Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Home at last
I've unpacked, I'm sitting on my couch, the cat has mostly forgiven me, and the past six weeks feel wildly telescoped in both directions. I don't think I have the right mushroom to eat to get me back to where I was before Goodspeed, but that's the whole point, I guess. I'm a little numb; six weeks of constant self-evaluation (because, let's face it, our shows are ourselves) is both draining and strangely addictive. Each time I identified a problem and came up with a solution was a mini-rush, pushing me to look for another problem, etc. But at some point, I began to wonder if I was just making up problems so I could fix them.
And the Feedback, that multi-headed monster who giveth (standing ovations, "strongest score I've heard in years", "a good, old-fashioned patriotic show") and taketh away ("dreck", "this proves that there is no talent left in musical theater", "the composer should be smothered"). What to do? First, I guess, is to realize that there isn't a show, movie, book, painting or sculpture on the planet that someone doesn't hate. Then, we listen to the voices in the middle, who (thankfully) kept saying the same things in one way or another. And we have faith, or something like it: we try to really believe the people who like what we've written, even when we know we can do better, we can always do better, in an art form where there is no perfect.
And we keep writing. Two months from today, we begin rehearsals in DC for our production at the Ford's Theatre. Yesterday, we generated a lengthy to-do list, including some major structural changes, a proposed new song (in addition to the two new songs we wrote during the Goodspeed run and didn't get to put in to the show), and a few last cans of worms we'd pushed to the back of the pantry but finally have to open and address.
But what can't be summarized in a blog or captured on a list is the experience of working with such a beautiful, creative and generous group of actors, designers and staff as we had at Goodspeed. The support and camaraderie through good times and hard is what got us through and maybe is what will keep us writing when, on a daily basis, we think, "There's got to be an easier job." Well, of course there is, but I guarantee there's nothing like it.
See you in Washington!
And the Feedback, that multi-headed monster who giveth (standing ovations, "strongest score I've heard in years", "a good, old-fashioned patriotic show") and taketh away ("dreck", "this proves that there is no talent left in musical theater", "the composer should be smothered"). What to do? First, I guess, is to realize that there isn't a show, movie, book, painting or sculpture on the planet that someone doesn't hate. Then, we listen to the voices in the middle, who (thankfully) kept saying the same things in one way or another. And we have faith, or something like it: we try to really believe the people who like what we've written, even when we know we can do better, we can always do better, in an art form where there is no perfect.
And we keep writing. Two months from today, we begin rehearsals in DC for our production at the Ford's Theatre. Yesterday, we generated a lengthy to-do list, including some major structural changes, a proposed new song (in addition to the two new songs we wrote during the Goodspeed run and didn't get to put in to the show), and a few last cans of worms we'd pushed to the back of the pantry but finally have to open and address.
But what can't be summarized in a blog or captured on a list is the experience of working with such a beautiful, creative and generous group of actors, designers and staff as we had at Goodspeed. The support and camaraderie through good times and hard is what got us through and maybe is what will keep us writing when, on a daily basis, we think, "There's got to be an easier job." Well, of course there is, but I guarantee there's nothing like it.
See you in Washington!
Final performance
Tori's handiwork
Cast member Tori Huston-Elem's inspired tribute. Click to enlarge!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
One show left, and we've officially Made It
I've been awfully radio-silent for the past couple weeks, and I do have some final thoughts which I'll share tomorrow, but until then, I had to announce our arrival into the annals of Theatre History: our Goodspeed playbill has shown up on eBay. Yes, you heard it here-- but don't all rush to the site at once, you know they can only handle so many million hits per minute.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Playbill-Meet-John-Doe-Andrew-Gerle-Eddy-Sugarman_W0QQitemZ170056245046QQihZ007QQcategoryZ2365QQcmdZViewItem
What makes it so sweet is that they spelled Eddie's name wrong.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Playbill-Meet-John-Doe-Andrew-Gerle-Eddy-Sugarman_W0QQitemZ170056245046QQihZ007QQcategoryZ2365QQcmdZViewItem
What makes it so sweet is that they spelled Eddie's name wrong.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Ghost light
After party 2
Donna Lynne Champlin, Nicole Mangi, choreographer Karma Camp, costume designer Alejo Vietti, Mark Sanders
After party 1
Patrick Ryan Sullivan, Andrew Gerle, Donna Lynne Champlin, James Moye, Eddie Sugarman
Where we've been
Yes, I know we've been silent for a few days, because... WE OPENED! After an incredible final push, Thursday night was our first performance for a paying audience (see pic), and it was terrific. Seeing it with real people in the house highlighted the parts that consistently work, and the parts which are consistently a little soft or hard to put across. Now it's our job to sharpen all those moments and make everyone's lives (actors, musicians and audience members) a little bit easier.
Gotta run to a matinee-- more thoughts later, especially after the two full days of writing that we get tomorrow and Tuesday.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
11:30 PM, tech night 2
Ann and John after the Rally
John finishes his national tour
Recognized!
Eileen (Monique French) spots John (Jim Moye) at her diner, as the Colonel (Joel Blum) watches.
Does at the diner
John speaks to the nation
Real headlines!
Keegan Michael Brown and Victoria Huston-Elem
The headlines we wrote two weeks ago appear in a real newspaper, thanks to the incredible props team here at Goodspeed.
Sandwich board
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Please keep your arms and legs inside the musical at all times
Quite a ride for writers three weeks into a developmental production.
Last Saturday: two weeks of work all paying off; changes all working, show running great. UP!
Sunday: design "run-through", with producers and staff in "audience". Goes well, then Goodspeed AD Michael Price gives his patented notes session. Always the gentleman, but let's just say no punches pulled. Problems we thought we'd solved rear their ugly heads again, Hydra-like, and torment us in our dreams: "What made you think you could write a show? You have no talent! Get a real job!" DOWN.
Monday: day off. Substantial cuts, and a plan for a great new number. Paring comedy bits down just to the funniest jokes, get in, get out. We're so smart! What great fixes! UP!
Tuesday: Working on the new number, plus triaging all the cuts we've made so we don't lose any information and the flow still makes sense. Confident we're on the right path. STRAIGHT AHEAD.
Wednesday morning: new number that was so funny yesterday is suddenly not at all. Moment is extraneous, song is clunky, and now we hate the number we cut so we can't go back to it. Babies, bathwater, all pouring out the holes of our sinking show. WAY DOWN.
Wednesday afternoon: song is finished, and we sing it through with great trepidation for Karma and Michael. They love it! Everything we were trying to accomplish is there in buckets, the song is funny, heartwarming, adds just the moment we were missing in the story, we're geniuses, How did we write it so fast? WAY UP.
Thursday (today): staged the new number, still funny, still the right moment. Other cuts are being staged, also to great effect. Still geniuses. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Last Saturday: two weeks of work all paying off; changes all working, show running great. UP!
Sunday: design "run-through", with producers and staff in "audience". Goes well, then Goodspeed AD Michael Price gives his patented notes session. Always the gentleman, but let's just say no punches pulled. Problems we thought we'd solved rear their ugly heads again, Hydra-like, and torment us in our dreams: "What made you think you could write a show? You have no talent! Get a real job!" DOWN.
Monday: day off. Substantial cuts, and a plan for a great new number. Paring comedy bits down just to the funniest jokes, get in, get out. We're so smart! What great fixes! UP!
Tuesday: Working on the new number, plus triaging all the cuts we've made so we don't lose any information and the flow still makes sense. Confident we're on the right path. STRAIGHT AHEAD.
Wednesday morning: new number that was so funny yesterday is suddenly not at all. Moment is extraneous, song is clunky, and now we hate the number we cut so we can't go back to it. Babies, bathwater, all pouring out the holes of our sinking show. WAY DOWN.
Wednesday afternoon: song is finished, and we sing it through with great trepidation for Karma and Michael. They love it! Everything we were trying to accomplish is there in buckets, the song is funny, heartwarming, adds just the moment we were missing in the story, we're geniuses, How did we write it so fast? WAY UP.
Thursday (today): staged the new number, still funny, still the right moment. Other cuts are being staged, also to great effect. Still geniuses. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Feeling it
Just an update on "Inside the Writers' Minds": we're Tired.
Having spent 11 days straight doing nothing but rewriting, we have to say we're a little crispy. We're very excited about everything we've done (even the big dance number that I spent the better part of a day writing that we've pretty much now decided to scrap), but each morning, it's a little harder to leave our cozy apartments and head back to the rehearsal hall. We're just now tackling some final bumpy patches, getting rid of clunky, old-fashioned transitions, newsboys yelling headlines (please stop, already, I have a headache), identifying places we need underscoring, etc. Nothing major, but it's hard to accept that the end is in sight, that we won't actually be rewriting this show until we're 50.
Today we staged the only new number we've added since we've been here, and it's making everyone cry, so I'm pretty sure it's a keeper. And, more exciting yet: I spent much of the last two days making the orchestra parts up-to-date with all the little changes we've made, and they're 95% done and being printed to give to our players this weekend! We'll be using a four-piece band: piano, bass, drums and mallets (xylophone and vibraphone), which is a combo we've used before and gives just enough period color without trying to sound like a full orchestration. We'll be adding six more players at Ford's, which is when we'll pull out all the stops.
I should get back to doing something useful, like keeping an eye out for leaks: it's raining in such torrents, the gentle babbling brook that runs under the rehearsal studio has turned into a class 5 rapids.
-Andrew
Having spent 11 days straight doing nothing but rewriting, we have to say we're a little crispy. We're very excited about everything we've done (even the big dance number that I spent the better part of a day writing that we've pretty much now decided to scrap), but each morning, it's a little harder to leave our cozy apartments and head back to the rehearsal hall. We're just now tackling some final bumpy patches, getting rid of clunky, old-fashioned transitions, newsboys yelling headlines (please stop, already, I have a headache), identifying places we need underscoring, etc. Nothing major, but it's hard to accept that the end is in sight, that we won't actually be rewriting this show until we're 50.
Today we staged the only new number we've added since we've been here, and it's making everyone cry, so I'm pretty sure it's a keeper. And, more exciting yet: I spent much of the last two days making the orchestra parts up-to-date with all the little changes we've made, and they're 95% done and being printed to give to our players this weekend! We'll be using a four-piece band: piano, bass, drums and mallets (xylophone and vibraphone), which is a combo we've used before and gives just enough period color without trying to sound like a full orchestration. We'll be adding six more players at Ford's, which is when we'll pull out all the stops.
I should get back to doing something useful, like keeping an eye out for leaks: it's raining in such torrents, the gentle babbling brook that runs under the rehearsal studio has turned into a class 5 rapids.
-Andrew
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
The little things
It's the morning after our day off, and I'm exhausted because I decided to do almost nothing but work yesterday. A glimpse into the difficult and weighty decisions that plague us today: coming up with some new material for the Colonel, including a long discussion about what's a funnier item in a list of things he disdains: tie pins? tie tacks? tie clips? bow ties? Of course, the answer was: poodles. Poodles definitely funnier.
