Present Laughter Tech rehearsals begin

We're making great progress today in our first ten hours of rehearsal onstage for Present Laughter. Director Nicholas Martin reviews some changes in blocking as we set light cues, adjust sound levels, and do things over and over and over again until we have them just/nearly right. Justin Waldman, assistant director, also looks on helping Nicky with notes and blocking.

I don't have clearance today to take photos of the actors (union rules and all that) so here are a few shots of the set and a detail of a few of the murals. As I mentioned in a previous post - all of the woodwork is painted.

Enjoy -

























It was a great day of work - we got ALL the way through the play (VERY unusual for the first day) and we'll come back on Tuesday and start over again, adding costumes, wigs and make up in the evening. The wardrobe crew, having performed daring, multiple quick changes at lightning speeds on Well and Persephone will find Present Laughter deservedly a little more relaxing. Wednesday we'll do some notes and have another dress rehearsal. More notes on Thursday followed by an invited dress rehearsal (100 or so friends and family by invitation). And Friday brings another round of work notes and tweaks followed by the first preview performance.

Even Dead Gus, whom you may remember from his ACT II appearance in Persephone, was on hand today. He was busted for vagrancy out on the BCA Plaza after the show closed last weekend. Seems we forgot to put him in the truck. They didn't want Gus at Suffolk (no dummies allowed) and the Medical Examiner's office was baffled (he's not human) so after spending a week in the fridge he made his way back to the Huntington. His sentence? Five technical rehearsals and 34 performances of Present Laughter in this backstage lockup. Who knows where he'll end up next.

Ok - only some of that last bit is true. We get a little punchy this late on a Sunday night.

Misc news - Boston Theatre Marathon is in the Wimberly next Sunday (May 20), produced by Boston Playwrights' Theatre. 51 Plays in 10 Hours by 51 New England Theatre Companies, including one by the Huntington. It's a huge event in Boston Theatre, and is a benefit for the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund.

SpeakEasy Stage opens Parade this week at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. It's the first production in the three seasons to use an alternate seating configuration in the Roberts. We set three of the configurations up during construction back in 2004 and this one (facing Warren Ave) is my favorite. It's nice to see it again.

Bye Bye Pigeons

Sunday's rehearsal for Present Laughter let go a little early so that Artistic Director Nicholas Martin could head to the South End to catch the final performance of Persephone. It was a great closing performance, congrats to the cast and crew for a wonderful run, and we hope to see all of you back soon.


This great image of Seth Fisher and Melinda Lopez is an illustration from the New Yorker Magazine, which accompanies this article by John Lahr.

Present Laughter star Victor Garber took advantage of the early release and headed off to NYC to catch the opening of Deuce by Terrence McNally, starring Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes. Also present at the opening night festivities were Huntington favorites Nathan Lane (Butley), Andrea Martin (The Rose Tattoo), Debra Monk (Laughing Wild), Dick Latessa (The Cherry Orchard), Mary Louise Wilson (The Rivals) and more. Click this link for photos from the Theatre Mania article. If I were a betting man I might wager that a few of these folks will be at an opening in Boston in the very near future.

Back to Persephone and pigeons:

I found out on Sunday that all of the birds had been named by the end of the run. Here's a note from Cole Genuardi, props run, with the details.

Hi Todd,

The pigeons started out with each being named after an alcoholic beverage: Rum & Coke, Cosmo, Margarita, Vodka Tonic, Cape Codder, Manhattan, Fuzzy Navel, etc. They really were named at random at first. Then as they started to get beat up a little from being dropped, they started to be identifiable and their personalities showed through. In the end there was the following:

Scarface - this one lost its eyes and beak really early on so its face was just a mass of bloody feathers

One-eye Willy - the first one to lose one eye

Bird-brain - he had a hollow head

Special Child - his head exploded off so many times that he just looked really odd by the end of the run. and he had an awkward tilt to his head.

Leaky- this one kept developing holes and leaking sand everywhere.

Yes, we had fun with the pigeons on this show!

-Cole

How much can one endure

There was plenty of sculpture to take in whilst I walked about London on Friday and Saturday, though I think our production of Persephone my have colored my perception. You decide as you look at the photos I took below. What stories do these guys have to tell?








Double click on the photos for enlargements. As usual - see the note in the footer should you care to make further use of them.

Marketing just sent along this Persephone offer:

$25 tickets to the final week of the Huntington's outrageous comedy "Persephone" (through May 6) the outrageous comedy The Boston Globe calls "Playful and profound"!

To purchase your discounted tickets, go to http://www.huntingtontheatre.org (or click the Buy Tickets link in the sidebar) and enter code 1160 on the ticket login screen, after you select your seat location.

This offer is available online only and tickets are subject to availability. Price does not include a $2 per ticket convenience fee. Questions? Contact the Huntington Box Office at 617 266-0800.

Persephone MUST close Sunday - May 6th.

Behind the Scenes

Why is it that when I tell people I work in theatre they assume I'm an actor? My striking good looks and refined elocution? Nope. "Oh, then do you design?" comes next. I have, and I still carry that gene, but not much any more. That's a nope too. "Direct?" Not a chance!

"Well then, what?"

What else is there I suppose some may think. My family tell people I run the place. Thanks for that, and they know better, but I can only take a small portion of the credit. We all know that there's an army of people behind the scenes, but sometimes we don't think about how many.

Next time you're in the theatre open up your program and take a look at those back pages where the support staff is listed; artistic to finance, box office, marketing to education, development to administration, production, scenery, props, paints, costumes, lighting, sound, and on, and on, and on, and on. Heck; even take a gander at the roster of board members, donors and businesses who helped out. That's where you'll find the people like me.

Today's post is dedicated to a small group of these folks; the Stage Managers and Run Crew. They are the ones who are quite literally "behind" the scenes and have dedicated themselves to working nights and weekends for the sake of your cultural enrichment.

Sometimes shows aren't too difficult, like Radio Golf, so there's time in a 4-5 hour show call to get in a little reading or web surfing. In other productions, like Well and now Persephone the crew barely has time to catch their breath, with scene changes, sets that fall apart, quick change upon quick change, running those fun effects, and cue after cue after cue. Persephone gets very messy at the end; all the glitter and water and snow and pigeons have to disappear. It takes about an hour with vacuums, brooms and air hoses to get all that nasty stuff cleaned up. Then they can leave.

I started my career backstage moving scenery, calling shows and running lights, and I remember occasionally getting whipped by a show. A certain summer stock production of Gypsy in the lovely village of Weston, VT comes to mind. But that didn't last. The next night the shifts were better, and the following night we won.

So here's to our crew who win every night; take a bow.

Well; Steve Kaus, Eileen Kelly, Pat Austin, Andrew Deshazo, Jenni Russell, Ken Porter, Kate Korolenko, Ian Schaff, Tim Clark, Christine Marr, Jeffrey Burrows, Rachel Padula Shufelt and Susie Moncousky.

Persephone; David Lurie, Hannah Cohen, Jill Oliver, Brian Masters, Cole Genuardi, Kat Fleischacker, Arshan Galius, Kyle Holmes, Catlin Medb Harrison, Troy Seigfried and Kirstin Kennedy.

Pneumatics, Hydraulics, Solenoids, Electricity and Pigeon P**p

The special effects in Persephone make use of lots of pneumatic power, never mind all of the energy (hot air?) being expended by the hardworking cast of four. Here they are in Act I; Alfie, Demeter, 'Seppe, and Celia.

If you've seen the show you've seen a few of these effects including flowers that burst out of the hedges, dead pigeons that fall from the sky, and a fountain that magically comes to life spouting water. I've given you glimpses in previous posts. Here's a more in-depth look.

The flowers are driven by a piston, a solenoid, air, and a lot of tubing. When we want the flowers to bloom we send an electrical signal to the solenoid, which reverses the airflow in the piston and propels the flowers onstage. To make them go away we remove the electrical signal, the airflow reverses and they retract. Almost... a few of them take a little extra manual push.

The pigeons work pretty much the same way, except they are individual drops. The flowers all come out at once; the winged rats get shot one at a time so each mechanism has it's own solenoid. With the airflow going one way the bird is clamped securely in the fly loft, when the air is reversed via an electrical signal to the solenoid down comes the p**p bombing beast. Thanks to companies like Grainger this technology is easily accessible.

We originally went way high tech by installing a wireless trigger on the the fake gun with the idea that the trigger pull (by the actor) would actuate both the sound cue (gun shot) and the feathery fall. For practical, timing and safety purposes the trigger now only runs the sound cue, and the bloodily painted stuffed toy plummets on a manual call. We bought the birds online. You can find almost anything online.

The aforemention p**p that splatters repeatedly on Demeter is delivered via a jury-rigged handsoap dispenser like the kind that you find in public bathrooms. Instead of waving your hand underneath it, we deliver an electical signal, the grey colored soapy solution is delivered and gravity does the rest.

The fountain works off of hydraulic power, go figure - good old city water pressure. The water flow is triggered by sending an electrical signal to a solenoid which essentially opens a valve. This photo of the fountain is during construction. I love that there are plastic grapes underneath the finished product!

All of the aforementioned electrical signals are sent by the lighting board. The crew are too busy doing quick changes, handing off props, operating followspots and running some other of the Act II special effects to handle the above FX as well. It's simpler to have them triggered by a lighting cue.

More on the crew and the other special effects in the next few posts.

Production Photo above (Top); L to R Jeremiah Kissel, Melinda Lopez, Seth Fisher, Mimi Lieber. Photo by T. Charles Erickson

The Making of Persephone

Noah Haidle talks about writing Persephone




What questions do you have about new play development?

Celebrity Sightings

South End diners and playgoers last night were treated to a bit of fun as Huntington celebs Nicholas Martin, Nathan Lane, Victor Garber, Noah Haidle and friends enjoyed a fine meal at Hammersley's Bistro before attending the preview performance of Persephone.

Victor is in town visiting Nicky to do some early script work today for our upcoming production of Present Laughter.
(Photo by Eric Antoniou).

Noah is, of course, here for previews and has graciously been providing us with a little pre-show entertainment in the form of a curtain speech.

Nathan came for the roast chicken. Just guessing.

Sneak Peeks

It's been a while since I brought you any sneak peeks. Here you go!

Here's a closeup of the Act I Persphone set; a sun drenched sculptors studio. Scenic design by David Korins, Costumes by Jenny Mannis, Lighting by Ben Stanton, and Sound and Original Music by Mark Bennett. We begin previews tonight and, as with all of our new plays here at the Wimberly, we'll perform nightly while continuing to rehearse until our press opening on April 11th.

We received the set model for Present Laughter this week and I brought it down to the Pavilion so director Nicholas Martin could take a look. This beautiful Art Deco set is being designed by Alexander Dodge.


Costumes are designed by Mariann Verheyen and here's a peek at some of those sketches.


What kind of advance information about our productions do you value?

Noah to the Rescue

Here's an article (and photo) on Persephone playwright Noah Haidle from the Phoenix. The reporter barely survived the interview.

We had a few of those moments, where laughter catches you by surprise, today in rehearsal. We needed someone as the statue for a few hours while we rehearsed some blocking and read lines. Noah sat in. It's always interesting to hear a writer read their own words, and we knew we could count on Noah to discover some new meaning for us. He did.

Even more fun happened during the first dress run of Act II tonight. The actors change costumes many many times. Seth got held up in a quick change leaving Mimi out on stage (as a doped up hooker) for about three minutes. Did we stop? Noooooo.... she explored every nook and cranny of the stage and played with every piece of trash (set dressing) there was. In character. I wish I had been able to tape it for you... by the time Seth made it onstage he had to wait for all of us to recover from our fits of laughter.

And then eight out of nine pidgeons died on cue.


Hoorah.

Comedy with a Side of Darkness

I don't have much time these days to write my own content, so you'll have to suffice with my just passing things along for a while.

I borrowed this post's title from the Boston Globe, who published a nice feature article on Persephone today.

I do have an update to the article. We had a casting change just yesterday and the role of Demeter is now being played by Boston actress and Huntington Playwriting Fellow Melinda Lopez. Melinda joined us yesterday for our second tech and her first rehearsal. It's tough to come into a production at this stage of the game and Melinda is doing wonderfully. I think you'll really enjoy her performance.

Here's a photo of the Act I set under construction this week.

Persephone et al

You might have noticed that the cast list below shows "et al" as the roles for Mimi, Seth and Jerry.

They've not got it easy. Here's a sampling of the "et al" roles they are playing:

Mimi - Celia, dead Gus, Hooker, Liberty, Singer, Miss Certainty, Girl, Persephone

Seth - Giuseppe, EMT, Cop, Homeless Man, Old Man, Snowball Boy, Grafitti Boy, John, Rapist

Jerry - Alfonso, Harpist, Mouse, EMT, Priest, Businessman, Wino, Drug Dealer, Rat and corpse(s).

The role of Demeter, while not involving so many costume changes, has it's own challenges. You try sitting still for 45 minutes.

Persephone Cast

THE CAST

Seth Fisher (Giuseppe et al) – was seen in the Huntington’s 2006 production of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” and appeared on Broadway in 2005’s “Julius Caesar.” Other credits include “Big Wyoming” (New York Stage & Film) and “Hamlet” (Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre). Fisher co-wrote and starred in the film “The Wine Bar.”

Jeremiah Kissel (misc. characters) – is a Huntington favorite who has appeared in the company’s productions of “The Cherry Orchard,” “The Sisters Rosensweig,” “Sonia
Flew,” and “Betty's Summer Vacation,” all directed by Nicholas Martin. A veteran of Boston theatre, he received a 2003 Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence.

Mimi Lieber (Celia et al) – a Huntington favorite, Mimi Lieber last starred as Pfeni in the 2006 production of “The Sisters Rosensweig” directed by Nicholas Martin, and hosted the Spotlight Spectacular! gala that year. She appeared on Broadway in the 2005 production of “Brooklyn Boy” and the 2002 revival of “I’m Not Rappaport.”

Melinda Lopez (Demeter) – is equally acclaimed for her playwriting (the Elliott Award-winning plays "God Smells Like a Roast Pig" and "Sonia Flew," (which premiered at the Calderwood Pavilion in 2004) and her acting (the Huntington's "The Rose Tattoo" in 2004 and "A Month in the Country" in 2002, and the film "Fever Pitch”).

Persephone in da house

This week we dive head first into all there is to discover in Noah Haidle's Persephone. We'll not be bored. Here staffers Mary Lauve, Adam Roberts and Austin Nathaniel contemplate the set model, designed by David Korins. They're good sports. I made them pose after I missed the shot the first time. Such intensity and verisimilitude, no?

Here's a photo of the model. This is the Act I set. The first act happens 500 years ago, in an artists studio. A statue is being carved. And she has a crush on her creator. Go scene...


Some models come painted, some don't. Those that don't come with research and/or renderings. Below are some research photos for the texture, look and color of the studio interior. As usual, click on the photos for enlargements.













Next are some of the research pix for the statue:













And lastly; a mock up of the Demeter costume, modeled by statuesque stitcher Polly Fossey. Polly is seated on our version of the above chair, part of what will become the real statue base. We will build two complete statue costumes, chairs and pedastals. One for each Act. Why? Five Hundred years pass between Acts... things age. Some well and some not so well. Then there's acid rain and pidgeons.

A large confab was recently held with our costumers, properties artisans, and costume designer Jenny Mannis reviewing the work so far and laying out the plans for the next steps. Thanks every one, it's looking great.

Monday, Monday

Not a whole heck of a lot to report today;

We're getting ready for Leigh Silverman, Lisa Kron, and Mary Pat Gleason to arrive later this week for Well rehearsals. The remainder of the cast will be here next week, and I'll post some "Meet and Greet" photos then. Meanwhile our scene shop is assembling, retrofitting, and otherwise sprucing up the set. The props are all unpacked and ready to go, and the costume shop has been lining up sources to re-build all of the wigs (thanks Jason!) and doing some minor alterations to the clothes in anticipation of fittings.

The design team consists of Tony Walton (scenery), Miranda Hoffman (costumes), Chris Akerlind (Lighting), and John Gromada (Original Music and Sound). Tony Walton, as far as I know, is here for the first time. Miranda designed our fall production of Mauritius, Chris hasn't been here for a number of years (Seven Guitars, 1995), and John returns having done Rabbit Hole earlier this season.

We're also working away on Persephone, with a short video clip of Props Master Kris Holmes (off Camera) and Associate TD Adam Godbout prototyping an "insta-bloom" flower. I won't say much more to avoid a spoiler, but let's just say there is a lot of R&D going on for this production.



In closing; we're missing the Cherry Orchard cast already. Here's one last photo; Dick Latessa was spotted at Uno Chicago Grill following a Friday night performance. The two ladies had a note delivered to Mr. Latessa on a napkin, asking him if he would mind taking a picture. He kindly obliged. (R to L) Elisha Sawyer, Latessa, Ashley Wadsworth. Elisha is a sophomore BU student and a new intern in our education department.

Tuesday Check in

I always forget how busy it gets around here in January/Feb. Must be some sort defense mechanism. I haven't been posting much of the backstage production news lately, so here's a little catch-up of what's going on and what you will be hearing about for the next few months.

Cherry Orchard is up and running, starting it's final two weeks tonight. Keep an eye on our web site for continuing updates, reviews, and media clips.

Well is next up chronologically, we've picked up the Broadway props and costumes, by Miranda Hoffman (Mauritius), and are sorting through those. The set, by Tony Walton, will arrive next week. We'll be making some alterations, checking that it all works, looks good, and fits well in our space. We'll have to do a fair amount of work for costumes, as 5 actors are new to the production. Rehearsals begin Feb 13th.

The purchase of the Well set cleared up the shop schedule so that we could build a fully realized production for Persephone, and that is well underway in our shops. If you've been paying attention you've noticed that our winter and spring productions in the Wimberly have so far been shows that have been fairly small in scale. We thought we would try and mix it up a little this season. Persephone should be fun. And challenging. The lead role, after all, is a statue.

The Huntington shops, in April, build La Boheme for the BU Opera Institute. This production is designed by the BU Theatre program student designers and directed by Sharon Daniels. It's a unique opportunity for us to mingle with the students. This year, for the first time, the production is part of the Celebrity Series.

Present Laughter, in May, is the last build of the season. We're working on the final details of putting together a design team and should be underway with build in the shops in April.

Artistic is working on some great casting for these productions, and we're working on finding some additional Wimberly programming for later this season. Next season is shaping up nicely and we'll have a solid selection to tell you about come subscription renewal time.

So that's what you can look forward to for the next 5 months. Stay tuned.

In other news; I've updated a couple of posts with more news about Eugene Lee, and a few more opening night photos (from Boston Magazine). Late add: My Google Reader turned up this Nicholas Martin interview in the Edge

Dress Rehearsals - Day 8 and 7

Day 8: Tuesday, October 31

Yesterday’s work has paid off. The set is looking great and it’s fun to look around and find the new stuff. Pictured here is assistant Props Master Brandon Ribordy admiring the fridge dressing. What’s wrong with this picture? Stainless steel does not attract magnets. We faked it.

Today is our second 10 out of 12 (ten rehearsal hours in a 12 hour span). I have a feeling we’ll be out early again. We start with tech of the last scene. Costumes has scrambled and will be ready to put everyone in costume for 1PM. Six hours earlier than originally scheduled. We’re ahead and we’re ready to see the clothes and try all of the fast changes.

The cast gets to eat a lot of dessert in this show. Crème caramel (yogurt), lemon squares, and a chocolate birthday cake (sugar free, no trans fat). Any local bakeries care to help out??? There’s a fair share wine consumed as well. That’s just still water with a little coloring.

I’m right. We end early, shortly after 10 pm.

Day 7: Wednesday, November 1

This afternoon we do a little tech stuff in the afternoon, and then a full dress run in the evening. There’s a cake crisis today. We don’t have a (working) oven on site, still can’t find a local bakery that does sugar free (what’s up with that Whole Foods??) and the cast doesn’t want leftovers. Props asks if they can run over to my apt and bake. Unfortunately I recently let my housekeeper go and there is no way I’m letting anyone near my kitchen with out spending a few hours cleaning up. We discover that one of our microwaves is a convection combo and the baking experiments begin. It was all frustrating and silly but if that’s the biggest problem we’re fixating on I’m not too worried. What are some of the other issues… it’s a little tricky to plumb a sink that moves around onstage. Much like an RV we have to use a pump to get the water flowing. And a pump makes noise. Another issue is the TV where the hubby watches his videos. We’ve managed to place the screen so it’s not visible to the audience, and now we’re working to make it look like it’s actually playing something so that you’ll see the light flashing realistically. It will take a bit of playing around to get it right.

My new laptop arrived this afternoon, so I got a chance to play a little. Found this on Julie White (Bad Dates and the title character in Persephone performed at our Breaking Ground festival last spring). Julie is so much fun… she guest judges on Iron Chef America once in a while and steals the show.

And Radio Golf scene designer David Gallo talks about his latest project Evil Dead:The Musical on the NY Times website. I’m not sure how to link directly to the slideshow, so look for the audio slide show link in the multimedia square. David was telling us back in September about all of the fun they were having with the blood FX.

(Photo: Julie White in Bad Dates. Photo taken by T. Charles Erikson)