Here are some photos of Long Branch, where Amy and I went to catch the final preview of Minstrel Show at New Jersey Rep, which I assistant directed for Rob Urbinati. Before the show, Amy and I walked down to Pier Village and checked out the beach. There are palm trees there! I imagine they won't make it through the winter. We had a great dinner at Stewart's Root Beer, which serves 50s style diner food.
Showing posts with label Directing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Directing. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Surf, sand, and Minstrels
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
365 at the Public Theatre
Suzan-Lori Parks 365 Days/365 Plays festival Weeks 4-8 was held at the Public Theatre's Shiva Theatre last Sunday. We had our tech at noon - only 45 minutes. Luckily we only had 10 chairs for our set and our tech crew had already done preliminary work, so our tech went pretty smooth.
We had a fully company meeting at 2pm. There were five theatre companies total, and we pretty much filled up the entire theatre. It was great to see all these people involved in this project.
The day went very well. It was great to see what all the different theatre companies did with their pieces.
The audience for both performances (3pm and 7pm) really responded favorably to the plays Rob and I directed, and they loved our cast.
I was really very proud of them, since most of them were ESL students for Rob at Laguardia College, and most of them don't have any desire to pursue acting professionally, they were such pros during the peformances.
I think we were all a little surprised with how much the audience responded during our first peformance with lot's of laughter and such. What was great was the cast not pushing anything for the last performance. They just did what they had rehearsed, and not tried to push the audience for the same reactions. That's a trait that many seasoned actors still don't have.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
My New York directing debut
Last weekend was considerably busy for me. Not only did I have the hong kong dragon boat festival, but the one-act play I directed opened at the same time. It was a good experience for me. My cast was great (three actors) and it was a pleasure working for Manhattan Theatre Rep. They have their own space on 42nd and 8th ave which is right on the edge of time square. The stage itself is no more than the size of my living room, seating about 30 people. That's the great thing about off-off broadway. The focus isn't so much on the production values as it is on the acting and the writing. I was pleased with how the show went and apparently so was Ken Wolf, the artistic director of manhattan rep. He has offered to let me produce and direct anything I want in the spring, as long as it's under 90 minutes. Right now I'm on a plane flying back to NE for the weekend to see family and friends and recharge my batteries from a very busy month. It doesn't look like it will lighten up when I get back, since I'm currently assistant directing a show called Foggy Bottom for the Abingdon theatre which opens in Sept. That same month I'm also taking a fight class with the vampire cowboys theatre, led by brotha nuge (Qui Nguyen) who wrote Trial By Water. In October I'm re-directing some stage readings of one acts that I directed last december for Queens Theatre in the Park. Busy busy busy. I'm not complaining.
Nuge
Saturday, August 05, 2006
treonauts
Vera and shaka playing with their treos after our tech rehearsal today. Tech went well. We open in 4 days! This pic was taken with MY treo :)
Thursday, June 15, 2006
ATW Director's Seminar
Today I went to the American Theatre Wing "Working in the Theatre" seminar on Directing. They had five guest directors there. Scott Elliot(Three Penny Opera, Barefoot in the Park) Doug Hughes (Doubt, Frozen), John Rando (The Wedding Singer, Urinetown), Leigh Silverman (Well, Wit), and Joe Mantello (Wicked, Assassins, Take Me Out). The seminars are televised, so when I got there they put me in the center about three rows back, to fill up the camera wide shots. The Recital Hall were it was taped is not that big by any means, and it was a surprisingly low turnout. Nonetheless, the seminar was very interesting and well worth the $10 to get in.
Doug Hughes reminded me very much like Orson Welles, just from his style and demeanor. He started off directing a series of original one acts at Harvard. He said somethig really profound which I liked. He said a director's job was to "force a consensus" He admitted it was a little militant and dictatorial, but he felt that's what a director does when dealing with actors, designers, producers, is to guide or "force" the entire group into agreement on ideas and concepts. He was very eloquent, and had an interesting accent that I couldn't quite place.
Joe Mantello started his directing career by acting at Circle Rep (now defunct). He said was was not happy with the shows there (I guess from a directorial standpoint) and so he basically stated he wanted to direct the next show there. He described Circle Rep as being a very nurturing theatre, and so they let him direct a show there which was very successful. That show then transferred to their mainstage (I think a year later?) and he said it was a disaster. Nonethless, they let him continue to direct, and the rest is history. One thing about Mr Mantello is that I can tell he thinks faster than he talks. You can see the wheels turning in his head as his mouth tries to articulate what he's thinking. His demeanor reminds me of John Gould Rubin, whom I assistant directed earlier this year. Consequently, they both come from an acting background.
Leigh Silverman, the only female in the group, was very articulate. She spent 6 years assistant directing and actually assisted Doug Hughes. Notably, Ms. Silverman worked with Doug Hughes at the New York Theatre Workshop. I think she was the youngest out of all the directors on the panel. She seems very saavy.
John Rando AD'd for many years as well, and couch surfed during those years as an assistant. He got to assist Jack O'brien (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels). John Rando is very unassuming and reminds me of a typical high school teacher. He's got a very trustworthy quality about him. Something about him puts me at ease.
Scott Elliot surprisingly started off as an actor doing broadway musicals for several years, in which he claims he hated it. That's when he became a director. He started his own theatre called The New Group Theatre and he states his first show he produced for $5000 and built all his own sets. Sounds strangely familiar. When talking about Assistant Directing, he had never done it himself, but has one that he always works with. She is 25 years older than he, and was a soap actress once, but she assists him on every single project that he works on, on and off Broadway.
The common themes of the director's early career moves was that they attached themselves to really good playwrights. Also, some served as assistant directors for many years before becoming a professional one themselves. It was also great to see Scott Elliot taking charge of his career by starting his own theatre and basically producing himself and creating his own opportunities, which is something I highly believe in.
Doug Hughes reminded me very much like Orson Welles, just from his style and demeanor. He started off directing a series of original one acts at Harvard. He said somethig really profound which I liked. He said a director's job was to "force a consensus" He admitted it was a little militant and dictatorial, but he felt that's what a director does when dealing with actors, designers, producers, is to guide or "force" the entire group into agreement on ideas and concepts. He was very eloquent, and had an interesting accent that I couldn't quite place.
Joe Mantello started his directing career by acting at Circle Rep (now defunct). He said was was not happy with the shows there (I guess from a directorial standpoint) and so he basically stated he wanted to direct the next show there. He described Circle Rep as being a very nurturing theatre, and so they let him direct a show there which was very successful. That show then transferred to their mainstage (I think a year later?) and he said it was a disaster. Nonethless, they let him continue to direct, and the rest is history. One thing about Mr Mantello is that I can tell he thinks faster than he talks. You can see the wheels turning in his head as his mouth tries to articulate what he's thinking. His demeanor reminds me of John Gould Rubin, whom I assistant directed earlier this year. Consequently, they both come from an acting background.
Leigh Silverman, the only female in the group, was very articulate. She spent 6 years assistant directing and actually assisted Doug Hughes. Notably, Ms. Silverman worked with Doug Hughes at the New York Theatre Workshop. I think she was the youngest out of all the directors on the panel. She seems very saavy.
John Rando AD'd for many years as well, and couch surfed during those years as an assistant. He got to assist Jack O'brien (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels). John Rando is very unassuming and reminds me of a typical high school teacher. He's got a very trustworthy quality about him. Something about him puts me at ease.
Scott Elliot surprisingly started off as an actor doing broadway musicals for several years, in which he claims he hated it. That's when he became a director. He started his own theatre called The New Group Theatre and he states his first show he produced for $5000 and built all his own sets. Sounds strangely familiar. When talking about Assistant Directing, he had never done it himself, but has one that he always works with. She is 25 years older than he, and was a soap actress once, but she assists him on every single project that he works on, on and off Broadway.
The common themes of the director's early career moves was that they attached themselves to really good playwrights. Also, some served as assistant directors for many years before becoming a professional one themselves. It was also great to see Scott Elliot taking charge of his career by starting his own theatre and basically producing himself and creating his own opportunities, which is something I highly believe in.
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