Thursday, February 05, 2004
Our first full run-through is history
Our final dress rehearsal is 2 weeks from tonight, and last night was the first full run-through of the entire show.Happily, it ran smooth where it should run smooth, and hit the expected bumps. (See the previous entry about missing dead bodies!)
It's always good to get that first, bumpy run-through in your pocket. Everyone is (mostly) off-book...meaning their lines and music are (mostly) memorized. Holes that require filling are out in the open; nothing is likely to fall through the cracks now.
The next two weeks are all about polishing it up.
So, Candide is opening in two weeks and running until March 14th. And remember, you must click to the Online Box Office via the link in the right-hand bar of this blog to get your exclusive $3/ticket discount!
We're looking forward to seeing you there.
Candide's satirical roots are showing
The original novel "Candide" by Voltaire was a quite sharp satire. I speculate that many of us who have actually read it, did so in French class. You were lucky if you could translate your way through it, let alone appreciate the satire.I was reminded during last night's rehearsal that great satire has an odd, almost eerie ability to remain timeless. Candide was written in the 1700's, as a stinging rebuke to political and religious intolerance.
But last night when a band of maurading warriors was slashing its way through various unfortunate ensemble members on stage, one line really stood out: the narrator describes the soldiers as "slaughtering...and liberating...the populace."
The language of "liberation" in the midst of violence struck me as just as current today as it must have been nearly 300 years ago.
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Overheard...and I kind of wish I hadn't!
There are moments when you think: only in the theatre. And here's one:Tonight was the first full run-through of the show, and as I've said before, when all the new elements start to come into play, it can be confusing. But you don't often hear someone ask, as ensemble member Andrew Solovay did tonight:
"If I'm supposed to drop Cunegonde on a pile of dead bodies, and the pile of bodies isn't there, should we stop or just wing it?"
And I'm just going to let you figure out what he was talking about by coming to SEE the show. Don't forget: click on the box office link on the right and get an exclusive blog-reader's $3/ticket discount!
:)
We're Not Touchy, Not At ALL
Sometimes, just sometimes, an actor can start to feel a little like a piece of meat up there. No, it's not the casting couch I'm talking about, it's other things.For example, I've worked with a choreographer who liked to just grab you and move you to where she wanted you to be. Some people didn't mind, but some people really didn't like the whole grabby thing, pleading to be TOLD where to go. But, you know, sometimes choreographers are all about doing and showing, not talking.
I've also worked with a choreographer (from a modern dance background) who couldn't count beats or give steps associated with counts, but would make a variety of creative sound effects to count out the dance. Something like "Now you be-bop pow, then a cha-cha ching" Okay, whatever you say!
Well, as I've mentioned a while back, there is a character in "Candide" who is only referred to as "Old Lady with One Buttock" played by the irrepressible Linda Piccone. Apparently, that was becoming the common way to give Ms. Piccone her direction. "Now, Old Lady, I want you to move over stage right" and "Old Lady, why don't you sit on that line" and "Old Lady, you take the third stanza."
Well, Linda isn't exactly known for holding back, so at one point in rehearsal this week, after being addressed as "Old Lady" one too many times, she raised her hand and said:
"Hey! Enough with the 'Old Lady.' Could you just call me Marge?"
And oddly enough, the name Marge has stuck.
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Meet our Associate Musical Director, Brandon Adams
Meet the man who never stops with the music. Brandon is a music teacher by day at Woodside Priory High School; Brandon has a church gig on the weekends, and Brandon is the Associate Musical Director for "Candide".What is an "Associate Musical Director" you might ask. Well, in this case it means playing for most of the rehearsals and in the orchestra pit for the shows.
So, how is it different than simply being an Accompanist? The mind-set, according to Brandon, is very different. "When I'm an accompanist, I don't even open my mouth." The accompanist's job is to play and let the musical director address all music issues happening on stage. Brandon's role here is quite different. He and Cathy Snider, the Musical Director, have talked a lot about what they want, and he knows they're on the same page. When Cathy isn't at rehearsal, he is the musical authority.
Brandon has been working on Foothill shows since "On the 20th Century" last winter, in the role of accompanist, but this is the first time he's been Associate Musical Director for Foothill.
Those of you who frequent 42nd Street Moon up in SF or Broadway by the Bay up the peninsula may have seen him music directing, but in very different environments. At 42nd Street Moon, it's only the piano, so Brandon would teach all the vocals and play the rehearsals and shows himself. At Broadway by the Bay it's a full orchestra, which Brandon conducted.
So, you may be wondering, with a day job actually in music, and another part-time gig, and, by the way, a personal life, why does Brandon want to climb the hill to work out at Foothill?
It's entirely selfish!
He loves working with Jay and Cathy, and he loves the opportunity to work on "off the beaten path" shows.
Plus, the work at Foothill provides a nice work-out for Brandon "pianistically" and is a kind of middle step between his two other regular gigs: here he is playing piano, but as PART of an orchestra.It keeps his skills up for his other gigs.
Brandon is a fine actor/singer himself (as I can personally attest from working with him up at 42nd Street Moon) but Music Directing gigs book about 6 months in advance (as opposed to acting, which tends to be a hand-to-mouth kind of existence.) Unfortunately, Brandon hasn't graced the stage in a while.
But if it means we've got him for "Candide", we can be selfish too!
Just When You've Built It Up, You've Got to "Start Over"
So, we've arrived at a critical point. It's two and a half weeks until opening.If you read the earlier blog entry on how musicals come together, you know that we've been working on all elements of the show, and not always in a linear fashion. But now, it's starting to come together. We run large chunks of the show. We run scenes, and when we get to the musical numbers, we sing right through them in stunning Bernstein harmony.
All of the various ensemble roles have been assigned. And by now the blocking for those ensemble roles has now been worked into the principal scenes.
There is this one week left for the cast to enjoy the fruits of their hard work and get a sense of flow.
Because just when you thought it was safe to go into the theatre...the dreaded tech week looms. And in particular, at Foothill anyway, you have the most dreaded of all: Tech Weekend. Tech Weekend, the weekend before Opening, is two days...maybe they're only really 10 hour days, but they definitely feel like 20 hours.
And here's the worst part for the cast...it's just not about the cast. They are merely figures onstage while the lighting designer and sound desgner and set designer and costume designer hash out every technical detail. Don't even think you'll get some good acting momentum going during a scene. You will hear "FREEZE" shouted out from the dark auditorium, just as you're really nailing your big moment.
Of course, it's a small price to pay. The cast has had about 6 weeks to pull things together...the production staff really gets just these two days.
Just when you were getting comfortable, you get a whole bunch of new elements that have to be incorporated. What kind of new elements? Orchestra, props, costumes & make-up, which means costume changes, and set changes too, which often are choreographed with cast members assisting.
It's simple matter of expanding how many different things your brain is keeping track of at one time. And eventually yor brain adjusts to the new level of detail.
It's just that sometimes it feels like you've built up a show, then have to tear it down and start again. For those of you who are into weightlifting, this is a familiar concept. That's how you build muscle. You tear it up a little, so it can heal itself and be stronger than ever.
Theatre and weightlifting? I'm not sure, but I may be the first to use that analogy!
