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Midsummer Madness
This weekend was very INTERESTING. As in the Chinese curse. Saturday dawned hot and humid--Ben showed up at my place and we lugged the screen and all the other stuff down to the Park. (One fantastic thing about this experience is that we can store stuff between show days at the Downtown Boathouse. Yay, no lugging stuff back and forth on the subway!) I was occupied with many producer-ial tasks, such as delegating tasks to the two volunteers, sending out for ice and water, setting up the backstage, setting up the stage right quick change section, et cetera. Laura, my FOHRP liaison, stopped by and we talked about the volunteers, and other stuff. She couldn't stay long, unfortunately. The show went up--we didn't have a huge audience, no doubt because of the heat. One volunteer, Selvena, was terrific in redirecting the foot traffic; she was very hands on and even kicked out three obnoxious little boys who were arguing with Duncan. (She threatened to call the cops on them--love it!)
A minor disaster happened in III, i--this is the scene that starts off with Feste and Viola verbally jousting. As Feste leaves I muse about the nature of foolery and how it's "full of labor as a wise man's art." Now, what is perhaps the most embarrassing thing to happen to you on stage. Nakedness? Tampon string hanging out? Falling on your face? How about this: right in the middle of this monologue (one of my favorite, by the way), a temporary crown on one of my teeth comes flying out? Yes indeedy. I bent down and picked it up and barely got through the scene. It helped that it was the scene where Olivia is throwing herself at me, and I'm very uncomfortable throughout it. I bolted stage right after the scene and Ben came over, asking if I was all right. I couldn't even answer him, I was shaking so hard. I just kind of shook my head, and proceeded to try to fix the crown--I was able to snap it back into place and the rest of the play went without incident.
The second show went a little better--the evening show is always going to be better, I think. It's just a more mellow vibe, although if the sun is hot (as it was on Saturday), the sunset can be a problem for the audience. Wear shades or a cap, everyone!
Sunday started off beautifully--the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I got to the space at 11:00 and stared at the water for awhile, sipping my Red Bull. Just a perfect river day. Gradually more and more people arrived and we set up the space, although there were very few people in the audience. (That actually turned out to be a mixed blessing, due to the challenges of that first show.) We started the show with only two people, although two more arrived during the first Orsino scene. The Captain and I go on for our first scene and as I started to speak, the crown flew out again. I bent down and retrieved it again and--somehow got through the scene. I could hardly speak--I remember grabbing Nicholas's hands for dear life, I was so flustered. Ran off stage, did the quick change, mumbled my I, iv lines (thank goodness I don't have many), ran off stage and burst into tears. I sent Katie to get Paul's superglue and glued that mofo ON. Elizabeth said later "that was HARDCORE." I said "if I wouldn't cancel the show for 94 degree heat or a lack of audience, I certainly wouldn't cancel it for something like this."
The next few scenes were a little weird--I was desperately trying not to glue my lips to my teeth--but eventually the glue dried. However we had a NEW challenge--in I,v, when I first arrive at Olivia's house, a truck with two PEP (Parks Enforcement Patrol) cops rolled up on top the stage. Not quite dead center, but right on the stage. They didn't get out or anything, they just stared at us and backstage with these suspicious expressions. At one point, in the middle of this intense scene with Olivia, I turned around and glared at them--either ask us for something or get the hell out of here! SO RUDE! Elizabeth left the scene (Maria doesn't do much in that scene) and went through my stuff to find the permit--but found the one from last year. Jason found the current one, and went flying over there to get them THE FUCK OUT OF HERE. They challenged the permit, saying they "hadn't heard anything about it." Of course I was in the middle of this scene so I couldn't yell at them. They acted as though we were doing something wrong, like I'm dealing drugs in my Carol Channing wig. TRASH. GO TO COLLEGE. READ A BOOK. Learn about culture, losers. I guarantee they wouldn't have done that if it had been someone's wedding. They never apologized--somehow it was OUR fault THEY hadn't done their jobs and heard about the show.
I had a minor breakdown after that scene--I was so upset that I'd done all this work and tried to anticipate every possible difficulty and somehow these two horrible things had happened. I was just sobbing backstage and Katie and Tom were trying to console me. I generally am pretty composed as producer but shit, man, even I have a breaking point.
We got through the rest of the show without major incident, although lots of people were walking through. So Steven (Valentine), Nicholas, and several other actors took turns playing Zul the Gatekeeper, and asking people to go around on the grass instead of right through the show. Thank you, all!
Between shows we had a photo shoot which turned out pretty well, although we missed some shots. I want to shoot some more Viola/Sebastian shots, as well as the Viola with Orsino, sitting on the ground together scene. I love that scene--there's such a closeness between them. Very sweet. We also need to get ALL of Feste's shots, since poor Jason couldn't be in any (since he took all the photos). I was actually quite annoyed with some cast members for creating drama about photo shoot--there was worry they wouldn't be able to eat. Well, I sent out an email saying this was going to happen, so you should've brought a sandwich. No sympathy, especially since I didn't eat a bite until almost 8 pm yesterday. Welcome to the world of guerilla theater!
The second show went SO much better than the first. Everything went better--our performances (in particular, II, iv went as well as it's ever gone), the audience (biggest we've had, and enthusiastic), the sun was different somehow and didn't set right in people's eyes. Even the PEP cops were nicer this time--they stayed off right, they knew we had a permit, they didn't do anything to disrupt the show. It was actually quite lovely. Also, Kenneth and The Boys made me laugh--in my first entrance as Cesario, Steven and I are approaching the court chatting about Orsino. I say "You either fear his humor or my negligance, if you call into question the continuance of his love. Is he inconstant, sir, in his favors?" Steven answers me (always with a WEALTH of subtext): "No. Believe me." My next line is " I thank you. Here comes the duke." Before I said it both of us noticed there was no one on the stage, so I said loudly "HERE COMES THE DUKE" and I saw this umbrella move backstage as three bodies shot frantically toward the stage. I mean, all three of them! It made me laugh all the rest of the show.
This morning I sent an email to Laura about the volunteers who never showed up and the PEP jerks for the first show. She was properly apologetic, and tomorrow I'm meeting with her to discuss solutions.
BTW, the situation to which one of our actors referred in her journal last Friday--has been resolved. The actor in question apologized profusely and sincerely before the first show Saturday, not just to her but to the cast.
Hey we're on the NY1 community calendar! (Scroll down almost halfway.)
A minor disaster happened in III, i--this is the scene that starts off with Feste and Viola verbally jousting. As Feste leaves I muse about the nature of foolery and how it's "full of labor as a wise man's art." Now, what is perhaps the most embarrassing thing to happen to you on stage. Nakedness? Tampon string hanging out? Falling on your face? How about this: right in the middle of this monologue (one of my favorite, by the way), a temporary crown on one of my teeth comes flying out? Yes indeedy. I bent down and picked it up and barely got through the scene. It helped that it was the scene where Olivia is throwing herself at me, and I'm very uncomfortable throughout it. I bolted stage right after the scene and Ben came over, asking if I was all right. I couldn't even answer him, I was shaking so hard. I just kind of shook my head, and proceeded to try to fix the crown--I was able to snap it back into place and the rest of the play went without incident.
The second show went a little better--the evening show is always going to be better, I think. It's just a more mellow vibe, although if the sun is hot (as it was on Saturday), the sunset can be a problem for the audience. Wear shades or a cap, everyone!
Sunday started off beautifully--the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I got to the space at 11:00 and stared at the water for awhile, sipping my Red Bull. Just a perfect river day. Gradually more and more people arrived and we set up the space, although there were very few people in the audience. (That actually turned out to be a mixed blessing, due to the challenges of that first show.) We started the show with only two people, although two more arrived during the first Orsino scene. The Captain and I go on for our first scene and as I started to speak, the crown flew out again. I bent down and retrieved it again and--somehow got through the scene. I could hardly speak--I remember grabbing Nicholas's hands for dear life, I was so flustered. Ran off stage, did the quick change, mumbled my I, iv lines (thank goodness I don't have many), ran off stage and burst into tears. I sent Katie to get Paul's superglue and glued that mofo ON. Elizabeth said later "that was HARDCORE." I said "if I wouldn't cancel the show for 94 degree heat or a lack of audience, I certainly wouldn't cancel it for something like this."
The next few scenes were a little weird--I was desperately trying not to glue my lips to my teeth--but eventually the glue dried. However we had a NEW challenge--in I,v, when I first arrive at Olivia's house, a truck with two PEP (Parks Enforcement Patrol) cops rolled up on top the stage. Not quite dead center, but right on the stage. They didn't get out or anything, they just stared at us and backstage with these suspicious expressions. At one point, in the middle of this intense scene with Olivia, I turned around and glared at them--either ask us for something or get the hell out of here! SO RUDE! Elizabeth left the scene (Maria doesn't do much in that scene) and went through my stuff to find the permit--but found the one from last year. Jason found the current one, and went flying over there to get them THE FUCK OUT OF HERE. They challenged the permit, saying they "hadn't heard anything about it." Of course I was in the middle of this scene so I couldn't yell at them. They acted as though we were doing something wrong, like I'm dealing drugs in my Carol Channing wig. TRASH. GO TO COLLEGE. READ A BOOK. Learn about culture, losers. I guarantee they wouldn't have done that if it had been someone's wedding. They never apologized--somehow it was OUR fault THEY hadn't done their jobs and heard about the show.
I had a minor breakdown after that scene--I was so upset that I'd done all this work and tried to anticipate every possible difficulty and somehow these two horrible things had happened. I was just sobbing backstage and Katie and Tom were trying to console me. I generally am pretty composed as producer but shit, man, even I have a breaking point.
We got through the rest of the show without major incident, although lots of people were walking through. So Steven (Valentine), Nicholas, and several other actors took turns playing Zul the Gatekeeper, and asking people to go around on the grass instead of right through the show. Thank you, all!
Between shows we had a photo shoot which turned out pretty well, although we missed some shots. I want to shoot some more Viola/Sebastian shots, as well as the Viola with Orsino, sitting on the ground together scene. I love that scene--there's such a closeness between them. Very sweet. We also need to get ALL of Feste's shots, since poor Jason couldn't be in any (since he took all the photos). I was actually quite annoyed with some cast members for creating drama about photo shoot--there was worry they wouldn't be able to eat. Well, I sent out an email saying this was going to happen, so you should've brought a sandwich. No sympathy, especially since I didn't eat a bite until almost 8 pm yesterday. Welcome to the world of guerilla theater!
The second show went SO much better than the first. Everything went better--our performances (in particular, II, iv went as well as it's ever gone), the audience (biggest we've had, and enthusiastic), the sun was different somehow and didn't set right in people's eyes. Even the PEP cops were nicer this time--they stayed off right, they knew we had a permit, they didn't do anything to disrupt the show. It was actually quite lovely. Also, Kenneth and The Boys made me laugh--in my first entrance as Cesario, Steven and I are approaching the court chatting about Orsino. I say "You either fear his humor or my negligance, if you call into question the continuance of his love. Is he inconstant, sir, in his favors?" Steven answers me (always with a WEALTH of subtext): "No. Believe me." My next line is " I thank you. Here comes the duke." Before I said it both of us noticed there was no one on the stage, so I said loudly "HERE COMES THE DUKE" and I saw this umbrella move backstage as three bodies shot frantically toward the stage. I mean, all three of them! It made me laugh all the rest of the show.
This morning I sent an email to Laura about the volunteers who never showed up and the PEP jerks for the first show. She was properly apologetic, and tomorrow I'm meeting with her to discuss solutions.
BTW, the situation to which one of our actors referred in her journal last Friday--has been resolved. The actor in question apologized profusely and sincerely before the first show Saturday, not just to her but to the cast.
Hey we're on the NY1 community calendar! (Scroll down almost halfway.)