Back to Real Life

I promise this will be my last "Skin of our Teeth" post.



Friday saw our biggest audience (probably S'70's largest audience ever at TCNJ - over 150!). The crowd was enthusiastic and most of the sound cues were right (I never again got my "winding crank," though). The young lady who ran sound for most of the run was also supposed to make SP lamps and a slingshot for me. She failed there, so why should she have succeeded any better in sound? (I hate lazy kids.) But, the performance was almost magical. The "Announcer' added a bizarre and stunted 'Elvis hip swivel' to his monologues, whenever he didn't get a laugh he thought he should have gotten. Strangely, his way over-the-top performance didn't detract from the rest of the show of show and somehow added yet another layer of surrealism. My Producer, myself and a few cast members laughed ourselves silly while discussing his gestures and posturing at the 'official' cast party at "Homer's" house on Friday.



Closing night was smaller (91), but good. My friends 'M' and 'J' came down to see the show. They are sweet and funny and very silly young ladies who never fail to make me laugh (we saw Xanadu together this summer). And my other beauty, "J" was there with his mother and step-father. I was so happy to see him.



The end, however, proved rather anti-climactic for me. We did a small strike (mostly costumes, props and foam set pieces), but by the time we reached the bar, it was last almost last call. Mind you, this was at 12:10 on a Saturday night. What kind of lame-ass bar has last call at 12:30 on a Saturday night? "Henry" and I each had a beer and then the rest left to go to a diner. I wasn't hungry, so I took Zabina to her new home (she is very happily retired from a career on stage. Tomorrow I am buying her a friend and some toys) and sent out in an email the Open Letter in my previous post. I didn't get the chance for total privacy with "Henry" that I wanted, but I did manage to tell him how proud I was of him and how much I love him. We agreed to go out for his birthday at the end of the month, so maybe we'll get the chance to talk more in depth, then.


So, when all is said and done, how did it go? Very, very well. Was it as personally exciting as my production of Midsummer or as artistically as rewarding as Much Ado or The Food Chain? Almost. It was certainly thrilling to have vindication of my ideas from people who know Wilder so well, and people who know good theatre so well. It was really gorgeous (though I do wish we could have done a better job costuming the 'extras,' but that's a budget issue, more than anything. In fact, with my dream budget, the gears in the roof and walls would have turned as they flew in and out and we would have had actual 'steam' as it all went). And "The Extinct" would have had legs that matched the rest of their bodies (it would have involved cutting foam femurs, knees and tibias and Velcro-ing them to the puppeteers pants, but we also had a time issue). Still, Tappan Wilder (the author's nephew and executor) was thrilled to see them left in, as many productions can't figure out how to do them and either change or omit them, altogether. So I guess you could say I was very pleased.


This will probably be my last posting about my personal theatre experiences until April, when auditions get underway for Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told as part of the annual JTMF AIDS benefit. I will, however, probably post my experience with the "Eden Dreams" Gala in January (another benefit, for an organization which works with Autistic persons). Eden Dreams is both a rewarding and frustrating experience in which I usually end up as little more than a "human prop." It's a long, dull and exasperating night where relatively few in attendance actually appreciate one's participation, and one's talents as a performer are hardly challenged. But, more about that later.

So, for the next few months it's movies, movies, movies (and maybe a raving rant or rambling here and there). Thanks for listening (reading, I guess). It's been surreal...

As always, more anon...

Prospero

Academia, Etc.

Tonight (Thursday, Oct. 2nd) saw the first performance of the second and final weekend of The Skin of Our Teeth. It was also the "official" performance of the First International Thornton Wilder Society Conference: "Wilder in the 21st Century."
http://www.tcnj.edu/~wilder/conference/


We had a good and only momentarily silly pick-up rehearsal last night, so I was confidant going in. It was our biggest house yet (and probably will be) and, as tired as some of the conference attendees were, attentive and responsive. Their energy fed the cast and it was a lovely performance, despite some technical issues (sound is still a horror-show; that's what I get for not running my own sound board - or at least having my best friend, "K,"* run it for me). The "extras" are either really terrific or truly horrible and although the shadow puppets are better (they at least make sense, now), the simplicity of their operation remains a complete and incomprehensible mystery to the manipulators (the above mentioned "extras"). All in all, I'm still very unhappy with the shadow puppets. They are surreal and funny, but awkward and not what I had hoped they would be. Unlike the simplicity of their roles in the other two Shakespeare '70 productions in which student extras from correlated English Department classes were employed, the complexity of this show required more commitment and attendance than the professor was willing to impose upon them. Subsequently, several of them don't care about what they are doing because it's only slightly less effort than writing a paper. A few care, but are completely inept on stage and shouldn't even consider minoring in theatre. One or two care and are into what they are doing, and actually created characters for themselves.



But enough bitching. this post is about crowing! About 25 or 30 people stayed afterwards for the talk-back, and I spent most it sitting there listening to several of the nation's top scholars on Wilder talk about how much they loved my production. I'm not being narcissistic or egotistic in the least. The President of the Society (who is also the English professor at TCNJ who specializes in Wilder and drama), said that we had found things in the play which no other production he had seen had found (in particular, a true character arc for the usually-neglected Gladys) and another conference attendee said he loved the Steampunk concept.


In addition to those folks, many of my colleagues from various companies were in the audience, all of whom were very enthusiastic in their compliments.


In all fairness, though, I must give credit where credit is due: my amazingly talented cast and design team. This was an exceptionally ambitious production, not only because of the design concept, but the technical requirements inherent in the text. There's a dinosaur and a mammoth on stage, for heaven's sake (not to mention the Atlantic City Boardwalk).


My cast - my amazing, surprising and inventive cast! It took a while for all of them to get it, but when they did... Kapow! It was like lightning in a bottle. "Fred Bailey" (AKA "Mammoth Puppeteer") continues to provide the funniest performance in the show. My "Announcer," however, wins the Honey-Glazed Virginia-Baked Award (there's a special place in Director's Heaven for me, just for putting up with him). My "Sabina" is a gift from Thespis and "George," while a curiously cantankerous fellow, is brilliant. "Maggie," my dearest and longest friend; my muse; my support; my left and right arms for this show (she also produced, God love her), just so gets it. "Gladys" is a riot, especially in Act II and the "Fortune Teller," while still a little too fast, is a study in 'young actor goes for broke.' Then there is my "Henry." I can't be more proud. I have worked with this young man on four shows now, and his skills as an actor continue to grow and amaze. His trust in my direction is without question and he is willing to go wherever it takes to get the right result. Nothing gets a director more excited than an actor who is not only willing to do what you want him to do, but understands what you want and delivers it so well. He is quite beautiful and continually degrades himself as 'dumb,' but really good actors aren't dumb, and he is a really good actor. And to top it all off, he's just a terrific person. A polite, funny, personable and gorgeous young man.


So, I am very happy. Two more performances to go. I am sorry to leave this "family." We've had much fun together.


As always, more anon.
Prospero


*She and our mutual friends all know who she is, so there's no need for elaboration. Anonymity is the lure of the Web, isn't it?

Saturday Night & YouTube

My first embedded video! I think I may actually be getting the hang of this.

Anyhow - Saturday night saw a slightly larger, though considerably less vocal crowd. I sat closer to the stage so I could look back and judge faces - everyone seemed attententive and many were smiling. No one has said "I hate this crap!" or walked out. The show was fine, but a few days of simmering in their brains and souls will make a huge difference. Stew is always best after it sits in the 'fridge for a day or two.

I spent the day doing the mundane; catching up on the fall season (does everyone else LOVE "Fringe" as much as I do?); laundry and cooking a lasagna for my mother's birthday. We'll talk more about movies and TV, soon. I promise. In case you haven't noticed, I've been a bit pre-occupied, of late.

More anon.

Prospero

I Almost Forgot

We're on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL_fy4ZGWrA

The Run-Thru That Wasn't

Let me start by saying that this is in no way a negative post. I am actually very pleased with our progress. The furniture and props have ben delivered and it's actually starting to look like an approximation of a 'real' Steam Punk house. I can't wait to see it with the walls and everything else.

We were supposed to have our first full run tonight. We also added new elements like using the black-out curtain and having some of the music and some experimental lighting. Our Henry was missing, but we knew that. The big impasse toward finishing tonight was the massive set change that takes place between acts. Choreographing the first one took almost half an hour. It was quite a while before we started Act II. I gave them notes after Act II and sent them home. I have so much to do, myself, that I cancelled Saturday afternoon's rehearsal and gave them the whole weekend off. They are doing well and they worked hard this week so they deserve it, anyway.

My weekend will be spent shopping, visiting with a family member for her birthday and craftinig weapons and jewellry for the show. And hopefully finding time for two weeks' worth of laundry! Yikes!

As always, more of this, anon.

Prospero

Furniture, Gas Masks and a Bruised Head

Back to Flemington this morning to Anything But Costumes for furniture, props and set decoration. They had almost all the furniture I wanted. No rocker for Mama, though. We did get a rather nice set of red and white striped armchairs for both of them and the gorgeous red SP sofa I saw online. The very cool nautical thingy we saw on line was much too expensive. I can certainly live without it, but it would have been perfect on that set. We did find some very interesting things to place about the stage, including one of the strangest wood, leather and brass decorative vases I've ever seen. I handed tagging duties off to my producer after knocking my noggin and being frustrated by my giant fingers and tiny safety pins.

Combined with the costumes I saw yesterday and Dale's walls and roof pieces, all should add up to one very interesting to look at spectacle.

Left there to attend our first JTMF (James Tolin Memorial Fund http://www.jtmf.org/) meeting for the 2009 benefit show, Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Not much to talk about, really. Lunch with some chit-chat. That's not until June. Let me get through one show at a time, please.

Oh - last night my producer emailed me with a suggestion for particular piece of music I'd been looking for. What she suggested wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but close enough for government work. One more thing to cross off the ever-increasing list. I cross off one item, and two more take it's place.

I guess that's it for now. As always - more anon.

Prospero

"The Skin of Our Teeth #9"

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? My day job shift change started this week and there hasn't been much drama (thank goodness) with the show, lately.

Rehearsals are going quite well, actually. My very smart cast is usually able to answer my most-used question: Why? Why do you do that? Why do you say that? Why did he write it that way? Usually, I don't care what the answer is, as long as they have one. And when I do want a particular answer, it's been relatively easy to guide them toward it. Of course when all else fails, I just have to come out and say what I want, though that seems to be a rarity, especially among the more experienced cast members. Tonight we ran act one with both of "The Extinct" puppet frames. The ensemble has to learn to get out of their way, but the "family" seems to be interacting with them quite well. One of the puppeteers still doesn't get it and often appears bored, but I hope that I can find a way to motivate him into being a living presence. Wow - how artsy-fartsy does that sound? But it's true.

I have found that two or three of my (relatively) older cast members are quite strange ducks, indeed. Two of them have begun to annoy me to no end, but they have minor roles and I only have to deal with them minimally, thank God.

And speaking of God - being a devout agnostic, I find myself having issues with the religious overtones of the play. The opening lines of Genesis are quoted no less than three times over the course of the play. And Mr. & Mrs. Antrobus are obviously Adam and Eve, while Henry is often referred to as "Cain" and Gladys appears to represent the Virgin Mary in Act III. How does a director who believes that "God" is unknowable, reconcile himself to obvious Christian metaphors? I suppose I must (as I have been) approach the issue as academic, rather than dogmatic. My core beliefs often coincide with traditional Christian mores, though being gay and considering myself rather modern and erudite, I am conflicted when it comes to the play's approach to religion. And many reports indicate that Wilder may have been a closeted homosexual, himself. How did he deal with these issues? He probably didn't, as a product of the early 20th Century, when such things were discussed in whispers and gays were forced to hide their proclivities from the rest of the world. Of course, there are no gay overtones in the piece, though I think I might be able to make a convincing argument for Henry being gay. I just have to find a way to convince the gorgeous actor playing Henry of that. He has played gay roles for me twice in the past (and is set to so again next summer), and while he insists he is straight, I have my doubts. Needless to say, while I will always try to find a way to promote LGBT rights and issues in everything I direct, this show may prove challenging to do so.

OK - time for bed. As always, more of this anon.

Prospero

"The Skin of Our Teeth" #3

First Night of Auditions.

I saw about a dozen people tonight. Some I knew well, others less, and still others not at all. I had several women with the potential to play the Fortune Teller and several other people I can certainly use (the cast is huge), but unfortunately, saw no one for the one role I am most worried about - and that's Mr. Antrobus. The character is Adam; Noah and John Doe. He's Everyman, and as described by the author, has a "Keystone Kops comedy face." He was played by the great Frederick March in the original cast, and is the kind of role I would love to play, if I weren't directing (in fact, I was cast in the part 25 years ago - and was much too young - but turned it down to briefly move to California, something I regret to this day). The point is, I haven't seen one likely candidate for the part. Yikes! Hopefully, tommorow will bring me several from which to choose. Right now, I can cast four of the six main characters, just using people I've already seen and can cast everyone else I saw in one or two smaller roles, each. Not bad, I suppose, for one night's work.

"The Skin of Our Teeth" #1

I have been asked to direct a rather important production of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "The Skin of Our Teeth" for a local classical theatre company. The show is being produced in association with a major college as part of both the English Department's World Drama class and the featured production at the first International Thornton Wilder Conference. I am both honored and terrified, though the producers and technical director both seem to be enthused by the ideas I've brought to them. That having been said, both are dear friends who know me well, so they may be prejudiced.

For those unfamiliar, "The Skin of Our Teeth" is sort of a comic compression of the history of Mankind, ranging from the Ice Age to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, though set in modern, Suburban New Jersey. It's an absurdest joy, featuring a dinosaur and mastodon as house pets, the Great Flood in Atlantic City and a family always on the verge of being torn apart by forces beyond their control, though always managing to hang on by the skin of their teeth.

Written in 1942, as war raged throughout Europe and the Pacific, Wilder's play evokes timeless themes of the unchanging human condition, proving that Man's indomitable spirit cannot and will not be broken, be it by acts nature or the acts of other men. Given the timelessness of the work, I have decided that the style of the show would be based on the "Steam Punk" movement, utilizing modified technology to appear as though it were powered by steam and great cogged wheels buried somewhere deep underground.

So, am I crazy? think it'll work? Did I mention the use of puppets throughout the show? Stay tuned and I'll let you know, starting on Monday, June 28th, after the first round of auditions. This will be my first attempt at blogging an on-going event and the first time I've actually written about the creative process in a journalized form. I hope you find it all as interesting as I hope to. And I hope that as you take the journey with me, you'll leave me your thoughts and comments.

Until next time...

Prospero