The Imagination Blog

I haven’t written since June 5th?  Where has the time gone? The days are flying by filled with the thousands of decisions that go in to producing the beautiful spectacle we call a musical.

This week and the last were filled to the brim as we moved from the blocking phase of the play to cleaning up and filling in the rough spots.   We had to answer such important questions as “how will we get 36 people quickly on stage in the dark- especially when some of them are very little people?  Followed of course by the all important “how will we get said 36 people off stage in the dark?”   Our publicity team of Derek Dunham, Terry Farrell and Brian Baker had to determine “how will we get 60 people photographed in four hours?” and our fabulous stage managers Jen Feldser and Eric Mansilla dealt with the all important “how will we coordinate said 60 people to photography downstairs whilst said 60 people are also needed for rehearsal upstairs?”  Jen was heard to say that she is seriously considering getting a fireman’s pole put in!

Meanwhile set construction has been making magic constructing walls, pillars and niches to resemble soaring palace structures which our scenic artist turns into carpet, marble and mosaic through the magic of paint.

During this hectic time I was required to be out of town for three of the rehearsals- so my assistant director Megan Zimmer made the directing magic for me- working through a maze of scheduling issues and snafus (the June calendar mistakenly listed these rehearsals as ending one hour earlier than they should) to complete the polish, fill in the blanks and smooth out the problems- which she did brilliantly.  I couldn’t have left the show in better hands!

Which meant that I was treated to the delightful experience of returning on Thursday to see a show transformed from the disjointed chaos of the blocking portion of play production to the blossoming beauty of the characterization phase.  During this time a play comes together.  All of the thousands of details begin to gel- and the actors begin to practice their craft, creating the characters who will come to life on stage each night for two and one half hours to tell their story.

I am blessed with hugely talented and experienced actors and dancers, who co-create with Megan and I.  Actors filled with ideas.  Actors willing to work extra hours, stay late (can you say eleven o’clock?  sure I knew you could!) and contribute their ideas.  Actors filled with passion and skill who offer their wonderful suggestions and make our lives easier. Dancers who spend their down time rehearsing in whatever tiny space they have been allotted.  I love you guys!!!

And so … I find myself this week entranced by their work- completely drawn in to the story- laughing aloud, clapping, tearing up… wow!  Magic!

It dawned on my while I was sitting on my couch last night, staring intensely at my new flat screen. Even though we didn’t have LOVE LETTERS rehearsal yesterday, I feel I learned something about directing in that moment. Well, really I REALIZED something about why I love directing. (Emphasis on the “I” and the “love”.) More specifically, of course, I realized why I am loving directing LOVE LETTERS.

Recently I started working at Arcus, a terrific company in Hummelstown. Here I will insert the much needed Arcus Marketing information, due to the fact that I work in Marketing at Arcus.  Ahem.

Arcus is a nationally-recognized staffing, recruiting and direct placement firm. Our team of recruiters is dedicated to helping you grow your business.

There. I’ve done my duty. And happy to do it, too! You see, it is important to give Arcus a nod because Doug Firestone, the CEO, has agreed to Arcus being a Sponsor of the show! (Insert wild applause here. Doug bows. Curtain closes.)

So, back to my life-altering epiphany. The Arcus Apprentices were interviewing me for their first project. Okay, they weren’t JUST interviewing ME. They were interviewing all Arcus employees but REGARDLESS… during MY interview they asked ME two fantastic, eye-opening questions. They also asked me what body part would I make bigger or smaller and why. After giggling, I responded, “I would want my eyes to be bigger so I could look like and anime character. You can really tell what they are thinking. Very expressive.” But that was not the question that opened my eyes, which are a fine size by the way. No, the questions in question were:

1) What are you most passionate about? “Hm,” I said. “What am I most passionate about, huh? I guess I would have to say communication.” (The Apprentices  smile politely.)

2) Describe yourself in one word. (I know, I know. This isn’t a question, per say, but I described it as such for simplicity’s sake.) I replied,”Wow! Er… Ah… Uhm… well… geez…” (The Apprentices stare blankly.) “Uuuuuh… Oh! Yes! I know! Collaboration. I mean, I am a collaborator!”

While I was playing my Wii last night, I realized I have thought about those two words before but never in such simple terms: I am wild about communication and collaboration. Those two little-ish words  is why I am having such a gosh darn great time directing Terry and Brian in LOVE LETTERS. They are superb collaborators and very talented communicators. The show is leaping off the page, off the stage. I could dare say the same thing about Derek and my entire production team. And I dare! Everyone involved with this already beautiful piece of theatre is devoted to creating something together (collaboration) that looks great, sounds great, and means something (communication).

“I am so proud of the show!” I thought. “LOVE LETTERS is gonna be great!” Then I rewarded myself with another round of Guitar Hero.

We’ve just finished our fourth rehearsal. We are currently on a once-a-week rehearsal schedule due to the holidays, but we’ll be amping up to three-a-week rehearsals after the first of the year.

Terry and I have finally begun to shake off the rust - neither of us has acted in years. We also weren’t sure what it would be like working together. But it’s been great. Though I must confess that during much of the rehearsal process my co-star has been leering at me with a look that says “when and where, baby?”. I’m trying very hard not to let it distract me. I’m a professional, and I don’t want her flirtations to shatter my focus. (She is cute, though.)

We’ve begun blocking the show, and we’re almost through Act 1. For those of you familiar with “Love Letters” you may be wondering how one “blocks” a show that traditionally doesn’t have any. You see, “Love Letters” is usually staged with the two actors sitting at desks or a table, and presenting the entire play without moving. Well, we’re trying to break the mold. In so doing we’re hoping to make the show a bit more visually interesting for the audience.

This is something we talked about from the outset. When Terry and I first met Stuart Landon, the show’s director, he discussed the idea of breaking with the “traditional” staging of the show to try to give it a more modern flavor. It seems to be working. He’s broken the stage into 9 sections (3 rows of three) and each section represents an “acting area”. The stage at the Playhouse is a thrust stage which means there is seating on three sides of the stage. This can be problematic if the action stays in one place. It typically means that a portion of the audience gets to see your face, and the other portion gets to see, well, your tush. By creating the acting areas Stuart has made it possible for the performance to be seen by every seat in the house equally.

So far, so good.

Happy Holidays.