Read-Thru and FIRST Rehearsal!!!

We had our read-thru on Sunday night, at my house. It took us two hours to read through the whole thing. One important thing I noticed about the script is that LaBute takes the time to write in any PAUSE or BEAT that he wants the actors to take. I think that it's going to be very important that we follow those directions explicitly. There is no intermission and I really would like to keep the play to one and a half hours TOPS. It's hard to make people sit for much longer than that. I don't think it's going to be a problem though! All in all, it was an excellent read-thru! I think we're all excited.

The first rehearsal was last night, at the Waynesboro Boys and Girls Club. Marcus works there. We had some trouble securing a rehearsal space... so we chose the BAGC at the last minute yesterday. Hopefully we'll have something permanent worked out before the next rehearsal... We're in negotiation with Ampersand and Madison Monroe... I should hear back from them soon!

I started building the boxes yesterday. Claire suggested that I leave them solid black and add handles. I think she's right. The designs may be distracting, plus it would make the job of constructing them much easier! The handles will involve some router action, but I think I can get it done! That's the good thing about working with some experienced and intelligent people, they give good advice!

We had our production meeting last night as well. It went great. Everyone is excited and very helpful. I think we're going to have T-shirts made for the crew; solid black with white letters, denoting the racial slur of their choice! It'll be funny. Lights will come from MBC probably... we need to come up with a sound system. No major concerns here!

The rehearsal was great! We blocked the first two scenes and came up with some interesting "business" for the actors to do. I'm gonna have to update my props list. Even running through the scenes twice has given an increase in pace. I think it's gonna be great.

Here are some pictures from last night's rehearsal.

IT's a Thin LINE.

Between offensive and colorfully riskay/on the cutting edge of theater...

I want this play to be an EYE OPENER. A little bit IN YOUR FACE, BALLS TO THE WALL kinda shit.

Here's my latest idea:

I am going to make several wooden boxes, a wooden table and a wooden box/couch thing. It'll keep the set simple and cheap and I have some woodworking skills. I want to use all recycled wood. I'm either getting it at the dump (I've done this before) or we're going to make "WANTED" posts in newspapers and craigslist and stuff. If anyone you know has some wood lying around.... let me KNOW.

Anyway, the "recycled" idea is cool. I want to take it a step further. I want to paint all the stuff with a similar motief. All Black, with white stars and red higlights. It'll emphasize the whole black/white issue. I want to take it a little further. What would you think of this print (or a variation) on some of the stuff:




Let me know what you think.

Ready to ROLL!

Auditions are OVER. Goddamn.

We have a HELL of a cast though.

WHITE MAN - Chris Markham
BLACK MAN - Marcus Thompson
WHITE WOMAN - Claire Hensley
WHITE WAITRESS - Claire Reiley

I can't say much about auditions here. I can say that some of what happened was very unexpected. I knew I was going to run into some problems having my friends audition, but I didn't anticipate what I got. All I can say is that I'm glad it's OVER. We had a few very good actors and it was a struggle for me to choose. I really wanted to get a cast that worked well TOGETHER. I think I've got that.

I knew Chris from when we did "The Common Glory" together at Shenanarts. He was Thomas Jefferson. Actually, I was pissed for a while because I wanted that part! I was kind of an obnoxious teenager. I think he's going to be great for the part because he looks like a nice guy, but he's got a bit of a devious look behind him too, which'll be perfect for this role.

Marcus is the reason I choose to do this play.... I was trying to find something to do that had some real meaning. I had just seen him in "Poloroid Stories", with my wife. He's got a very commanding presence when he's on stage. The cool thing about Marcus though is that he's probably one of the most sincere guys I've ever met. One of the first deep coversations we had together even brough out some tears! In short, He's KICK ASS. I'm excited. I think it's going to be interesting to see him act like an asshole.

Claire Hensley is like my sister. I was a little concerned that my friendship with her would influence my decision in casting her or her performance in auditions. Neither was the case. She got the part simply because she did the best job. Her acting skills are superb, she looks the part, and she is comfortable interacting with Marcus and Chris. I like a person that can put their personal feelings aside when it comes to being professional.

Claire Reiley is one of my closest friends too. This will be her "Premere" on the American Stage. She did some acting in England (where from she hails) and was anxious to get back into it here. I thought this would be a good introduction for her. There are NO lines and the scene is only like 5 minutes long, but it will get her face on the stage and hopefully prompt her to venture out more (maybe a possible Barhoppers actress?).

PRODUCTION TEAM:

PRODUCER - Morgan Alberts Smith: Morgan is damn good. Plus she looks hot in Naugahyde Boots! Seriously though, Morgan has been an absolute pleasure to work with. We have a very similar sense of humor, she's on top of EVERYTHING, we seem to be on the same page idea-wise, she has kick ass media and advertising connections and she's a great person to turn to for advice. I'm hoping that we can team up for more productions in the future.

C.S.A - Patrick Smith: Patrick stepped in to this role after years of longing to be a CSA. It really paid off too. Patrick has an extreme attention to detail, which was invaluable when casting for one female role from a pool of many talented actresses. Thanks Patrick!

STAGE MANAGER(S) - The Terries! - The Terries are kick ass. When I found out that they were gonna do it, I said "Hell Yeah, I love the Terries". They've since decided to use this quote on their headstones.

PROPS - Brittany Bugge: For the longest time I thought Bugge hated me. Turns out, she doesn't. We've worked on quite a few shows together. It's good to have someone to abuse and torture. Right Bugge?

LIGHTS - Adam Patterson: I actually haven't really seen Adam since High School. He's cool as shit though. I wouldn't settle for anything less.

BACKSTAGE - Natalie Tasillo: Strangely, I don't know all that much about Natalie. I know she's a kickass backstage person because we've worked together before, but I don't know her that well on a personal level. Let's change that, Huh?

ART DIRECTOR - Heath Pecorino - I'm hoping Heath is going to wrangle all the artists we need for this show. Artists can be rougher than a bull, so I'm really gonna need Heath dog. I love Heath.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR - Greg Beam. This is the "Mr. Greg" I spoke of earler. If you want to know more about him, click play below:



That's him. He's OLD GREGG. He's our art director. Don't play love games with him or he'll do to you what he did to Curly Jefferson. It's unclear exactly what he did to him, but it's definitely frightening.

LIGHT DEISGNER/PRODUCTION MANAGER - A. Brooks Hollar. What does the A stand for? I don't know. Brooks is the bomb though. He's gonna be the light of my life. no pun.

Thats our Team. If you want to hear our theme song, click play:

in JAIL.

Oh. By the way. I want to do this with the play. It would be kick ass. I've started emailing.

http://prisonartsstl.org/index.htm

J

Propaganda

There are a distinct number of issues that I believe are central to every human being. Sexuality, religion, family, race, interpersonal relationships, and morality. By tackling one of these issues in a theatrical setting, we are confronted with the playright's own ideas on that particular subject. Though LaBute is expressing his own experience with race, it is a central issue to humanity on the whole. Race in America has long been a contraversial topic. People all feel strongly about it, me included.

I grew up in Queens, New York. Queens happens to be the most racially and culturally diverse place in all of the United States. (This is a fact that is advertised quite frequently on posters in the #7 Train.)






One thing about New York is that everything and everyone is IN YOUR FACE all the time. If someone is pissed they are PISSED and everyone around them knows about it. ("Pissed" can be taken to mean angry or drunk. Either meaning holds true to the statement. ) I think I've inherited this trait somewhat. My philosophy on race is that we can't go around ignoring our differences. We should stand on the rooftops and shout them out. Our differences make up WHO WE ARE. Without diversity, we are living in 1984. (Not the year. The book). If you are white... you're WHITE. If you're black... you're BLACK. Fuck it. If you're gay.... GAY. Who gives a shit. Once we accept that we all have labels and stereotypes for everything and everyone, they will start to fade into the background and we can start to accept one another as people. It may be the single most important thing we all have in common. We're all just PEOPLE.

The subject matter of this play speaks for itself. My mission is to expose it to general audiences and attract them to it somewhat explicitly.

As we are planning to rehearse in the Dramatix space, I've designed these posters to give the community at large a glimpse of what we are doing. I plan to hang these posters on the storefront for the duration of our rehearsals. They are collages of important figures and events dealing with race in America. Enjoy!

Casting Pressures

So far, the directing "process" for "this is how it goes" has been very positive for me. Here are a few "negative" aspects. (I'll try not to use too many quotes to denote sarcasm.


1. I think Ampersand should appoint a board member to be responsible for finding performance spaces for productions. I don't think that a director needs the stress of looking for a space. I have been in contact with some real estate people, but since they have their own jobs, it's hard for them to give me their attention. I really want to give my actors the confidence of having a performance space secured. At this point, we have NO definite space and this is through no fault of my own. I've been putting a lot of effort into looking for one, but there is only so many messages you can leave on people's voicemail.

2. It is really hard to hold auditions when a majority of the people auditioning are your friends. I know that they only mean well, but I feel under pressure to cast them. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I'm only going to cast people that I think will best fit the role. I think one way to help with this is to have other people serve as casting directors. I think this will help. So far, I think my producer will be at auditions with me to help decide.

3. I am the type of person that lives by my word. If I SAY I'm going to do something, I DO it. Period. I feel that if a man can't hold true to his word, then he isn't a man. There are so many creative people out there that have GREAT ideas, but fail to see them through. I don't want that to be me. I can be a little impulsive at times and even a bit too intense, but I think that if it helps me to get the job done it's a good thing. Not to point any fingers, but when you are working on a play it's a COLLABORATIVE effort. There have been a number of occasions so far where people let me down. It sucks.