And then it was the last night. Just like that. All that work, all that effort from cast and crew alike, done.
On the last night, I was a punter. A genuine Bona Fide punter. I had paid for my ticket and two others at my table as well actually and had the front table for my family. This obviously did not mean I could slack off my other duties, like ensuring the furniture was in the right place and correcting the picture that my stage crew would always hang wonky, just so that I could straighten it out, or to annoy me, you choose. So I still was there to greet all of our 84 guests plus 3 walk ins (yes, that's right a sold out audience!) including NODA who were there to review for us. Just as we were going in for our 5 minute (10 minute) call, I went to talk to my cast.
After the initial protests about punters not being allowed in the dressing rooms, they quietened down so that I could say a few words. Which I tried to do. I attempted to tell them how proud I was of them for bringing my play to life, I think I got to proud before my voice cracked. Jenna came to hug me which of course made it worse which them made the cast very happy and I ended up in the middle of a woods group hug. Charming eh? They delighted in making their Writer/Director cry!
And then it was time.
I think I had found a kind of safety on the stool at the back of the room, I had the knowledge that I had DZ in my ear and I could tell the lighting dude when to take the lights up or down (even though he knew what he was doing completely). I had a kind of blankie that I now had to let go of, so my nerves were even worse as we sat down. I have to say (yes, I realise I've said it before) that it was excellent. Being in the thick of the audience was brilliant. I got the atmosphere that I had missed out on being on my stool and could feel the tension in the crowd, it was palpable. Just as I had wanted when I wrote it. The gasps, screams in some cases and the overall nervousness of everyone was awesome. I spent part of the time looking around to see how engrossed people were and they were hooked. It was amazing. I was even close enough to see the tear fall from Sophie's eye as she delivered her final line. Beautiful.
I managed to get out first to pop off to see the cast who has performed their socks off all week for me and to tell them all how wonderful they were, cue voice cracking and tear welling again.
And it was done. Or was it? The Woods lot were a little disappointed that we didn't enter the festival along side the zombies and had been nagging me that we should take it to a festival. So we are, we will be applying to appear at the Woking festival on October and then probably again at the Runnymede festival after that. DZ has also invited us to come and perform with his group The Fringe Files in September in Somerset so we get a practise run before the festival too. Yay! Road Trip!!!
All that remains for now is to thank everyone, if I forget anyone I am truly sorry.
To start, I thank my cast, they have been amazing to me, understanding, professional, dedicated. I couldn't have asked you all for anything else. My crew, backstage, front of house, catering, lights, sound, box office, again you all made this a very easy and pleasant journey for me. Our audiences, thank you for coming, for taking a chance on two brand new plays by unknown authors and for paying your hard-earned to support local theatre. I appreciate it so much and hope to see you at other shows we do.
Finally, to my mentor and guide on my first writing/directing outing, Director Zombie. It is what it is because of your support, which I obviously will completely forget when I'm collecting my Olivier award...
Song of the day - Kate Bush - This Woman's Work
Wednesday 23 April 2014
Sunday 20 April 2014
Getting our Curry on
I love the Friday night of show week, it's normally a good crowd and we have our traditional curry night, I always preferred this to the after show parties!
In fact our audience on the Friday night was of Saturday night proportions! 74 tickets sold. Absolutely amazing! We flogged the hell out of this show and it was well worth it! It was a shame not to sell out, but I'm quibbling about 6 tickets, some people are never satisfied!
Now for this show we were operating a closed door policy, so once the show started, no entry was allowed. On this particular night it there was a couple of tickets left on the door for people I knew. I um'd and ah'd and said to FOH that they could come in if they arrived in the first 10 minutes, then realising that I couldn't make exceptions I said not to let anyone in. Said people arrived about 10 minutes after the performance had started and were refused entry... It had taken them 2 hours to travel from Central London which they had done to see my play - I felt so bad afterwards, but I had to stay true to the rules right?
Another solid performance from my wonderful cast, although my heart was racing the entire way through it as normal, I thought that it might get better as the week went on but no, I was still a nervous wreck until it was all over.
The curry afterwards was a raucous affair (as usual) with the hobbit and his BFAM leading the way, including everyone becoming Lord Muslington of Kent by the end of the evening and reinventing the Mexican Wave. The staff in that place must think we are crazy, well they are probably partly right when I think of the folk that were there...
Song of the day - Patsy Cline - Crazy
In fact our audience on the Friday night was of Saturday night proportions! 74 tickets sold. Absolutely amazing! We flogged the hell out of this show and it was well worth it! It was a shame not to sell out, but I'm quibbling about 6 tickets, some people are never satisfied!
Now for this show we were operating a closed door policy, so once the show started, no entry was allowed. On this particular night it there was a couple of tickets left on the door for people I knew. I um'd and ah'd and said to FOH that they could come in if they arrived in the first 10 minutes, then realising that I couldn't make exceptions I said not to let anyone in. Said people arrived about 10 minutes after the performance had started and were refused entry... It had taken them 2 hours to travel from Central London which they had done to see my play - I felt so bad afterwards, but I had to stay true to the rules right?
Another solid performance from my wonderful cast, although my heart was racing the entire way through it as normal, I thought that it might get better as the week went on but no, I was still a nervous wreck until it was all over.
The curry afterwards was a raucous affair (as usual) with the hobbit and his BFAM leading the way, including everyone becoming Lord Muslington of Kent by the end of the evening and reinventing the Mexican Wave. The staff in that place must think we are crazy, well they are probably partly right when I think of the folk that were there...
Song of the day - Patsy Cline - Crazy
Thursday 17 April 2014
And again please...
I did try and write some more of this blog yesterday whilst away on my holidays but wasn't getting any internet so it had to wait again, but I'm here now and we're going to have a wonderful time...
Where were we? Ah yes, Thursday.
I had a few peeps in the audience on Thursday and we had a total of 57 tickets sold. With 4 walk-ins, that brought us up nicely to 61. Crazy Thursday night figures! My big bro was the last to arrive and I'm so glad I told him 7.45 start as I'm sure he would have been late, family eh?
Once again, I was sat on my bar stool with the cans on heart thumping out of my chest for the entire performance, I had moved back with the growing crowd so I wouldn't disturb anyone if I needed to speak. Once again a truly solid performance from my brilliant cast. I'm not sure I could have cast it better. Thinking of all the actors I had at my disposal, I think I picked the strongest team possible. They were utterly professional, dedicated and focused for all our rehearsals and it showed in their performances completely.
My colleagues, who were in the audience, most of whom had been completely bullied into coming, were incredibly complimentary and thought the play was brilliant. Yay!
Song of the day - Lifehouse - Halfway Gone
Where were we? Ah yes, Thursday.
I had a few peeps in the audience on Thursday and we had a total of 57 tickets sold. With 4 walk-ins, that brought us up nicely to 61. Crazy Thursday night figures! My big bro was the last to arrive and I'm so glad I told him 7.45 start as I'm sure he would have been late, family eh?
Once again, I was sat on my bar stool with the cans on heart thumping out of my chest for the entire performance, I had moved back with the growing crowd so I wouldn't disturb anyone if I needed to speak. Once again a truly solid performance from my brilliant cast. I'm not sure I could have cast it better. Thinking of all the actors I had at my disposal, I think I picked the strongest team possible. They were utterly professional, dedicated and focused for all our rehearsals and it showed in their performances completely.
My colleagues, who were in the audience, most of whom had been completely bullied into coming, were incredibly complimentary and thought the play was brilliant. Yay!
Song of the day - Lifehouse - Halfway Gone
Tuesday 15 April 2014
Opening night nerves
Finally, opening night had arrived. The Hobbit always likens directing a show to being a football manager, once the team is across the white line there isn't much else you can do. You've trained them, guided them and then they're on their own. Great words of wisdom but they didn't help the nerves I felt as we went into our first paid performance.
Lighting Dude had set up a set of cans (headphones that let the technical and backstage crew communicate) by the side of the hall so I could talk to him, Director Zombie (as the sound guy, not about the weather and that) and our pretty awesome Stage Managers. I got myself a stool from the bar and made a home for myself for the next couple of nights.
We had a reasonable crowd booked in, 43 for the opening night of a play was pretty good, all that hard work pushing ticket sales had been worth it. We had told the audiences to be there for a 7.45 start, even though my plan was to start at 8! People do have a tendency to turn up just as the show starts and I wanted to be sure that they all had time to grab drinks and visit the loo before the show started as we were not going to be letting people come and go whilst the performance was taking place.
7.45pm Lighting Dude gave a 15 minute warning for drink buying and loo visiting, then another at 7.55pm. I went to see my cast and told them all to break their legs. Then we were off.
I sat on my stool with my heart thumping the whole way through. My head was telling me not to be nervous as it knew my cast were totally in the zone, but my heart ignored my head completely for the duration of my play. The cast were fantastic, as always and the punters seemed to love it. It was great to finally have a fully live audience, they laughed at the funny bits, gasped at the scary bits and sometimes reacted in unexpected and unexplained ways. Nowt queer as folk as they say up north.
Performance 1 out of 4. Done!
Song of the day - Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren - Goodness Gracious Me (look it up on YouTube)
Lighting Dude had set up a set of cans (headphones that let the technical and backstage crew communicate) by the side of the hall so I could talk to him, Director Zombie (as the sound guy, not about the weather and that) and our pretty awesome Stage Managers. I got myself a stool from the bar and made a home for myself for the next couple of nights.
We had a reasonable crowd booked in, 43 for the opening night of a play was pretty good, all that hard work pushing ticket sales had been worth it. We had told the audiences to be there for a 7.45 start, even though my plan was to start at 8! People do have a tendency to turn up just as the show starts and I wanted to be sure that they all had time to grab drinks and visit the loo before the show started as we were not going to be letting people come and go whilst the performance was taking place.
7.45pm Lighting Dude gave a 15 minute warning for drink buying and loo visiting, then another at 7.55pm. I went to see my cast and told them all to break their legs. Then we were off.
I sat on my stool with my heart thumping the whole way through. My head was telling me not to be nervous as it knew my cast were totally in the zone, but my heart ignored my head completely for the duration of my play. The cast were fantastic, as always and the punters seemed to love it. It was great to finally have a fully live audience, they laughed at the funny bits, gasped at the scary bits and sometimes reacted in unexpected and unexplained ways. Nowt queer as folk as they say up north.
Performance 1 out of 4. Done!
Song of the day - Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren - Goodness Gracious Me (look it up on YouTube)
Tuesday 8 April 2014
Counting down to launch.... 10... 9... 8... 7... 6...
And then it was all over...
I did have every intention of blogging last week during the run of the show but it just wasn't possible to fit eveything in, what with making sure everything was ready for our paying audiences and having to actually work during the day, there just wasn't enough time in the day!
Let's catch up shall we? Here's an overview of the lead up to opening night, I will blog about the performances separately.
Sunday 30th March - Mothers day/Set Build
Unfortunately our only set build fell on Mothers Day for this show, luckily we still had a good core of people down to muck in and get on. We had a lot to do. We had to get the set up, paint it and dress it, put up the walk out (stage extension), set up the front of house boards, prepare the catering for the paying nights, set up the dressing rooms, rig the lights and programme them in, Michael and I also needed to get car sounds recorded, some screaming and he had to programme that all in to his sound box. To help us cope with all of this, Jenna had set up "Harga's House of Ribs" and prepared bacon and egg sandwiches for the workers (eggs from our chickens too!), I had also made a cake but we would have that later, bacon, egg and cake sandwiches are not pleasant, not that I've tried them of course... ahem. Anyway, as usual our technical rehearsal did NOT start on time (they never do), but the "Lodgers" were done and out by around 10.30-11pm. A pretty long day as the majority of us had arrived at 10am!
Song of the day - The Beatles - A hard days night
Monday 31st March - Dress Rehearsal
Full make-up, full costume, zombies watching. Nice run through with lighting and sound pretty much there. Cast and crew very happy. Mr FOH and Chairman were watching and they thought it was excellent. I just hoped we hadn't peaked too soon.
Song of the day - Damien Rice - All Dressed Up
Tuesday 1st April - OAP night
Once we had an oap night which I retitled "Only Aight People" as we only had a few turn up, not so this time. 27 in the audience which was great although they do have a tendency to treat every show like panto and think that they are free to join in and shout at the cast. I'm not sure the Lodgers were massively happy about that! However, it is for free and we do make the oldies happy (I think, sometimes it's hard to tell) or at least give them a cup of tea and a biscuit and a night out.
Song of the day - Kris Kristofferson - Help me make it through the night
I did have every intention of blogging last week during the run of the show but it just wasn't possible to fit eveything in, what with making sure everything was ready for our paying audiences and having to actually work during the day, there just wasn't enough time in the day!
Let's catch up shall we? Here's an overview of the lead up to opening night, I will blog about the performances separately.
Sunday 30th March - Mothers day/Set Build
Unfortunately our only set build fell on Mothers Day for this show, luckily we still had a good core of people down to muck in and get on. We had a lot to do. We had to get the set up, paint it and dress it, put up the walk out (stage extension), set up the front of house boards, prepare the catering for the paying nights, set up the dressing rooms, rig the lights and programme them in, Michael and I also needed to get car sounds recorded, some screaming and he had to programme that all in to his sound box. To help us cope with all of this, Jenna had set up "Harga's House of Ribs" and prepared bacon and egg sandwiches for the workers (eggs from our chickens too!), I had also made a cake but we would have that later, bacon, egg and cake sandwiches are not pleasant, not that I've tried them of course... ahem. Anyway, as usual our technical rehearsal did NOT start on time (they never do), but the "Lodgers" were done and out by around 10.30-11pm. A pretty long day as the majority of us had arrived at 10am!
Song of the day - The Beatles - A hard days night
Monday 31st March - Dress Rehearsal
Full make-up, full costume, zombies watching. Nice run through with lighting and sound pretty much there. Cast and crew very happy. Mr FOH and Chairman were watching and they thought it was excellent. I just hoped we hadn't peaked too soon.
Song of the day - Damien Rice - All Dressed Up
Tuesday 1st April - OAP night
Once we had an oap night which I retitled "Only Aight People" as we only had a few turn up, not so this time. 27 in the audience which was great although they do have a tendency to treat every show like panto and think that they are free to join in and shout at the cast. I'm not sure the Lodgers were massively happy about that! However, it is for free and we do make the oldies happy (I think, sometimes it's hard to tell) or at least give them a cup of tea and a biscuit and a night out.
Song of the day - Kris Kristofferson - Help me make it through the night
Tuesday 25 March 2014
And now, the end is near
That's it then, my final rehearsal with my fabulous cast. I've some everything I think I can and now it's up to them.
I wanted to get three run throughs in last night, knowing as I do that we probably won't get to run it through on Sunday at tech rehearsal. Yes, I know I'm a slave driver but they'll thank me for it in the end, won't they? We got off to a slightly late start, in part due to the excitement caused by the appearance of a chocolate cake, made by someone who couldn't lay in on Sunday morning! This was a late celebration of Caroline's birthday and Kelley's birthday last week that I hadn't had a chance to bake for.
Partway through our first run, our fabulous make up lady arrived to help do a trial run for my team, lucky she did as a lack of communication between her and I had created a slightly different look than I was going for. Luckily, it's easily sorted.
We had additional props tonight, one in particular that was absolutely necessary and worked so very, very well. It was a very well spent £8!
We got all of the runs in that I wanted to, followed by the walk down so everyone should know where they are standing at the end to take their bows.
I am so very proud of them. They have worked so hard on bringing my play to life and I couldn't be happier with them all. Over the next few days I will be working on the behind the scenes stuff. We need to push ticket sales, still a little way to go to target, I know that it will pick up but I'd rather it did before show week so I can rest easy! So if you are reading this and you haven't bought your ticket yet, come on! Give a girl a break!
Song of the day - Europe - The Final Countdown
I wanted to get three run throughs in last night, knowing as I do that we probably won't get to run it through on Sunday at tech rehearsal. Yes, I know I'm a slave driver but they'll thank me for it in the end, won't they? We got off to a slightly late start, in part due to the excitement caused by the appearance of a chocolate cake, made by someone who couldn't lay in on Sunday morning! This was a late celebration of Caroline's birthday and Kelley's birthday last week that I hadn't had a chance to bake for.
Partway through our first run, our fabulous make up lady arrived to help do a trial run for my team, lucky she did as a lack of communication between her and I had created a slightly different look than I was going for. Luckily, it's easily sorted.
We had additional props tonight, one in particular that was absolutely necessary and worked so very, very well. It was a very well spent £8!
We got all of the runs in that I wanted to, followed by the walk down so everyone should know where they are standing at the end to take their bows.
I am so very proud of them. They have worked so hard on bringing my play to life and I couldn't be happier with them all. Over the next few days I will be working on the behind the scenes stuff. We need to push ticket sales, still a little way to go to target, I know that it will pick up but I'd rather it did before show week so I can rest easy! So if you are reading this and you haven't bought your ticket yet, come on! Give a girl a break!
Song of the day - Europe - The Final Countdown
Saturday 22 March 2014
Two left
On Thursday we had our penultimate rehearsal, oh my goodness, just two left - well, one now!
There's still so much to do, the Hobbit and I will be dedicating most of this weekend (aside from a couple of dinners out and a yoga class) to the show and everything that goes along with it. As you know I made a list, I'm going to have made several more lists by the end of the weekend I'm sure.
Tickets are selling, with more sold every time the box office is checked, which is great,but we are very Saturday night heavy - in fact Saturday night is completely sold out! I'm so pleased but just now need a few more tickets to be sold on the other nights, I'm sure that it'll come, we are still over a week out so there's still plenty of time, isn't there?
Anyway, back to rehearsal on Thursday. Have I said that I love my cast? They take direction extremely well, know their lines, know their blocking and are completely a team. I'm almost sad that we don't rehearse twice a week like plays usually do, not that Team Ghost actually need the extra rehearsals! It was Kelley's birthday on Wednesday and I had hoped to make her a cake but I just didn't have time during the week, I will try to squeeze that in on Sunday and surprise her on Monday, unless she reads this blog and then it wont be a surprise will it?
We had two good run throughs with light and music. I love the music I have chosen for the show, it really sets the atmosphere and who doesn't love a polka, right? We were going to do another run through but I decided to let the cast go early, they have worked so hard over the last couple of months and I know they're ready, it's just about tightening up in a few places, I really can't wait to see the finished product.
We are rehearsing on Monday next week - our last one - and I want to definitely get three run throughs in. I have asked the cast to come pretty much in the costumes that they will wear for the show and I want to try to get props in as much as possible so that they have a chance to get used to them before we go into show week. Again, another job for the weekend. Right, I have to go do box office stuff now with the Hobbit and I'll blog again after Monday anyway. Oh, have you booked your tickets yet?????
Song of the day - Michael Gray - The weekend
There's still so much to do, the Hobbit and I will be dedicating most of this weekend (aside from a couple of dinners out and a yoga class) to the show and everything that goes along with it. As you know I made a list, I'm going to have made several more lists by the end of the weekend I'm sure.
Tickets are selling, with more sold every time the box office is checked, which is great,but we are very Saturday night heavy - in fact Saturday night is completely sold out! I'm so pleased but just now need a few more tickets to be sold on the other nights, I'm sure that it'll come, we are still over a week out so there's still plenty of time, isn't there?
Anyway, back to rehearsal on Thursday. Have I said that I love my cast? They take direction extremely well, know their lines, know their blocking and are completely a team. I'm almost sad that we don't rehearse twice a week like plays usually do, not that Team Ghost actually need the extra rehearsals! It was Kelley's birthday on Wednesday and I had hoped to make her a cake but I just didn't have time during the week, I will try to squeeze that in on Sunday and surprise her on Monday, unless she reads this blog and then it wont be a surprise will it?
We had two good run throughs with light and music. I love the music I have chosen for the show, it really sets the atmosphere and who doesn't love a polka, right? We were going to do another run through but I decided to let the cast go early, they have worked so hard over the last couple of months and I know they're ready, it's just about tightening up in a few places, I really can't wait to see the finished product.
We are rehearsing on Monday next week - our last one - and I want to definitely get three run throughs in. I have asked the cast to come pretty much in the costumes that they will wear for the show and I want to try to get props in as much as possible so that they have a chance to get used to them before we go into show week. Again, another job for the weekend. Right, I have to go do box office stuff now with the Hobbit and I'll blog again after Monday anyway. Oh, have you booked your tickets yet?????
Song of the day - Michael Gray - The weekend
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Lists of lists
Two weeks today is opening night. Eeeek!
I made a list yesterday of the things I still need to do, there is still quite a bit on that list, looks like this weekend will be given over to the show, aside from dinner with friends and an anniversary dinner with the Hobbit.
Things still to do include:
Costumes. I have kind of decided in my head how I want the cast to look, I just need to articulate it and tell the cast what they need. Might help eh?
Props. I think we have pretty much most of the stuff we need, I need to go through the list again. I want to use as many props as possible for the next couple of rehearsals so the cast get used to them and should they need to get rid of any from the stage during the performance, we can factor that in.
Budget. Need to finalise the spending a bit with DZ and the Hobbit, flyers and make up costs etc need to be accounted for with the Hobbit.
Programmes. Both DZ and I need to work on our introduction piece for the programme and the cast need to send their biogs so that we can work on the programme over the weekend.
Health and Safety stuff. The bit I hate most, the Hobbit hasn't done it before so I said that I would pick this up for him, I'm soooo nice, I know.
Busy couple of weeks ahead now, plus we really need the cast to get selling tickets or it won't matter how good the costumes are...
Song of the day - Madonna - Dress you up
I made a list yesterday of the things I still need to do, there is still quite a bit on that list, looks like this weekend will be given over to the show, aside from dinner with friends and an anniversary dinner with the Hobbit.
Things still to do include:
Costumes. I have kind of decided in my head how I want the cast to look, I just need to articulate it and tell the cast what they need. Might help eh?
Props. I think we have pretty much most of the stuff we need, I need to go through the list again. I want to use as many props as possible for the next couple of rehearsals so the cast get used to them and should they need to get rid of any from the stage during the performance, we can factor that in.
Budget. Need to finalise the spending a bit with DZ and the Hobbit, flyers and make up costs etc need to be accounted for with the Hobbit.
Programmes. Both DZ and I need to work on our introduction piece for the programme and the cast need to send their biogs so that we can work on the programme over the weekend.
Health and Safety stuff. The bit I hate most, the Hobbit hasn't done it before so I said that I would pick this up for him, I'm soooo nice, I know.
Busy couple of weeks ahead now, plus we really need the cast to get selling tickets or it won't matter how good the costumes are...
Song of the day - Madonna - Dress you up
Monday 17 March 2014
A series of unfortunate events, well two actually...
Firstly, I have to apologise for the lack of blog last week. I was in Germany on business all week so had to entrust the rehearsal to the Hobbit. Feedback from him and Jenna (when she, very kindly, picked me up from the airport) was very good, which made me super excited about the rehearsal this week.
We had a bit of a disastrous journey. Firstly, the Hobbits train was 15 minutes late getting into the station, so we knew we would be late as we had to pick up Joshua on the way through. We let everyone know that we would have a slightly later start and drove on to get Joshua. We were about 10 minutes from our rendezvous point when, to our surprise, we came across a sign in the road "POLICE ROAD CLOSED". Urgh! Really? Things were totally conspiring against us!
We eventually made it to the hall and the cast were waiting for us, which was great, Sophie had already informed us that she would be later coming but I hoped that she would make it to us just as her bit started. We ran through from the top (where else?) with lights, or lack of them in some instances. It was great, the hall is VERY dark without the lights on so I think we should be good for the darkness I'm looking for, which has nothing to do with Justin Hawkins.
Unfortunately, Sophie arrived about 3 minutes too late and we had already stopped when we got to her arrival. She then asked us when we were going to work with the lights! She got a chorus of "now"!
Two other excellent run throughs after this, with my lighting expert sitting in to understand what effects I'm looking for and so he could get a feel for the run of the show. I didn't ask what he thought of it actually, I shall ask him next time I see him. My wonderful cast are pretty much there, just a few bits to tighten up and we should be good to go. I know that they are going to make me so very proud of them.
In other news, our sister show won "Best Comedy" at the Maidenhead Drama Festival on Saturday, so a great big congratulations to them! No pressure then on my show to deliver along side an award winning show...
Now the only thing to worry about is ticket sales. With just two weeks left, we need a hell of a pick up to hit our target audience. Hopefully the 10 miles that I walked on Saturday and the same of Director Zombie and Victoria delivering over 1250 flyers will help.
Song of the day - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Come up and see me (make me smile)
We had a bit of a disastrous journey. Firstly, the Hobbits train was 15 minutes late getting into the station, so we knew we would be late as we had to pick up Joshua on the way through. We let everyone know that we would have a slightly later start and drove on to get Joshua. We were about 10 minutes from our rendezvous point when, to our surprise, we came across a sign in the road "POLICE ROAD CLOSED". Urgh! Really? Things were totally conspiring against us!
We eventually made it to the hall and the cast were waiting for us, which was great, Sophie had already informed us that she would be later coming but I hoped that she would make it to us just as her bit started. We ran through from the top (where else?) with lights, or lack of them in some instances. It was great, the hall is VERY dark without the lights on so I think we should be good for the darkness I'm looking for, which has nothing to do with Justin Hawkins.
Unfortunately, Sophie arrived about 3 minutes too late and we had already stopped when we got to her arrival. She then asked us when we were going to work with the lights! She got a chorus of "now"!
Two other excellent run throughs after this, with my lighting expert sitting in to understand what effects I'm looking for and so he could get a feel for the run of the show. I didn't ask what he thought of it actually, I shall ask him next time I see him. My wonderful cast are pretty much there, just a few bits to tighten up and we should be good to go. I know that they are going to make me so very proud of them.
In other news, our sister show won "Best Comedy" at the Maidenhead Drama Festival on Saturday, so a great big congratulations to them! No pressure then on my show to deliver along side an award winning show...
Now the only thing to worry about is ticket sales. With just two weeks left, we need a hell of a pick up to hit our target audience. Hopefully the 10 miles that I walked on Saturday and the same of Director Zombie and Victoria delivering over 1250 flyers will help.
Song of the day - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Come up and see me (make me smile)
Monday 3 March 2014
On Location
Yesterday was trailer day and no, I'm not talking about an American caravan, I'm talking about our promotional trailer for The Lodge in the Woods. How exciting is that?!?
I must say, that I was very excited in the lead up to yesterday, never having done anything like this before, for any show I'd been a part of, let alone my play what I wrote (have I mentioned that before?)!
I had pulled together a "storyboard" (or in other words, six boxes with stick drawings in) so that Director Zombie would be able to follow my train of thought, just in case it became derailed. Handily, near where the Hobbit and I live there is great foresty/woody land, belonging to Her Maj actually, which I thought would be ideal as the location for the trailer, turns out it was absolutely spot on!
We had arranged that Jenna, Kelley and Joshua would meet the Hobbit and I at our house to have a quick briefing of the "storyboard" so that everyone knew what they would be doing and what the overall effect would be when finished (we hoped). Director Zombie was meeting us "on location" and I had a brief spell of panic as to how we would find each other when we got there as it is quite a big place and very busy with cyclists on a dry Sunday morning. It was like an explosion in a Lycra factory!
Luckily on the way in, Joshua had seen a dodgy guy hanging around looking suspicious as we drove in, Director Zombie had been found! We got straight into it and worked steadily through the different scenes that I had planned. There were a couple of suggestions from the cast and crew as we went along which we adapted into the filming and having started at 10.30am (ish) we were done by just after 12pm! Well done us!
Director Zombie went off to film his trailer for Z is for Zombie with his cast and the rest of us went back to Jenna's for a cuppa, some of us staying for Sunday lunch too cooked by Mr Jenna, which was yummy!
And now the waiting game is going on, Director Zombie has just messaged me to tel me that my trailer is being rendered and then will be uploaded to youtube. I am currently in the BA Lounge at Terminal 5 waiting to get on a plane to Berlin, I am so hoping that it will be ready for me to view before I get on the plane!!!! I cannot wait to see it and to share it!!
Ticket sales for the Saturday night are going well, we need to get the rest of the nights started as well, although having said that, we are over 25% sold for the Saturday night with 4 weeks to go, so I shouldn't start panicking about sales just yet, although I am a little bit inside...
I must say, that I was very excited in the lead up to yesterday, never having done anything like this before, for any show I'd been a part of, let alone my play what I wrote (have I mentioned that before?)!
I had pulled together a "storyboard" (or in other words, six boxes with stick drawings in) so that Director Zombie would be able to follow my train of thought, just in case it became derailed. Handily, near where the Hobbit and I live there is great foresty/woody land, belonging to Her Maj actually, which I thought would be ideal as the location for the trailer, turns out it was absolutely spot on!
We had arranged that Jenna, Kelley and Joshua would meet the Hobbit and I at our house to have a quick briefing of the "storyboard" so that everyone knew what they would be doing and what the overall effect would be when finished (we hoped). Director Zombie was meeting us "on location" and I had a brief spell of panic as to how we would find each other when we got there as it is quite a big place and very busy with cyclists on a dry Sunday morning. It was like an explosion in a Lycra factory!
Luckily on the way in, Joshua had seen a dodgy guy hanging around looking suspicious as we drove in, Director Zombie had been found! We got straight into it and worked steadily through the different scenes that I had planned. There were a couple of suggestions from the cast and crew as we went along which we adapted into the filming and having started at 10.30am (ish) we were done by just after 12pm! Well done us!
Director Zombie went off to film his trailer for Z is for Zombie with his cast and the rest of us went back to Jenna's for a cuppa, some of us staying for Sunday lunch too cooked by Mr Jenna, which was yummy!
And now the waiting game is going on, Director Zombie has just messaged me to tel me that my trailer is being rendered and then will be uploaded to youtube. I am currently in the BA Lounge at Terminal 5 waiting to get on a plane to Berlin, I am so hoping that it will be ready for me to view before I get on the plane!!!! I cannot wait to see it and to share it!!
Ticket sales for the Saturday night are going well, we need to get the rest of the nights started as well, although having said that, we are over 25% sold for the Saturday night with 4 weeks to go, so I shouldn't start panicking about sales just yet, although I am a little bit inside...
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| The Lodge in the Woods Trailer Cast and Crew |
Thursday 27 February 2014
Didnt we just do this?
Okay, sorry everyone. I know I have been lapse in my blogging this week but I have extenuating circumstances and they are... Er...
Anyway, we had to swap our rehearsal this week from Thursday to Monday so we had a really short time between last rehearsal and this one. However, this didn't stop my wonderful cast from really knuckling down and learning their lines. All of the cast went without their scripts even though my scripts down day wasn't until Thursday so considering this, I was extremely pleased with them, they just continue to make me proud. We managed two run throughs including stop starts for dropped lines, not that many really, and notes that I wanted to make, again only a few.
In other news, the box office is now open and we have had last very nice pick up so far and when I say very nice, I mean that we have sold just under 25% of the tickets available for Saturday nights performance! Already! Just need to make sure that we keep up the momentum and get sales. It's always the most worrying part of any show, ticket sales. The majority of the audiences come as a result of knowing people in the cast, so it's a lot of pressure on the cast to get their friends, families, colleagues and strangers in the streets to come and see a show. I do have to say that I have had pretty positive feedback from the people I have spoken to as £12 for two plays and supper is an absolute bargain, right?
Unfortunately, I am missing next weeks rehearsal as I have to go to Germany for work. I am leaving the Hobbit in charge so I hope that the cast all give him the same commitment as they do for me. I'm sure they will.
Sunday, we have our media day, filming for our trailers and I am very excited! And the weather forecast says that there's only 20% chance of rain on Sunday, it would be great if it could be dry. I have story boarded what I want to film and Director Zombie will be in charge of the filming, he was talking about needing someone to work the clapper boards between takes - it'll be just like the real movies!!! I will be linking to the trailer on my next blog, now you can't wait either can you?
Song of the day - Alien Ant Farm - Movies
Anyway, we had to swap our rehearsal this week from Thursday to Monday so we had a really short time between last rehearsal and this one. However, this didn't stop my wonderful cast from really knuckling down and learning their lines. All of the cast went without their scripts even though my scripts down day wasn't until Thursday so considering this, I was extremely pleased with them, they just continue to make me proud. We managed two run throughs including stop starts for dropped lines, not that many really, and notes that I wanted to make, again only a few.
In other news, the box office is now open and we have had last very nice pick up so far and when I say very nice, I mean that we have sold just under 25% of the tickets available for Saturday nights performance! Already! Just need to make sure that we keep up the momentum and get sales. It's always the most worrying part of any show, ticket sales. The majority of the audiences come as a result of knowing people in the cast, so it's a lot of pressure on the cast to get their friends, families, colleagues and strangers in the streets to come and see a show. I do have to say that I have had pretty positive feedback from the people I have spoken to as £12 for two plays and supper is an absolute bargain, right?
Unfortunately, I am missing next weeks rehearsal as I have to go to Germany for work. I am leaving the Hobbit in charge so I hope that the cast all give him the same commitment as they do for me. I'm sure they will.
Sunday, we have our media day, filming for our trailers and I am very excited! And the weather forecast says that there's only 20% chance of rain on Sunday, it would be great if it could be dry. I have story boarded what I want to film and Director Zombie will be in charge of the filming, he was talking about needing someone to work the clapper boards between takes - it'll be just like the real movies!!! I will be linking to the trailer on my next blog, now you can't wait either can you?
Song of the day - Alien Ant Farm - Movies
Friday 21 February 2014
Missing, believed on a bus
For some reason that had nothing to do with the weather, traffic was awful getting to Colnbrook last night. So awful that it took Kelley and hour and a half to get from Hayes to Colnbrook (which really isn't far) and Joshua sat on a bus for nearly two hours (not because he wanted to, he doesn't have a bus thing going on or anything) and didn't make it at all. URGH!
We were without Sophie which was pre-planned (although I totally forgot about it until Caroline called her and she reminded us) so, because of the traffic challenges and the fact I had to eat my dinner having come straight from work, we got going a little later than usual.
Luckily I had a spare man that could stand in for Joshua, well, actually I had two, so they took it in turns. It does always make it more difficult when you have a stand in because they don't know the blocking so you spend some time moving them around to where they are supposed to be. My stand-ins did a pretty good job but did make me laugh when one of them just started wandering around!
Three lovely run-throughs with my fabulous cast, all of them trying to drop their scripts with, on the whole, pretty good results. It makes it so much easier to actually direct the cast when you don't have them clutching scripts, facial expressions come, movements are easier and actors actually act. I am very pleased with how well they are all doing, a bit more study and they'll be there.
I added in the music in the beginning, middle and end bits that will have music (see, can't give too much away) so that the cast could get a feel for them and I'm pretty pleased actually. I think the music works and sets the atmosphere as I want it. I am particularly pleased with the end as I like the way the music starts and then builds. Who would have thought a good drum and bass number would work here (kidding!!!).
Quick turn around this week as our next rehearsal has been swapped with the zombies so we are going again on Monday, I'm quite pleased with that really as I am in Germany the week after so will miss the rehearsal completely and will have to leave the Hobbit in charge. Not sure he'll be as good a task-master as me, but needs must when the devil drives...
Song of the day - The Cars - Drive
We were without Sophie which was pre-planned (although I totally forgot about it until Caroline called her and she reminded us) so, because of the traffic challenges and the fact I had to eat my dinner having come straight from work, we got going a little later than usual.
Luckily I had a spare man that could stand in for Joshua, well, actually I had two, so they took it in turns. It does always make it more difficult when you have a stand in because they don't know the blocking so you spend some time moving them around to where they are supposed to be. My stand-ins did a pretty good job but did make me laugh when one of them just started wandering around!
Three lovely run-throughs with my fabulous cast, all of them trying to drop their scripts with, on the whole, pretty good results. It makes it so much easier to actually direct the cast when you don't have them clutching scripts, facial expressions come, movements are easier and actors actually act. I am very pleased with how well they are all doing, a bit more study and they'll be there.
I added in the music in the beginning, middle and end bits that will have music (see, can't give too much away) so that the cast could get a feel for them and I'm pretty pleased actually. I think the music works and sets the atmosphere as I want it. I am particularly pleased with the end as I like the way the music starts and then builds. Who would have thought a good drum and bass number would work here (kidding!!!).
Quick turn around this week as our next rehearsal has been swapped with the zombies so we are going again on Monday, I'm quite pleased with that really as I am in Germany the week after so will miss the rehearsal completely and will have to leave the Hobbit in charge. Not sure he'll be as good a task-master as me, but needs must when the devil drives...
Song of the day - The Cars - Drive
Saturday 15 February 2014
Evicted...
Floods, floods, floods... It's what's on every news bulletin and, if you live in our neck of the woods, on a load of Facebook feeds either because people are under water, being evacuated or spending their time filling sand bags, sometimes with royalty!
Well, it came to hit home this week for the Woods cast as on Tuesday on my way home from the office, I get a phone call from the Chairman explaining to me that the Village Hall, where we rehearse, had been designated as a "Evacuation Centre" for those affected by the floods and so we would not be able to use the hall on Thursday night. We would still have one of the smaller rooms, but there was the distinct possibility that there would be a whole load of people there so I wasn't too sure about keeping the rehearsals there.
Now I could have cancelled the rehearsals but, because I had to cancel last weeks and we are only rehearsing once a week, I didn't think we should take another week off. It had also been 3 weeks since the Hobbit had rehearsed with us and it was the first opportunity I'd had for everyone to be together, so I kept the smaller room, but it wouldn't be easy. Although we started our rehearsals in the smaller rooms, we have definitely outgrown them now! Luckily I have some contacts within the hotel industry and called in a favour. Our rehearsal was off to a new space, the Marriott Hotel Heathrow (for which I thank them very much).
Jenna was working late so we started without her and had a good run through with Sophie standing in until her part and then Caroline standing in after that. Everyone remembered their blocking (yay!) and Joshua had even gone a long way to learning his lines (very pleased with that indeed!). We worked on some delivery of lines, but on the whole, the cast are just doing what I knew they would do when I cast them - they're being excellent.
After Jenna arrived, we started again from the beginning and managed to get two more full run-throughs in, which was brilliant. There is some great chemistry between the cast and the emotions are really coming through. I think they will all be in tears at the end, maybe even me. All in all, they are making me very, very proud.
Just some behind-the-scenes things to get sorted now, then we can really get on the promotional trail. I need to work out my story board for my trailer, we need to get posters and flyers designed and printed and then we can really get selling.
Song of the Day - Fightstar - Floods (well, what else?)
Well, it came to hit home this week for the Woods cast as on Tuesday on my way home from the office, I get a phone call from the Chairman explaining to me that the Village Hall, where we rehearse, had been designated as a "Evacuation Centre" for those affected by the floods and so we would not be able to use the hall on Thursday night. We would still have one of the smaller rooms, but there was the distinct possibility that there would be a whole load of people there so I wasn't too sure about keeping the rehearsals there.
Now I could have cancelled the rehearsals but, because I had to cancel last weeks and we are only rehearsing once a week, I didn't think we should take another week off. It had also been 3 weeks since the Hobbit had rehearsed with us and it was the first opportunity I'd had for everyone to be together, so I kept the smaller room, but it wouldn't be easy. Although we started our rehearsals in the smaller rooms, we have definitely outgrown them now! Luckily I have some contacts within the hotel industry and called in a favour. Our rehearsal was off to a new space, the Marriott Hotel Heathrow (for which I thank them very much).
Jenna was working late so we started without her and had a good run through with Sophie standing in until her part and then Caroline standing in after that. Everyone remembered their blocking (yay!) and Joshua had even gone a long way to learning his lines (very pleased with that indeed!). We worked on some delivery of lines, but on the whole, the cast are just doing what I knew they would do when I cast them - they're being excellent.
After Jenna arrived, we started again from the beginning and managed to get two more full run-throughs in, which was brilliant. There is some great chemistry between the cast and the emotions are really coming through. I think they will all be in tears at the end, maybe even me. All in all, they are making me very, very proud.
Just some behind-the-scenes things to get sorted now, then we can really get on the promotional trail. I need to work out my story board for my trailer, we need to get posters and flyers designed and printed and then we can really get selling.
Song of the Day - Fightstar - Floods (well, what else?)
Friday 31 January 2014
All together now, well nearly...
Last night saw the Woods cast get together for just the third time, it feels like ages since we were last all together. Actually, thinking about it, I haven't has my entire cast together in one place at all yet! Last week I was only blocking the first half of the play and didn't need Caroline and Sophie, at the read through Caroline couldn't make it and last night Sam Woods-Zombie was away in Berlin with work.
As an aside here, I feel it my duty to note that my cast were very disparaging about my reference to Sam Woods-Zombie almost sounding like Samwise Gamgee, it was very upsetting. But I still think that it sounds like it, so I will continue to call him the Hobbit, so there!
Now, where was I? Oh, right, rehearsal . Yes. So last night I required the entire team as my intention was to get the rest of the show blocked and then run through the entire thing from start to finish. Luckily, as we didn't have the Hobbit, I had a couple of able bodied stand ins with most people having a go at reading in for him, including Caroline. I also had to stand in for Jenna in the beginning as she was on a late shift and didn't arrive until just before 9. No sooner had she stepped through the door, I had her catching up on the blocking that had already taken place (yes, I know I'm a slave driver)! Only then did I allow her to have her dinner whilst we switched into the hall for the rest of the blocking and to run through.
I have to say that my cast are focused (in the main), pay attention (mostly), take notes (always) and remember their blocking (9 times out of 10). This makes my life as a director much, much easier. They are all consummate professionals and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I also thank them for continuing to give me goose bumps despite the fact that I know what's going to happen in the show, as I wrote it! I just hope that our audiences get those chills too.
Whilst blocking I have realised that my lighting requirements will be quite something and I will have to counter for the fact that the hall is right under the flight path for Heathrow... I wonder if I could have the hall sound proofed by April...
Song of the day - Christie Allen - Goosebumps
The Lodge in the Woods is one half of a double bill being perfomed in April 2014 and produced by Colnbrook Amateur Stage Theatre. You can follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Michael Starr is the writer/director of the sister play and you can follow his production blog here.
As an aside here, I feel it my duty to note that my cast were very disparaging about my reference to Sam Woods-Zombie almost sounding like Samwise Gamgee, it was very upsetting. But I still think that it sounds like it, so I will continue to call him the Hobbit, so there!
Now, where was I? Oh, right, rehearsal . Yes. So last night I required the entire team as my intention was to get the rest of the show blocked and then run through the entire thing from start to finish. Luckily, as we didn't have the Hobbit, I had a couple of able bodied stand ins with most people having a go at reading in for him, including Caroline. I also had to stand in for Jenna in the beginning as she was on a late shift and didn't arrive until just before 9. No sooner had she stepped through the door, I had her catching up on the blocking that had already taken place (yes, I know I'm a slave driver)! Only then did I allow her to have her dinner whilst we switched into the hall for the rest of the blocking and to run through.
I have to say that my cast are focused (in the main), pay attention (mostly), take notes (always) and remember their blocking (9 times out of 10). This makes my life as a director much, much easier. They are all consummate professionals and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I also thank them for continuing to give me goose bumps despite the fact that I know what's going to happen in the show, as I wrote it! I just hope that our audiences get those chills too.
Whilst blocking I have realised that my lighting requirements will be quite something and I will have to counter for the fact that the hall is right under the flight path for Heathrow... I wonder if I could have the hall sound proofed by April...
Song of the day - Christie Allen - Goosebumps
The Lodge in the Woods is one half of a double bill being perfomed in April 2014 and produced by Colnbrook Amateur Stage Theatre. You can follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Michael Starr is the writer/director of the sister play and you can follow his production blog here.
Tuesday 21 January 2014
Blocking it all out
Last night saw the first rehearsal of the Woods team. I was nervous and excited all at once to get them all together and what a rehearsal it was.
I knew I wouldn't get to Sophie's part so I dropped her a line earlier in the day to say that she was excused and when we arrived at the hall, I gave Caroline her piece of cake that she missed out on last week and told her that she wasn't required to stay either. She was quite pleased about that. That left 5 cast (Sam Woods-Zombie, Jenna, Kelley, Joshua, New Andy) and me.
I have started blocking the play - for those of you that don't know, this is where the movement is put into the play and the Director (yes, that's me) tells everyone where they should be standing, where they should move to and when. I blocked up to page 19 in the script and we actually got through all of it, I'm sure we could have gone further if I'd blocked further! We ran through it from the top to the end of the blocking and I must say I was (and am) very happy with it. The cast think it all feels natural, even with a couple of little additions I had to make for continuity's sake and to stay true to the story (ah, now you're intrigued aren't you?).
We even got an early finish, which is always a bonus. It does make such a difference when you have a strong experienced cast who make notes, pay attention and remember what they are supposed to do. I have an awesome cast that are making their Director very happy.
Aside from all that, Joshua is happy because he gets to lounge around (although is worried that he's typecast) and Jenna is feeling weird about having Sam Woods-Zombie (sound like a character from Lord of the Rings)as her love interest. There was also far too much talk about the "Log in the woods" and the toilet humour that it brought about...
The word of the evening was Dunch (er... yeah).
Song of the Day - Heather Small - Proud
I knew I wouldn't get to Sophie's part so I dropped her a line earlier in the day to say that she was excused and when we arrived at the hall, I gave Caroline her piece of cake that she missed out on last week and told her that she wasn't required to stay either. She was quite pleased about that. That left 5 cast (Sam Woods-Zombie, Jenna, Kelley, Joshua, New Andy) and me.
I have started blocking the play - for those of you that don't know, this is where the movement is put into the play and the Director (yes, that's me) tells everyone where they should be standing, where they should move to and when. I blocked up to page 19 in the script and we actually got through all of it, I'm sure we could have gone further if I'd blocked further! We ran through it from the top to the end of the blocking and I must say I was (and am) very happy with it. The cast think it all feels natural, even with a couple of little additions I had to make for continuity's sake and to stay true to the story (ah, now you're intrigued aren't you?).
We even got an early finish, which is always a bonus. It does make such a difference when you have a strong experienced cast who make notes, pay attention and remember what they are supposed to do. I have an awesome cast that are making their Director very happy.
Aside from all that, Joshua is happy because he gets to lounge around (although is worried that he's typecast) and Jenna is feeling weird about having Sam Woods-Zombie (sound like a character from Lord of the Rings)as her love interest. There was also far too much talk about the "Log in the woods" and the toilet humour that it brought about...
The word of the evening was Dunch (er... yeah).
Song of the Day - Heather Small - Proud
Sunday 19 January 2014
Changing Places
I go away for five minutes and all hell breaks loose, okay well, that might be a slight exaggeration but at the time it seemed pretty major. Being away on business also didn't help as I was supposed to be working and not worrying about the play! I guess I should explain what actually happened instead of rambling on about it.
On Thursday, I was in Amsterdam at a conference and I received a Facebook message from Andy. He had been offered a job in a holiday camp in North Wales and unfortunately for me, they needed him to start in 2 weeks time. Bugger. Well, much as I was disappointed, I understood what an opportunity this was for him, so I wished (and still wish) him well.
But that left me with a gap, a hole in my cast. One good thing was that we hadn't really got started, apart from the full read through so at least I didn't have to go through loads of blocking and stuff again. But there was still the question about who could fill the gap. I wanted a strong actor to compliment the rest of the incredible Woods team and someone who I could see as Andy. In my head I had an idea of him, I guess that's the thing about being the writer, you see the characters as you write them so I had to find someone that would fit that image.
I made some enquiries and obtained a number for the person who I thought would be best for me and the show and dialled his number. Before the read through and auditions he had spoken to me and explained that he would not be able to audition for me as he had training on a Thursday night. However, luckily for me(but not for him), he had injured himself at the weekend and was unable to play for a while or now train on a Thursday night. I sent him the rehearsal schedule and the first part of the script but only to the point the we go to at the read through, asked him to read through and let me know whether he was interested.
On Friday, I was on my way to the airport and just dropped him a line to ask him to let me know whether he would like to step into the role or whether I had to go to plan B. Luckily for me, he said yes! YAY! So we now have a New Andy, he will be known in this blog from now on as New Andy. Oh perhaps I should have mentioned that before, I will only refer to the cast in their character names or their responsibilities if they aren't in the cast but I need to refer to them. Hope that's clear...
So tomorrow is our first official rehearsal, I'd better get on with some blocking or shall I make a cake, blocking or cake... blocking or cake.... If I don't do the blocking, tomorrow's rehearsal will be rubbish, but cake... Must go now and do one or the other...
Song of the day - 3 Doors Down - Changes
On Thursday, I was in Amsterdam at a conference and I received a Facebook message from Andy. He had been offered a job in a holiday camp in North Wales and unfortunately for me, they needed him to start in 2 weeks time. Bugger. Well, much as I was disappointed, I understood what an opportunity this was for him, so I wished (and still wish) him well.
But that left me with a gap, a hole in my cast. One good thing was that we hadn't really got started, apart from the full read through so at least I didn't have to go through loads of blocking and stuff again. But there was still the question about who could fill the gap. I wanted a strong actor to compliment the rest of the incredible Woods team and someone who I could see as Andy. In my head I had an idea of him, I guess that's the thing about being the writer, you see the characters as you write them so I had to find someone that would fit that image.
I made some enquiries and obtained a number for the person who I thought would be best for me and the show and dialled his number. Before the read through and auditions he had spoken to me and explained that he would not be able to audition for me as he had training on a Thursday night. However, luckily for me(but not for him), he had injured himself at the weekend and was unable to play for a while or now train on a Thursday night. I sent him the rehearsal schedule and the first part of the script but only to the point the we go to at the read through, asked him to read through and let me know whether he was interested.
On Friday, I was on my way to the airport and just dropped him a line to ask him to let me know whether he would like to step into the role or whether I had to go to plan B. Luckily for me, he said yes! YAY! So we now have a New Andy, he will be known in this blog from now on as New Andy. Oh perhaps I should have mentioned that before, I will only refer to the cast in their character names or their responsibilities if they aren't in the cast but I need to refer to them. Hope that's clear...
So tomorrow is our first official rehearsal, I'd better get on with some blocking or shall I make a cake, blocking or cake... blocking or cake.... If I don't do the blocking, tomorrow's rehearsal will be rubbish, but cake... Must go now and do one or the other...
Song of the day - 3 Doors Down - Changes
Tuesday 14 January 2014
All is revealed
I gathered together my cast last night at my house for a full read through of the scrip. Unfortunately, Caroline couldn't make it, but I did have everyone else, which was great and much appreciated.
Prior to Kelley and Andy's arrival, the rest of the cast were speculating wildly about what was going to happen in the end of the play, with some good suggestions, ones I may use for my next play, if I ever get that far...
It was great to have the read through with the cast, it really brings the scrip to life and I can see that I absolutely made the right casting decision and have another couple of ideas that will work in the play too. I foresee some tweaks coming up, but that's the joy of also being the writer isn't it? The fact that I can make small changes to the scrip whenever I like because it's MY scrip.
I read in for Caroline and it was great to see and hear the reaction of the cast as the play went on and they understood what was happening, I got the shivers as we read through and I'm happy to say that the cast did too (and it was very warm in my house!). I think that means success!
Add to that my first ever attempt at a chocolate cake was "delicious" and "so very moist" and I am one very happy bunny.
The cast will be without me on Thursday (so there may be a gap in blogs) as they record the scrip but I'm sure they'll be fine, they have Sam Woods-Zombie in charge (sorry guys)!
Song of the day - Katy Perry - Ghost
Prior to Kelley and Andy's arrival, the rest of the cast were speculating wildly about what was going to happen in the end of the play, with some good suggestions, ones I may use for my next play, if I ever get that far...
It was great to have the read through with the cast, it really brings the scrip to life and I can see that I absolutely made the right casting decision and have another couple of ideas that will work in the play too. I foresee some tweaks coming up, but that's the joy of also being the writer isn't it? The fact that I can make small changes to the scrip whenever I like because it's MY scrip.
I read in for Caroline and it was great to see and hear the reaction of the cast as the play went on and they understood what was happening, I got the shivers as we read through and I'm happy to say that the cast did too (and it was very warm in my house!). I think that means success!
Add to that my first ever attempt at a chocolate cake was "delicious" and "so very moist" and I am one very happy bunny.
The cast will be without me on Thursday (so there may be a gap in blogs) as they record the scrip but I'm sure they'll be fine, they have Sam Woods-Zombie in charge (sorry guys)!
Song of the day - Katy Perry - Ghost
Monday 13 January 2014
Cakey Bakiness
I have invited my lovely cast to join me tonight at my house for a full read through of the scrip and in order to thank them (or bribe them, you choose) I have made a cake. A big gooey chocolate cake. I don't actual like chocolate cake so this was my first attempt at one (but we won't tell them right?), let's hope it's good.
One of my cast (Caroline) can't make my read through tonight and did let me know this on Thursday after she was cast, the other request she made was for me to send her part over to her because as we'd not completely read the scrip at the read through, the part she had been cast in hadn't even been mentioned. On Friday with some trepidation I sent it across. No more than ten minutes later, to my relief, Caroline sent an email back to say that she was very happy with it. Phew! And, as she wasn't going to make it tonight I had to also tell her the end so she could understand how her character fits in to the overall plot of the show. Her response was very encouraging, yay me! So when I said none of my cast knew the end, it was a small fib for the sake of timelines on the blog, forgive me?
The cast will be tasked to record the script on Thursday night as I am away with work, I have to leave Sam Woods-Zombie in charge, no darts playing please...
Song of the day - Eileen Barton - If I knew you were coming I'd've baked a cake (well what else could it have been)
One of my cast (Caroline) can't make my read through tonight and did let me know this on Thursday after she was cast, the other request she made was for me to send her part over to her because as we'd not completely read the scrip at the read through, the part she had been cast in hadn't even been mentioned. On Friday with some trepidation I sent it across. No more than ten minutes later, to my relief, Caroline sent an email back to say that she was very happy with it. Phew! And, as she wasn't going to make it tonight I had to also tell her the end so she could understand how her character fits in to the overall plot of the show. Her response was very encouraging, yay me! So when I said none of my cast knew the end, it was a small fib for the sake of timelines on the blog, forgive me?
The cast will be tasked to record the script on Thursday night as I am away with work, I have to leave Sam Woods-Zombie in charge, no darts playing please...
Song of the day - Eileen Barton - If I knew you were coming I'd've baked a cake (well what else could it have been)
Sunday 12 January 2014
Next!
Thursday night was the night I was both looking forward to and secretly fearing. I was looking forward to getting my cast in place and getting on with the show but I had the same anxieties as Monday, what if no one came? What if they didn't like it? Also, with such a small cast, I had to have three supporting actors, what if the people I cast in these roles didn't want them, even though they are pivotal to the whole play? Urgh, I'm sure that it's easier when you haven't written the play yourself as there wouldn't be the same insecurities, maybe just new ones!!!
Anyway, my fears were allayed as true to their words, we had all the people from Monday (minus just one or two) come back for auditions. Director Zombie and I had decided to audition everyone together from the same script, mine, so I had pieces of my script ready for our auditionees.
When you get a large talented bunch of "artistes" together, what happens? Well, apart from playing darts (although I think it was too crowded for long distance darts), it means that the casting decision is extremely difficult and there will be folk that don't get cast, strong talented actors that just don't fit in the mix. I don't like to disappoint people so I did feel really bad not being able to cast everybody.
Director Zombie and I also wanted to have separate casts so nobody would be in both plays, for a number of reasons, so there were also discussions taking place in the audition room around who wanted what actors, again there was some preference from the actors themselves which also made some decisions slightly easier.
After we had seen everybody, had call backs for groups and gotten DZ and I completely bored with those sections of my script, a final chat between us and the decisions were made. The die was cast, or the cast were cast.
Both DZ and myself are extremely happy with our teams, we both have extremely strong casts, me with actors who (on the most part) have been on the Colnbrook stage for a while and I have worked with on several occasions and DZ with some new talent about to be unleashed. I think that's right too, as a first time director, I think I need experience to guide me in this adventure as well.
My team, although not rehearsing on Monday will be joining me at my house for a full read through of my script as none of them yet know the ending, some not even knowing what their characters are all about. I have said I will make cake, what a nice Director I am...
Song of the day - Alice in Chains, Your Decision
Anyway, my fears were allayed as true to their words, we had all the people from Monday (minus just one or two) come back for auditions. Director Zombie and I had decided to audition everyone together from the same script, mine, so I had pieces of my script ready for our auditionees.
When you get a large talented bunch of "artistes" together, what happens? Well, apart from playing darts (although I think it was too crowded for long distance darts), it means that the casting decision is extremely difficult and there will be folk that don't get cast, strong talented actors that just don't fit in the mix. I don't like to disappoint people so I did feel really bad not being able to cast everybody.
Director Zombie and I also wanted to have separate casts so nobody would be in both plays, for a number of reasons, so there were also discussions taking place in the audition room around who wanted what actors, again there was some preference from the actors themselves which also made some decisions slightly easier.
After we had seen everybody, had call backs for groups and gotten DZ and I completely bored with those sections of my script, a final chat between us and the decisions were made. The die was cast, or the cast were cast.
Both DZ and myself are extremely happy with our teams, we both have extremely strong casts, me with actors who (on the most part) have been on the Colnbrook stage for a while and I have worked with on several occasions and DZ with some new talent about to be unleashed. I think that's right too, as a first time director, I think I need experience to guide me in this adventure as well.
My team, although not rehearsing on Monday will be joining me at my house for a full read through of my script as none of them yet know the ending, some not even knowing what their characters are all about. I have said I will make cake, what a nice Director I am...
Song of the day - Alice in Chains, Your Decision
Thursday 9 January 2014
Tonight's the night
So, here we are, just a couple of hours away from the first auditions for my play, mine, the one I actually wrote. That sounds weird. Nice, but weird
It's going to be weird for me to be the other side of the table too, plays are the reason I joined the group in the first place, my forte being acting so it will be odd to be not going for a part. I suppose I could always audition for Director Zombie's show, or not, perhaps I have enough on my plate as it is...
Here's hoping for a great attendance, as we had on Monday and a difficult decision, maybe even a fight with my co-director over choice of actors, let's hope he doesn't do any hair-pulling or scratching...
Song of the Day - Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
It's going to be weird for me to be the other side of the table too, plays are the reason I joined the group in the first place, my forte being acting so it will be odd to be not going for a part. I suppose I could always audition for Director Zombie's show, or not, perhaps I have enough on my plate as it is...
Here's hoping for a great attendance, as we had on Monday and a difficult decision, maybe even a fight with my co-director over choice of actors, let's hope he doesn't do any hair-pulling or scratching...
Song of the Day - Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
Tuesday 7 January 2014
It's Out There
Oh bum! I completely forgot I said that not only would I write a play and direct it, I also said I would blog about it too. I have been kindly reminded by my co-director putting me to shame and having his blog already posted, although I have been at work all day, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
So last night it all began. I was pretty nervous actually. Would anyone come? Would they like it? Would they want to be in it? Scary stuff and we hadn't even started reading the play... Well, people started arriving early and they just kept coming, we had to add chairs and then we had to add tables to accommodate the people that turned up! What a showing! CAST certainly made me a very happy bunny!
My play was read first but I cut the ending off about 7 pages from the end, well, I didn't want to spoil the surprise of a badger with a gun did I? Oops, that's blown it now hasn't it? It seemed to go down well with the readers and if all the people that came along last night decide to audition, my co-director and I will have a tough job on our hands...
Lots of admin type things to get done now before Thursday - eek! Work certainly does get in the way!
Song of the day - anything by Crowded House
So last night it all began. I was pretty nervous actually. Would anyone come? Would they like it? Would they want to be in it? Scary stuff and we hadn't even started reading the play... Well, people started arriving early and they just kept coming, we had to add chairs and then we had to add tables to accommodate the people that turned up! What a showing! CAST certainly made me a very happy bunny!
My play was read first but I cut the ending off about 7 pages from the end, well, I didn't want to spoil the surprise of a badger with a gun did I? Oops, that's blown it now hasn't it? It seemed to go down well with the readers and if all the people that came along last night decide to audition, my co-director and I will have a tough job on our hands...
Lots of admin type things to get done now before Thursday - eek! Work certainly does get in the way!
Song of the day - anything by Crowded House
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