Blogging Breaking Ground: More from Day Two

Today is our second afternoon of rehearsal for UNKNOWN SOLDIER with the whole creative team here at the Calderwood Pavilion in the Deane Rehearsal Hall. Before Thursday evening's reading of Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein's new musical, the cast will have spent a total of approximately 18 hours in rehearsal. This is time to be spent learning and working music, on the discussion of characters and structure, sometimes figuring out rewrites/refinements, and discovering opportunities for further development of the piece before it's shared with an audience tomorrow night. In addition to all these points on their rehearsal to-do list, they are also trying to figure out the simple logistics of how actors will navigate the space in performance on Thursday night (when actors are to move to their places for scenes and songs, who stands where, etc).

For all the other readings, all of above has to occur in even less time -- 5 hours to be exact. It's quite a whirlwind, and it's what makes Breaking Ground so very exciting (and possible!) as 5 readings take place this year over only 4 days, during which I will surely continue humming the songs of UNKNOWN SOLDIER I've heard over the past two days ("Cut that meat!")

Speaking of the songs, the lyrics are proving to be quite a riot. If you make it to the reading tomorrow night, be prepared for some slightly, um, adult-themed songs. They are AMAZING.

(PS: It turns out that Maria wasn't the only one involved in UNKNOWN SOLDIER who was called away unexpectedly. Near the end of rehearsal, co-creator Michael Friedman found out he was needed later this evening in NYC for a last-minute adjustment to current project in production. He'll be back tomorrow, but it looks like Michael is going to spending a lot of time on Amtrak in the meantime. Now that we have his car keys, I wonder what kind mischief we can get into?)

Mwa ha ha ha..

Lauren

Blogging Breaking Ground: Day Two

Hi all!

Yesterday was a wildly productive day. UNKNOWN SOLDIER Musical Director, Steven Malone, worked through all the music with the cast, many of whom were wielding digital recorders to get samples of all they have to learn by Thursday night. Doing a reading of a musical seems an awful lot like actor/singer bootcamp. They sang all day yesterday, are sure to review everything today, and then jump right into textwork with their director, Will Frears, and creators Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein. They have a couple hours tomorrow to finish-up and then they'll perform for all of you on Thursday night. Whew.

As a former intern at HTC, and after having worked in similiar capacities at a handful of other theaters, I know, first-hand, the adventures of interning. Today holds such excitement for Faye Stone Intern (and recent BU grad, fabulous actor, and all-around nice guy) Jared Craig. Here's the story: Maria Thayer, the accomplished actress playing Lucy LeMay in UNKNOWN SOLDIER, was called back on short notice to return to the set of her latest film project. She'll be in D.C. for the day, then return for Thursday's rehearsal and reading. This is part of the excitement of bringing in exceptionally talented actors from out of town -- they're always in demand!

[Note for all you Amy Sedaris fans: Ms. Thayer played Tammi Littlenut in the STRANGERS WITH CANDY film of 2005. See you at the reading on Thursday night.]

So, what is the point of this reflection on the intern experience, Jared Craig, and Tammi Littlenut, you ask?

We're out an actress today, so Jared is stepping in to read her part during rehearsal. (It's been an exciting few months for Jared -- he recently played Lucius, the deaf mute boy in ART's production of Julius Caesar.)

Hey Maria... watch out!

More soon--

Lauren

She Loves Me?

Boy Meets Girl

Boy Loses Girl

Boy Gets Girl

It's the core premise of many a musical. We went out looking for your stories of romance found, lost and rediscovered. Here are our favorite three "aw - shucks" moments. Who is your favorite?



The couples in this video visited Finale Dessert Company in Coolidge Corner on Thursday, March 6 to tell us how they met their sweetheart.

Our viewers voted and the winners are Adam and Megan. Congrats! They get free tickets and VIP treatment when they come see the show.

She Loves Me
May 16 - June 15, 2008

Book by Joe Masteroff
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Music by Jerry Bock
Based on a play by Miklos Laszlo

This week only

Hi folks -

We have 7 plays for you to see this week - 6 of which run this week only!

Shining City closes on Sunday. Click here to buy tickets.

Breaking Ground runs Thursday through Sunday. Five plays in four days. Click here for more info. Please call the Box Office at 617 266-0800 to reserve your seats, or send your reservation request to tickets@huntingtontheatre.org. Please note that seating is limited and reservations are strongly recommended. Admission is free - recommended donation is $10.

This nationally-recognized new play festival provides development opportunities to writers at all stages of their careers, and invites Boston audiences to experience the excitement of new work from the ground-up. This year, Breaking Ground features two Huntington commissions, two plays by Huntington Playwriting Fellows (including local favorite Melinda Lopez), and a new work by a young Juilliard writer whose play goes to Williamstown this summer.

Breaking Ground also features work by accomplished directors and actors from Boston and beyond. This year, see actors from previous Huntington productions like "Sonia Flew," "Love's Labour's Lost," "Breath, Boom," and "Streamers" (among others), as well as from the critically acclaimed New York theatre company The Civilians, HBO's "The Wire," and local favorites like Will Lebow, Jacqui Parker, and Karen MacDonald (among many others).

I welcome Breaking Ground Festival's Lauren Ignaut to the blog. She will be posting here all week about the behind the scenes activities. Be sure to comment and send in your questions!

The Cry of the Reed is now up and running. Click here to buy tickets.

Playgoers 35 and under can get best available tickets for only $25. Click here for info