Hey, hey, hey!
Well, as it is well known by now, THE OVERWHELMING, sadly, has closed. The show wrapped up last Saturday with a truly brilliant performance given before a very enthusiastic and appreciative crowd. Not surprisingly, it's always sad for me to see a show wrap up. Everyone, from the actors to the crew to the design team, put so much into the show, and, in some ways, you don't want to see it ever end. There's so much preparation, so much that goes into the staging of a production, only to have the actual run just fly by. So much time is taken in getting the show ready and on its feet, and then, it's over so fast. But, this is the nature of theatre. In fact, this is what's so amazing and vital about theatre. You have to catch it before it's gone. Theatre is a must-see event that waits for no one.
What's amazing though, is how together we all created a coherent world on a formerly empty stage. We took a gutted playing space, a blank canvas if you will, and sculpted on it a fully realized, unified world by bringing together costumes, lighting, set, sound, and actors. What's amazing is how less than 12 hours after the show ended, the stage is back to its "natural" state, eager for the next company to come in and create any entirely new world. It took almost two months to create the world of the OVERWHELMING, yet it took mere hours to remove it. But, again, that's theatre for you!
Another thing I want to talk about is something that I brought up in a previous entry: the way in which the show changes over the course of a run. During the three weeks, I saw about 7 performances, and each one, however subtle, was very different from the next. Sometimes, the actors were doing things you did not necessarily want to see. Sometimes scenes moved too fast or too slow, or the actors skipped a small section of text, things that happen in all productions all the time. The kinds of things that only I or someone who's worked on the show, been at every rehearsal, and is intimately familiar with the text and flow of the show would observe, but that would easily pass by unnoticed by audience members. But, other things that changed were simply great to see. I saw so many of the actors become increasingly more comfortable in their characters' shoes and in the space. They realized new things about the text and came to a different, while still justified, delivery of a line. Sometimes, even a whole scene shifted dramatically, taking on an entirely new meaning, while still fitting in with the play as whole. What many people don't realize is that prior to the official run of a show, actors and stage management often don't have that many opportunities to run the whole show from beginning to end. I don't think many people realize this, but we ran the whole show in its nearly final state with all the actors less than 5 times prior to opening. With the myriad of things that needed to be figured out - all the scenes and scene shifts, the costume changes, the huge list of technical cues - it was hard to get in a lot of actual runs, not nearly as many as I'm sure everyone wished we could have afforded. Although the actors certainly covered it well, because they're all such skilled performers, they were still feeling out what the whole show was supposed to be from beginning to end and at the pace at which it needed to be maintained, even by opening night. The actors were still figuring things out during the run, and it was so great to see them continue to explore and try new things, while still sticking to the overall layout of the show as decided in rehearsals.
After the curtain call of the final performance and after the audience had departed from the lobby, the entire cast, crew, and C1 staff came together in the theatre and raised a glass to commemorate everyone's efforts. It was the first time in a while I saw everyone in the room together at the same time, and it was quite moving. You could feel the real emotion that was present among all of us collectively. Everyone knew they had just wrapped up something really important, and pride was resounding off the walls as hugs and kind words were exhanged. It was a joy to take on this play, and everyone certainly knew it without ever having to say it.
The book may be closed on this show, but the best thing you can do is move on to the next. Company One is following up this great show with an equally challenging yet inspiring show, THE GOOD NEGRO. I can't wait to see what happens with that. And honestly, who possibly could?
Over and Out,
Max
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Opening Night!
Hello All!
If you haven't heard (and, really, how could you not?), THE OVERWHELMING opened this past weekend! It's now up and running, and is it ever a pleasure to see. From my perspective, having seen this through from the very beginning of the rehearsal process, it is thrilling to watch it now. It's also odd to watch it now not making notes or looking for things to work on. To watch it for the first time simply watching it is a strange, yet unbelievably satisfying feeling.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he said something to the effect of, "Now that the show is opening, the actor's job is pretty much done." Upon my queries, he further elaborated, "Well, through all the work they did in rehearsals, they pretty much have everything they need down, so they're good to go." I think what my friend was getting at was that in rehearsals, the actors and director spent their time exploring and creating the piece, and now that the "creating" is done, performances are now a matter of replicating what has already been created and set in place. This is a huge misconception that I would like to address now.
Even through a long, productive process that includes rehearsing, teching, and dress rehearsing, a production is never entirely "set." This is what is awesome about theatre, and what really separates it from every single other kind of art. Theatre is a living, breathing artform that changes night to night depending on so many variables. It is not a portrait that once the paint dries it is complete and set in stone forever. It is not a film that, once the final edits are in place, from there exists unfixed on a film reel. Theatre yields no resulting artifacts that can be examined and appreciated years later. Theatre can only be experienced and appreciated in the moment it is presented and never again. Furthermore, to the same effect, the experience of a specific piece of theatre is unique unto itself; that is, even the following night's performance of the same piece of theatre will not produce the same experience. A piece is theatre, no matter how long it runs, changes night to night, moment to moment. In fact, for it to be successful, it has to remain fresh and spontaneous to avoid the dull product that would result from simple replication. THE OVERWHLEMING will indeed continue to grow and develop, especially in that it is now interacting with an audience, one that will never be the exact same night to night. Actors can continue to find things and discover new aspects of their characters and arcs. This is why I love seeing shows more than once, because it's always new, even if it's the same play.
Although the actor's job is not done, and certainly not for the stage management either, my duties on the show, for the most part, are pretty much wrapped up. It's an odd thing. The show is only opening now and will continue to run for the next few weeks, and yet, my job is done. From working on this side of the table, from being able to assist a director, I've seen that directing is kind of like raising a child. You guide your child and try to point it in all the right directions, but, eventually, you have to let the child go off on his/her own. The child will continue to grow, develop, and learn new things, but he/she can do those things all on their own, because you've given them the means and skills to do so. With our child, it is certainly all grown up and more than ready to tackle the world.
Over and Out,
Max
If you haven't heard (and, really, how could you not?), THE OVERWHELMING opened this past weekend! It's now up and running, and is it ever a pleasure to see. From my perspective, having seen this through from the very beginning of the rehearsal process, it is thrilling to watch it now. It's also odd to watch it now not making notes or looking for things to work on. To watch it for the first time simply watching it is a strange, yet unbelievably satisfying feeling.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, and he said something to the effect of, "Now that the show is opening, the actor's job is pretty much done." Upon my queries, he further elaborated, "Well, through all the work they did in rehearsals, they pretty much have everything they need down, so they're good to go." I think what my friend was getting at was that in rehearsals, the actors and director spent their time exploring and creating the piece, and now that the "creating" is done, performances are now a matter of replicating what has already been created and set in place. This is a huge misconception that I would like to address now.
Even through a long, productive process that includes rehearsing, teching, and dress rehearsing, a production is never entirely "set." This is what is awesome about theatre, and what really separates it from every single other kind of art. Theatre is a living, breathing artform that changes night to night depending on so many variables. It is not a portrait that once the paint dries it is complete and set in stone forever. It is not a film that, once the final edits are in place, from there exists unfixed on a film reel. Theatre yields no resulting artifacts that can be examined and appreciated years later. Theatre can only be experienced and appreciated in the moment it is presented and never again. Furthermore, to the same effect, the experience of a specific piece of theatre is unique unto itself; that is, even the following night's performance of the same piece of theatre will not produce the same experience. A piece is theatre, no matter how long it runs, changes night to night, moment to moment. In fact, for it to be successful, it has to remain fresh and spontaneous to avoid the dull product that would result from simple replication. THE OVERWHLEMING will indeed continue to grow and develop, especially in that it is now interacting with an audience, one that will never be the exact same night to night. Actors can continue to find things and discover new aspects of their characters and arcs. This is why I love seeing shows more than once, because it's always new, even if it's the same play.
Although the actor's job is not done, and certainly not for the stage management either, my duties on the show, for the most part, are pretty much wrapped up. It's an odd thing. The show is only opening now and will continue to run for the next few weeks, and yet, my job is done. From working on this side of the table, from being able to assist a director, I've seen that directing is kind of like raising a child. You guide your child and try to point it in all the right directions, but, eventually, you have to let the child go off on his/her own. The child will continue to grow, develop, and learn new things, but he/she can do those things all on their own, because you've given them the means and skills to do so. With our child, it is certainly all grown up and more than ready to tackle the world.
Over and Out,
Max
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