Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages! Step up, step up! Come one, come all! Sit back with a chilled glass of sarsaparilla and some Cracker Jacks and enjoy reading about Workshop Day 3 in the Companion Piece Blog Series!
[Hi guys. Shelley here. Did you like my introduction? I decided to go for some circus flair to introduce this rehearsal since we worked with a trapeze swing! I thought you'd like it.]
Wednesday was a short rehearsal that was primarily about playing with some really raw, rad technical elements. Whereas the rehearsal before it had been about discovering what was in the space, this rehearsal was about learning how to use what we'd found.
When I walked into the space, it felt completely transformed, but I couldn't figure out why. Finally, it dawned on me that it was the lighting! Whereas in the previous rehearsals, the space had been lit by natural sunlight streaming through the large, old windows on the side of a building, we were now using stage lighting for the first time! Lighting designer Gabe Maxson is working with a footlight effect to mimic the lighting used in vaudeville shows. It's a very cool effect, the way such lighting plays on the faces of the actors and the shadows that it creates. It was thrilling to get a glimpse at what the overall look of the show might be and a reminder of how rare and wonderful it is to have designers at such an early phase in putting together a show.
We're considering using projections in the show and we discovered that almost anything could be a surface on which to project a video image — a white door, an evening dress, the inside of an oversized umbrella — there were endless possibilities. The video footage we're using consists of clips from vintage vaudeville shows from the turn of the century. We played with how the actors interacted with the moving pictures in their space and discovered some hilarious juxtapositions between the real actors and the video actors that you'll have to see to believe!
We also did some circus-esque experiments by rigging a trapeze swing onto a giant metal beam that hinges out from the side of the stage space. Mark and Beth were the first brave souls to test it out! I considered posting pictures for you blog readers, but decided that such a gorgeous image will be best-saved for the show itself. Dangerous displays of awesomeness! Unrivaled, unbridled imaginations! Towering talent, mysterious magic! Go ahead and mark your calendars, folks. You're not gonna wanna miss this one.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment