Thinking on a different scale… an operatic scale…

Two weeks ago…

(Damn theatres that don’t have wireless….)

DIE FLEDERMAUS

By Johann Strauss Jr

Northwestern University Opera, Cahn Auditorium, Evanston, IL

Directed by Michael Ehrmann

Scenic Design by yours truly

Costume Design by Jana Andersson

Lighting Design by Andrew Meyers

Sound Design by Stephen Ptacek

The story is truly a bit of effervescent high-society fluff…

ACT 1

Mr. Eisenstein is prone to practical jokes, and has recently pulled over a big one on best friend, Falke, which ended with poor Falke fully dressed as a bat, passed out drunk on a nearby beachhead ,miles from home. Falke plots a trap for his friend, but not before Eisenstein is sentenced to a short stint in jail for a public altercation.  Falke convinces him to NOT report to prison as planned and entices him to a posh party at Russian billionaire, Count Orlofsky’s villa. Reluctantly,  Eisenstein is swayed by the promise of pretty girls to flirt with. He tells his wife that he’s going to report to jail, and instead heads to the party.

Meanwhile Rosalinde, Eisenstein’s wife, has an old flame, and singing teacher of the comic variety, who has reappeared in town and barges his way into the Eisenstein manse, taking up her husband’s clothing as settling in for the duration of her husband’s jail term. Falke tells Rosalinde that her husband hasn’t reported to jail and is attending a party that evening. He suggests that she go to the party, disguised so that she can check out what her husband is up to. She agrees. The police show up to take Eisenstein off to jail, but Rosalinde, wanting to get rid of Alfred, lets them take Alfred off to jail, so that she can escape his advances and get to the party to catch her husband in-flagrante-delicto. The Eisenstein’s maid, has also received an invitation to the party (later revealed to also be the machinations of Falke), and so Adele ‘borrows’ one of Rosalinde’s ballgowns and heads of to the party.

ACT 2

Prince Orlofsky’s  villa is a decadent feast of the senses. The Prince is bored with everything… too rich to care about the world around him. Falke piques his interest by saying that Falke can find a way to make him laugh with a little real-life domestic comedy that he’s arranged to play out at the party. Orlofsky says he’ll make Falke rich should he succeed. Eisenstein arrives and is introduced as a French Marquis. Adele arrives and is introduced as an up-and-coming opera singer, and Rosalinde arrives and is introduced as a Hungarian countess, who only appears in public wearing a mask (the better to spy on her husband with).  The Marquis (Eisenstein) is introduced to the Singer (his maid Adele), and almost blows their cover, but is saved when Adele sings (the famous Laughing Aria) laughing off his obvious “mistake”. The Marquis becomes enamored of the mysterious Hungarian Countess, and flirts shamefully with her. Rosalinde maintains her composure and takes away his special pocketwatch, as a sign of “the Marquis’ devotion”.  There is a sequence of performances for the attendees, which ends with a Toast to Love and to King Champagne.  Realizing that it’s incredibly late, Eisenstein calls for his coat and hat so that he can report to jail… where his wife thinks he is.

ACT 3

We now go to the local jail, where the supposed Eisenstein (i.e. Rosalinde’s former lover, Alfred) is holed up in a cell singing at the top of his lungs, annoying the jailor, Froshe. Eisenstein come in to give himself up only to be rebuffed “as we already have Eisenstein in jail”. Confused, Eisenstein learns that a man, claiming to be him was arrested at his home the night before, and that this man, and Rosalinde were very sad and kissing each other on parting. Realizing this his wife must be having an affair, and hearing his wife about to enter the jail, he disguises himself as his lawyer in order to overhear Rosalinde pleading for Alfred’s release.  He reveals himself to the horrified Alfred, and the smirking Rosalinde, who then produces his pocketwatch, thereby showing that she knows that Eisenstein was at the party and flirting with a (supposed stranger). He sheepishly begs her forgiveness and says that they must chalk these things up to the inebriation of King Champagne. All is well, restored, and ends happily.

OUR PRODUCTION

The original was written in the 1880s in Vienna, and is often done in that period and style. Michael Ehrmann, the director wanted to give it a different spin… so we set our production in the 1920/30’s’s world of Hollywood silent movies. It’s really was mere happenstance that it’s set in EXACTLY the same world as the recent blockbuster (and Oscar-winning movie, THE ARTIST). We actually started discussions about it months before the movie came out.  We looked at a lot of architecture and art of the ART DECO movement. It’s a beautiful and elegant style typified by geometric patterns, and color schemes that (predominantly) leaned towards blacks, whites and silver tones.  We also watched the old Fred Astaire movies like Top Hat and High Society.

act 1 living room of the Eisensteins

act 2  - Prince Orlofsky's villa

act 3 - the jail

Characters within the opera were given specific visual traits and tricks of notable Hollywood icons… the lawyer was Harpo Marx, Rosalinde was visually based on Jean Harlow, one of the Orlofsky performers was based on Marlene Dietrich (who sang a HYSTERICAL rendition of I AM TIRED from the movie Blazing Saddles… I know, it was out of context, but it WAS really funny), Froshe was essentially a take on Ralph Kramden from Honeymooners.

The challenge with the set for this show is that there are 3 acts that are set in vastly different locations (i.e. Eisenstein’s living room, the grand salon of Prince Orlofsky, and the local jail). SO in order to keep the worlds visually consistent and working in tandem with each other we used a UNIT SET approach… in that there were a few elements that were onstage the entire time, but there were pieces that came and went for each act in order to delineate the different worlds. The things in common were a diamond shaped platform at center stage and a drop that stretched across the back of the stage. On it was painted a DECO-style cityscape with two posh figures, one male one female, peeking over the ‘scape , grinning seductively at the goings-on. I pulled the two figures from paintings by Tamara de Lempicka, a German-borm American artist that was part of NYC’s high society in the 1920s. Her portraiture very much typifies the elegance, and sculptural splendor of “roaring 20s”.

The “pieces “ were a series of platforms, staircases, and flying walls that were reconfigured to give us the different locations.  All done up in shades of black, white and silver, with some hints of RED during the party (act2).

It was a lot of fun to work on, and it seemed like the audiences ate it up!

Spaces and Seasons... in Milwaukee!

The other interesting thing about this show, from my perspective, is the space itself. The Stackner Cabaret is a fully operating bar and restaurant, and patrons of ALL shows at The Rep can have dinner before (or after) their show. It’s intimate (seats about 120) and instead of theatre seats, there are tables and chairs like a restaurant. The shows in the Cabaret are certainly geared toward a drinking and “pure entertainment oriented” audience. Of the 4 shows in that space this season, Abridged is the only play that ISN”T a small intimate musical. The two person show,  ALWAYS, PATSY CLINE will be following ABRIDGED in a couple months-time.

This pic shows the SCOPE of the space pretty well... it ain't an easy space to work in, but it has really strong audience-to-stage energy.

... and with patrons....

Its interesting to see how Mark Clements, the relatively new Artistic Director at the Rep, put together a season that both fits the spaces they have, mindful of the types of shows that audiences will enjoy and come see for entertainment sake, while also finding shows that challenge his audience and excite them about theatre. They did a play called TEN CHIMNEYS earlier this season, which is based on an actual estate not even 30 minutes from the theatre. They also did LOMBARDI, the recent Broadway success based on the life of the quintessential Packers coach. These shows obviously played into the self-referential identity of the community. But then he’s throwing in NEXT TO NORMAL, a difficult and timely modern rock-style musical about the struggles of a family dealing with Bi-Polar disorder. If the audience I saw at that show was any indication, Mr. Clements has caught his audience’s attention, and is engaging them in fun and smart ways. I’ll be curious to see what next season brings at the Rep… its’ not every year there happen to be two new exciting works (of national prominence) that have such local-centric resonance.

And here’s hoping that they hire me back….. ;-)

Bad Tom!... not blogging while in tech... bad bad bad!

I must cry 'mea culpa'...I’ve been home a couple days now from Milwaukee, and am just getting around to posting. There’s no good reason I wasn’t posting while there for the better part of a week. I think there’s just a lot on my mind at the moment. However, that’s not an adequate excuse. But on the fun stuff…

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (Abridged)

Milwaukee Repertory Theatre - Stackner Cabaret

Directed by Sean Graney

Scenic Design by yours truly

Costumes Design by Holly Payne

Lighting Design by Noelle Stollmack

It’s a hard show to adequately describe… but basically it’s about 3 guys who perform quick, funky fun takes on Shakespeare’s work. There’s lots of talking directly to the audience, some audience participation, and lots of silly sophomoric humor (i.e. lots of sex and fart jokes). It was written in the 80s by a group of three California dudes, and it was a smashing success, running at festivals all over the work (and even running in London for over 9 years), and understandably they turned it into a brand. They’ve subsequently written a host of other shows based on the same formula (The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged), The Complete History of Film (Abridged), I bet you see the pattern here).

Some samples… they give a brief take on Titus Andronicus that’s done as a Julia Child cooking show, they do a rap version of Othello, the Macbeth sequence is done with the actors saying “Mac” before each word, and bragging about their “perfect Scottish dialects”. The ghost of Hamlet’s father is played by a stuffed tube sock that’s attached to the end of a broom…. It’s silly, fun, and perhaps more than a little dated.

For our production Sean (whom I’ve worked with quite a bit), wanted to update it and center the production a bit more. It’s typically performed on a nearly bare stage with some curtains so that the actors can make quick exits and change costumes, however he wanted to set it specifically in a apartment kitchen, and give the superstructure of the production the notion that the three actors are three out-of-work roommates who sit around coming up with silly things to entertain themselves, and thus the audience. While I can’t say that this frame gave it gravitas, it DID allow for some concrete ideas to begin research. Sean wanted the kitchen to be a little run down, dated, and perhaps not completely kempt… as if three dudes really are living there. SO we looked at a lot of apartment kitchens, and we wanted to give the world a fun funky color scheme, and thus we landed at looking at lots of 1970’s kitchens… the oranges, the olive-greens, the horrible linoleum tile patterns , the avocado appliances ,the wildly patterned wallpaper was kinda too fun NOT to use, and so while the show is happening in 2012, the kitchen has a feel of a bit of a throwback.

First two pix show BEFORE set dressing and AFTER....

The fun part of this for me was dealing with the set-dressing… all of the stuff that makes it look like a real room that the actors don’t’ actually USE as props during the show. Milwaukee Rep has an AWESOME properties department, led by Jim Guy, It has a staff of about 5 or 6 people who do everything from build and upholster furniture, to create paper handprops that are specific to a time-period and look, to hand-sew cushions and draperies. They make whatever the actors use in their hands, and are in charge of furnishings and set dressing. Because we were looking for things of a “tacky 70s” nature, it was such fun to brainstorm with Jim and his cohorts, and go through their storage rooms looking for things to put on the walls. It really was like a treasure hunt, and MAN we found some fantastic kitch!

the barrier between AUDIENCE and STAGE

In most theatres there are incredibly well defined locations and a "normal" understanding of the non-physical separations between... the audience sits in nice (sometimes plush) seats, the stage is an open end of the room, and these two entwined worlds are forever linked yet separate. There's something cozy about being in an audience... there's something safe. And while I work in many such venues, and enjoy that symbiosis immensely, I have to admit to a degree of... artistic titillation ... in the breaking of, or at least redefining, those definitions. I've always been particularly energized when the set can reach out and physically embrace an audience, surround them, interest them in a way that is unusual. It forces an audience to reexamine their role in the process... are they meant to "be" in the location of the play? will they (gasp!) be expected to actively participate in some way?

I think that this is one of the reasons I respond so strongly to the Hypocrites' production of PIRATES OF PENZANCE (which I've written about twice now). By allowing an audience full-range roaming capabilities, it seems to intrigue some audience while alienating others... it's,  in some ways, a really curious social experiment.

I've watched the audience enter... and most of them, upon entering... smile... and then the wave of confusion hits.... as to why there ARE NO CHAIRS!!  across the space they see a tiki-bar selling drinks, and next to them a long bamboo coat-rack where they can deposit their winterwear. The cast is already onstage throughout the space, jamming with whatever instruments suits them in the moment, inviting them to sing along, handing out the occasional lei or pair of sunglasses. there are benches in some corners, and a scattering of picnic tables with kiddie pools atop them, with rubber duckies in them. It's a peculiar abstraction of a tropical beach with mis-matched beige carpet standing in for sand,  a mountain of beachballs in one corner, twinkling lights racing overhead and a pier, dotted with tiki-torches jutting diagonally thru the space with 70s lawnchairs bolted on one end (to allow some audience a permanent perch). the walls and support posts of this strange basement are painted a bright nautical blue.

Of COURSE, it's a strange world to enter... that's the point! A world where milquetoast pirates comically attack a band of maids and are rebuffed by the lie that their father, a Major General, is an orphan?!?! who writes this stuff!!!! Mabel, a operatic soprano, accompanying herself on a banjo?!? a Major General who wears footed pajamas with military medals and duckie slippers?!? The physical world matches the lunacy of the world created by the writers. And by allowing the audience to experience it ON THEIR OWN TERMS and to their own level of physical willingness to be participants in this world... it's utter madness, and frankly we need more that in theatre, and in life.

Deja Vu... again... and again, deja vu

Another day of dueling techs, Pirates in Wicker Park, and as for number 2...

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: a radio play
based on Frank Capra's classic film
American Theatre Company, Chicago

Jason Gerace - director
Set by Yours Truly
Costumes by Christine Pascual
Lighting by Mac Vaughey

THE STORY
It's somewhere in the 1940s, and a radio company is about to do it's annual Christmastime tradition, mounting a radio play of the story IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, with the regular audience stepping "back in time" as the live radio audience. There are 7 actors who voice all the roles by stepping up to microphones and using the scripts in hand to tell the story. There's also an onstage pianist, and a foley artist creating all the sound effects, just like they would have done back in the 40s.

The story of WONDERFUL LIFE is a classic... George Bailey, facing personal/business disaster makes a wish that he'd never been born, and his guardian angel shows him what life would have been like for everyone in his hometown of Bedford Falls if he'd never existed. He learns how much and how many people's lives he's touched, and in so doing, learns about the value of a life well led, and how "a man who has friends is truly rich".

This is the 7th year for this remount. It's now on it's the third director (Marty Higgenbotham and Damon Kiely took the first four years), it's the fourth (or perhaps 5th) costume designer, and the third lighting designer. The casts have changed throughout the years, but the set has stayed, aesthetically, the same. This particular physical set is now 4 years old, and is starting to show a bit of wear, however the basic idea and concept of the set has remained the same throughout.

Even though it's the 7th year of my involvement, it's the 10th year that ATC has mounted it. The first three years they did it for just a couple nights on a bare stage, but back in '03 the then-artistic-director  of the company decided to make it part of the regular season and run it for a few weeks, and it was WILDLY popular then, and ever since.

The conceit is simple, the costumes are pretty but not difficult to find, the story is familiar, but not, (perhaps) as cloying as yet another production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Frankly, the hardest thing about the show is the sound effects, and there are a  LOT of them. and trying to keep the look properly 1940s can involve a lot of odd things for the foley artist*.

*a foley artist is a guy (or nowadays even a gal) who creates the sound effects near a microphone to augment the level of the sound. They were vital in the golden age of radio, and are still prevalent today, but mainly in the film industry... watch the credits at the end of the next film you see, and you'll come across a listing for a foley artist and his/her staff. They have to be quick, efficient, and very creative in coming up with ways to create effects using sometimes strange materials... i.e. the sound of footsteps in snow can been created quite efficiently by lightly crunching popcorn down into a shallow dish, or footsteps in autumn leaves by crunching cornflakes the same way). Tom Keith (Garrison Keillor's foley master for Prairie Home Companion) recently died.

Anyhow, getting back to LIFE...

The idea of the set is pulled from research of radio studios in the 40s, but is made a little warmer and homier by using rich, warm wood tones, and holiday decorations... as if they've spruced up the studio for  Christmas. The furniture is stuff you saw in a period interior... conceptually we were trying to meld the visual notions of  "radio studio" and "grandma's sitting room". On the right side of the pictures you can see the raised platform with a guy sitting at a table and he's surrounded by doo-hickeys and things.. yep... he's the foley artist.

Overall, it's been interesting to see how each director has altered the approach to the story and the experience, and how each has interacted and have asked for slight changes to the set, even though the basic concept has remained the same. Marty had us create a 40s living room installation (with a full-sized period radio) in the lobby, and they sold special "living room seats" to a group of folk who wouldn't be in the theatre, but would sit in the lobby and hear the performance broadcast to the radio in the lobby... while being served milk and homemade cookies. Damon really invested in the personal journey of Mary and George as  being a struggle, Jason (the current director) is playing up the comedy in different and surprisingly touching ways. All three were (and are) excellent, but the tonality and the small touches make each director's viewpoint shift, and each is unique. To me, it's far more exciting than watching the movie.


Am attaching a couple more PIRATES pic here...It's a REALLY challenging space to photograph, but I wanted to share a couple views.

off on a tangent... kinda...

I was recently asked to write a blog post for Northlight Theatre, Chicago. I'm currently designing their spring 2012 production of Jeffrey Hatcher's TEN CHIMNEYS.  You can check out that post here....

http://northlight.mighty-site.com/blog/designing-from-life#more-926

It made me think about one thing I've not covered yet in these posts... the fact that I'm always at work on multiple projects, not one at a time, the way the blog posts might suggest.

At this very moment, I'm sitting in the basement of the Chopin Theatre in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, watching re-staging/re- teching of The Hypcorites' production of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. Earlier today I was at a run of American Theatre Company's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE : a live radio play. After I get home late this evening, I'm going to be working on the model for SHAKESPEARE ABRIDGED for Milwaukee Rep (opening in January), and in the morning will be dropping off the preliminary drafting for Northwestern University Opera's DIE FLEDERMAUS (opening in February), and I'll have a week before needing to have a preliminary draft of TEN CHIMNEYS for Northlight (which goes up in March). That same day, I'll be receiving the script for one of the projects I'm doing at Actors Theatre Louisville in early April for the Humana Festival of New American Plays (the ANTHOLOGY play, titled, OH GASTRONOMY!) The following afternoon, we'll be having the first design meeting for AN ACTOR PREPARES, the professionally-directed show we're mounting at University of Chicago to open the new Logan Arts Center (late-April), and for which I'll be designing set and lights.

.... and all of this is on top of my regular day-job teaching and advising students at University of Chicago.

It can all seem a little overwhelming at times, (and a little sleep-deprived too) but honestly I wouldn't be happy otherwise. I've found over the course of teaching there these past 6+ years, that these two halves of my professional self feed and support each other in both direct and indirect ways. By continuing to work as a professional-- I can demonstrate, first hand, the concepts, and points of process that I'm trying to instill in my students, and by showing them some of the cool things I'm up to outside the classroom, I've found that the students respect my input more  (i.e. that I don't fall into that frustrating category of "...those who can't .. teach"... an adage I find utterly loathsome). My professional design work also gives me an artistic outlet that the school can't easily support.

what can I say, I'm a lucky guy.... now if I could just get more sleep....

I feel... like I've been here before....

and I have....

PIRATES OF PENZANCE, or the slave of duty

Adapted by Sean Graney and Kevin O’Donnell after Gilbert and Sullivan

The Hypcorites @ Chopin Basement

Directed by Sean Graney

Set by Yours Truly

Costumes by Alison Siple

Lighting by Jared Moore

Sound by Mischa Fiksel

THE STORY

When a boy, Frederick was accidentally apprenticed to a PIRATE band rather than a PILOT by his short-of-hearing nurserymaid, Ruth, who has followed him into the pirate life. Today is the day he turns 21, and thus ends his apprenticeship. As he abhors the pirate life he declares he will leave it, and will be forced to hunt down his former comrades, as a righteous citizen and man of England.  Ruth endeavors to go with him as his betrothed, and the pirate band is hopeful of her departure, while Frederick says he’ll marry her, if she is indeed a fine-looking woman. But upon seeing a bevy of young ladies, he rejects Ruth, and falls for the lovely Mabel. Her sisters are nabbed by the pirates and are claimed as brides, but their capture is interrupted by the arrival of the aged Major General, their father, who falsely claims he’s an orphan and the pirates, all orphans themselves, relent in their pillaging.

Act 2 finds the General troubled by his lie, and wandering through his grounds in his nightclothes. Frederick, who is soon to become his son-in-law, has organized a group of policemen to exterminate the pirates, but is informed by the Pirate King and Mabel that his birthday, which falls on FEB 29^th, means that his indentures actually will not end until he reaches his 21^st BIRTHDAY, not simply when he is 21 years old, meaning that technically he will be apprenticed until he’s 84 years old. They appeal to his sense of DUTY, and he succumbs, and becomes a pirate once again, but first he says goodbye to Mabel, and asks that she wait for him. The ineffectual police are captured by the pirates, but appeal to the pirates’ sense of patriotism and charge them submit in the name of their Queen (i.e. Victoria), which they do. Mabel then rushes in announcing that all of the pirates are actually members of the House of Peers, and the Major General relents, allowing his daughters to marry the now-former pirates.

Needless to say, it’s all whole mess of silliness, and has some wonderfully fun songs.

THE PRODUCTION

Originally, it was written as a diversion for the upper classes during the Victorian Era, and was a not-so-subtle satire of English mores.  Our director, Sean wanted to make it more fun, frolicsome and contemporary, and trust me, this show is NOT for the Gilbert and Sullivan purists out there.  Instead of a full orchestra, our production has been rewritten for 6 guitars, a banjo, clarinet, accordion, ukulele, mandolin,  trumpet, accordion, harmonica, spoons and a washboard. These instruments are all played by the actors, IN SCENE and DURING action. It has the feel of a comically chic indie-folk band. The clothing is a wacky mish-mash of late 1950’s swimsuits, and bits of  multi-period styles, (i.e. The Major General’s nightclothes in act2 are an adult –sized footed pajama-set with military epaulettes and ribbons, finished of with plush ducky slippers).

The set is a strange abstraction-- consisting of a pier cutting diagonally across the open room sitting atop mis-matched beige carpet scraps (looking a bit like a sandbar) round picnic tables topped with kiddie pools rubberduckies, and drink coolers dotting the floor. One corner has a curtain, something like a ship sail, with DUTY in big red letters stenciled across it, and another corner with a HUGE pile (like 150) beachballs. The walls of the theatre are painted a deep blue-green, and the ceiling is strung with Christmas and boardwalk lights, and tiki torches.

One of the reviews last year referred to it a “warped parrot-headed resort”... I really kinda liked that description of it.

There are a few benches, and lawn chairs about, but it’s intended that the audience is ambulatory, and free to walk about the space so that they can watch the show as it unfolds all over the space. This type of show, often called a “promenade production”, forces the audience into interacting with the space and action in very direct ways than a normal show. The actors are staged all over the space throughout the show, and the audience learns quickly how to move about to NOT be in the spotlight.

Speaking of which, this is what’s called a REMOUNT. We did it last year about this time, and it was SO successful, that the company decided to bring it back again. They brought back most of the cast and the entire design team. The set, after the last production, was purposely put in storage, as were props, costumes and some lighting equipment, specifically for this purpose.

Think of it this way… it’s cheaper to produce this time, as rehearsal time doesn’t need to be as long,  and there isn’t as much of the direct outlay of funds, as per last time. It’s kinda like having a “redo”… we now get to change some of the things in staging and design that we didn’t have the time or funds to finish off properly last time. Also, it’s SUCH a fun group of people to work with, and it’s such a fun and lighthearted show. And its’ NOT yet another Christmas show.

We've made a few adjustments this time around... the "wall of beachballs" is bigger, and we're adding a tiki bar with coconut-bra-wearing bartenders in one corner of the room where fruity drinks will be sold during the show. It runs into January, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who needs a 90-minute summertime frolic of diversion during Chicago’s already chilly December.