DAY NINETEEN - Friday April 13
We did more cuts in the morning at Chez Duchess of Chicago (my hotel room) which went smoother than yesterday.
I rehearsed a scene that starts with the romantic leads and then includes those funny character guys I told you about yesterday. In the middle of the first blocking session, one of the performers (whom I've seen be brilliant in some of the shows I've seen) gets up with great agitation, storms onto the playing space and starts shouting at the actors. I asked my interpreter what (the F _ _ _) was going on. Said actor was asking what was going on in the scene, what they were playing and why they weren't moving around.
I got really pissed off. First of all, he is an actor who isn't even in this scene - so why is he participating in the rehearsing of it? And how dare he get up and comment on these performers who hadn't even had a chance to find out where I wanted them to move - we had not even gotten through the scene once. I get a sense that if they are not moving on every line that they don't think they are acting. I explained that I have very carefully crafted the moves so that they are all motivated. Standing still does not mean you're not acting. Not thinking means you're not acting. I repeated that I have great reverence for the initial work done on a scene and how dare he get in the way of the process of these two young performers who were playing the text beautifully and were moving only WHEN IT MADE SENSE TO MOVE.
He is one of several actors who feel their roles are too small for their talent. And he, like the others, is probably right. But there is always a sourness when they are in the room - and I really resent it. There are some others with the same size roles and the same talent level who are totally positive in the room. This interruption of his - and my firm reaction to it - made him more sour than usual, of course. I don't really care because when he's working - he's doing good work. Except for when he finds his little comic bits (and the attendant ever-growing number of props he keeps trying to throw in there) are very funny but I find them NOT helping the story telling.
I really couldn't believe his behavior. I later asked some of the younger actors if that type of outburst was normal here. They said it was not. I get a sense that this particular performer is quite demanding and he's just bored with the size of his role.
I think we lunched at "The Office".
In the evening I think I staged scenes with the romantic leads but I'm not really sure. Regardless - it was more rehearsal.
After rehearsal, Slava Okunev - our set and costume designer (see post from DAY TEN - Wednesday April 4 for examples of his beautiful work) - was in town from St. Petersburgh - for 24 hours. He was there to meet with me and all the department heads to make sure everyone knew what was required in the rather short time we have left.
Slava is a very tall, bald, well-dressed giraffe of a man - very graceful, quiet, elegant and VERY calm. Zen even. He looks to be late-40's but, shockingly, has three grandchildren. He seems to design all over Europe and the designs of his that I've seen at this theatre are in a whole different galaxy from everything else I've seen here. He definitely has a Broadway quality sensibility - with GREAT imagination, INCREDIBLE sense of detail and AMAZING sense of period - with an ability to twist the period to make it feel a bit more "today."
He speaks no English so Gregg was, as always, essential and appreciated. We sat around my table - with Patti - and went through the entire show in terms of sets, then costumes. Every time I brought up a new idea, he said with a great lilt in his voice, "Horoshow," which means, "good." Every time I brought up an issue that seemed to be difficult from the technical director's point of view - or something I wasn't sure they would be able to build effectively, he replied with that same calm lilt, "Nyet problem." Obviously - "no problem." He assured me that EVERY SINGLE THING I was asking for - he would make sure we got. Truly a designer who is a director's dream come true. He told me how much he appreciated my attention to detail, respect for the period and extensive dialogue with him. He said that not all directors he worked with are like that and all of the above are reasons for this design process going so smoothly. If they can build what he's designed (which he says they can - I'm dubious) it will be absolutely stunning.
When I tell you that of the 26 shows running here - about 12 of which I've seen in their entirety or others that I've seen moments of, his three are undeniably recognizable - the costumes are a class above (many classes above) everything else. The lighting on his shows is also a cut above everything else and, luckily, we have his frequent lighting designer on our show.
We did more cuts in the morning at Chez Duchess of Chicago (my hotel room) which went smoother than yesterday.
I rehearsed a scene that starts with the romantic leads and then includes those funny character guys I told you about yesterday. In the middle of the first blocking session, one of the performers (whom I've seen be brilliant in some of the shows I've seen) gets up with great agitation, storms onto the playing space and starts shouting at the actors. I asked my interpreter what (the F _ _ _) was going on. Said actor was asking what was going on in the scene, what they were playing and why they weren't moving around.
I got really pissed off. First of all, he is an actor who isn't even in this scene - so why is he participating in the rehearsing of it? And how dare he get up and comment on these performers who hadn't even had a chance to find out where I wanted them to move - we had not even gotten through the scene once. I get a sense that if they are not moving on every line that they don't think they are acting. I explained that I have very carefully crafted the moves so that they are all motivated. Standing still does not mean you're not acting. Not thinking means you're not acting. I repeated that I have great reverence for the initial work done on a scene and how dare he get in the way of the process of these two young performers who were playing the text beautifully and were moving only WHEN IT MADE SENSE TO MOVE.
He is one of several actors who feel their roles are too small for their talent. And he, like the others, is probably right. But there is always a sourness when they are in the room - and I really resent it. There are some others with the same size roles and the same talent level who are totally positive in the room. This interruption of his - and my firm reaction to it - made him more sour than usual, of course. I don't really care because when he's working - he's doing good work. Except for when he finds his little comic bits (and the attendant ever-growing number of props he keeps trying to throw in there) are very funny but I find them NOT helping the story telling.
I really couldn't believe his behavior. I later asked some of the younger actors if that type of outburst was normal here. They said it was not. I get a sense that this particular performer is quite demanding and he's just bored with the size of his role.
I think we lunched at "The Office".
In the evening I think I staged scenes with the romantic leads but I'm not really sure. Regardless - it was more rehearsal.
After rehearsal, Slava Okunev - our set and costume designer (see post from DAY TEN - Wednesday April 4 for examples of his beautiful work) - was in town from St. Petersburgh - for 24 hours. He was there to meet with me and all the department heads to make sure everyone knew what was required in the rather short time we have left.
Slava is a very tall, bald, well-dressed giraffe of a man - very graceful, quiet, elegant and VERY calm. Zen even. He looks to be late-40's but, shockingly, has three grandchildren. He seems to design all over Europe and the designs of his that I've seen at this theatre are in a whole different galaxy from everything else I've seen here. He definitely has a Broadway quality sensibility - with GREAT imagination, INCREDIBLE sense of detail and AMAZING sense of period - with an ability to twist the period to make it feel a bit more "today."
He speaks no English so Gregg was, as always, essential and appreciated. We sat around my table - with Patti - and went through the entire show in terms of sets, then costumes. Every time I brought up a new idea, he said with a great lilt in his voice, "Horoshow," which means, "good." Every time I brought up an issue that seemed to be difficult from the technical director's point of view - or something I wasn't sure they would be able to build effectively, he replied with that same calm lilt, "Nyet problem." Obviously - "no problem." He assured me that EVERY SINGLE THING I was asking for - he would make sure we got. Truly a designer who is a director's dream come true. He told me how much he appreciated my attention to detail, respect for the period and extensive dialogue with him. He said that not all directors he worked with are like that and all of the above are reasons for this design process going so smoothly. If they can build what he's designed (which he says they can - I'm dubious) it will be absolutely stunning.
When I tell you that of the 26 shows running here - about 12 of which I've seen in their entirety or others that I've seen moments of, his three are undeniably recognizable - the costumes are a class above (many classes above) everything else. The lighting on his shows is also a cut above everything else and, luckily, we have his frequent lighting designer on our show.
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