No blog yesterday as I thought I had left my laptop in the pub! Only to discover it under the seat in my car on my way to Tonbridge to spend a few days with my mum and dad.
One of the things I have really enjoyed during the run of the panto has been just how many of my friends and family have pitched up to see it, and many from quite a distance away. This means that you get to see them, have a drink and a catch up, usually in small groups and to my surprise and delight friends and family at almost every show. Its lovely and feels a bit like a very long party, without the work!
Its also great and sometimes very helpful to get their specific feedback on what works and what could be better.The dress transformation is typically a topic of interest, usually with people saying they love it and not being able to work it out. The children in the audience of course don't need to know the mechanics because they "know" its magic, certainly if they are under 8 years old!
Imagine still living in that place?
The feedback about the dress really makes me happy because it is precisely what I wanted to achieve from the beginning. In fact, Phil's friend Tim Major, producer of the Broadway pantos from 2004-2009 came to see the show on Saturday, which was great. I thought it especially generous as his company was not invited to renew its contract for the panto for 2010 when the theatre management took it in-house. Tim and I had the beginning of a really good conversation about the difference between the training kids get in acting and singing and dancing. We were just getting to an interesting bit when MJ arrived to call beginners.
I caught up with him a little bit in the Spotted Dog after the show where a few friends and most of the cast went for a jar. And I am sure that there were a lot of technical things he would have seen with a director's eye, but in the short time before I left the pub he was gracious enough to praise the dress transformation.
Much like the praise from Richard Ireson from Narrowroad Creatives Agency, it means a lot when another professional rates something that highly, especially when you know that they have directed the very same show. I was especially pleased with Tim's comment as he has a long term relationship with the theatre and is a close colleague and partner of Phil's. They work together at the Finch Stage School, so Tim knows Stacey, Amy and Ella.
It might be a little ungracious of me however, given the all round praise the transformation has received, that its still not quite perfect enough for me. This is certainly nit picking as its definitely more than good enough! The technical delivery by Amy is excellent now, the co-ordination of hand and eye direction, the distraction, the glitter etc all add to lead the audience's attention. And I love it!
My only wish, and I have discussed this at length with Ian, Zoe and Alison is that the dress was a little more sparkly, and also that there is a different one, exactly the same for the ball, with more on it. We have been so concerned and with our novice "dress transforming" skills, we have chosen to keep it really simple, and I think that's right.
What it means of course is that next time Ian is interviewed to design Cinderella for another company, he will be able to take this secret technology and technique with him! Which is great. Phil, Owen and I too! Let alone all our cast, crew and chorus!
Its also great and sometimes very helpful to get their specific feedback on what works and what could be better.The dress transformation is typically a topic of interest, usually with people saying they love it and not being able to work it out. The children in the audience of course don't need to know the mechanics because they "know" its magic, certainly if they are under 8 years old!
Imagine still living in that place?
The feedback about the dress really makes me happy because it is precisely what I wanted to achieve from the beginning. In fact, Phil's friend Tim Major, producer of the Broadway pantos from 2004-2009 came to see the show on Saturday, which was great. I thought it especially generous as his company was not invited to renew its contract for the panto for 2010 when the theatre management took it in-house. Tim and I had the beginning of a really good conversation about the difference between the training kids get in acting and singing and dancing. We were just getting to an interesting bit when MJ arrived to call beginners.
I caught up with him a little bit in the Spotted Dog after the show where a few friends and most of the cast went for a jar. And I am sure that there were a lot of technical things he would have seen with a director's eye, but in the short time before I left the pub he was gracious enough to praise the dress transformation.
Much like the praise from Richard Ireson from Narrowroad Creatives Agency, it means a lot when another professional rates something that highly, especially when you know that they have directed the very same show. I was especially pleased with Tim's comment as he has a long term relationship with the theatre and is a close colleague and partner of Phil's. They work together at the Finch Stage School, so Tim knows Stacey, Amy and Ella.
It might be a little ungracious of me however, given the all round praise the transformation has received, that its still not quite perfect enough for me. This is certainly nit picking as its definitely more than good enough! The technical delivery by Amy is excellent now, the co-ordination of hand and eye direction, the distraction, the glitter etc all add to lead the audience's attention. And I love it!
My only wish, and I have discussed this at length with Ian, Zoe and Alison is that the dress was a little more sparkly, and also that there is a different one, exactly the same for the ball, with more on it. We have been so concerned and with our novice "dress transforming" skills, we have chosen to keep it really simple, and I think that's right.
What it means of course is that next time Ian is interviewed to design Cinderella for another company, he will be able to take this secret technology and technique with him! Which is great. Phil, Owen and I too! Let alone all our cast, crew and chorus!
On the way down to Tonbridge yesterday I was reflecting on a lot of things, one of which was about what source material had been useful in putting the show together. I always enjoy reading work about how other directors work.
My major influences have been the Director Peter Brook, (The Empty Space), Jerzy Grotowski (Towards a Poor Theatre, Towards a Poor Culture), Antonin Artaud (The Theatre of Cruelty) Tadeuz Kantor (The Dead Class - the play), Eugenio Barba (Eugenio Barba is an Italian author and Director of the Odin Theatre Denmark.) and working with Steppenwolf and Remains Theatres in Chicago, Triple Action Theatre where I worked for three years and quite a few more.
I realised when I took on this project that I knew very little about the practice of Musical Theatre Directors. So I found a great book - The Showmakers: Great Directors of the American Musical Theatre by Lawrence Thelan.
It was a fantastic read as it contains ten long and intensive conversations with 10 of the greatest American musical directors. It was like a very long and delicious meal for me to read it. It has a long chapter for each incluidng Harold Prince Jerome Robbins, Tom O'Horgan, Richard Maltby Jr, Graciela Daniele - and more. Its interesting that only one of the ten is a woman though! Quelle surprise! I loved the book because it felt like a place I knew and I could see that my concern about there being a difference in the two ways of direction was total rubbish. And the other thing that was exciting in their stories of directing was the nature of the intrinsic need for collaboration in musical theatre, which does distinguish it from straight theatre. And it is precisely the collaboration that I have enjoyed so much. I am used to standing alone in the director's shoes when I realise a text. This experience was more like playing and I can honestly say that it felt like a true sabbatical!
It is actually quite hard to find out what exactly other directors do in the rehearsal room, unless you have a good friend like Joss Bennathan, Arc's Associate Director who let each other into their rehearsal rooms, where its possible to exchange ideas and practice.
On the panto of course the benefit I had was working with Owen as my AD and Choreographer as we really did get to share our respective practice. That's a real blast!
Anyway - that's it for this morning...... unless you fancy travelling with me to Blog 53B which will expand on my total admiration for my biggest influence, Peter Brooke.
If you don't fancy more about the theory and practice of directing, then have a lovely day and catch up tomorrow!
My major influences have been the Director Peter Brook, (The Empty Space), Jerzy Grotowski (Towards a Poor Theatre, Towards a Poor Culture), Antonin Artaud (The Theatre of Cruelty) Tadeuz Kantor (The Dead Class - the play), Eugenio Barba (Eugenio Barba is an Italian author and Director of the Odin Theatre Denmark.) and working with Steppenwolf and Remains Theatres in Chicago, Triple Action Theatre where I worked for three years and quite a few more.
I realised when I took on this project that I knew very little about the practice of Musical Theatre Directors. So I found a great book - The Showmakers: Great Directors of the American Musical Theatre by Lawrence Thelan.
It was a fantastic read as it contains ten long and intensive conversations with 10 of the greatest American musical directors. It was like a very long and delicious meal for me to read it. It has a long chapter for each incluidng Harold Prince Jerome Robbins, Tom O'Horgan, Richard Maltby Jr, Graciela Daniele - and more. Its interesting that only one of the ten is a woman though! Quelle surprise! I loved the book because it felt like a place I knew and I could see that my concern about there being a difference in the two ways of direction was total rubbish. And the other thing that was exciting in their stories of directing was the nature of the intrinsic need for collaboration in musical theatre, which does distinguish it from straight theatre. And it is precisely the collaboration that I have enjoyed so much. I am used to standing alone in the director's shoes when I realise a text. This experience was more like playing and I can honestly say that it felt like a true sabbatical!
It is actually quite hard to find out what exactly other directors do in the rehearsal room, unless you have a good friend like Joss Bennathan, Arc's Associate Director who let each other into their rehearsal rooms, where its possible to exchange ideas and practice.
On the panto of course the benefit I had was working with Owen as my AD and Choreographer as we really did get to share our respective practice. That's a real blast!
Anyway - that's it for this morning...... unless you fancy travelling with me to Blog 53B which will expand on my total admiration for my biggest influence, Peter Brooke.
If you don't fancy more about the theory and practice of directing, then have a lovely day and catch up tomorrow!
 |
| Yours truly on press night with lovely Young Acting Team 2, Ellie, Jess, Coral, Olivia, Stacey and Sam - You are brilliant! |
4 comments:
I really enjoy getting a bird's eye view into a world completely unknown to me. Your blogs really make the tech bits of directing come alive. This world, that of the artist, is truly among your great loves. Do keep that voice going.
Hi there friends, its impressive post about teachingand entirely defined,
keep it up all the time.
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