We Opened!

I'm so proud of being a part of the team that put together "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg." We opened Thursday with the Dinner Theater performance and had a show last night with the regular-seating configuration. This is, in some way, like having two openings, as those audiences tend to be very different one from the other. Both nights, audiences seemed to have nothing but good comments to give, at least to us. Also, both nights were almost sold out, something that is extremely flattering, even more so considering that our opening weekend coincides with other great artistic performances in town.
I have to admit that, months ago, when I first read Joe Egg (and fell in love with it) a part of me was a bit worried about how audiences will receive it. It is not your average, everyday show, not even if it gets misclassified it as simply a comedy or a drama. It is because of this that, whenever the comments I've heard range from "It's different, but good different" to "It's probably one of the best shows I've seen at TWO," I feel that I had little to worry about. It is easy to think, when you try to do something "weird" in a small town, that audiences may not be ready for it. The way Joe Egg has been embraced by our patrons shows that Owensboro audiences are much more mature than I ever thought.
How were the performances? I have nothing but praise to the cast and crew. The amount of work they've put in this production is huge, and it shows. After tech week (which basically means "after a full week of keeping families, jobs, and a play going every day") they managed to give impeccable performances both days. Fifteen minutes before they go on stage (right before they start their warm ups) any tired faces disappear and the level of energy in the green room is palpable. I'm just looking forward to see what will happen today, after everyone has gotten a full day of rest.
One of the members of the audience said to me on opening night "you have a lot to be proud of." He is absolutely right.

Last Minute Backstage Fixes

Sometimes things go wrong. Last night during our preview, everything went smooth until right after we were done, we heard a Crash! A special effect light had fallen and broken apart. Now, being the Production manager and all around "Tech Guy" for this production, I freaked for just a second because we don't have a replacement unit for this set element. But I was able to put it back together so that the show can continue just as the director had envisioned.

So I thought I would give you a little behind the scenes peek at backstage for the show. The pictures are of the broken light and the wonderful, "Put-Back-Together" version of the same light. It was important to get this "look" for the show just right and several people spent quite some time trying to figure out how to make this perfect.

That is part of the magic of theatre, people working together to make something special out of very little, and that's why I love working on shows. This group has been a great pleasure to work with. From the stage hands to the cast and Director, I have great pride and pleasure to be on this journey with them.

Just one more thing...

Cues were in place. Timely entrances of the well-defined characters. Intention was clear. It was hilarious when it had to be funny and "moving" doesn't even begin to describe the parts meant to be touching. Crew worked like two or three well-oiled machines in unison. All of us felt it... it is that time. It's the time you get to when a play has matured to a point where only one element is missing: an audience. Fancy that, getting to that point the night before opening!
I can't wait to see this play tomorrow. I'm so, so proud of being a part of it. Now... it's time to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day!

A preview

Day three of tech week, and the next-to-last one... and what a great day! A lot of things got accomplished today: the completion of the last element of the set we needed, the discovery of an alternative way of lighting a particular scene that ended up looking so much better, and the preview video amidst many others (I could write much praise to actors and crew... but I'll save that for tomorrow or the day after). Now, I'm not going to go ahead and spoil some surprises with photos of the first two accomplishments, but I can definitely post the preview video. So, here it is... Enjoy!

A very important message

After tonight's rehearsal (which had metric tons of insanely great stuff), I got to snag a video with a bit of Freddie's thoughts on modern theatre and a particular suggestion. I somehow felt it was my duty to share it with the world, or rather felt Freddie would've felt so. I'd pay attention, as this kind of useful advice from a rich and powerful industrialist (sorry, Freddie... I meant to say "comfortable and soon-to-be-replaced-by-natives company-owner") is difficult to come by.

Hope to see you all at the theatre!

Lookin' Good!

So, tech week is finally here and things are looking pretty awesome from the house. A beautiful set, a fantastic crew, and a gorgeous cast! Speaking of which, you may have already seen the poster for this play around. If you haven't, search for it in your next visit to your favorite coffee house, restaurant, or library. It is absolutely awesome! In case you don't feel like going out right now, here it is in its small form:

Click to enlarge. Warning: you may get hit by all kinds of awesome.

Cool, isn't it?! Big shout out to Stephanie at Stigman Photography, who spoiled us by taking so many great pictures it was so difficult to decide which ones to use; and the people at Red Pixel Studios, who took care of graphic-designing it all! Lastly but not leastly, thanks to the parents of all of the actors for producing such amazingly photogenic beings.

PS: Leastly may not be a word, but I may not care.

How important is intuition?

Pretentious image snagged from the Internet

Intuition, often overlooked, seriously underestimated, and definitely underutilized in today's modern world can be a source of so much joy, happiness, pink horses and lovely unicorns. It is so important that in some cultures is regarded as the sixth sense (eat that, Bruce Willis!). It is particularly useful if you happen to be a director absolutely deprived of that quality, but who finds it by the gallon on the actors and crew of the play he is attempting to direct. The truth of the matter is, when there's a lot of intuition on the actors, there's very little work for the director. It is, more than anything, working as a traffic-guide-thing-dude (you know, the ones that tell you when to stop and when to go) just to be sure that we don't have an intuition pileup.
Amazing things like reading a blog entry from one of the characters on the play (and incredibly in character, if I may say so) about a topic that is not touched in the play (which makes hitting the nail even more difficult) fill me with a bucket of happy. Seeing rehearsal today (the first time we stood up and walked around while delivering lines) and how natural the movements, facial expressions, interactions and so on were gives me both an amount of confidence and peace of mind I had not experience in theater many times before. The sensation one can get when an actor acts on pure intuition and things come out as a character rather than as an actor's performance is difficult to explain.
With over a month before opening, the crew is already gathering things, throwing ideas, being the best crew one could expect on tech week, but without the stress of tech week.
In the end, it is coming to that: a pretty stress-free, fun project that already shows signs of a great show... and we still have a lot of time to make it absolutely mind-blowing. I know these actors and crew will not settle for anything less.
Oh, before I forget... my intuition asks me to say something I should have said a bit before my first post. Yes, this blog is maintained by the cast and crew of "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" but it is not meant to be any sort of "official blog" associated with TWO. So our (read my) senseless rants should never be tied up with such a wonderful and non-rant-type organization!
Hopefully next rehearsal we'll snap a bit of video to share.

We Are All So Fortunate

I'm extremely interested in this whole blogging thing. Think of all of the good the power of words can do. I'm fortunate to have working fingers that can type. There are so many out there without such an advantage, and, so, it is incumbant upon me to share thoughts and stories that may in some way better mankind.

Back to this idea of the handless and fingerless-- I am intrigued and proud to support the work of Paul Smith, a plastic surgeon in London who has started to replace fingers on the hands of children with symbrachydactyly. Hundreds are born so afflicted each year. Personally, those of us with fingers have a duty to inform and educate the masses on behalf of these poor children who are unable to blog.

Simply, when we have the means to make a difference, and I am blessed with such means, we must. And, so, I plan on blogging much more-- not for me, but for a better world.

Finding a destination

We've started a sort-of journal for TWO's production of "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg." All of us (cast, crew, guests) have enjoyed incredible conversations before, during, and after rehearsals and meetings related to the play. This is such a profound piece that one cannot help but to think a lot about it. And through this blog we hope to let everybody in in some of our rants. I promise to write more about how the process has gone up until now, but today I'd like to share a bit on what we experienced yesterday.
Since the beginning I've had a pretty clear idea on what I would love to see in this production. Nonetheless, a part that has not been extremely clear is what the message is, if there is a message.
Karen Carothers, our (amazing!) Assitant Director spoke with Jim Payne at Wendell Foster's a couple of weeks ago to arrange a session of volunteering for the cast and crew of Joe Egg. Yesterday, we got to visit their campus and, to our surprise, Jim was waiting for us with a great surprise.
As we arrived to Wendell Foster's (I have to admit I arrived late) we were seated in the main lobby of the administration building, where we had an incredible session of Q&A with the residents and workers of this amazing institution. Several of the questions they had for us were far more important and eye-opening than many of the questions we thought we should be asking ourselves. The answers they gave to our questions were profound and had a way to show with extreme simplicity concepts I had not been able to wrap my mind around.
Let me share one of those moments. We asked the residents and workers if they had ever interacted with someone who had the same condition as Joe, and if so, how did they view that person. One of the resident's answer will stay with me as long as I hold control of my mind: "She's the same as me. She just has a different way of viewing and doing things. That's the only difference in between us" (I apologize for the use of quotes, as I'm operating from memory it probably is not literally what she said).
After the Q&A, they gave us a tour of their facilities, and invited us to a concert/dinner they had last night (which some of us were fortunate enough to attend as well).

Actresses Deborah Arvin and Katie Champion enjoy a tour of the Wendell Foster's Campus

This was a very special opportunity for all of us as a group, and for me personally. I think we all got as many answers as new questions, and after this we are viewing the play in a whole new light.
My deep appreciation goes to the Wendell Foster's campus, its residents and workers and all who make that place possible. Matter of fact, if you have never visited, you should try to volunteer there sometime. We hope our new friends can come see some of the rehearsals and help us refine the goal of the play.