Back in Theater
Ok, I've been referring to it a lot with out much detail. Here's some info on the show we're doing right now.
You may know that my wife and I majored in Theater in college. Haven't been able to turn it into a real career though. Having a family means mouths to feed, not to mention that putting up a production takes up some pretty serious time---and that translates into time away from the kids that we already don't have to spare. Especially for me. So I've opted out for some time now.
But now, I'm sort of back into the game.
It all started when my wife was asked if she could help out with a community theater project that was running at the time by some people who go to church with us. They needed someone to run the lights for them because their tech bailed on them. She thought that was ok and might be fun, so off she went.
As that show was finishing up, she was asked if she might like to get more involved in the summer production coming up next. Perhaps directing. The show was to be a short (30 to 4o min) Melodrama that would run in the afternoon as one of many performances done in a variety show tent in the middle of our town's big summer festival.
Now a Melodrama is classically one of those campy shows with a villain that twirls his mustache and gets popcorn thrown at him, and a Dudley Doright hero who saves the damsel in distress. Both my wife and I are not to fond of doing those kind of shows in the classic sense. Maybe that makes us kind of snobbish, but it's just too painful to put all that time in to a script that we don't have any fun doing. So there was hesitation at this offer.
Then we lay in bed that night and talked. She laid out all the reasons it would be difficult to do that show. Trouble finding a script. Typically there are mostly women actors available and most scripts were heavy on the male roles. Time limits. Space limits. Limitations on how much of a set we could load onto the stage in the time we allotted.
That was my downfall. I had wanted to not do anymore theater for awhile because it caused me to be away from my family for so much time. And working full time with overtime like I am causes me to be away a lot as it is. But the "chess game" of trying to fashion a production around these limitations got my wheels turning and excited me. We thought that I could write a script that turned these limitations into solutions and she could direct it. That way she could get back into theater a bit and stretch her wings, and I could be home with the kids after I'd done my part.
So we accepted. The community players were thrilled. It's a small group and any talent that can be added is much appreciated.
We began by having auditions, of course. However, it's a little different when you have no script yet. The script was going to be written in rehearsal. So we did improvisational type auditions, with the potential actors making up characters to show us what they had in their bag of tricks and what type of rolls they might be able to play. From that we would find a grouping that could be developed into a cast of characters that would lend itself to a story. We've done shows several times before using this method.
The auditions were over several nights. The first night no one showed up. We sat in the vacant store stall the local Mall allowed us to use and waited. The next night was better with around 8 people showing up. We scheduled an emergency audition night the following Friday, brought everyone back and grabbed a couple more people. That was a good night. An interesting night too.
A friend of my wife and I (the blond I dated in high school if you've read my 100 things--she's the aunt of Robo's good friend and they think that it's so amazing that she and I dated) was up visiting her sister. She tracked us down and popped in to say Hi. We hadn't seen her for a little over 6 years so that was a surprise.
We also had an intoxicated man on oxygen, with a tank on wheels that he rolled along behind him, come in to participate. He was well behaved and when given a scene to do, played along with the best of them. At the end he thanked us before he left, I think appreciative that people took time and let him intact with them. Like maybe that hasn't happened in quite a while.
In the end we managed to cast the show and I've been madly trying to write a script. As I mentioned in a previous post, some was done at a local coffee shop. At other times I've just hunkered down in my office in the basement. It's been a bit of an ordeal. My wife has noticed that my mood has been off. I t's true. When ever I write under a deadline where I'm trying to come up with an entertaining script it tends to prey upon my core energy at a high level. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I want to respect the audience. I'm not trying for any awards, but I want the people watching to do more than just endure this performance. I want them to at least feel that it was time well spent.
That's the thing about theater that is different from most of the other arts. With music, painting, most writing, film-making, dance, sculpture---you prepare in private, working on your craft till the thing is ready, and then present it. With theater, a piece isn't complete until it's in front of an audience. That's the last ingredient and it isn't finished until that final element is added. So if you make mistakes or errors or need correction, you do all that in front of people. I've had a few bad experiences that I didn't want to repeat. Not to mention that I wanted to provide material that would allow the cast to have enthusiasm for what they were working on and have confidence in my wife.
Consequently there were good moments of writing, and there were moments that felt like I was trying to wring a glass of water out of a damp rag. You know, when you can feel that there is water in the fabric but no matter how hard you twist and scruntch, you can only get a few drops. It started to get maddening. And I started to get grumpy and my self confidence plummeted.
But finally, I eeked out a full 35 page script this past Sunday. I got up early and finished the last 8 pages before church. Then I went to worship and thanked the Almighty for getting me there. I prayed a lot while I wrote.
The wife is rehearsing right now in the evenings after I get home to be with the boys (she takes Kitten with her---Kitten has a role!) and she is re-writing the script a little here and there where a line might need some tweaking. She's also struggling trying to find times the whole cast can get together. I wrote in mostly 2 and 3 person scenes (like for over half of it) so that it would be easier to schedule rehearsals.
We did have to quickly re-cast as one of our actresses had to leave town because her mother in law in another state had a stroke. We wish her well and our prayers are with her. But now our stage manager is going to be one of our characters.
We have a three week countdown and the pressure is starting to build. I have a "back drop" in the garage that I'm going to pull out this weekend to see how it's going to work and what modifications it might need. It's nothing extravagant, just a bunch of shallow plywood boxes that we stand on end.
I hope to post the script sometime soon. It's nothing earth shattering, but I'm hoping it will at least be entraining.
That'll be coming soon. . .
You may know that my wife and I majored in Theater in college. Haven't been able to turn it into a real career though. Having a family means mouths to feed, not to mention that putting up a production takes up some pretty serious time---and that translates into time away from the kids that we already don't have to spare. Especially for me. So I've opted out for some time now.
But now, I'm sort of back into the game.
It all started when my wife was asked if she could help out with a community theater project that was running at the time by some people who go to church with us. They needed someone to run the lights for them because their tech bailed on them. She thought that was ok and might be fun, so off she went.
As that show was finishing up, she was asked if she might like to get more involved in the summer production coming up next. Perhaps directing. The show was to be a short (30 to 4o min) Melodrama that would run in the afternoon as one of many performances done in a variety show tent in the middle of our town's big summer festival.
Now a Melodrama is classically one of those campy shows with a villain that twirls his mustache and gets popcorn thrown at him, and a Dudley Doright hero who saves the damsel in distress. Both my wife and I are not to fond of doing those kind of shows in the classic sense. Maybe that makes us kind of snobbish, but it's just too painful to put all that time in to a script that we don't have any fun doing. So there was hesitation at this offer.
Then we lay in bed that night and talked. She laid out all the reasons it would be difficult to do that show. Trouble finding a script. Typically there are mostly women actors available and most scripts were heavy on the male roles. Time limits. Space limits. Limitations on how much of a set we could load onto the stage in the time we allotted.
That was my downfall. I had wanted to not do anymore theater for awhile because it caused me to be away from my family for so much time. And working full time with overtime like I am causes me to be away a lot as it is. But the "chess game" of trying to fashion a production around these limitations got my wheels turning and excited me. We thought that I could write a script that turned these limitations into solutions and she could direct it. That way she could get back into theater a bit and stretch her wings, and I could be home with the kids after I'd done my part.
So we accepted. The community players were thrilled. It's a small group and any talent that can be added is much appreciated.
We began by having auditions, of course. However, it's a little different when you have no script yet. The script was going to be written in rehearsal. So we did improvisational type auditions, with the potential actors making up characters to show us what they had in their bag of tricks and what type of rolls they might be able to play. From that we would find a grouping that could be developed into a cast of characters that would lend itself to a story. We've done shows several times before using this method.
The auditions were over several nights. The first night no one showed up. We sat in the vacant store stall the local Mall allowed us to use and waited. The next night was better with around 8 people showing up. We scheduled an emergency audition night the following Friday, brought everyone back and grabbed a couple more people. That was a good night. An interesting night too.
A friend of my wife and I (the blond I dated in high school if you've read my 100 things--she's the aunt of Robo's good friend and they think that it's so amazing that she and I dated) was up visiting her sister. She tracked us down and popped in to say Hi. We hadn't seen her for a little over 6 years so that was a surprise.
We also had an intoxicated man on oxygen, with a tank on wheels that he rolled along behind him, come in to participate. He was well behaved and when given a scene to do, played along with the best of them. At the end he thanked us before he left, I think appreciative that people took time and let him intact with them. Like maybe that hasn't happened in quite a while.
In the end we managed to cast the show and I've been madly trying to write a script. As I mentioned in a previous post, some was done at a local coffee shop. At other times I've just hunkered down in my office in the basement. It's been a bit of an ordeal. My wife has noticed that my mood has been off. I t's true. When ever I write under a deadline where I'm trying to come up with an entertaining script it tends to prey upon my core energy at a high level. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I want to respect the audience. I'm not trying for any awards, but I want the people watching to do more than just endure this performance. I want them to at least feel that it was time well spent.
That's the thing about theater that is different from most of the other arts. With music, painting, most writing, film-making, dance, sculpture---you prepare in private, working on your craft till the thing is ready, and then present it. With theater, a piece isn't complete until it's in front of an audience. That's the last ingredient and it isn't finished until that final element is added. So if you make mistakes or errors or need correction, you do all that in front of people. I've had a few bad experiences that I didn't want to repeat. Not to mention that I wanted to provide material that would allow the cast to have enthusiasm for what they were working on and have confidence in my wife.
Consequently there were good moments of writing, and there were moments that felt like I was trying to wring a glass of water out of a damp rag. You know, when you can feel that there is water in the fabric but no matter how hard you twist and scruntch, you can only get a few drops. It started to get maddening. And I started to get grumpy and my self confidence plummeted.
But finally, I eeked out a full 35 page script this past Sunday. I got up early and finished the last 8 pages before church. Then I went to worship and thanked the Almighty for getting me there. I prayed a lot while I wrote.
The wife is rehearsing right now in the evenings after I get home to be with the boys (she takes Kitten with her---Kitten has a role!) and she is re-writing the script a little here and there where a line might need some tweaking. She's also struggling trying to find times the whole cast can get together. I wrote in mostly 2 and 3 person scenes (like for over half of it) so that it would be easier to schedule rehearsals.
We did have to quickly re-cast as one of our actresses had to leave town because her mother in law in another state had a stroke. We wish her well and our prayers are with her. But now our stage manager is going to be one of our characters.
We have a three week countdown and the pressure is starting to build. I have a "back drop" in the garage that I'm going to pull out this weekend to see how it's going to work and what modifications it might need. It's nothing extravagant, just a bunch of shallow plywood boxes that we stand on end.
I hope to post the script sometime soon. It's nothing earth shattering, but I'm hoping it will at least be entraining.
That'll be coming soon. . .
posted by Will at 2:07 PM
3 Comments:
I studied theater in college too - way back in the day . . . I miss it too :) oh the smell of the theater, the rusting sound of the audience before the lights go down . . . :)
Will, I can't even begin to express what respect and admiration I have for you for tackling this with all that you have going on in your life. It's a testament to your creative spirit that it has such force that you can find its voice in the midst of all of your responsibilities.
Looking forward to reading updates in the next few weeks as performance time nears...
Yay (or yeah!) -- you're doing it!! I'm so glad for you, despite the day-to-day challenges it presents -- inner and outer. You are setting a great example for your kids, besides, about keeping dreams alive and integrating them in whatever way is possible, even in the midst of many responsibilities. I am sure they, your wife, and your soul are even more proud of you than you know for going for it. Congratulations!
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