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Rashomon posted:
Verfremdungseffekt can work really well when done right. People just tend to go very heavy handed with it. As for his writing? Peter Brook seemed to do okay with Brechtian influence.
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Dec 18, 2012 00:53
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r0ff13c0p73r posted:Are the houselights just simple On/Off or are they dimmable? Are the lights over the stage on a different switch than the lights over the audience? Fun thing about small theatre spaces is playing with the standard lighting. bunnielab posted:Hah, doing a refocus during a show is amazing. Just to follow up and give thanks where it is due, your advice was really helpful, and the play was a success! All in all it was a fun learning experience, despite being bedridden with a fever for the two days leading up to the play. Could have been worse though, our elderly director/Scrooge got run over by his own car the day of the final dress rehearsal. We ended up installing lighting fixtures at the back of the stage, and together with dimmable house lighting and the fresnels, there was plenty of light to go around. I lost the fight against moving the ellipsoidal between scenes. (We even had it tracking people across the stage in one scene, it looked terrible and the poor guy handling it had to wear gloves.  ) I did end up using a no color blue with it on your suggestion, which helped in the darker, spooky scenes.Anyways, the audience was happy and either didn't notice or didn't care about all that stuff. After the show, I was asked to help in another production by a different director. I think I said yes, despite wanting to go home and sleep for another two days. 
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Dec 19, 2012 06:05
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I got cast as Tuzenbach in "Three Sisters." I've been doing my research on Russian society, the Goethe story he was based on, and other things. If anyone's done this play before and could offer their two cents, that'd be much appreciated.
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Dec 24, 2012 20:51
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r0ff13c0p73r posted:Verfremdungseffekt can work really well when done right. People just tend to go very heavy handed with it. Trying to be innovative with Brecht alone is like trying to be innovative with Dali or Picasso alone. Yeah, you can make some very interesting art with it, but it won't be especially new. Wolfgang Pauli fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Dec 30, 2012 |
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Dec 30, 2012 18:52
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I'm doing what is likely to be my last show in Ohio before I move (I'm playing Bobby in Company) and planning my move to Chicago. What kinds of things do you Chicago theater goons think I need to start thinking about as far as getting ready to begin auditioning once I get there? I'm actually looking for more nuts and bolts kinds of things. I realize I'll have to put together an acting resume and headshots and will plan on taking classes and such once I get there, but what are most of these small theater rehearsal schedules like? Since most of your casts probably aren't doing theater full-time, are auditions and rehearsals usually in the evenings and on weekends? Any insights into the day-to-day considerations I need to make would be appreciated. I want to cater my plans (job and housing-wise) to what I can expect to find once I'm there.
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Jan 20, 2013 01:16
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Somewhat off-topic, but do you have any actor-ly insights into Bobby? (Company's a personal favorite -- not quite Into the Woods, but way up on the list.)
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Jan 20, 2013 05:11
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I'm really just getting started, but I'm forming the picture of my Bobby bit by bit. I mean, obviously he's completely unhappy with his life but the why's are interesting to me. He's filled it mostly with relationships where everyone asks things of him but he doesn't ask much of them. They're always telling him their secrets and asking for his help, but when does Bobby ever ask anyone for anything? He is just existing, floating from obligation to obligation and liaison to liaison. What does he wish for? "I didn't wish for anything," he says. Twice. It's all about Being Alive, really. Being alive is what's scary. Being alive is what's hard. I think the decisions he makes in the end is to do exactly that, for once. As much as his friends' advice is typically horrible throughout the show, there are some good pieces at the end, like telling him to "want something." Give me about two weeks and I'll have a lot more to say about it.
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Jan 20, 2013 06:15
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Another script sent out for publication. The first one I published is scheduled for a stint in Alberta.
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Jan 20, 2013 08:20
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Geekboy posted:What does he wish for? "I didn't wish for anything," he says. Twice. I'd already heard the music and so was into the show, but that's one of the lines of dialogue that made me really connect to Bobby as a character. I think it's his deep ambivalence about so many of the important things. In "Marry Me a Little" he claims to be "ready," but he has this very... childproofed view of marriage. All the sharp corners sanded off of it, no hurts or disappointments. (And on the topic, how great is that song? It might have been the first one I really fell in love with when I heard the CD.) To the extent he's shallow or superficial, it's almost studied. Practiced and intentional, instead of being authentically vapid. (Like Fieryo in Wicked, dancing through life.) quote:there are some good pieces at the end, like telling him to "want something." I always find Amy interesting because I think she gets two of the most revelatory lines in the show. The other being in Act 1, where she tells him he has to want somebody, not just somebody.
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Jan 20, 2013 10:03
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Geekboy posted:I'm actually looking for more nuts and bolts kinds of things. I realize I'll have to put together an acting resume and headshots and will plan on taking classes and such once I get there, but what are most of these small theater rehearsal schedules like? Since most of your casts probably aren't doing theater full-time, are auditions and rehearsals usually in the evenings and on weekends? Any insights into the day-to-day considerations I need to make would be appreciated. At our level, auditions are typically held on weekends and callbacks are often weekday evenings, though of course, there are plenty of exceptions. Rehearsals tend to be weekday nights and weekend days, Sundays being a wildcard for day vs. night, and are generally set up in such a way as to let performers rehearse a show while already having a show on stage, or as I like to call it, a "showverlap." Auditions are pretty much entirely on-line listings, there are two websites that post them and then other companies also post on Facebook and even Twitter, though I've only seen one there. As far as other prep goes, you'll want a few monologues in the 90-second to two minute range; comedic, dramatic, and a classical at the very least. I'm not sure what the going prep is for musicals, since I don't really audition for the few non-Equity companies that produce them. The rest is networking, really, going to see shows, figuring out what companies you want to work with, all that usual stuff.
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Jan 20, 2013 17:04
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Do you really call it showverlapping I want to pinch your cheeks so badly right now
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Jan 20, 2013 18:46
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OSheaman posted:Do you really call it showverlapping Of course I do, it's brilliant. I came up with it when I was waiting to hear about the Lonesome Hollow casting. OSheaman posted:I want to pinch your cheeks so badly right now I never liked you.
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Jan 20, 2013 19:58
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Thanks, rantmo. You are and have always been a mensch. If you're still looking for another CoH goon for your webseries I'll be in town by April at the latest. I think my biggest challenge as Bobby will be to balance his disconnection from the world around him with the empathy I need to create with the audience. For instance, I wasn't crazy about Neil Patrick Harris's performance because he just didn't convey the general unhappiness and separation Bobby feels. I tend to be really good at drawing an audience in, though. The part plays to a lot of my strengths and is in my absolutely ideal vocal range. Now to lose another 20 pounds before the show. 7 down and 13 to go (with about 60 total lost so far since April).
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Jan 20, 2013 22:50
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Okay, so my carpentry/production apprenticeship is going to be ending in July and I have a serious need to start planning (so I can apply to jobs and stuff). Most of the guys in my shop worked in New York for a number of years and the general consensus is that there is carp work there if one just looks for it. Has anyone had similar experiences? What are some things to know before I try to make the leap to New York City? Anyone here gone Local 1? Any advice on how that works?
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Jan 21, 2013 01:00
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Geekboy posted:Thanks, rantmo. You are and have always been a mensch. If you're still looking for another CoH goon for your webseries I'll be in town by April at the latest. It's not CoH goons, just goons writ-large, and you're totally cast as that purse-snatcher.
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Jan 21, 2013 01:06
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I have not read all 855 posts, but I do have a small dumb question. I would like to watch theatre performances again, of works written in the twentieth century. Performances is the operative word. There are movies of various works like who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, but I do not want to watch a film. It's not as genuine as an on stage performance. I do not have a voice for how people act right now, so reading a play isn't enough. So basically is there a place to watch performances of modern works online somewhere?
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Jan 30, 2013 19:33
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Yonic Symbolism posted:I have not read all 855 posts, but I do have a small dumb question. I would like to watch theatre performances again, of works written in the twentieth century. Performances is the operative word. There are movies of various works like who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, but I do not want to watch a film. It's not as genuine as an on stage performance. I do not have a voice for how people act right now, so reading a play isn't enough. So basically is there a place to watch performances of modern works online somewhere? Netflix as a small amount of stage musicals (like Into The Woods). You can also take a look at David Tennant's Hamlet which is based on the RSC's production from 2008.
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Jan 31, 2013 05:04
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If anyone IS interested in film adaptations of plays, here's a list of what's available on Netflix (minus Shakespeare) Bug - Tracy Letts Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller Sleepwalk With Me - Mike Birbiglia The Sunshine Boys - Neil Simon Come Blow Your Horn - Neil Simon The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams Summer and Smoke - Tennessee Williams Equus - Peter Shaffer Glengarry Glen Ross - David Mamet Our Town - Thornton Wilder The Deep Blue Sea - Terrence Rattigan ‘night Mother - Marsha Norman The Cherry Orchard - Anton Chekhov An Ideal Husband - Oscar WIlde The Homecoming - Harold Pinter Butley - Simon Gray The House of Yes - Wendy MacLeod Rabbit Hole - David Lindsay-Abaire Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - Tom Stoppard Blithe Spirit - Noel Coward Rhinoceros - Eugene Ionesco Bus Stop - William Inge
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Jan 31, 2013 16:38
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http://www.digitaltheatre.com/production Seems to be collecting some performances, but nothing too extensive yet. The bonus is that some of their Shakespeare is filmed at the Globe.
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Feb 1, 2013 09:42
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Yonic Symbolism posted:I have not read all 855 posts, but I do have a small dumb question. I would like to watch theatre performances again, of works written in the twentieth century. Performances is the operative word. There are movies of various works like who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, but I do not want to watch a film. It's not as genuine as an on stage performance. I do not have a voice for how people act right now, so reading a play isn't enough. So basically is there a place to watch performances of modern works online somewhere?
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Feb 3, 2013 04:55
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Wolfgang Pauli posted:Right now, I'm not sure there's such a thing as a successful American theatre with no financial troubles. There never is. Even when a theatre is in the black, financially, there's always 1000 things that need replacing/upgrading.
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Feb 3, 2013 08:57
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r0ff13c0p73r posted:There never is. Even when a theatre is in the black, financially, there's always 1000 things that need replacing/upgrading.
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Feb 3, 2013 12:42
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Any of you coming out to Denver for the Colorado New Play Summit? Our commitment to new works is my favorite part of working here.
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Feb 3, 2013 17:02
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quote:I got cast as Tuzenbach in "Three Sisters." I've been doing my research on Russian society, the Goethe story he was based on, and other things. If anyone's done this play before and could offer their two cents, that'd be much appreciated. I found reading Chekhov to be the best research. I read a great deal of his fiction -- it gives you an idea of his kind of worldviews, as well as his humor, which is rather buried in the plays but shines out in the stories. Also, you'll probably see ten other characters exactly like Tuzenbach, because Chekhov was a notorious recycler. It's kinda like a character cheatsheet, you'll get to see the same character in a lot of other contexts, sort of how they behave and who they are. As I recall, my idea for the play is that basically everyone is just trying to get through life, however it happens and whatever happens to them -- they're trying to make something of what often seems like nothing. Tuzenbach is a dreamer -- he is at the forefront of the creative energies of the play, and kind of exemplary of the "making something of nothing" attitude (where Kulygin is more exemplary of just taking it all without much complaint) -- unfortunately, in this world, dreamers don't last long. Life doesn't cooperate with them. Tuzenbach is not well-adapted to this world, but even his end is sort of dreamlike: distant from the audience, and the kind of romantic gesture a dude like him would think effective and meaningful. Although I'd also think there's a kind of grim, hidden, though perhaps partly amused realization on his part that he's just not made for this world... Also, are you saying he's meant to be based on Young Werther? Didn't know that.
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Feb 3, 2013 17:28
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Wolfgang Pauli posted:It's not helping anything that anything with the letters D, M, or X cost more than your first-born child.
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Feb 3, 2013 21:06
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Pious Pete posted:If anyone IS interested in film adaptations of plays, here's a list of what's available on Netflix (minus Shakespeare) Man, "Rabbit Hole" is a great film adaptation. As is "Glengarry Glen Ross." I'm not a fan of the classics being adapted. Williams films rarely do it for me, like "Summer and Smoke." I didn't buy the acting; it wasn't as fully fleshed out as a Williams work requires. "Streetcar" is superb though. "Three Sisters" is on Netflix too, but that one's very British. Laurence Olivier plays Chebutykin, but it's not really my cup of tea. Anyone went to UPTA? Offers are starting to roll out now!
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Feb 15, 2013 02:44
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Just heard back from UC Berkeley. Their Performance Studies PhD program was the only place I applied to this year, because get in or not I intend to move there and work in the local theatre scene. My odds probably aren't very good since I don't have a Master's and this email's staring me in the face a month earlier than I would have expected. Welp, here goes. *edit* Rejected. Wolfgang Pauli fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Feb 16, 2013 |
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Feb 16, 2013 00:55
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Wolfgang Pauli posted:Just heard back from UC Berkeley. Their Performance Studies PhD program was the only place I applied to this year, because get in or not I intend to move there and work in the local theatre scene. My odds probably aren't very good since I don't have a Master's and this email's staring me in the face a month earlier than I would have expected. Welp, here goes. Didn't realize someone offered a PhD in that...most colleges require a "terminal degree" before you can teach, but for theatre, most of the profs I know just have MFAs. What do you want to do with it?
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Feb 16, 2013 09:38
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A mix of experimental directing -- especially in regards to what constitutes theatre in a time when anyone can livestream their lives from their phone -- and research into the neuroscience of performance as a cognitive, creative, and communicative tool.
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Feb 16, 2013 18:05
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You're fine. Move to Berkeley, get in the scene, meet some professors and schmooze, make some contacts, and try again next year. Apply to some other top schools to like NYU, Yale, etc. You'll get it eventually 
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Feb 17, 2013 19:59
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Yeah. I've spent too long dodging rejection letters from grad schools. I'm itching to do real, productive work, but I'm not getting out of Arkansas on cheaper than $10,000 (to cover moving expenses and several months rent). God, I'll probably be stuck here another year. *edit* vvvvvvvvvvvvv I'm in Harrison. The community theatre here is ridiculous and inflexible -- they cast loving six months in advance and decide on shows and the production team a year before that. I'd need to spend two years doing dog work just to get a single show over three years from now. I'm too far away to keep doing with in Russellville, which would let me work in Alma and Van Buren since I know the guys who run both of those Performing Arts Centers. I think my best bet is to find some lovely job and get paid, but I've been here six months and I can't even seem to do that much. I don't mean to derail into a complain-train, but I'm useless here and this is frustrating. Wolfgang Pauli fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Feb 18, 2013 |
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Feb 18, 2013 03:37
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Where in Arkansas are you Wolfgang? I worked on a production of Biloxi Blues before it went on tour and it is coming to Alma and Stuttgart in about a week if you want to check it out. Dates are available here: http://www.montanarep.org/pdf/itinerary_biloxi_blues.pdf
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Feb 18, 2013 03:43
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Never thought I'd see another arkangoon with theatrical interests. I'm down in Hot Springs and there's several really great community theatres in the area. I've been doing some work with the Pocket Theatre (Shakespeare Abridged it's the best show  ) and they have a currently unused blackbox theatre downstairs I've been wanting to get back into shape. The main theatre has a lot of management that's getting ready to retire, too, so there should be some opportunities before long. I hear the Repertory Theatre in little rock is really good to work with, also.
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Feb 18, 2013 18:08
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Just finished my run as Bobby in Company, which is my last role before moving to Chicago. I managed things this weekend I'm proud as hell of (including managing a single, perfect tear during the last note of Being Alive today) and just generally feel fantastic. I don't feel like we've talked much about how good a well done performance feels. I'm assuming it's universal, but do all the rest of you feel like you've just gotten, like 1,000 blowjobs when the curtain closes? I mean, I'm pretty sure I could run a marathon naked right now without slowing down or feeling a moment of self-doubt. No matter what else is happening in my life, channeling the character and making the audience feel what I want them to is the greatest feeling I have ever felt. I know acting isn't therapy, but nothing is better for me than this feeling. I'm so in love with the world that I could even get along with my ex-wife right now.
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Feb 25, 2013 05:36
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D-d-d-double post! Acting rules.
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Feb 25, 2013 05:37
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Geekboy posted:Just finished my run as Bobby in Company, which is my last role before moving to Chicago. I managed things this weekend I'm proud as hell of (including managing a single, perfect tear during the last note of Being Alive today) and just generally feel fantastic. I don't feel like we've talked much about how good a well done performance feels. I'm assuming it's universal, but do all the rest of you feel like you've just gotten, like 1,000 blowjobs when the curtain closes? quote:I know acting isn't therapy, but nothing is better for me than this feeling. I'm so in love with the world that I could even get along with my ex-wife right now.
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Feb 26, 2013 01:20
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This tumblr is and making everything I learned and saw in scenic design class look really boring and stodgy and I wish they'd update more (this is a nice stand-in, though) because stuff like this is just blowing my mind.
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Mar 7, 2013 05:27
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A lot of those look like (and a few definitely are) the Met Opera, which is almost cheating because they have all the money in the world and a huge fuckoff space. But man, they get some great loving set design for it.
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Mar 7, 2013 13:31
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Great design is definitely not dependent on budget. The great lighting designer isn't the guy who does a great job with all the lights in the world, it's the one who can do a great job with three Parcans and gels that were taped together from a bunch of free gel books from the Rosco booth at USITT. My old design professor is working on a book about her teaching style, which is really loving rad. This is really all she has of it online. She's a great designer in her own right, so check out the photos on there. It's not the stupid amounts of cash from the blog you posted, but it's good.
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Mar 7, 2013 18:42
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Sondheim loving rules. Anyone here ever do SETCs or NETCs or UPTAS or any theatre conference auditions?
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Mar 7, 2013 19:55
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