhance the images. The photography is not good either. Too many
close-ups and poor angle choices; whether that was that the original
footage left no room for better editing choices, or the editing
choices were bad, it looked like an amateur venture. If the idea
was to make it look "homey" it didn't succeed.
The sound quality was reasonably good and the performances were
quite good. It was also much fun just to watch Paul's charm and the
lovely camaraderie of the band. All in all, I'm glad I went and it
was cool to see it on a big screen in a room full of fellow fans.
But it's nothing to rave about.
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