Norton buys a paper. And renames it.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
A new stage
After doing a terrific stumble-through at the end of last week, Eric decided to use this week and into next week to start layering detail on our rough sketch. Yesterday and today were about Act I, fixing, redoing, and polishing, with great results. Of course, it ends up meaning that I need to write new underscoring and reprises where we find we need them, or when the old versions no longer fit the new staging. But that's pretty much what we're down to, at this point, since all the major numbers needed to be sent to Jonathan Tunick by the weekend.
On that note, the preliminary full scores keep arriving in the email, and if they sound half as hot as they look, watch out! I can't wait for Monday, our first orchestra reheasal. My last remaining assignments: underscoring for a bit of stage business in Act I, and sketching out the structure for the Entr'acte, Curtain Call and Exit Music (what the band plays as the audience is leaving). Though I'm sure as we go through Act II, we'll discover other things for me to do...
On that note, the preliminary full scores keep arriving in the email, and if they sound half as hot as they look, watch out! I can't wait for Monday, our first orchestra reheasal. My last remaining assignments: underscoring for a bit of stage business in Act I, and sketching out the structure for the Entr'acte, Curtain Call and Exit Music (what the band plays as the audience is leaving). Though I'm sure as we go through Act II, we'll discover other things for me to do...
Friday, February 23, 2007
Doing the work
Yesterday was very intense for me. We finished blocking the show and ran the second act. During the morning (blocking sections of the middle and the end of the second act) we got to a section of the story where Ann, our leading lady, does something very naughty, downright despicable actually. Prior to yesterday, that action happened off-stage, so we needed to, in the next scene, use little tricks of dialogue and intention to let the audience know what had been done. This ultimately bothered us because it felt like exactly what we were doing, which is avoiding dealing with the issue as writers.
It's a very tricky moment though, balancing exactly how she comes to do this deed. As an audience, we HATE that she does it, but we understand why she does it and know that we very likely would do the same thing.
So Andrew and I had come up with this concept for what amounted to a dream sequence that showed images in Ann's head that, we thought, added up to an explanation of the emotions that drive her to do this thing (I know I'm being cryptic, but you gotta come see the show to really see what I'm talking about...) Andrew sketched out music and it looked very compelling on paper.
Then we all got into the room and it didn't feel right. I won't bore you with all the details of why, but I do want to share what happened next, which was rare in my experience. We all just stood around and talked it through: Andrew and I, Eric and Karma, our wonderful smart actors, we stood there in the rehearsal hall for an hour and just talked through what everyone was seeing and feeling at this moment in the show: what came before it, what comes after, who these people are, the theatrical tone that has been set, and on and on.
Now this may sound like what you'd expect to happen on the first day of rehearsal as we all sit around in our turtlenecks and sip Italian coffees, but not so much. These are the talks, I'm finding, that are impossible to schedule and can only come about when enough groundwork has been laid that the story's arc is hanging out there in the room for everyone to see. This is something that you just cannot see on the page or hear in a table read. This is theatre in 3 dimensions and I truly believe that that hour was the first time that I really understood what everyone means when they speak of theatre as the most collaborative of art forms.
Honestly, it was an excruciating hour for me. It's tough for me to look someone in the face and say "Nope, I don't agree with that and here's why." or to throw a bizarre image out into the group that I know I don't understand but that's been sticking in my head. It's the kind of hour that can only happen when a level of trust and respect has been built in the room upon which real dialogue and collaboration can occur. It was a wonderful, magical hour I will never forget.
Man, I hope we're not all wrong.
It's a very tricky moment though, balancing exactly how she comes to do this deed. As an audience, we HATE that she does it, but we understand why she does it and know that we very likely would do the same thing.
So Andrew and I had come up with this concept for what amounted to a dream sequence that showed images in Ann's head that, we thought, added up to an explanation of the emotions that drive her to do this thing (I know I'm being cryptic, but you gotta come see the show to really see what I'm talking about...) Andrew sketched out music and it looked very compelling on paper.
Then we all got into the room and it didn't feel right. I won't bore you with all the details of why, but I do want to share what happened next, which was rare in my experience. We all just stood around and talked it through: Andrew and I, Eric and Karma, our wonderful smart actors, we stood there in the rehearsal hall for an hour and just talked through what everyone was seeing and feeling at this moment in the show: what came before it, what comes after, who these people are, the theatrical tone that has been set, and on and on.
Now this may sound like what you'd expect to happen on the first day of rehearsal as we all sit around in our turtlenecks and sip Italian coffees, but not so much. These are the talks, I'm finding, that are impossible to schedule and can only come about when enough groundwork has been laid that the story's arc is hanging out there in the room for everyone to see. This is something that you just cannot see on the page or hear in a table read. This is theatre in 3 dimensions and I truly believe that that hour was the first time that I really understood what everyone means when they speak of theatre as the most collaborative of art forms.
Honestly, it was an excruciating hour for me. It's tough for me to look someone in the face and say "Nope, I don't agree with that and here's why." or to throw a bizarre image out into the group that I know I don't understand but that's been sticking in my head. It's the kind of hour that can only happen when a level of trust and respect has been built in the room upon which real dialogue and collaboration can occur. It was a wonderful, magical hour I will never forget.
Man, I hope we're not all wrong.
The Rise and Fall of a Fantasy Sequence
[OK, here's my version!]
This past week has been spent staging all(!) of Act II, culminating in a stumble-through yesterday afternoon. During the course of the staging, Eddie and I had the bright idea that we needed an opportunity, at Ann's moment of moral crisis, to see inside her head, in order to understand what she's going through and the painful choice she must make. So, like any good musical theater writers, we cooked up a fantasy sequence for her. It would be Bold! Theatrical! An Opportunity for Movement! Great for the band! I spent many hours sketching out cool re-arrangements of some of her songs to go along with her imagined exploits, and we came to rehearsal yesterday with an outline, a few pages of music, and big IDEAS.
Then we started to try to stage it. Questions of tone arose, the monster under the bed of every show I've ever worked on. How can we make this fantasy a) clear, so people don't ask "Is she really waltzing through the White House?" and b) fit with the style of the rest of the show? Some of the principals wandered over and got in on the discussion. What is she really going through? Isn't that information already laid out in the two previous scenes? Yes, say Eddie and I, but we need a minute to feel her reaction to the moment. But, says Eric, the minute she stops and thinks, we lose the momentum of the story. What if it's just a visual? Will it be enough?, say Eddie and I. By this time, we've used all the allotted rehearsal slot, and it's time to run the act.
Turns out everyone was right. The changes we've made in the scenes leading up to her moment tell us all we need to know about her reasoning, and all we need is a brief, underscored moment to see her making the fateful choice to understand how a human being who's not perfect, just like the rest of us, could do what she does.
Today we run the whole show (I can't believe it), and we'll really see how her track is holding together. More insights to come...
This past week has been spent staging all(!) of Act II, culminating in a stumble-through yesterday afternoon. During the course of the staging, Eddie and I had the bright idea that we needed an opportunity, at Ann's moment of moral crisis, to see inside her head, in order to understand what she's going through and the painful choice she must make. So, like any good musical theater writers, we cooked up a fantasy sequence for her. It would be Bold! Theatrical! An Opportunity for Movement! Great for the band! I spent many hours sketching out cool re-arrangements of some of her songs to go along with her imagined exploits, and we came to rehearsal yesterday with an outline, a few pages of music, and big IDEAS.
Then we started to try to stage it. Questions of tone arose, the monster under the bed of every show I've ever worked on. How can we make this fantasy a) clear, so people don't ask "Is she really waltzing through the White House?" and b) fit with the style of the rest of the show? Some of the principals wandered over and got in on the discussion. What is she really going through? Isn't that information already laid out in the two previous scenes? Yes, say Eddie and I, but we need a minute to feel her reaction to the moment. But, says Eric, the minute she stops and thinks, we lose the momentum of the story. What if it's just a visual? Will it be enough?, say Eddie and I. By this time, we've used all the allotted rehearsal slot, and it's time to run the act.
Turns out everyone was right. The changes we've made in the scenes leading up to her moment tell us all we need to know about her reasoning, and all we need is a brief, underscored moment to see her making the fateful choice to understand how a human being who's not perfect, just like the rest of us, could do what she does.
Today we run the whole show (I can't believe it), and we'll really see how her track is holding together. More insights to come...
Monday, February 19, 2007
Golden pig!
In case you missed it, yesterday was the Chinese new year, specifically, the year of the Golden Pig, a year that comes around once every 600 years. Anything born in this auspicious year is guaranteed success, wealth, prosperity and health. Of course, with DC's Chinatown only three blocks from our apartments, several of us Doe nuts had to be in attendance to get some of that mojo for ourselves; for a little of your own, just click here for some photos I snapped!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Progress
Yesterday, I returned to rehearsals after being in NYC for a few days, and the amount of work everyone has been doing is truly amazing. We did an entire run-through of Act I, with the cast 90% off-book already. When did they have time to learn it all? It was very helpful for Eddie, Eric, Karma and me to see the flow of Act I and start thinking about big-picture questions like flow, pace, and tracking the clarity of story beats through the act. Questions that can't be answered in isolation, like "Do we want applause here, or do we want to push through and leave everyone breathless?", were suddenly a lot clearer.
I was also able to send four more songs off to Jonathan Tunick; he was clamoring for more, as he's already finished the first six numbers I gave him last week! I'm finding it a real balancing act, needing to wait until numbers are staged and I've had a chance to adjust them to fit this production, but also needing to get them to Jonathan to orchestrate and then send on to the copyist to get back in time for our first orchestra rehearsal, two weeks from Monday!
We also had our first production meeting since we started, where the heads of all the departments (sets, lights, costumes, props, stage management, music, sound, etc.) meet to discuss any questions and problems that have come up as they've started working. Sample topics: is the giant map of the U.S. we need for Act II too big to get up onto the second story of the set? ( No, with adjustments.) Will the terrific carved wooden desk they found for Norton fit onto the moving pallet? (No, keep looking.) Which way do the doors open? (Upstage.) Do the period cameras have to have working flahses? (Yes.) Do the phones really need to ring? (Yes, but only three of them.) How many copies of the "New American Times" do we need, and what should be on the front page? (Fourteen, with backups; it doesn't matter.) When will we record the radio jingle with the band and singers? (A few days before the first preview.)
I always feel a little guilty: all I have to do is sit at my computer and type "John is blinded by a sea of FLASHBULBS", or "A jazzy jingle plays on the RADIO"; other people have to do the real work of making it happen!
I was also able to send four more songs off to Jonathan Tunick; he was clamoring for more, as he's already finished the first six numbers I gave him last week! I'm finding it a real balancing act, needing to wait until numbers are staged and I've had a chance to adjust them to fit this production, but also needing to get them to Jonathan to orchestrate and then send on to the copyist to get back in time for our first orchestra rehearsal, two weeks from Monday!
We also had our first production meeting since we started, where the heads of all the departments (sets, lights, costumes, props, stage management, music, sound, etc.) meet to discuss any questions and problems that have come up as they've started working. Sample topics: is the giant map of the U.S. we need for Act II too big to get up onto the second story of the set? ( No, with adjustments.) Will the terrific carved wooden desk they found for Norton fit onto the moving pallet? (No, keep looking.) Which way do the doors open? (Upstage.) Do the period cameras have to have working flahses? (Yes.) Do the phones really need to ring? (Yes, but only three of them.) How many copies of the "New American Times" do we need, and what should be on the front page? (Fourteen, with backups; it doesn't matter.) When will we record the radio jingle with the band and singers? (A few days before the first preview.)
I always feel a little guilty: all I have to do is sit at my computer and type "John is blinded by a sea of FLASHBULBS", or "A jazzy jingle plays on the RADIO"; other people have to do the real work of making it happen!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Sold Out!!
Got your attention, right? I actually have no idea how ticket sales are, but that was fun to write.
Andrew and I were in NYC yesterday attending the Larson Award luncheon at the swanky 21 Club. We had the wonderful Mark Sanders lined up to sing "Perfect Days" from the score (the previous year's winners present songs as entertainment for the event), but he got stuck in Florida. So a TERRIFIED Andrew pulled a major Billy Joel and played and sung the song WONDERFULLY. Our table of donors and upper-crusters applauded wildly.
Yay Andrew!
Andrew and I were in NYC yesterday attending the Larson Award luncheon at the swanky 21 Club. We had the wonderful Mark Sanders lined up to sing "Perfect Days" from the score (the previous year's winners present songs as entertainment for the event), but he got stuck in Florida. So a TERRIFIED Andrew pulled a major Billy Joel and played and sung the song WONDERFULLY. Our table of donors and upper-crusters applauded wildly.
Yay Andrew!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Rolling right along
Things are rolling right along here at MJD rehearsals. 24 more pages to block till we're through Act 1, whoo-hoo! There seems to be a little bit of a bug working its way through the cast, but everyone is struggling on and Evan got his voice back!
Yesterday, Heidi and Eric sang and blocked through one of Ann's new songs "I Hope You Can See This" causing ensemble member Channez McQuay to burst into tears: Mission Accomplished!
It's been fascinating to watch Eric and Karma work together. Peas and Carrots as Forrest would say. If I told you all their secrets, they'd come after me, but let's just say layer after layer after layer. Great stuff happening.
In other news, the score now has its first imperfect rhyme. Listen closely for it. First audience member to tell me what it is gets a free Snickers bar! Seriously. It's in the first act.
Yesterday, Heidi and Eric sang and blocked through one of Ann's new songs "I Hope You Can See This" causing ensemble member Channez McQuay to burst into tears: Mission Accomplished!
It's been fascinating to watch Eric and Karma work together. Peas and Carrots as Forrest would say. If I told you all their secrets, they'd come after me, but let's just say layer after layer after layer. Great stuff happening.
In other news, the score now has its first imperfect rhyme. Listen closely for it. First audience member to tell me what it is gets a free Snickers bar! Seriously. It's in the first act.
VIDEO - Heidi B's Breakfast
Heidi B (Ann Mitchell) discussing her breakfast before rehearsal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEVkFV5opcs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEVkFV5opcs
Friday, February 9, 2007
Staging!
It's only day four of rehearsal, day one-and-a-half of staging, and we're already putting the second brand-new ensemble number on its feet. The new opening number, "Yesterday's News", Eric and Karma breezed through yesterday, with, remarkably, only one musical change requested, a terrific 2-bar cut. Now they're working on "Fast Talking", a relentless patter song for Guy Paul, who plays editor Richard Connell, who juggles multiple phones as the ensemble performs intricate newspaper-ography while echoing his patter. Eric asked me for a new ending, which I wrote downstairs in my "office", the church nursery, seated between a crib and a small wooden stove. We're about to teach it; we'll see if sounds like I hope it does!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Jim Moye (John Doe), Heidi Blickenstaff (Ann Mitchell), and Guy Paul (Richard Connell) acting up a storm, to costume designer Alejo Vietti's enjoyment.
Day 3
Third day of rehearsal. The cast is really fantastic. Jamie, our wonderful Music Director, is cruising through a lot of music teaching, and this afternoon Eric and Karma are diving into staging, putting the new opening number on its feet (this is the 4th one we’ve written folks...) Oh, and it’s COLD!
Yesterday, we started writing a new number that we thought was the greatest idea in the world. So, of course it stunk. C’est la vie. Oh, and very important, Craig (production stage manager) has promised to help me pick out my opening night outfit. Whew.
Yesterday, we started writing a new number that we thought was the greatest idea in the world. So, of course it stunk. C’est la vie. Oh, and very important, Craig (production stage manager) has promised to help me pick out my opening night outfit. Whew.
Rehearsals underway!
The first day of rehearsal. As our music director, Jamie Schmidt, put it: "It's like the first day of kindergarten. You hope everyone's nice and doesn't make fun of you." Luckily, all the children played very well together, and there were a lot of them! The entire Ford's staff came down to the church where we're rehearsing, plus all the designers and their assistants, and our great big 18-member cast! Biggest thrill for me was sitting next to Jonathan Tunick, our Tony/Oscar/Grammy/Emmy-award-winning orchestrator, as only days before I had sat next to him and Stephen Sondheim at the orchestra rehearsal for Follies in NYC. For young writers, that sense of tradition and pedigree is like a little bit of magic has been sprinkled over our production.
After a greeting from Artistic Director Paul Tetreault and a welcoming speech from director Eric Schaeffer, our designers each presented their models and sketches. As Ann Mitchell says, "It knocked my socks off". The combination of '30s fashion with its glamorous, tailored lines, a ferocious, industrial set with iron staircases and an enormous printing press, and lights coming from every which way is going to make this show look like nothing I've seen. Add to that our 10-piece jazz band and I'm going to want to go every night! (Don't worry, Paul, I know my comp limits.)
With only a short break for pastry and coffee, we dove right in to a read/sing-through at the tables. The four new songs we've written since Goodspeed fit in very well and fix a lot of problems we'd been having. Another new section made us miss the old version, so >poof< the old version is back, with some adjustments. Tomorrow I'll tackle the new version of the Finale, and we should be very, very close.
After a greeting from Artistic Director Paul Tetreault and a welcoming speech from director Eric Schaeffer, our designers each presented their models and sketches. As Ann Mitchell says, "It knocked my socks off". The combination of '30s fashion with its glamorous, tailored lines, a ferocious, industrial set with iron staircases and an enormous printing press, and lights coming from every which way is going to make this show look like nothing I've seen. Add to that our 10-piece jazz band and I'm going to want to go every night! (Don't worry, Paul, I know my comp limits.)
With only a short break for pastry and coffee, we dove right in to a read/sing-through at the tables. The four new songs we've written since Goodspeed fit in very well and fix a lot of problems we'd been having. Another new section made us miss the old version, so >poof< the old version is back, with some adjustments. Tomorrow I'll tackle the new version of the Finale, and we should be very, very close.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Doe-Nuts descend on Nation's Capital
So we're packing again. The laundry is being done, lists being made, final meals with loved ones being eaten, and the rehearsal process starts afresh on Tuesday. Since our workshop production at Goodspeed in November, we've written four completely new numbers with a fifth on the way, and overhauled two others. And we love them all. The set and costume sketches look fantastic, Jonathan Tunick (!) is starting work on the orchestrations for the 10(!)-piece band, and Eddie and I are desperate to hear the new material and see what Eric Schaeffer and Karma Camp and our amazing cast will do with it.
Mostly, we can't believe how the stars have aligned to put our world premiere at an American landmark, in Washington, D.C., just as the most interesting presidential election season in decades is gearing up, and just as grassroots movements across the country are grabbing the national spotlight and refusing to let go. We wanted to write a show that had relevance to today's world, and it just keeps getting more relevant, for better or worse.
In this blog, we'll be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what goes in to taking a new musical from costume fittings and taping out the rehearsal space to final dress rehearsal and opening night. We hope to show what an exhilarating, collaborative effort the theater is, especially when working on a piece that's still receiving finishing touches. The team of artists, actors, designers, musicians and backstage wonder-workers we have working on our show is awe-inspiring, and we hope to introduce you to quite a few.
My train leaves Penn Station tomorrow at 12:30, and then I'll see you in DC!
Mostly, we can't believe how the stars have aligned to put our world premiere at an American landmark, in Washington, D.C., just as the most interesting presidential election season in decades is gearing up, and just as grassroots movements across the country are grabbing the national spotlight and refusing to let go. We wanted to write a show that had relevance to today's world, and it just keeps getting more relevant, for better or worse.
In this blog, we'll be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what goes in to taking a new musical from costume fittings and taping out the rehearsal space to final dress rehearsal and opening night. We hope to show what an exhilarating, collaborative effort the theater is, especially when working on a piece that's still receiving finishing touches. The team of artists, actors, designers, musicians and backstage wonder-workers we have working on our show is awe-inspiring, and we hope to introduce you to quite a few.
My train leaves Penn Station tomorrow at 12:30, and then I'll see you in DC!
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