April 11, 2011

It's been a while . . . Boston Marriage closed over a week ago, so I guess it's time to put up some photos from the production. Here goes -

Anna and Claire imagining "Susan" baking a pie

Anna tells Claire she's romanticizing the mating instinct

Anna thinks Catherine should go home to Ireland

Catherine demonstrating a carnal balance posture

Claire standing vigil for her lost love

Anna fears being rebuked or arrested

Catherine with a particularly unhelpful observation

So the period of working with these wonderful actors has ended, but next week begins work on another play, with more wonderful actors.

Big announcement. Jim Handy (for a variety of reasons beyond his control) won't be able to come to Shaker Bridge to do our scheduled production of The Drawer Boy.  The last several weeks have been a crazy and frenetic re-shuffling. I've decided to do a production of Sarah Ruhl's wonderful play, Dead Man's Cell Phone. It is both funnier and more touching than you can imagine. The two leads will be played by a couple of actors I cast in New York a few weeks ago, and the others in the production will be familiar to much of our audience.

Here's the scoop on the play: Jean spends her free-time reading at coffeehouses whilst the world hums and haws around her.  One day, however, while engrossed in a book, a man next to her refuses to answer his cellphone.  After repeatedly admonishing the man to answer his phone, Jean ventures over to his table, and discovers the stunning reason why the phone was not answered – the man is dead.  As this morbid realization overtakes her, the cellphone again begins to ring; Jean answers it.  So starts the beginning of Jean’s madcap, surreal and at times frustrating journey as created by playwright Sarah Ruhl  – a journey that steamrolls Jean from a dinner with the family of the dead guy (Gordon), a tryst with Gordon’s brother Dwight, separate outings with Gordon’s wife and mistress, a zany afterlife detour, and culminating with a tumultuous rendezvous with underworld dealers of body-organ smuggling.  Whew!


Jean will be played by Jenny Strassburg:

and Gordon (and his brother Dwight!) will feature Alex Dittmer:

The rest of the cast will feature Robin Ng as Gordon's mother, Jeannie Hines as his wife and Caitlin Glasgo as "the other woman." We're all excited to get going on this one, and you'll be able to begin watching the fruits of our labor on May 6, when the production opens. 


Here we go! See you soon,
Bill

Boston Marriage - the review

Yesterday the Valley News published their review of our production. I'm embarrassed for them. I wrote a response, but couldn't decide if I wanted to post it. I thought I'd give myself a full day to cool down and reflect. I'm cool and reflective and posting my response.

* * * * * 

A review of Boston Marriage was in the paper this morning, and it’s a positive one. Positive, but moronic. It reads like a high school book report, whose author has simply ripped off most of it from wikipedia. It’s a “snapshot of the lives of three women.” That is, among other things, a totally meaningless statement. But that pales in comparison to the assertion that the play is about a lesbian relationship. Sure, in the same way that Hamlet is “about” the divine right of kings or Long Day’s Journey is “about” drug use. Please. Next time, Valley News, send someone who has actually graduated from high school.

Almost all of the review (and I use the term very loosely) is a plot synopsis. Thanks for giving away the dramatically surprising elements that we want the audience to discover for themselves. Perhaps it’s a good way to fill up a column when one has nothing either original or perceptive to say. 

“Catherine . . . provides a bit of comic relief.” Comic relief from what, the constant eruptions of laughter coming from the audience? Anyone who uses the term “comic relief” in a review is holding up a flag that says “I may not know anything about the theatre, but I read a play once in high school English class.” 

I’m still trying to figure out why it’s important to point out that this play was written in the “pre 9/11 age.” Is it because female relationships were so extraordinary way back then? My God, that was twelve years ago! He should have read the program. “Today, a story about a love affair between two women seems almost quaint.” What? So a story about heterosexual relationships would be what - prehistoric? What’s your point?

The fact that he spends one entire sentence talking about the remarkable actors in this production, and does so with the perception of someone who once saw an elementary school Christmas production, is of little consequence. Because he does point out that the play has a “subtext.” Let me point out something that may be of use in any further theatre criticism that you do (God help us) - all plays have “subtext.”  And then I’m still trying to figure out what he means by calling the production “sparse.” He never explains it, and so since it’s an apparently trivial observation I’ll ignore it.

I know I can’t ask for someone with the requisite knowledge of theatre, of acting, of human interaction and the nature of story-telling - but I would like to ask for someone who has been to a play before.

I hope you’ll all be able to see this wonderful production. The acting is amazing and the script is simply a work of genius.

BOSTON MARRIAGE is open

It's been a while since I posted anything here. (I've been kind of busy getting this show up.)  But we're open now, and the audiences are blown away by the show. I've been hearing things like "best acting I've ever seen in this area" and "my cheeks hurt from laughing." People are really impressed and moved by the work these three women are doing, but no one is more impressed with them than I am. It has been an absolute joy to create this wonderful thing with them.

Caitlin, Brandy, Alexis during rehearsal

Weekend work - gold and black lacquer

Finished set

We're going into the second weekend of performances, and I'll post some production shots soon.

And I'll have another thing to post - an announcement is coming.

- Bill

Boston Marriage has begun!

We're now underway, rehearsing this wonderful play. Working with three very talented women every day is a joy in so many ways. We find ourselves reveling in the unbounded wit, feasting on the glorious language, finding out what makes these characters do what they do. It is a thrilling challenge.

Alexis Black and Brandy Zarle

Caitlin Glasgo

Tomorrow we start drilling into Act Two . . . lots of things to discover. Four of us who can't wait to get to work.

- Bill

Here comes Boston Marriage

Things are getting geared up for Boston Marriage, which opens on March 18. The newsflash is that we are going to change the curtain time. It has been, for last last 18 productions, at the New York curtain time - 8:00 pm. But now, we're going to have an Upper Valley curtain time - 7:30 pm. You'll have to get dinner a little earlier, I guess. But then, you'll get home earlier. Unless you can find somewhere to have dinner after the show, which I've always felt was a lot more fun. Admittedly, it's easier to find a place to eat in New York after a show. (I absolutely love "44 & X" for a late dinner and post-show conversation.) Sunday matinees will also start a half-hour earlier - now at 2:30.

Next week I meet the cast in New York to work on costuming. The play takes place in the first decade of the 20th century, so we'll be looking for dresses from 1900-1910. The Costume Collection on 26th Street has a huge collection, so it will probably take us quite a while. This is a collection whose costumes have all been donated by Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, and by studios that have filmed in New York. The quality of the costumes is really wonderful, but since they were built as costumes rather than off-the-rack clothing, none of them have sizes! So we'll be running from hanging pipes to dressmaker dummies, to dressing rooms, and back to the pipes. If we can get all of this done in one day, it will be a miracle.



Rehearsals will begin on Monday the 28th, and here are the wonderful people that I'll be working with:

Brandy Zarle (Anna)

Alexis Black (Claire)

Caitlin Glasgo (Catherine)

So my dilemma consists of hanging out with three exceptionally talented and beautiful women every day. Yeah, it's a dirty job, but someone . . .

- talk to you soon, Bill

wrapping up Mauritius

It was a great final weekend for Mauritius, with enthusiastic audiences. Now a lot of people will recognize the name Theresa Rebeck and they'll want to see more of her work. Here are some photos from the production.

Wanna know about that trick with the plastic bag and duct tape?

No-nonsense negotiator

Dennis reveals the big "reveal" to Jackie

She wouldn't! She would! She wouldn't! She would!

No more negotiation . . . 

Phil is too busy to care

Sterling warns Dennis he's on a highwire over an abyss of bullshit.

And now people will also recognize the names of the actors in this production, and will be eager to see them again.  Stay tuned, because I am eager to work with them again. I can promise you that you'll see some (if not all) of them in one of next season's shows.

The set is gone and we're on to rehearsals for Boston Marriage. Next week I'll be in New York to meet with two of the actors for the production. 

Here we go!!

- Bill

Mauritius

Thanks to everyone who has had such great things to say about our production. We have two more weekends of performances remaining, and we're hoping we'll see full houses! Here's a picture of Dennis (Richard Crowley) trying to talk Jackie (Christine Titus) into the deal. 

More pictures to come.