from the Fringe

On Saturday night we made a big dinner for the crew and trekked over to the theater with our tools and costumes in tow. The show performing ahead of us finished a little early so we had plenty of time to set up. Jeremy and I figured out a new, more efficient system for attaching the outside posts to the dock using thru-bolts and wing nuts I found at a local hardware store. This is exciting stuff people. Bobby wired on the practical to the upstage post. Amy made sure we all had what we needed and kept her eye the clock. Our production's best friend, Karen, flew in from Seattle last night and we put her to work helping Becca with the front of house. Matt and Bobby to took advantage of our extra time to make a few last minute tweaks to sound and light cues. Cheyenne dirtied up Renata's costume a bit more using the brown shoe polish she bought this afternoon at the drug store on Union Square. Press kits are out. We're ready...Renata, who has been fund-raising, marketing, planning as well as performing with equal fervor, is in her dressing room warming up. Now she can finally take off the producer hat and just be the performer.

The house opens and the audience starts shuffling in. We would've been grateful for half-full on our first night, but they just keep coming until we're sold out--who are all these people? who wants to come to the theater at 10PM? We love them!

...

A good first performance. We're still working out a few kinks, but Renata was in very fine form. In the midst of all this chaos and with very little rehearsal time, she somehow managed to rip it up out there. Her ability to simultaneously be inside the characters, expertly telling the story, and yet always seemingly aware of herself in space, incorporating subtle shifts we've talked about, and maneuver through new blocking patterns we've just set hours before--this juggling act is the mark of a truly gifted stage actor.

One down. Four to go.

If you're in NY this week, you can see the complete performance schedule and get tickets here. And read our first review here.

from the NY Fringe

Renata Friedman and I have brought our production of The K of D by Laura Schellhardt to the NY Fringe this year. We got the whole team from Seattle with us: Robert Aguilar (lights), Matt Starritt (sound), Cheyenne Casebier (costumes), Becca Leshin (assistant producer), Amy Poisson (stage manager), Jeremy Katich (set wrangler, skateboard roller, and official camp cook). After a 3 hour tech (which included a run, load-in and load out), we're all curious to see the results of our slap-dash efforts. Curtain time is 10PM, so we're all drinking coffee. We'll have 15 min to set up our dock and 15min to break it down at the end. Renata and I just went over some notes in the apartment and reviewed the new blocking. Our run of the show a couple weeks ago in Port Townsend was in a lovely, intimate black box (thank you PT!!). Now we're in an equally lovely 3/4--The Cherry Pit. So some staging adjustments have to be made. Under normal circumstances we'd have at least a couple days of tech rehearsal to make these changes, but this is the fringe, and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants is part of the fun.

A little early Halloween shopping?

From Joanna, Communications Manager

It's definitely summer around here. No less busy in the communications world, but fewer blog- worthy items (and, OK, our intern Kiki is gone and the blog just isn't the same without her).

I did want to make sure you know about our upcoming costume sale, though. It's Saturday, June 6, from 10 am-4 pm here on the Bagley Wright stage. I went down to check out some of the costumes, and there are some amazing pieces that are reasonably priced. I was eying an amazing Rapunzel wig for $20.

Other things I saw: Oberon's cape from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Queen Elizabeth's gown from Beard of Avon, and couple of cool before and after costumes--Napoleon's fancy suit and the duplicate torn up after he's been shot.

Lots of different sizes, and we'll take credit cards, cash or check, with all proceeds benefiting the theatre.

We've only had one other sale in Seattle Rep history, and that was in 1974. So who knows when the next might be?

More info here.

Carrie's going to Broadway

From Joanna, Communications Manager

The producers of Wishful Drinking just announced Carrie Fisher will be taking her show to Broadway come September (it'll play at the Roundabout). Seems like Seattle's becoming quite the testing ground for the Great White Way. We must have good taste or something...

You can still catch the show here at the Rep through May 9. Insider's tip: If you want Carrie to chat you up and douse you with glitter, sit in the first three rows.

Highway Glamour Shots

From Kiki, Audience Development Intern

When someone offers me a smoothie, I always say yes. Mama didn't raise no fool. Little did I know that I'd be hiking up a mountain afterwards.

The Rep's Communication department went on a little outing while our Director was away for the day (jealous much?). We boosted up on intense-power-enhancing-mega-AWESOME-rocket-fuel energy smoothies with B 12 and made our way down the Galer St stairs to behold our beautiful billboard on Aurora. Then, like the nerds we are, we took pictures to document our efforts. Look at those excited faces! They weren't excited for long...

Once we were done geeking out we proceeded to climb back up the 700 some stairs, some of us in heels and others of us in need of an oxygen tank. It's fine. Looks like we're improving our department's odds of winning the coveted "I Hate to See You Leave, But I Love to Watch You Go" Reppie Award.

Kevin and Simone on the radio

From Joanna, Communications Manager

Yesterday I got to take Kevin Kling and Simone Perrin to KUOW for an interview about Breakin' Hearts and Takin' Names. OK, they are probably the nicest two people you'll ever meet. Is it the Minnesota in them? I love it when you fall in love with performers on stage and then they're just genuinely awesome in real life.

At the risk of sounding totally Tiger Beat, I learned: Simone shops at H&M, they both like shrimp phad thai, and Kevin's a runner.

More importantly, while they were on the radio, I got to hear some amazing stories about what it was like for Kevin while he was in a coma (he dreamt he was in Italy having his face rebuilt by calcium deposits) and some fantastic new original songs that are in the show, based on poems by Kevin and then put to accordion music by Simone.

They also talked more about the show, which is, Kevin said, about "the flight away from trauma." Whereas their play last season How? How? WHy? Why? Why? dealt with the aftermath of Kevin's motorcycle accident, Breakin' Hearts is about healing, of all kinds. "Trauma is trauma whatever is is: the loss of a limb or a heart or a promise or a person," Kevin said.

Listen to the entire interview/performance on KUOW here: http://www.kuow.org/rss.php?program=weekday

Why do people still love Star Wars?

From Joanna, Communications Manager

It's been over 30 years since the first Star Wars movie was released. With Carrie Fisher at the Rep (and discussing the juicy details of filming Star Wars, as well as reciting some particularly notable lines in her show Wishful Drinking), we've been asking ourselves, "Why do people still love Star Wars?" (and by Star Wars, we mean the original trilogy).

Some theories:

• Sexy Han Solo.
• A female character that is pretty much a badass, even if she has astronomically weird hair.
• A good, clear story or good vs evil.
• A really bad guy, voiced by James Earl Jones nonetheless.
• The Force.
• Special effects that at the time were totally groundbreaking.
• It's not as geeky at Star Trek.
• Escapism.
• Quotable lines galore.
• Millions of YouTube parodies, including this one and this one.
• Light sabers.

Here's an article just posted on Slate: Why does Star Wars still take over the minds of small boys?

Breakin' Hearts and Boozin' it Up

From Joanna, Communications Manager

I just e-mailed Breakin' Hearts and Takin' Names Production Designer L.B. for some interesting morsels about designing the show, storyteller Kevin Kling's latest. His response?

1. We’re using a large chunk of one of the Seafarer walls for the main bar wall in Breakin’ Hearts.
2. We’re collecting paper coasters from bars all around Seattle and Minneapolis to hang on the walls.

I'm sensing a bar theme.

Speaking of...did you know you can now take your drinks into both of our theatres? AND we have credit card machines at the bar now (available for your charging pleasure pre show).

For a full interview with L.B. about designing the show, click here.

For our bar menu, click here.

Directors announced

From Joanna, Communications Manager

I just got word that three more directors for the coming season have been confirmed: Andrea Allen, the Rep's own very talented Education and Audience Development Director will direct Speech and Debate, a wild comedy about teenage life. Braden Abraham who is currently helming Breakin' Hearts & Takin' Names and who directed Betrayal will take on Opus. And Wilson Milam, who directed this season's The Seafarer, will be returning to direct another testosterone-fueled play, Glengarry Glen Ross.

For more info on the season, click here.

Carrie Fisher Likes Shiny Things

From Kate, Technical Production Intern

Things have definitely slowed down here in production. Betrayal and The Seafarer are up and running and the next two shows are not technically intense; seeing as Wishful Drinking is coming on a truck and Breakin’ Hearts and Takin’ Names does not seem to have a very large set. Although today, I got to make a quick model of the Carrie Fisher set, so that we have something to look at instead of drawings.

I've also been making some artwork from the walls of The Road to Mecca set. The walls were covered in glitter, and apparently someone got word that Carrie Fisher loves shiny things, so we made parts of the walls into artwork for her dressing room. Random, I know.

2009-2010 Season Announcement

We're happy to announce the 2009-10 Seattle Rep season! The season consists of seven plays plus August: Osage County, presented in partnership with Seattle Theatre Group and Broadway Across America at The Paramount.

Here are the selections:

Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps
Adapted by Patrick Barlow, based on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, based on the book by John Buchan, directed by Maria Aitken
September 25-October 18, 2009
In the Bagley Wright Theatre

Four actors play 150 characters in this thrilling adventure comedy—straight from Broadway—based on Alfred Hitchcock's classic film.

Opus
by Michael Hollinger
October 30-December 6, 2009
In the Leo K. Theatre

A passionate, music-filled glimpse into the break-up and make-up of a renowned string quartet.

Equivocation
by Bill Cain, directed by Bill Rauch
November 18-December 13, 2009
In the Bagley Wright Theatre

Seattle Rep and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival bring you this exciting new play—woven with threads of King Lear and Macbeth—direct from Ashland.

Speech and Debate
by Stephen Karam
January 15-February 21, 2010
In the Leo K. Theatre

A ragtag bunch of misfits starts an after-school Speech and Debate team to expose a possible scandal—and sparks more debate than their high school ever bargained for.

Glengarry Glen Ross
by David Mamet
February 5-28, 2010
In the Bagley Wright Theatre

A gripping comedy-drama about a group of tough-talking Chicago real estate agents who will do anything to win a high-stakes sales competition.

Fences
by August Wilson, directed by Timothy Bond
March 26-April 18, 2010
In the Bagley Wright Theatre

In 1950s Pittsburgh, a garbage collector who once dreamt of becoming a professional baseball player struggles to let his son pursue his own dreams of playing football.

An Iliad
created by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson, directed by Lisa Peterson
April 9-May 16, 2010
In the Leo K. Theatre

Tony Award-winning actor Denis O’Hare (Take Me Out on Broadway) takes you on an unforgettable journey through The Iliad, one of history’s most famous and exciting tales.

PLUS: AT THE PARAMOUNT THEATRE
August: Osage County
by Tracy Letts, directed by Anna D. Shapiro
October 27-November 1, 2009
Seattle Rep partners with Seattle Theatre Group and Broadway Across America for this special bonus show—part of your subscription, playing at The Paramount!

Call Me Crazy

From Kiki, Audience Development Intern

Last Friday night was the second time that I watched The Seafarer on our Bagley stage. You see, I had to watch it again because something had been bugging me from my first viewing. The character Richard just really reminded me of someone but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then, during the second act it hit me:

=

Admit it, that's pretty dead on.

The Brogue

From Joanna, Communications Manager

The Irish accents in The Seafarer aren't your typical Irish brogue, and that might be confusing (it certainly baffled the Seattle Weekly's reviewer). Here's an excerpt from a conversation with the show's dialect coach, Deb Hecht, on why The Seafarer won't have you thinking, "Lucky Charms."

Seattle Rep: Are there special challenges in The Seafarer that make this project especially interesting for you?

Deb Hecht: Yes. It’s actually a more unusual Irish accent than I’ve ever done before, and that we’re used to hearing. I think that when we think of an Irish accent, we think of something that’s a little—oh, I don’t want to say “Lucky Charms”—but sounds that are actually more associated with the west coast of Ireland. Those sounds are very different from the city of Dublin, and The Seafarer is in a very particular neighborhood, Baldoyle, which is on the north side of Dublin. It has a slightly different sound. It’s not as tight as the city of Dublin is itself. It’s a challenge. Some of it is quite close to American speech in a lot of ways, but it’s just different enough. I was saying to one of the actors that I feel like I’m standing on one of those things that clowns stand on–those Rola-Bolas—because it feels neither fish nor fowl. It’s not American, but it’s not the Irish we’re used to doing. It’s more relaxed than Dublin, so finding this can be tricky.

Continue reading the interview here.

The Seafarer Set Built—In Time Lapse!

Ednotes - The Seafarer

From Drew, Arts Administration Intern

In a seedy backlot in Baldoyle, Ireland, Ed Boyd pitches Conor McPherson's The Seafarer, now playing in The Rep's Bagley Wright Theater through March 28.

Ednotes - Betrayal

From Drew Dahl, Arts Management Intern

Ed Boyd, Lead Telemarketer for the Seattle Rep pitches Betrayal, the new show on our Leo K. stage . . . backwards.

In the trenches

From Joanna, Communications Manager

A few notes from the trenches:

Betrayal opening night is tonight. The play spans 9 years in 75 minutes. Our costume crews are busy, busy backstage with all the fabulous 1960s and 70s costume quick changes.

The Seafarer starts in previews tomorrow. There are a lot of bad Irish accents happening (in the marketing department, that is...the ones on stage are impeccable and you can read an interview with dialect coach Deb Hecht here). The other day we were trying to remember how those old Irish Spring soap commercials went. If only I had had a video camera on our Assistant IT Director Heather while she was whistling.

The two-story Seafarer set is amazing. We're in the process of recording a time lapse video of the building of it...on the way soon.

Interning...on Betrayal

From Becca, Literary Intern

It’s opening night for Betrayal, the third and final show that I get to work on this season. Here are some highlights from my experience on the show:

-One of the scenes takes place in a restaurant. During down time, the actors practiced their napkin-folding skills and created the always entertaining “napkin chicken.” It’s really amazing the kinds of things actors know how to do to keep things interesting.

-There are projections in the show of one of the actors playfully lifting a little girl in the air. The day we filmed, our young star (I think she was 3) got camera shy. It took about an hour of coaxing and the promise of hot chocolate to get the footage we needed. It of course looks wonderful on stage.

-The amount of liquid that the actors have to consume on stage is astonishing. I think one of them has to drink 2 beers, 4 scotches, and about a bottle of wine during the show. Of course it is all just really colored water (except for the beer which is O’Doul’s) but it’s amazing how much they have to drink. At least they are more hydrated than they have ever been in their lives.

The Emerging Critics Get Real

From Kiki, Audience Development Intern

Emerging Critics is an innovative education program that allows high school students to connect with theatre through critical writing. And eat a lot of Pagliacci Pizza. The program features a writing workshop staring local critic celebrities and then the students attend a matinee performance of one of our Bagley shows. Here are what the students had to say about The Road to Mecca:

"The glittering sets, subtle lighting shifts and audience-beguiling acting blended in harmony to the final standing ovation. Anyone who cares about the pursuit of creativity and the well-being of both old and young will enjoy this outstanding play." -Riley Peter-Contesse

"When you hear of the pain and suffering [Miss Helen] has endured, you begin to empathize. Moreover, when she is describing her lovely Mecca, you get a nice warm feeling. Sort of like going to your happy place." -ReeceAnn Buendia

"To appreciate the history and eloquence of The Road to Mecca entails an acquired taste belonging to those who value the performance of intimate conflict." -Amir Shabaneh

"I found the acting performance by Dee Maaske as Miss Helen very good. She impressivley kept character throughtout the performance...and I found [her] to be the highlight of the show." -Austin Hebert

"The message of elderly Helen [comes through] strongly with an excellent performance by Maaske, as the walls around her glitter and shine as bright as the outcast widow does." -Joe Johnson

The Night Watcher heads to New York

From Joanna, Communications Manager

We just got word that Charlayne Woodard's one-woman show The Night Watcher, which played at Seattle Rep to sold-out crowds in September and October, has been picked up for a run at Primary Stages in New York. Congrats to Charlayne!

Read the full scoop at Broadwayworld.com.

Photo: Charlayne Woodard, by Chris Bennion.