Ednotes - boom

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From Drew, Arts Management Intern

More Ednotes from Ed Boyd, Lead Telemarketer for Seattle Rep. This round, boom.

A staff meeting at the Stranger

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From Joanna, Communications Manager

Maybe my favorite press quote ever...The Seattle P-I (yeah, the P-I) wrote this about boom.

"Putting these collections of contemporary anxieties together steeps a wild brew of rampant hostility, wit, gay sensitivity and harsh feminine snark in a confined space. The end of the world, it turns out, looks like a staff meeting at The Stranger."

The rest of the review is here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/theater/388728_boom21q.html

Crazy Family Photo Contest

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From Joanna, Communications Manager

We bet you aren't as crazy as the families in You Can't Take It With You, but we’d love for you to prove us wrong! We’re holding a contest to find the craziest family photo. Just for entering, we’ll send you a Seattle Rep photo frame magnet (they're cool, seriously).

E-mail crazyfamily@seattlerep.org to submit your photo and a description of what makes your family so wacky (submission deadline: Dec. 7).

We’ll post photos online for judging, and the winner will receive four tickets to our special New Year’s Eve performance of You Can’t Take it With You and after-party with champagne, a midnight buffet, dancing and Space Needle fireworks (value: $250).

Karaoke with Sarah Rudinoff tomorrow

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The lovely actor/songstress/funny woman Sarah Rudinoff (at right, in last season's Murderers) is hosting a karaoke hour before the performance of boom tomorrow night. Come sing! Rumor is there will be songs from Hedwig available in honor of Nick Garrison (who stars in boom and played Hedwig at Re-Bar).

Festivities start at 6:15 p.m. in the Rotunda. $1 PBRs! For tickets to the show, click here.

Seattle Times talks with Peter Sinn Nachtrieb

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From Joanna, Communications Manager (who is totally blog happy today)

Misha Berson interviewed boom playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb today in the Seattle Times.

For some reason this line from the article "Peter Sinn Nachtrieb loves writing plays, and he loves marine biology" got me singing that song from Napolean Dynamite:

"I love technology, but not as much as you, you see... But I still love technology... Always and forever."

I have learned a lot about the 34-year-old Nachtrieb lately (who is at the Rep this weekend!), but the Times article revealed that despite the fact that his is an award-winning playwright (he got the American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award), he "still enjoys the occasional gig performing in 'interactive murder mysteries at private parties.'"

The rest of the article is here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2008387904_peter14.html

Peter's web site is here: http://www.peternachtrieb.com You can more fully check out this picture of him in a space suit.

Joyride

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From Joanna, Communications Manager

There's a preview article about boom in the Seattle P-I today. Director Jerry Manning talks about the show and his role as Producing Artistic Director of the Rep, now and beyond.

"I'm the only person who can do this job right now," Manning said without hubris, and is glad to lend his history and credibility to the theater. But he recognizes that long-term survival will require new blood.

When his work is done, he said, "It's time to give the keys to the kids."

Woohoo! Joyride!

Read the full article here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/theater/387690_theater14.html

Betrayal cast announced

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From Joanna, Communications Manager

Just got the latest casting news.

Betrayal (by Harold Pinter, under the direction of Braden Abraham) will feature Cheyenne Casebier (Emma), Alex Podulke (Robert), David Christopher Wells (Jerry) and the lovely local actor John Farrage (Waiter). You might have seen Cheyenne wielding a sword (and other weapons) as Milady in The Three Musketeers (right). I don't have pictures of the other actors, but Braden has been telling me all along that the cast will be "young and sexy." Hot!

Betrayal, if you don't know the play, is a twist on a love triangle. Emma is sleeping with her husband's best friend, but the play is played out in reverse, from the end of the affair to the beginning.

The show opens February 19.

Post-election: Is the apocalypse still relevant?

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From Joanna, Communications Manager

The Seattle Weekly just ran this preview of boom, talking with playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb and director Jerry Manning about whether or not audiences want to think about the end of the world now that things are starting to look up (thank you, Obama). I think: yes. This play deals with environmental apocalypse. While we hope President Obama will turn things around on a global warming front, it's still an issue. But more than that, boom is a comedy with a surprisingly optimistic ending and a healthy dose of sex. It's not like the end of the world is a total downer.

A quote from Jerry in the article: "This script avoids what a lot of plays about 'people in the bunker' fall into," says boom's director Jerry Manning, who's a fan of end-of-the-world stories—like that great old Twilight Zone episode with Burgess Meredith in which a meek reader who survives a nuclear war finally gets time for all of his favorite books. "Usually, you can't really sustain suspense with that scenario, and Peter did. There's not a butt-numbing moment in it."

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-11-12/arts/boom-time/

From the Rehearsal Room: I hear voices!

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From Hillary, boom Assistant to the Director/Casting Intern

I have the best seat at the house. Back of the main floor, house right. Tech day 2.

Our director is behind me discussing looks with the lighting designer. In the center section, our sound designer is adjusting cues on a computer that somehow connects him with our sound operator in the booth. Down front, our costume designer is talking about some potential changes with her assistant. It’s awesome that I get such a sneak peak as this show’s design team gets boom up on its feet.

But the best view I have is over our stage manager Elisabeth Farwell’s shoulder. I see her script, filled with notes about blocking (where actors move when). I see the funny-looking machine that connects to her headset. While I can’t hear what comes in through her headset, I know she is connected to our deck hand (a crew member who is in charge of moving scenery, props and curtains), our stage management intern (who helps keep up paperwork and round up the actors), the lighting designer, the sound designer, the light-board operator and the sound operator.

That’s a lot of voices to be talking to one ear (I mean that quite literally—her headset covers one of her ears, leaving the other free to hear what’s going on in the room).

Our stage manager is now coordinating what is going on backstage, onstage, and in the booths. By “in the booths,” I mean the cues that the light-board operator executes (i.e. any light changes) and that the sound operator executes (i.e. any pre-recorded sound). It’s amazing to hear her call a sequence of cues- she feels out when the moment is just right (usually a breath or two before we actually want to see/hear the sequence) and then she’s off! It’s a beautiful and amazing thing to listen to: If character and story are one motor of the show, our stage manager is definitely the other.

The end of the world in four hours

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From Joanna, Communications Manager

Boom
director Jerry Manning just emerged from tech to check in with life outside of the Leo K.

His inside scoop: "It took four hours to blow up the world."

Free New Play Reading Tonight!

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This season, we're partnering with Northwest Playwrights Alliance on a monthly reading series of new plays. The readings are totally free and feature some of Seattle's finest actors. I just got the cast list from our Literary Manager Braden for tonight's reading, at 7 p.m. in the Leo K. Rehearsal Hall:

The play is GULF VIEW DRIVE by Arlene "Beth" Hutton, directed by Braden Abraham (who directed My Name is Rachel Corrie in 2007 and is directing Betrayal in February).

Cast includes:
Susan Corzatte
Shellie Shulkin
Alex Tavares
Peter Dylan O’Connor
Samara Lehrman

Just come to the box office door, and someone will direct you to our rehearsal space. A list of upcoming readings is here.

From the Rehearsal Room: An octopus + hilarity

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From Hillary, boom Assistant to the Director/Casting Intern

Fresh off of The Three Musketeers, I’m now in rehearsal for boom. Halfway through our second week of rehearsal, I feel ready to give you a glimpse into our world.

Our world is bigger than the theatre. To get a taste of the marine biology that plays such an important role in the play, we took a trip to the Seattle Aquarium where we bonded with Roberta (our tour guide) and Emrich (a Great Pacific Octopus). Roberta even gave us a “backstage” tour of the labs in the aquarium’s basement.

Our world is a hysterically funny one. As we work our way through the show, our actors sometimes have to take a moment to laugh and enjoy each other’s performances before getting back into character and continuing.

Our world is an extremely collaborative one. I’m in daily contact with the playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, who is sending us re-writes and thoughts as we share with him our questions and discoveries from rehearsal. Our fearless leader (i.e. director) Jerry Manning encourages everyone in the room to contribute—each actor, each designer, our stage managers, and even me!

From where I’m sitting right now, the view is looking good. I’ll be back with more updates soon.

Voting is cool

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From Joanna, Communications Manager

Happy Election Day. Please vote.