DEAR SARA JANE REHEARSAL JOURNAL

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6PM Tuesday June 2, 2009:

First Rehearsal: We began with a read-thru of the script. Victor Lodato read his play to us in his own voice. It was exciting to hear the playwright read. We learned so much about the play after listening to the writer read his own words. It was very cool to hear the author’s tempo, rhythm and pace… Victor created this story and invented this character…so it was a real treat to just sit back and listen to his voice. I always enjoy listening to a playwright read their play.

After Victor’s read-thru, we discussed the play…asked specific questions RE: his inspiration for the story… the time line of the events etc. Then we did a second Read-Thru with Joey Parsons who is playing the role of Sara Jane. Joey gave a beautiful and heartfelt reading. Then we discussed the play some more…giving the playwright and actor the opportunity to talk and listen to each other.

Wednesday June 3, 2009   Rehearsal #2: Table Work.

We began rehearsal with a four hour Read-thru sitting at the table. We broke the play up into short scenes and I had Joey read each scene…allowing time to stop and ask questions etc. It was a very productive working rehearsal.

After doing table-work we broke for lunch and Victor and I met with Peggy McKowen, the Production Designer for DEAR SARA JANE. Peggy shared her costume sketches and a model of her set design with Victor. Peggy has created an imaginative design that truly supports the “world of the play.” Then we returned to the rehearsal hall for a four hour work session. We staged  the first eight pages.

ABOUT JOEY PARSONS/ Sara Jane: Joey is an actor from New York City with acting credits that include Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional Theaters, Television and Film. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

Ed Herendeen

FARRAGUT NORTH CAST

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I am pleased to announce the cast for FARRAGUT NORTHby Beau Willimon Directed by Ed Herendeen:

Eric Sheffer Stevens will play:STEPHEN BELLAMY, a wunderkind press secretary for Presidential Candidate Governor Morris.

Tony Crane will play: PAUL ZARA, Campaign Manager for Governor Morris…a veteran political operative to an insurgent presidential campaign.

Heidi Neidermeyer will play: MOLLY, an intern on the Morris Campaign.

TJ Linnard will play: BEN, Deputy Press Secretary for the Morris Campaign.

Anderson Matthews will play: TOM DUFFY, Campaign Manager for the rival Pullman Campaign.

Anne Marie Nestwill play: IDA HOROWICZ, a political reporter fot the New York Times.

John Lescault will play: FRANK, a reporter for the L.A. Times.

Rodney Creach will play: a waiter.

We’re in the midst of the Iowa caucuses, where Stephen Bellamy(Eric Sheffer Stevens), the whiz-kid press secretary for evident front-runner Governor Morris, sees himself as riding high and certainly standing in firm stead with campaign manager Paul Zara (Tony Crane). Confident in his skills after an attention-getting five year rise to his current position, Stephen has seemingly made no mistakes—until he accepts a meeting with Tom Duffy (Anderson Matthews), the campaign manager for the Morris’ leading opponent… Those who traffic in spin can get caught in the cycle. The title FARRAGUT NORTH refers to the D.C. Metro station where jaded campaign vets trudge every morning to political consulting jobs. This is a timely story about the lust for power and the cost one will endure to achieve it.

Ed Herendeen

FARRAGUT NORTH SET DESIGN

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I want to share the preliminary set designs and story boards for FARRAGUT NORTH by Beau Willimon. Set design by Robert Klingelhoefer.

Our concept for the Set Design: We want to create a “media storm” environment. FARRAGUT NORTH is set in Des Moines Iowa during the presidential caucuses. We’re in Iowa–set your clocks back to January.

“If the television series WEST WING offered up politics as an inspirational highway to hope, Beau Willimon’s spicy, new campaign stage dramedy, FARRAGUT NORTH, returns us to those comforting, cutthroat side streets.” Peter Marks, Washington Post.

Bob Klingelhoefer has created an exciting design that supports the world of the play.

STORY BOARDS:

Prologue

Prologue

Farragut North: Hotel Bar

SCENE 1. The bar of the Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa.

resta

SCENE 2. A small, dingy restaurant in East Des Moines, Iowa.

hotel

SCENE 3. Stephen's Hotel room.

air

SCENE 4. The Des Moines airport.

hq

ACT 2. SCENE 2. Morris Campaign Headquarters.

Bob Klingelhoefer has created an exciting set design that captures the “world of the play.” We are in the “world” of American politics. As a one-time volunteer for Senator Charles Schumer of New York and a junior staff member for Howard Dean, the former Vermont  governor, Beau Willimon writes knowingly about political trench warfare…his new play reflects how his own self-described “starry-eyed idealism” dimmed amid the brutality of campaigning.

“Everyone knows to a certain extent that there’s a lot of nasty and duplicitous and unsavory stuff in a campaign, but some people might be surprised at how nasty things are behind the scenes.” Beau Willimon

“Some of the tactics and the way people undercut one another are real…The ambition and fear and passion and amorality and mistrust and loss and friendship and love are things I have experienced in my own life, and they’re all I can draw on, really, trying to create lives on the stage.”Beau Willimon

FARRAGUT NORTH lifts the veil on American politics…I am looking forward to hearing your reactions after you witness this important new American play at the Contemporary American Theater Festival.

Ed Herendeen

YANKEE TAVERN SET DESIGN

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Yesterday we had a preliminary design meeting for YANKEE TAVERN by Steven Dietz. Robert Klingelhoefer our set designer presented his design for the scenery. I have included a draft of his rendering for you to see:

Yankee Tavern Set Design

YANKEE TAVERN is set in a historic, rundown tavern in New York City. Steven Dietz has asked for a realistic setting:

“An old neighborhood joint…housed on the ground floor of a decaying, abandoned, once-upon-a-time hotel.Not big. A handful of stools around the battered wooden bar. A few unremarkable tables nearby. An old vintage jukebox that no longer works. Spent neon and dusty memorabilia. This is a place that no doubt shined in the forties, but now is doling out its final shots before the crash of the wrecking ball.”

TIME:  2006

PLACE:  New York City

A man walks into a bar and orders two beers, one for himself and one for his absent buddy. This may sound like a set up for a joke…but the prolific Steven Dietz has something darker and more sobering in mind with his chilling new political thriller, YANKEE TAVERN. CATF Audiences are in for a cerebral workout as Dietz attempts to cast doubt on everything you assume you know.

I am really jazzed about Bob Klingelhoefer’s terrific set design. I especially like how he has incorporated the outside of the building with the interior of the tavern. He has captured Dietz’s world of the play. Liesl Tommy is directing YANKEE TAVERN and she and Bob have been working with Steven Dietz throughout the design process.

Steven Dietz is a master of smart dialogue and wily storytelling. In YANKEE TAVERN he will pull you into this intriguing story. I believe that YANKEE TAVERN has staying power…and will enjoy great success in many American and International Theaters.

I wanted to share some of our design process with you. Let me know what you think…

Ed Herendeen