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!
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