DAY EIGHTEEN - Thursday April 12
Fabric softener, anyone? The theatre's laundry facility did our laundry - cheap too. $7 for two big bags. Great deal. But no Bounce! One flays oneself when one dries oneself with the towels here!
This was kind of an exciting day. There was fun rehearsal, movies dubbed in Russian and a couple of very heated discussions!
The day started out with a very fun staging session on stage with our two main officers. These are character roles - competing ministers - one of finance, one of commerce (?!) both vying for the Prince's favor - and screwing up royally. The four gents they have cast are seriously funny - and take their comedy very seriously. I gave them some bits - and they ran with them - world-class schtick-meisters. I'm sure it could all spin our of control - but these guys (both casts) will be very, very funny.
Then I staged a scene with our romantic leads - all three teams - which went really well. Fun, quirk-ily romantic, silly easy. At one point in the rehearsal, Ivgeny (my asst director) asked me what Mary should be "playing" in this scene. I replied, many things - but I suppose arrogance is her main tone.
He then told the actress playing Mary that she should show more arrogance. I stopped the rehearsal FAST and proclaimed the following: Please stop playing attitudes. Play the text. If the text calls for arrogance and the actors' instincts are good then whatever level of arrogance that is required will be just right. I told Ivgeny I felt that Luda (the particular Mary in question) played a perfect blend of natural innocence, playfulness, vibrancy and, yes, arrogance. But it was NATURAL. It was REAL. Not melodramatic or un-nuanced or one-note - as is sometimes the case. I further explained that meeting a role for the first time is a very precious period of time. PLEASE don't pollute it with asking for attitudes and external emotions. We need the time to build these roles from the ground up with intuition - and I felt they were all doing that beautifully. We don't open tomorrow. We have six more weeks to get the "arrogance" right. If, three weeks from now, there's not enough arrogance, I promise we'll ask for more. But I felt that, by intuition, these actors were exactly where I wanted them - delivering the text with honesty and that is the most important thing right now. I was not asking for opening night performances today - I was asking for exactly what they were delivering (and it was excellent by any country's standards). I didn't need them to be thinking about some phony, external emotional goal - or whatever Ivgeny was asking for - and that the way I work is exactly the way were were working before he interrupted. I also added that I respected Ivgeny's opinion and that I didn't mean to pick on him - but I needed to explain my process which was obviously very different from they way they normally work. What are Grisha, Misha and Pisha (Gregg, Michael and Patti) doing here if not to bring in an American viewpoint to this very American-styled show.
Further, Elena and Arkady (the adapter - who did a great job translating into Russian Gregg's excellent English version - which Gregg and a colleague translated from the original German - written by Hungarian writers!) asked for a certain cut in the scene we were staging. It was the Prince's (who is now in disguise as his own assistant) most passionate speech about how Americans think they can buy everything and that this palace (which Mary wants to buy) was his (the Prince's) childhood home full of memories and for which he felt great reverence. Elena explained that in Russia, in Operetta, performers are not expected to act. Only to sing. She wanted to get to the song faster. I asked her if she saw the passion with which Volodya (one of our Princes) delivered the line. It was gorgeous. In fact, I'd rather cut the song because the speech speaks of the Prince's core values and the song goes off on how Mary once cut apart a Prince doll to find only straw inside; i.e. speech (which is really short) tells us a great deal about the prince. The song, which is cute, does not move the story forward at all. Sure, it's cute and it's their first romantic moment - albeit using a doll as a substitute - so there IS some story there. I didn't really mean I'd cut the song - but that speech (which is short) - is KEY to our learning about how the Prince feels. So I won that battle.
Lunch at the Japanese place - without Gregg. Patti and I were reduced to pointing to pictures in the menu and mooing, grunting like a pig or clucking like a chicken to determine what kind of feast or fowl a certain dish was. We made the waitress laugh very hard. Us too! We crack ourselves up here.
Between sessions, we had a cuts meeting with Victor (asst conductor) and Elena (dramaturg). That had it's heated moments as well. In some of the cuts, trying to preserve merely a couple of lines of dialogue to remind the audience of the central conflict, Elena (the dramaturg) said that the songs are more important. I told her I felt the story was more important. That, in fact, without story, there are no songs. She said without songs, there is no story. Key difference between American and Russian approaches, I guess. I asked if a composer sits down with a collection of notes and strings them together - and then finds a story - or if a writer starts with a great story - and then finds a way to tell it in dialogue AND song.
We Americans won most of the conflicts there but the Russians had many cuts to suggest that were very good ideas. I think we cut about 12 minutes out of the show.
In the evening, I think we staged a duet for the comic couple. There is SO MUCH DANCE in this show - and Patti is doing amazing work and doing it as fast as she possibly can. She never gets a break. I think she's also pushing these performers past their comfort zone (in a very good way). They are all very eager to please, working their butts off - and will deliver very well.
After rehearsal we had most of the principals over to watch "Singing in the Rain".
We wanted them to see the American style musical theatre dancing at its best.
Here is the group watching the movie.
From L to R: Gregg, Ksenia (one of our Marys), Nastia (one of our Rosemaries), Luda (One of our Marys), Tania (our other Rosemarie), Patti, Sveta (with her hand over her face - another Mary), Igor (one of our Bondys)
Vova (one of our Prince Sandors), Paulina (one of our translators), Yours truly, Volodya (another Prince Sandor)
I thought I should share with all of you some of the most famous "Singin' in the Rain" moments - dubbed in Russian!
Fabric softener, anyone? The theatre's laundry facility did our laundry - cheap too. $7 for two big bags. Great deal. But no Bounce! One flays oneself when one dries oneself with the towels here!
This was kind of an exciting day. There was fun rehearsal, movies dubbed in Russian and a couple of very heated discussions!
The day started out with a very fun staging session on stage with our two main officers. These are character roles - competing ministers - one of finance, one of commerce (?!) both vying for the Prince's favor - and screwing up royally. The four gents they have cast are seriously funny - and take their comedy very seriously. I gave them some bits - and they ran with them - world-class schtick-meisters. I'm sure it could all spin our of control - but these guys (both casts) will be very, very funny.
Then I staged a scene with our romantic leads - all three teams - which went really well. Fun, quirk-ily romantic, silly easy. At one point in the rehearsal, Ivgeny (my asst director) asked me what Mary should be "playing" in this scene. I replied, many things - but I suppose arrogance is her main tone.
He then told the actress playing Mary that she should show more arrogance. I stopped the rehearsal FAST and proclaimed the following: Please stop playing attitudes. Play the text. If the text calls for arrogance and the actors' instincts are good then whatever level of arrogance that is required will be just right. I told Ivgeny I felt that Luda (the particular Mary in question) played a perfect blend of natural innocence, playfulness, vibrancy and, yes, arrogance. But it was NATURAL. It was REAL. Not melodramatic or un-nuanced or one-note - as is sometimes the case. I further explained that meeting a role for the first time is a very precious period of time. PLEASE don't pollute it with asking for attitudes and external emotions. We need the time to build these roles from the ground up with intuition - and I felt they were all doing that beautifully. We don't open tomorrow. We have six more weeks to get the "arrogance" right. If, three weeks from now, there's not enough arrogance, I promise we'll ask for more. But I felt that, by intuition, these actors were exactly where I wanted them - delivering the text with honesty and that is the most important thing right now. I was not asking for opening night performances today - I was asking for exactly what they were delivering (and it was excellent by any country's standards). I didn't need them to be thinking about some phony, external emotional goal - or whatever Ivgeny was asking for - and that the way I work is exactly the way were were working before he interrupted. I also added that I respected Ivgeny's opinion and that I didn't mean to pick on him - but I needed to explain my process which was obviously very different from they way they normally work. What are Grisha, Misha and Pisha (Gregg, Michael and Patti) doing here if not to bring in an American viewpoint to this very American-styled show.
Further, Elena and Arkady (the adapter - who did a great job translating into Russian Gregg's excellent English version - which Gregg and a colleague translated from the original German - written by Hungarian writers!) asked for a certain cut in the scene we were staging. It was the Prince's (who is now in disguise as his own assistant) most passionate speech about how Americans think they can buy everything and that this palace (which Mary wants to buy) was his (the Prince's) childhood home full of memories and for which he felt great reverence. Elena explained that in Russia, in Operetta, performers are not expected to act. Only to sing. She wanted to get to the song faster. I asked her if she saw the passion with which Volodya (one of our Princes) delivered the line. It was gorgeous. In fact, I'd rather cut the song because the speech speaks of the Prince's core values and the song goes off on how Mary once cut apart a Prince doll to find only straw inside; i.e. speech (which is really short) tells us a great deal about the prince. The song, which is cute, does not move the story forward at all. Sure, it's cute and it's their first romantic moment - albeit using a doll as a substitute - so there IS some story there. I didn't really mean I'd cut the song - but that speech (which is short) - is KEY to our learning about how the Prince feels. So I won that battle.
Lunch at the Japanese place - without Gregg. Patti and I were reduced to pointing to pictures in the menu and mooing, grunting like a pig or clucking like a chicken to determine what kind of feast or fowl a certain dish was. We made the waitress laugh very hard. Us too! We crack ourselves up here.
Between sessions, we had a cuts meeting with Victor (asst conductor) and Elena (dramaturg). That had it's heated moments as well. In some of the cuts, trying to preserve merely a couple of lines of dialogue to remind the audience of the central conflict, Elena (the dramaturg) said that the songs are more important. I told her I felt the story was more important. That, in fact, without story, there are no songs. She said without songs, there is no story. Key difference between American and Russian approaches, I guess. I asked if a composer sits down with a collection of notes and strings them together - and then finds a story - or if a writer starts with a great story - and then finds a way to tell it in dialogue AND song.
We Americans won most of the conflicts there but the Russians had many cuts to suggest that were very good ideas. I think we cut about 12 minutes out of the show.
In the evening, I think we staged a duet for the comic couple. There is SO MUCH DANCE in this show - and Patti is doing amazing work and doing it as fast as she possibly can. She never gets a break. I think she's also pushing these performers past their comfort zone (in a very good way). They are all very eager to please, working their butts off - and will deliver very well.
After rehearsal we had most of the principals over to watch "Singing in the Rain".
We wanted them to see the American style musical theatre dancing at its best.
Here is the group watching the movie.
I thought I should share with all of you some of the most famous "Singin' in the Rain" moments - dubbed in Russian!
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