Plucky Pipsqueak II... This Time it's Personal!

Last year, when it came time to select a script for my acting students (at the Houghton Movement & Arts Center) to perform at the showcase, I hit a bit of a brick wall.  I scoured the internet for something in the public domain that was interesting and age appropriate but all I could find were things that were either dated and stuffy or light and cutesy.  I worried that working with a script like that would do more harm than good.  I wanted something fresh that would emphasize the individual strengths of the students in my class.  Left with no alternative, I decided to sit down at my computer and see what I could come up with. (See here for more details.)  The result was A Plucky Little Pipsqueak, a 15-minute, 4-character comedy centered on a group of students waiting at the principal’s office.  It was a fun experiment that I think/hope worked out in the end.

This time around, with a year of teaching under my belt and a mix of new and returning students, I decided to work the script-writing process into the class.  As the spring semester rolled around I began to open class asking for suggestions for a showcase piece.  It was agreed upon that we would do a sequel to Pipsqueak with the returning students reprising their roles and the new students taking on new ones.  (I have a weakness for sequels.  See this or this or this.) The students became very engaged in the brainstorming process, as we began to discuss plot points, characters and other details of the new script.  We settled on a mystery theme, fleshed out the new characters and even decided the resolution together. 

In the week that followed, I once again sat down at my computer, this time armed with my notebook filled with their suggestions and got to work.  The next week I presented them The Trophy Case, and was pleasantly surprised by their excitement upon seeing the new script.  Just as we had discussed, The Trophy Case tells the tale of 5 students accused of breaking a prized trophy and their mission to solve the crime.  As we first read it aloud, I watched their faces light up as they saw their ideas come to life on the page.  It was an incredibly rewarding experience for me, and hopefully for them too. 

One of the things I try to emphasize in class is that the art of stage craft is layered.  I think that in order to be a truly good actor you have to have an understanding and appreciation for all of the things that go into plays.  Like most things in life, the more knowledge you gather on something, the better you become at it.  It is a joy for me to watch these talented students work through The Trophy Case each week, and I can’t wait to see it up on stage at the showcase.  My hope is that their involvement in its inception will make it that much more rewarding when they finally get to do it in front of an audience.

Movie Review: Jack the Giant Slayer

I'm not really sure I'm down with this current fascination with fairy tales.  The TV shows, the terrible movies; it's just not working for me.  Recently, Hilary and I saw the latest one to enter the fray, Jack and the Giant Slayer.  I didn't expect greatness.  I like Bryan Singer, it fit within the right time window, and I figured it would be some harmless fun.  I'm not sure what it was, but it certainly wasn't fun.  

The beginning started off interestingly enough: Jack is being told the legend of the giants by his father while Princess Isabelle is hearing the same story from her mother.  Good way to set up the backstory; it pulls you in.  Cut to ten years or so down the road, and suddenly Jack has no parents, and Isabelle only has her father, the king.  This seemed as though it was laying the foundation for some sort of revelation or something in regards to the missing parents, but (Spoiler Alert, I guess) it never does.  In a scene inspired by the far superior Disney's Aladdin, Jack meets and awkwardly defends Princess Isabelle in the market, not realizing who she is until Ewan McGregor shows up as Elmont, the princess' protector.  (Yes, the Ewan McGregor.  He owes me an explanation.)  We soon learn that the princess ran away because she is being forced to marry the king's adviser, Jafar Roderick played by Stanley Tucci.  (Yes, the Stanley Tucci.  No explanation needed.)  Meanwhile, Jack is given magic beans by a monk, and we learn that the beans go with a magic crown.  The beans provide a way to the giants' realm, and the crown controls them for some convoluted reason.  Also, the princess runs away again and ends up at Jack's door. 

Now, I should say that up to this point I am totally in.  It's corny, but in a fun way. So here we are 30 minutes in: the beans fall in some water, make a beanstalk, Jack falls down and the princess is swept up into the land of the giants.  Nothing good happens after this part... and there are still 90 minutes to go.  Basically, the King, played by Ian McShane (who is actually a good actor in spite of this and the AWFUL Snow White & the Huntsman), sends Elmont, Roderick, Jack and some Red Shirts up to save the princess.  Here it begins to alternate between weird graphic violence and  immature fart/booger/burp humor from the giants.  The tone is all over the place, and it's hard to watch. In a nutshell, Act II goes like this (Spoiler Alert, but you shouldn't care):  The extras die. Elmont gets kidnapped and made into a pig in a blanket.  Jack rescues him and the princess.  Roderick pulls out the magic crown to control the giants and hopes to make them destroy the humans because [insert your best guess here].  Elmont kills Roderick and stops the giants from attacking.  Jack and Isabelle escape down the mountain.  All is well.  But it isn't.  Because there are 40 minutes left.  Surprise, it's Act III!  

Had it ended at this point, I would have been like, "Okay, that was dumb, but it had it's moments."  Instead (Spoiler Alert, but seriously if I find out you saw this movie I will be angry), the giants gain control of the crown and the remaining beans and decide to attack the kingdom because [insert your best guess here].    The finale is this weird violent brawl between the giants and the kingdom.  Jack kills the lead giant (who happens to be two-headed and guess what, one of the heads is dumb), gains control of the crown, banishes the other giants, marries the princess and the magic crown becomes St. Edward's Crown.  I'm not even kidding.

I just don't get movies like this.  Who is the audience? Needless to say, this did not impress me.  I think it had some good ingredients: strong actors, good special effects a story that hasn't gotten much play recently.  In the end it was just a weird mash up of tongue-in-cheek mugging, graphic violence and giant farts.  Pass.  Ugh, you just know they are going to reboot this with Shia LaBeouf as Jack in like 7 years.

Paint, Rattle and Rollers

The powers of paint never cease to amaze me.  It has transformed our living room, jazzed up the library circulation area and has made foam insulation board into countless theatrical settings.  Beginning this semester I am taking on a larger role at the Houghton Movement and Art Center.  After a year of teaching acting, Sarah Badger asked me to come on as a regular employee in the role of assistant director of the studio.  One thing that has sprung out of my increased roles was the idea of giving the studio a new look.  So, last week while HMAC was on break, Sarah and I rid the inside of the building of that minty green color.  (The outside is another story.)  Extreme Makeover: HMAC edition, as Sarah called it, sprung out of a meeting we had several weeks ago.  We were looking at the studio trying to find was to maximize the available space and really get the most out of the building.  Our initial plan was to organize the back rooms, consolidating like materials and making each one a dedicated storage area for different things (including a home for the ever growing collection of props, costumes and set pieces for The Valley Theatre).  As the gears began turning on how best to do this, we started to consider other little improvements:  getting curtains to cover the mirrors in the studio, rearrange the lobby and adding some color.  With the February break looming we decided that would be the perfect time to dive in.  After an eventful trip to thrift and home improvements stores we found a few new furniture pieces and eventually settled on paint colors. 

                When break rolled around we gathered our supplies and a collection of CDs (my retro tunes vs. Sarah's hipster jams) and got to work.  We started with painting so that while it was drying we could work on other things in between coats.  However, we were quickly reminded just how time consuming painting projects can be.  First there is the taping process.  We were working with two colors, so not only did we have to tape around trim, windows and ceilings, but we had to tape the corners of the walls where the paint would transition.  Then we had to fill the holes in the walls.  There were a lot of holes.  This took a long time, a very long time, but eventually we got down to painting.  We finished with the nice dark blue we selected and then moved on to purple.  We couldn’t tape along the blue sections because the paint was still drying so we did as much of the purple as we could then called it a night. We had originally thought we could do this in a day.  That was not to be.  Day 2 we moved on to purple.  In theory this should have taken less time, and I suppose it did, but it certainly wasn’t quick.  Augustus was no help at all.  He just played with his elephant rattle and tried to roll of the couch, leaving all of the heavy lifting to us.  Kids today... Regardless, it was an informative few days.  I learned about Graham's prolific fan-fiction career, the difficulties in getting dark blue paint out of tan carpet, and what passes for snacks in vegan/woodlands creature communities.   

                When the painting was done we were both surprised by what a difference it made.  We knew it would look better, but it made a big impact.  Sarah made the comment that it felt modern and that pretty much sums it up.  Now the studio feels like a vibrant, active place.  Switching the desk and the sitting area helps to delineate the office section from the lounge.  It makes for a better flow when people are arriving for or departing from class.  It looks great, it’s more practical and adds a much needed flare to an otherwise drab building.  Projects like this are rewarding, because they provide so much bang for the buck.  Plus, it was a lot of fun to do.  We never got around to organizing the back rooms, which is ironic since that was the catalyst for this project.  I guess I know what we’ll be doing next break.

Script Selection

I have a love/hate relationship with script selection.  It's just so intricate.  As a director, I gravitate towards two types of shows: emotional roller-coaster dramedies and suspenseful mysteries.  I like to work in these genres, but it gives me a lot to do - with mysteries, you constantly have to plant little clues and subtleties to help move things along and make the resolution believable and layered, and with dramedies it's all about finding the transitions from happy to sad, making the characters believable and relatable. In order to keep Valley Theatre fresh and interesting for our audience, I have to fight the urge to just alternate between these two genres.  

Right now we are looking to find a straight-up comedy; something that is just fun and enjoyable.  We are having a particularly difficult time finding something that seems right.  So much of stage comedy relies on physicality and delivery that it's difficult to get the full effect from a dry reading.  We've taken to reading them out loud to get a better idea of what we have to work with.  Typically I read 6 or 7 new scripts each time I sit down to select a show (and that's not including the stockpile of scripts I've read that are already clunking around in my head).  It looks like I'll have to double that this time around.

There are a lot of criteria to consider when it comes to settling on a script.  Obviously, the first question is whether or not we like it.  If the answer is yes, we move on to content.  Is it too racy for the audiences we tend to get?  If not, we move on the cast breakdown.  We can't do anything with too large a cast, and we have to pay attention to the gender breakdown.  If it requires a lot of men, that may be a problem.  Next comes set requirements.  Will it involve a lot of scene changes, and, if so, can we make that work given our limitations?  Then there is tech stuff to consider.  Does the script call for specific/elaborate lighting and/or effects.  If so we may have to reconsider given our current limitation in that area.  We also have to consider how physical the show is; if it requires a lot of running or action, that could wreak havoc on our regular stage set up.

Finding a script that will fit all of the criteria is always a challenge.  In a way, it's a blessing because it requires us to really dig to find a script that is just right.  We have to be very purposeful about the shows we choose.  That means we sometimes have to reject scripts that we love, but it also means we discover new shows and delve into plays we might not normally have considered.  We've already blown through half a dozen scripts and have several more on the way.  Hopefully Valley Theatre's spring comedy is somewhere in the stack.

Back in the Saddle Again: The Dial M Debrief

If you've read any of my last few posts you already know that directing Crimes of the Heart was an intensely emotional experience for me.  I always invest a lot of myself into productions, but the depth of the script as well as the fondess and pride I felt for the actors involved took me to a new level.  Afterwards, I needed a break from directing and decided to get back on stage, doing a few local productions back to back.  I left those with new perspectives both as an actor and director. 

After a few months' break I began the process of choosing Valley Theatre's fall play.  CotH was a female-driven drama, so I wanted to go in a different direction. After reading several scripts, I finally landed on Frederick Knott's Dial "M" for Murder (made famous by the Hitchcock-directed film of the same name).  Dial M required a simple set, had a relatively small cast and is in a genre that I've always loved.  (Thanks, Peter Falk, Angela Lansbury and Dick van Dyke!)  The male-heavy cast was daunting, but we took a gamble, and it paid off.  We held open auditions and had a great turnout.  On the downside, this meant that I had to pass on several very talented actors. 

Casting was difficult, but we hammered it out and landed with a group of actors that were mostly new faces.  Of the eight-member cast, I'd only worked with Ben Layman more than once.  This presented a new challenge.  Particularly on the heels of CotH, I was used to having a certain shorthand with actors.  I could say things like "You're coming across a little bleh.  I need you to be more WhizBang!" and they'd be like "I understand completely."  And they did.  This was back to basics, and it was fun... most of the time.

One of the unique challenges presented by Dial M was the fact that there is no mystery.  You watch the events unfold.  You know who the villian is.  You understand the motive and crime.  The suspense lies in the question: Will he get away with it?  In that way it's very much like the classic series TV Columbo.  The script essentialy turns the whodunit formula on its head.  This means that the actors under my direction had to convey a sense of urgency and suspense without the tools usually associated with this kind of story.  That's what hooked me.  While there is an element of casual fun directing easygoing shows (I'm looking at you, Father of the Bride), for me to really feel engaged as a director I need something to play with. 

Dial M  provided multiple opportunities for me to roll up my sleeves and tinker.  The scene with Swann (Dan Buckley) and Tony (Ben Layman), for example, had so much going on under the surface.  The guys really got into it, and we were able to map the changes and really emphasize the undertones of the scene.  The struggle between Swann and Margot (Sarah Badger) was intense.  Both actors really went for it, and the end result was uncomfortable, difficult to watch and completely perfect.  Then the noose-tightening third act with the underestimated Inspector Hubbard (Aaron Arber) laying the trap alongside Max (Clayton Danner) really pulled the audience in.  The brilliance of the show lies in the fact that you want Tony to get caught, but at the same time you secretly hope he manages to escape.

All in all, Dial M was a success, ending with a sold-out crowd.  For me personally, it was a satisfying experience.  I enjoyed working with the cast.  It is always rewarding to watch actors steadily sharpen their performance over a rehearsal period and, in the case of those I've worked with before, to see them come into Dial M as stronger actors than they were the last time we were together.  Ending a production is always bittersweet.  It's nice to see my house again, but I miss the challenge of putting a show together.  I suppose that's why I've already started reading scripts again.

Press Release: Dial M for Murder

Here's the press release for our 2012 production of Dial M for Murder.  It's always a challenge to make this interesting without giving too much away.

This November, The Valley Theatre of Houghton, New York, presents Frederick Knott’s Dial M for Murder.  Don’t miss this classic thriller made famous by Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense.  When aging tennis pro Tony Wendice (Ben Layman) saw the end of his career on the horizon he did the sensible thing.  He married a rich woman (Sarah Badger), an arrangement that has worked well for him for many years.  That is, however, until Tony finds a letter from the charming Max Halliday (Clayton Danner) in his wife's purse. Tony quickly realizes that once again he is at risk of losing his posh lifestyle, a prospect that is unacceptable to him.  Once again, he does the sensible thing.  With the help of an old college acquaintance (Dan Buckley), he arranges for Margot's untimely death. Unfortunately for Tony murder isn't as neat as marriage, and things go horribly wrong.  Now Tony has to think on his feet and stay one step ahead of Max, a nosy reporter (Hannah Mills Woolsey) and the police (Aaron Arber, Josiah Parlett & Joe Perrotti).  Here's hoping the old tennis pro still has the reflexes to play the game.

The show will be performed at the Houghton Fire Hall on Rt. 19 in Houghton, New York, on Friday, November 2, at 7pm and Saturday, November 3, at 2 and 7pm.  Tickets are just $5.00.  For more information or ticket reservations contact director Nic Gunning at TheValleyTheatre@gmail.com or find them online at www.facebook.com/valleytheatre.

Act like you belong.

     For as far back as I can remember, I've been active in the theatre.  I was always game to participate in the skits or holiday musicals in church and school.  I played Clifford the dog in my kindergarten graduation.  I was "Blunder" Watson in a horribly cheesy Christmas themed Sherlock Holmes spoof.  I was Tex the singing cowboy, Josiah the young Biblical king (twice, actually) and a talking donkey.  I liked doing it and found early on that I had a knack for it.  I continued on through high school getting involved in several local youth and community theatres, did shows throughout college and even worked professionally for several years.  I like theatre.  It's fun.  It's a good outlet.  It's worthwhile. 

    In recent years I've turned my attention to directing.  Directing calls on a lot of the same skills, but even so, it's a whole new ball game.  I thought for sure I would miss being on stage, that when it came time for the show I'd feel depressed sitting in the dark on the side lines while the cast takes center stage.  I was completely wrong.  I actually think I enjoy directing more than acting.  (I doubt I could ever choose definitively.)  I take more pride and satisfaction in the finished product, due in part to the fact that I'm extremely critical of my own acting.  When it's me, I rethink everything and nitpick for years.  With my actors on stage I can just sit back and enjoy.  (Though truth be told, I always find one or two things that I wish I'd had them do differently.)

   Back in my golden years of acting I'd do 2 or 3 plays a year.  I realized in the 9 years I've lived in New York I'd only done 4 total.  I didn't want my acting talents to grow stale or my lack of recent on-stage credits to have a negative impact on my directing so I decided it was time to get back in the saddle again.  I did two shows back-to-back and it was intersting because I found I wasn't able to just sit back and soak up the experience like I used to.  While I enjoyed the challenge of becoming an actor again, I couldn't quite shake the director mind set.  I realized that even though the various aspects of the production weren't my responsibilty, I still thought about them. I got in the way of my own enjoyment, a habit I hope I can shake.  In the end, the good with the bad, it was nice to be back on stage again.  It was exciting and worthwhile.  I learned things.  I gained new insights.  I remembered things I'd forgotten.

     I think the most valuable realization I've had in recent years is that the director sets the tone.  As an actor, that's a concept that I may have known but wouldn't been able to put into words.  As a director I may have thought that, but not truly understood the importance of it.  As both, I see that a truly good final product takes a collaboration of intentional and thorough directing combined with skillful and committed acting.  And when I say truly good, I mean intelligent and thought-provokingly good.  If the goal is to make people laugh or even just enjoy themselves that's something different.  You can do that with relatively little thought.  Banana peels come in all shapes and sizes.

   I've been in a lot of different type of productions and worked with a variety of lousy directors; kind-souled artists, ham-fisted tyrants, melodramatic hot messes and every other stereotype out there.  It takes the joy out of the whole process.  Luckily, along the way I've had a lot of good directors too; those that challenged me and  guided me, those that gave me the freedom to explore but knew when to pull the rope taut.  The director sets the tone and that's a responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly.  Theatre can be a powerful tool; one that needs a steady hand to weild.  It has taught me much over the years.  My experiences, whether positive or negative, have been beneficial and I wouldn't change them even if I could.  I plan to continue to act and direct and I hope to continue to learn and grow as well.  I can't imagine stopping.