a FIGHT broke out at rehearsal. For REALS.

So... we did fight choreography last night. IT went GREAT! We're gonna expose our audience to some black on white/white on black violence. It should be interesting! Here's a picture of our beautiful fight choreographer, Natalie Tasillo. You wouldn't think she'd be into violence, but she's like a rabid squirrel... cute on the outside, but she'll bite your eyes off. :)


Chris and Marcus really enjoyed fighting... the thing is, the punches and grunts were more like caresses and groans... I wonder what effect that'll have on the show? At least it'll add another dimension that the playwright didn't expect!

We start out with Marcus getting serious:



Chris feels violated and exploited:



I'm just an innocent little boy and I feel abused...



I'm RICK JAMES... Beeotch!



Hate the game.... not the playa!




Not only is Mr. Terry an excellent stage manager and impromptu waitress, but he's also a very affectionate guy... here he is going in for the "goodnight kiss".




Last but not least, our Props Mistress, the one any only Boogie Nights....





All kidding aside... we actually had a very serious discussion amongst ourselves last night. The last monologue of the play is very vivid and powerful and deals extensively with racial stereotypes... We discussed our own perspectives on race and I feel like we all made a good connection... We are heroes.

WE'VE GOT A PERFORMANCE SPACE

Thanks to our WONDERFUL Visual Art Director Megan Hillary, we have secured the old Stonewall Jackson Elementary school on Beverley Street! It's a great space with plenty of parking, plus there is a Tea Bazar in the building and I'm hoping we can get them to stay open on show nights to serve the audience! We should be moving over there in the coming weeks... Here are some pictures of the space.

NEW GUEST SPEAKER

I had coffee yesterday with Jonathan Coleman, author of "Long Way to Go: Black and White in America". He has agreed to be one of our guest speakers for the show. This is very exciting for us! Not only will we be producing an important theatrical work, but it looks like we may be able to reach out to the community to open a dialogue about race in general...

About Jonathan Coleman's book:

Amazon.com
Jonathan Coleman uses the city of Milwaukee--one of the most segregated in the country--as the lens through which to consider race in America. Black Milwaukeeans suffer an unemployment rate of about 20 percent, the result of the city's losing 60,000 jobs between 1979 and 1983 as it changed from a manufacturing to a service economy. The great success of Long Way to Go is that it shows us the human faces that lie behind the statistics, people like Georgette and Maron Alexander. After losing his high-paying manufacturing job, Maron Alexander found work paying $6 an hour, while his wife makes $5.50 an hour as a cook. They manage to feed their children and are sending their oldest daughter to college, but, at times, Maron Alexander can't help thinking that with his service insurance policy, his family would be better off if he were dead.

From Library Journal
Coleman's new book is a stunner. The former journalist and television news producer tackles the prickly topic of racism in the United States, particularly through the prism of both black and white citizens of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Coleman's narrative technique is superb, mixing investigative reporting with the storytelling style of the late Charles Kurault; the reader will become steadily engrossed while meeting people drawn from all walks of life as they spin their tales of how they view the specter of racism in America. While Coleman is sympathetic to most of the African American community members he meets, he intellectually distances himself from some of their ideas that he sees as ill-founded or self-serving. A brilliant work that approaches racism in America through the eyes, mouths, and hearts of those who have lived through it on the front lines. Highly recommended for all libraries.

BIG Plans

Rehearsals are still going extremely well. Here are some more pictures...

More positive news is: WE'VE GOT A NEW ART DIRECTOR!!! Her name is Megan Hillary and she's totally KICK ASS. She has some really great ideas and I think she's going to bring a whole new dimension to the production. She's got a ton of professional experience.. and being an artist herself is extremely creative and driven. I'm really excited to see how this develops.

One idea Megan had was to hold an "Artists Reception", where the artists will be invited to watch the play and then represent their art to the audience afterwards, which will give them an opportunity to sell their stuff!

We're almost done blocking. Hopefully we'll be able to get our fight choreographer, Cory Vincent, in on it soon and she'll come up with some stuff for the fight scenes.

I just sent out an email to some people interested in leading some discussion on "Race in America". We will be holding these talks after the show on select nights.... more details to follow soon.

Rehearsal 2

We blocked the "fight" scene with Marcus and Claire. This is gonna be a tricky scene, I think. Marcus has to act like a loud, angry and violent man. It's totally NOT his personality and I think it's gonna be a challenge for him! It'll be fun to watch the transformation. He's such a kind person in real life! Eventually, we'll pull in a fight choreographer to help with the actual slapping around.

My vision for this scene is to have Marcus really scare and intimidate the audience. We really aren't supposed to like him. At the same time though, I don't think we really like Claire's character either. We feel bad for her at times, but she's not really a good person.

Here are a few pictures of the blocking, plus a bonus shot of some of our production team! I took 4, but this was the only one that I could see Morgan's FACE! She kept looking away... :) Natalie has stepped up to be our Technical Director and Terry is there (one of the famed "Terries" of lore).

Enjoy!