Dragnet II - The Big Small: Debrief

 This year, the pandemic squashed any plans to have a live show, but Valley Theatre has never missed a year since we started in 2008. My brain would have broken if he hadn't found a way to make it happen. Early in March we started talking about ways to collaborate with the library for a show. I toyed with writing a new short play or even repurposing one I wrote back in the HMAC days.  That didn't seem quite right so I started looking into adapting and old radio play. 

Back in 2010, I had directed a production of Dragnet for Houghton College and we'd been joking about doing a sequel since then. With Eric & Kendra Mikols moving to North Carolina, I wasn't sure if he'd be up for reprising his role of Frank Smith from the earlier production so I started looking at scripts featuring different partners. I finally settled on The Big Small because the cast breakdown worked for what I wanted and I thought the plot would still be relevant. Luckily, Eric was down to play Frank again, only no mustache this time. Michael Blankenship was on board to reprise his role as Joe Friday, and Ben Layman (who had played Brad Roney in 2010) came on as a new character, Harry Allison. I voiced the announcer with my brother Stephen VanValkenburg as Bert Halstead and Kendra Mikols as Peggy Smalls, both had been involved in my most recent production (Write Me a Murder).  Rounding out the cast was my wife Hilary (who hadn't been in one of my mysteries since Guilty Conscience) as Ethel Parkinson and Jessica Wiezszcyk from the library as Halstead's assistant. 

We recorded in a few separate chunks, all over Skype. We'd do a basic read through with me giving notes along the way, then when we were ready, we'd try to lay down complete scenes in one take so that it would feel seamless. We would occasionally have to roll back and try again, but for the most part the scenes stayed in tact. 

Dragnet has such a weird tone that it took some practice to get back into the swing of it.  The banter between Frank and Joe is particularly tricky, and unless you're hitting it just right it feels lifeless.  After a few readings Eric and Michael popped back in to character and we were doing Dragnet again. I particularly enjoyed the scene with Eric, Michael and Ben all reading together, each in a different state.  Their camaraderie and natural chemistry came through even via Skype. 

The editing process was more involved than I thought. The first pass was all about tightening the flow an deciding which take to use.  I occasionally went back to the recording of the dry read and used some sections because it felt more realistic. Next came the sound effects.  I hadn't done anything like this and it was a lot of fun trying to find the right balance of background noise so as to make it feel full and alive, but not overpowering. It's amazing what things like footsteps, chatter and rustling paper adds.  Some of the effects I got online, but many we just made by recording doors closing, going through files, clomping around, picking up the receiver on an old phone, etc.

Once the basics were down, I did a third pass adding in more flavor.  For the scene where Friday and Smith interview Harry Allison (Ben's character), I added ambient diner noise, but also included segments from a podcast I'd recorded with the library staff. Then my five-year old son and I got plates and silverware and had a fake conversation about a fishing trip.  Later I added in some dialogue for Halstead's assistant and a conversation with a distraught landlady played by Debbie Young to run under a Friday monologue. 

Once it was set we publicized in the local papers and set a digital premiere on YouTube.  The video version included stills from the original production, when possible, as well as black and white stills from other productions that had the right look. Hilary's came mostly from a production of You Can't Take it With You and Kendra's were from Spinoff. (I also used some images of Eric and Ben from Spinoff as well.) Steve's came from our recent production of Write Me a Murder. The aesthetics of the various shows blended well making the video a pretty solid representation of what a staged version might have looked like. The audio aired on WRAQ 92.7 FM and as a special episode of The All the Books Show. 

We got a lot of nice feedback on the production and we all had a fun time working on it.  I'm a sucker for sequels, so it's hard to believe this is the first time I've worked on one. Aside from that, It was just nice to have part of the old gang working together again. 

Maybe someday we will complete the trilogy.

Press Release: Dragnet II - The Big Small

 The David A. Howe Public Library will be presenting a special audio drama based on the classic 1950s radio program Dragnet.

	Premiering April 30th at 7pm on the library's YouTube page and podcast feed, the Valley Theatre will be performing the episode The Big Small written by John Robinson and originally airing January 11, 1953. The cast includes Michael Blankenship as Sgt. Joe Friday and David A. Howe Public Library's own Eric Mikols as Officer Frank Smith. The two are returning to characters they played in a stage version of Dragnet for a 2010 production from Houghton College, directed by Nic Gunning. 
	The episode will be available through the library's YouTube page as well as in a special episode of the library's podcast The All the Books Show, available wherever you get your podcasts. 

Write Me a Murder: Director's Note

I have this reputation of only doing murder mysteries, but when you look at my back catalogue, I’ve only done four.  The last one was Dial M for Murder (which coincidentally was also written by Frederick Knott), and that was in 2012! While this may be an unearned reputation, it’s not an unfair one.   Because, truth be told, I always want to do a murder mystery. I love them.  Challenge me to a Columbo trivia contest; you lose every time.  Think you’ve read more Murder, She Wrote books than me?  You haven’t.

So here we are again. Murder is in the air. Now, I love a traditional drawing room mystery.  You’ve got your eccentric cast of characters with a devious murderer tossed in, you’ve got your brilliant detective, and they all end up in a room where our hero drops some knowledge on us.  Case closed, right?  Good times.  But Frederick Knott will have none of that.  He lulls you into a smug feeling that you’ve figured it out. You can see it coming a mile away.  But can you? Now you’re not so sure. Wait, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Then you’re going down a new path.  The road forks and you find an unexpected way forward.  Now you see it, but just as it comes into focus, the curtains swing closed.  Frederick Knott gets us again.

You know what, maybe I’ll just lean in to it.  Seven years is too long between murder mysteries.      -NG

Press Release: Write Me a Murder

The Valley Theatre returns with a staging of Frederick Knott’s twisty mystery Write Me a Murder directed by Nic Gunning.  Performances are set for Saturday, October 27, at 7pm and Sunday, October 28, at 2pm in the Nancy Howe Auditorium of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Frederick Knott, the author of the Hitchcock classic Dial M for Murder and the thrilling Wait Until Dark, was adept at taking the audience for an unexpected ride. In Write Me a Murder, the death of the Rodingham patriarch stirs conflict between two estranged brothers, one a playboy (Jeff Babbitt) and the other a successful author (Stephen VanValkenburg) called home by the family doctor (Alison Reusser). Sensing discord, an opportunistic businessman (Christopher Tetta) with designs on the family estate makes the Rodinghams an offer they can’t refuse. However, things become complicated when a story written by the younger Rodingham and the businessman’s wife (Joanna Bates) plants the seed for the perfect murder. If the would-be killer puts the story to practical use, they put everything at risk and will need to make sure they stay one step ahead of the cops (Christopher Winkens and Hannah Mills Woolsey) at all times. So, the question becomes… is there such a thing as the perfect crime?

Find out on Saturday, October 26, at 7pm and Sunday, October 27, at 2pm in the Nancy Howe Auditorium of the David A. Howe Public Library (155 N. Main Street, Wellsville, NY).  The performances are sponsored by the Friends of the Library and will be presented free of charge.

Joanna Bates sat down for an interview on the All the Books Show to discuss her experience playing Julie Sturrock.  Find it here: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/off-the-books-write-me-a-murder

She Loves Me (2018): Debrief

     Sometimes I finish plays and can just sit back and be pleased.  (Don't get me wrong, even then, there's always a thing or two I would do differently in hindsight.)  However, the She Loves Me revival has brought up a different feeling altogether. Overall it was a good experience. I thought the final product turned out really well.  The audience responded and things came together nicely. I got to work with some of my favorite actors. It was the first time I got to direct my little brother. I love the symmetry in capping our first 10 years with a re-staging of  our first show.  I liked having the chance to appraise 25 year old Nic's directing. (He missed some things.)   I'm glad we did it, but it also served to reaffirm my feeling that I just shouldn't do musicals.

     Back in the days when I was performing more I gravitated towards musicals and looked at plays as a nice change of pace every now and then. Now that I approach scripts as a director, I just don't find a lot that excites me in the libretto of a musical.  I prefer to be able to put my own stamp on things and I think the nature of the musical just makes that difficult.  In this show, for instance, there are many subplots that are mentioned but not explored. I kept trying to find ways to lean in to those moments, to build them up to the level I wanted them to be.  That's a mistake though. In play you maybe get three pages to work through an issue.  In a musical you get three lines, then the songs flesh things out a bit more.  That's the kind of thing I missed.  I wanted to go down these side streets and add a little weight.  I think we did manage that here and there, but the format just ties your hands.  That's not to say that you can't do great and even deep stuff with a musical.  I've certainly seen that and I think I even did it once.  But that's usually the exception to the rule.
     Think about The Sound of Music.  A man loses his wife and is left to care for seven children. A young nun comes in to care for the children while the Nazis move in on their home.  Meanwhile, Dad's best friend is a lovable Nazi sympathizer.  The nun and widower fall in love and and then drag children through the Alps on foot. To me that sounds like a dark story with a little hope sprinkled in.  How much time we give to the kid's dead mom or the fact that the Captain lost his wife?  What about the fact that a nun is contemplating breaking her vows because she's falling in love with an engaged man?  And we haven't even gotten to the Nazis! Anyway, the answer is that each of these things gets about 3 lines.  So does that mean The Sound of Music is bad?  Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-NO!  I love it.  It's one of my favorites.  But do I want to direct it? The hills are alive with the sound of me saying NO.
    All that to say,  I love She Loves Me.  There was a ton of talent in our cast.  Again, I'm glad we did it. It was great to get the chance to do it in Houghton and expand to the Wellsville stage. Basically, what I'm saying is that until someone writes this dark take on Sound of Music, I'm probably done with musicals for a while.   (The Sounds of Music in a Minor Key?  We'll workshop it.)

Tune in here for a special interview with the cast: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-160-she-loves-me

She Loves Me (2018): Director's Note

      In 2002, My friend Beau was working at Tibbitt’s Opera House in Coldwater, MI. He got a set of free tickets to their big musical for the year and invited me along. The show was She Loves Me. We both loved it.  I picked up the 90’s cast recording and listened to it a million times over the next few years. Amanda had a similar experience seeing it in Miami, FL. with Mike. They saw it and it stuck with them. Cut to 2008.

Directing Scene 1.4 in 2008

     When we decided to launch Valley Theatre, it was an obvious choice for our first show. We already had affection for the characters and that great music. Plus it appeals to me as a show with a small cast and an offbeat little story. It remains one of my favorite musicals, which brings us to 2018.

Cast Selfie at 2018 Read-through

    Directing it again after all of these years was an interesting experience. Not only was I directing the actors, but in a way I was directing my 25 year old self. When rehearsals began we’d get in to a scene and I’d find myself catching things I’d missed before. I’d nudge things in a different direction thinking, “Not so fast 25 year old Nic.” I’ve enjoyed working with Mike, Amanda and Paul in reprising their original roles. Knowing the characters as well as we do has given us a freedom to try new things and see what shape the scenes take. It’s been memorable. I don’t think I’ll run out and re-direct all of my old favorites, but this was a very fitting way to cap our first ten years. Here’s hoping I age as well as this show.

Also, in preparation for the show I interviewed Mike, Amanda, Josh and Vanessa on The All the Books Show.   You can find the audio here. 

Debrief to follow...

She Loves Me (2018): Press Release

The Valley Theatre of Houghton, NY, began ten years ago with a production of Tony-award winning musical comedy, She Loves Me.  The group continued to perform shows annually including recent, well-received productions of Steel Magnolias and Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, as well as last year’s Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, A Grand Night for Singing.  Now to commemorate their ten year anniversary they are restaging the show that started it all.  She Loves Me tells the story of two bickering clerks who don’t realize that they are actually secret pen-pals who are quickly falling in love.  This popular story has been adapted to film on three separate occasions including the Jimmy Stewart led The Shop Around the Corner, In the Good Old Summertime with Judy Garland, and most recently, You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  As before this production is directed by Nic Gunning with Mike Cox, Amanda Cox and Paul Young reprising their roles as Georg Nowack, Amalia Balash and Mr. Maraczek, respectively. Shows run September 13th and 14th (Thursday and Friday) at 7 p.m. in the community room of the Houghton Wesleyan Church (9712 Rt. 19, Houghton).  The production will then move to the Nancy Howe Auditorium at the David A. Howe Public Library (155 N. Main St.  Wellsville) where shows will run at 7 p.m. on Saturday September 15th and 2 p.m. on Sunday September 16th.

The Wellsville shows are sponsored by the Friends of the Library and will be presented free of charge.

To hear an exclusive interview with the cast of She Loves Me, tune in to this special episode of my podcast.

One Acts Debrief

On July 14, 2017 Valley Theatre partnered with the David A. Howe Public Library to present an Evening of One Act plays recreating an event that took place there in July of 1937.  It was different than the kinds of things we typically do with Valley Theatre productions, but it was a nice change of pace.

    We first experimented with presenting multiple short plays with our second production back in 2009 when we partnered Yasmina Reza's Art with Jack Finney's Telephone Roulette.  We liked the structure of that production.  We used the same set for both shows and the all female cast of TR contrasted nicely with the all male cast of Art.  We never really considered doing that again, but when the idea for this years production popped up we were intrigued.
   The shows presented included Thursday Evening by Christopher Morley, Wisdom Teeth by Rachel Field and Catherine Parr or Alexander’s Horse by Maurice Baring.  Each dated in their own way, but they all had wit and punch that we thought we could do something with.  I decided early on that I wanted to do a readers theater format for these.  I figured that would give the audience an idea of what the 1937 production was like without doing a full scale recreation.  Readers theater allowed us to play up the humor without getting bogged down in all of the trappings. I hadn't participated in readers theater since college and it was definitely a first for Valley Theatre.  I asked some of our regulars to take a hand directing them.  
     Sarah Badger, who has been involved with most of our productions since 2011 took on Thursday Evening.  Aside from Graham Badger who played the role of Gordon Johns, her full cast consisted of actors who have not been in our shows before: Emily Rhoades Pundt as Laura Johns, Mary Ann Reisdorf as Mrs. Sheffield and Mary Eckstein as Gordon's mother.  It's always nice to have new faces and they each did a wonderful job.  Of all the shows, this was the most dated so I took a pass at updating some of the humor that wouldn't play to a 2017 audience.  

 
    For Wisdom Teeth, Debbie Young directed and played the role of Henrietta Wellington.  We learned later that her 1937 counterpart did the same thing.  I love a good coincidence.  The rest of the cast was made up of Valley Theatre veterans including Amanda Cox, Hannah Mills Woolsey and Mike Cox.  They had a lot of fun doing this one and it was evident in the performance.

   For Catherine Parr or Alexander's Horse I thought it might be fun for Hilary and I to take the roles of Catherine Parr and Henry VIII.  We hadn't been in anything together in quite a while and Hilary hadn't been in a Valley Theatre production since Cinderella in 2011 (and really not since Guilty Conscience in 2010).  I asked our niece Evie to play the role of the page, so she finally got to make her Valley Theatre debut.  Even though readers theatre is a simple affair, I'd learned my lesson on acting and directing at the same time.  Instead, I cajoled Eric Mikols into directing.  He did so reluctantly, but had some good insight.  I'd like to see what he could do with a full show.  I bet it would be good.  We had fun working together.  Ours was shorter than the others and had a zinger heavy batch of dialogue.  We really got in to it for the performance.

    Overall the the night went very well.  I hadn't seen or heard the other plays, and while I had faith in the cast and directors, it was a relief to see that they were all good.  They flowed together well and each cast had a good chemistry which is always crucial, but even more so in something like readers theatre. I don't see us returning to the format any time soon, but it was energizing to do something so different.  
     Now we are free to turn our attentions to another non-standard Valley Theatre production... A Grand Night for Singing is set to open on September 21, 2017.

Press Release: Reader's Theatre at the David A. Howe Public Library

Our most recent Valley Theatre show, The Star Spangled Girl, opened exactly one year ago today.  It's hard to believe it's been that long!  We are planning a bigger event later in 2017, but right now we are working on a night of reader's theater with the David A. Howe Public Library.  Here's a little teaser of things to come.

2017 marks the 80^th anniversary of the David A. Howe Public Library in its current location.  To celebrate this landmark year they will be re-creating an evening of one-act plays that were first performed in the Nancy Auditorium in July of 1937.  Presented in a reader’s theater format the plays include Thursday Evening by Christopher Morley, Wisdom Teeth by Rachel Field and Alexander’s Horse by Maurice Baring.  The evening will be hosted by Director Nic Gunning and his two predecessors, Michelle La Voie (director of the Olean Public Library) and Brian Hildreth (director of the Southern Tier Library System).  This library sponsored program is free and open to the public on Friday, July 14 at 7pm in the Nancy Howe Auditorium of the David A. Howe Public Library located at 155 N. Main Street, Wellsville, NY, 14895.

Star-Spangled Debrief

Looking at me writing my debrief in the same calendar year.  Progress!  

In the summer of 2016 we decided to revisit our old friend Neil Simon (Jake's Women, The Odd Couple) and mount a production of his little-known flop, The Star-Spangled Girl.   SSG tells the story of two fellas who are happily publishing a newspaper out of their apartment until an Olympic swimmer moves in next door and, through no fault of her own, leaves chaos in her wake. 

I discovered it in much the same way that I discovered Allegro.  I picked up a collection of Neil Simon's writing to read Barefoot in the Park and found SSG instead. Several things appealed to me about this show.  First, I'm a Neil Simon fan so I find his dialogue and timing to be always entertaining.  It also had shades of The Odd Couple, so I thought it might be fun to approach that relationship from another angle.  The small cast, just three characters, was very appealing as well.  My first instinct was to cast Mike and me in roles that would mirror the ones we had in The Odd Couple.  It was tempting, but the pull to direct was stronger.  Plus I kept reading Eric in the role of Norman.  (I typically do this when I read shows, mentally cast actors I've worked with.  It helps me visualize what a performance would look like.)  With Eric as Norman and Mi

ke as Andy (the "Oscar" role),  my mind jumped right to Sarah to play Sophie, the southern swimmer.  This cast energized me because they are some of my favorites to work with and I'd never had any of them in a play together before.  We decided to do one show in the Fire Hall and two shows in the Nancy Howe Auditorium at the library to tie in with the adult summer reading program.

The rehearsals were fun from the get-go.  We had a really great readthrough, which helped to get everyone excited.  Neither Mike nor Sarah had read it prior to that.  Eric had, but was unimpressed with his first read.  Hearing it all come together gave us an early vision of what the show would be.  The final performance stayed very true to that original readthrough.  Now that can be a bad thing, but in this case it's because things just clicked early on.  That gave us plenty of time to play around with the jokes and rapid-paced delivery.

Memorization was a major issue with this show.  Because of the small cast and tendency to rehash conversation from earlier scenes, it was difficult to lock things in to place.  The script is very dependent on things being said exactly right, meaning that if one person was off then so was the whole scene.  They were scared, but I wasn't.  I've been in shows where the cast peaks too soon.  It makes things feel stale and can effect the quality of the actual performances.  On the flip-side, I've directed shows where things landed exactly right just in time for the curtain to rise.  (This was never more true than it was with Guilty Conscience, one of my personal favorites.) SSG definitely landed just in the nick of time.

We opened in the Houghton Fire Hall, something that we skipped (and really missed) for Spinoff. I think we were all more excited about that performance than we were for the ones at the Howe.  I like using the Fire Hall because it speaks to the indie roots of Valley Theatre.  It feels more alive and urgent.  The Houghton show killed.  In the Fire Hall the crowd is so close to the action, that they don't miss a thing.  It makes it more frenetic and engaging.  SSG borders on the absurd and played much better to crowd that really felt like they were along for the ride.  The show climaxes with a fist fight between Eric's Norman and Mike's Andy.  In was perfection, particularly for that first show.  The Houghton crowd was in tears and we were right there with them.  In what would become a signature move of the show, Eric's watch actually broke during the fight.

For the next few shows we moved to the Nancy Howe Auditorium.  It's a beautiful space and everything looked just right.  The show didn't play nearly as well in that space though.  The crowds definitely enjoyed it and were very enthusiastic at the post show meet and greets, but it lost something with the distance between cast and crowd.  The cast played nicely off of each other. They adapted to the space well.  Eric broke a trophy in the first show and knocked over a fireplace in the second.  Classic stuff.  In the end we all agreed that we liked the Houghton show best.  

It's funny how that happens.  We originally used the Fire Hall for Art and Telephone Roulette out of necessity.  Now, even with a beautiful theater at our disposal, it has become our old-school preference. 

Bottom line, I really dug directing The Star-Spangled Girl.  It felt like the old days, like a return to form.  Something I hadn't really felt since Wise Women three years earlier.  I think the show itself was lost in the shadow of The Odd Couple, which to be fair is a better show.  It failed to get the acclaim of its predecessor and never really found a footing in area productions or even with it's lukewarm film version. Still, it worked just right for us.  It was nice to dust if off and breathe new life into it. 

To hear the cast of the Star-Spangled Girl discuss the show as well as their favorite Neil Simon shows, tune in here!

Star-Spangled Director's Note

We wrapped our Houghton run last night (June 30) and open in Wellsville tonight (July 1) with a matinee tomorrow (July 2).  I am really digging this show and the audience so far has loved it.  Here's my director's note:

Director’s Note

When it comes to theater, two of the things I love most are small cast plays and Neil Simon. The Star-Spangled Girl checks both of those boxes very well.  This is my second collaboration with both Mike and Eric on a Neil Simon show, having directed Eric in a 2010 production of Jake’s Women and starring opposite Mike in our 2014 production of The Odd Couple.  (Sarah is new to the world of Neil Simon, but is no stranger to Valley Theatre.)  I love Simon’s dialogue and it’s always nice to hear it come out of talented actors.

      Over the years I’ve worked with the members of this cast many times, but I realized midway through that they had never worked together before (unless you count Eric’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in Cinderella).  Hard to believe, but true.  With that in mind, I’m even more impressed with how well they play off of each other.  They have a natural chemistry that has made it a lot of fun for me to observe and guide.  I think you’ll like it too.      -Nic

To hear the cast of the Star-Spangled Girl discuss the show as well as their favorite Neil Simon shows, tune in here!