As week three begins, Wendy (Hall) and the students are doing ballet technique to Bon Jovi, while I am in reverie about the process-rich format of our program here at Summer Studio. When we came together as a faculty last summer, we agreed it was very important to pass on some of the skills in performing arts that would make for happy, healthy performers in the future. To that end, we teach technique exercises in dance, acting, and voice that we hope to be in each student's personal "bag of warm-ups" in their personal practice. We have regular "check-ins" about the work of the students; just this morning, one student shared her method of memorizing lyrics with the others. As many of us know, the performing arts can feel very competitive for a young performer; when that competition is removed, as our theory went, the student is more willing to take risks and grow. So far, it's also amazing to see the swell of generosity and trust that each student shows the group.
Speaking of creating a competition-free zone: a word about our showcase! The idea behind this informal showing (July 30th at 7:30pm! Free of charge!) is to highlight the students' work in acting, singing, and dance. Each student will have a solo piece in the showcase, which we hand-picked to show off the student's personality and range. We don't do auditions, but pick material based on our observations when building the all-cast numbers. No stress, no muss, no fuss, no tears. We will do some audition technique workshops in the final week, but our philosophy so far is to treat auditions as something that happens outside of this experience. Our job is to build up students for the tests they will face outside Summer Studio. (And, I might add, they each sound fantastic!) On Tuesday, each student will receive personalized vocal coaching from Ben (Rauhala), and I will work with each to transfer our monologue skills to song. Based on our very early work on playwriting, students are writing introductions, transition scenes, and short monologues to educate the audience on the "page to stage" connections. They are a hard-working bunch, and I couldn't be more proud of their work!
OK, ok, enough philosophy -- let's talk about STAGE COMBAT! Our own Chris Webb led us in an afternoon of kicking and hair-pulling that highlighted technique and safety. It was fun to watch -- and occasionally practice with Chris -- some really convincing and stomach-turning moves. (Don't be surprised if there's, oh, say, a CAT fight in the show.... Meow!) Thanks, Chris!
-Liz Fenstermaker, on behalf of the Summer Studio Team
Showing posts with label Musicals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Musicals. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Summer Studio Week 2
Hi, everyone!
Liz here again. We had a great first week with our strong group of students at Summer Studio. There are so many highlights, I'm not sure where to begin. One piece that was especially exciting for the group to work on was "Mama Who Bore Me" from Spring Awakening. At one point, Ben (New Rep Summer Studio, Musical Director) referred to them as a "choir of angels" singing -- which was an apt comparison. The group is also interested in looking at some of the original Bill T Jones choreography, so Wendy (New Rep Summer Studio, Choreographer) is looking into recreating some of his signature swirly moves. We also worked on "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience" from Frogs, which stretches our comic acting skills. Our facial muscle isolations and work on focal points are coming in handy -- and the group is seeing that Nathan Lane was not built in a day!
On Friday, we worked on monologues, which can be daunting and intense, especially on a sunny Friday summer afternoon. They dove right in, analyzing text for salient words, establishing objectives, and creating a physical life for their characters. It truly wowed me that their early work was so rich and their readings so expressive and natural. (On a practical note, I'm glad they'll be able to rock upcoming auditions with this new material.)
Oh, and how could I forget our new best friend Maurice Parent?! Part of the New Rep’s cast of Ragtime, Wild Party, and Cabaret, funny and charming Maurice came to chat with us about his life as a working actor and creating the role of black in Wild Party, whose music and original text we had sampled earlier in the day.
This morning, I'm watching Wendy give a technique class, and wishing more schools would have formal dance instruction as part of their arts curriculum so teens could have great teachers like Wendy. (There, I said it. Write your school boards!) Later today, each student will show a piece of their own choreography they created this weekend as "homework." One student told me this morning that she's done a production number and we each have a part. I guess I'd better go stretch!
Liz here again. We had a great first week with our strong group of students at Summer Studio. There are so many highlights, I'm not sure where to begin. One piece that was especially exciting for the group to work on was "Mama Who Bore Me" from Spring Awakening. At one point, Ben (New Rep Summer Studio, Musical Director) referred to them as a "choir of angels" singing -- which was an apt comparison. The group is also interested in looking at some of the original Bill T Jones choreography, so Wendy (New Rep Summer Studio, Choreographer) is looking into recreating some of his signature swirly moves. We also worked on "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience" from Frogs, which stretches our comic acting skills. Our facial muscle isolations and work on focal points are coming in handy -- and the group is seeing that Nathan Lane was not built in a day!
On Friday, we worked on monologues, which can be daunting and intense, especially on a sunny Friday summer afternoon. They dove right in, analyzing text for salient words, establishing objectives, and creating a physical life for their characters. It truly wowed me that their early work was so rich and their readings so expressive and natural. (On a practical note, I'm glad they'll be able to rock upcoming auditions with this new material.)
Oh, and how could I forget our new best friend Maurice Parent?! Part of the New Rep’s cast of Ragtime, Wild Party, and Cabaret, funny and charming Maurice came to chat with us about his life as a working actor and creating the role of black in Wild Party, whose music and original text we had sampled earlier in the day.
This morning, I'm watching Wendy give a technique class, and wishing more schools would have formal dance instruction as part of their arts curriculum so teens could have great teachers like Wendy. (There, I said it. Write your school boards!) Later today, each student will show a piece of their own choreography they created this weekend as "homework." One student told me this morning that she's done a production number and we each have a part. I guess I'd better go stretch!
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Summer Studio is Sizzling!
Hi, New Rep fans!
I'm Liz, director of this year's Summer Studio: "Page to Stage." Over the next few weeks, we will be exploring the connections between some of our favorite musicals (like Frogs, Oliver, Applause, Damn Yankees, and Wicked) and the works of literature that inspired them. (Our awesome education intern, Jason Simon, is busy amassing a research library for us!)
Today was our first day, and the group of teen performers is truly fabulous! Wendy Hall, choreographer extraordinaire, gave a great dance technique class this morning and taught a fun 1980s dance combination. In the afternoon, our new best friend and music director Ben Rauhala busted out some of the company numbers for our Showcase (July 30, 7pm, in the Mosesian Theatre). The group was singing in three-part harmony by the end of the afternoon, which is a huge accomplishment on the first day! Best of all, everyone seemed to be having a good time, and the group went off to lunch break chatting like old friends.
A new component of this year's studio is the inclusion of workshops that will encourage these young artists to take on the creative roles of choreographer, playwright, and director. Keep reading to see what this group can do!
Liz Fenstermaker
on behalf of the Summer Studio team
I'm Liz, director of this year's Summer Studio: "Page to Stage." Over the next few weeks, we will be exploring the connections between some of our favorite musicals (like Frogs, Oliver, Applause, Damn Yankees, and Wicked) and the works of literature that inspired them. (Our awesome education intern, Jason Simon, is busy amassing a research library for us!)
Today was our first day, and the group of teen performers is truly fabulous! Wendy Hall, choreographer extraordinaire, gave a great dance technique class this morning and taught a fun 1980s dance combination. In the afternoon, our new best friend and music director Ben Rauhala busted out some of the company numbers for our Showcase (July 30, 7pm, in the Mosesian Theatre). The group was singing in three-part harmony by the end of the afternoon, which is a huge accomplishment on the first day! Best of all, everyone seemed to be having a good time, and the group went off to lunch break chatting like old friends.
A new component of this year's studio is the inclusion of workshops that will encourage these young artists to take on the creative roles of choreographer, playwright, and director. Keep reading to see what this group can do!
Liz Fenstermaker
on behalf of the Summer Studio team
Monday, December 29, 2008
Happy Holidays!
December 24
Today was largely spent blocking the book scenes. Directing is a fascinating process because there is this fine line between completely prescriptive direction and setting up a framework for the actor’s own creativity to fill in beyond the directorial composition. We’re always in search of moment to moment specificity in the theatre, but where in the collaboration those specifics get decided on is really hard to place.
That said today’s scenes had a lot of gags and comic moments in them. They’re all fairly early in the play, so much of the heavier themes aren’t apparent on the surface yet. I have a theory that people won’t cry at a show unless they’ve already laughed, so the humor is well placed here.
What’s also so important that never gets discussed enough are the moments between the lines. Reactions to lines can be as powerful as the lines themselves. That’s one of the strengths of good writing, that it can be mined by actors and directors for actions and reactions. One aspect of Rick’s direction that I particularly admire is his control of rhythm. It’s often the spaces in between the lines where the rhythm of a scene can be found.
I was thinking about some of the a historical moments in the show. Fraulien Kost is always bringing home sailors as part of her patriotic duty. I read it as a sign of the remilitarization of Germany. That would not have been happening just yet in terms of history, but the way that the show compresses time it makes dramatic sense. There is also a really interesting moment in terms of Cliff’s language lessons. Most Continental Europeans learned (and probably still learn) British English and British pronunciation, so an American teaching English in that period would be working against a specific establishment.
We’re still fairly early in the rehearsal process. Later on I hope to get into detail about certain moments and maybe talk a little about how some of the stage combat works once we get up to the fights.
Have a good holiday!
Meron
Today was largely spent blocking the book scenes. Directing is a fascinating process because there is this fine line between completely prescriptive direction and setting up a framework for the actor’s own creativity to fill in beyond the directorial composition. We’re always in search of moment to moment specificity in the theatre, but where in the collaboration those specifics get decided on is really hard to place.
That said today’s scenes had a lot of gags and comic moments in them. They’re all fairly early in the play, so much of the heavier themes aren’t apparent on the surface yet. I have a theory that people won’t cry at a show unless they’ve already laughed, so the humor is well placed here.
What’s also so important that never gets discussed enough are the moments between the lines. Reactions to lines can be as powerful as the lines themselves. That’s one of the strengths of good writing, that it can be mined by actors and directors for actions and reactions. One aspect of Rick’s direction that I particularly admire is his control of rhythm. It’s often the spaces in between the lines where the rhythm of a scene can be found.
I was thinking about some of the a historical moments in the show. Fraulien Kost is always bringing home sailors as part of her patriotic duty. I read it as a sign of the remilitarization of Germany. That would not have been happening just yet in terms of history, but the way that the show compresses time it makes dramatic sense. There is also a really interesting moment in terms of Cliff’s language lessons. Most Continental Europeans learned (and probably still learn) British English and British pronunciation, so an American teaching English in that period would be working against a specific establishment.
We’re still fairly early in the rehearsal process. Later on I hope to get into detail about certain moments and maybe talk a little about how some of the stage combat works once we get up to the fights.
Have a good holiday!
Meron
Stage Combat for CABARET
December 23
Perhaps this is only of interest to stage combat types, but those people who have read one of the published scripts may not be aware that there is a fight written into the score that is not mentioned in any readily available versions of the script that I’ve read. It takes place among the ensemble in one of the club scenes during a dance number. What’s especially interesting is that the direction is only that there be a fight during a specific portion of the music. Not which characters are fighting or why, but only that there is a fight. Rick and Kelli and I discussed just how much havoc might be wreaked in that moment. We know that we’ll want maximum chaos in a fairly contained time frame. That moment of composition hasn’t happened yet, but the foundation for the character conflicts that lead to the physical confrontation have started to be set.
Meron
Perhaps this is only of interest to stage combat types, but those people who have read one of the published scripts may not be aware that there is a fight written into the score that is not mentioned in any readily available versions of the script that I’ve read. It takes place among the ensemble in one of the club scenes during a dance number. What’s especially interesting is that the direction is only that there be a fight during a specific portion of the music. Not which characters are fighting or why, but only that there is a fight. Rick and Kelli and I discussed just how much havoc might be wreaked in that moment. We know that we’ll want maximum chaos in a fairly contained time frame. That moment of composition hasn’t happened yet, but the foundation for the character conflicts that lead to the physical confrontation have started to be set.
Meron
First Rehersal
December 19, 2008
Hello everyone! My name is Meron Langsner. I’m the fight director and one of the assistant directors for Cabaret, and I’ll be one of your guest bloggers for this rehearsal period. Last season I was New Rep’s Playwright in Residence through the National New Play Network, and I’ve done all sorts of things with the company including writing, fighting, curating, and teaching.
I signed on to this project back in May, not knowing it was going to be Rick’s last show here. That said, I really feel privileged to be a part of it.
The rehearsal hall was filled with a mix of new and familiar faces, even including a former student of mine from Tufts! It’s a pretty large project, so the diversity of talents we have at work here adds to the excitement. I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on the cabaret movement in Berlin and other related areas and I’d been waiting to be able to apply that scholarship in the context of the production.
This rehearsal was about design and dramaturgy presentations, discussing the concepts of the production, and doing the first read through/sing through so we could start to get the voices and characters together.
What we’re exploring in this production is the fragility of civilization. The show is set at the end of Germany’s Weimar Period and ends with the rise of the Nazi party. This is heavy stuff we’re dealing with. Part of what makes this show so effective is how much fun it is. We’re in mid party when one of the ugliest parts of the modern era begins. “In here, life is beautiful.” But we can’t be in there forever, and the longer we wait, the uglier it gets.
Along with the design presentations (which I won’t get into as you deserve to be surprised), my fellow AD Adrienne and I did dramaturgical presentations. She covered the general period in terms of WWI history and the Weimar government and I concentrated on the cabaret movement.
I go into this in more detail in my program note of course, but it’s worth saying here that the cabaret movement of the time was something really special with no real modern equivalent. It sort of occupied a place between popular entertainment and the avant-garde. The movement began in Paris and spread from there, adapting to the specific culture of each new location. The basic structure was a small stage for a small audience, numerous entertainments linked by a host, and much smoke and drink. The character of the entertainment was often satiric, sexual, and topical. Berlin as a city was known for having an especially biting wit, and its entertainments followed suit.
History plays an interesting role in this show. In many ways, the more knowledgeable you are about history, the more problems you might have with the book. But what’s important to remember is that in this context aesthetics trump accuracy. The more I look at the a historical moments of the play, the more I see the human truth they are getting at more than the chronological moment they are meant to represent. I may be talking about these moments more as the process goes on as it’s a really interesting problem in period pieces.Rehearsal was called off early as the blizzard was just beginning, but even with the semi snow day we’re off to a really great start.
Hello everyone! My name is Meron Langsner. I’m the fight director and one of the assistant directors for Cabaret, and I’ll be one of your guest bloggers for this rehearsal period. Last season I was New Rep’s Playwright in Residence through the National New Play Network, and I’ve done all sorts of things with the company including writing, fighting, curating, and teaching.
I signed on to this project back in May, not knowing it was going to be Rick’s last show here. That said, I really feel privileged to be a part of it.
The rehearsal hall was filled with a mix of new and familiar faces, even including a former student of mine from Tufts! It’s a pretty large project, so the diversity of talents we have at work here adds to the excitement. I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on the cabaret movement in Berlin and other related areas and I’d been waiting to be able to apply that scholarship in the context of the production.
This rehearsal was about design and dramaturgy presentations, discussing the concepts of the production, and doing the first read through/sing through so we could start to get the voices and characters together.
What we’re exploring in this production is the fragility of civilization. The show is set at the end of Germany’s Weimar Period and ends with the rise of the Nazi party. This is heavy stuff we’re dealing with. Part of what makes this show so effective is how much fun it is. We’re in mid party when one of the ugliest parts of the modern era begins. “In here, life is beautiful.” But we can’t be in there forever, and the longer we wait, the uglier it gets.
Along with the design presentations (which I won’t get into as you deserve to be surprised), my fellow AD Adrienne and I did dramaturgical presentations. She covered the general period in terms of WWI history and the Weimar government and I concentrated on the cabaret movement.
I go into this in more detail in my program note of course, but it’s worth saying here that the cabaret movement of the time was something really special with no real modern equivalent. It sort of occupied a place between popular entertainment and the avant-garde. The movement began in Paris and spread from there, adapting to the specific culture of each new location. The basic structure was a small stage for a small audience, numerous entertainments linked by a host, and much smoke and drink. The character of the entertainment was often satiric, sexual, and topical. Berlin as a city was known for having an especially biting wit, and its entertainments followed suit.
History plays an interesting role in this show. In many ways, the more knowledgeable you are about history, the more problems you might have with the book. But what’s important to remember is that in this context aesthetics trump accuracy. The more I look at the a historical moments of the play, the more I see the human truth they are getting at more than the chronological moment they are meant to represent. I may be talking about these moments more as the process goes on as it’s a really interesting problem in period pieces.Rehearsal was called off early as the blizzard was just beginning, but even with the semi snow day we’re off to a really great start.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)