Knee Deep in Proof, First Contact with Christmas Carol...

This week we hit an important milestone in our rehearsals for Proof.  We finished Blocking the whole show.  We now move into putting the whole thing together and getting the feel of the arc of the show through stumbles and runs of larger chunks of it.  Sunday will see our first Stumble Through of the whole show and we will see where we are at for lines.  Since we did so much text work off the top I am not worried about that.  Already my actors are taking sizable chunks off-book and trusting themselves.  With a cast of four that means that everyone has a lot to get into their brain and body but they are all hard workers and seem to be really trusting the process.  Already I am seeing them trusting the emotional response and on Tuesday night we had a few moments of us tearing up at the table as we watched their work.  Truly lovely moments coming through.  Makes me happy as a director!  Now to put it all together! We are also blessed with a super fast and dedicated production team.  The set is built and we have blocked the whole show in situ.  Layers of paint have made for cool discoveries as we come in to see the world becoming more and more real each rehearsal.  It makes it easier for the actors to inhabit the world when it feels so complete right off the bat. We are lucky!

At work, we started Christmas Carol rehearsals this week.  Tuesday was the Meet and Greet and First Read Through.  There are quite a few new faces this year.  I have only ever seen the show once (last season) and this is my first year on staff for Carol, so I stayed for the Read to hear it.  I was a little surprised to see how much it moved me just from the table.  I must admit I had a couple tears to wipe away.  It is a testament to the actors in the cast that they could bring the piece to life without anything but their voices and their emotional commitment.  It will be all the more magical with the sets and costumes, but for me there is always something special about that first Read-Through! In any case, it is going to be a bit more active and noisy at the theatre with all those kids and the rest of the cast in the building.  I am looking forward to it.  Some of my favorite local actors are onstage, so it will be great to see it again!

A Manicure is Wasted on Me... I'm painting a set...

I have been spending the last few weeks painting the set for The Weir at Walterdale Playhouse. This has been a terrific challenge for me.  I have designed a set before and painted it (Village of Idiots), I have been Master Painter before for another designer (Wyrd Sisters) and I have painted on many other sets, usually under the umbrella of a Master Painter, but sometimes I have been pretty much in charge (Nine), but this set really took it up a notch for me.  When Director, Anne Marie Szucs, was putting together her team back in the late spring she asked me if I wanted to be on it.  When Jim Herchak stepped forward as Set Designer I knew that the best place for me would be Master Painter since I know that Jim doesn't paint. It's also a tough position to fill since there are few people who want to take on the responsibility or feel they have the expertise to do it (many paint, but few will master paint...). Also, I figured it would be a good challenge.

The set has certainly proven to be so.  I like it, don't get me wrong, but there are a lot of surfaces and it is, for the most part, a realistic set.  Village was not realistic, and neither were Wyrd Sisters or Nine.  When the set is abstract, you can play with the textures to a large degree.  When it's 'real' you have to make it work.  I have learned a lot.  It's been tough.  My painting mentor, Joan Hawkins, is out of town so I had to mine my memory and experiment a bit to get what I wanted.  I did use a lot of the things she taught me.  The first attempts were not as successful as the later work, but the beauty of paint is that layers will save you.  It was also interesting because I had no reference for colours or textures on the model.  Jim trusted me to figure that out and that has been interesting. I have a few more things to finish up, but I am about 93% there.  I have spent about 40 hours on the deck working so far (more at home on the computer searching for reference images) and I probably have about 6 - 10 more next week to finish up the little details.  It's tough for me because I generally have to work one day and rest one day because of the strain on my back (it doesn't seem to like it when I paint the floor...).  I have had some wonderful help (Thanks Julie, Jenelle, Kent, Elinor and Ruby!) and I have learned a lot.  When I look at it I am really quite proud of what I have done so far.  I hope that I can make the rest of it match what is in my head.

I encourage you to stop by the Walterdale Open House or AGM this Saturday and check it out in person, or better yet, come at see the show in a couple of weeks! 

The Tale of My Illness...

So I put the kids in camp last week so that I could have a bit of time to get some stuff done, however, illness struck and I spent a lot of time actually medicating and sleeping to try and kick whatever foul bug infected my system. I realized that I had not gotten much on my To Do List done, so on Thursday I registered them for camp this week as well. I am still sick, but I only have a limited amount of time to get these things done for Fringe (FinallySauces presents Pieces) so I worked on the media release, painting my set piece and some other general Fringe housekeeping today. I also painted the Romeo and Juliet signs for Walterdale's bathrooms. They actually turned out quite well, so I will not be embarrassed for people to know I painted them. Whew! I wish the sickness would leave. The cashier at Safeway pretty much described what I have and said it hung around for 3 weeks for her. I hope I am luckier and can be better sooner than that!! I need to get better so I don't infect my cast when we resume on Monday!!!

So, tomorrow, I need to finish working on the Set Painting. It looks better now, but I can tell it is not finished. It is a bit too rusty looking and darker than I want. I will experiment tomorrow to lighten it up a bit. I also need to adjust some costumes and meet with my SM and Sound Designer this week and get on my poster designer's case (he's working on it, but I want the artwork for the media package so if I could just get that by Wednesday night....). All those little things to do! Oh, and get healthy!

Looking Forward...

Tomorrow (Wed, July 6th) is Opening Night of Village of Idiots. I am excited and sad about this. It marks the last Opening Night of my tenure as Artistic Director, so there is a sadness about seeing this journey end. I have learned a lot and met a lot of friends over the last few years. I have made mistakes, and learned from them. I hope that I am passing on what is needed to the incoming AD. I have been trying to do so, but I also don't want to be overbearing or come across like I am trying to still do the job. I will miss it. I know that this job and what I learned from it will serve me in the future, but like anything 'unknown' it is scary to move on. I am also excited about the Opening. Openings are always fun and because I got the opportunity to design the set I am anxious to see the reception of that.

I also have to pack tomorrow. I am going on a wee holiday to San Francisco for my cousin's wedding. I am so looking forward to seeing my cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles who will be there. I have a list of things to do before I go... when I come back, I dive right back into Pieces and A Little Night Music and finishing the run of Village... I am looking forward, but the path is cluttered...

A Few Pictures of Village of Idiots

A set only seems to become real when it is lit properly and inhabited by it's residents. Check out the fabulous photos taken by Douglas Stewart at Village of Idiots media call.

http://finster-wallyworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/media-call-for-village-of-idiots.html

Further Progress on the Set...

Well, the set is 99% done! Yay! Attached here is a photo of it about 85% done. Missing is the border which we painted this morning and the cyclo-rama and curtains which will further define the space. I still have a few props to get, but I am happy to report that a few of my trickier items were located today and I have a plan and a back-up plan for a couple of the others. Some of the props is just about having more time to finish them. Now that the set is pretty much complete (I say pretty much because I need to see it under the lights to figure out if I want to accent or change anything) I have the time to complete the props. Whew! I shouldn't be sweating about this. I am waaaaaay ahead of any schedule I have every worked with as a Director, but somewhere along the way my deadlines were set ridiculously early. I know I will comment on that at Post Mortem. There is a wish-list date and then there is a 'realistic' date. With doing both set and props, the wish-list date is insane. I didn't have any input on setting those deadlines... I have no idea where they came from... I'll ask about that at Post Mortem too...

Progress...

Last night we started the floor for the Village set. It is coming along. I am takign today off because I am physically very tired and my muscles need a day off. I also have to find a monologue for my audition on Thursday (yikes!).

Here is a picture from last week. I am going to take an updated photo tomorrow so you can see where it is going. I hope to get the border started tomorrow morning and some of the finicky bits.

Busy Day - Lots Done...

Yesterday I was back at the theatre working away. Actually not as productive as earlier in the week but there were other people around and I must admit I am easily distracted when other people are around. I expect the same tomorrow, but everything I get done makes the time worth it. I stayed home today (with the chilluns) but still managed to get a few things done. I am done the parasols and Hebrew sign and researched the lettering for the sign that is affixed to the cart. I also drew up the blueprints. I am checking things off the list in hopes of clearing as much as possible as soon as I can. Why? Well, because things in a show like this pop up unexpectedly. With the way these guys are using and dealing with props I am sure I am going to get a few additions thrown my way and I want to be able to have time to work on those and not be worrying about a bunch of things I haven't gotten done. I already have potatoes added... I am sure there are more!

By the way, I think my sign looks so good!

I also was quite productive at home. Lots of laundry done, both washed and put away. I also got Oliver to help there (I had a carrot to dangle - that helped). I uploaded photos from the Season Launch and the Archive Photos from Best Little Whorehouse and that felt good. I will get to Rabbit Hole later this week. I am glad that all three of my painting outfits are washed so I don't have to worry about it for this week. I have a lot left to do.