DAY FIFTEEN - Monday April 9
Hey, we made the papers!
Today we had the morning session onstage - working on the prologue with principals, chorus and the ballet company. That's 40 people onstage at one time - not counting the waiters and I don't know if there are any other people available to be waiters!
I reviewed the staging we had gone over upstairs while Patti reviewed the dances with the ballet company in the studio - then they joined us and we got about halfway through the scene when it was time to break.
I had a little lesson in how the organizational structure (such as it is) works. If I have notes in rehearsal (for props, sets, costumes, etc.) I am to give them to the assistant director, Evgeny. I'm also supposed to give prop notes to the stage manager, Tonia. I give the schedule to Tatiana M (the scheduler - who is also the ballet accompanist and is brilliant at all of the above). But she makes calls to everybody about rehearsals - nobody emails! I tried to explain ho efficient it would be for someone like, say, a stage manager, to make up a rehearsal report. They didn't know what that was. I explained that it notifies everybody - from artistic director to designers to creative team to prop shop to paint shop to costume shop etc. (in one easy email) all that went on in rehearsal on a given day. So if the shop needs to know that we have decided to have someone stand on a chair in a certain scene - the chair has to be strong enough. The set designer can help select a chair to accommodate and the shop can know about how sturdy it needs to be and everyone knows every decision that is made. Nope. Not here. Evgeny will go to the shop heads and tell them what I ask him to tell them - and I guess from there, everyone calls everyone else to make sure it all happens the way we expect it to. But very often in the states, I'll read a note in a rehearsal report and it has been notated incorrectly so I can correct it immediately. Here, I have no way of knowing if, language barrier and translators aside, the note was even understood in the first place. In spite of how logical, useful and easy this type of emailed report is - there will be no rehearsal reports!
Next we were supposed to meet the technical director to look at props that they could not afford to build - to see if what they had in stock was acceptable. We had scheduled this meeting last week - but he was not at the appointed place at appointed time. We climbed up 6 flights to his office. Not there either. Back down 6 flights to the scenery warehouse (which is far off stage right) and still no sign of him. I did however, make this little video while waiting.
The next video will describe what happened next -
Kirill is heading out of town for three weeks to direct a show in Omsk (16 hour train ride) and graciously took us to lunch. He also happens to off-site artistic direct this other theatre. He has directed 150 shows here. And is in his 26th year as artistic director. A sweet, very sarcastic, very funny guy who is giving us total autonomy over our show. I hope he likes what he sees upon his return!
In the evening, we had a blast staging the comic couple's first duet. Patti did an amazing job and the performers seemed to rise to, and love, the challenge of the number.
After rehearsal, Grisha, Pisha and Misha started our "old movie nights" series. Thursday we will watch "Singing in the Rain" with some of the cast because it will help them understand the style of choreography we're asking them to do. In fact, when Patti told the comic lead that this dance had a little bit of Gene Kelly and a little bit of Donald O'Connor, all they heard was Jim Carey! No wonder he was moving a little oddly! They had never heard of the other two legends of American cinema.
Hey, we made the papers!
Today we had the morning session onstage - working on the prologue with principals, chorus and the ballet company. That's 40 people onstage at one time - not counting the waiters and I don't know if there are any other people available to be waiters!
I reviewed the staging we had gone over upstairs while Patti reviewed the dances with the ballet company in the studio - then they joined us and we got about halfway through the scene when it was time to break.
I had a little lesson in how the organizational structure (such as it is) works. If I have notes in rehearsal (for props, sets, costumes, etc.) I am to give them to the assistant director, Evgeny. I'm also supposed to give prop notes to the stage manager, Tonia. I give the schedule to Tatiana M (the scheduler - who is also the ballet accompanist and is brilliant at all of the above). But she makes calls to everybody about rehearsals - nobody emails! I tried to explain ho efficient it would be for someone like, say, a stage manager, to make up a rehearsal report. They didn't know what that was. I explained that it notifies everybody - from artistic director to designers to creative team to prop shop to paint shop to costume shop etc. (in one easy email) all that went on in rehearsal on a given day. So if the shop needs to know that we have decided to have someone stand on a chair in a certain scene - the chair has to be strong enough. The set designer can help select a chair to accommodate and the shop can know about how sturdy it needs to be and everyone knows every decision that is made. Nope. Not here. Evgeny will go to the shop heads and tell them what I ask him to tell them - and I guess from there, everyone calls everyone else to make sure it all happens the way we expect it to. But very often in the states, I'll read a note in a rehearsal report and it has been notated incorrectly so I can correct it immediately. Here, I have no way of knowing if, language barrier and translators aside, the note was even understood in the first place. In spite of how logical, useful and easy this type of emailed report is - there will be no rehearsal reports!
Next we were supposed to meet the technical director to look at props that they could not afford to build - to see if what they had in stock was acceptable. We had scheduled this meeting last week - but he was not at the appointed place at appointed time. We climbed up 6 flights to his office. Not there either. Back down 6 flights to the scenery warehouse (which is far off stage right) and still no sign of him. I did however, make this little video while waiting.
The next video will describe what happened next -
Kirill is heading out of town for three weeks to direct a show in Omsk (16 hour train ride) and graciously took us to lunch. He also happens to off-site artistic direct this other theatre. He has directed 150 shows here. And is in his 26th year as artistic director. A sweet, very sarcastic, very funny guy who is giving us total autonomy over our show. I hope he likes what he sees upon his return!
In the evening, we had a blast staging the comic couple's first duet. Patti did an amazing job and the performers seemed to rise to, and love, the challenge of the number.
After rehearsal, Grisha, Pisha and Misha started our "old movie nights" series. Thursday we will watch "Singing in the Rain" with some of the cast because it will help them understand the style of choreography we're asking them to do. In fact, when Patti told the comic lead that this dance had a little bit of Gene Kelly and a little bit of Donald O'Connor, all they heard was Jim Carey! No wonder he was moving a little oddly! They had never heard of the other two legends of American cinema.
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