Yeah, I'm using an obscure Rent reference to being my Spring Awakening saga...just go with it. It's fine. Don't worry.
Yes folks! Spring Awakening has begun its first foray into existence. Today and yesterday we endured Common Auditions; the painfully long process wherein all of the directors of all the straight (non-musical) plays sit in a row and just have everyone audition for all of them instead of all at separate times. 6:30-11 two nights in a row.
Night one: Fun! Ordered Thai takeout, giggled a little over silly auditions (not in a making-fun kind of way, in a laughing WITH the person kind of way. Really.). Not enough boys. One really good male that everyone is going to fight over. Naturally, he specifically wishes to only be cast in one show. Offers of sexual favors? Potentially...
Night two: Sillier. We laughed waaay more easily due to being comfortable with each other and due to..well...exhaustion and less seriousness over what we were doing. Also watched a bit of the State of the Union. Attempted to start slow claps from over the internet. Were moderately successful. Still not enough guys.
End of tonight: Stare at audition forms and decide who to call back for what parts. Argue over finally created call-back list with other directors. Attempt to configure time slots that all coexist so that actors don't have to be in 50 places at once.
Post call back sheets.
Pray it doesn't snow.
Next step for Spring Awakening? We have callbacks scheduled for 5-11 tomorrow. I will have my work cut out for me in eliminating females. There were SO many talented girls who auditioned, so I can be really picky about which ones I want. I'm trying to give preference to people with less Brandeis theatre experience because...well...they're the ones I want to work with. So I'm sticking with freshman and mid-years mostly. Oh, and people who seemed really specifically enthusiastic about Spring Awakening as opposed to the other shows being cast. This piece will rely on the passion my actors can give it. If I ask someone who isn't passionate about the show to do the awkward and demanding things required by some of the parts, then they will be less willing to comply.
Talking about the script, I have been rereading it often of late, and just re-realizing how absolutely in love with it I am. Wedekind wrote a piece that was revolutionary for its time, and it is still exceptionally strong so many years later. I can't wait to be the next one to marvel in its brilliance, and hopefully to do it justice.
Stay tuned! More updates to come (if my callbacks don't get snowed out...).
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Ian Axel, Field Mouse, Allison Weiss
So I went to a concert the other night at Cafe 939.
Cafe 939 is run by Berklee, which is a music college. The Cafe's claim to fame is that it is the ONLY all-ages music club in Boston. Which is fairly impressive. They stay all ages not by censoring their musical acts, but simply by not serving alcohol. They literally have all kinds of acts. Check out their website if you feel like it. It's a neat place.
The reason I went to Cafe 939 was, of course, for the lovely and talented Allison Weiss. She's fantastic. Look her up if you haven't already. I talk about her a lot. Because she's amazing. But that's not why I'm writing.
The two acts that opened for Allison were a guy named Ian Axel and a band called Field Mouse (that, interestingly enough, Allison plays bass for. One of the guys who worked at the club said he's never seen an artist open for themselves...haha). So I didn't have any feeling toward Field Mouse. No negative or positive. They were just loud. I couldn't hear what the singer was singing about because the rest was too loud. Eh. But the other opener, Ian Axel, was great. He doesn't have a record done (yet). He just sat down at the piano and played with his whole body and his whole heart. It was really amazing. And he had a great voice and his lyrics were straight from the soul.
That's what I love about these unsigned artists like Weiss and Axel. They don't have to write songs for anybody, so they just write what they feel. And you know what? It's better than all the manufactured shit out there now. It's real. Ian could (and did) tell us the story behind the inspiration for every song he sang us. So did Allison. It was incredible. And what courage it takes to get up there and reveal that depth. It takes more guts to get up on stage as an unsigned musician than it does to be an actor. Because actors are trying to be someone else. Musicians, or at least these musicians, are just singing from their hearts.
So my goal for the semester is to explore the Boston music scene. Ian Axel was an unexpected delight. I have no doubt that there is more brilliance out there waiting to be found.
Cafe 939 is run by Berklee, which is a music college. The Cafe's claim to fame is that it is the ONLY all-ages music club in Boston. Which is fairly impressive. They stay all ages not by censoring their musical acts, but simply by not serving alcohol. They literally have all kinds of acts. Check out their website if you feel like it. It's a neat place.
The reason I went to Cafe 939 was, of course, for the lovely and talented Allison Weiss. She's fantastic. Look her up if you haven't already. I talk about her a lot. Because she's amazing. But that's not why I'm writing.
The two acts that opened for Allison were a guy named Ian Axel and a band called Field Mouse (that, interestingly enough, Allison plays bass for. One of the guys who worked at the club said he's never seen an artist open for themselves...haha). So I didn't have any feeling toward Field Mouse. No negative or positive. They were just loud. I couldn't hear what the singer was singing about because the rest was too loud. Eh. But the other opener, Ian Axel, was great. He doesn't have a record done (yet). He just sat down at the piano and played with his whole body and his whole heart. It was really amazing. And he had a great voice and his lyrics were straight from the soul.
That's what I love about these unsigned artists like Weiss and Axel. They don't have to write songs for anybody, so they just write what they feel. And you know what? It's better than all the manufactured shit out there now. It's real. Ian could (and did) tell us the story behind the inspiration for every song he sang us. So did Allison. It was incredible. And what courage it takes to get up there and reveal that depth. It takes more guts to get up on stage as an unsigned musician than it does to be an actor. Because actors are trying to be someone else. Musicians, or at least these musicians, are just singing from their hearts.
So my goal for the semester is to explore the Boston music scene. Ian Axel was an unexpected delight. I have no doubt that there is more brilliance out there waiting to be found.
Monday, January 17, 2011
"It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got..."
So I'm back at Brandeis after a long break.
Yesterday felt like running the gauntlet. Returning to my chosen solitude on the same day as the anniversary of my father's death just felt cruel. There was no relief in the return. Just the familiar silence settling around me as I shut the door to my room.
I'm writing only to keep myself from finishing the novel I started yesterday. A novel I have burned through because I've been in here alone most of the day. The number of pages remaining has dwindled alarmingly quickly. Sometimes I hate being a fast reader.
My classes are mostly in order for tomorrow. The morning will begin at 10:40 with a yoga class in which I am not formally enrolled. So the day will begin with a contest of wills. Me against the teacher. Who will win? Who knows. Following yoga I will head to a Spanish class, and then Human Rights in a Global Perspective. I should be really excited about the last one, but I'm not excited about anything now. If not for dinner with Emily and Jenn, I could easily have gone all day without speaking a word to anyone.
I titled this post optimistically. Clearly I don't have what I want right now. I just need to find it in myself to want what I've got. What I've got is an incredible opportunity to further my learning, something that has always been important to me. I just have to keep repeating that to myself. Soon, classes will pick up and Spring Awakening will begin and I won't have time to think this way. I hope.
What awaits in the future, though, does not make this moment any less lonely. I'm trying to tune my focus to things that at the very least make my mind move in interesting ways, even if they can't make me happy. I should write down blocking notes for the show I am about to direct. I should read the provided syllabi for upcoming classes. I should...but I don't want to. I just want to be at home.
Yesterday felt like running the gauntlet. Returning to my chosen solitude on the same day as the anniversary of my father's death just felt cruel. There was no relief in the return. Just the familiar silence settling around me as I shut the door to my room.
I'm writing only to keep myself from finishing the novel I started yesterday. A novel I have burned through because I've been in here alone most of the day. The number of pages remaining has dwindled alarmingly quickly. Sometimes I hate being a fast reader.
My classes are mostly in order for tomorrow. The morning will begin at 10:40 with a yoga class in which I am not formally enrolled. So the day will begin with a contest of wills. Me against the teacher. Who will win? Who knows. Following yoga I will head to a Spanish class, and then Human Rights in a Global Perspective. I should be really excited about the last one, but I'm not excited about anything now. If not for dinner with Emily and Jenn, I could easily have gone all day without speaking a word to anyone.
I titled this post optimistically. Clearly I don't have what I want right now. I just need to find it in myself to want what I've got. What I've got is an incredible opportunity to further my learning, something that has always been important to me. I just have to keep repeating that to myself. Soon, classes will pick up and Spring Awakening will begin and I won't have time to think this way. I hope.
What awaits in the future, though, does not make this moment any less lonely. I'm trying to tune my focus to things that at the very least make my mind move in interesting ways, even if they can't make me happy. I should write down blocking notes for the show I am about to direct. I should read the provided syllabi for upcoming classes. I should...but I don't want to. I just want to be at home.
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