the folks did well. What can I say? They are non-actors playing outside their comfort zone. I think they all were playing more with each other, now that the music is more familiar to them. Looking forward to seeing how tonight goes.
interesting piece by Isherwood in tomorrow's times about Opera Acting.
Saturday, September 8
Thursday, September 6
Krenek Opera: WHAT PRICE CONFIDENCE?
Tonight at the Austrian Cultural Forum you can see this Chamber Opera I worked on a year and a half ago.
If you like crazy modern opera, you'll love Krenek.
No set allowed: this building is designed by daniel libeskind of freedom tower fame. The folks at the Austrian Cultural Forum are pretty tense about anything - but they are supportive enough to have this event happen.
It's been good to have something to look at (work on) as soon as I got back to NYC. Really interesting to work with non-actors. Opera singers don't seem to care too much about their acting - just their singing. Still, these four are indeed doing their best to tell the tale.
Here are the details. Click on events and calendar. Or see below:
September 6 - 10, 2007, ACF
CHAMBER OPERA | WHAT PRICE CONFIDENCE?
Thursday, September 6, 2007, 8 pm
Saturday, September 8, 2007, 7 pm
Monday, September 10, 2007, 8 pm
A One-Act Opera by Ernst Krenek
Richard CLEMENT, Tenor
Ilana DAVIDSON, Soprano
Christopheren NOMURA, Baritone
Susan NARUCKI, Soprano
Linda HALL, Piano
Curtis WALLIN, Scenic Designer
RESERVATIONS |
Free admission. However, tickets are required.
For reservations, please call ACF's reservation line at (212) 319 5300 ext. 222 or email reservations@acfny.org. Please leave your name, telephone number, the day of the performance you want to attend and number of tickets requested.
performance reports
So - now all that's left for me is the performance reports. My stage manager, Melissa, who was my stage manager for I AM MY OWN WIFE last summer, knows what I like. But there is very little on the empirical evidence side - so you have to infer a lot.
Really, you've got running time, a few comments by the SM, and that's about it. You have to trust that your stage manager is going to give not just an honest assessment, but also an assessment that matches your take on the play.
Yesterday - the jukebox didn't work. Why not? I have no idea. I just know that much only. And that clifton smacked wendell twice instead of once on the bum with the ruler. That's it. That's all I get.
That and running time: when thom pain ran I could somehow tell how the show went pretty much based on the running time - as crass as that sounds. Urbaniak worked like clockwork. He always fell 30 seconds plus or minus a running time of about 1 hr. 4 minutes. If it was less than that, he was likely off, or the audience was dead. If it was a little more than that, you could guess that it was a very volatile audience or that he might have been a bit distracted. T. Ryder Smith was never consistent running time wise: he'd have 57 minute shows followed by 1 hr. 10 minute shows. Nilaja - also performs like clockwork.
Master Harold should come in at about 1 hr. 40 minutes. And it so far has.
Really, you've got running time, a few comments by the SM, and that's about it. You have to trust that your stage manager is going to give not just an honest assessment, but also an assessment that matches your take on the play.
Yesterday - the jukebox didn't work. Why not? I have no idea. I just know that much only. And that clifton smacked wendell twice instead of once on the bum with the ruler. That's it. That's all I get.
That and running time: when thom pain ran I could somehow tell how the show went pretty much based on the running time - as crass as that sounds. Urbaniak worked like clockwork. He always fell 30 seconds plus or minus a running time of about 1 hr. 4 minutes. If it was less than that, he was likely off, or the audience was dead. If it was a little more than that, you could guess that it was a very volatile audience or that he might have been a bit distracted. T. Ryder Smith was never consistent running time wise: he'd have 57 minute shows followed by 1 hr. 10 minute shows. Nilaja - also performs like clockwork.
Master Harold should come in at about 1 hr. 40 minutes. And it so far has.
a satisfied mind
I am rarely satisfied with the finished product - the production itself. The joy I experience is in the creation. Maybe the reason the performance is not as satisfying for me, is because I obsess too much on the details. I know I am not alone in this department. There's just so little you can control once it's up and running. May I remind you of the incontinence at CATF's opening night?
So what IS my favorite part of the production? Is it auditions - when I get to search for the right actors and play with the material on its feet for the first time? Is it day one of rehearsals - hearing the play read aloud for the first time after months of prep? Is it staging? The nittygritty drilling down work? Is it design meetings, talking to designers about how to put the show in three dimensions? Is it a stumblethrough - which is at once terrifying as much as it is informative? Or is it tech, when it all comes together, and you as a director have to think on your feet in a way that is different from how you think on your feet in the rehearsal room?
I don't know. But I am pretty sure it's not performances...Is that sad? maybe.
But I do strive for enjoyment - I really do - and so last night, I had high hopes that after missing the Saturday performances, and being more or less satisfied with Friday's improved opening night performance, that I would be able to sit back and see the next stage of MASTER HAROLD's maturation.
it would be the final time I'd get to see MASTER HAROLD before departing from good ol' Weston Vermont.
Everything was humming along nicely, for the first 20 minutes - and then, without fail, something happened. A man had a diabetic seizure...or its equivalent. I saw him stand up, start to walk up the aisle towards an exit and then pass out...I went outside to make sure the house management was seeking medical attention for the guy - I thought maybe he was having a heart attack. The house management did not stop the show - but after about 10 agonizing minutes, the man stood up and walked out into the lobby. Fortunately he was ok. But man, it was scary.
I don't think the actors knew - but naturally, a good part of the house was shaken up by it - those who saw the man fall. There was a lot of noise as the paramedics attended to the guy. Many of the folks who didn't actually see the guy pass out had no idea why there was so much noise from the lobby - they grew very very distracted and they'd grumble whenever the paramedics in the lobby raised their voices in the hopes of making the man comfortable...
It wasn't until about the last 20 minutes or so of the play that things finally felt normal inside as well as outside.
So - needless to say, my enjoyment of the performance was pretty secondary to the fella's health. From what I understand he walked out of the lobby on his own and refused medical attention. But he's ok.
So I'll never get to see this show hit its stride - and I'll have to take satisfaction that the audience seem to love it - they're moved, they gasp, and they seem to be quite tearful at its end. I really hope I am not seeming callous here - I do hope the guy is doing well...
So what IS my favorite part of the production? Is it auditions - when I get to search for the right actors and play with the material on its feet for the first time? Is it day one of rehearsals - hearing the play read aloud for the first time after months of prep? Is it staging? The nittygritty drilling down work? Is it design meetings, talking to designers about how to put the show in three dimensions? Is it a stumblethrough - which is at once terrifying as much as it is informative? Or is it tech, when it all comes together, and you as a director have to think on your feet in a way that is different from how you think on your feet in the rehearsal room?
I don't know. But I am pretty sure it's not performances...Is that sad? maybe.
But I do strive for enjoyment - I really do - and so last night, I had high hopes that after missing the Saturday performances, and being more or less satisfied with Friday's improved opening night performance, that I would be able to sit back and see the next stage of MASTER HAROLD's maturation.
it would be the final time I'd get to see MASTER HAROLD before departing from good ol' Weston Vermont.
Everything was humming along nicely, for the first 20 minutes - and then, without fail, something happened. A man had a diabetic seizure...or its equivalent. I saw him stand up, start to walk up the aisle towards an exit and then pass out...I went outside to make sure the house management was seeking medical attention for the guy - I thought maybe he was having a heart attack. The house management did not stop the show - but after about 10 agonizing minutes, the man stood up and walked out into the lobby. Fortunately he was ok. But man, it was scary.
I don't think the actors knew - but naturally, a good part of the house was shaken up by it - those who saw the man fall. There was a lot of noise as the paramedics attended to the guy. Many of the folks who didn't actually see the guy pass out had no idea why there was so much noise from the lobby - they grew very very distracted and they'd grumble whenever the paramedics in the lobby raised their voices in the hopes of making the man comfortable...
It wasn't until about the last 20 minutes or so of the play that things finally felt normal inside as well as outside.
So - needless to say, my enjoyment of the performance was pretty secondary to the fella's health. From what I understand he walked out of the lobby on his own and refused medical attention. But he's ok.
So I'll never get to see this show hit its stride - and I'll have to take satisfaction that the audience seem to love it - they're moved, they gasp, and they seem to be quite tearful at its end. I really hope I am not seeming callous here - I do hope the guy is doing well...
Tuesday, September 4
Opening night
We spent rehearsal on friday working acting notes- the intent was to sort of soften hally who in the transition from the rehearsal room to the stage was coming off a little too pouty and bratty at times. Was hard to see the genuine affection between hally and sam. Clifton is a real pro and made these adjustments easily.
And we also worked on teching the rain - sound and set. The rain looks ok from up close - but its hard to sell the "raining cats and dogs" with a little mist on the windows. I understand there are limitations. I just wish I hadn't been promised rain. A gobo - though awful - might have done the job but alas it was too late.
The sound fix was simple - increase the rain sound just the two times when the doors open and close. Done. Add better thunder to the blackout. Done.
And finally - trying to get the end moment right. In the preview something went oddly wrong with the sound of the jukebox - it repeated twice before it was supposed to come on. Turns out it had to do with the ipod playlist being paused and restarted. But I wanted the last moment just right. And I think its almost there - not quite. And again a limitation that I was outside my control. I wanted the song to come to a definitive end, but the song that the sound designer came up with continued - and when she edited it to give me that definitive ending, the tempo change made it seem like the two guys were lousy dancers. So, I relented and had the sound and lights fade together. Its all right - but the way the song continues isn't quite the right feel.
In performance, hally was definitelly much more soft and as a result his relationship with sam really seemed special and genuine.
But all that work we did techwise was gone and I was furious. The thunder sound seemed like a toilet being flushed. The first rain cue was nonexistent. I could not for the life og me perceive that there was physical rain on the windows. Ah well.
Turns out that the two people operating sound and light in tech became a new one person that night. For the first time. On opening night. There are some things that you can never account for, some questions you can never anticipate.
Huge standing o - and two bows.
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