Friday, March 25, 2011

Inside the Rehearsal Room Part 2: The Last Five Years

by Steve Black, Assistant Director 

We have now brought our first week of rehearsals to a close and are off and running in our second (final week) of rehearsing! The end of the first week concluded with a run through of the entire show. It was
really great to see the whole picture and establish each character's journey through the work. This was treated as a designer run (a run through where the design staff is present so that they can better understand how their visions will be incorporated into the staging). I loved having an audience there for the first time. It is helpful to
see how people react to certain moments and get a feel for what works and what we could possibly clarify.

Aimee and Mark have been extremely compelling as they share the story of Jamie and Cathy. As is typical for any New Rep production, the audience will leave this production with a lot to contemplate.  I'm interested to hear which character audience members side with. Let me know! Share your thoughts and comment on this after you see a performance.

Last night we had two cellists play for the run through. These great musicians are in addition to our wonderful musical director, Todd Gordon, on piano. The final two musicians, a violinist and guitarist, will be added tonight. Adding these instrumentalists has proven to inspire the performance choices and add a new level of nuance to the production. The orchestration, although fairly simple, is very lush and helps to add great depth to the characters. There are some interesting string harmonics and glissandi that help to create and
foreshadow tension at key moments.

Tomorrow we start tech and I'm excited to see how the lighting and costuming will continue to affect and support performance choices and intent. More info. soon. Get your tickets before they are gone!

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