Well, loyal blog readers, yesterday was the third and final performance of "Art", which I've been working on since the first week in September. As I mentioned here previously, I opted not to do a full scale daily update of the experience here, as this blog is about my acting adventures. As I do more directing and other theatre related activities I may decide to expand the focus of Always Off Book to include more regular updates and thoughts on other things theatrical. In fact I'm leaning in that direction. But in this case for now, I kept my updates about my directorial project broad and infrequent. It being over now though, a post mortem of sorts is in order.
It was an experience with many bumps from the very beginning. Audition turn out was lower than I had hoped. I hadn't hoped for standing room only, but I had hoped there would be more interest than what I got. (Though two of the three roles were cast from those able to show up on the actual day of auditions.
All was well for a week until one of the leads, who for some reason decided not to let me know about his work schedule while auditioning, opted to quit on the very first day. They were "sorry" for nearly running this show into oblivion with one single decision that for whatever reason could not have been made days before. I suppose it's not what happens, but the way it happens that can bother me. The way that happened caused me quite a bit of anger that took me some time to get over. (Truth be told, I will probably always be a little angry about it.)
The next few weeks were a string of disappointments as seven other actors approached to take the role turned it down for various reasons. During those rehearsals I had to read the role myself while also trying to give notes. That essentially doesn't work. I desperately did not want to be in the show myself, as the last time I got to direct, I had to do that. Around this time, I set a deadline for the show. If no actor could be found by Date X, I'd convert the show instead to a dramatic reading on a single weekend, instead of a standard production over two weekends. If that date passed and we still had no replacement, I was considering taking the role myself. It was still not appealing, being in a reading again that I was trying to direct. But a reading made it at least possible (though very difficult) to proceed. Having to be off book was never going to happen.
At last someone emailed me and asked to join the show. I'd met them a few times, but not worked with them directly. Usually in musicals or working backstage, it would be their first experience doing a "straight" show, albeit as a reading. But they took to the role well from day one, and showed fine instincts. At long last, regular rehearsals were underway.
Though not as regular as I had hoped. You see the theatre in which I do most of my acting is small. It has two rooms. The stage, and the green room. When I chose the timing for this play, I operated under the assumption that we would have access to the green room while the show before ours rehearsed on stage. As it turned out, that show needed both the stage AND the green room. Meaning that for a ten day period, we couldn't rehearse, or had to rehearse in a tiny waiting room usually reserved for the medical practice that shares the building. Had I understood that months ago, I probably wouldn't have done the play in November.
When at last, about two weeks before we opened, the stage became ours, things started to improve somewhat. One of the cast member's husbands made for us some perfect podiums to replaces the clunky wooden boxes we had been using for the purpose.(Complete with shelves for some props.) Now the rehearsals began to take on a more solid, consistent feel. We began running the whole show in one night around this time.
Advertising for a stage manager did not bear fruit, (just like so many other things about this experience) so I took on that role myself. For the first time ever, by default, I was a stage manager. A week ago this evening, for the first time ever, I gave a ten minute warning to a cast. After years of thanking stage managers for 10, I received my first ever thank you for ten.
Not that I had time to consider that. For due to lack of interest, I also had to run the lights myself. Luckily there were only about four light cues, all of them requiring only a general wash of the stage. Lights up/lights down kind of thing. That much even I could do on the light board, and I did.
All the while, there was another independent show that would be appearing a week after our show. Not affiliated in any way with the theatre or the venue, they were given permission to use the stage for their performance of some musical. Didn't bother me any...until we could all begin to feel their hot breath on our necks a bit. Many requests to rehearse on our stage when we weren't there came into our producer's office. I allowed one such rehearsal, but finally, in as respectable terms as I could muster, requested to them personally that they not ask for any more time during the run of my show, because I was disinclined to give it to them. I, like anyone else, needed my actors to have a tech week run as smoothly as possible. It did.
The set looked great, thanks to some help from my mother in painting everything black. (Some of the walls had been a beige-like color from a previous production.) Black and minimalist, just as I like it. That is how it would have been had it turned out by my original plan to do the show off book. Just in this case, I had nicely built podiums for the actors.
All three shows had tiny, but receptive audiences. Especially yesterday, when only seven people showed up, but nonetheless laughed heartily and many parts of the play. The previous night was ten people and the first night about 13. (The house seats 100.) I had hoped for the actors' sake that the turn out would be better. But with few exceptions that is the average attendance rate at this particular theatre these days. Other than a reporter who interviewed me about the show (but never ended up running the story, much to me irritation), our show was advertised in the exact same way as the other shows on that stage are advertised. We weren't stuffed in that department, and lord knows I put in as much extra effort to spread the word on Twitter and Facebook as I could. But very little came of it. (10 people out of 400 invited on the Facebook page showed up.)
On the whole, I'm satisfied with the production, despite its bumpy ride almost from start to finish. I am proud of the cast, and grateful to them. They worked the hardest in all of this through some less than ideal circumstances.
Here are a few things I took away from the experience personally:
-I have had less influence, respect, and esteem in the local theatre community than I previously thought. The lack of interest in various stages of this production taught me that. The cult of personality has a large impact on one's numbers, both in auditions and in audience for productions in communities like this, and I lack charisma enough to build one around myself. I accept this in me, for the most part, and knew I was not especially popular on a personal level. But the idea that I command that little attention did come as somewhat of a hurtful surprise to me.
-I am more resourceful than I thought. I've always been proud of my ability as an actor to "take a sad song and make it better" if you will. But until I was forced to do so many things by myself in one show, I hadn't realized what i could make happen by myself in a non-acting position within theatre. The knowledge and perceptions I have built up during my participation in some 30 or so productions over my life has served me better than I would have imagined.
Granted, it is a specific brand of product I had to bring about as a result of all the complications and lack of on the ground help. There are things I did, and left undone that I am sure other directors would have driven themselves crazy trying to avoid. And perhaps they would have succeeded. However, I made a decision early on that my approach was be actor-oriented, no matter how battered the rest of the production would be. If I had to do almost everything backstage, then I was willing to sacrifice the smoothness of some things in order to bring more attention, thought and inspiration to the actors. I simply wasn't going to fall too much in love with some "big picture" perfect scenario that wasn't going to happen. If my lighting was less smooth because I spent less time experimenting with it, and more time getting the actors to think about scenes, so be it. I'd do it that way again.
We all have a specific theatre-style that is inside of us, on which we will fall back if other things don't go right. Mine is a simple, visceral, actor-based and audience-tuned style. When all else fails, explore the humanity. That is what a discerning audience will remember long after the awkward fade is forgotten.
-I've gotten better over the years at not getting outwardly upset. It happens still, and it did with this show's outside forces that continually seemed to throw bumps in front of me and my cast. But had I been doing this five years ago, I would have been angrier, I think, and each obstacle than I was now. Or at least more outwardly angry at them.
-Community theatre on the whole, in my region, is suffering. Stories of 5-10 people showing up for a show are apparently not limited to the tiny theatre in which I do most of my work. Another theatre in the general area seats maybe 500 people. Aside from big name and old fashioned Broadway shows, their plays, it would seem, do not attract the attention they used to. 10 people in that place is far more depressing than ten people where I did "Art". This makes me feel somewhat better about the turnout for my own show, but rather depressed about the prospects of community theatre around here in general.
-George S. Patton was right. "Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
-I may need to talk endlessly about my next project for months in advance, as opposed to weeks in advance. Maybe.
-Those few that do believe in me and what I do, are invaluable to these experiences.
There are more things I learned, about myself, theatre, this community, and other people. I don't need to get into them all. I think the above list covers the major lessons. I hope to direct again, either there or somewhere else. If i do I will take these lessons with me, and temper my approach accordingly. I'll never be personally popular are esteemed enough to command a great deal of interest in my projects around here. But perhaps, with these lessons in mind, I can have a smoother run operation, for both myself, and my actors, the next time I take the helm.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Production Update
Hello, loyal blog readers. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was directing "Art", and that despite this being an acting blog, I'd give you the occasional update. Here's one.
For the last two rehearsals, the cast has been on the stage for the first time. Not alone, as the set for the current (and soon to be concluded) production is still there. But by the time we rehearse again, the stage will be 100% ours. This is good news, as we have practiced in more than one place under some trying circumstances since we got a full cast. (Which didn't even happen until three weeks into the production, given that a lead quit on me five minutes into the very first meeting.)
This is to be a dramatic reading of the play. But a stylized reading, if you will. I will have three podiums on the stage, and if all goes well, each will have a shelf for the few props the script requires. The actors will be free to move around a bit within the "orbit" or their particular podiums, thus making the presentation neither simply a reading, nor a full out production. Rather my goal is to have it taking place in this sort of parallel dimension of theatre, wherein the actors are reading, yes, but are able to present, interact with one another (and the audience) and most importantly invoke the story being told. It wasn't what I originally envisioned, but I think it will work out nicely. Based on the results so far after two rehearsals on stage, anyway.
I have actually been in favor of dramatic readings for other works. They are faster, require less time and less money, and with some imagination can still be a moving experience for an audience as well as for an actor. Not every script would be suited for a reading like this, but I feel a good deal more of them would be, if directors and theaters would be willing to attempt them.
The key is for the actors to make the characters as alive as possible. To make the performances more important than the source of the lines. (A script in front of them as opposed to their own memory.) If actors can do that, and I know my actors can, audience will respond.
That's one reason I made it stylized in this fashion. I've seen readings wherein it the actors simply stood at a music stand and read from a script. Otherwise they worked around with a script in their hand. Good things can happen from either approach, but the limitation of those (particularly the second one) is that the audience feels as though they are watching actors read scripts. They may concede that fine actors are reading the script, but reading nonetheless. Put another way, many readings emphasize the reading as opposed to the acting. I am aiming to reverse that with my stylized presentation.
Much like in a musical where one accepts the conceit that people will at key moments break into song, the goal of this type of reading is to make the audience accept the conceit that these characters are real and interacting in a sort of undefined space that nonetheless represents an actual location. When the performances are real, this conceit becomes acceptable. That in a nutshell is my goal for this. Based on what I have seen so far, my cast is well on its way to achieving that vision.
For the last two rehearsals, the cast has been on the stage for the first time. Not alone, as the set for the current (and soon to be concluded) production is still there. But by the time we rehearse again, the stage will be 100% ours. This is good news, as we have practiced in more than one place under some trying circumstances since we got a full cast. (Which didn't even happen until three weeks into the production, given that a lead quit on me five minutes into the very first meeting.)
This is to be a dramatic reading of the play. But a stylized reading, if you will. I will have three podiums on the stage, and if all goes well, each will have a shelf for the few props the script requires. The actors will be free to move around a bit within the "orbit" or their particular podiums, thus making the presentation neither simply a reading, nor a full out production. Rather my goal is to have it taking place in this sort of parallel dimension of theatre, wherein the actors are reading, yes, but are able to present, interact with one another (and the audience) and most importantly invoke the story being told. It wasn't what I originally envisioned, but I think it will work out nicely. Based on the results so far after two rehearsals on stage, anyway.
I have actually been in favor of dramatic readings for other works. They are faster, require less time and less money, and with some imagination can still be a moving experience for an audience as well as for an actor. Not every script would be suited for a reading like this, but I feel a good deal more of them would be, if directors and theaters would be willing to attempt them.
The key is for the actors to make the characters as alive as possible. To make the performances more important than the source of the lines. (A script in front of them as opposed to their own memory.) If actors can do that, and I know my actors can, audience will respond.
That's one reason I made it stylized in this fashion. I've seen readings wherein it the actors simply stood at a music stand and read from a script. Otherwise they worked around with a script in their hand. Good things can happen from either approach, but the limitation of those (particularly the second one) is that the audience feels as though they are watching actors read scripts. They may concede that fine actors are reading the script, but reading nonetheless. Put another way, many readings emphasize the reading as opposed to the acting. I am aiming to reverse that with my stylized presentation.
Much like in a musical where one accepts the conceit that people will at key moments break into song, the goal of this type of reading is to make the audience accept the conceit that these characters are real and interacting in a sort of undefined space that nonetheless represents an actual location. When the performances are real, this conceit becomes acceptable. That in a nutshell is my goal for this. Based on what I have seen so far, my cast is well on its way to achieving that vision.
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Updates
Hello again, loyal blog readers. I have not been here on Always Off Book in a while, having come to the end of my last production back in August. But there are several things that were/are going on I wanted to fill you in on.
To begin with, I am directing now. Actually I have been directing for the last few weeks. Art by Yasmina Reza, at the Full Circle Theater. (Though it is not part of their regular season. It is to be a fundraiser for the educational component of the company, the Young Actors Theater Lab. I haven't mentioned here until now for several reasons.
To begin with, I am not in it. I am directing it. I have been afforded the chance to direct only twice during the entire time this blog has existed, and I haven't decided if this blog about my acting experiences is the proper place to talk about directing. The last time I didn't blog much about it, but some, and I imagine I will do the same here. But, much like the last time I tried to direct, it has not exactly gone smoothly.
I had a lead actor decide to come to the first rehearsal in person to tell me he quit. I spent weeks afterward trying to replace that actor, only to have four people turn down the role for better gigs, or other reasons. As time passed, and I filled in for the missing role, I first knocked one weekend off of the performance dates, leaving it as just the one weekend. Then, as more and more rejections to help me rolled in, I converted the entire thing to a staged, dramatic reading.
It was not at all what I wanted to do. But I had hoped that drastically reducing the rehearsal time, and the mental energy required, (no memorizing required) would convince some people to reconsider. It did not. So I prepared to take on the role myself. Something that would have been totally impossible in a standard production, but was somewhat doable in a staged reading.
Thankfully, about two weeks ago someone finally contacted me and agreed to step in. I am grateful to them, and they are fitting in quite nicely, despite having several fewer weeks to work on the script than the other two actors. (There are only three characters.) So at long last, after taking several gut blows and being reduced in ways I did not want to reduce it, this production is on, and promises to be an entertaining evening of theatre, staged reading notwithstanding.
As for my plans to start my own company of excited, motivated actors, which I announced at the start of this year? That is no more. I officially discontinued the idea on the company's Facebook page, when virtually zero interest was expressed in the endeavor. I left open the possibility of looking into it in the future, but didn't make any promises. Very frustrating and sad to me. Because I had been building the foundation for that for three years or so. Art had been in the works in some fashion for four years. Nothing makes one feel more like a failure than dumpipng a great deal of passion into something, and finding that nobody (or almost nobody) has the slightest interest in helping you succeed.
I learned from these two events that I need to give less of myself to the local artistic community. I misjudged the amount of goodwill I have build up over the years by stepping in to help other people when their own visions and projects are in danger. I therefore made the conscious decision to not be there as often for as many people anymore. The time, effort and heartache is clearly not worth the investment, seeing as how when I needed something and want to succeed, nobody in the community was at all there for me. I will now be far more selective in the projects I will undertake. At least until/if I find myself in a more cooperative circle.
To that end, I have begun look into the idea of one-mans hows. This is not a new idea for me. I may have even mentioned it previously here on this blog over the years, I'm not certain. But one thing I have learned is that if one can only rely on himself, one needs to seek out opportunities that involve only himself. I of course will still require the cooperation of any given theatre for a chance to perform such shows, but if I do it in future years as a fundraiser for the YATL and nothing else, that should still provide me with a venue. I don't need to take any show all over the town or anything. (It would be foolish to try, as I would also receive little to no support for that.)
There are one or two one-man shows already published I'd think of doing, and I am making early notes on writing one of my own. That is much too far away to get into any detail here, but I wanted to mention it as something actor related that I have been up to lately.
I will try to keep you semi-updated on Art, even though I am only directing it. A director must have certain discretion that an actor need not have, so I will not go into detail. But I may make a video here and there that I will post here, as well as to the as yet unmade Facebook page for the production.
To begin with, I am directing now. Actually I have been directing for the last few weeks. Art by Yasmina Reza, at the Full Circle Theater. (Though it is not part of their regular season. It is to be a fundraiser for the educational component of the company, the Young Actors Theater Lab. I haven't mentioned here until now for several reasons.
To begin with, I am not in it. I am directing it. I have been afforded the chance to direct only twice during the entire time this blog has existed, and I haven't decided if this blog about my acting experiences is the proper place to talk about directing. The last time I didn't blog much about it, but some, and I imagine I will do the same here. But, much like the last time I tried to direct, it has not exactly gone smoothly.
I had a lead actor decide to come to the first rehearsal in person to tell me he quit. I spent weeks afterward trying to replace that actor, only to have four people turn down the role for better gigs, or other reasons. As time passed, and I filled in for the missing role, I first knocked one weekend off of the performance dates, leaving it as just the one weekend. Then, as more and more rejections to help me rolled in, I converted the entire thing to a staged, dramatic reading.
It was not at all what I wanted to do. But I had hoped that drastically reducing the rehearsal time, and the mental energy required, (no memorizing required) would convince some people to reconsider. It did not. So I prepared to take on the role myself. Something that would have been totally impossible in a standard production, but was somewhat doable in a staged reading.
Thankfully, about two weeks ago someone finally contacted me and agreed to step in. I am grateful to them, and they are fitting in quite nicely, despite having several fewer weeks to work on the script than the other two actors. (There are only three characters.) So at long last, after taking several gut blows and being reduced in ways I did not want to reduce it, this production is on, and promises to be an entertaining evening of theatre, staged reading notwithstanding.
As for my plans to start my own company of excited, motivated actors, which I announced at the start of this year? That is no more. I officially discontinued the idea on the company's Facebook page, when virtually zero interest was expressed in the endeavor. I left open the possibility of looking into it in the future, but didn't make any promises. Very frustrating and sad to me. Because I had been building the foundation for that for three years or so. Art had been in the works in some fashion for four years. Nothing makes one feel more like a failure than dumpipng a great deal of passion into something, and finding that nobody (or almost nobody) has the slightest interest in helping you succeed.
I learned from these two events that I need to give less of myself to the local artistic community. I misjudged the amount of goodwill I have build up over the years by stepping in to help other people when their own visions and projects are in danger. I therefore made the conscious decision to not be there as often for as many people anymore. The time, effort and heartache is clearly not worth the investment, seeing as how when I needed something and want to succeed, nobody in the community was at all there for me. I will now be far more selective in the projects I will undertake. At least until/if I find myself in a more cooperative circle.
To that end, I have begun look into the idea of one-mans hows. This is not a new idea for me. I may have even mentioned it previously here on this blog over the years, I'm not certain. But one thing I have learned is that if one can only rely on himself, one needs to seek out opportunities that involve only himself. I of course will still require the cooperation of any given theatre for a chance to perform such shows, but if I do it in future years as a fundraiser for the YATL and nothing else, that should still provide me with a venue. I don't need to take any show all over the town or anything. (It would be foolish to try, as I would also receive little to no support for that.)
There are one or two one-man shows already published I'd think of doing, and I am making early notes on writing one of my own. That is much too far away to get into any detail here, but I wanted to mention it as something actor related that I have been up to lately.
I will try to keep you semi-updated on Art, even though I am only directing it. A director must have certain discretion that an actor need not have, so I will not go into detail. But I may make a video here and there that I will post here, as well as to the as yet unmade Facebook page for the production.
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