Director’s Journal: Season’s Greetings

Our teeny, tiny rehearsal space at the 11.

Blocking rehearsalsalways take a leap of faith. While I spend ample time preparing and envisioning how I want any show to look and move before I get to rehearsal, I inevitably come into the space with nervous anticipation that what I see in my head might not actually work in three dimensions. Seasons Greetings is particularly challenging to put together because of the farcical elements and the Gaslight’s physical limitations.

Due to the small physical space of the Gaslight stage, some concessions had to be made in the set design- thankfully Cristie was up to the task. Where the script requires at least four distinct acting areas (the dining room, a hall, a sitting room, and the Christmas tree nook) and various stairs and exits, we simply could not accommodate that. The “hall” was the first thing to go and we basically have two areas: the sitting room and the dining room with tiny “areas” within them. This creates a couple of challenges for staging. First of all, the risk of getting really crowded at certain points in the play. Second, and more importantly, it limits how “private” moments can develop and occur at key moments. As written, for example, Belinda and Clive can steal off to the hall to enjoy their coffee in relative privacy. Here, I have staged them in the landing by the front door with Harvey deeply asleep in the armchair downstage.

Much of the written business also revolves around characters looking for each other and just missing one another as they move though the house - upstairs, into the kitchen, outside, etc. Ideally, I would have liked to use the escape stairs into the audience to create more “space” into the house. It wasn’t going to work, however, because then we wouldn’t have a good alternative to place the tv.

Doing my homework.

With all that in mind, we plunged into blocking on Sunday without a full cast. Scheduling conflicts led to the actors present moving about the space talking and responding to invisible characters while Amy read their lines. Steven (while he was not on stage as Clive) did make a suitable Harvey substitute. In spite of this, I was extremely encouraged and went home Sunday evening with a deep sense of relief. The showisfunny and I am working with a wonderfully creative and talented group of actors.

Steven Peirick (Clive) and Emily Baker (Belinda) working through a bit of blocking.

In seeing things on their feet, even with scripts in hand, relationships are developing on stage and hierarchies are being discovered. The close quarters led to a discovery about Rachel’s awkwardness that will, hopefully, pan out into some effective comic business about her sense of personal space. I am absolutely encouraged.

The show, as of last night, is blocked! We will run through the remainder of scenes we didn’t get though last night with a full cast this evening. I am eager for Thursday, the first rehearsal where the actors are scheduled to be off book. Last night Eric (Neville) asked if we were going to run through the first scene a second time. There wasn’t much need. I have always been of the mindset that only so much can be accomplished while actors have scripts in their hands. Deep relationships and timing issues can never effectively worked out as long as there is a physical script between the actors.

Very much looking forward to seeing the entire cast assembled for the first time tonight!

Director’s Journal: Season’s Greetings

A model of the set with the recent addition of a dividing wall.

The Look and Sound
Saturday’s production meeting was an exciting time back at the West End Pub and Grill for two of my favorite things … the steak sandwich (rare) with coleslaw and talking about the show with the rest of the production team. Conceptually speaking, there is nothing too crazy about my vision … I’m not planning on setting it on the moon or anything. It isn’t a script so much bound in time and place as it is bound within a series of unsatisfying relationships. The original play was set in the 1980s, but with the exception of one reference to a rotary phone, there is nothing dated about the script.

Steak sandwich. A thing of beauty really.

Talking with the designers, I articulated the need for the production to feel fast-paced and showcase characters obsessed with the image of happiness, rather than having genuine happiness. It’s set now. (One of the jokes at the meeting was for the “better hair” 2012 had to offer.) The visual and aural tone of the show is also decidedly secular, these are not people concerned with attending Mass or the birth of Jesus, but with the endless series of dinners, teas, and gift distribution. The musical component, therefore, goes from the tolerable pop of the 1950s to the tinniest, most manufactured tones the 90s and onward have to offer … I hear Justin Bieber has a Christmas song.

The meeting went smoothly enough. The biggest design challenge from my perspective is the props for this show. Quite frankly, it’s a props nightmare: food, special effects toys, a working puppet theatre, guns, and a thousand of other bits and pieces that the jokes and blocking are dependent upon. Big sigh. It will be a challenge, but just like Neville … I like a challenge.

The Read-Through
Time moves quickly around here, but that time has been productive. Friday’s read-through brought new ideas about the characters and their relationships. I felt a little odd walking into rehearsal, the cast having met without me on a couple of occasions earlier in the week. It’s always interesting to hear early character interpretations where the performers act on impulse rather than a deeply developed study. Neville’s complete indifference to everyone (and nearly everything) rang out especially true. I also noticed the distinct personality contrast between siblings Neville and Phyllis. While Neville floats easily above any disaster that erupts in his home, Phyllis is an emotional tornado whirling around and infusing chaos wherever she lands like the Tasmanian Devil from the Loony Toons.

The read-through also helped me organize more clearly the complicated network of competitions that exist between this group of people. Each “rivalry,” however, is completely one-sided as the opponent is fighting a battle with someone else. Five of the nine characters engage in constant one-sided rivalries. The other four are oblivious to the rivalries and are the clear “winners” - Neville who is too narcissistic to notice or care much for the needs of others, Phyllis who has the attention span of a small child or over-excited terrier, Harvey who has long since given up on caring what others think, and Clive, the outsider to the family, whose presence as a new element into the group dynamic allows tensions to ignite in new ways for the Bunkers.

A Web of Rivalries
Rachel versus Belinda: In this classic sibling rivalry we have an older, awkward sister in a constant rivalry with her younger more alluring sister. Belinda has everything that is supposed to make a woman happy - she’s married, she has children, and she and her husband live a comfortable middle-class suburban life together. At one point, in her terribly painful explanation to Clive about her sudden (and unwanted) sexual advances, Rachel refers to “the Belindas of the world” effortlessly turning a man’s attention toward her. This seems to indicate that this “love triangle” isn’t a new experience for Rachel and she has, in fact, “lost” male attention in the past to her more charming sister. Belinda, however, does nothing to attract Clive. It occurs easily from the moment they meet in front of the Christmas tree in the first scene leaving Rachel’s efforts to attract him all the more futile and comically pathetic.

Belinda versus Eddie: Suburban wifery is not suiting Belinda, as becomes apparent through the play. While she makes an effort to trim the tree and create a holiday fantasy for the household, she is in a constant (and tense) battle for Neville’s attention with Eddie. Eddie does not work for Neville’s time just as Belinda does not work for Clive’s advances. Clive and Eddie are practically joined at the hip as they fiddle with broken toys or sneak off to the pub for a quick pint. Both husbands shirk familial responsibilities to be with each other. Belinda loses to Eddie every time.

Pattie versus Neville: Like with Belinda, Pattie lacks any apparent devotion and attention from her spouse. While Belinda has the opportunity to act out her frustration in a tryst with a handsome stranger, pregnant Pattie is most often left alone in corners crying to herself or tending to the children. Neville so easily wins the rivalry that Pattie’s existence barely even registers on his radar.

Bernard versus Harvey: This is the least subtle battle between characters in the play because while the others interact passive-aggressively, Bernard and Harvey stage an all-out war of ideals. Both are older, both are childless, and yet Bernard seems to fight for the respect of the younger generation while Harvey seems to win it easily. Bernard takes care to build and stage elaborate (and terrible) child-friendly entertainment, while Harvey sends them out unchaperoned to a gravel pit for a Texas-style shoot out. The middle generation also gives Harvey respect - bringing him drinks, paying him mind - where they completely ignore Bernard.

Eddie versus Neville: While Eddie follows Neville around like a helpless stray dog, he is in a rivalry with him for respect. Eddie is a failure and Neville is not. Neville frequently sweeps in to save Eddie from more failure and embarrassment. He holds the power without effort and Eddie is completely beholden to him.

Director’s Journal: Season’s Greetings

My delightful home away from home for the next three weeks.

I made it in one piece - an encouraging start to my work here in St. Louis with the Actor’s Studio. I was in an absolute frenzy in preparing to leave this time around, with a full schedule of classes, meetings, and casting Three Sisters for Winter term at OSU, I left Corvallis with my head spinning and feeling a little nervous about jumping in so quickly. Thankfully, when my feet hit the ground in my beloved adopted city, I fell right back into step.

Peter, class-act as always, picked me up and we met up with William at the West End Grill and Pub (yum) for drinkies and shop-talk. William presented me with a stack of play proposals for the upcoming Labute Theatre Festival and we chatted about some of the challenges for this current production. Really, it’s the same things I’ve been feeling all along about Season’s Greetings- short rehearsal period, rather large cast, small space. I’m especially anxious about working out the intricacies of the “Snakes and Ladders Scene” and the extensive props list in the show, but I am also certain that these challenges will be worth the work in their potential for laughter.

Tonight is the first read-through. I’m a bit disappointed conflicts and other issues won’t allow the entire cast to meet as I was looking forward to hearing all the voices blend together. Alas, sometimes that’s the nature of the beast. Although my runs in the past couple of weeks have allowed me to think through a lot of the blocking, I haven’t yet committed much to paper. There is something about hearing everyone together that helps me envision what a particular production will look and feel like. I expect to hammer out a lot of the details late tonight after the read-through and even more so tomorrow afternoon following the first production meeting.

The amazing Cristie Johnston is once again at the helm for creating the set design. The Gas Light Theatre stage always presents challenges because it is narrow and very tall - rather chimney shaped. The challenges of staging this piece, in particular, are doubled because of the farcical elements. Cristie found an effective way to use the vertical space in her design - hopefully this will accommodate some of the more difficult pieces of blocking.

Cristie’s model for the set.

I’m very excited to get the actors playing in this space. I imagine blocking will go fairly smoothly at the rehearsal space, but the transition into the theatre is always an interesting day. Fingers crossed that we will get in there early on in the process.

I have some ideas to share with the production team tomorrow. I feel that part of this play is about a group of people whose lives, on the surface, seem very idyllically middle-class. In this attempt to embrace the holiday season with games, drinking, and puppet shows they are trying to construct and live in an image of what they think the season should be, however, the facade slips rather easily. Neville and Belinda’s home should look “perfect” - at least in the beginning, as she is making an effort to create a Christmas worthy of being featured in a Martha Stewart publication. The mood at the beginning should be festive, cheerful, and somehow suggest the “magic” of the holidays. But, as things go on, I would somehow like to show the cheap plastic reality about this family’s relationships and lives.

Director’s Journal: Season’s Greetings

Poster design for the STLAS 2012 production.

Approaching any holiday play is a bit of a minefield with such potential to fall into the realm of schmaltzy cliche and asinine fluff. But on a social and purely secular level, that is what the holidays are for. Amidst the dreary months of cold weather, it’s nice to find reassurance in the innate goodness of humanity and embrace the festivities of the season. Realistically, however, how many of us absolutely dread at least some aspect of so much feasting? When I first read Seasons Greetings I thought, “Well, isn’t this just a horrible group of people?” I wasn’t rooting for any of the characters and, with the exception of a Christmas tree on stage, this play has a thoroughly un-holiday feeling about it. What a delicious treat for the season!

Of his 1980 Christmas farce, Alan Ayckbourn said:

My late agent, the great eccentric Peggy Ramsay, hated me writing plays set at Christmas. ‘Oh Alan,’ she’d say, ‘not another bloody Christmas play.’ But I’d explain to her that Christmas was a gift to a dramatist. You’re always looking for a reason to stick a group of people together who can’t stand each other, aren’t you? Dinner parties are good, but what better time than Christmas? You’ve got three days together and there’s always bound to be at least a cousin no one can stand. I’ve seen it at my own Christmases - two relatives arguing bitterly over who should sit in which chair. (The Guardian, 20 December 2007)

My sentiments echo Ayckbourn’s, the holidays can become a time where adults act like children- and not in the child-like-wonder-of-Christmas-magic-rubbish way. Instead, they are selfish, petty, and all in need of naps.

The fact that the characters in this play are so selfish and possess so few redeeming qualities makes them very easy to relate to. On the surface, the family gathers together to construct a “perfect” holiday situation of peace, goodwill, parties, and memory making. In reality, the annual reunion creates stress and exposes personal failure and unhappiness for every one involved. Stepping back from the situation, one can look at this particular Christmas season for the family and assume that even after the arguing, attempts at infidelity, and absurd rivalries they’re going to do it all again next year. Why? Because they are all bored, middle-class suburbanites and the holiday season (for better or for worse) breaks them from the drudgery of their rather disappointing lives.

Ayckbourn has a keen sense of exposing familial tensions and struggles. Is the situation a exaggerated? Of course. For all the family drama I have witnessed personally, few get-togethers have ended with a shooting. The comically heightened sense of play makes this a delightful farce, but the petty familial discord between characters is very real. From Neville’s inattentive relationship to his wife to the rather one-sided sibling rivalry between Rachel and Belinda, this relationships are joyously rich in nuance and detail.

As with any farce, the play will live or die by its pace and the balance between character detail and broader moments of physical comedy. The disastrous holiday gathering must clip along from one calamity to the next. In reading through and conceiving of a production concept, the play should feel like the ultimate holiday bender from the initial nervous anticipation, to raucous and rowdy celebration, to the dizzying fall from drunken euphoria, to the inevitable (and painful) hangover.

Happy holidays to come everybody! I join my fully assembled cast for the first time on Friday. Very excited to head back to the St. Louis and delve into this deliciously rich and sinful holiday dish.

Director’s Journal: Christmas in May

The audition room at The Eleven.

I consider myself extremely lucky that I spend my professional life pursuing a passion. It’s challenging, exciting, creative, and rewarding. Is it hard? Yes. Will I ever become rich doing it? Unlikely. Am I constantly facing rejection and failure? Yep. But I wouldn’t choose any other life. One of the reasons I really believe my life to be “rad” is because I love what I do. I’ll say it: My students drive me absolutely crazy. They are frustrating, needy, and exhausting. But I love them because they are energetic, funny, creative, and inspiring. In a similar respect, my creative work is fraught with challenges and getting used to hearing the word “no.” I’ve developed a rather thick skin over the years … a tactic for survival in the world of academia and the arts- and yet the rewards and personal satisfaction I gain from what I do are immeasurable. It takes hard work, tenacity, creativity, patience, as well as a little bit of good fortune.

I am deeply passionate about directing. I love telling stories. I love the process of working through a script, of bringing literature to life, of communicating something potentially moving about the human condition to an audience. I thrill at the opportunity to do facilitate that role in a theatrical process.

Why the long introduction? Because I simply want to express my gratitude for my wonderfully rad and often lucky life. I am grateful and have the fortune to have been asked to return to the St. Louis Actors’ Studio. Two years ago when my dear friend Peter suggested I “work with them.” I thought, “Yeah, okay, whatever.” I assumed that some cool emerging theatre company in a cool city would be completely uninterested in taking a chance on some random girl from the West Coast. But I blessedly was wrong.

Shortly after my 2011 production of My Three Angels opened both William and Milt asked if (and when) I could return. I felt honored to be asked and couldn’t wait to return to a city I love so dearly and a group of incredibly talented people I have gained a deep appreciation and affection for. I am also extremely lucky to have supportive colleagues back here in Oregon, willing to let me satisfy professional gigs for several weeks during the academic year. My life is pretty rad indeed.

Leaving on a jet plane from PDX. Let the adventure begin.

As many professional companies do, STLAS casts multiple shows in one shot. About this time last year, I made a similar trip out to Missouri to cast My Three Angels. There I sat in a room with Milt, William, and Ron Hines viewing a string of “general auditions” followed by a long day of call-backs. It was exciting and fun. This trip out was a similar experience- except that we crammed all the auditioning into a single (and very long day).

Due to costs of plane tickets and my own schedule, I found the best bargain was to fly out to St. Louis from Portland on Thursday even though the auditions weren’t actually until Saturday. This way I could spend Friday focusing on the script, running through the beautiful Forest Park, and simply enjoying the city.

Turned my airplane tray table into a tiny work station. I felt like a little bad ass.

The plane ride out was time effectively spent focusing on the script and figuring out how the heck I wanted to cast this quirky little farce. I enjoyed spreading out my notes and script on my tray table- all I could really do was focus on the text being trapped on the plane and everything with no temptation of Facebook or online shopping to distract me.

Although this was not my first reading of the script, it was the first time I made some clear decisions about how I wanted to tell this story. Seasons Greetings is a holiday-themed script, but it’s certainly not heartwarming and definitely lacks the sentimentality of something like My Three Angels. Instead of chipper rosy-faced children and a benevolent Santa Claus, the play offers multiple infidelities, a shooting, and a huge helping of dysfunction. The characters are selfish, vain, and rude. In fact, it’s pretty difficult to locate someone to actually sympathize with. I’m VERY excited about this challenge. In order to make the play work and the comedy to be actually … well, funny. I need to pull out the utterly imperfect humanness from this oddball group of self-centered ass holes.

I made some initial ideas about what I was looking for on the plane ride. The play needs to have a breezy, fast-paced feel to it. The actors need to have the ability to be at once very real and utterly unrepentant. In spite of that- the audience still has to like them. They remind me a little bit of the narcissistic cast of Seinfeld with the addition of charming British dialects. Getting off the plane close to midnight (St. Louis time) I was eagerly anticipating Saturday’s auditions with a clear mind about what I would be looking for.

I’ve got to be honest, Friday was an utterly magical day. It is rare day indeed when I have utterly all the time in the world to myself. Generous, wonderful Peter gave up his hip Clayton condo to me and bunked a few blocks away with his lovely girlfriend.

Staying at Peter’s always makes me feel as if I’ve stepped into a Pottery Barn catalog.

When I describe Peter to friends I include the description: “He’s like a character from a Wes Anderson movie.” A tall, handsome Mid-West colorblind lawyer with a deep appreciation for the arts and a great love for his community, Peter has been a good friend since our college days. He’s a classy guy, a lover of scotch, baseball, and jazz music. He is an unapologetic literary snob and his meticulously kept condo reflects his personality perfectly. Slick black wood floors, animation cells from the rad cult cartoon series from our youth, Batman: The Animated Series, shelves of books, and an empty refrigerator. I love staying there because it’s the physical embodiment of a good friend. Just being there feels like a giant hug.

On Friday, Peter and his lovely, amazing girlfriend (because who else would Peter be with than a lovely and amazing woman) had work. I was left to my own devices until evening when were were scheduled to hit the town. It was exactly what I needed. I slept as late as I wanted. When I woke up, I took my time getting ready for my run. The weather was perfect and I spent nearly two hours pounding the pavement of St. Louis, running through Clayton and down around my beloved Forest Park.

Friday evening meant time spent with friends. Peter, Jasmine, and I hit a couple of fantastic St. Louis eateries. Chorizo nachos? Yes please! I had a juicy hamburger the size of my head and lots of beer. Dessert was at some well-known dessert joint called Cyrano’s, famous for its bread pudding.

Bread pudding. With caramel sauce. In all its tasty glory.

Good times were exchanged with good friends and good food. This city spoils me. Honestly. Every time I go, it’s like stepping into a quaint little dreamland of rest, relaxation, friendship, and food. Even when I’m there to work.

Saturday it was down to business. Back to The Eleven, an office/rehearsal space/audition room/whatever they need it to be. What else can I say? This is going to be a lot of fun. Just as with the 2011 season auditions, I was impressed with the level of talent and enthusiasm coming from the St. Louis acting pool. I faced a rather long day of auditions on Saturday.

I saw quite a few familiar faces at the auditions. Some I had worked with in My Three Angels and others I remember having auditioned the previous May. It was exciting be wedged behind the table between directors Milt and Bobby. The two of them couldn’t possibly be more different. Milt may just be the most laid back person on the planet. Bobby, on the other hand, is a fast-talking witty cynic. It was a long, but fun morning. I get nervous in the beginning of a large “cattle-call” audition like this and, honestly, I start to call back too many people. I’ll see something. I want to give them a chance to read more, but for the sake of time and my own process, I need to get better at weeding out what I’m not looking for early on. I am VERY decisive when it comes to callbacks. I see what I want or what I don’t want and I’m ready to move on.

Something else I’ve learned about working with a theatre company like this, however, is there is a degree of politicking that goes on every now and then. It’s looked at as a courtesy to give Equity Actors auditions or, perhaps, other well-regarded local talent. This is fine, but occasionally means reading people multiple times for a role I’m not going to cast them in. This has happened two years in a row with a specific actress. She’s perfectly lovely and a capable actor. She just wasn’t right for any of the roles I was casting, but they kept sending her in to read again and again even though I told them (and her) I had seen what I need to see. These are people. I understand you don’t want to hurt feelings or discourage anyone, but I think it’s just as disrespectful to waste their time. Alas. It’s part of the business.

After a busy morning … break time! Which, luckily for me means my favorite meal I can get in St. Louis. At the West End Grill and Pub they have this steak sandwich. And I love it. Rare. With a side of coleslaw.

Food-gasm.

Full of steak and ready to face the afternoon of callbacks I braced myself for an onslaught of talent and resolved to be quick and decisive. Several of the roles were nailed instantly. I love when that happens. I just want to tell the person, “What wizardry did you use to get into my brain and just do exactly what I was thinking?” I love that.

I tend not to give very much direction during auditions. I honestly look for what they will bring to the role. How do they see it? What about their natural personality is funny, sexy, intimidating, or whatever quality the role demands? I’m also like many directors. I enjoy working with people I’ve had good experiences with or that have good reputations with other directors and stage managers I respect. I don’t like working with ass holes. I don’t care how talented a person is, no one has the right to be difficult to other performers and individuals working on a play. Luckily most everyone I have encountered through this company has been incredibly warm and generous.

After several hours of three directors calling back actors for five different shows, we convened in the main room to hash it out. There is really no conflict, actors can be in more than one show during a season, but the company does like to spread things out as much as possible. I went “home” to Peter’s very excited about my prospective cast. They seem to me, appropriately quirky.

On Sunday, I had didn’t fly out until 7:00 p.m. Sunday was also Mother’s Day. Peter, of course, had family engagements so couldn’t entertain me all day long. But we did agree to meet for a light lunch before he took me to the airport. I spent the morning on another satisfyingly long run followed by a hot shower and a coffee from the neighborhood Starbucks.

Another impossibly hip and delicious place to eat.

A panini and three glasses of wine later, and Peter and I headed to Tower Grove Park to scope out the sites and brainstorm about ideas we have for a food and arts festival.

A bad-ass pavilion in Tower Grove Park.

Part of Peter’s “master plan” apparently includes having me live in Tower Grove. “It’s the right kind of neighborhood for you.” He assures me. Sounds great to me. The park is lovely. Smaller than Forest Park, Tower Grove Park has its own charms including winding paths, gently sloping hills, and plenty of places for outdoor entertainment. We threw around ideas and wandered the park for an hour or so. Peter, for all of his wonderful qualities, has a notoriously poor sense of direction leaving us to explore perhaps a little longer than we had originally intended.

All this lush green grass is in need of some outdoor Shakespeare!

My action-packed weekend had to come to an end at some point. Waiting for might flight, I called my mom for mother’s day and shared the highlights of my weekend. As always, I look forward to my return in November. I am energized by my trip and ready to be creative and tell a new story with a new group of people!

My Three Angels: Up and Running

Marie-Louise (Emily Baker) makes a toast to her own “three angels.”

The show opened on Friday, December 2 and I have since returned to the Northwest from St. Louis. With one week of shows under their belts, the cast is settling into the run with confidence, energy, and the warm reviews of St. Louis’ theatre critics.

Opening night was an exciting affair surrounded by the Actors’ Studio’s supportive board members and artistic staff, a hard-working cast, and a community of pleased audience members. The run was solid and the cast saw that their hard work and dedication through the process had paid off. I saw the performances on Friday and Saturday and left St. Louis on Sunday morning proud of my immensely talented cast and crew and thinking, “Yeah … they’ve got this.”

Saying “good-bye” to a show is a bittersweet experience, particularly when the process has been so positive and re-affirming in my love for what I do. But, that’s all part of the game- I’ve just never had to “let go” in such an abrupt way by getting on a plane and flying 2,000 miles away!

Jules (Garrett Bergfeld) and Emilie (Penney Kols) share a moment of understanding over a cup of coffee on Christmas morning.

The show came together faster than I could have imagined and, in general, quite smoothly considering all the surprises that came with being an outsider coming into a close-knit theatre community. In the end, the “angels” were appropriately clever, charming, and a little bit dangerous. The Ducotels were luminous with grace and goodness. And the villains … were, well, downright villainous.

Paul (Casey Boland) wakes up to find the angels searching for a “missing collar button.”

I hope that in my absence the show continues to grow and please audiences with all its warm, holiday sentiment. I am looking forward to returning to St. Louis soon and working again with such a talented company of artists and new friends.

Have an amazing run My Three Angels! I will be thinking of you often from Oregon!

My Three Angels runs through December 18th, 2011 at the St. Louis Actors’ Studio.

My Three Angels: Final Dress

Madame Parole (Teresa Doggett) and Emilie (Penney Kols) discuss an unpaid bill.

They are SO ready for an audience. And that’s a good thing to say. The show’s focus and pace (as expected) picked up tremendously and some of it is downright charming. A huge degree of trust goes into any production- trust that everyone will be in the right place at the right time, trust that the costumes will be finished, the paint will be dry, the lines will be remembered, the lights will come on at the right moments … theatre is not for the faint of heart. But when watching everything suddenly snap into place as it did last night- nothing feels more relieving and gratifying.

Felix (Larry Dell) is not sure what to make of Joseph (Whit Reichert), Jules (Garrett Bergfeld), and Alfred (Dan Mueller) making themselves so comfortable in his home.

The cast has made an admirably fast transition from a rather rocky first tech rehearsal into something that is well … a sweet and funny production. I am extremely pleased about some of the quirky fast-paced dialogue, the more tender moments of humanity. and some pretty amazing characterizations.

Jules (Garrett Bergfeld) and Joseph (White Reichert) offer Paul (Casey Boland) some unsolicited help.

This is will be an interesting point in the rehearsal process. While they haven’t yet had a completely clean run … they need the energy and laughter from an audience to take things to the next level. There is always something remarkable about that final element, the spectator, that truly brings a show to life. I am eager to see what this wonderfully resourceful and talented cast brings to the Gaslight Theatre tonight!

My Three Angels: Tech Run-Through

Madame Parole’s (Teresa Doggett) makes her grand entrance into the Ducotel home as Felix (Larry Dell) looks through his messy books.

Nobody ever said transitioning from a rehearsal space into a performance space would be easy. The run last night went pretty much as expected. Was it a brilliant evening at the theatre? No. Of course not, but that’s part of the process of putting a show back together again after several days of tweaking. The key was that we made progress towards a solid and funny opening night performance.

The “Angels” tend to sweet and sensitive Marie-Louise.

Overall, the technical elements ran smoothly. I have mentioned before that this is an incredibly “prop heavy” kind of show. Silverware, coffee cups, letters, books, notes, Christmas tree ornaments, old suitcases, parasols, and handkerchiefs have turned the Gaslight Theatre’s lobby into something resembling your grandmother’s cluttered attic. Cracker-jack stage manager Amy Paige is given the task of keeping track of the numerous objects and ensuring that they end up in the right place at the right time. Coupled with her other numerous responsibilities, the show depends on her. Luckily, we’re all in good hands. Much of last night’s success was due to Amy’s work backstage and in the booth.

A Ducotel family Christmas.

As far as the pace and shape of the show- it had its ups and downs. Being on the set was wonderful in that the characters were really coming into their own little by little having the opportunity to work within the environment. However, the dimensions of the space being slightly different than what we had gotten used to in the rehearsal space threw a wrench in some of the show intricate blocking forcing me to rethink some things to create smoother traffic patterns and more motivated crosses for some moments.

Uncle Henri’s unexpected arrival to Cayenne complicates the lives of the Ducotels.

Some moments happily worked as I imagined they would in my head and others, as expected, will need further tweaking to get just perfect. Part of the problem is that without having any kind of levels to work with in the rehearsal hall, it was difficult to think through precisely what it would be like to have them. So, in order to take full advantage of Cristie’s wonderful set design, I will have to rework a few things.

Marie-Louise (Emily Baker) explains to Paul (Casey Boland) the future she imagines for them.

With the first tech-through out of the way, tonight will be back to pace, flow, and characterization. I’m so excited to see everyone in costume for the first time tonight! This will be that moment where everything truly begins to take on a life of its own and I can’t wait to see it!

My Three Angels: Bits and Pieces

The set in progress.

In many ways, directing is just a gradual process of letting go. I begin with ideas in my head then attempt to communicate those ideas with others- designers and actors. Once they start imposing their own creative energy and processes, the play takes on a life of its own. There’s a little bit of magic in that.

I can guide, direct, answer questions, say “yes” or “no”, coach, and advise, but throughout the weeks of rehearsal, I hand more and more responsibility over to others. The actors are growing into their characters and bringing their talents, experiences, and emotions into the roles. The same is true of the lights, sets, props, and costumes- these artists put something of themselves into their work. The director, then, has a strange hand in the process. I am the only person who gives the show its intangible qualities. A costume designer creates a garment, something that can be worn, seen, and felt. I have a say in what the show looks like- but not as much as the designers. I am more concerned with the mood, the feeling, the pace, and the emotions. I come up with ideas to interpret a story, but talented designers and actors really bring that story to life. It’s a remarkable job I have, and I love it.

Last night, I had my last shot at tinkering with beats and bits with the actors in the rehearsal space. It went well. We worked the transition from the very comic romantic interaction between Marie-Louise and Paul into the darker encounter with Henri. I’m very excited to see these moments all put together on stage tonight.

I also took time to work some of the more complex intimate moments between Alfred and Marie-Louise and Emilie and Jules. It’s interesting how both mother and daughter in the play have slight brushes with “romance.” I have found this script is surprisingly rich in the way that it subtly (and sometimes not-so-subtly) presents issues of morality, social convention, and right and wrong. This is in NO way a feminist play- it is, in fact, rife with the misogyny typical of the period in which it was written and the period in which it is set. However, I can’t help but be sensitive to these issues and I do see both Emilie and Marie-Louise as having much more depth than meets the eye.

It’s hard to believe we’ve only been at this for two weeks. I am incredibly lucky to be working with this cast and stage manager. Really. Things have run incredibly smoothly thus far and I am giddy with anticipation to get these lively and nuanced characters into the performance space!

My Three Angels: Technical Elements

Outside the Gaslight Theatre (358 N. Boyle Ave.) home of the St. Louis Actors’ Studio.

In our short time together, I have admittedly been spending most of my time working with the cast in our makeshift rehearsal space in the building next door to the performance space. Rarely in a rehearsal process do I have the luxury of rehearsing in the performance space until tech. And with good reason- the set designer needs to work her own kind of magic in transforming a black, empty space into a breathing, vibrant environment for the characters to live for a few hours each night.

My Three Angels set designer, Cristie Johnston, has been given the challenge of devising a unit period set to accommodate nine actors, six entrances and exits, and platforming in a 20’ x 20’ box.

The ground plan for My Three Angels.

Her vision for the space has been working in the rehearsal space. Although Amy taped out (more or less) the ground plan in the rehearsal space- we are working in smaller and slightly different dimensions than we will have in the Gaslight Theatre. This is reassuring to me (and the actors) who have been feeling lightly cramped with all the characters, blocking, furniture, and numerous props. The transition into the performance space on Monday is going to be very exiting. I fully expect the show to take an obvious and enormous step forward when the actors move into the Ducotel home in the Glaslight Theatre with the atmospheric elements of lights and sound.

Cristie on stage with her set … in progress.

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening at the theatre working through the light and sound cues with Amy and designers Robin Weatherall and Steve Miller. Robin, our sound designer is some kind of a wizard- creating original “harmonica” music and tracking down some beautiful selections evocative of the show’s period, season, and mood. The play’s sweet and salty tone must extend beyond the visual and an appropriate soundscape is a powerful means of stirring emotion. It was exciting to watch and listen as the moments of Steve’s lighting were brought together with the sound- now we just need actors in place!