DAY TEN - Wednesday April 4

DAY TEN - Wednesday April 4

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JANET

I called Janet at a minute after midnight NY time - to wish her a happy birthday. 
First, we had a press conference - pictures below. We were at a table with the Consul General of the US (D. Michael Reinert) to this region (he has half of Siberia as well).  There were several video cameras, still cameras and journalists - us and our interpreters.  As the conference was getting ready to start this music came blaring through a sound system and suddenly, we were thrown into an episode of "Dancing With The Stars!"  This scantily-clad dancing couple came out and danced a rather sexy dance that should have either been on the ice somewhere, or in some club in Las Vegas - but they were amazing dancers.  The press secretary of the theatre said that they had the dancers there because there is a lot of dance in "The Duchess of Chicago."  The dancing that they did and the dancing that is in our show are not similar at all. We each introduced ourselves and spoke about our particular departments and then when it was over, a really cool band, "Emerald" (Izumrud)played a cover of an American song - they were fantastic. 

 From L to R - Patti Colombo, Me, Irina (Gugu) - one of our interpreters, Boris Nodelman - Chief Conductor

 Me - about to say... something.

 Patti saying something profound.

The Maestro... Grisha

D. Michael  Reinert - the Consul General

 Me signing a board about what surprises us about Russia.  I said something about how vibrant the culture is.

Patti - looking very lovely.

 Me... looking very goofy.  I hope they didn't publish this one!

 The panel...

 Patti - writing about culture AND how everyone here had great skin.

 The dancing couple who were great - but their dances had nothing to do with our show - other than they were "dancing" and there is "dancing" in our show! 

 The dancers

Then... to rehearsal - where we started by singing Janet happy birthday (see video).

A message from the cast:



The end of the Russian birthday song it says "Too bad birthdays only come once a year."

We continued our read and then had a delicious Japanese lunch (2nd day in a row) - see videos below about this great restaurant... 

When anybody enters, they bang a gong!



You can't really see it in this video but the spout on this tea kettle is about 3 feet long!


A couple of our interpreters.


By the way this is how they park here in Russia!

Then we auditioned kids for the show. We need three boys and three girls. We'll (apparently) have three casts of each - so we'll cast 9 boys and 9 girls. There were about 15 boys in this class - and they were tugging them back and forth saying "This boy can sing, this boy can dance, these boys cannot sing..." It seemed rather insensitive to the boys involved. I had them all shout out a little newsboy line and we selected our favorite three for that role - then danced them a bit to get the other kids. But all discussions were in front of the boys - with no concern for who was being disappointed (NOT getting a part) and who WAS getting a part. It was a little awkward for us Americans.

In the evening, we finished our table work.  During our breaks I went into the theatre to see their production of Offenbach's "Bluebeard."  They are retiring the production tonight.  I was in a whole different galaxy, design-wise, from the first show we saw and, understandably, much more opulent and showy than Fiddler.  But it was AMAZINGLY designed.  Crazy, gorgeous, imaginative costumes, really cool deconstructed/worn/elegant set.  I then learned it is the same designer who has given us our gorgeous sets and costumes!  It was very exciting to see the kind of production values we are used to in the states happening here.  Based on the first two shows I saw (clearly smaller budgets) I wasn't sure if the gorgeous designs I had received from the designer could actually be achieved.  But, from this evidence, it appears they will. 

Here are our set renderings and a couple of costume designs by Slava Okunev (sp?) of St. Petersburg - NOT Florida!

The Prologue and Epilogue - The Grill Americain

 

Act One - The Sylvarian Palace, Throne Room

Act Two - The Sylvarian Palace, Throne Room - after Mary's renovation.

And some costumes...

And... goodnight.

DAY NINE - Tuesday April 3

DAY NINE - Tuesday April 9

Tuesday's are the day off here.  So we were on our own all day.

I woke up to the following weather... outside my window, of course!



I reformatted my computer, did my prop list and made a floor plan to help me start staging as the floorplan I got from the technical director was not entirely useful.

We went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch/dinner which was surprisingly delicious.  This guy kept coming around with what looked like a watering can with a 4 foot spout - it was this delicious tea, poured through miles of brass - I'll try to get a picture the next time we go there.

Back home to (finally) update this blog - while Gregg is feverishly and thankfully translating my copious prop notes to get to the designer and technical director.

By the way, Patti is finally feeling better and based on her discussions on the subject of food - at restaurants - she seems to be something of a foody.  She identifies obscure ingredients in dishes and I am certain she is a wonderful cook.  But she keeps burning the freakin' toast upstairs and the whole mini-hotel smells like roasted cardboard boxes!  The microwaves apparently have a grilling function.  But as we don't read Russian, it is understandably difficult to negotiate properly.  I just went upstairs to check on her - and it's rather foggy in there!

Tomorrow, a big press conference to announce this show and the "American Spring" collaboration of which we are taking part.

But for now... good night!

P.S. It's also Janet's birthday tomorrow!!!

DAY EIGHT - Monday April 2

DAY EIGHT - Monday April 2

We continued with reading and discussing the play - finishing the first cast and starting the second cast.  These are not my first and second designations for actual first and second performances yet - we'll start experimenting with those when we start staging.

Patti was with us for the morning session.  Then we went to "the office" for lunch.  Patti had a spicy Mexican salad that she quite enjoyed a few days ago.  But she lived to regret it because she started feeling sick upon leaving the restaurant.  She ended up in bed for the rest of the day and much of the next day!

After the evening rehearsal, we were invited to a little birthday celebration for one of the actors.  There are these small dressing rooms that the performers share - down a winding hallway.  Many, many doors with curtains behind them and within a sink, a piano and very little other furnishings.  We had a lovely spread of tea and cake and folks toasted Igor - who is comic couple guy.  One of the actresses gave him a little glass ship and toasted him saying she hoped this ship would sail him to his dreams.  I added that as he sailed to his dreams, I hoped he'd drink plenty of vodka and handed him a "Chicago" shot glass from Gregg, Patti and myself.

From L to R - stage manager (although I'm not sure exactly what they do here. It is a VERY different position than in America. They don't help with schedule [there is a separate person for that], there is no contact sheet, nobody is calling breaks, there is no real organizational structure here unless it comes from me - which so different from how things are in the states), Vova (one of our comic guys), Oleg (the guy who wanted more lines - and deserves them - NOTE FROM THE FUTURE - Oleg, tragically, passed away suddenly in early Autumn of 2012. I liked him very much.), Sasha K (one of the guys who I think is young for the role but is extremely talented), Lonya (one of our romantic lead guys), Igor (the birthday boy and the other comic lead guy), Luda (one of our romantic lead gals), me, Nastia (one of the comic lead gals), Ksenia (the another of the three romantic lead gals), Tanya (the other comic lead gal) and Anatolij (one of the smaller roles).

And then... to bed.  For a well-deserved (I think) day off.

DAY SEVEN - Sunday April 1

DAY SEVEN - Sunday April 1

Today we had our first day of two sessions.  Which was nice. We finished reading the second group of principals and then we started at the beginning again - but stopping to discuss history, relationships, stakes, conflict, goals, etc. We also found out over the past few days that the tempi at which they rehearsed the show before we got here were very, very slow - in a very un-American Musical Comedy way.  We worked to speed up the tempi and got a bit of flak, from one gal in particular. We had to explain that an American Foxtrot had to move like an American Foxtrot.  She felt if it was slower it could be more romantic. I firmly explained that romance can be slow but it can also be energized and that the slower tempo sucked all the energy out of the thing.  The differences in our approaches become clearer and clearer every day - as does the circuitous navigation that will be necessary to find our common ground. But we'll find it, I have no doubt. 
Later in the rehearsal, I could see some folks smiling and nodding along to these new tempi - as if hearing them in a new way - and liking it.  So that was very rewarding.

That same "Problem With The Tempi Woman" said at one point during our "table work", "Can we please rehearse?"  I explained that we WERE rehearsing.  In spite of that comment, with each passing hour, they seemed to accept a different way of working and judging from the frequency and ever-increasing depth of the questions they asked, we were clearly engaging each other in very exciting and creative ways. These people are CLEARLY very passionate about their work and take it very seriously. So even though there were some slightly heated moments - passionate, never angry, the work was very exciting.  And, of course, challenging - having to wait for an interpreter during each exchange direction of a two-way exchange.

One of the gents who is clearly a very gifted actor but has a rather small role in this show asked if I could make his part bigger. I explained that as a director, it was not my job, nor did it serve the play well, to simply add lines for him.  It would be bad for the play but maybe good for him.  He suggested we cut his role altogether.  He clearly has great skills and he's one of the guys I'd rather see playing a larger role that one of the young guys is playing. But those young guys are good too - so where would we put them? The re-casting puzzle was getting more complicated the more I thought about it - I truly did want to see this guy (and some others) in a larger role - but what's written is what's written.

At the end of the day, Gregg and I went to meet the chorus and have a short rehearsal with them.  Some of these folks will take comprimari (smaller) roles.

Here's a section of the chorus.

The re-casting conversation may have happened this day. I don't remember exactly. Regardless, afterwards, we were treated to a little bit of an American concert by the chief conductor here, Boris Nodelman.  As you can judge from his last name, he is of the tribe.  He offered to take me to a synagogue on Friday night for Passover!  Should be very interesting.  Here he is tickling the ivories...


For lunch we had a little slice of New York. Just across the street from the theatre is a cinema and inside the cinema is a Sbarros!  As Patti was still sick (still, poor thing), Gregg and I went there.  See the familiar logo? And the snow.

 See the menu?

 See my food?!

I thought you might enjoy seeing the journey from the outside world to my hotel room - if only to see how insanely close it is to a bustling theatre that welcomes about 1,500 people a day - just outside my door!

Here's the tour...



After lunch, we returned to continue our read/discussion/table work.  Again, the questions came more often and the dialogue between America and Russia got more engaging and the work continued to grow.

At night, I had a very special treat.  I got a Facetime call from the kids and they were playing Scattergories with my mom - who was visiting NY while my father was in Saudi Arabia opening up a new factory.

One of the kids suggested that I play Scattergories with them - so I did.  Fully engaged, two full rounds.  I even won!  It was like being there... almost.  I miss hugging and kissing them all, of course, but I'm telling you, this Facetime/Skype thing is making this adventure even possible.  I new it would be important... I could never have anticipated how much, though.

DAY SIX - Saturday March 31

DAY SIX - Saturday March 31

We started reading the play a second time with other principals.  It was becoming clear very fast who would fit well together.  They were all very good, mind you. Some were a little more inspired in the acting department - although a first read is not always the best indicator for that. 

I was a little concerned that some of the older roles were being played by actors who were too young.  And that one of the stronger character guys was a bit too winning and attractive for the old king.  I proposed a rather complicated re-casting concept which, to their credit, the principal and asst. conductors and scheduler all listened to with open minds. They wisely suggested we wait until Wed to make final decisions 1) because my opinions might change and 2) it might not be possible to make the changes necessary without doing some emotional damage to valuable, and talented, performers.

Again, we only had one session because of the "Fiddler" performance.

Gregg and I took "my" translator (they assign one to me and one to Patti each day) to "the office."  Her name is Irina Gugushina (she's on the first day video) and she is very good at her job - well, she's volunteering - they all are - but she has achieved the quickest learning curve of all of them. 

In the evening Gregg and I attended the "Fiddler" performance - Patti was sick.

It was very impressive.  Kirill directed it and had done some very imaginative things.  The set was an impressive tower of scaffolding that was used very imaginatively. There were some wonderful performances but the Tevye - a rare appearance by an actor from outside this company - was absolutely fantastic.  Very powerful, very emotional, very truthful.  All in all - a nice evening.  Again, a full theatre. 

DAY FIVE - Friday March 30

DAY FIVE - Friday March 30

THE FIRST DAY OF REHEARSAL!!!

The rehearsal room must have been filled with about 70 people.  We had both casts of principals (about 30) -some administrators (about 10), translators (about 2), a chorus (about 20) and some others.  A very full room. We did NOT have the ballet company (another 20 or so folks).

Kirill made his introductions and then I started my presentation.  Here are the first few minutes on video.

By the way - I always try and insert humor into my chats.  But Russian humor is very different from American (or this American's) humor.  I was proud to get a few laughs.  But there were some cricket moments when I waited for a laugh and none came.

By the way, the translater here is Irina Gugushina (Gugu for short).

After my presentation we started reading with a rather randomly selected collection of principals.  But it was clear these folks have lots of experience in theatre and also with comedy. There is a plethora of great character guys in this company. We only had 3 1/2 hours of rehearsal today because many of the folks were in "Fiddler" so we read the show once and will start with the other set of principals tomorrow.

We went to "the office" for lunch and I think just relaxed in the evening.  Well, I relaxed.  Patti started getting sick.  She ended up in bed for three days - well not entirely in bed - she spent lots of time in the bathroom, poor thing. 

DAY FOUR - Thursday March 29

DAY FOUR- Thursday March 29

Our first event of the day was meeting our 6 translators. These are young women who are students at the university near the theatre. They have never interpreted before and they all seemed rather timid and it was clear there would be a large learning curve.  None of them had ever worked in the theatre so there were lots of terms to explain and a bit of assertiveness training would be in order.

We then went to listen to a third candidate for our male lead - I mentioned that the show is double cast - well, apparently, the two leads will be TRIPLE cast!  Yes, we get to rehearse everything three times instead of two!  This guy was a student at the conservatory where the chief conductor (Boris) teaches.  He was definitely less experienced than the others we had heard. But he had a very strong voice. Worse, he had this beautiful young woman singing beautifully in his face and he never, once, took his eyes off of his music - which was on his iPad.  He clearly was a singer more than an actor - he definitely had potential - but needed more experience in an environment where there is focus on things other than voice.  We later had a meeting about his involvement and it seems they want to get him started in the company.  So there we are...

We then went on a tour of the technical side of the building - which is like it's own nation.  There are the tech offices on the sixth floor, then there is the paint shop (large), the scenery shop (large - with wonderful ancient, rough floor boards and the smell of freshly cut wood - all metal and welding (which is most of our set) will be jobbed out elsewhere, the prop shop, the women's costume shop (where they build only the women's clothing), the men's costume shop (where they build only the men's clothing, and - most amzing - the cobbler shop.  They literally build all the shoes here - from huge pieces of leather.  It's cramped space with three workers and all these old fashioned machines that you see in old shoe repair shops from distant memory.  But when you see dance shoes, or heels for women - even leather-soled - they are built here... from scratch.  It was really cool.  Oh, they also have their own dry cleaning plant in the building!

Again, this theatre employs over 500 people.  Yet many of the methods seem a bit behind the times.  As Gregg has said, in America, labor is expensive and technology is cheap.  In Russia, it is the opposite, technology is expensive, labor is cheap.

We went to "the office" for lunch again:

 Gregg and Patti

Patti and yours truly...

In the evening, we had front row seats to a performance of a show "Park" which takes Soviet era composers and sets their music to a loose story that is set in a city park through the ages.  Again, the house was full.  There were some great performances.  Sound was loud - they unfortunately have these huge Madonna-in-a-video-type wireless microphones which are right in front of their mouths.  In most American theatres - and certainly on Broadway, microphones all but disappear and are little elements that hook on the ear or peek out of a wig so they are very unobtrusive.  These are like ping pong balls on everybody's cheeks. We are hoping to NOT have to use them on our show. NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: In looking back - it seems they use these microphones for the more musical-type shows and (appropriately) the rock musicals. Operetta tend to be amplified by area mics that hang down a various points above the stage.

The show was impressive, if a bit lengthy - about 2:45 with intermission.  Again, some great performers - many of whom are in our show.  Everything is double cast here so we saw only one set of performers in this particular show.  Tomorrow and Saturday have two different "Fiddler On The Roof" casts.  We're going on Saturday. 

During intermission, I did find some delicious pizza with chicken in the theatre restaurant - not the Soviet-era throwback buffet for the company - the glitzy cafeteria for the general public.  In fact, I think I enjoyed this pizza three days in a row.  The girls behind the counter came to know me and had my plate of two slices ready every night by the time I reached the counter.  They cleverly figured out they could tell me how much it costs by entering the digits on a calculator.

I had asked for a video projector for my first day presentation to the cast. Since I didn't find out until today that I would get it, I had lots of homework to do getting the Powerpoint presentation together for the first day.  It consisted of a bit of background stuff but mostly set and costume drawings.

Big day tomorrow.