TECH REHEARSAL

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On Thursday and Friday we had ten hours out of twelve hours of Tech Rehearsal. We continued to tech FARRAGUT NORTH, YANKEE TAVERN and THE HISTORY OF LIGHT on Saturday and Sunday. FIFTY WORDS had a Dress/Tech run on Sunday evening. We did a Dress/Tech on Sunday for DEAR SARA JANE with the playwright Victor Lodato. Victor gave us notes and we made some modest changes. Eisa Davis is working with Liesl Tommy and the cast of THE HISTORY OF LIGHT. Eisa and Victor have been very involved in collaborating with us on their world premieres. We all had a long and productive Tech weekend. All five plays will receive final Dress Rehearsals on Tuesday and Wednesday. PAY WHAT YOU CAN PREVIEWS begin on Wednesday evening.

The 2009 REPERTORY is in the final days of the rehearsal process. I am looking forward to hearing your comments after you experience this important work. Please invite your social network to attend the 2009 CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL. Help us to “spread the word.” See you at the Festival!

Ed Herendeen

REHEARSAL JOURNAL

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FARRAGUT NORTH: Yesterday afternoon we worked on Act I Scene 1. We did a run-thru in the rehearsal hall. John Ambrosone, Lighting Designer and David Remedios, Sound Designer watched the final run-thru to prepare for our first Tech Rehearsal on Thursday. We want to create a “media storm” with lights and sound. David and John will collaborate with our VideoDesigner, Christina Smith and develop fast-paced transitions that will drive the play forward at a breakneck speed. David is writing/building a sound scape for the production that will compliment John’s lighting and Christina’s video design. Our goal is to drive the play forward by designing a “media storm” for each of the scene transitions. We are exploring the sounds of an Iowa snow storm, the Red Line D.C. Metro train, political television audio and hard driving, pulsing music. The intention is to place Stevie, the campaign Communications Director at the center of a political storm.

  In the evening rehearsal we moved to the Frank Center Stage and did our first run-thru on the set. The actors rehearsed on the set and became familiar with the 4oo seat theater. On Thursday we will begin our first full Tech Rehearsal.

FARRAGUT NORTH is a drama in nine scenes that take place in and around Des Moines, Iowa, during a recent presidential campaign. Stevie is the super-aggressive press secretary to a Governor running for President. At just 25 he’s cannier than political operatives twice his age, a veteran spinmeister who’s mastered the art of manipulation and dirty tricks. This is his story. Stevie starts out genuinely smitten with the idea of making a difference through being part of the political process, but whose hubris eventually squelches his better impulses and even his ability to sustain a personal relationship.

“You’re twenty-five. There’s so many other things you could do besides this horseshit. Think about it. You make it to the White House, you do your four years, if you last that long, and then what? You get off the train every morning at Farragut North and trudge to some consulting firm with all the other political has-beens. Next thing you know you’re forty, then fifty, so many races under your belt you can’t remember which you run and which you lost. Do yourself a favor. Get out now. You stay in this business long enough you’ll turn into nothing but a stone-hearted hack…” Tom Duffy, FARRAGUT NORTH.

Ed Herendeen

REHEARSAL JOURNAL

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On Sunday all five plays did a Run-Thru before our Equity day off. Today we will have afternoon rehearsals in the rehearsal halls then FARRAGUT NORTH. THE HISTORY OF LIGHT and DEAR SARA JANE will move into their theaters for the very first time. Our evening rehearsals will take place on-stage. This is an important part of the process. The actors will have the opportunity to transform their work from the rehearsal spaces to the stage.

On Thursday we will begin to tech DEAR SARA JANE, FARRAGUT NORTH and THE HISTORY OF LIGHT. Tech rehearsals for FIFTY WORDS and YANKEE TAVERN will begin on Friday. This is when we introduce all the technical/production elements which will support the rehearsal process.

The admin staff is hard at work preparing the 2009 season program and making the final preparations for next weeks Previews and Opening weekend. Everyone is logging long hours and working late into the evening. We all feel the excitement and pressure of the fast approaching “deadline”. 

This is the week when all of our collaborative efforts come together. Making live theater is a collaborative experience. This is the week when we bring all the diverse production elements of live theater together… and create an “organic whole”. 

Ed Herendeen

REHEARSAL JOURNAL

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Yesterday we had an eight hour rehearsal block for YANKEE TAVERN. Steven Dietz worked with Liesl Tommy and the cast. They rehearsed the script changes/re-writes and worked thru the play. It was so important to have the playwright present. The script gets stronger with each new draft.

FIFTY WORDS: We stop-worked each of the five scenes. We spent most of the rehearsal on Scene 1. It is important that the play has a strong beginning. We worked on pace, tempo and rhythm. We also concentrated on creating the truth in the scenes. We discovered that “less is more” in this play. Adam(Tony Crane) and Jan (Joey Parsons) are establishing the rituals and behaviors of a married couple who have lived together for many years. This means making “honest”, “believable” choices. This is a couple who know each other very well. The audience has to believe that this couple have had a long relationship and are very familiar with each other. We had a long and sometimes difficult rehearsal because this is a super-charge-emotional-tense play. At the same time FIFTY WORDS is very funny…full of humor, love and pain.

Today: We will have a five-hour rehearsal for FARRAGUT NORTH. We will focus on all the scenes between Molly(Heidi Niedermeyer) and Stevie(Eric Sheffer-Stevens); and the Tom Duffy Scenes with Anderson Matthews and Eric Sheffer-Stevens. Tony Crane who plays Paul is in New  York City today shooting a film and will return on Sunday for a Run-Thru.

Ed Herendeen