I neglected to write about our first Saturday show when it happened. Truth be told, there wasn't much to write about. No major mistakes, but in all sincerity I must tell you, loyal blog readers, that is was one of the smallest, deadest audiences for which I have performed in my entire theatre life.
Few laughs I could understand. Though listed as a comedy, it really is a drama with a few funny moments at best. But the energy...it was like a black-hole out there. A vortex that practically sucked the will to perform out of me a little more with each scene. God love the people who paid for tickets that night, but if my instincts as an actor after all of these years is any indication at all, they were getting very little out of the show. This, I'm telling you, was more than timid, more than polite. It feels like we didn't reach any of them at all, on any level.
They clapped at the end, at least.
It happens. And despite all the accumulated knowledge of actors, theatres, directors and so on, really nobody ever knows when it will happen, especially to this degree. True, if you never advertise a show, than you increase the odds of having few people bother showing up. If you try to perform Equus for middle-schoolers, you are probably going to make plenty of people unhappy. Saturday crowds are usually (but as I've said by no means always) more into a show than Sunday matinee crowds. There are obvious millstones.
Still, about 85% of the time, nobody has the slightest idea of determining when an audience such as the one I've described wills how up. Too many variable to even try. We performed well; on a technical level better than we did on opening night. But still, nothing.
Fortunately, the matinee was just as much of a surprise in the other direction. Twice as many people, all of whom were responsive and invested in the show.
They laughed a few times at things I didn't think anyone would laugh at. (Mom being there may have helped with that, I'm not sure.) As much as I hate matinees, and as much as I was specifically dragging my feel on this one because of the let down of the night before, it didn't take long to feel into the performance. Other than my having not quite eaten enough before the show, it felt good.
It's too early to tell, of course, if Sunday is to be out best day for the show. We have three more performances starting tomorrow night. It was, with little doubt in my mind, the best of the first weekend, even though Opening Night has the higher numbers.
In the history of my being in theatre, I was in exactly one show where the best crowd and performance was a matinee. (And it was so long ago, it pre-dates this blog.) Better a good matinee than no good performances during a run. But my overall distaste for matinees, often talked about here on this blog, is well documented, and I won't go over it here again. Look up "matinee" in the search, and you'll see what I mean.
Three more performances.
Showing posts with label matinee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label matinee. Show all posts
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Home Stretch
For the life of me, I thought I had posted about last week's matinee, but I hadn't. And now here I am only a few hours from this week's matinee closer.
Like last week's, today is sold out. It proved a plus, as usual for a full house last week. They crowd was really quite into singing at the opening of the show, and they gave us a nice ovation at the end. Though to be honest, neither they nor any of the audiences so far have laughed at some of the things I thought they might laugh at. True, it is not a comedy per se, but there are still moments of humor that haven't translated in this production like I thought they might.
Still, the full house on last Sunday was our largest crowd in the small intimate space so far for this production. Just having that many people present is helpful for a show like this.
I also knew several people in the audience that day. The sad truth is that most people I know locally do not see my shows, so I usually know people when they are there for others in the play as well. Always adds a little something when you know someone out there in the audience is a friend of yours. (Even though often you cannot see them.
As for this weekend so far, Friday was tough. Not terrible,but it was our smallest crowd. I think 15 total, which even in a house that small looks, well, small. And they were quiet.
Last night was I think our second largest crowd,and I had family in that one. They enjoyed it. I fumbled a bit in one part of my performance, but I covered well and I don't think anybody noticed.
I'd say that last night's audience, though not a full house might have laughed more than any of the others have. Still not as much as I might have thought, and I don't mean gut busting here. But from my own angle, I think someone laughed at something more often last night than the previous nights.
A friend of mind was in the front row, and I knew I had to mess with him at least once. (Our director said we could sometimes interact with the audience if we wanted.) I had only one real chance. As Topper, announcing he is a bachelor, I sort of play that to the audience. I addressed it last night to my friend in particular, partly because he is married, so I emphasized "bachelor" and pointed at home laughing. (Little did I know, Scrooge later patted him on the head at the end of the show.)
A fun evening overall, I suppose.
Now, one more full house, and we close this production, which in many ways seems to have hardly started. I'll update that, and give overall thoughts on the show, later tonight when I get home from the cast party.
Like last week's, today is sold out. It proved a plus, as usual for a full house last week. They crowd was really quite into singing at the opening of the show, and they gave us a nice ovation at the end. Though to be honest, neither they nor any of the audiences so far have laughed at some of the things I thought they might laugh at. True, it is not a comedy per se, but there are still moments of humor that haven't translated in this production like I thought they might.
Still, the full house on last Sunday was our largest crowd in the small intimate space so far for this production. Just having that many people present is helpful for a show like this.
I also knew several people in the audience that day. The sad truth is that most people I know locally do not see my shows, so I usually know people when they are there for others in the play as well. Always adds a little something when you know someone out there in the audience is a friend of yours. (Even though often you cannot see them.
As for this weekend so far, Friday was tough. Not terrible,but it was our smallest crowd. I think 15 total, which even in a house that small looks, well, small. And they were quiet.
Last night was I think our second largest crowd,and I had family in that one. They enjoyed it. I fumbled a bit in one part of my performance, but I covered well and I don't think anybody noticed.
I'd say that last night's audience, though not a full house might have laughed more than any of the others have. Still not as much as I might have thought, and I don't mean gut busting here. But from my own angle, I think someone laughed at something more often last night than the previous nights.
A friend of mind was in the front row, and I knew I had to mess with him at least once. (Our director said we could sometimes interact with the audience if we wanted.) I had only one real chance. As Topper, announcing he is a bachelor, I sort of play that to the audience. I addressed it last night to my friend in particular, partly because he is married, so I emphasized "bachelor" and pointed at home laughing. (Little did I know, Scrooge later patted him on the head at the end of the show.)
A fun evening overall, I suppose.
Now, one more full house, and we close this production, which in many ways seems to have hardly started. I'll update that, and give overall thoughts on the show, later tonight when I get home from the cast party.
Tuesday, October 04, 2016
Macbeth Matinee 1
If you don't know I hate matinees, you have never been to this blog before this summer, so welcome.
That being said, our first one went well. I wasn't feeling 100%, outside of it being the exhausting time frame of a 2:30 PM show with a 12:30 PM call. I think I might not have had enough protein by the time the show started. But I was able to focus where I needed to, and though i didn't throw a perfect game, I made no major mistakes. My guess is that I made none that the audience would have picked up on, which if not a perfect game, is sort of like a no-hitter. Maybe.
My mother was in the audience, and she enjoyed the show. (Though she did request a brief synopsis of the plot earlier in the day before she got to the theatre, since she is less familiar with Shakespeare than I.)
Also, 4.3 went well, again. I admit I am still a tad nervous just before that big scene comes up, but it doesn't last too long, I suppose.
The crowd was smaller than it was on Saturday night. But a few of them stayed afterward for a Q&A. I didn't have any direct question to respond to from the audience members, but the director did ask me to elaborate on Malcolm a bit. I gave a brief rendition of many of the things about the character I've already shared here on the blog.
I am happy with the first weekend, but I think it ended just in time; I was in need of a break from the show, even though it went well. The impression I get is that many of the others felt the same way.
We report for a pick up rehearsal on Thursday. Three days off is good; haven't had that much of a break in a few weeks. Second weekends often have a totally different feel to them...something a bit energizing in a way that opening night is not. We are all Macbeth "veterans" now. When we reconvene in a few days, it will by in that context, and i think that tends to raise the confidence of an entire group on a subconscious level.
Unless there is some major development, I probably won't post about the pick-up rehearsal. It's not interesting material, and may not even be a full rehearsal, according to the director. Check back in on Friday to see how the second weekend kicks off.
That being said, our first one went well. I wasn't feeling 100%, outside of it being the exhausting time frame of a 2:30 PM show with a 12:30 PM call. I think I might not have had enough protein by the time the show started. But I was able to focus where I needed to, and though i didn't throw a perfect game, I made no major mistakes. My guess is that I made none that the audience would have picked up on, which if not a perfect game, is sort of like a no-hitter. Maybe.
My mother was in the audience, and she enjoyed the show. (Though she did request a brief synopsis of the plot earlier in the day before she got to the theatre, since she is less familiar with Shakespeare than I.)
Also, 4.3 went well, again. I admit I am still a tad nervous just before that big scene comes up, but it doesn't last too long, I suppose.
The crowd was smaller than it was on Saturday night. But a few of them stayed afterward for a Q&A. I didn't have any direct question to respond to from the audience members, but the director did ask me to elaborate on Malcolm a bit. I gave a brief rendition of many of the things about the character I've already shared here on the blog.
I am happy with the first weekend, but I think it ended just in time; I was in need of a break from the show, even though it went well. The impression I get is that many of the others felt the same way.
We report for a pick up rehearsal on Thursday. Three days off is good; haven't had that much of a break in a few weeks. Second weekends often have a totally different feel to them...something a bit energizing in a way that opening night is not. We are all Macbeth "veterans" now. When we reconvene in a few days, it will by in that context, and i think that tends to raise the confidence of an entire group on a subconscious level.
Unless there is some major development, I probably won't post about the pick-up rehearsal. It's not interesting material, and may not even be a full rehearsal, according to the director. Check back in on Friday to see how the second weekend kicks off.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The Trend Seems to Hold
There is one more performance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I realize that. So I would be able to say with certainty that my second-Saturday theory held true. But I can say that last night was both our biggest (20...) and most responsive crowd of the run. And that despite one of our leads having a sore throat and failing voice, it was, from what I could gather, our best performance. Today's matinee could in theory be better, but in the history of my doing theatre, a closing matinee has been the best of the run only one single time.
First off, it is a matinee. Then there is too much fatigue, colder, smaller crowds, unfair comparisons to the night before and depending on the show the emotion of knowing it is about to end. The closing matinee is usually not a showcase of stellar quality. (Which is why I prefer my people not to attend them.)
But that is today. Last night I had a few friends in the audience, and many of the more subtle moments finally got some laughs. Even I as Hamlet got a few chuckles. The bit wherein I reveal I am reading a magazine got a laugh in Act Three. My spitting over the side of the "boat" got it's very first reaction. Even "hawk from a handsaw" amused somebody.
Last night my Hamlet was in top form, I would say. Now I don't want to oversell this point, because as I said, the character is just a periodic presence the pops in and out throughout the play. So it would not be accurate to call this Hamlet a huge drain on my resources. Yet through the tiny slices of Hamlet that I get to enact each night I have gotten a feel for what doing the entire role would require, and confirmed that I could hit the stride of same. In the program I describe this as a sort of "spring training" for Hamlet, and last night I feel I perfectly hit the rhythms of this version of him. Both last night and the night before I got to the place I wanted to be from the beginning: feeling for those few moments as though I am in the actual Hamlet. I was most able to convince myself of that last night, and so I give it the stamp of my "best performance of the run" so far.
The business of us running and hiding from the pirate actually got applause at the end of the scene. That was fun.
The only difficult lie in me moving the damn umbrella about in the dark again. I got it done, but almost missed the chair when I sat down. I think someone laughed. But oh well.
Not an exciting entry, I realize. But a stride has been hit. At least for the last two evening. Hopefully it carries through to today's closer.
First off, it is a matinee. Then there is too much fatigue, colder, smaller crowds, unfair comparisons to the night before and depending on the show the emotion of knowing it is about to end. The closing matinee is usually not a showcase of stellar quality. (Which is why I prefer my people not to attend them.)
But that is today. Last night I had a few friends in the audience, and many of the more subtle moments finally got some laughs. Even I as Hamlet got a few chuckles. The bit wherein I reveal I am reading a magazine got a laugh in Act Three. My spitting over the side of the "boat" got it's very first reaction. Even "hawk from a handsaw" amused somebody.
Last night my Hamlet was in top form, I would say. Now I don't want to oversell this point, because as I said, the character is just a periodic presence the pops in and out throughout the play. So it would not be accurate to call this Hamlet a huge drain on my resources. Yet through the tiny slices of Hamlet that I get to enact each night I have gotten a feel for what doing the entire role would require, and confirmed that I could hit the stride of same. In the program I describe this as a sort of "spring training" for Hamlet, and last night I feel I perfectly hit the rhythms of this version of him. Both last night and the night before I got to the place I wanted to be from the beginning: feeling for those few moments as though I am in the actual Hamlet. I was most able to convince myself of that last night, and so I give it the stamp of my "best performance of the run" so far.
The business of us running and hiding from the pirate actually got applause at the end of the scene. That was fun.
The only difficult lie in me moving the damn umbrella about in the dark again. I got it done, but almost missed the chair when I sat down. I think someone laughed. But oh well.
Not an exciting entry, I realize. But a stride has been hit. At least for the last two evening. Hopefully it carries through to today's closer.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Hot Ticket
I wish the title referred to how many people were beating in the door to come see our matinee. But no, i am actually referring to the fact that the AC was not functioning out in the house, and that made for a rather sweltering experience for the audience. Which consisted of about 12 people. There are only 11 in the cast...
The performance was alright. Several people thought it was the best so far. While good, I personally think Saturday night's went better overall. But that could be because there were virtually no laughs from the few people yesterday, while there were several people Saturday night that understood some of the subtleties, and hence were heard laughing. I can't be sure.
I am sure that my energy in some scenes was lower than it should have been. I'm not talking lethargy here, but I could have used more bounce in a few of the scenes. My most animated scenes were fine, but I think I slipped a bit in my more passive scenes. (If Hamlet is ever passive...)
The umbrella business went easier than on Saturday night. I can't remember the exact mechanics of what i did, but I hope I can repeat it for the rest of the run, because it was much easier. Even though things were in a somewhat different position than previous nights.
One thing that wasn't in position was a barrel of swords in Act Three. These swords play a critical role in one hectic moment of the scene, so an interesting challenge arose.
I start off Act Three hidden on stage behind an umbrella for about 15 minutes or so. During that time I clearly see the area where the swords are supposed to be. And as the lights came up I noted that they had not been placed. I knew this would require some kind of ad-lib later on. But what, exactly?
What is supposed to happen is that eventually I walk up stage, notice that the "ship" is being boarded by pirates, and yell "pirates" to the other on stage while turning and grabbing a sword from the barrel. I then yell to the others, "To arms," and they grab swords. Brief slap stick hijynx then ensue. Having a good 20 minutes or so to ponder how to make up for this I went through my options.
1) See if I could somehow signal to actors waiting in the wings across from me what the situation was. This I dismissed quickly, as I would have no idea how to sign out such a scenario.
2) Instead of walking up stage before yelling "pirates", I could walk off stage and yell same, and hopefully in those few moments locate the swords and then bring out enough for everyone when I entered the stage. For much of the time I thought this would be my plan. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what would happen if I wouldn't be able to find the swords? I figured they couldn't be far, but I couldn't be 100% certain they were right off stage.
3) I thought about ignoring the missing swords altogether. Playing out the scene in exactly the same way, only "To arms" would mean to look for, but not actually find any weapons, and then proceed. This is almost what I did. But what I went with was...
4) I did everything as normal. I went upstage, yelled "pirates", and then turned to the others and yelled instead, "find me a sword."
You see at this point I don't know if the other actors have noticed the missing barrel or not. Ideally what I figured this would do would be to cause us all to run around in the exact same manner, looking for a sword, before exiting, instead of brandishing swords and then exiting. So I proceeded to run to the places I normally would have done. The other three ran off stage, muttering, "sword! sword!", and actually came back on with the swords. Turns out they were not far off stage after all. They handed me one and I took it. But I wasn't sure if I should then begin the blocking over again, or, as the nominal leader of the half assed charge, I would just cut to the end of the blocking, and exit. This is what I did, and everything turned out fine. I would be very surprised if the audience knew it wasn't supposed to be that way. I must commend the other three on stage for their excellent cover.
Live theatre. At least in this case I had plenty of time to ponder the improvisation. I have many times had to work through a mistake instantly. I am just glad i had time to think this one through.
I must admit I look forward to a break of a few days from doing the show. Despite the great improvement we saw over the last week I was getting tired. I should be refreshed by the time we do the pick-up rehearsal on Thursday. (Though three people, including one of the leads won't be able to attend it, unfortunately.) Then onto the second weekend, which will hopefully be better attended.
The performance was alright. Several people thought it was the best so far. While good, I personally think Saturday night's went better overall. But that could be because there were virtually no laughs from the few people yesterday, while there were several people Saturday night that understood some of the subtleties, and hence were heard laughing. I can't be sure.
I am sure that my energy in some scenes was lower than it should have been. I'm not talking lethargy here, but I could have used more bounce in a few of the scenes. My most animated scenes were fine, but I think I slipped a bit in my more passive scenes. (If Hamlet is ever passive...)
The umbrella business went easier than on Saturday night. I can't remember the exact mechanics of what i did, but I hope I can repeat it for the rest of the run, because it was much easier. Even though things were in a somewhat different position than previous nights.
One thing that wasn't in position was a barrel of swords in Act Three. These swords play a critical role in one hectic moment of the scene, so an interesting challenge arose.
I start off Act Three hidden on stage behind an umbrella for about 15 minutes or so. During that time I clearly see the area where the swords are supposed to be. And as the lights came up I noted that they had not been placed. I knew this would require some kind of ad-lib later on. But what, exactly?
What is supposed to happen is that eventually I walk up stage, notice that the "ship" is being boarded by pirates, and yell "pirates" to the other on stage while turning and grabbing a sword from the barrel. I then yell to the others, "To arms," and they grab swords. Brief slap stick hijynx then ensue. Having a good 20 minutes or so to ponder how to make up for this I went through my options.
1) See if I could somehow signal to actors waiting in the wings across from me what the situation was. This I dismissed quickly, as I would have no idea how to sign out such a scenario.
2) Instead of walking up stage before yelling "pirates", I could walk off stage and yell same, and hopefully in those few moments locate the swords and then bring out enough for everyone when I entered the stage. For much of the time I thought this would be my plan. But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered what would happen if I wouldn't be able to find the swords? I figured they couldn't be far, but I couldn't be 100% certain they were right off stage.
3) I thought about ignoring the missing swords altogether. Playing out the scene in exactly the same way, only "To arms" would mean to look for, but not actually find any weapons, and then proceed. This is almost what I did. But what I went with was...
4) I did everything as normal. I went upstage, yelled "pirates", and then turned to the others and yelled instead, "find me a sword."
You see at this point I don't know if the other actors have noticed the missing barrel or not. Ideally what I figured this would do would be to cause us all to run around in the exact same manner, looking for a sword, before exiting, instead of brandishing swords and then exiting. So I proceeded to run to the places I normally would have done. The other three ran off stage, muttering, "sword! sword!", and actually came back on with the swords. Turns out they were not far off stage after all. They handed me one and I took it. But I wasn't sure if I should then begin the blocking over again, or, as the nominal leader of the half assed charge, I would just cut to the end of the blocking, and exit. This is what I did, and everything turned out fine. I would be very surprised if the audience knew it wasn't supposed to be that way. I must commend the other three on stage for their excellent cover.
Live theatre. At least in this case I had plenty of time to ponder the improvisation. I have many times had to work through a mistake instantly. I am just glad i had time to think this one through.
I must admit I look forward to a break of a few days from doing the show. Despite the great improvement we saw over the last week I was getting tired. I should be refreshed by the time we do the pick-up rehearsal on Thursday. (Though three people, including one of the leads won't be able to attend it, unfortunately.) Then onto the second weekend, which will hopefully be better attended.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
"Keep Em' Comin'"
Saturday's show came at the end of a long day of both work and leisure for me. I was up earlier in the morning than I like to be for a writing assignment in the southern part of the county. After that I went to a large picnic hosted by friends about 45 minutes away. And with the back road I was going to take from there to the theatre being closed, I was ever so slightly late for call.
Not that anybody seemed to notice that. Everyone was in a pretty relaxed mood. As was I. As it turns out, so was the tiny audience.
There were in fact a few more people on Saturday than on Friday. And they were slightly more responsive. So that was an advantage. I can't say it was electricity out there, but it did help to have a few more laughs coming our way.
Except during the dance, which once again landed with an elongated, and awkward thud for the most part. Each time we do it the music seems a bit different, and nobody is enjoying it either on or off stage. More than one person wishes we could just do away with it. But of course that isn't possible. So we just get through it as fast as we can. (As in, as fast as the music will allow) and move on to the more enjoyable elements.
Energy for Act One was a bit higher than the previous night. Energy for Act Two was probably about the same as the previous night. I think it's because Act Two begins with two of the longest and most dated pieces in the entire production, and they tend to lull the audience. It's not the fault of the actor's; these pieces are just outside the reach of most people these days.
Preble was still the best thing I did on the evening, and probably the best received. The Unicorn in the Garden, short and silly as it is probably comes in second place. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, despite it's overall improvements and the work we put into it does not seem to be catching on with audiences, which surprises me a bit. I actually wonder if they understand that what is happening is a daydream...
So today is the matinee and of course attendance is generally a problem for any show on a Sunday afternoon. But will the oddness of this play's target audience mean we do better today than we did for the evening shows? Possible, but I won't hold my breath. Especially during the opening dance...
Not that anybody seemed to notice that. Everyone was in a pretty relaxed mood. As was I. As it turns out, so was the tiny audience.
There were in fact a few more people on Saturday than on Friday. And they were slightly more responsive. So that was an advantage. I can't say it was electricity out there, but it did help to have a few more laughs coming our way.
Except during the dance, which once again landed with an elongated, and awkward thud for the most part. Each time we do it the music seems a bit different, and nobody is enjoying it either on or off stage. More than one person wishes we could just do away with it. But of course that isn't possible. So we just get through it as fast as we can. (As in, as fast as the music will allow) and move on to the more enjoyable elements.
Energy for Act One was a bit higher than the previous night. Energy for Act Two was probably about the same as the previous night. I think it's because Act Two begins with two of the longest and most dated pieces in the entire production, and they tend to lull the audience. It's not the fault of the actor's; these pieces are just outside the reach of most people these days.
Preble was still the best thing I did on the evening, and probably the best received. The Unicorn in the Garden, short and silly as it is probably comes in second place. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, despite it's overall improvements and the work we put into it does not seem to be catching on with audiences, which surprises me a bit. I actually wonder if they understand that what is happening is a daydream...
So today is the matinee and of course attendance is generally a problem for any show on a Sunday afternoon. But will the oddness of this play's target audience mean we do better today than we did for the evening shows? Possible, but I won't hold my breath. Especially during the opening dance...
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