I have spent some of today adding those photos and reviews to my Gallery (please click on that link to take you to my gallery) that I mentioned in my previous posting.
I have added a new album called Bench Productions of 2007. The Bench Productions of 2006 album has been re-organised so that it has three nested albums, one for His Dark Materials, one for Art and one for The Golden Pathway Annual.
His Dark Materials album now contains the News review, cast and crew lists, sponsors logo and some backstage photographs taken by Charlotte Self. These gave a taste of life in the Studio/Green Room/ Communal dressing for a cast of 35+ ( that is number of actors not their ages of course)
The morning was spent shopping at Waitrose with my best beloved as I try to get to grips with what looks like becoming my typical Friday morning for the foreseeable future. This is the weekly food shopping for ourselves and my mother-in-law. It will be delivered on Friday afternoons and Ingrid can then deliver her mother's shopping on her nightly visit.
Some time was also spent trying to get my head around the fact that I am not going back to work on Wednesday and that I will actually have time to complete some of the tasks I have itemised on Outlook.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Under the weather
I think I am going down with a cold. It has been an exciting end to my final term and at the same time I was appearing in the Bench Theatre's production of His Dark Materials. We did the whole thing, Parts One and Two, yesterday before spending an hour clearing up props and costumes, and beginning the dismantling of the set. I am hoping to have some photographs of the whole event, performances and rehearsals, for display on my Gallery. The after show party then took place with speeches, secret santa present distribution, eating, drinking and dancing in the Arts Centre bar and foyer. However I felt really out of it. The matinee performance which included the polar bear combat scene had taken it out of me and I felt so tired and drained as to be unsociable. At the earliest decent opportunity I left and went home for a hot chocolate and my bed.
This morning was putting the theatre to rights and I spent time with Kevin. Now Kevin is set designer and constructor for another non-professional theatre company called Dynamo who also operate out of the Havant Arts Centre. Dynamo works mainly with youngsters but certainly could teach the Bench one or two things about using the facilities at the Arts Centre to better advantage. They have also set up a rehearsal space for their next show Tommy in a church hall just across the road from the Arts Centre.
This has always been a dream of mine to win the lottery so the Bench can hire or build a space of their own with props cupboard and workshop, proper wardrobe space, a club room/studio and a rehearsal room of the same dimensions as the theatre so that the sets can be constructed as rehearsals progress. In true fantasy moments I dream of a whole new theatre based on the Electric Light Theatre at Guildford with a concert hall as well so we can bring the Havant Orchestras home.
My brother is flying down from Bradford today to join us for Christmas and Boxing Day. We have three days of festivities planned ahead with an invite to a meal on Thursday night. Then, of course, the weekend contains New Year's Eve. A week on Wednesday sees the arrival of the new Spring Term 2007 and I don't have to go back to school!
Let the holiday begin!
This morning was putting the theatre to rights and I spent time with Kevin. Now Kevin is set designer and constructor for another non-professional theatre company called Dynamo who also operate out of the Havant Arts Centre. Dynamo works mainly with youngsters but certainly could teach the Bench one or two things about using the facilities at the Arts Centre to better advantage. They have also set up a rehearsal space for their next show Tommy in a church hall just across the road from the Arts Centre.
This has always been a dream of mine to win the lottery so the Bench can hire or build a space of their own with props cupboard and workshop, proper wardrobe space, a club room/studio and a rehearsal room of the same dimensions as the theatre so that the sets can be constructed as rehearsals progress. In true fantasy moments I dream of a whole new theatre based on the Electric Light Theatre at Guildford with a concert hall as well so we can bring the Havant Orchestras home.
My brother is flying down from Bradford today to join us for Christmas and Boxing Day. We have three days of festivities planned ahead with an invite to a meal on Thursday night. Then, of course, the weekend contains New Year's Eve. A week on Wednesday sees the arrival of the new Spring Term 2007 and I don't have to go back to school!
Let the holiday begin!
Friday, December 22, 2006
The future of musical theatre
I might be harping at too much length on the generation gap as witnessed by yours truly backstage on His Dark Materials. However I have been able to exercise my love of the musical theatre vicariously through Charley and Robyn.
Both young girls are training at Chichester College of Technology and already planning how to get on the first rung of a professional acting career by applying to drama schools.
Charley plays Lyra and justifiably got a glowing review from the newspaper critic. She is lovely to be with on stage as she possesses real charisma and you feel she is acting just with you - a really rare quality! Anyway she is also looking for possible material for a end of year musical to be mounted by Chichester College. I have suggested The Baker's Wife, Songs for a New World and Urinetown. The first because it is a musical I love and really want to do myself. I think it could be done by a young college cast although it is aimed at an older age range but has a great score by Stephen Schwarz. The second piece is not a musical but a music review by Jason Robert Brown whose musical The Last Five Years a group of us saw earlier this year at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Sondheim is top favourite but Schwarz and Brown are also high on the list. The last musical is an unknown off-Broadway piece (hence the jokey title - say it aloud and you'll see what I mean) that I am unlikely to see except under the circumstances of a plucky College crew mounting it. I have just been listening to a real oldie but it might work for a college as well as it deals with virile young men playing baseball - Damn Yankees. ( A previous blog quoted from one of the songs and I would like it included at my funeral please!) Poor Charley is going to get Damn Yankees foisted on her this evening. (While searching through my CDS in research for this blog I came across The Rink by Kander and Ebb - so I am afraid Charley will have to be lumbered with that as well. This is another of those musicals we could do well at the Bench and I would especially like to hear Ingrid and Alice in the mother and daughter roles.)
Robyn appeared in last academic year's performance of Company at Chichester College. She sang Amy the night I saw it. I have asked her to sign my copy of the programme so that I can sell it on ebay when she is famous - sorry, treasure it as a memento! She is auditioning for drama schools at the moment and so I have lent her some anthology pieces for mezzo sopranos that I bought from my favourite musical store, the Dress Circle in Monmouth Street. (Wonderful times to be had there and especially the notices advertising little known shows or chamber musicals which I will have more time now to indulge before the funds run out!) Two of the pieces are from The Last Five Years so I was able to loan the CD to Robyn.
I am getting quite a kick out of all this musical theatre.
Did I review Avenue Q?
Both young girls are training at Chichester College of Technology and already planning how to get on the first rung of a professional acting career by applying to drama schools.
Charley plays Lyra and justifiably got a glowing review from the newspaper critic. She is lovely to be with on stage as she possesses real charisma and you feel she is acting just with you - a really rare quality! Anyway she is also looking for possible material for a end of year musical to be mounted by Chichester College. I have suggested The Baker's Wife, Songs for a New World and Urinetown. The first because it is a musical I love and really want to do myself. I think it could be done by a young college cast although it is aimed at an older age range but has a great score by Stephen Schwarz. The second piece is not a musical but a music review by Jason Robert Brown whose musical The Last Five Years a group of us saw earlier this year at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Sondheim is top favourite but Schwarz and Brown are also high on the list. The last musical is an unknown off-Broadway piece (hence the jokey title - say it aloud and you'll see what I mean) that I am unlikely to see except under the circumstances of a plucky College crew mounting it. I have just been listening to a real oldie but it might work for a college as well as it deals with virile young men playing baseball - Damn Yankees. ( A previous blog quoted from one of the songs and I would like it included at my funeral please!) Poor Charley is going to get Damn Yankees foisted on her this evening. (While searching through my CDS in research for this blog I came across The Rink by Kander and Ebb - so I am afraid Charley will have to be lumbered with that as well. This is another of those musicals we could do well at the Bench and I would especially like to hear Ingrid and Alice in the mother and daughter roles.)
Robyn appeared in last academic year's performance of Company at Chichester College. She sang Amy the night I saw it. I have asked her to sign my copy of the programme so that I can sell it on ebay when she is famous - sorry, treasure it as a memento! She is auditioning for drama schools at the moment and so I have lent her some anthology pieces for mezzo sopranos that I bought from my favourite musical store, the Dress Circle in Monmouth Street. (Wonderful times to be had there and especially the notices advertising little known shows or chamber musicals which I will have more time now to indulge before the funds run out!) Two of the pieces are from The Last Five Years so I was able to loan the CD to Robyn.
I am getting quite a kick out of all this musical theatre.
Did I review Avenue Q?
Self perception
Being surrounded by youth during performances backstage has its ups and downs as you can imagine. I am constantly having to avert my gaze as I find myself staring open mouthed at glamourous young women. It is like being a small child in a sweetshop. Theis production has made a happy man very old.
I will now quote at some length from George Saunders who writes a column entitled "American Psyche" for the Guardian on Saturdays. I hope I am not breaking any copyright in so doing as I hope I have stressed these are his words but I am so grateful to Mr Saunders for his pithy and timely comments.
In his article Mr Saunders refers to middle aged men but I suppose at almost sixty (a month off) I might even come under the heading of "elderly".
Just because we are unpleasant to behold, does this mean people should not be forced to look upon us (balding middle aged men of all natuions)? I declare a kind of Internationale of the type of men people tend to glance at, then look away from; men not revolting, just bland. We are your uncles, your fathers, we are what young men are afraid of becoming. Our looks speak of solidity, decent investments, early bedtimes, sensible shoes. When we speak to the young girl at the checkout, she glances around alarmed, wondering where that voice is coming from. When her eyes fall upon us, she is neither excited or repelled. It's as if she is looking upon the very air. We say something witty, she rolls her eyes. mutters something to the virile stockboy, who sniggers and then runs his hand through his (thick) days.
I will now quote at some length from George Saunders who writes a column entitled "American Psyche" for the Guardian on Saturdays. I hope I am not breaking any copyright in so doing as I hope I have stressed these are his words but I am so grateful to Mr Saunders for his pithy and timely comments.
In his article Mr Saunders refers to middle aged men but I suppose at almost sixty (a month off) I might even come under the heading of "elderly".
Just because we are unpleasant to behold, does this mean people should not be forced to look upon us (balding middle aged men of all natuions)? I declare a kind of Internationale of the type of men people tend to glance at, then look away from; men not revolting, just bland. We are your uncles, your fathers, we are what young men are afraid of becoming. Our looks speak of solidity, decent investments, early bedtimes, sensible shoes. When we speak to the young girl at the checkout, she glances around alarmed, wondering where that voice is coming from. When her eyes fall upon us, she is neither excited or repelled. It's as if she is looking upon the very air. We say something witty, she rolls her eyes. mutters something to the virile stockboy, who sniggers and then runs his hand through his (thick) days.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
His Dark Materials Both Parts in One Day
The day started at 1.45 p.m. with the call for Play One and finished at 10.45 or thereabouts after clearing the studio of costumes and props. There was a break of about an hour between performances for food and relaxation. It was a long day but at least as an actor you can move around backstage and you can chat in whispers with your friends. The audience on the other hand spend six hours in total following the story from a darkened auditorium unable to move from their seats.
With perhaps the exception of one or two of the cast, the actors never really know how something of this size and breadth is actually going - what effect it is having on an audience. If you're playing one of the great Shakesperian roles where you are on stage most of the time you have a pretty good feel as to how the audience is doing but not in a show like this.
My mother in law came to the first play and is returning on Wednesday for Play Two so she doesn't qualify as a six-hourer - someone who has sat through the six hours all in one go. On the other hand, my nephew, Mike, and his partner, Jenny T, did just that and stayed overnight at the Travelodge. Mike has worked with Questors in Ealing. Questors are among the elite of non-professional theatre. They have their own theatre and mount several productions per year ( I don't know the exact number but when I belonged to the Bradford Playhouse they did about 13 - 14 plays per year). The Questors have a studio theatre which is about the size of the Arts Centre but square rather than rectangular. The seating and staging is flexible but it can seat 80 - 100 people. The main Questor auditorium is a thrust on similar lines to Chichester Festival though not to the same scale. The Questor seats 375 which is a good size for non-professional theatre and must take some filling. If the Arts Centre had such a capacity, they could invite bigger touring companies. It has long been a dream of mine to win the lottery in order to build a new civic theatre in Havant with a studio and auditorium on the same lines as above but also a concert hall so that the Havant Orchestras could return home.
Mike and Jenny were both impressed by our production. Another member of the all day audience was Robin Hall. She directed "Art" the award winning production (Guide Awards 2006 as presented by the Portsmouth News). Her opinion can be read at one of the links to this blog - The Adventures of Archimedes - and makes me proud to be in this production. She also emailed me about my thoughts of only having walk ons in Play Two ( I am sorry but I am a theatrical tart!) and said words to the effect that it greatly added to her enjoyment when good actors kept popping up unexpectedly in small roles throughout the narrative. As I derive great enjoyment from Robin's enjoyment, "I will continue to give my all, dahlings" (said breathily with feeling).
The first night nerves were added to to for our leading lady, Charley, who plays Lyra, because she was feeling under the weather. So at the last three performances I have begun to perform one of those little theatrical superstitions that theatrefolk are rather prone to. After warm up and director's notes I enquire about Charley's health and will now after to continue to do so for each and every performance.
We sang "Happy Birthday" to Alice at yesterday's warm up for the matinee accompanied by a fanfare from the sound box. We will need to sing it again on Tuesday 19th for Charley as she reaches the grand old age of 19! (Steph, another cast member, is also celebrating her birthday the same day so how coincidental is that - not her 19th though, I think)
But as that fanfare sounds for Charley (and Steph) it will also sound for the end of my career as a teacher and the start of a new era!
With perhaps the exception of one or two of the cast, the actors never really know how something of this size and breadth is actually going - what effect it is having on an audience. If you're playing one of the great Shakesperian roles where you are on stage most of the time you have a pretty good feel as to how the audience is doing but not in a show like this.
My mother in law came to the first play and is returning on Wednesday for Play Two so she doesn't qualify as a six-hourer - someone who has sat through the six hours all in one go. On the other hand, my nephew, Mike, and his partner, Jenny T, did just that and stayed overnight at the Travelodge. Mike has worked with Questors in Ealing. Questors are among the elite of non-professional theatre. They have their own theatre and mount several productions per year ( I don't know the exact number but when I belonged to the Bradford Playhouse they did about 13 - 14 plays per year). The Questors have a studio theatre which is about the size of the Arts Centre but square rather than rectangular. The seating and staging is flexible but it can seat 80 - 100 people. The main Questor auditorium is a thrust on similar lines to Chichester Festival though not to the same scale. The Questor seats 375 which is a good size for non-professional theatre and must take some filling. If the Arts Centre had such a capacity, they could invite bigger touring companies. It has long been a dream of mine to win the lottery in order to build a new civic theatre in Havant with a studio and auditorium on the same lines as above but also a concert hall so that the Havant Orchestras could return home.
Mike and Jenny were both impressed by our production. Another member of the all day audience was Robin Hall. She directed "Art" the award winning production (Guide Awards 2006 as presented by the Portsmouth News). Her opinion can be read at one of the links to this blog - The Adventures of Archimedes - and makes me proud to be in this production. She also emailed me about my thoughts of only having walk ons in Play Two ( I am sorry but I am a theatrical tart!) and said words to the effect that it greatly added to her enjoyment when good actors kept popping up unexpectedly in small roles throughout the narrative. As I derive great enjoyment from Robin's enjoyment, "I will continue to give my all, dahlings" (said breathily with feeling).
The first night nerves were added to to for our leading lady, Charley, who plays Lyra, because she was feeling under the weather. So at the last three performances I have begun to perform one of those little theatrical superstitions that theatrefolk are rather prone to. After warm up and director's notes I enquire about Charley's health and will now after to continue to do so for each and every performance.
We sang "Happy Birthday" to Alice at yesterday's warm up for the matinee accompanied by a fanfare from the sound box. We will need to sing it again on Tuesday 19th for Charley as she reaches the grand old age of 19! (Steph, another cast member, is also celebrating her birthday the same day so how coincidental is that - not her 19th though, I think)
But as that fanfare sounds for Charley (and Steph) it will also sound for the end of my career as a teacher and the start of a new era!
Alice is 27
I don't know whether I am being ungallant in naming a lady's age but I am proud to say my younger daughter was 27 on the 16th. It all adds to the fact that I am 60 in January but it still comes as a surprise that the baby of our little family unit of four has reached her late twenties. That sounds less of a compliment to Alice than I expected but a sparkier and fun person to be with you couldn't wish to find. She never thinks so which is probably the key to her success but she is such good company and the conversation covers such a wide variety of subjects.
Her passion is films and combined with a talent with words (possessed since an early age) everyone who knows her says she should try her hand at film criticism. I know she is thinking of a masters and/or drama school but she could also consider the film reviewer as yet another of her options. She is a lovely actress with the ability to add detail and nuances to her characterisation that remind me somewhat of her mother and a good friend, Sally. The latter adds subtext like it is going out of business and has a speaking voice of great clarity and tone. Ingrid, Alice's mother, comes from an acting family and there must be something in the genes because you never get anything less than a fully rounded performance. Ingrid has great technique but the inspiration comes from somewhere within. I think Alice shares this quality too and both share incredible singing voices. All three of my girls have beautiful singing voices but Alice is perhaps the one we have encouraged most because she has power, strength and tone. She can also animate a song rather than just deliver it.
What other virtues can I extol? I gave her a rather skimpy compliment in reviewing Dude, Where's My Script? in an earlier post by describing her as " a funny lady whose sense of humour is infectious". Alice is a Fanny Brice as played by Fanny Brice not Barbra Streisand (although Alice can certainly render those anthems from " Funny Girl" well enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck). Alice is not very complimentary about herself and is prepared to play the lady wrestler who is now your waitress. She will adopt a physicality in her performance, that, added to her giggle and, on occasion, guffaw, make an audience roar with laughter. Her brain is sharp and her tongue witty enough to put in one liners during improvisational comedy that really sparkle and catch the ear. Mind you, that brain and that tongue can be used to devastating effect in real life if someone is unwise enough to think she is anyone's fall guy.
When I was young I was truly enamoured of the Viking books written by Henry Treece and one of the concepts I took with me into life was that of the shield ring. Men stood side by side in a circle. Your shield would protect the man on your left leaving your sword arm free, while the man on your right would be protecting you and the other side of the circle would protect your back. I have always chosen my friends with the shield ring in mind and I am pleased to say that we would make a compact and strong shield ring although some would be surprised to hear themselves described in the same category as a Viking warrior. I would definitely want my brother at my back though I would have to suffer dreadful ear bashing for getting us into such a ridiculous situation in the first place. I always thought of the shield ring as a masculine preserve but Alice is definitely a character you would want alongside you if you were in difficulty and she would strive mightily on your behalf. Like my brother, though, at the end of the problem or conflict, I think she would tell me off for being such a bloody fool and detail the reasons I qualify for such an epithet.
I love Alice but am a little awestruck. Being a father is not all it's cracked up to be and if you have feisty daughters it can be a lot tougher than you have a right to expect. But, as for being proud, well...don't get me started on that!
Her passion is films and combined with a talent with words (possessed since an early age) everyone who knows her says she should try her hand at film criticism. I know she is thinking of a masters and/or drama school but she could also consider the film reviewer as yet another of her options. She is a lovely actress with the ability to add detail and nuances to her characterisation that remind me somewhat of her mother and a good friend, Sally. The latter adds subtext like it is going out of business and has a speaking voice of great clarity and tone. Ingrid, Alice's mother, comes from an acting family and there must be something in the genes because you never get anything less than a fully rounded performance. Ingrid has great technique but the inspiration comes from somewhere within. I think Alice shares this quality too and both share incredible singing voices. All three of my girls have beautiful singing voices but Alice is perhaps the one we have encouraged most because she has power, strength and tone. She can also animate a song rather than just deliver it.
What other virtues can I extol? I gave her a rather skimpy compliment in reviewing Dude, Where's My Script? in an earlier post by describing her as " a funny lady whose sense of humour is infectious". Alice is a Fanny Brice as played by Fanny Brice not Barbra Streisand (although Alice can certainly render those anthems from " Funny Girl" well enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck). Alice is not very complimentary about herself and is prepared to play the lady wrestler who is now your waitress. She will adopt a physicality in her performance, that, added to her giggle and, on occasion, guffaw, make an audience roar with laughter. Her brain is sharp and her tongue witty enough to put in one liners during improvisational comedy that really sparkle and catch the ear. Mind you, that brain and that tongue can be used to devastating effect in real life if someone is unwise enough to think she is anyone's fall guy.
When I was young I was truly enamoured of the Viking books written by Henry Treece and one of the concepts I took with me into life was that of the shield ring. Men stood side by side in a circle. Your shield would protect the man on your left leaving your sword arm free, while the man on your right would be protecting you and the other side of the circle would protect your back. I have always chosen my friends with the shield ring in mind and I am pleased to say that we would make a compact and strong shield ring although some would be surprised to hear themselves described in the same category as a Viking warrior. I would definitely want my brother at my back though I would have to suffer dreadful ear bashing for getting us into such a ridiculous situation in the first place. I always thought of the shield ring as a masculine preserve but Alice is definitely a character you would want alongside you if you were in difficulty and she would strive mightily on your behalf. Like my brother, though, at the end of the problem or conflict, I think she would tell me off for being such a bloody fool and detail the reasons I qualify for such an epithet.
I love Alice but am a little awestruck. Being a father is not all it's cracked up to be and if you have feisty daughters it can be a lot tougher than you have a right to expect. But, as for being proud, well...don't get me started on that!
Saturday, December 16, 2006
His Dark Materials First Two Nights
You will be pleased to know, O stout hearted reader, that the bear exit has been resolved by none other than Damon himself, the director of His Dark Materials. This was the part of Play One that particularly concerned me but that may have been of course because it was outside my direct control. I have to admit to being a control freak and therefore to be in a situation of relying upon others to engineer my graceful and obviously tear jerking removal from stage was exacting to say the least. Damon's compromise, or inspired piece of directorial thought, was to have me hoisted to my feet by just two bears and then escorted offstage by a pack of bears presumably to be devoured offstage. I am therefore much obliged to Damon for the idea and to Liam and Phil the two bears doing the hoisting. It is surprising how helpless one feels dressed in a full polar bear outfit and polystyrene breast plate, unable to use one hand because it is clutching a bear's head and the other is encased in a glove and gauntlet too small and designed for the wrong hand. I tried really hard to tell the wardrobe mistress and her fellow costumiers that I had rehearsed scenes and stage fight holding the bear's head in my left hand. However when my costume arrived it had to be changed because it had been made presuming the bear's head was in my right hand. Having had the costume changed I found on dress rehearsal day that I had been provided with a gauntlet and glove that fitted in size but was intended for my left hand! How I soldier on under these intolerable circumstances I know not!
I felt the whole play (or at least those parts in which I am concerned) lifted last night. One of the reasons was Charley was in good health and finding subtleties and sparkles of humour that were missing on the first night due to her illness. Another was that we sorted out one or two of the hiatuses that slowed things down a bit on the first night - an example being the entry of the Oxford pedestrians. We spent a considerable amount of time, energy and effort on Thursday working out in the wings (such as they are at the arts Centre) when we should actually go on. As this all had to be conducted in mime in semi darkness it wasn't as successful as it otherwise might have been and led to a pause that gave Damon collywobbles.
At the end of the performance last night (Friday) the cast was ushered back on stage to meet our sponsors. This is an unusual occurrence for our company and some of us were more bashful than others. I held back a little because the seat of my trousers was damp and I couldn't work out why. I found out later that a lump of wet wipes used to remove black face make up had been carelessly thrown on my chair where I sit at the end of the show. I obviously don't know who the culprit was but the delightful Megan may have darker aspects to her nature than I first suspected. Anyway the sponsors were delightful and the two ladies were enthusiastic fans of the Pullman trilogy and seemed to have enjoyed our performance.
The reviewer from the Portsmouth News is coming to see Play Two this evening (Saturday), having seen Play One on the first night, and will then put a review of the whole thing in Monday's edition of the paper.
My nephew, Michael, is bringing his partner, Jenny T, to see both plays today and is staying overnight at a bed and breakfast. This means we will celebrate Alice's 27th birthday at the Dipak after the show and again tomorrow lunchtime at the Castle in Rowlands.
For those following my career as a film extra (and I have been amazed by the number of references to my blog - it must run into as many fingers as are on one hand- and they are not all family!) I can only say that so far it has failed to launch. I say "so far" in a self protective way as I think the failure to hear anything at all would in normal circumstances be considered a resounding and complete no-no. However the small optimist in me is hoping that once I am free of other commitments (trusting of course that some one has actually read my application letter and what is laughingly referred to as my CV) in January, someone somewhere might want to exploit my availability. Mind you, we have one Saturday already planned for "The Seafarer" at the Cottesloe (one spare ticket available if anyone is interested), a weekend for my birthday celebrations including "Don Juan in Soho" at the Donmar, a couple of days babysitting my firstborn after her dental operation and a couple of Wednesdays earmarked for London matinees plus several cinema visits to catch up on films missed so far. And Ingrid expects her tea cooked and on the table!
I felt the whole play (or at least those parts in which I am concerned) lifted last night. One of the reasons was Charley was in good health and finding subtleties and sparkles of humour that were missing on the first night due to her illness. Another was that we sorted out one or two of the hiatuses that slowed things down a bit on the first night - an example being the entry of the Oxford pedestrians. We spent a considerable amount of time, energy and effort on Thursday working out in the wings (such as they are at the arts Centre) when we should actually go on. As this all had to be conducted in mime in semi darkness it wasn't as successful as it otherwise might have been and led to a pause that gave Damon collywobbles.
At the end of the performance last night (Friday) the cast was ushered back on stage to meet our sponsors. This is an unusual occurrence for our company and some of us were more bashful than others. I held back a little because the seat of my trousers was damp and I couldn't work out why. I found out later that a lump of wet wipes used to remove black face make up had been carelessly thrown on my chair where I sit at the end of the show. I obviously don't know who the culprit was but the delightful Megan may have darker aspects to her nature than I first suspected. Anyway the sponsors were delightful and the two ladies were enthusiastic fans of the Pullman trilogy and seemed to have enjoyed our performance.
The reviewer from the Portsmouth News is coming to see Play Two this evening (Saturday), having seen Play One on the first night, and will then put a review of the whole thing in Monday's edition of the paper.
My nephew, Michael, is bringing his partner, Jenny T, to see both plays today and is staying overnight at a bed and breakfast. This means we will celebrate Alice's 27th birthday at the Dipak after the show and again tomorrow lunchtime at the Castle in Rowlands.
For those following my career as a film extra (and I have been amazed by the number of references to my blog - it must run into as many fingers as are on one hand- and they are not all family!) I can only say that so far it has failed to launch. I say "so far" in a self protective way as I think the failure to hear anything at all would in normal circumstances be considered a resounding and complete no-no. However the small optimist in me is hoping that once I am free of other commitments (trusting of course that some one has actually read my application letter and what is laughingly referred to as my CV) in January, someone somewhere might want to exploit my availability. Mind you, we have one Saturday already planned for "The Seafarer" at the Cottesloe (one spare ticket available if anyone is interested), a weekend for my birthday celebrations including "Don Juan in Soho" at the Donmar, a couple of days babysitting my firstborn after her dental operation and a couple of Wednesdays earmarked for London matinees plus several cinema visits to catch up on films missed so far. And Ingrid expects her tea cooked and on the table!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
His Dark Materials Part Two Dress Rehearsal
It is past 10.00 p.m. on Wednesday, the eve before His Dark Materials opens tomorrow with a full house it seems. I prefer to have a break on the Monday after the day long get in on the Sunday. There are two reasons for this: it enables the technical and backastage crew to complete their preparations before the actual dress rehearsals; and the dress rehearsals run straight into the performances. I find the Wednesday evening break intrusive usually but have enjoyed this evening though. I really felt out of it last night during the dress rehearsal for Part Two. This is mainly due to my contributions to Part Two being small and widely spaced. I appear as a cleric in the consistorial court in the first scene that opens Part Two. It is another hour before I appear for all of ten seconds as part of the Church Forces in a battle with Lord Asriel's troops. I quite enjoyed this as Neil and I had eventually got the hang of a punch that began our fight sequence. Well it did begin our fight sequence but was cut in a reworking of the scene after the Part One Dress rehearsal. Now I am reduced to coming on, grabbing Ingrid's elbows (she, naturally, is on the opposing side) before being chased off USR by Iorek the polar bear. This is more than a little anticlimactic after being dressed in uniform for an hour. After the interval for about another hour I have to wait to reappear as the Welsh Jeptha Jones (or at least I made him Welsh to keep my own interest up) and then I have a fairly quick change to become a ghost in the Land of the Dead sequence.
I don't want to overplay it but theatrically Part Two is not very absorbing for me and I quite envy the fact that Alice my younger daughter opted to be in the first play and not the second. Also I don't think Part Two is as good as Part One. I am much more interested in the characters of Lyra and Will (and Lyra's truly dysfunctional parents) than I am in the Republic of Heaven stuff (even though I am a republican rather than a royalist). Part Two reminds me of the swirling banners and alarums of a Shakesperian History Play as performed by the old RSC when I knew not and cared not on whose side Lord Whatever was fighting. Added to the fact that I was out of sorts yesterday and had work to do for school, the dress rehearsal was a very unsatisfying experience.
The out of sorts is because I was tired after the exertions of the Monday dress rehearsal - this is a very out of condition older man involved in strutting about the stage and doing quite elaborate stage fights - and because the manner of my departure at the end of the fight (to which I alluded in an earlier posting) was unsatisfactory. It is also tied up with the sense of dislocation from school and the catching up with paperwork as required by my Maths Manager was something of a final straw.
Megan was her usual delightful self and had brought camouflage cream for everyone to use for the Land of the Dead sequence. She also brought her lovely young daughter Sian who has the same striking eyes as her mother - very disconcerting. Sian has been a great help with Play Two during rehearsals and seems to have taken an interest in its performance as well. I kept stumbling over her - one scene operating the smoke machine under the set ( I think I heard her say "Shit!") and, on the exit from the Land of the Dead out of the back of the auditorium, I found her operating the spot and enquiring if I was the last one out.
During the Director's notes, I found I was being criticised by Sean who is the puppeteer for Lyra's daemon and the two "deaths" played by Megan and Charlotte. They couldn't get past me because I was filling too much space under the recess at the back of the set. This scene has a problem because if I stand in front of them to let them have space upstage of me (something I must admit I am reluctant to let any actor have at the best of times)I will be blocking them from downstage because I have nowhere else to go. But to hell with it I will get out of their way and I will also willing forego my chance to appear on top of the set as part of the protracted departure or exit scenes from the Land of the Dead.
I change back into my actor's black outfit for the curtain call because I don't feel I want to reappear as the ghost from the Land of the Dead having to hang around until the end and after the curtain call we have to empty the studio and move everything(props and costume) back into the theatre. For the Part One curtain call I also appear in actor's black because I don't want my contribution to Play One to be remembered for my American tourist. I like John Faa and I like playing the tyrant bear up until his dead body has to be removed.
Finally to round off this very rambling posting I would like to record my thanks to Sharman who insisted during the interval for Play Two on collecting together the bears involved in the fight sequence and the carrying off bit. She wouldn't let us go until we had worked out a more practicable way of removing me but it is quite scarey that we won't see if this really works until the first night.
I don't want to overplay it but theatrically Part Two is not very absorbing for me and I quite envy the fact that Alice my younger daughter opted to be in the first play and not the second. Also I don't think Part Two is as good as Part One. I am much more interested in the characters of Lyra and Will (and Lyra's truly dysfunctional parents) than I am in the Republic of Heaven stuff (even though I am a republican rather than a royalist). Part Two reminds me of the swirling banners and alarums of a Shakesperian History Play as performed by the old RSC when I knew not and cared not on whose side Lord Whatever was fighting. Added to the fact that I was out of sorts yesterday and had work to do for school, the dress rehearsal was a very unsatisfying experience.
The out of sorts is because I was tired after the exertions of the Monday dress rehearsal - this is a very out of condition older man involved in strutting about the stage and doing quite elaborate stage fights - and because the manner of my departure at the end of the fight (to which I alluded in an earlier posting) was unsatisfactory. It is also tied up with the sense of dislocation from school and the catching up with paperwork as required by my Maths Manager was something of a final straw.
Megan was her usual delightful self and had brought camouflage cream for everyone to use for the Land of the Dead sequence. She also brought her lovely young daughter Sian who has the same striking eyes as her mother - very disconcerting. Sian has been a great help with Play Two during rehearsals and seems to have taken an interest in its performance as well. I kept stumbling over her - one scene operating the smoke machine under the set ( I think I heard her say "Shit!") and, on the exit from the Land of the Dead out of the back of the auditorium, I found her operating the spot and enquiring if I was the last one out.
During the Director's notes, I found I was being criticised by Sean who is the puppeteer for Lyra's daemon and the two "deaths" played by Megan and Charlotte. They couldn't get past me because I was filling too much space under the recess at the back of the set. This scene has a problem because if I stand in front of them to let them have space upstage of me (something I must admit I am reluctant to let any actor have at the best of times)I will be blocking them from downstage because I have nowhere else to go. But to hell with it I will get out of their way and I will also willing forego my chance to appear on top of the set as part of the protracted departure or exit scenes from the Land of the Dead.
I change back into my actor's black outfit for the curtain call because I don't feel I want to reappear as the ghost from the Land of the Dead having to hang around until the end and after the curtain call we have to empty the studio and move everything(props and costume) back into the theatre. For the Part One curtain call I also appear in actor's black because I don't want my contribution to Play One to be remembered for my American tourist. I like John Faa and I like playing the tyrant bear up until his dead body has to be removed.
Finally to round off this very rambling posting I would like to record my thanks to Sharman who insisted during the interval for Play Two on collecting together the bears involved in the fight sequence and the carrying off bit. She wouldn't let us go until we had worked out a more practicable way of removing me but it is quite scarey that we won't see if this really works until the first night.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
His Dark Materials Part One Dress Rehearsal
I left work at 4.30 p.m. while a staff meeting was still in progress. I must have done that before, after all, I have been at the school for 21 years now. However it felt strange - part of the growing sense of dislocation- that bit by bit I no longer belong- that the future and the Spring Term 2007 are no longer part of my horizon.
I was twitching in anticipation to be at the theatre and to get through the dress rehearsal of Part One. His Dark Materials is divided into two parts, each of about three hours duration if you count the interval. We were scheduled to be in the theatre at 6.45 p.m. and BBC South Today were scheduled to record a short piece for their entertainments in the area programme at 7.00 p.m. Most of us were there in time with the exception of two of the lads who co-incidentally had spent last week in New York. I have heard of jet lag but this struck me as exceptional and I suspect punctuality is just not a strong point. (However, later, I spoke to PD and he was a victim of the train service from Petersfield. This service is unreliable and will get worse as Christmas approaches and PD doesn't have his own transport). The TV recording went without a hitch because we started about 7.35 p.m. Movement around the theatre was restricted by the fact that Humdrum Voices were giving a concert performance in the gallery. They had to time their interval to coincide with two noisy battle scenes of ours. From what I heard of the choir, their voices providing a very strange soundtrack to the events unfolding on stage, their harmonies and arrangements of Christmas Carols was wonderful. In other circumstances I would like to have listened more carefully.
The rehearsal took place without David, who plays Lord Asriel. I had been with David (and Pete W) on the Saturday as the two of them brought a bland set alive. Part of this process involved David coating himself with paint and smacking a cloth soaked in blue and black paint against the walls of the set. The piece de resistance was David on his hands and knees having poured large dollops of blue and black paint on the floor swirling his cloth/rag to create a floor scape. If he wasn't ill before, that might have tipped him over the edge. He wasn't himself at Sunday's technical but then David always operates with great reserve during these events as he saves energy for the performances. However he is usually a source of keen if quiet humour - he wasn't on Sunday. Personally I think having a snogging scene with a leading lady who has just been ill might have been the cause. Still I would still have snogged Sally even if she had the plague so I can understand David's dilemma. Anyway, I have known David for about thirty years and these have been filled with many a theatrical endeavour so his absence through illness is a remarkable event - I have never known it happen before.
David's voice and presence on stage was provided by Jasper, our producer, who has obviously watched lots of rehearsals as the inflexions and emphases were uncannily accurate. Perhaps Jasper has been secretly understudying David all this time - and out of the chorus line to become the star overnight - perhaps the wine was poisoned - oh the feverish theatrical imagings on dress rehearsal night.
My bits went okay. I remembered the winding up of the spy fly and the delivery of the tin to Iorek. I was a bit put out to find the tin and spy fly being trampled during the escape from Bolvangor and felt it was necessary to do a bit of rescuing of my own. The bear fight which ends in my onstage death wasn't secure - Marcus and I hadn't rehearsed beforehand - and Marcus tends to lollop if unsure - and six foot four of large man lolloping can be hard to steer into the correct areas of the stage for subsequent parts of a fight. Anyway my death has always been one of those promised areas of action needed. All the bears are hampered by having a head in one hand and a gloved claw on the other. The stage seems full of effing bears when I am trying to fight Marcus but when my inert and supposedly dead body is being removed, with the exception of Liam, it is the three smallest bears who seem to be trying to remove me. Someone asked if I could die offstage! We need to rethink this as an emergency before first night. I have an idea regarding a blanket and the DSR corner for the death if I can remind Marcus to bring on said blanket during his appearance in the scene and if I can move him physically during the final grapple DSR while having my heart ripped out of my chest for subsequent triumphant devouring.
I mentioned the delightful Megan yesterday ( and dear Lord I must stop ogling - it is enough to make a happy man very old - these communal dressing rooms are not good for me - or rather they are too good for me - oh well I bet you know what I mean - and heartily disapprove of me) and said I would mention Sparkly Jo today. She has just wedded Mrs Coulter's monkey and a nicer wittier monkey you couldn't hope to meet. They make a lovely and loving couple. I am really impressed by Jo's Brummie accent as the Mayor of Trollesund and by her comic timing for "Put that beast in chains"! I do hope some of my readers get the chance to see His Dark Materials but as seven out of the ten performances are already sold out the chances are getting slimmer (although the chances of my having any readers at all are pretty slim as it is). Pretty and slim brings me back to Sparkly Jo. She took me by surprise as one of the Harpies as I didn't recognise her at all and spent much of the scene thinking, "Who the f*** is that?" I suppose it might be because in real life Jo is the extreme opposite of a Harpie - she is one of those people who bring a smile and a warmth of personality with her into a room or a conversation - and everyone feels a little better for her presence.
Ah well, back to the day job - a Lower Key Stage 2 class for my sixth remaining day- but my mind will be wandering back to the stage and the very small parts I have in Part Two and how am I going to fill the three hours back in the dressing room. There's always marking homework of course (for the very last time)!
I was twitching in anticipation to be at the theatre and to get through the dress rehearsal of Part One. His Dark Materials is divided into two parts, each of about three hours duration if you count the interval. We were scheduled to be in the theatre at 6.45 p.m. and BBC South Today were scheduled to record a short piece for their entertainments in the area programme at 7.00 p.m. Most of us were there in time with the exception of two of the lads who co-incidentally had spent last week in New York. I have heard of jet lag but this struck me as exceptional and I suspect punctuality is just not a strong point. (However, later, I spoke to PD and he was a victim of the train service from Petersfield. This service is unreliable and will get worse as Christmas approaches and PD doesn't have his own transport). The TV recording went without a hitch because we started about 7.35 p.m. Movement around the theatre was restricted by the fact that Humdrum Voices were giving a concert performance in the gallery. They had to time their interval to coincide with two noisy battle scenes of ours. From what I heard of the choir, their voices providing a very strange soundtrack to the events unfolding on stage, their harmonies and arrangements of Christmas Carols was wonderful. In other circumstances I would like to have listened more carefully.
The rehearsal took place without David, who plays Lord Asriel. I had been with David (and Pete W) on the Saturday as the two of them brought a bland set alive. Part of this process involved David coating himself with paint and smacking a cloth soaked in blue and black paint against the walls of the set. The piece de resistance was David on his hands and knees having poured large dollops of blue and black paint on the floor swirling his cloth/rag to create a floor scape. If he wasn't ill before, that might have tipped him over the edge. He wasn't himself at Sunday's technical but then David always operates with great reserve during these events as he saves energy for the performances. However he is usually a source of keen if quiet humour - he wasn't on Sunday. Personally I think having a snogging scene with a leading lady who has just been ill might have been the cause. Still I would still have snogged Sally even if she had the plague so I can understand David's dilemma. Anyway, I have known David for about thirty years and these have been filled with many a theatrical endeavour so his absence through illness is a remarkable event - I have never known it happen before.
David's voice and presence on stage was provided by Jasper, our producer, who has obviously watched lots of rehearsals as the inflexions and emphases were uncannily accurate. Perhaps Jasper has been secretly understudying David all this time - and out of the chorus line to become the star overnight - perhaps the wine was poisoned - oh the feverish theatrical imagings on dress rehearsal night.
My bits went okay. I remembered the winding up of the spy fly and the delivery of the tin to Iorek. I was a bit put out to find the tin and spy fly being trampled during the escape from Bolvangor and felt it was necessary to do a bit of rescuing of my own. The bear fight which ends in my onstage death wasn't secure - Marcus and I hadn't rehearsed beforehand - and Marcus tends to lollop if unsure - and six foot four of large man lolloping can be hard to steer into the correct areas of the stage for subsequent parts of a fight. Anyway my death has always been one of those promised areas of action needed. All the bears are hampered by having a head in one hand and a gloved claw on the other. The stage seems full of effing bears when I am trying to fight Marcus but when my inert and supposedly dead body is being removed, with the exception of Liam, it is the three smallest bears who seem to be trying to remove me. Someone asked if I could die offstage! We need to rethink this as an emergency before first night. I have an idea regarding a blanket and the DSR corner for the death if I can remind Marcus to bring on said blanket during his appearance in the scene and if I can move him physically during the final grapple DSR while having my heart ripped out of my chest for subsequent triumphant devouring.
I mentioned the delightful Megan yesterday ( and dear Lord I must stop ogling - it is enough to make a happy man very old - these communal dressing rooms are not good for me - or rather they are too good for me - oh well I bet you know what I mean - and heartily disapprove of me) and said I would mention Sparkly Jo today. She has just wedded Mrs Coulter's monkey and a nicer wittier monkey you couldn't hope to meet. They make a lovely and loving couple. I am really impressed by Jo's Brummie accent as the Mayor of Trollesund and by her comic timing for "Put that beast in chains"! I do hope some of my readers get the chance to see His Dark Materials but as seven out of the ten performances are already sold out the chances are getting slimmer (although the chances of my having any readers at all are pretty slim as it is). Pretty and slim brings me back to Sparkly Jo. She took me by surprise as one of the Harpies as I didn't recognise her at all and spent much of the scene thinking, "Who the f*** is that?" I suppose it might be because in real life Jo is the extreme opposite of a Harpie - she is one of those people who bring a smile and a warmth of personality with her into a room or a conversation - and everyone feels a little better for her presence.
Ah well, back to the day job - a Lower Key Stage 2 class for my sixth remaining day- but my mind will be wandering back to the stage and the very small parts I have in Part Two and how am I going to fill the three hours back in the dressing room. There's always marking homework of course (for the very last time)!
Monday, December 11, 2006
His Dark Materials Technical
I love days like yesterday. We started at 1000 and worked through to about 2000. We managed to run with costumes and effects both plays of this mammoth adventure. I am impressed once again by the sheer scale of the endeavour and the quality being produced at this stage. Usually these days can become a litany of what might have been but instead theatrical moments are being created constantly and should become one seamless tapestry by first night. Play One sees my greatest involvement as John Faa, Lord of the Western Gyptians. I had been worried about my costume. I spent most of Saturday looking for hats. I now have a selection of five or six that could be usable. However I settled for a sleek grey furred Russian looking ear flapped number that works for me. My ensemble is completed by the essential pair of calf length boots provided by the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton. In between I have a black leather coat, black leather belt, a neck piece that turns my black tee- shirt into a polo neck, a bandolier to which I have attached my daemon and my hammer is tucked into my belt.
There was one minor disaster for me. Charley (who I admire greatly and plays Lyra) had entrusted me with a piece of backstage technicality involving the spy fly and a tin. This involved winding up said spy fly and delivering it and tin into the hands of Iorek. Unfortunately I had a CRAFT moment ("can't remember a f****** thing") and missed my chance. This was mainly due to being too concerned to watch the scene when Lyra meets Iorek for the first time instead of winding spy fly. I did help with directing this scene and so have a proprietorial interest - Charley is great and Marcus is growing steadily into the part of the bear! To compound matters I then stationed myself far too early at the back of the auditorium for my next appearance and forgot to give Marcus the tin (I even passed him backstage but my memory was unstirred). The backstage crew had to come to rescue the tin from my inept hands. Charley graciously forgave me in the interval but oh dear these senior moments!
In the second half of Part One I play the King Bear killed by Iorek, Lyra's companion and friend. THe scene seemed to go well until the disposal of my dead body at the end. We had talked about it on a number of occasions but had never tried it mechanically. Being bodily removed by three one handed bears (the other hand holds the bear's head) was undignified, largely ineffectual and hilarious. We will have to rethink this!
I wore my contact lenses but found my right eye was irritated and so was greatly relieved to be able to change back into my spectacles for the afternoon.
In Part Two I appear as a non speaking cleric in the first scene and then as a fighting soldier in the Church Forces just before the interval. I have then a long wait after the interval before I appear as the Welsh Jeptha Jones - quick change- before appearing for the last time as a ghost in Land of the Dead sequence. I have a long time doing nothing in Part Two, other than annoying my companion actors especially the delightful Megan.
There was one minor disaster for me. Charley (who I admire greatly and plays Lyra) had entrusted me with a piece of backstage technicality involving the spy fly and a tin. This involved winding up said spy fly and delivering it and tin into the hands of Iorek. Unfortunately I had a CRAFT moment ("can't remember a f****** thing") and missed my chance. This was mainly due to being too concerned to watch the scene when Lyra meets Iorek for the first time instead of winding spy fly. I did help with directing this scene and so have a proprietorial interest - Charley is great and Marcus is growing steadily into the part of the bear! To compound matters I then stationed myself far too early at the back of the auditorium for my next appearance and forgot to give Marcus the tin (I even passed him backstage but my memory was unstirred). The backstage crew had to come to rescue the tin from my inept hands. Charley graciously forgave me in the interval but oh dear these senior moments!
In the second half of Part One I play the King Bear killed by Iorek, Lyra's companion and friend. THe scene seemed to go well until the disposal of my dead body at the end. We had talked about it on a number of occasions but had never tried it mechanically. Being bodily removed by three one handed bears (the other hand holds the bear's head) was undignified, largely ineffectual and hilarious. We will have to rethink this!
I wore my contact lenses but found my right eye was irritated and so was greatly relieved to be able to change back into my spectacles for the afternoon.
In Part Two I appear as a non speaking cleric in the first scene and then as a fighting soldier in the Church Forces just before the interval. I have then a long wait after the interval before I appear as the Welsh Jeptha Jones - quick change- before appearing for the last time as a ghost in Land of the Dead sequence. I have a long time doing nothing in Part Two, other than annoying my companion actors especially the delightful Megan.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Last Seven Days
I wished to record the fact that I have seven working days left as a teacher. On the 19th December I finish school for good. On January 24th I am 60 and therefore officially retired as a teacher.
A friend sent me the following quote about retirement.
Retirement is when you wake up in the morning with nothing to do, and when you go to bed at night you've only half done it!
I am seriously seeking a musical theatre director in the Portsmouth and West Sussex area interested in chamber musicals. I know a director and a theatre company with a small venue who would love to work with someone matching this description.
His Dark Materials has almost reached the performance stage. Today is the first of the technical and dress rehearsals.
A friend sent me the following quote about retirement.
Retirement is when you wake up in the morning with nothing to do, and when you go to bed at night you've only half done it!
I am seriously seeking a musical theatre director in the Portsmouth and West Sussex area interested in chamber musicals. I know a director and a theatre company with a small venue who would love to work with someone matching this description.
His Dark Materials has almost reached the performance stage. Today is the first of the technical and dress rehearsals.
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