Tonight we ran the whole show again. Start to finish it was just about one hour and forty minutes and I was very pleased with how tonight's run went. Everyone was much more on top of their game than they were on Saturday and the whole show ran very smoothly. We even ran all of the preshow songs and they ran very well too. All in all the play as a whole is coming together very well. I have to run some serious errands tomorrow morning to get the rest of our props together, but then we'll be rolling right along!
So excited for the next week! Can't wait for folks to get the chance to watch this play!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 18
Today was our last fight rehearsal with the fight choreographer. We went back over all the fights in the show with JP just to make sure that everything was progressing and still looking like what he had choreographed. This rehearsal went very very well. Everyone is doing a great job on their fight choreography and the fights in this show really make it. I mean, folks are going to enjoy this show, but they are really going to love the fights. These fights are actually going to draw sound out of audiences. I cringe and breathe sharply in every time Paris (Bobby) is hit in the face with a crow bar. I can't wait for audiences to get a load of these fights. They are worth the extra money I spent to have JP choreographing them. :)
Also, Zach, Brian, AJ, and Wagoner finally got some rehearsal time on "Fight Your Kids" today. I've been worried about this song and was ready at the beginning of today (when one of the actors did not show up to rehearsal) to just cut it all together. But, they pulled it together and after just half an hour had something that sounded infinitely better than what they had left with after the last rehearsal of this song. All in all, a rocky start, but with surprisingly satisfying results.
Also, Zach, Brian, AJ, and Wagoner finally got some rehearsal time on "Fight Your Kids" today. I've been worried about this song and was ready at the beginning of today (when one of the actors did not show up to rehearsal) to just cut it all together. But, they pulled it together and after just half an hour had something that sounded infinitely better than what they had left with after the last rehearsal of this song. All in all, a rocky start, but with surprisingly satisfying results.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 17
Second full run thru
This run thru was a little disconcerting. Folks are still having trouble with their entrances, cues, and lines. Based on this rehearsal (and thanks to the suggestion of one of my actors), I've switched up the rehearsal schedule for this week so that we're mostly doing runs rather than individual scene work. It's going to make for some longer rehearsals for everyone, but it's what they need.
On their own, the scenes of this show are looking really great, but all together, the show is clunky because we haven't done enough of just running things all together. That's what happens when you have such a short rehearsal schedule. Whee!
One more week to go!
This run thru was a little disconcerting. Folks are still having trouble with their entrances, cues, and lines. Based on this rehearsal (and thanks to the suggestion of one of my actors), I've switched up the rehearsal schedule for this week so that we're mostly doing runs rather than individual scene work. It's going to make for some longer rehearsals for everyone, but it's what they need.
On their own, the scenes of this show are looking really great, but all together, the show is clunky because we haven't done enough of just running things all together. That's what happens when you have such a short rehearsal schedule. Whee!
One more week to go!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 16
Today, all we worked was 5.3 (the final scene). The first half of this scene looks really great... all the way through Romeo's death. But, the rest of this scene is still a shit show (except Juliet's death... that's looking good as well). And, I two people not show up for rehearsal this evening. It was almost not worth having the second half of rehearsal today because we were missing people. I knew I was going to be down one, but we could have easily dealt with that had we had the other two. In any case, the show on the whole is going really well, but this scene is still a struggle. I keep having crap rehearsals when we get to this scene and I can't figure out what it is. Is it just the sheer volume of people on stage? I can't imagine that it is, only because 1.4 is looking so good. I guess they're just all going to get some serious notes on this scene during our runs tomorrow and next weekend. I just really can't believe how upset this one thing has caused me to be. Personally, I suppose I'm feeling a little betrayed and jilted. One actor never even called my stage manager back, and the other decided it was more important that he go to Harrisonburg to pick up a package than be at rehearsal tonight. In any case, it's difficult for me to write anything positive right now, being that I am so concerned that the end of my show is going to look like crap. The rest of the play is coming together so well, I'd hate to think that it's going to just all fall apart at the end. Dear God. Save me now.
Additionally, I am looking into back-up players for one of the actors. I'm not really going to replace him, just scare him enough to straighten up and fly right. My guess is that telling him I have someone ready to step in and replace him will be enough to shape him up. I've never had to replace an actor before. We shall see....
Additionally, I am looking into back-up players for one of the actors. I'm not really going to replace him, just scare him enough to straighten up and fly right. My guess is that telling him I have someone ready to step in and replace him will be enough to shape him up. I've never had to replace an actor before. We shall see....
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 15
We only did one scene tonight, the party scene. It was another rough rehearsal, but the end result is a party that actually looks like a party. The business that all the non-speaking folks have come up with is absolutely brilliant. So, the action is still taking precedence, but everyone actually looks like they're having a good time and enjoying themselves as opposed to "this is where the director told me to stand to stand here I shall." This I will say, thank God for assistant directors. It was Katie that first suggested how to make this scene look a little more like a party. Duh. Get more people dancing at the beginning and continue motion around the stage for the whole of the scene so that we allow the audience to let their eyes wander about the stage. They should always settle back on who's talking, but everyone now looks engaged in the party atmosphere... except Lady Capulet (Jeff) who just stands at the back drinking a martini for the whole scene. All in all, tough, but very productive.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 14
Today we'll be working on music all day. That means that once again I can blog during rehearsal. I'll break today down by song, though there may not be a whole lot written for some of the pieces.
"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
This is the only song we're using all three guitars for. One to play harmonics, one to play the bass line and one to play chords. Now if they could just agree on a rhythm... much better. First time all the way through it's sounding good. Oh, except for the end... which they've now agreed on and we're doing our last run of the song for today. Now that the rhythm is worked out and everyone is together and the end is clean, this song is sounding really good.
"All We Have" by Mat Kearney
It's so pretty... even when Paul screws up the words. I knew there was a reason I picked the trained voice to sing this song. I knew I wanted something pretty and just a little sad right before everyone starts dying. I clearly made the right choice. Such a lovely song, with a lovely voice. It's a fantastic contrast to the messy violence that is about to come in the next scene. This song was even good last Saturday when they hadn't really rehearsed... it's only getting better.
"Medicine Man" by The Hush Sound
Ok, I must admit that when Hollinger had the idea to use PVC pipe to play the bass line for this song, I was skeptical. However, now that we've got that together with a tambourine and AJ singing, it sounds pretty cool. Now, all i have to do is decide whether or not to have the musicians on stage with AJ or leave them upstairs in the balcony. Lastly, I will admit that there is nothing more fun to watch than Wagoner with a tambourine. If you come see the show, you'll know exactly what I mean.
"Stars" by Switchfoot
This song is hard melodically, but the boys (AJ and Johnny) are pulling it off so I'm trying to keep hands off as they go through it. However, they we just under on some of the high notes in the chorus, so I had to speak up. And, after I said something, they were dead on. Song. Done.
We were supposed to rehearse three more songs this evening (including the full company number), but the snow was just stupid... so I canceled the rest of tonight's rehearsals and moved them to Sunday. Better luck next time. :(
"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
This is the only song we're using all three guitars for. One to play harmonics, one to play the bass line and one to play chords. Now if they could just agree on a rhythm... much better. First time all the way through it's sounding good. Oh, except for the end... which they've now agreed on and we're doing our last run of the song for today. Now that the rhythm is worked out and everyone is together and the end is clean, this song is sounding really good.
"All We Have" by Mat Kearney
It's so pretty... even when Paul screws up the words. I knew there was a reason I picked the trained voice to sing this song. I knew I wanted something pretty and just a little sad right before everyone starts dying. I clearly made the right choice. Such a lovely song, with a lovely voice. It's a fantastic contrast to the messy violence that is about to come in the next scene. This song was even good last Saturday when they hadn't really rehearsed... it's only getting better.
"Medicine Man" by The Hush Sound
Ok, I must admit that when Hollinger had the idea to use PVC pipe to play the bass line for this song, I was skeptical. However, now that we've got that together with a tambourine and AJ singing, it sounds pretty cool. Now, all i have to do is decide whether or not to have the musicians on stage with AJ or leave them upstairs in the balcony. Lastly, I will admit that there is nothing more fun to watch than Wagoner with a tambourine. If you come see the show, you'll know exactly what I mean.
"Stars" by Switchfoot
This song is hard melodically, but the boys (AJ and Johnny) are pulling it off so I'm trying to keep hands off as they go through it. However, they we just under on some of the high notes in the chorus, so I had to speak up. And, after I said something, they were dead on. Song. Done.
We were supposed to rehearse three more songs this evening (including the full company number), but the snow was just stupid... so I canceled the rest of tonight's rehearsals and moved them to Sunday. Better luck next time. :(
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 13
2.1
Oh, the balcony scene. You used to be the bane of my existence. But, after today, I couldn't be more pleased with my two leads in this scene. They've gotten very very comfortable inside their character's skins and are taking this scene to some very fun places. I'm liking the different directions they've found in the balcony scene. I must say, I've always found the scene a little tedious and boring, but with these two guys driving it (and some judicious cutting on my part) this scene is starting to cook. It's fun and just perfect for right after the party scene.
2.3
This scene is just so much darn fun! I can't even stand it. And tonight they amped it up to a whole new level. This is a great contrast to what is about to follow. Everyone is laughing and joking and everything is hunky dorey... until it's not, of course. Great stuff!
Oh, the balcony scene. You used to be the bane of my existence. But, after today, I couldn't be more pleased with my two leads in this scene. They've gotten very very comfortable inside their character's skins and are taking this scene to some very fun places. I'm liking the different directions they've found in the balcony scene. I must say, I've always found the scene a little tedious and boring, but with these two guys driving it (and some judicious cutting on my part) this scene is starting to cook. It's fun and just perfect for right after the party scene.
2.3
This scene is just so much darn fun! I can't even stand it. And tonight they amped it up to a whole new level. This is a great contrast to what is about to follow. Everyone is laughing and joking and everything is hunky dorey... until it's not, of course. Great stuff!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 12
5.2
This scene probably didn't need another rehearsal, but I'm glad we had one anyway. Zach (Friar John) came up with a new direction to take the very small character that actually makes this scene work better. He's made Friar John a slow talker. The means that Glenn (Friar Lawrence) is constantly waiting for information. It gives the two characters even better contrast than we were getting before really hightens how much Friar John doesn't know and how much Friar Lawrence is upset by his news.
2.3 and 3.3
These two scenes are certainly coming along. We did some touch ups and some character work, but most of our time was actually spent on the moment in 3.3 when Romeo (Johnny) tries to stab himself. At the run on Saturday, this moment looked overly stagey. I knew it needed fixing, but it took me a long while (too long, in my opinion) to figure out what the problem was. I realized that, while I had the Nurse (Wagoner) stopping Romeo from stabbing himself, all the Friar (Glenn) was doing was speaking words at him. When it hit me, it did so like a ton of bricks. DUH! The Friar has to try to get his ass over there to stop him too. Once I had Glenn take just a few steps toward Johnny in that moment, everything looked better. Phew. Bullet dodged.
4.5
We had some structural issues with this scene. People were in weird places. But, once we got everyone on their correct pages emotionally, everything else just sort of fell into place. Katie (my AD) threw out the suggestion for them to all go completely over the top for one run of the scene. And, while some of it was quite funny, they all got at some really great stuff from going too far. Once we brought them back down and told them what to keep of the crazy stuff, the scene started to have the aweful, sad feel to it which was just perfect. In short... lookin' good!
3.5
This scene is a very odd scene in two parts. The first part is tender and bittersweet and sad. The second part is scary as hell. Even my costume designer said so. I wanted to make sure we go the second half of this scene just right. I wanted it just scary enough that everyone feels all of Juliet's pain in that moment, but I didn't want everyone to think that Capulet regularly beats his daughter. What we've got is a scene that is just scary as hell and when Capulet decides he's done with Juliet, she could just as well be a dish rag as his only daughter. I think the topper was when I stopped them in the middle and had Jay (Capulet) give AJ (Juliet) a big fatherly hug when he first enters. It really is the icing on the scary cake. It let's the sweet part of the scene linger just a little too long so folks start to get settled and then hits them with scary Capulet. Good stuff. Oh, and as for the first part, AJ and Johnny are getting more and more comfy with each other. And the more comfortable that they get, the better this intimate scene looks. I can say no more... you'll just have to see it for yourself. :)
This scene probably didn't need another rehearsal, but I'm glad we had one anyway. Zach (Friar John) came up with a new direction to take the very small character that actually makes this scene work better. He's made Friar John a slow talker. The means that Glenn (Friar Lawrence) is constantly waiting for information. It gives the two characters even better contrast than we were getting before really hightens how much Friar John doesn't know and how much Friar Lawrence is upset by his news.
2.3 and 3.3
These two scenes are certainly coming along. We did some touch ups and some character work, but most of our time was actually spent on the moment in 3.3 when Romeo (Johnny) tries to stab himself. At the run on Saturday, this moment looked overly stagey. I knew it needed fixing, but it took me a long while (too long, in my opinion) to figure out what the problem was. I realized that, while I had the Nurse (Wagoner) stopping Romeo from stabbing himself, all the Friar (Glenn) was doing was speaking words at him. When it hit me, it did so like a ton of bricks. DUH! The Friar has to try to get his ass over there to stop him too. Once I had Glenn take just a few steps toward Johnny in that moment, everything looked better. Phew. Bullet dodged.
4.5
We had some structural issues with this scene. People were in weird places. But, once we got everyone on their correct pages emotionally, everything else just sort of fell into place. Katie (my AD) threw out the suggestion for them to all go completely over the top for one run of the scene. And, while some of it was quite funny, they all got at some really great stuff from going too far. Once we brought them back down and told them what to keep of the crazy stuff, the scene started to have the aweful, sad feel to it which was just perfect. In short... lookin' good!
3.5
This scene is a very odd scene in two parts. The first part is tender and bittersweet and sad. The second part is scary as hell. Even my costume designer said so. I wanted to make sure we go the second half of this scene just right. I wanted it just scary enough that everyone feels all of Juliet's pain in that moment, but I didn't want everyone to think that Capulet regularly beats his daughter. What we've got is a scene that is just scary as hell and when Capulet decides he's done with Juliet, she could just as well be a dish rag as his only daughter. I think the topper was when I stopped them in the middle and had Jay (Capulet) give AJ (Juliet) a big fatherly hug when he first enters. It really is the icing on the scary cake. It let's the sweet part of the scene linger just a little too long so folks start to get settled and then hits them with scary Capulet. Good stuff. Oh, and as for the first part, AJ and Johnny are getting more and more comfy with each other. And the more comfortable that they get, the better this intimate scene looks. I can say no more... you'll just have to see it for yourself. :)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 11
Today I'm blogging partially from rehearsal. Because today is fight rehearsal day, my fight choreographer, JP, is in charge and I can take a back seat and just observe. Still, I'll take the fights one by one in the order we rehearsed them.
1.1 (Opening brawl)
The boys here are still running this fight under performance speed, but everything is coming together very nicely. This brawl is an amazing way to start Romeo and Juliet. It's the perfect way to throw everyone off. We have an overly comic scene with a ridiculous fight that, yes does get scary, but is ultimately fun and upbeat. And may I just say, I love that we've worked a bucket into a fight in Romeo and Juliet.
3.1 (Mercutio and Tybalt's deaths)
This fight is really starting to look scary. The guys are really starting to get the moves into their bodies and we're starting to get into character choices and specifics that are really making this fight come alive. They're getting faster and faster and the fight is really starting to look dangerous. I wish I had more to say... but this fight looks great and I'm very proud of what my guys have achieved.
5.3 (Paris' death)
Bobby (Paris) is amazing at stage death and he takes a hit like nobody's business. Nothing looks quite as brutal as this fight. Every time I watch it it makes me cringe and it's going to make the audience gasp. Looking amazing! Thank you, JP!!!
1.1 (Opening brawl)
The boys here are still running this fight under performance speed, but everything is coming together very nicely. This brawl is an amazing way to start Romeo and Juliet. It's the perfect way to throw everyone off. We have an overly comic scene with a ridiculous fight that, yes does get scary, but is ultimately fun and upbeat. And may I just say, I love that we've worked a bucket into a fight in Romeo and Juliet.
3.1 (Mercutio and Tybalt's deaths)
This fight is really starting to look scary. The guys are really starting to get the moves into their bodies and we're starting to get into character choices and specifics that are really making this fight come alive. They're getting faster and faster and the fight is really starting to look dangerous. I wish I had more to say... but this fight looks great and I'm very proud of what my guys have achieved.
5.3 (Paris' death)
Bobby (Paris) is amazing at stage death and he takes a hit like nobody's business. Nothing looks quite as brutal as this fight. Every time I watch it it makes me cringe and it's going to make the audience gasp. Looking amazing! Thank you, JP!!!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 10 (first full run)
Today was a bit rough. I knew it would be, but I also knew it would be useful for everyone to put everything together at this stage of the process. We got through almost the whole show in just under two hours. For a first stumble through, I am pleased with that time. There is definitely half an hour to be pressed out of the running time from today. So, even with the stumbles and questions and long pauses and flubbed lines, today's rehearsal helped me and my actors get a sense of the overall arch of the show and how everything fits together. This is important since we will continue to rehearse things out of order before next weekend's full run. And, while I have a ton of notes for everyone, I couldn't be prouder of them for soildering on to try to get through the whole show.
Also, I started putting up posters today! It's great to see the advertising start to come together!
Also, I started putting up posters today! It's great to see the advertising start to come together!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 9
3.1
We only did the end of this scene today. Ya know, the part after everyone is dead. It's fairly straight forward as far as blocking goes, but the guys had several questions about character and motivation that we were able to address because the blocking was so simple. Jay (Capulet) and I took quite a bit of time to talk about character motivation and the fact the he doesn't talk for this whole scene. We talked about how he would react and how he can logically be in this scene and not tear someone's head off. In the end, I think we got to a good place with his character in this scene, or at least a good jumping off point.
4.5
We were both halves of this scene out of sequence for the rest of the night. First, we worked on the portion of this scene that no one ever puts into a production: the musicians. There is a funny little bit with Peter and 3 musicians at the end of 4.5 that is cut from every production because it is so incongruous and makes absolutely no sense right after what's come before. Everyone comes in and finds Juliet dead... and then the clowns come out and have a good laugh. It's weird, so we're not trying to make it anything but weird. I'm letting the scene be this odd comic moment. I didn't have a strong reason initially (except that the scene is rarely performed), but the more we worked on it, the more I got the sense that this scene was there to remind the audience that this could still end well. This show could still wind up a comedy. I didn't have this thought until I got home after rehearsal tonight, but this feels right. It also makes this odd little scene make a lot more sense. Other than all those revelations, it took much longer than it should have to get this scene blocked. Folks were very unfocused tonight and this being a comic scene did not help matters at all. But, we got through it and the scene actually looks pretty decent.
The other part of this scene is the sad part. It was rather rough getting through this scene the first time, but once we got one run in and got the blocking down, we started working on character motivations. All the guys in this scene had some strong opinions about how their characters would react to the situation. We started to work with all of them to form a cohesive picture that still allowed all of them to react in their own ways. It's, of course, still a work in progress, but we made some good headway into character motivations and reactions and we had plenty of time for them to be able to start to ask all the character questions they needed answered. All in all, a productive start.
We only did the end of this scene today. Ya know, the part after everyone is dead. It's fairly straight forward as far as blocking goes, but the guys had several questions about character and motivation that we were able to address because the blocking was so simple. Jay (Capulet) and I took quite a bit of time to talk about character motivation and the fact the he doesn't talk for this whole scene. We talked about how he would react and how he can logically be in this scene and not tear someone's head off. In the end, I think we got to a good place with his character in this scene, or at least a good jumping off point.
4.5
We were both halves of this scene out of sequence for the rest of the night. First, we worked on the portion of this scene that no one ever puts into a production: the musicians. There is a funny little bit with Peter and 3 musicians at the end of 4.5 that is cut from every production because it is so incongruous and makes absolutely no sense right after what's come before. Everyone comes in and finds Juliet dead... and then the clowns come out and have a good laugh. It's weird, so we're not trying to make it anything but weird. I'm letting the scene be this odd comic moment. I didn't have a strong reason initially (except that the scene is rarely performed), but the more we worked on it, the more I got the sense that this scene was there to remind the audience that this could still end well. This show could still wind up a comedy. I didn't have this thought until I got home after rehearsal tonight, but this feels right. It also makes this odd little scene make a lot more sense. Other than all those revelations, it took much longer than it should have to get this scene blocked. Folks were very unfocused tonight and this being a comic scene did not help matters at all. But, we got through it and the scene actually looks pretty decent.
The other part of this scene is the sad part. It was rather rough getting through this scene the first time, but once we got one run in and got the blocking down, we started working on character motivations. All the guys in this scene had some strong opinions about how their characters would react to the situation. We started to work with all of them to form a cohesive picture that still allowed all of them to react in their own ways. It's, of course, still a work in progress, but we made some good headway into character motivations and reactions and we had plenty of time for them to be able to start to ask all the character questions they needed answered. All in all, a productive start.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 8
1.4
We only worked one scene today. This scene, however, is really two scenes that bleed into each other. Usually productions of Romeo and Juliet have a 1.4 and a 1.5. In the folio text of the play, however, these two scenes are actually one long scene, connected by the stage direction, "They march about the stage and servingmen come forth with napkins." To my mind, one of the greatest stage directions in all of Shakespeare. It's so specific comparatively to most of his stage directions. I decided that I want to play this moment (as best we can) and that I want to leave these two scenes as continuous action. So, the boys (Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio) never leave the stage. They have their scene, Peter (Paul) comes in and hands them their servants masks and the party starts around them. For only one night of work, it's all looking rather seamless already.
This large group rehearsal went so much smoother than the last one and I'm fairly certain I know why. I took the time tonight to get everyone placed at the start of the party and then walked amongst them giving everyone a path for their specific moments. Once we went back and put it all together, there were only two minor hiccups. And, instead of taking two hours and everyone feeling drained, it took just over an hour and we had some time leftover to work on costuming for a bit. Overall, a very productive night.
We only worked one scene today. This scene, however, is really two scenes that bleed into each other. Usually productions of Romeo and Juliet have a 1.4 and a 1.5. In the folio text of the play, however, these two scenes are actually one long scene, connected by the stage direction, "They march about the stage and servingmen come forth with napkins." To my mind, one of the greatest stage directions in all of Shakespeare. It's so specific comparatively to most of his stage directions. I decided that I want to play this moment (as best we can) and that I want to leave these two scenes as continuous action. So, the boys (Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio) never leave the stage. They have their scene, Peter (Paul) comes in and hands them their servants masks and the party starts around them. For only one night of work, it's all looking rather seamless already.
This large group rehearsal went so much smoother than the last one and I'm fairly certain I know why. I took the time tonight to get everyone placed at the start of the party and then walked amongst them giving everyone a path for their specific moments. Once we went back and put it all together, there were only two minor hiccups. And, instead of taking two hours and everyone feeling drained, it took just over an hour and we had some time leftover to work on costuming for a bit. Overall, a very productive night.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 7
2.1
In this first piece of the balcony scene, a slightly tipsy Mercutio (Zach) and Benvolio (Hollinger) go searching for Romeo only to give up and go home. Because I'd worked on this scene for a class with Zach as Mercutio before, it was much effort to get this back up to fighting speed. All we had to do was get the the blocking to fit with the new entrance and exit and get Hollinger up to speed. It all came together very easily, with the final cherry on top being Benvolio having a "torch." In our version, torches will be flashlights. (Side bar: in modern day England, flashlights are actually called torches.) Playing darkness in this scene means that when Benvolio is actually paying attention to Mercutio, he has to find him with the torch. It's pretty sweet.
2.3
This scene is sort of a beast. It's a lot longer than it looks and there's a lot of complicated things that go on. We spent quite a bit of time getting the blocking just right. With only five people onstage, you'd think it wouldn't be so hard, but there is a lot of motion to this scene. With Mercutio riding around on Romeo's back and the Nurse getting handsy with Mercutio, there's a lot going on. The first part of this scene, when it's just Mercutio, Benvolio and Romeo, came together fairly easily. It took some working to get their placement just right, but their initial instincts were good enough that we could tweak their staging within the boundaries that they'd already created. I find that makes things easier. If you can let the actors go where they want and then keep the blocking as close to that as possible, things keep more consistent down the road. So, we got the boys being boys, though it took them a bit to really get into the fun and motion of this scene. They hung back and very much focused on the words rather than giving motion to their speech and interacting physically with each other. Once I told them to take the scene to 11, they started to get the pace and pysicality of the scene. Then, when we brought it back down, they were able to keep the pace and interaction without forcing the scene to be too ridiculous. We then added the Nurse (Wagoner) and the crazy level rose. The end of this scene, after much toil, is now as funny as the beginning (even more so, I'd say). Again, it took a lot of finesse to get the comic timing just right, but they're coming along. I'll tell you, if there's one thing I'm learning from this process, it's that there is truth to the phrase "dying is easy, comedy is hard."
In this first piece of the balcony scene, a slightly tipsy Mercutio (Zach) and Benvolio (Hollinger) go searching for Romeo only to give up and go home. Because I'd worked on this scene for a class with Zach as Mercutio before, it was much effort to get this back up to fighting speed. All we had to do was get the the blocking to fit with the new entrance and exit and get Hollinger up to speed. It all came together very easily, with the final cherry on top being Benvolio having a "torch." In our version, torches will be flashlights. (Side bar: in modern day England, flashlights are actually called torches.) Playing darkness in this scene means that when Benvolio is actually paying attention to Mercutio, he has to find him with the torch. It's pretty sweet.
2.3
This scene is sort of a beast. It's a lot longer than it looks and there's a lot of complicated things that go on. We spent quite a bit of time getting the blocking just right. With only five people onstage, you'd think it wouldn't be so hard, but there is a lot of motion to this scene. With Mercutio riding around on Romeo's back and the Nurse getting handsy with Mercutio, there's a lot going on. The first part of this scene, when it's just Mercutio, Benvolio and Romeo, came together fairly easily. It took some working to get their placement just right, but their initial instincts were good enough that we could tweak their staging within the boundaries that they'd already created. I find that makes things easier. If you can let the actors go where they want and then keep the blocking as close to that as possible, things keep more consistent down the road. So, we got the boys being boys, though it took them a bit to really get into the fun and motion of this scene. They hung back and very much focused on the words rather than giving motion to their speech and interacting physically with each other. Once I told them to take the scene to 11, they started to get the pace and pysicality of the scene. Then, when we brought it back down, they were able to keep the pace and interaction without forcing the scene to be too ridiculous. We then added the Nurse (Wagoner) and the crazy level rose. The end of this scene, after much toil, is now as funny as the beginning (even more so, I'd say). Again, it took a lot of finesse to get the comic timing just right, but they're coming along. I'll tell you, if there's one thing I'm learning from this process, it's that there is truth to the phrase "dying is easy, comedy is hard."
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 6
We're back from the weekend, which I apparently did not want to end because I didn't write my usual blog post after last nights rehearsal. So, this post is coming to you a day late (but hopefully not a dollar short). Apologies for the delay.
5.2
This is a short and very straight forward scene. Friar John (Zach) comes into Friar Lawrence's (Glenn's) chamber to let him know that he screwed up. Zach's only question about the scene was whether he should actually be frantic or not. I decided that he shouldn't be. The scene plays much better if Friar Lawrence is the only frantic character on stage. Not only does this give great contrast, but it makes sense that Lawrence wouldn't actually tell John what was in the letter, just that it needed to be delivered. The rehearsal for this scene went very quickly and very easily, so easily in fact that we probably won't rehearse this again on its own.
3.3
Johnny (Romeo) was very concerned, even before we started, about how far I wanted him to go with this scene. I told him that there has to be at least an element of the ridiculous in it for the friar to comment, "there on the ground, with his own tears made drunk." However, it can't be an 11 the whole time. It needs to build and then have room to rise and fall. What he is starting to build is just that. I'm letting him find it on his own at the moment, and what he's coming up with is just lovely; a little bit ridiculous and 100% Romeo. As such, I've allowed the other two characters in this scene, Friar Lawrence (Glenn) and the Nurse (Wagoner), to bump up the comedy level a bit. Even for all the crap that Romeo is going through, he really does need a figurative "swift kick in the pants" to snap him out of his wallowing and get him moving. After that, the end of this scene between Lawrence and Romeo is getting to a very genuinely sweet place. Glenn hit it right when he observed that Lawrence is acutely aware that he may never see Romeo again. It lent a very melancholy note to this parting that is just right.
3.4
This is the first scene we've had our Capulet (Jay) at rehearsal for. He was brilliant. I was smart to have cast him. Jay knows this character. He knows the guy who is a big teddy bear until he's not. This scene, while being extremely happy on the outside, has some very interesting and scary undertones. The relationship between Capulet and his Lady is quite the sinister one. I didn't exactly see it until I saw Jay and Jeff do this scene. It's all in the quick glances and the tone between them. And all the while, poor Paris (Bobby) gets to stand around looking exceedingly awkward. He's doing a great job.
4.3
I am so pleased with how this scene is coming along. We finally get to see Lady Capulet (Jeff) attempt to be a decent mother and totally get shot down. The first scene between our three ladies is a bit funny. But, as funny as that scene is, this scene is touching. It made every girl in the room "aw" when Lady C and the Nurse (Wagoner) exited. Their interactions with Juliet (AJ) are coming along so well. These three guys are really starting to sink into moving and behaving and interacting like women. When Wagoner, of his own volition, gave AJ a kiss on the head right before exiting, my heart could have melted. It was a lovely moment and just the perfect thing to do. Once they leave and Juliet gets ready to take the Friar's "dangerous zombie potion" (as we've been calling it), we're sort of home free. AJ and I have worked on this bit of Juliet before, so getting this speech back up to performance level is about as simple making sure he moves to the correct locations now that we'll actually have a piece of furniture (a bier) for him to act with. We'll need to do a little tweaking, but mostly... done and done.
5.2
This is a short and very straight forward scene. Friar John (Zach) comes into Friar Lawrence's (Glenn's) chamber to let him know that he screwed up. Zach's only question about the scene was whether he should actually be frantic or not. I decided that he shouldn't be. The scene plays much better if Friar Lawrence is the only frantic character on stage. Not only does this give great contrast, but it makes sense that Lawrence wouldn't actually tell John what was in the letter, just that it needed to be delivered. The rehearsal for this scene went very quickly and very easily, so easily in fact that we probably won't rehearse this again on its own.
3.3
Johnny (Romeo) was very concerned, even before we started, about how far I wanted him to go with this scene. I told him that there has to be at least an element of the ridiculous in it for the friar to comment, "there on the ground, with his own tears made drunk." However, it can't be an 11 the whole time. It needs to build and then have room to rise and fall. What he is starting to build is just that. I'm letting him find it on his own at the moment, and what he's coming up with is just lovely; a little bit ridiculous and 100% Romeo. As such, I've allowed the other two characters in this scene, Friar Lawrence (Glenn) and the Nurse (Wagoner), to bump up the comedy level a bit. Even for all the crap that Romeo is going through, he really does need a figurative "swift kick in the pants" to snap him out of his wallowing and get him moving. After that, the end of this scene between Lawrence and Romeo is getting to a very genuinely sweet place. Glenn hit it right when he observed that Lawrence is acutely aware that he may never see Romeo again. It lent a very melancholy note to this parting that is just right.
3.4
This is the first scene we've had our Capulet (Jay) at rehearsal for. He was brilliant. I was smart to have cast him. Jay knows this character. He knows the guy who is a big teddy bear until he's not. This scene, while being extremely happy on the outside, has some very interesting and scary undertones. The relationship between Capulet and his Lady is quite the sinister one. I didn't exactly see it until I saw Jay and Jeff do this scene. It's all in the quick glances and the tone between them. And all the while, poor Paris (Bobby) gets to stand around looking exceedingly awkward. He's doing a great job.
4.3
I am so pleased with how this scene is coming along. We finally get to see Lady Capulet (Jeff) attempt to be a decent mother and totally get shot down. The first scene between our three ladies is a bit funny. But, as funny as that scene is, this scene is touching. It made every girl in the room "aw" when Lady C and the Nurse (Wagoner) exited. Their interactions with Juliet (AJ) are coming along so well. These three guys are really starting to sink into moving and behaving and interacting like women. When Wagoner, of his own volition, gave AJ a kiss on the head right before exiting, my heart could have melted. It was a lovely moment and just the perfect thing to do. Once they leave and Juliet gets ready to take the Friar's "dangerous zombie potion" (as we've been calling it), we're sort of home free. AJ and I have worked on this bit of Juliet before, so getting this speech back up to performance level is about as simple making sure he moves to the correct locations now that we'll actually have a piece of furniture (a bier) for him to act with. We'll need to do a little tweaking, but mostly... done and done.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 5
2.0
I've spoken with Hollinger (the chorus) before about my ideas about this particular "character." He is very clearly the only outside voice in this whole play. This gives him leave to speak his lines like a storyteller instead of making them up on the spot. However, my biggest idea is that the Chorus for this play really is Benvolio. We're not making them the same character, but I've always felt that Benvolio is really the only character left at the end of this play to pass the story on. He's been around for the whole of it, he's this plays Horatio. Mike is bringing just a touch of his Benvolio to the Chorus, but I don't want it over stated or the show will start to look very concept-y and I don't want that either. This is the only time where we specifically have time blocked off to work the Chorus alone and it was good to see it one its feet and see what Mike brings to it, but we certainly won't need to hit it again.
5.1
We only rehearsed the first part of this scene today because one of my actors read the schedule wrong. But, we did some decent work getting the relationship between Romeo and Balthazar established. Missing the one actor did give us a chance to work on the "Then I deny you stars" moment a little more than we might have otherwise, which was good. It's a tricky moment that most Romeos scream instead of really getting inside it to find a real way to play it. Johnny's initial instinct was to go more soft and rage than loud and angry. Since we've built a Romeo that has that blind rage streak in him, this seems like the right choice. Right now, the moment sounds like a lion roaring (but not quite that loud, just the same tone and pitch), which has a very different and interesting feel to it. We'll see how it plays in context, but for now, we're going to roll with it.
2.3 and 3.2
These are the two big Nurse (Wagoner) and Juliet (AJ) scenes. We've set up, again, a mirror between these scenes to create a contrast between the comedy part of this play and the tragedy part of this play. We've got almost the same beginning to the scene: the same entrances, the same starting dynamic. More and more I'm liking this idea of creating mirrors with staging, especially in a play that so clearly has a distinct break between comic and tragic. We're making those mirrors over that line right now, where a scene with certain characters on one side and that other of the comic/tragic break will start out looking the same and end very differently. As for these scenes, I am having piles of fun working with these two guys. They are a laugh a minute in rehearsals, but know how to clamp it down and get to work as well. The virtue of scheduling in more rehearsal time than we need on scenes is that we can get a little sidetracked and still come out on time. Wagoner and AJ have a really great dynamic not only as scene partners, but also as women. These two have latched onto the nuances of moving and interacting like women surprisingly fast. Every once in a while, they still stop to ask questions about how women physically interact when talking to one another, but they mostly just go for it and I stop them if something isn't right. Long story short, these scenes are looking really great.
1.3
This is the first scene in the show with all three of our ladies. Being such, I wanted to make sure we built some time into this rehearsal to go over walking and talking like women. We first blocked the scene so I could get Paul (Peter) out of there. This didn't take a whole lot of time. It's a fairly simple scene that's also fairly short. Once we had it blocked and I let Paul go, we started in with out "Walk like a woman" lessons. Katie (my assistant director) took a first crack at them, with learning how to walk with hips instead of shoulders and finding balance on the balls of their feet. We're not going to put them in heels, but it's important (even as a faux woman) to know how that affects you because it helps you understand how a woman's body moves. We also went over how women hug and interact in the touchy feely sort of way. We were about to work on it with Jeff (Lady Capulet) when he said this: "I don't think Lady Capulet's much of a hugger." Katie and I were forced to agree with him. So he's off the hook for most forms of touching. Beyond this, Carmel (my costume designer) came in and worked with them on some basic belly dance technique. She's a belly dance instructor and was able to go over some points of how the hips move that Katie and I weren't able to quite articulate. We then went over make-up basics and tested out some ideas on the boys. Sometime in the next few days, I'll post pictures of our first make-up attempts. They need some work, but as a start, they're very good.
I've spoken with Hollinger (the chorus) before about my ideas about this particular "character." He is very clearly the only outside voice in this whole play. This gives him leave to speak his lines like a storyteller instead of making them up on the spot. However, my biggest idea is that the Chorus for this play really is Benvolio. We're not making them the same character, but I've always felt that Benvolio is really the only character left at the end of this play to pass the story on. He's been around for the whole of it, he's this plays Horatio. Mike is bringing just a touch of his Benvolio to the Chorus, but I don't want it over stated or the show will start to look very concept-y and I don't want that either. This is the only time where we specifically have time blocked off to work the Chorus alone and it was good to see it one its feet and see what Mike brings to it, but we certainly won't need to hit it again.
5.1
We only rehearsed the first part of this scene today because one of my actors read the schedule wrong. But, we did some decent work getting the relationship between Romeo and Balthazar established. Missing the one actor did give us a chance to work on the "Then I deny you stars" moment a little more than we might have otherwise, which was good. It's a tricky moment that most Romeos scream instead of really getting inside it to find a real way to play it. Johnny's initial instinct was to go more soft and rage than loud and angry. Since we've built a Romeo that has that blind rage streak in him, this seems like the right choice. Right now, the moment sounds like a lion roaring (but not quite that loud, just the same tone and pitch), which has a very different and interesting feel to it. We'll see how it plays in context, but for now, we're going to roll with it.
2.3 and 3.2
These are the two big Nurse (Wagoner) and Juliet (AJ) scenes. We've set up, again, a mirror between these scenes to create a contrast between the comedy part of this play and the tragedy part of this play. We've got almost the same beginning to the scene: the same entrances, the same starting dynamic. More and more I'm liking this idea of creating mirrors with staging, especially in a play that so clearly has a distinct break between comic and tragic. We're making those mirrors over that line right now, where a scene with certain characters on one side and that other of the comic/tragic break will start out looking the same and end very differently. As for these scenes, I am having piles of fun working with these two guys. They are a laugh a minute in rehearsals, but know how to clamp it down and get to work as well. The virtue of scheduling in more rehearsal time than we need on scenes is that we can get a little sidetracked and still come out on time. Wagoner and AJ have a really great dynamic not only as scene partners, but also as women. These two have latched onto the nuances of moving and interacting like women surprisingly fast. Every once in a while, they still stop to ask questions about how women physically interact when talking to one another, but they mostly just go for it and I stop them if something isn't right. Long story short, these scenes are looking really great.
1.3
This is the first scene in the show with all three of our ladies. Being such, I wanted to make sure we built some time into this rehearsal to go over walking and talking like women. We first blocked the scene so I could get Paul (Peter) out of there. This didn't take a whole lot of time. It's a fairly simple scene that's also fairly short. Once we had it blocked and I let Paul go, we started in with out "Walk like a woman" lessons. Katie (my assistant director) took a first crack at them, with learning how to walk with hips instead of shoulders and finding balance on the balls of their feet. We're not going to put them in heels, but it's important (even as a faux woman) to know how that affects you because it helps you understand how a woman's body moves. We also went over how women hug and interact in the touchy feely sort of way. We were about to work on it with Jeff (Lady Capulet) when he said this: "I don't think Lady Capulet's much of a hugger." Katie and I were forced to agree with him. So he's off the hook for most forms of touching. Beyond this, Carmel (my costume designer) came in and worked with them on some basic belly dance technique. She's a belly dance instructor and was able to go over some points of how the hips move that Katie and I weren't able to quite articulate. We then went over make-up basics and tested out some ideas on the boys. Sometime in the next few days, I'll post pictures of our first make-up attempts. They need some work, but as a start, they're very good.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 4
2.2
This scene between Friar Lawrence (Glenn) and Romeo (Johnny) is an interesting little beast. There's a lot of story packed into this page and a half. There's also the problem of the speech the Friar has to give at the top of the scene. First off, it's boring, but you can't cut it out completely because you need to establish that the Friar works with flowers and herbs and that's why he knows how to make the "dangerous zombie potion"(or the one that make Juliet look dead) from the fourth act. So, we're starting to work with how to make this information more interesting. It's going to take some work, but I think we're already on a good track with it. The scene itself was wonky until I told Glenn to just hold center as Johnny bounced around the stage around him. Once we did this, the dynamic of the scene was much easier to discern and much clearer to the watcher. These guys have found some very fun moments in this scene, and some very unexpected moments as well. We were working the first part of the scene, where Romeo comes in and the Friar doesn't automatically see him has always been a bit of a puzzler to me. We decided that if it's not quite light out then the Friar wouldn't exactly be able to see who he's talking to. But, next time around, Johnny snuck in and put his hands over Glenn's eyes. It was just childish enough to really show Romeo's age, but it also, in one moment, gives a very clear idea of the relationship between these two characters.
1.2
It's two, two, two scenes in one! Luckily, this two scene debacle is a lot shorter and easier to sort out than last nights scenes. This one went very well. We got the blocking sorted for the whole thing fairly quickly, which meant that I was able to let Paris (Bobby) and Capulet (for today, my stage manager Angelina) go. Though, I suppose it just meant that Angelina could go back to being stage manager. This scene is odd in the sense that the beginning of the scene is all exposition explaining where we are in the story and the end of the scene is the same, except funny. We worked a bit of comedy into the beginning of the scene by having Peter (Paul) sleeping until he's told to do something. It's subtle, but it does tie the two halves to the scene together fairly well. Johnny (Romeo) also found an interesting dynamic in the latter part of the scene that brings out an interesting note about Romeo. He gets caught up in his "emo" anger so much so that he doesn't quite come out of it when he finally starts talking to Peter. It makes for a very different sort of scene than how I've scene this played before.
3.5
We were missing Jay (Capulet) to work on these next two scenes, so we didn't do a whole lot of character work and mostly focused on getting the blocking solid. In that sense, the rehearsal was a very successful one. For this scene specifically, we only worked on the last part of the scene, also known as "Capulet family fun time." Since I had already worked the portion with Romeo, we were able to skip over that portion of the scene for tonight and just block the last part. We tried it a couple of ways and established a blocking that looked neat and tidy while still giving Jay room to play around once he gets in there. Because we didn't have Jay, we took some time to work a little bit on how women interact with other women. We'll get to that more tomorrow, but I figured since we had the time, we should start it now. And, that little bit of direction actually helped the scene quite a bit.
4.2
This scene is very short. It's maybe a page long, maybe. It has basically the same shape as the other scene, but is much more polite and "happier" than the other scene. I put happy in quotes because Juliet is certainly not happy about what she is having to do. We had so much time to play around with this scene, that I tweaked the Nurse's (Wagoner) blocking several times until we got it right. The scene is simple and lovely; one calm moment in the surround storm that is the last half of this play.
This scene between Friar Lawrence (Glenn) and Romeo (Johnny) is an interesting little beast. There's a lot of story packed into this page and a half. There's also the problem of the speech the Friar has to give at the top of the scene. First off, it's boring, but you can't cut it out completely because you need to establish that the Friar works with flowers and herbs and that's why he knows how to make the "dangerous zombie potion"(or the one that make Juliet look dead) from the fourth act. So, we're starting to work with how to make this information more interesting. It's going to take some work, but I think we're already on a good track with it. The scene itself was wonky until I told Glenn to just hold center as Johnny bounced around the stage around him. Once we did this, the dynamic of the scene was much easier to discern and much clearer to the watcher. These guys have found some very fun moments in this scene, and some very unexpected moments as well. We were working the first part of the scene, where Romeo comes in and the Friar doesn't automatically see him has always been a bit of a puzzler to me. We decided that if it's not quite light out then the Friar wouldn't exactly be able to see who he's talking to. But, next time around, Johnny snuck in and put his hands over Glenn's eyes. It was just childish enough to really show Romeo's age, but it also, in one moment, gives a very clear idea of the relationship between these two characters.
1.2
It's two, two, two scenes in one! Luckily, this two scene debacle is a lot shorter and easier to sort out than last nights scenes. This one went very well. We got the blocking sorted for the whole thing fairly quickly, which meant that I was able to let Paris (Bobby) and Capulet (for today, my stage manager Angelina) go. Though, I suppose it just meant that Angelina could go back to being stage manager. This scene is odd in the sense that the beginning of the scene is all exposition explaining where we are in the story and the end of the scene is the same, except funny. We worked a bit of comedy into the beginning of the scene by having Peter (Paul) sleeping until he's told to do something. It's subtle, but it does tie the two halves to the scene together fairly well. Johnny (Romeo) also found an interesting dynamic in the latter part of the scene that brings out an interesting note about Romeo. He gets caught up in his "emo" anger so much so that he doesn't quite come out of it when he finally starts talking to Peter. It makes for a very different sort of scene than how I've scene this played before.
3.5
We were missing Jay (Capulet) to work on these next two scenes, so we didn't do a whole lot of character work and mostly focused on getting the blocking solid. In that sense, the rehearsal was a very successful one. For this scene specifically, we only worked on the last part of the scene, also known as "Capulet family fun time." Since I had already worked the portion with Romeo, we were able to skip over that portion of the scene for tonight and just block the last part. We tried it a couple of ways and established a blocking that looked neat and tidy while still giving Jay room to play around once he gets in there. Because we didn't have Jay, we took some time to work a little bit on how women interact with other women. We'll get to that more tomorrow, but I figured since we had the time, we should start it now. And, that little bit of direction actually helped the scene quite a bit.
4.2
This scene is very short. It's maybe a page long, maybe. It has basically the same shape as the other scene, but is much more polite and "happier" than the other scene. I put happy in quotes because Juliet is certainly not happy about what she is having to do. We had so much time to play around with this scene, that I tweaked the Nurse's (Wagoner) blocking several times until we got it right. The scene is simple and lovely; one calm moment in the surround storm that is the last half of this play.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 3
1.1
This was the first scene that I needed everyone for. Surprisingly, the staging of this first big group scene went fairly quick. We were able to block through the whole scene, work the end with Johnny (Romeo), Hollinger (Benvolio), Montague (Zach), and Lady Montague (Wagoner). The guys in the brawl at the beginning got a break while we worked through the end of the scene a few times. Once that was nailed down, we went back through the whole scene a couple times before focusing in on the opening brawl. We worked the fight several times today. Once the small details were sorted, the brawl came back together easily. And, by the end of rehearsal, the guys were able to speed it up just a little. There were some timing issues at first, but they sorted out with a second run. All in all, fairly easy going.
5.3
This is the final scene of the show and it is a beast. It took me almost an hour and a half to get all the blocking mess sorted out. I had to rearrange some of the blocking right from the off because of how I want the bier to come onstage. Also, it took longer because folks had a lot of specific questions about character motivation and how long it takes to get from one place onstage to another. Once we finally got all the traffic patterns sorted, the scene ran fairly smooth as far as blocking goes. Though, it was a long haul to get there. After we blocked out the scene, we went back to work the fight between Paris (Bobby) and Romeo (Johnny) at the top of the scene. It came back together quickly and we moved onto Romeo and Juliet's deaths. We started with AJ (Juliet) just lying on the ground, until I realized that this wasn't going to help the actual staging at all. Once we had AJ lay on a table, the blocking for their deaths came together beautifully. Unfortunately, now that I know what their deaths look like, I need to flip flop the positions of all the people onstage at the end of the play. But, if the price is having Romeo and Juliet's deaths look just right, then I'm ok with rearranging positions after their deaths.
"King's Highway" by Tom Petty
The guys on this song did most of the work on this song today while we were working were working on Romeo and Juliet's deaths. I heard their last run thru of the song and it's certainly coming along. Though, to be fair, it is a three chord song that sings and plays through fairly simply. All in all, sounding good.
"Medicine Man" by The Hush Sound
We don't have all the pieces to really put this song together yet. AJ and Wagoner sang through the song with just Hollinger playing the base line. Sounds good until such time as we get the specialized and weird instruments that Hollinger's cooking up.
This was the first scene that I needed everyone for. Surprisingly, the staging of this first big group scene went fairly quick. We were able to block through the whole scene, work the end with Johnny (Romeo), Hollinger (Benvolio), Montague (Zach), and Lady Montague (Wagoner). The guys in the brawl at the beginning got a break while we worked through the end of the scene a few times. Once that was nailed down, we went back through the whole scene a couple times before focusing in on the opening brawl. We worked the fight several times today. Once the small details were sorted, the brawl came back together easily. And, by the end of rehearsal, the guys were able to speed it up just a little. There were some timing issues at first, but they sorted out with a second run. All in all, fairly easy going.
5.3
This is the final scene of the show and it is a beast. It took me almost an hour and a half to get all the blocking mess sorted out. I had to rearrange some of the blocking right from the off because of how I want the bier to come onstage. Also, it took longer because folks had a lot of specific questions about character motivation and how long it takes to get from one place onstage to another. Once we finally got all the traffic patterns sorted, the scene ran fairly smooth as far as blocking goes. Though, it was a long haul to get there. After we blocked out the scene, we went back to work the fight between Paris (Bobby) and Romeo (Johnny) at the top of the scene. It came back together quickly and we moved onto Romeo and Juliet's deaths. We started with AJ (Juliet) just lying on the ground, until I realized that this wasn't going to help the actual staging at all. Once we had AJ lay on a table, the blocking for their deaths came together beautifully. Unfortunately, now that I know what their deaths look like, I need to flip flop the positions of all the people onstage at the end of the play. But, if the price is having Romeo and Juliet's deaths look just right, then I'm ok with rearranging positions after their deaths.
"King's Highway" by Tom Petty
The guys on this song did most of the work on this song today while we were working were working on Romeo and Juliet's deaths. I heard their last run thru of the song and it's certainly coming along. Though, to be fair, it is a three chord song that sings and plays through fairly simply. All in all, sounding good.
"Medicine Man" by The Hush Sound
We don't have all the pieces to really put this song together yet. AJ and Wagoner sang through the song with just Hollinger playing the base line. Sounds good until such time as we get the specialized and weird instruments that Hollinger's cooking up.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 2
Now that we're into scene rehearsals, each day will be broken down by the scenes that we worked on.
2.1 and 3.5 (Romeo and Juliet only)
This was our first shot at the two major scenes between Romeo and Juliet. Both, coincidentally, involve the balcony. I've worked on the actual balcony scene (2.1) with Johnny and AJ before for a class. This time around, I wanted to make sure the characters we were establishing worked in the context of the play and that the blocking we had was audience friendly as well as working for the actors. The guys did a lovely job. They took the characters to places that are new for these characters and the stuff they came up with was amazing. Johnny asked how much of the stage was open to him. When I told him that the whole theatre was open, he jumped down into the audience to give his first lines sitting with the the audience members.
Johnny and AJ got 2.1 down so quickly that we moved on to 3.5 much quicker than I'd planned for. Their last moments alive together in this play are looking so tender and beautiful. Standing on the balcony, holding each other, they look completely at home. I was amazed at how little direction I needed to give them. I did some very minor tweaks once we got the basic blocking shape down, but one of the reasons I cast these two guys is because I saw in their auditions that they knew these characters. They each had a sense, even then, of who these characters are and how they would react in certain situations.
2.5 (Romeo, Juliet, and the Friar)
This scene needed a few little tweaks to get the blocking just right, but they had the character bits down right from the start. They had more questions about this scene than about the balcony scenes. They had small questions about what certain lines mean and specific reactions. But again, we got through this scene so quickly that we moved on to scene 4.1... and the fun began.
4.1 (Friar Lawrence, Juliet, Paris)
I had a notion about this scene as we started to rehearse it. As AJ (Juliet) and Glenn (Friar) started to work on the end of this scene, I saw how the beginning of it should look. The blocking for this scene is an exact mirror of 2.5 (the wedding scene). Though, the result of this scene is a little different than its mirror, but the blocking plays out beautifully. My only hope is that someone will notice. And, even if they don't, I'm very proud of how clever this juxt-a-position.
3.1 (Mercutio, Benvolio, Tybalt, Romeo)
We only worked the beginning part of this scene tonight. I wanted some good time on this fight while we had our actual performance space. It's rare to get rehearsals in the Blackfriars as often as we have them, so I wanted to take advantage of it. These two fights and the surrounding scene is looking really great. Of course, this evening there were the obvious flubs and boggles because of the need to have scripts, but the shape here is coming together. Of course, JP, my fight choreographer, is mostly to thank for the beginning shape of this scene. In order to choreograph the fight, he had to block a bit at the top of the scene as well (including where people enter from). It took the guys a bit to get back into the swing of the fight, but once they did, it started progressing very quickly from where they left it in December when JP choreographed it. We could have spent a lot more time on this scene than I did this evening. But, I ended us sooner than I would have liked to because Brian (Tybalt) is not feeling well. There's no point in hammering through the scene too much if he's not really feeling up to fighting.
"I Fell in Love Without You" by Motion City Soundtrack
We had another very short music rehearsal this evening. Hollinger and Brian did some quick work on the song that will go in between acts 1 and 2. This song didn't come together quite as beautifully as the pieces last night, but it will certainly get there. There's some odd rhythmic things that, once they get worked out, will make this song really stand out. With just a bit more work, this song will be rockin' (so don't bother knockin').
2.1 and 3.5 (Romeo and Juliet only)
This was our first shot at the two major scenes between Romeo and Juliet. Both, coincidentally, involve the balcony. I've worked on the actual balcony scene (2.1) with Johnny and AJ before for a class. This time around, I wanted to make sure the characters we were establishing worked in the context of the play and that the blocking we had was audience friendly as well as working for the actors. The guys did a lovely job. They took the characters to places that are new for these characters and the stuff they came up with was amazing. Johnny asked how much of the stage was open to him. When I told him that the whole theatre was open, he jumped down into the audience to give his first lines sitting with the the audience members.
Johnny and AJ got 2.1 down so quickly that we moved on to 3.5 much quicker than I'd planned for. Their last moments alive together in this play are looking so tender and beautiful. Standing on the balcony, holding each other, they look completely at home. I was amazed at how little direction I needed to give them. I did some very minor tweaks once we got the basic blocking shape down, but one of the reasons I cast these two guys is because I saw in their auditions that they knew these characters. They each had a sense, even then, of who these characters are and how they would react in certain situations.
2.5 (Romeo, Juliet, and the Friar)
This scene needed a few little tweaks to get the blocking just right, but they had the character bits down right from the start. They had more questions about this scene than about the balcony scenes. They had small questions about what certain lines mean and specific reactions. But again, we got through this scene so quickly that we moved on to scene 4.1... and the fun began.
4.1 (Friar Lawrence, Juliet, Paris)
I had a notion about this scene as we started to rehearse it. As AJ (Juliet) and Glenn (Friar) started to work on the end of this scene, I saw how the beginning of it should look. The blocking for this scene is an exact mirror of 2.5 (the wedding scene). Though, the result of this scene is a little different than its mirror, but the blocking plays out beautifully. My only hope is that someone will notice. And, even if they don't, I'm very proud of how clever this juxt-a-position.
3.1 (Mercutio, Benvolio, Tybalt, Romeo)
We only worked the beginning part of this scene tonight. I wanted some good time on this fight while we had our actual performance space. It's rare to get rehearsals in the Blackfriars as often as we have them, so I wanted to take advantage of it. These two fights and the surrounding scene is looking really great. Of course, this evening there were the obvious flubs and boggles because of the need to have scripts, but the shape here is coming together. Of course, JP, my fight choreographer, is mostly to thank for the beginning shape of this scene. In order to choreograph the fight, he had to block a bit at the top of the scene as well (including where people enter from). It took the guys a bit to get back into the swing of the fight, but once they did, it started progressing very quickly from where they left it in December when JP choreographed it. We could have spent a lot more time on this scene than I did this evening. But, I ended us sooner than I would have liked to because Brian (Tybalt) is not feeling well. There's no point in hammering through the scene too much if he's not really feeling up to fighting.
"I Fell in Love Without You" by Motion City Soundtrack
We had another very short music rehearsal this evening. Hollinger and Brian did some quick work on the song that will go in between acts 1 and 2. This song didn't come together quite as beautifully as the pieces last night, but it will certainly get there. There's some odd rhythmic things that, once they get worked out, will make this song really stand out. With just a bit more work, this song will be rockin' (so don't bother knockin').
Monday, January 10, 2011
Romeo and Juliet - Rehearsal 1
Today we covered music and a dance. We worked on three of the nine songs that the guys will be performing during the pre-show (the half hour before the show starts) and the dance for the party scene in Act 1, Scene 4.
AJ, Bobby, Zach, and I worked on the dance. AJ (Juliet) and Bobby (Paris) are the only two dancing, with the scene happening around them. Zach will be playing guitar and Mike (henceforth known as Hollinger) will be oo-ing the melody to "Something" by George Harrison. The dance AJ and Bobby will be doing is a Pavan, a basic step in four. It's a little like walking to music. The boys picked up the steps very quickly and Zach was able to play the music enough for them to dance to within fifteen minutes. I had blocked out an hour for them to get this dance down, but they had it down after thirty minutes.
This meant that we were able to devote that extra half an hour to start sorting out our first round of costumes. I am so pleased with the way the costumes are coming together. Everyone is starting to look great... especially the gentlemen who are playing ladies. And I must say, Jeff (Lady Capulet) looks like his dress was made for him. He looks so at home in the dress I can hardly believe it! Carmel (my costume designer) is a clothing genius.
The last couple of hours of rehearsal were spent on three songs: "Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong" by Michael Franti, "Stars" by Switchfoot, and "Fight Your Kids" by The Chalets. The first song we rehearsed is the only full company number. I like to think of "Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong" as our theme song, which is why I wanted the full company involved. For a first rehearsal, everyone did surprisingly well. They were comfy enough to sing the song on their own without the recording playing with them. For a first rehearsal, the song is coming together very well. Now that folks have an idea of where they come in and how the song goes, I'm looking forward to the next go round with this song.
We spent about half the time on "Stars" that I had budgeted. After one run thru with the cd, they (AJ and Johnny) were ready to sing it on their own. With Zach playing guitar and these two guys singing, the song is sounding great. Zach is finally feeling comfortable with the dropped D tuning and using it to add some real flair. I was worried about the song being overly challenging, but AJ and Johnny are sailing through this song like they were meant to sing it.
Lastly, we took our first stab at "Fight Your Kids." This is, by far, the most challenging song the guys are performing. Zach is on guitar with AJ and Michael (henceforth Wagoner) on vocals. After tonight's rehearsal, we're also going to be adding in Bobby to do rhythm. This song is complicated because of its weird rhythms. The guys came up with a great idea to do the crazy counter rhythm as a patty cake type hand slappy thing. If they can pull that off and sing, this song is going to be brilliant. And, by the time we wrapped up this evening, they were already starting to master it. It was a lovely surprise that came out of AJ suggesting that the rhythm should be snaps and claps rather than just claps. That suggestion morphed into one of the coolest ideas we've had so far. It sounds great and looks even better.
I have to say that even though this was just the first day of rehearsal, everyone is doing brilliantly and I couldn't be more pleased with how things are going. I caught myself smiling when I looked at my stage manager once this evening and she just said, "It's ok. You're allowed to be happy." It feels so good to hear these guys actually singing the songs that have been in my head for over a year. I couldn't be happier. Let's hope I feel this good tomorrow.
AJ, Bobby, Zach, and I worked on the dance. AJ (Juliet) and Bobby (Paris) are the only two dancing, with the scene happening around them. Zach will be playing guitar and Mike (henceforth known as Hollinger) will be oo-ing the melody to "Something" by George Harrison. The dance AJ and Bobby will be doing is a Pavan, a basic step in four. It's a little like walking to music. The boys picked up the steps very quickly and Zach was able to play the music enough for them to dance to within fifteen minutes. I had blocked out an hour for them to get this dance down, but they had it down after thirty minutes.
This meant that we were able to devote that extra half an hour to start sorting out our first round of costumes. I am so pleased with the way the costumes are coming together. Everyone is starting to look great... especially the gentlemen who are playing ladies. And I must say, Jeff (Lady Capulet) looks like his dress was made for him. He looks so at home in the dress I can hardly believe it! Carmel (my costume designer) is a clothing genius.
The last couple of hours of rehearsal were spent on three songs: "Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong" by Michael Franti, "Stars" by Switchfoot, and "Fight Your Kids" by The Chalets. The first song we rehearsed is the only full company number. I like to think of "Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong" as our theme song, which is why I wanted the full company involved. For a first rehearsal, everyone did surprisingly well. They were comfy enough to sing the song on their own without the recording playing with them. For a first rehearsal, the song is coming together very well. Now that folks have an idea of where they come in and how the song goes, I'm looking forward to the next go round with this song.
We spent about half the time on "Stars" that I had budgeted. After one run thru with the cd, they (AJ and Johnny) were ready to sing it on their own. With Zach playing guitar and these two guys singing, the song is sounding great. Zach is finally feeling comfortable with the dropped D tuning and using it to add some real flair. I was worried about the song being overly challenging, but AJ and Johnny are sailing through this song like they were meant to sing it.
Lastly, we took our first stab at "Fight Your Kids." This is, by far, the most challenging song the guys are performing. Zach is on guitar with AJ and Michael (henceforth Wagoner) on vocals. After tonight's rehearsal, we're also going to be adding in Bobby to do rhythm. This song is complicated because of its weird rhythms. The guys came up with a great idea to do the crazy counter rhythm as a patty cake type hand slappy thing. If they can pull that off and sing, this song is going to be brilliant. And, by the time we wrapped up this evening, they were already starting to master it. It was a lovely surprise that came out of AJ suggesting that the rhythm should be snaps and claps rather than just claps. That suggestion morphed into one of the coolest ideas we've had so far. It sounds great and looks even better.
I have to say that even though this was just the first day of rehearsal, everyone is doing brilliantly and I couldn't be more pleased with how things are going. I caught myself smiling when I looked at my stage manager once this evening and she just said, "It's ok. You're allowed to be happy." It feels so good to hear these guys actually singing the songs that have been in my head for over a year. I couldn't be happier. Let's hope I feel this good tomorrow.
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