In case you were all trying to tune in to the regularly scheduled programming this past week, our programming was on a week hiatus on account of the major sportsketball thingy-maggig that was taking over all of the major networks. Okay, so maybe not, but this past week ate up all of my time as I was working on the first of NYSAF's Readings Festivals. That whole week of prep was most definitely useful as we were able to hit the ground running after a long weekend.
Just a brief, personal update for those of you that might be unaware. Minutes after completing my last blog posting, I found out that one of my grandmothers was suffering a massive heart attack and had to be rushed to the hospital. This was especially hard since I'm over 700 miles away and the whole night, could not do anything to help my family through that tough time. Sadly, we lost my grandmother early the next morning. Thankfully, my sister, Molly and I had just been up there two weeks previously and got to spend the day with her and our grandfather. Strangely enough, I had some sort of feeling, deep down, that that may very well be the last time I would see one of them. I am grateful to have my last memories of her be happy ones, sitting around talking, and telling her about the exciting summer I was bound to have. I know that now I have one huge supporter watching over me as I continue forward, since that's all we can do while we are on this earth; "the main thing is to keep on living, keep on caring about what's GOING to happen." If you can figure out what show that poignant quote is from, I'll give you a figurative gold star ;)
As the weekend wrapped up, we went into final preparations for our first readings festival. As I may have mentioned earlier, this is a play festival dedicated to showcasing the work of playwrights and composers/lyricists as they are working on developing their shows to have a life beyond the page. All of these shows are in the early stages of development; some have their sights on Broadway, some have their sights on additional readings or workshops. The main point is that NYSAF is that during that week, all of us at NYSAF are dedicated to making the experience a fruitful one for the playwrights; it's all about them.
Because we produce five shows over the course of one week, we as a company have the opportunity to also go and support the other new works that are being created. I was lucky enough to be able to go and see 15 Minutes, a new musical about Studio 54 that has its eyes set on Broadway. I am beyond excited to see the life that not only that show has, but all of the shows that we produce over the summer.
For my reading, I had the great honor of working with two wonderful women who are beginning to make their mark in the world of the theatre: Stella Powell-Jones (granddaughter of playwright Harold Pinter) and Clare Barron. If you'll recall, the title of my play was a boy put this girl in a cage with a dog and the dog killed the girl. In case you were all wondering, the play was not JUST about that. Rather, the events laid out in the title serve as the catalyst for change in the lives of a group of twenty-somethings as they try to navigate their way through the various stages of life. No, we did not use a real dog in the show. Rather, the dog was portrayed by an older actress, whose actions and presence loom over the characters in the context of the show.
In all my years that I have been in the theatre thus far, I have only worked on pre-existing shows, ranging from musicals to adaptations of beloved children's tales. This was my first experience working on a new piece of work and it is an experience that I will not soon forget. I feel that I got the luck of the draw with my cast: everyone was so collaborative and supportive of not only each other, but the work itself. We instantly formed our own mini company, particularly after we all went out to dinner our first night working together. Something that one does not expect to occur when you are only working with a group of people for six days.
In those rehearsals. I learned not about the logistics of working on a new piece of theater from a stage management side (printing and compiling script edits everyday and going through the proper chains of command in order to distribute paperwork and schedules as well as other various duties) but also just how much brain power goes into the writing of a new play. I loved getting the opportunity to watch our playwright analyze the words of the play as she heard them for the first time. It helped me to see just how much of an art actually creating and writing a play is.
Rehearsals were pretty basic; we sat around a table everyday reading the script and analyzing the characters and trying to figure out the kinks. Sometimes we would work from completely new pages and other times, we would go back to previous drafts of the play that Clare had written. All of this was spear-headed by our wonderful director, Stella, who was the perfect mix of fun and focused that I enjoy in a director; she could joke with us, but knew how to steer the ship when she needed to. As for me, not only did I serve as the SM on the production, but I also acted as our Stage Directions Reader for both rehearsals and performances. This simply means that because we were not doing a fully realized production, I would read Clare's stage directions to help the audience paint the picture of what was going on visually in the play. All of these rehearsals and developments culminate in a reading at the end of the week which is presented in front of an audience. Despite the fact that we were the last reading to perform, we had a very responsive and attentive audience which made Clare and Stella absolutely ecstatic.
At the end of the performance, as Clare and Stella were departing, both of them told me how much they enjoyed working with me and commended me on my professionalism and that they were more than happy to help me out in any way they can in the future, which means a lot to me as I continue to move forward in my Stage Management career. (I really only included that tidbit so that my parents have something to brag about to their friends).
There were many artists working with us this past week: Michael C. Hall, Lena Hall, Finn Wittrock, Peter Yanowitz, Stephen Trask, and many more, all of whom we barbecued with mid-week in an effort to bring us all closer together and instill that company mentality. I couldn't believe some of the people I was able to share burgers and beer with. It all seems surreal, even after a week. It just makes me even more grateful to be here, getting to connect and network with so many reputable people.
As we all know, there is no rest for the weary. All during readings week, I was also doing prepwork for my next project, Rain, by Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson. We began rehearsals for that today and are off to a great start. I can't wait to share more about this new, beautiful show within the coming days. Until next time!
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Friday, June 19, 2015
"Too Darn Hot"
Most people on a Friday night, decide to go out on the town and try to be the life of the party. Given the fact that I am regularly a raging party animal, I decided that, tonight, I would take some time to fill you all in on the past couple of days here at NYSAF. As you might have guessed from my blog post, it has been hotter than Satan's kitchen up here the past couple of days. For people in normal living conditions, they are able to retreat into the comfort of their abode and relax in the nice, cool breeze of the AC. Here, this is not the case. We have the great luxury of staying in one of the few places on campus that does not have air conditioning. Normally, this problem is solved by the purchase of a fan, which, yours truly made. However, upon buying the fan, I found out that it was defective, so I needed to return it; not necessarily a task of convenience when you are an intern without a car. So, when it has been rainy for three of the past five days and you are without a fan the air becomes somewhat thick and unbearable, especially, when you have to make multiple treks across Vassar's vast campus grounds. These treks are made somewhat bearable by the presence of the groundhogs that inhabit the campus.
As the SM interns, we have the unenviable task of doing a bunch of presswork for the productions that are to come this summer. This includes anything from organizing office supplies for each of the individual rehearsal rooms, to setting up the call board (a place for company members to know the goings on for each show that is rehearsing) to putting together first aid kits, to setting up green room areas for the companies of each show. For those of you that don't know, green rooms are places for company members to go and relax and partake in coffee and tea and various other things during breaks in the rehearsal process. There are certain standards that are required by the AEA (more on that in a minute) in terms of what is in the green rooms and what supplies are required, etc.
As a company, NYSAF has put together a packet of requirements for each rehearsal room that is based upon AEA's standards. Our ultimate task this week was to knock off each of the items on the checklist so that we are ready to go when we dive in head-first with the first readings festival this upcoming Tuesday. Two of the five SM interns are already in rehearsal for shows so the remaining three of us began to work through the list. Each day, we would report to our supervisor and see which of the things on the master list he wanted us to get done. Usually, we would check in with him two or three times a day. Tuesday and Wednesday, we cranked through a huge chunk on that list, so he sent us over to help Company Management turn over 10 apartments for the artists and designers that will be arriving early next week.
In the theatrical world, Company Management is the branch of the company that is responsible for the hospitality side of things. They make sure that the apartments are all in functioning and livable conditions, take company members on grocery runs, organize company activities, etc. Basically, they make sure that everyone is happy in their life outside of their working environment. Yesterday, we three SM interns helped the CoMan Interns with their changeover so we swept, wiped, mopped, and organized the various apartments that would be housing the artists. It was a long and tiring day, but for a day that was slightly muggy, it was nice to be working in units that HAD air conditioning.
Today, we returned to our generic SM tasks which we, once again, accomplished in a very timely manner, so our supervisor sent the three of us home early, which allowed us a little time to explore. Earlier in the week, we three interns went to the campus library to check things out (get it?) The library itself is similar to the Great Hall in the Harry Potter series. I'm pretty sure they even shot on location there...just kidding. FOOLED YA! Anyway, we went to check out some books so that we might remain cultured and educated, but because we are only allowed access to certain campus amenities, we were unable to check out books. So, we decided that today we would head to the public library and sign up for cards.
After that, one of the other interns and I were contemplating about going to the gym or getting groceries, so we decided to kill to birds with one stone and go on a literal grocery run. We changed into running gear and grabbed our backpacks and ran from our apartments to the grocery store. In case those of you were concerned about me being able to return that defective fan, don't worry, I did, and am now enjoying the comfort of a very nice fan as I type this blog. We then went to the lovely Dollar Tree as well as the local Stop and Shop Grocery store and then walked back home with our goods in hand.
In my last post, I had told you that I would let you all know about some of the cool people that I will be getting to work with this summer. Well, literally the next day, our press release went out to all of the big Broadway news outlets highlighting our summer talent. Some of the people that will be gracing us with their presence for this first half of the summer are are Michael C. Hall from Dexter, Tony® Award-Winning Lena Hall from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Tony® Award-Nominee Condola Rashad (Phylicia Rashad's daughter), Carmen Cusack, who has played Elphaba in Wicked all over the world, as well as Jason Danieley, most recently of The Visit with Chita Rivera, Derek Klena from Wicked and The Bridges of Madison County, and Finn Wittrock from American Horror Story: Freak Show. I also found out that the director that I will be serving as SM for on boy/girl/cage/dog is the granddaughter of the famous playwright, Harold Pinter. The world keeps getting smaller, ladies and gentlemen.
I also mentioned earlier in the post something about AEA. In case you are still burning with curiosity as to what that stands for, it is an acronym for the Actors Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers. The organization was founded in 1913 and is currently run by Broadway veteran and former Miss America, Kate Shindle. The organization provides the guidelines for various theatre across the country ranging from every show on broadway, to theatres all the way out in California. It helps to maintain professional and ideal working conditions for theatre artists as they continue to hone their craft and also provide adequate pay scales depending on the level of the theatre and the contract that is utilized by that theatre. The various contracts are typically determined by the location of the theatre and the maximum seating capacity of the performing house. You're probably wondering "what does all of this useless information mean"? Well, I'll tell you! After some more useless information...
The most common way for one to join the union is to obtain work at a professional, Equity affiliated theatre and then they can enroll in the Equity Membership Candidacy Program (EMC). Once enrolled, applicants have to accrue 50 weeks of work which is kept track through a point system; one point for every one week of work. Anyway, I found out earlier this week that as SM interns, we have the opportunity to begin the EMC enrollment process, so I have elected to do so. That way, I will be one step closer to being able to work not only in NYC and on Broadway, but also to work with many prestigious companies across the country.
I know I said that the posts would start to get shorter and not as detailed oriented but what can I say? I'm a Stage Manager. Details are my strong suit. That being said, I am going to wrap-up for the day and try to unwind some more before heading to bed. Thanks again for reading! Until next time!
Just some of the many groundhogs on campus.
As the SM interns, we have the unenviable task of doing a bunch of presswork for the productions that are to come this summer. This includes anything from organizing office supplies for each of the individual rehearsal rooms, to setting up the call board (a place for company members to know the goings on for each show that is rehearsing) to putting together first aid kits, to setting up green room areas for the companies of each show. For those of you that don't know, green rooms are places for company members to go and relax and partake in coffee and tea and various other things during breaks in the rehearsal process. There are certain standards that are required by the AEA (more on that in a minute) in terms of what is in the green rooms and what supplies are required, etc.
As a company, NYSAF has put together a packet of requirements for each rehearsal room that is based upon AEA's standards. Our ultimate task this week was to knock off each of the items on the checklist so that we are ready to go when we dive in head-first with the first readings festival this upcoming Tuesday. Two of the five SM interns are already in rehearsal for shows so the remaining three of us began to work through the list. Each day, we would report to our supervisor and see which of the things on the master list he wanted us to get done. Usually, we would check in with him two or three times a day. Tuesday and Wednesday, we cranked through a huge chunk on that list, so he sent us over to help Company Management turn over 10 apartments for the artists and designers that will be arriving early next week.
In the theatrical world, Company Management is the branch of the company that is responsible for the hospitality side of things. They make sure that the apartments are all in functioning and livable conditions, take company members on grocery runs, organize company activities, etc. Basically, they make sure that everyone is happy in their life outside of their working environment. Yesterday, we three SM interns helped the CoMan Interns with their changeover so we swept, wiped, mopped, and organized the various apartments that would be housing the artists. It was a long and tiring day, but for a day that was slightly muggy, it was nice to be working in units that HAD air conditioning.
Hogwarts...er....I mean the library...
Today, we returned to our generic SM tasks which we, once again, accomplished in a very timely manner, so our supervisor sent the three of us home early, which allowed us a little time to explore. Earlier in the week, we three interns went to the campus library to check things out (get it?) The library itself is similar to the Great Hall in the Harry Potter series. I'm pretty sure they even shot on location there...just kidding. FOOLED YA! Anyway, we went to check out some books so that we might remain cultured and educated, but because we are only allowed access to certain campus amenities, we were unable to check out books. So, we decided that today we would head to the public library and sign up for cards.
After that, one of the other interns and I were contemplating about going to the gym or getting groceries, so we decided to kill to birds with one stone and go on a literal grocery run. We changed into running gear and grabbed our backpacks and ran from our apartments to the grocery store. In case those of you were concerned about me being able to return that defective fan, don't worry, I did, and am now enjoying the comfort of a very nice fan as I type this blog. We then went to the lovely Dollar Tree as well as the local Stop and Shop Grocery store and then walked back home with our goods in hand.
In my last post, I had told you that I would let you all know about some of the cool people that I will be getting to work with this summer. Well, literally the next day, our press release went out to all of the big Broadway news outlets highlighting our summer talent. Some of the people that will be gracing us with their presence for this first half of the summer are are Michael C. Hall from Dexter, Tony® Award-Winning Lena Hall from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Tony® Award-Nominee Condola Rashad (Phylicia Rashad's daughter), Carmen Cusack, who has played Elphaba in Wicked all over the world, as well as Jason Danieley, most recently of The Visit with Chita Rivera, Derek Klena from Wicked and The Bridges of Madison County, and Finn Wittrock from American Horror Story: Freak Show. I also found out that the director that I will be serving as SM for on boy/girl/cage/dog is the granddaughter of the famous playwright, Harold Pinter. The world keeps getting smaller, ladies and gentlemen.
I also mentioned earlier in the post something about AEA. In case you are still burning with curiosity as to what that stands for, it is an acronym for the Actors Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers. The organization was founded in 1913 and is currently run by Broadway veteran and former Miss America, Kate Shindle. The organization provides the guidelines for various theatre across the country ranging from every show on broadway, to theatres all the way out in California. It helps to maintain professional and ideal working conditions for theatre artists as they continue to hone their craft and also provide adequate pay scales depending on the level of the theatre and the contract that is utilized by that theatre. The various contracts are typically determined by the location of the theatre and the maximum seating capacity of the performing house. You're probably wondering "what does all of this useless information mean"? Well, I'll tell you! After some more useless information...
The most common way for one to join the union is to obtain work at a professional, Equity affiliated theatre and then they can enroll in the Equity Membership Candidacy Program (EMC). Once enrolled, applicants have to accrue 50 weeks of work which is kept track through a point system; one point for every one week of work. Anyway, I found out earlier this week that as SM interns, we have the opportunity to begin the EMC enrollment process, so I have elected to do so. That way, I will be one step closer to being able to work not only in NYC and on Broadway, but also to work with many prestigious companies across the country.
I know I said that the posts would start to get shorter and not as detailed oriented but what can I say? I'm a Stage Manager. Details are my strong suit. That being said, I am going to wrap-up for the day and try to unwind some more before heading to bed. Thanks again for reading! Until next time!
Monday, June 15, 2015
"Here I Go...There's No Turning Back"
All right. Now that I got that introductory stuff out of the way, Now's the time where we get to the INTERESTING stuff as opposed to my nerdy ramblings. My journey out to Poughkeepsie began the other day on Saturday, June 13th in the wee hours of the morning. Given how much the college life has screwed up my sleeping patterns and how excited and adrenaline-filled I was, I only had one solid hour of sleep the night before leaving. I had been prepping and packing all week: two suitcases, a carryon, and two boxes that will be shipped to me at a later date (fingers crossed for this Wednesday). Anyway, I finished my final packing requirements and then, along with my lovely mother and sisters, we groggily made our way to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport so I could board Southwest Flight #1296 to NY-LGA. In the words of Little Red from Into the Woods, I was "excited AND scared." Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's such a uniquely wonderful feeling as one prepares to conquer a world full of unknowns.
As we were cruising down the highway that early morning, I, naturally, turned on the Sirius Broadway Radio station so that I could "get in the zone," or rather, just torture my mom and sisters and force a little more musical theatre knowledge down their throats one last time before I left. Naturally, I was sad to be leaving my family and friends for the summer, since, originally, I was going to be working closer to home at First Stage Children's Theatre in Milwaukee for the summer (another amazing theatrical organization if you do not know about them). We pulled up to the airport unloading zone and we got my bags out and we said our temporary goodbyes and I walked through the doors to begin my my 24-hour adventure to NYC.
Since my contract for the summer did not Start until yesterday, June 14th, we figured that it would be best for me to leave for New York on the 13th so that if any travel problems arose, I would have a buffer day of travel. Because of this, I decided to spend the night in the City soaking up the energy that, in my opinion, continues to pulse and inspire the world of the theatre. I got all checked in and made my way through security and onto the plane with a great deal of time to spare. Once we took off, I enjoyed a very smooth flight filled with snoozes, Coca-Cola, and honey roasted peanuts, as one does on a 1.5 hour flight.
I finally landed in New York City and made my way to baggage claim. Thankfully, mine were some of the first bags off of the plane so I did not have to wait very long. Before I left I had done an online Taxi Fare Calculator to get a rough estimate of what my trip into the city was going to cost me. While I was waiting for a Taxi, a fancy-schmancy driver game up to me and told me that his ride that he was supposed to pick up did not show and he was going back into the city so he said that he would give me my fare for a flat rate, which ended up being the same money that I had allotted for my taxi. I thought, "Eh, what the hell, why not" and we proceeded to go to the car, which I thought, would be some SUV of sorts.
Now, in the movies, this would be the part where the mysterious men come and grab me and throw me into a sketchy van as I frantically try to dial Liam Neeson's phone number to alert him of my distress. Instead, he ended up taking me to a white, stretch limo. So for the same price as my ride in a yellow taxi, I was driving into the city in a limo. I'm not complaining one bit.
After we pulled up to my hotel (shout out to Pops for helping me make those arrangements), I checked in and was delightfully surprised to find out that I could check-in right then and there and not have to wait until three o'clock. So I got my reservation squared away and proceeded to go up to my room and conk out for about two hours.
Since I had been up so early traveling, I figured that the next best thing would be to get some sustenance so that I could make it through the 2PM matinee of An American in Paris that I was going to see with my wonderfully awesome friend, Angi, who attends school in the city. Since I love the Rockefeller Center area so much, I decided that I would walk there to get food. Now, my hotel was in Chelsea which, according to iPhone Maps, is a 45 Minute walk from Rockefeller Center. However, since I am an avid promoter of "walking with purpose," I was able to make it there in 30 minutes with Potbelly's Sandwiches calling my name, and the soon to be blisters on me feet angrily screaming at me.
After lunch, I spent time people watching in the Square where the giant Christmas tree is located. Eventually, I met Angi at the theatre to enjoy the matinee. Overall, I loved the physical aspects of the show: the sets, costumes, lights, dancing, performances, singing, etc. The only thing that did not do much for me was the book. The elements of the classic Gene Kelly film were definitely there, but in an effort to expand the musical canon of the piece, it seemed that the book was crafted in order to accommodate additional songs, as opposed to further expanding and fleshing out the characters. That is not to say that the book was terrible by any means; it just did not do as much for me as I was expecting.
As soon as the curtain call was over, Angi and I rushed to the subway where we headed uptown to Lincoln Center to see if we could get tickets to see Kelli O'Hara in The King and I. Now, this production is one that I have been wanting to see since it was announced that Lincoln center was going to be producing it. I tried constantly to get student tickets in the weeks leading up to my trip, but to no avail. Our only hope was the possibility that they might be selling student rush tickets. Being the firm believer in the adage "everything happens for a reason" that I am, I was somewhat glad that I was not able to secure a ticket to the show as Kelli was out with bad flu and won't be returning to the show until tomorrow. The box office attendant told us that they would probably be offering student rush to the show since she was out and some would be returning their tickets, but if I was going to see the show, I wanted it to be first seen with Kelli playing her Tony Award®-Winning role. What can I say? I'm a die-hard fan of hers.
We then left the gorgeous grounds at Lincoln Center and, over a cup of gelato, we decided to forgo a show that evening and just go back to my hotel and grab some food and veg out and catch up. We went back to Chelsea and stopped at the hotel for me to change my shoes (yes, mom, you were right about the shoe choice) and then we went to a delicious burger place called Bareburger which serves delicious burgers made with grass-fed beef. After grabbing some cookie butter and some wine following dinner, we went back and spent a wonderful evening catching up and swapping stories, just like the gals on Sex and the City.
After Angi left, I showered, crawled into bed, and got some sleep before my early train to Poughkeepsie the next morning.
After I woke up, I packed up my things, checked out, and made my way to the magnificent Grand Central Station where I boarded the 9:43 AM train to Poughkeepsie. The train ride, like my flight, was nice and smooth with only the occasional crying baby disrupting my siesta. When I got off the train, I was greeted by the lovely NYSAF Company Management staff and made my way to the company van where another one of the interns and myself rode to the Vassar College campus to begin move-in.
After receiving my keys and other various pieces of paperwork, I made my way to my apartment and unpacked my things in my room. The apartments are pretty nice: they could stand some paint and some minor fixes, and, you know, Air Conditioning, but other than that they're lovely. Since I was so exhausted, I lay down for another brief nap before our Company Meeting where we would meet the staff and the other interns.
At the meeting, we all went around and introduced ourselves: who we were and what our position was. After that, we split into groups and took a tour of Vassar's lovely campus. Highlights of the tour included the Martel Theatre, the Shiva (pronounced SHEE-va) Theatre, the Pool (which is not a pool, but a large square patch of grass that is slightly lower than the other parts of the grounds), the Powerhouse Theatre, and my personal favorite, the Streep Room (bought by and named after Vassar Alum Meryl Streep).
Once the tour concluded, we headed back to the Martel Theatre where we participated in an hour of team-building/introductory exercises to help strengthen us as a company and as a unit. All of these activities proved to be very eye-opening and provided a great deal of perspective for me as to how I envisioned the remaining eight weeks going. After our activity leader left, we went back to the apartment courtyard for a welcome barbecue graciously provided to us by the Company Management team.
Following those festivities, my three roommates and I decided to enjoy the nice weather last evening and do a quick grocery run so that we could stock up on the necessities. You know. Like Wine. As we were leaving, one of the Company Management Interns ran into us on the street and offered to give us a ride home which was good for us, since it began to rain. We then unloaded our Dollar Store grocery treasures and proceeded to chat a little bit before bed. We all turned in somewhat early (in theatre world that is any time after 10 PM before midnight) since we all had busy first days ahead of us.
For us SM Interns, we began our day by having a meeting where we received our show assignments for the summer. As I stated in my previous blog post, we produce a variety of works here at NYSAF and I have had the great fortune to be assigned one of the plays in our first Play Reading Festival entitled a boy put this girl in a cage with a dog and the dog killed the girl by Clare Barron. No Joke. That's the title. More information will follow once I get a chance to read the script. My other two assignments for the summer are two of the three Musical Workshops. The first one is Rain with Music and Lyrics by Tony Award® Nominee Michael John LaChiusa, a Book by Tony Award® Nominee Sybille Pearson, based on the short story by Somerset Maugham, and Directed by Barry Edelstein. The second piece is entitled Noir Music by Tony® and Grammy Award® winning composer Duncan Sheik, Book by Kyle Jarrow, Lyrics by Kyle Jarrow and Duncan Sheik, and
The rest of our day was spent cleaning and organizing and prepping for the upcoming season; this is basically our task throughout the week. We do anything from cleaning rehearsal spaces to organizing office supplies, to printing scripts, to setting up green room spaces. After a long day of work, I walked back to the grocery store to get a couple more things and then to Big Lots! to buy a fan for my AC-less room. Unfortunately, when I got home, the damn fan was broken so I get to trek back to the Big Lots! and return the fan for a new one. Until then, I'll just have to adjust to the fluctuating weather which, at the moment, is a mixture of cool and balmy. There's a lot of moisture in the air since we've gotten a bit of rain in the past 24 hours.
Since I was smelly and sweaty from my grocery adventure, I hopped in the shower and then went to our SM End-of-Day meeting where we made a game plan for tomorrow. Then I went home, enjoyed a nice dinner of Chicken and Rice-a-Roni (the San Francisco treat). Which brings me to now. The final sentences of my blog. I know this was a lot to take in, but, I promise, that future blog posts won't be as exciting and detailed as these ones...okay they might be...at any rate, they will become standard and concise since my life will soon be consumed with rehearsals. SHAMELESS PLUG: I have included a link to the website at the bottom of the post so that if you wan to find out more about the company or the shows that we are doing, you are free to do so. For better or worse, I'm here, Im in this for the long haul, and, hopefully, you aren't bored to tears by these posts. If you are, then, clearly, I need to amp up my writing style. Or, there is something wrong with you, the reader...Yeah. That's it... ;) Until next time!
As we were cruising down the highway that early morning, I, naturally, turned on the Sirius Broadway Radio station so that I could "get in the zone," or rather, just torture my mom and sisters and force a little more musical theatre knowledge down their throats one last time before I left. Naturally, I was sad to be leaving my family and friends for the summer, since, originally, I was going to be working closer to home at First Stage Children's Theatre in Milwaukee for the summer (another amazing theatrical organization if you do not know about them). We pulled up to the airport unloading zone and we got my bags out and we said our temporary goodbyes and I walked through the doors to begin my my 24-hour adventure to NYC.
Since my contract for the summer did not Start until yesterday, June 14th, we figured that it would be best for me to leave for New York on the 13th so that if any travel problems arose, I would have a buffer day of travel. Because of this, I decided to spend the night in the City soaking up the energy that, in my opinion, continues to pulse and inspire the world of the theatre. I got all checked in and made my way through security and onto the plane with a great deal of time to spare. Once we took off, I enjoyed a very smooth flight filled with snoozes, Coca-Cola, and honey roasted peanuts, as one does on a 1.5 hour flight.
I finally landed in New York City and made my way to baggage claim. Thankfully, mine were some of the first bags off of the plane so I did not have to wait very long. Before I left I had done an online Taxi Fare Calculator to get a rough estimate of what my trip into the city was going to cost me. While I was waiting for a Taxi, a fancy-schmancy driver game up to me and told me that his ride that he was supposed to pick up did not show and he was going back into the city so he said that he would give me my fare for a flat rate, which ended up being the same money that I had allotted for my taxi. I thought, "Eh, what the hell, why not" and we proceeded to go to the car, which I thought, would be some SUV of sorts.
Now, in the movies, this would be the part where the mysterious men come and grab me and throw me into a sketchy van as I frantically try to dial Liam Neeson's phone number to alert him of my distress. Instead, he ended up taking me to a white, stretch limo. So for the same price as my ride in a yellow taxi, I was driving into the city in a limo. I'm not complaining one bit.
After we pulled up to my hotel (shout out to Pops for helping me make those arrangements), I checked in and was delightfully surprised to find out that I could check-in right then and there and not have to wait until three o'clock. So I got my reservation squared away and proceeded to go up to my room and conk out for about two hours.
Since I had been up so early traveling, I figured that the next best thing would be to get some sustenance so that I could make it through the 2PM matinee of An American in Paris that I was going to see with my wonderfully awesome friend, Angi, who attends school in the city. Since I love the Rockefeller Center area so much, I decided that I would walk there to get food. Now, my hotel was in Chelsea which, according to iPhone Maps, is a 45 Minute walk from Rockefeller Center. However, since I am an avid promoter of "walking with purpose," I was able to make it there in 30 minutes with Potbelly's Sandwiches calling my name, and the soon to be blisters on me feet angrily screaming at me.
After lunch, I spent time people watching in the Square where the giant Christmas tree is located. Eventually, I met Angi at the theatre to enjoy the matinee. Overall, I loved the physical aspects of the show: the sets, costumes, lights, dancing, performances, singing, etc. The only thing that did not do much for me was the book. The elements of the classic Gene Kelly film were definitely there, but in an effort to expand the musical canon of the piece, it seemed that the book was crafted in order to accommodate additional songs, as opposed to further expanding and fleshing out the characters. That is not to say that the book was terrible by any means; it just did not do as much for me as I was expecting.
As soon as the curtain call was over, Angi and I rushed to the subway where we headed uptown to Lincoln Center to see if we could get tickets to see Kelli O'Hara in The King and I. Now, this production is one that I have been wanting to see since it was announced that Lincoln center was going to be producing it. I tried constantly to get student tickets in the weeks leading up to my trip, but to no avail. Our only hope was the possibility that they might be selling student rush tickets. Being the firm believer in the adage "everything happens for a reason" that I am, I was somewhat glad that I was not able to secure a ticket to the show as Kelli was out with bad flu and won't be returning to the show until tomorrow. The box office attendant told us that they would probably be offering student rush to the show since she was out and some would be returning their tickets, but if I was going to see the show, I wanted it to be first seen with Kelli playing her Tony Award®-Winning role. What can I say? I'm a die-hard fan of hers.
We then left the gorgeous grounds at Lincoln Center and, over a cup of gelato, we decided to forgo a show that evening and just go back to my hotel and grab some food and veg out and catch up. We went back to Chelsea and stopped at the hotel for me to change my shoes (yes, mom, you were right about the shoe choice) and then we went to a delicious burger place called Bareburger which serves delicious burgers made with grass-fed beef. After grabbing some cookie butter and some wine following dinner, we went back and spent a wonderful evening catching up and swapping stories, just like the gals on Sex and the City.
After Angi left, I showered, crawled into bed, and got some sleep before my early train to Poughkeepsie the next morning.
After I woke up, I packed up my things, checked out, and made my way to the magnificent Grand Central Station where I boarded the 9:43 AM train to Poughkeepsie. The train ride, like my flight, was nice and smooth with only the occasional crying baby disrupting my siesta. When I got off the train, I was greeted by the lovely NYSAF Company Management staff and made my way to the company van where another one of the interns and myself rode to the Vassar College campus to begin move-in.
After receiving my keys and other various pieces of paperwork, I made my way to my apartment and unpacked my things in my room. The apartments are pretty nice: they could stand some paint and some minor fixes, and, you know, Air Conditioning, but other than that they're lovely. Since I was so exhausted, I lay down for another brief nap before our Company Meeting where we would meet the staff and the other interns.
At the meeting, we all went around and introduced ourselves: who we were and what our position was. After that, we split into groups and took a tour of Vassar's lovely campus. Highlights of the tour included the Martel Theatre, the Shiva (pronounced SHEE-va) Theatre, the Pool (which is not a pool, but a large square patch of grass that is slightly lower than the other parts of the grounds), the Powerhouse Theatre, and my personal favorite, the Streep Room (bought by and named after Vassar Alum Meryl Streep).
Once the tour concluded, we headed back to the Martel Theatre where we participated in an hour of team-building/introductory exercises to help strengthen us as a company and as a unit. All of these activities proved to be very eye-opening and provided a great deal of perspective for me as to how I envisioned the remaining eight weeks going. After our activity leader left, we went back to the apartment courtyard for a welcome barbecue graciously provided to us by the Company Management team.
Following those festivities, my three roommates and I decided to enjoy the nice weather last evening and do a quick grocery run so that we could stock up on the necessities. You know. Like Wine. As we were leaving, one of the Company Management Interns ran into us on the street and offered to give us a ride home which was good for us, since it began to rain. We then unloaded our Dollar Store grocery treasures and proceeded to chat a little bit before bed. We all turned in somewhat early (in theatre world that is any time after 10 PM before midnight) since we all had busy first days ahead of us.
For us SM Interns, we began our day by having a meeting where we received our show assignments for the summer. As I stated in my previous blog post, we produce a variety of works here at NYSAF and I have had the great fortune to be assigned one of the plays in our first Play Reading Festival entitled a boy put this girl in a cage with a dog and the dog killed the girl by Clare Barron. No Joke. That's the title. More information will follow once I get a chance to read the script. My other two assignments for the summer are two of the three Musical Workshops. The first one is Rain with Music and Lyrics by Tony Award® Nominee Michael John LaChiusa, a Book by Tony Award® Nominee Sybille Pearson, based on the short story by Somerset Maugham, and Directed by Barry Edelstein. The second piece is entitled Noir Music by Tony® and Grammy Award® winning composer Duncan Sheik, Book by Kyle Jarrow, Lyrics by Kyle Jarrow and Duncan Sheik, and
Directed by the Obie Award®-Winning Rachel Chavkin.
I will not only get tow work with all of these prestigious creators, but there are also many Broadway Actors that will be appearing in these two productions as well as the rest of the season. I got a look at the cast lists and since I am unsure if I can publicly post our lists, I will refrain until we get further into our productions. Needless to say, I'm excited. The rest of our day was spent cleaning and organizing and prepping for the upcoming season; this is basically our task throughout the week. We do anything from cleaning rehearsal spaces to organizing office supplies, to printing scripts, to setting up green room spaces. After a long day of work, I walked back to the grocery store to get a couple more things and then to Big Lots! to buy a fan for my AC-less room. Unfortunately, when I got home, the damn fan was broken so I get to trek back to the Big Lots! and return the fan for a new one. Until then, I'll just have to adjust to the fluctuating weather which, at the moment, is a mixture of cool and balmy. There's a lot of moisture in the air since we've gotten a bit of rain in the past 24 hours.
Since I was smelly and sweaty from my grocery adventure, I hopped in the shower and then went to our SM End-of-Day meeting where we made a game plan for tomorrow. Then I went home, enjoyed a nice dinner of Chicken and Rice-a-Roni (the San Francisco treat). Which brings me to now. The final sentences of my blog. I know this was a lot to take in, but, I promise, that future blog posts won't be as exciting and detailed as these ones...okay they might be...at any rate, they will become standard and concise since my life will soon be consumed with rehearsals. SHAMELESS PLUG: I have included a link to the website at the bottom of the post so that if you wan to find out more about the company or the shows that we are doing, you are free to do so. For better or worse, I'm here, Im in this for the long haul, and, hopefully, you aren't bored to tears by these posts. If you are, then, clearly, I need to amp up my writing style. Or, there is something wrong with you, the reader...Yeah. That's it... ;) Until next time!
Prologue
I'm just going to start this blog out with a fair warning: there are going to be a LOT of musical theatre puns, references, and general wordplay that appear within this blog. Each blog title is also going to be the lyrics from a song within the musical theatre cannon because, frankly, coming up with them gives me something mindless to do at the end of a long day's work. If all of this upcoming theatre trivia and neediness is going to be too much for you to handle, I would suggest consulting your physician in order to make sure that you are put on a round of medication that will allow you to keep up with the general goings on of my life, since that's probably the reason that most of you are currently reading this blog.
However, if you are one of the millions of Americans who are joining us mid-season because of word of mouth., I'll just I've you a brief overview: I was selected to work with New York Stage and Film Company as a Stage Management (SM) Intern for the summer. It is a great honor and privilege to have been selected for this position as hundreds of people applied for the program, and only five of us were selected as SM Interns. I'm sure that you are all wondering "what on God's green earth is New York Stage and Film (henceforward referred to as NYSAF)? So that you don't have to go to the heinous trouble of opening another web browsing window or, God forbid, a new tab in your current browser, I took the liberty of copying and pasting an abbreviated version of the "About Us" section of the NYSAF website:
For 30 years, SAF has played a major role in the development of new plays for the American theater, provided a home for a diverse group of artists free from critical and commercial pressures, and has established itself as a vital cultural institution for residents of the New York metropolitan region...
The cornerstone of SAF’s artistic programming is the Powerhouse Season, an eight-week residency and partnership with Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, where each summer more than two hundred and fifty professional playwrights, directors, actors, and designers, as well as close to fifty student interns, and fifty student apprentices live and work together. During the Powerhouse Season, SAF is deliberately flexible with its production resources and with its three producing venues, to meet the specific needs of artists and projects. The professional artists present mainstage productions with full technical support, as well as workshops and readings of works in progress, all of which are open to the public. The Powerhouse Apprentice Program is a key part of our activities – a rigorous, pre-professional, hands-on experience for a new generation of theater artists. The Apprentice Company take conservatory-level courses taught by resident faculty, attend master classes led by distinguished artists, and perform in their own season of classic and original works...
We are a vital incubator for artists and their work, a catalyst for new stories that go on to theaters across the country. The Tony Award-winning plays Tru (Jay Presson Allen) and Side Man (Warren Leight) received premiere productions with SAF, and our audiences have seen nearly all of John Patrick Shanley’s works in development, including the first public reading of his Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play Doubt and most recently the world premiere production of The Danish Widow. Other recent highlights include the world premiere of Richard Greenberg’s The Babylon Line and a workshop of Beth Henley’s Laugh.
At least nine projects developed recently by SAF will have major New York City, regional, and international productions during 2014/2015, including: The Fortress of Solitude, by Michael Friedman and Itamar Moses (Public Theater & Dallas Theater Center); Found, book by Hunter Bell & Lee Overtree, music and original lyrics by Eli Bolin (Atlantic Theater Company); The Invisible Hand, by Ayad Akhtar (New York Theatre Workshop); Brooklynite, by Michael Mayer and Peter Lerman (Vineyard Theater); Bright Star by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell (Old Globe Theater); and Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Public Theater).
Several other recent projects that trace their developmental roots to SAF include Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812; Beth Henley’s The Jacksonian; the Broadway productions of Seminar (Theresa Rebeck), A Steady Rain (Keith Huff), and American Idiot; as well as The House That Will Not Stand (Marcus Gardley), Murder Ballad (Juliana Nash/Julia Jordan), The Twenty-Seventh Man (Nathan Englander), The Power of Duff (Stephen Belber), Emotional Creature (Eve Ensler), and Jennifer Westfeldt’s feature film Friends with Kids.
SAF has supported the development and work of writers such as Jon Robin Baitz, Lee Blessing, Eric Bogosian, The Debate Society, David Marshall Grant, Zoe Kazan, David Lindsay-Abaire, Joanna Murray-Smith, Eric Overmyer, Steven Sater, Duncan Sheik, Nicky Silver, and Ruby Rae Spiegel, and directors including Joe Mantello, Michael Mayer, Pam MacKinnon, Leigh Silverman, Alex Timbers, and Kate Whoriskey.
Okay. I know that was a LOT of information, but I gifted that it was the most efficient way of informing all of you about this wonderful organization.
Essentially, what I am hoping to accomplish this blog is to most efficiently keep everyone up-to-date with my various projects and shows that I will be working on during my internship. This is particularly exciting because all of the shows that we are working on are in various stages of the play development process, meaning that they could be extremely different pieces of theatre two years from now.
Okay, I lied. What I REALLY hope to accomplish from this blog is a book deal that will eventually get me a movie deal where I will write the screenplay and the film will be directed by Nancy Meyers of The Parent Trap fame...Kidding.
Also, I should have warned you all that there will be a great deal of sarcasm that is laced within the writings of this blog. That being said...Here we go!
However, if you are one of the millions of Americans who are joining us mid-season because of word of mouth., I'll just I've you a brief overview: I was selected to work with New York Stage and Film Company as a Stage Management (SM) Intern for the summer. It is a great honor and privilege to have been selected for this position as hundreds of people applied for the program, and only five of us were selected as SM Interns. I'm sure that you are all wondering "what on God's green earth is New York Stage and Film (henceforward referred to as NYSAF)? So that you don't have to go to the heinous trouble of opening another web browsing window or, God forbid, a new tab in your current browser, I took the liberty of copying and pasting an abbreviated version of the "About Us" section of the NYSAF website:
For 30 years, SAF has played a major role in the development of new plays for the American theater, provided a home for a diverse group of artists free from critical and commercial pressures, and has established itself as a vital cultural institution for residents of the New York metropolitan region...
The cornerstone of SAF’s artistic programming is the Powerhouse Season, an eight-week residency and partnership with Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, where each summer more than two hundred and fifty professional playwrights, directors, actors, and designers, as well as close to fifty student interns, and fifty student apprentices live and work together. During the Powerhouse Season, SAF is deliberately flexible with its production resources and with its three producing venues, to meet the specific needs of artists and projects. The professional artists present mainstage productions with full technical support, as well as workshops and readings of works in progress, all of which are open to the public. The Powerhouse Apprentice Program is a key part of our activities – a rigorous, pre-professional, hands-on experience for a new generation of theater artists. The Apprentice Company take conservatory-level courses taught by resident faculty, attend master classes led by distinguished artists, and perform in their own season of classic and original works...
We are a vital incubator for artists and their work, a catalyst for new stories that go on to theaters across the country. The Tony Award-winning plays Tru (Jay Presson Allen) and Side Man (Warren Leight) received premiere productions with SAF, and our audiences have seen nearly all of John Patrick Shanley’s works in development, including the first public reading of his Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning play Doubt and most recently the world premiere production of The Danish Widow. Other recent highlights include the world premiere of Richard Greenberg’s The Babylon Line and a workshop of Beth Henley’s Laugh.
At least nine projects developed recently by SAF will have major New York City, regional, and international productions during 2014/2015, including: The Fortress of Solitude, by Michael Friedman and Itamar Moses (Public Theater & Dallas Theater Center); Found, book by Hunter Bell & Lee Overtree, music and original lyrics by Eli Bolin (Atlantic Theater Company); The Invisible Hand, by Ayad Akhtar (New York Theatre Workshop); Brooklynite, by Michael Mayer and Peter Lerman (Vineyard Theater); Bright Star by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell (Old Globe Theater); and Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Public Theater).
Several other recent projects that trace their developmental roots to SAF include Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812; Beth Henley’s The Jacksonian; the Broadway productions of Seminar (Theresa Rebeck), A Steady Rain (Keith Huff), and American Idiot; as well as The House That Will Not Stand (Marcus Gardley), Murder Ballad (Juliana Nash/Julia Jordan), The Twenty-Seventh Man (Nathan Englander), The Power of Duff (Stephen Belber), Emotional Creature (Eve Ensler), and Jennifer Westfeldt’s feature film Friends with Kids.
SAF has supported the development and work of writers such as Jon Robin Baitz, Lee Blessing, Eric Bogosian, The Debate Society, David Marshall Grant, Zoe Kazan, David Lindsay-Abaire, Joanna Murray-Smith, Eric Overmyer, Steven Sater, Duncan Sheik, Nicky Silver, and Ruby Rae Spiegel, and directors including Joe Mantello, Michael Mayer, Pam MacKinnon, Leigh Silverman, Alex Timbers, and Kate Whoriskey.
Okay. I know that was a LOT of information, but I gifted that it was the most efficient way of informing all of you about this wonderful organization.
Essentially, what I am hoping to accomplish this blog is to most efficiently keep everyone up-to-date with my various projects and shows that I will be working on during my internship. This is particularly exciting because all of the shows that we are working on are in various stages of the play development process, meaning that they could be extremely different pieces of theatre two years from now.
Okay, I lied. What I REALLY hope to accomplish from this blog is a book deal that will eventually get me a movie deal where I will write the screenplay and the film will be directed by Nancy Meyers of The Parent Trap fame...Kidding.
Also, I should have warned you all that there will be a great deal of sarcasm that is laced within the writings of this blog. That being said...Here we go!
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