My first OP4P rehearsal

I'm still coming down from the excessive praise people are heaping on me over UnE. I can't believe people liked it so much. It's awesome.

Last night was my first OP4P rehearsal. Not theirs. They've been at it two weeks already while I've been off Unethicalling. It has created this kind of surreal disconnect. Prime is (so far) the script that means the most to me of anything I've ever written. It's very personal to me and several of the characters are stand-ins for me at different points in my life. But, because I've been so focused on my other show and I missed the initial read-through and a ton of rehearsals, I felt kind of like a stranger walking in last night. A feeling only intensified by the fact that I didn't even know when they started rehearsals because no one sent me a final schedule until yesterday. It's weird for me. I mean, in real life, most playwrights never or rarely show up to rehearsals of their work. And really, they're not supposed to be too involved. It's the director's play at this point, not the writer's. But as I am not a nationally published or performed playwright and have to date been integrally involved in the rehearsals of all my work, it's an adjustment.

Of course, if I'm honest with myself, I really don't want to be there everyday like I was for UnE or for past readings of my stuff. This is a longer, more involved rehearsal process, and I'm sure Jenna has it well in hand. I have enough faith in the script and the cast (many of whom are OP4P alumni and good friends anyway) to trust it will all turn out fine. Plus, I'm really freaking tired! It's just difficult to let go and take the appropriate step back. It's like my firstborn kid, you know?

Anyway, the cast seemed to be in a relatively good rhythm despite the fact that Stuart (who plays Matt) is out of town and the sm was reading in for him. The cadences, intentions, and attitudes all felt really natural and comfortable. This play, more than anything else I've ever written, needs to feel natural and conversational, and they definitely get that.

The other cool thing is that the actor originally cast as Stuey dropped out, so Jenna replaced him with Nate who played Reed in Unethical. How cool is that? I never saw the other guy work, I'm sure he was fine, but I'm happy to have someone I know and trust picking up the role mid-process. Stuey's got to be kind of loud and zany, and Nate just jumped right in and found the rhythm easily last night. He had no fear about just getting up and dancing to SexyBack and giving Josh a lap dance, which is a necessity for Stuey.

I won't be back at OP4P rehearsals til March 5 - I'm only missing two rehearsals during which a couple actors will be absent. I can't wait to see the whole ensemble together and in rhythm. I have high hopes for this one. All the elements are there so far for it to be a sharp, tight show. Now, I just have to take a step back and wait and see.

P.S. I mentioned this before, but ... I thoroughly encourage all interested parties to listen to the album "Everything in Transit" by Jack's Mannequin. It was my soundtrack for writing recent drafts of OP4P. It feels like the songs were written for these characters.

We did it!

It was a great weekend.

Unethical opened Friday and closed Sunday, and I couldn't have been happier with the run. We sold out both Friday and Saturday nights and had around 50 people on Sunday. Any local actor can tell you, 50 people on a Sunday is amazing. I'd have been over the moon about 20 showing up.

The cast (and I) were pretty drained after tech week, with Kristy, who's been fighting various infections all year, probably struggling the most. But once it was show time, everything seemed fine. We knew in advance we had sold out Friday, so everyone was excited going into it. The show ran smoothly, and the large crowd (which included many of my coworkers) seemed to really get it. After the show, I had so many people coming up to me and venting about the horrible things that have happened at their offices, or how they've been asked to rat out their coworkers for misbehaving. It obviously struck a chord. 

The other cool thing about Friday was that there was a party of about 35 people who attended - CPT board members and their guests. The board member who chose my show as the one she would host a gathering around was very complimentary and seemed to like the production. That's pretty awesome, having the board show up in force to my opening night.

I missed Saturday night's show because I was at a wedding, but I had family there and of course Lisa reported back for me. My family felt the show was more energetic, more animated than Friday night. Lisa felt it was a little slower, because the actors were anticipating pausing for laughs more, and Allen confessed he thought he was pushing it a bit that night. Either way, I did not expect Saturday to sell out. And everyone who was there who Facebooked or emailed me had nothing but good things to say about it. The comments I'm hearing the most have to do with the play having a good balance of humor and seriousness and that it presented an important contemporary issue in a relatable way. I really can't ask for better compliments than that.

Sunday was a very strong show - the closest to word perfect with strong energy and intent. And with a decent-sized audience, there was enough noise to keep the actors from having the usual Sunday let down. We struck fast, and I went home and absolutely crashed. Long week. Long 2009.

I'm definitely eager to rewrite UnE again, tweak a few things, streamline some clunky dialogue, etc. But the run was great. I couldn't be more pleased. A few people asked when we'd do it again so they could bring others to see it. Hopefully we can someday. (Hey CPT friends, what do you think?)

Thanks to everyone who was a part of it, from the cast and crew to those of you in the audience!

Tech continues

Ugh, I've been so remiss in posting. I've got other things on my mind. (This would be the perfect spot for some preciously smiling or winking emoticon, if I were into that sort of thing.)

So, UnE opens tomorrow. And the amazing thing is, I'm not feeling at all crazed. Part of that is because Lisa and our "admin assistants" Michael and Diana have taken care of so many details I just expected to be on my plate, making my life so much easier. Another part of that is Dan jumping in and hitting the ground running so competently when it comes to our lights and sound. There's also the whole actors totally getting it thing. I'm sure the nerves will kick in tomorrow night around in right before house opens. Dan advises doing a shot before the show, but I'm sure I'll face the anxiety totally sober.

Last night's run was incredibly encouraging. It was a little slower in terms of pace and energy than we'd hope the performances would be. But in the slower pace, the intentions and reactions were really coming through. I saw new approaches to moments from everyone, particularly Kristy and Laurel, that really worked. (I even heard Lisa make "ah!" noises every so often when actors found new tactics and intentions on certain lines.)

The scene changes are going smoothly, and the light and sound cues were mostly right on. After the run we futzed with a few things, but Dan seems to have it well in hand. When we were done last night, he said, "It looks like a show." And really, who can ask for more than that?

We're still a few props short, and a few lines that I really want heard were dropped. And while the minor "fight" Kelly Elliott choreographed for us looks good, it could be a bit sharper. But we've got one more night to polish everything a bit more and add the most important prop: cake.

I just found out that we're almost sold out for Friday. Wow. Hopefully, a few people actually show up on Sat. and Sun. too!

Tech week, or why we love Curtis

UnE went into tech last night. Very exciting, mostly because it went so well and I feel so not-nervous about the whole endeavor.

So, why do we love Curtis, CPT's tech director? Because he's awesome. Not only did he save me from having to eat rotten bananas on stage in a show I did there in 2007, he proved to be so extraordinarily helpful last night. Lisa was down at the theater in the afternoon setting up the set (office furniture was delivered by my dad's guys in the morning) and lights. Lisa had all kinds of lists and drawings and plans of how she wanted the set configured, but once she got there, Curtis's eye and advice proved invaluable. He even built a little piece for us, because he's awesome. And he seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the project. With just some office furniture on wheels we've managed to put together and pretty decent and easily shiftable set.

Curtis and Lisa also managed to set and record all the light cues. Tonight when Dan our stage manager joins us, we'll work on actually running the light and sound cues.

Another cool thing about last night: our new admin assistants Michael and Diana. They will be shifting the set and setting up props in the transitions. All they had to do was be instructed in the shifts once by Lisa, and they took notes, worked it out and ran them solidly when we finally got to the run-through.

While Lisa and Curtis were setting the shifts and lights, the cast was onstage practicing their entrances to scenes. They would run the scenes as far they could get until Lisa was ready to jump to the next cue or shift. The cool thing was, they were sort of half-assing it or joking around and being really big, focusing more on lines and being comfortable in the space than intentions. Yet, they found some things in the exaggerated run that were really kind of cool. Of course, when we did the actual run in real time with real intentions, a lot of that silly energy and those big choices disappeared. But there might be some moments worth revisiting from what they did during the shift rehearsal.

Laurel gets a special mention for doing the best quick changes ever. Seriously. The girl changes her clothes, like, seven times in this show, and never missed a entrance. AND always looked impeccable. How does she do that? We mere mortals may never know.

UnE rehearsal: I'm just doing what you told me

Lisa is sick with a bad cold, so last night's rehearsal was sans director. But, she left me instructions, so we proceeded anyway.

Ran the whole show off book, calling for lines. It's definitely coming along, but Team ESP is pretty antsy to get into the space. Right now a lot of the cast seems to feel like they're spinning their wheels until we can solidify blocking on the set and start using props and such. Monday will be a big day. They seem very solid on character and intention, though there were a few throwaway moments and character breaks last night when lines got in the way. They all know what they're doing, and I'm not concerned.

I just got off the phone with Lisa, and she won't be at tonight's rehearsal either. But we're going to do another run. Then we're on break until tech week begins so the actors can focus on memorization over the weekend, since there will be no line calling on Monday, I imagine.

I've got to finish the program insert and settle some logistical issues before Monday. Lisa's working on props and music. It's all coming together, but it's starting to occur to em just how short the time is to pull all these little things non-writing, non-acting things together. 

Warehouse party

Last night, Lisa and I went with my dad out to his warehouse in Independence to "shop" for office furniture to use as the UnE set. We were hoping to find some stuff on wheels, and the rest we'd mount on platforms with casters. But to our surprise, we found everything we needed all already on wheels.

The coolest find was a full cubicle on wheels. It's a whole desk made of compressed sunflower parts - it's an organic desk! It has panels attached to it to wall it off, some of the panels have bulletin boards on them, and one has a white dry-erase board. So the desk side of the cubicle will be Nora and Reed's desks. But when we flip it around, we have instant background panels, including a dry-erase board. It has a little matching file cabinet/chest on wheels we're going to roll around and use as various things. We also found a perfect small, round kitchen table on wheels and two possibilities for a conference table on wheels. 

Of course, we needed 5 rolling desk chairs, which we knew would be easy to find. The great thing is, my dad found us 5 chairs that fit the personalities of the 5 characters. We have a big, professional looking black arm chair for Reed; a slightly smaller, less imposing black armchair for Nora; a flower patterned armchair for Tracey, a bright blue-green chair with short arms for Zach; and a tiny, armless, beat-up-looking, plaid, crappy chair for Barry.

My dad's even arranging for the furniture to be delivered to CPT for us on Feb. 16. It's our whole set, pretty much, and it's taken care of!

Lisa has contracted one of her interns (and is working on one more) to be admin assistants in the show - basically, furniture movers in costume. Things are coming together.

UnE rehearsal: it pained me to have to do this

At left, Team ESP has a lively discussion about the script and what it really means.

Last night's rehearsal at my house was, again, very productive. I continue to marvel at the fact that, with so few rehearsals and with blocking unable to be set until we're in the space, so much progress continues to be made. Each night, Lisa and the actors read over, discuss, and work on one or two scenes. Laurel remarked that when she sits down to memorize, she's suprised how much she already has in her memory just from going over the scenes in rehearsal. They're all progressing substantially on memorization and characterization. As an actor, I think, "Duh! Of course they are." As a nervous playwright, I am, for some reason, amazed.

Last night we covered scene 6 (Nora and Reed's semi-confrontation) and scene 8 (the final staff meeting and ending). At Allen's request, we also went back over scene 2 (the original staff meeting), so that he and Nate could find the right connections in that early scene to better reflect where they end up in relation to each other in the final scene. I read in for Kristy, who was at grad school auditions.

Interesting note: we discovered that when Brian delivers his lines directly to my dog, it freaks her the hell out.

Scene 6 hit home for Laurel, who admitted she had recently experience something very similar at her real-life day job. "I am Nora!" she lamented. In the scene, Reed confronts Nora about her supposed violations of the ethics policy. He wrestles with his desire to be the tough boss while still wanting her to like him. Nate worked the scene off-book, and it was pretty good. But once Lisa had him up and moving and sitting and standing and leaning and threatening and backing away while Laurel sat perfectly still in her chair, the scene really came to life for both of them, and he hardly struggled to remember lines. They worked in my dining room, while Allen, Brian and I watched from the kitchen and living room doors. It was like having my own little home theater viewable only through a rectangular opening.

Revisiting scene 2 was definitely worth it. It flowed better and had sharper intention. In looking at scene 8, Allen realized that he can bounce back and forth between being the real Barry and being what Barry has become (a new version of Reed). He found places in the dialogue where he was corporate versus where he was authentic, and delivered those lines in different rhythms. I like it a lot. It will be interesting to see it play out.

The rest of the week is memorization. Next week is speed-throughs and working scenes. After that, we're in tech. It is so close.

OP4P is cast!

Jenna announced the cast for Prime on Friday. It contains many familiar faces, but in different roles than before.

Cast in order of appearance:

Steph: Aubrey Fisher

Kevin: Josh Brown

Matt: Stuart Hoffman

Jeremy: Shawn Galligan

Stuey: Andrew Goldsworth

Sierra: Sarah Kunchik

Teacher/ Bar tender (and stage manager): Robert Daniels

The last role listed is something a little different my Fourth Wall friends came up that I'm very excited about. The off-stage voice of the teacher has always been read by the stage manager in every past production. But since the show's never been fully staged before, we've never dealt with how the characters will get their food and drink. So, for this production, the sm's booth is going to be on the floor, not up above the seats. It will double as the bar, and the sm will have the food back there with him, so actors can just walk up to the bar and grab it. I think it will be very cool.

I'm looking forward to rehearsals starting for OP4P, but right now the focus for me stays on UnE. We've lost several days due to weather, so I'm hoping we can get back on track soon. If I were an actor in the show, I don't think I'd be that nervous about canceled rehearsals. I'd feel like I could still do my work and pull it off. But as the playwright/ producer, every day we lose weighs on my mind.