Merry Christmas
December 25th 2008
Workshop completed
December 14th 2008
Today, we presented the Workshop presentation of the Belle of Winnipeg.
It went pretty well. Audience reaction was relatively good, and the feedback we got afterwards in our question and answer session will go a long way to helping us put the show together in its final form.
And now, we’re finished for a while. We’ll come back to it later in the new year, but for the time being, we’re taking a break. And a well deserved one too, I think. I’m looking forward to having some evenings to myself, and to moving on to some new projects. I’m also, however, looking forward to eventually coming back to work on Belle.
But for the moment, I’m going to sleep.
Siobhan knits
December 11th 2008
Siobhan knits, originally uploaded by Grinningskull.
One has to do something when you aren’t on stage. Siobhan Richardson knits.
Very productive night, as we continue the "enchainment", which is the
process of putting all the scenes together for the first time. This
is where you find the traffic problems. We found a few tonight, but
they aren’t insurmountabe.
No rehearsal tomorrow. Instead, the office holiday party.
And then the weekend.
A sheep
December 10th 2008
A sheep, originally uploaded by Grinningskull.
It was there. On the coffee maker.
Into to Lower Ossington Theatre tonight. Here till tomorrow, then off
on friday.
Tonight, we’re working a the last couple of scenes. Once that’s done,
we can spend our time tomorrow and Saturday just running through the
scenes in order.
I think it’s coming together.
Workin’ the bits
December 9th 2008
Workin’ the bits, originally uploaded by Grinningskull.
Richard Beaune concentrates on a scene.
Tonight working through some scenes bit by bit, getting a feel for the
structure of the scenes. After tonight we’ll be finessing scenes and
working to give them some finish.
By the time we get to Saturday, we want to be running the scenes for
the presentation.
Coming together slowly but surely.
5 for fighting
December 8th 2008
Tonight, rehearsal started with working to revise the fight. We had a scene that we had shown at the fundraiser last month, and though there was a lot to that scene, putting it in front of an audience highlighted some flaws in the presentation. So, now we have to make some changes in order to improve the scene.
The lesson we learned from presenting a scene at the fundraiser really illustrates the kind of thing we hope to learn through our workshop in less than a week. By putting the work in front of an audience, we’ll learn what’s working and what’s not. Of course, it would also be nice to find some financial backers, but that’s less important than the feedback we’ll get.
This week is going to be really difficult. Working 9 to 5, and then heading right out to rehearsal. This will get me home around midnight each night. When it’s all over, I’ll be ready for the Christmas break.
I’m almost home now, so I’ll post this and collapse into sleep.
New space
December 8th 2008
New space, originally uploaded by Grinningskull.
Into new space for the beginning of our marathon week of workshopping
"The Belle of Winnipeg".
Now the work begins
December 6th 2008
Now the work begins, originally uploaded by Grinningskull.
Ice on the rink at Ryerson.
This is what greets me as I head into the first day of the Keystone
Theatre intensive workshop. One week to create something we can
present next Sunday to an invited audience.
A daunting task, but I think we’re up to it.
Chaplin Moment
December 1st 2008
David Atkinson on Piano.
Working last night, I snapped this shot of David improvising during a scene. Its always impressive watching David work, as he creates new compositions on the fly, to go along with scenes that are being created as he plays.
Got caught up on a gag last night, and found myself thinking about how the same thing would happen to Chaplin at times, and how he would shut down a production for as long as it took for him to come to a conclusion about what would make the gag work. Hours and hours later, he would come up with something brilliant, and then shooting would resume. Last night, we were so close to funny that we could taste it, but we’re missing one small piece of the puzzle that will provide the payoff that we need.
We should have the piece of the puzzle shortly.
