That’s a wrap!

We closed ‘er down last night and we’re feeling a bit fuzzy this morning. The Canadian cast and crew shut down the Village Lantern last night after saying our goodbyes. The last show was by far the best of the run, the show was tight and fully realized, a great audience that gave a standing ovation and the whole production really came together. It’s been a crazy ride to get the show to this point. Putting this giant show together with a cast that we just met two weeks ago, in the Fringe festival, in New York, was a huge accomplishment any way you slice it. Big huge thanks to everyone who made this happen – you know who you are! Don’t know what will happen with this “project” now, but we’ll be sure to keep in touch with you all and let you know if anything else does happen. Bridge and Jason are on their way back as I write, and I head back Monday to begin to start going through all the video and audio of the show and as soon as I get a rough cut I’ll make sure you all can see it. Stay in touch!

-Dave

Last Show Tomorrow

So it’s the last show tomorrow – what a ride it’s been! It’s been an incredible amount of crazy work the last few weeks for everyone – including a great cast that have really come together in a very short time. I’ve heard more than one person comment about how great the ensemble is and how everyone appears to have been working together for months. I’ve been at the box office almost every show and so I’ve been able to hear the audience as they leave and the positive reviews from the general public have been great! I’ve also been getting great e-mails from the industry folk – talent agents, managers, producers and press – who have been asking about the cast and about the future of the show – so who knows! I do know that many of the cast who are not represented will be able to meet with these agents and his makes us on the crew very happy that the show has been a great showcase for them.

And so we’re getting close to the end of the run for us here at The New York Fringe and we’re gonna have a hell of a time tomorrow!

Dave

Halfway thru the run!

Lots of great comments from audiences so far! We’ve had producers, talent agents, press and even just regular ole’ New Yorkers as well. Agents have been requesting names and numbers of the cast and hopefully the cast is pleased with that. A bunch of producers have been really positive as well. The challenge with the show is that it is a huge cast so it would be expensive to remount, but who knows. The show keeps getting better and better as everyone settles into their roles and really gives ‘er! Sure, sure not everyone is a fan – Bridget has been fascinated with what is working with a New York audience and what isn’t – but so far the majority of what we’ve been hearing and reading has been super positive. Click here for a great review of the show.

dave

Opening Night (Afternoon) by Chris

Well, the first show went well. The houselights went out the music started and an hour and forty-five minutes later it was all over and I started to breath normally again. Actually that’s not true, I did actually have a moment or two when I did kind of enjoy it. One of those moments caused me to forget to push the go button in the middle of “Stuck With The Bear” (sorry Farren), but that was a sketchy as it got. My first venture into being a theatre technician went without a hitch. I had a chance to meet some of the audience after the show and they all seemed to have enjoyed themselves very much.

Looking forward to show #2. Tonight at 9:30PM.

Chris

Check out new pictures in GALLERY!

We had the most amazing photographer come and take some

really handsome photo’s of the cast: check’em out. Darryl Estrine. Awesome.

And thank you, Darryl. You rock.

Bridge

T Minus 7 hours to The Winter’s Tale Project in NYC

It’s about 9 AM in the morning and Chris, Nancy, Dave, Jason and I are here at the Chelsea studio’s getting ready for the big day. It’s been a most incredible and intense 8 days. We met these fine fine folks just over a week ago and in 8 days have put together a show that we are damn proud of! Chris and I were musing last night that in some ways, we’ve had more time to focus on this show than previous productions because we are here to do one thing: The Winter’s Tale Project. And in New York City! And sure, sure – there are over 200 productions going on in NYC the week that we are opening – but for us, this is SO EXCITING!!

The cast is coming in for 10:30 AM today , after having two solid runs yesterday, we are going to run some numbers – do a quick run thru of scenes, gather our wits, grab the bear, and head down to The Village Theatre for 3 PM – where we will wait for our 4:30 curtain! The cast, by the way, are superexcellentcool. Love’ em all. And having Sheldon, Farren, Amber, and Celina here mixing it up with the excellent American cast has been outstanding.  And we’ve loved rehearsing everyday in Chelsea Studio and we will miss this place – but as Autolycus says….’Time to move on…’

Here’s what some of the ‘crew’s thoughts’:

Chris: “Those were two good runs yesterday – i’m feeling calm….calm and good. Now I have to get to praying to the computer gods! “

Nancy: ‘I’m waiting for the coffee to kick in.”

Dave: ‘I’m nervous and upset because this girl i’ve never met I’m going to meet tonight at 8!!!……;

Jason: ‘little gassy and excited…’

Dave: ‘which is not a great combo…’

Nancy,Bridge and Chris:’Ooooo…..’

Keepin’ in real in NYC – and lovin’ every minute of it….

Bridge

Director’s Musings

ANOTHER ‘BLAH BLAH BLAH: A NEW MUSICAL?!?!’ COME ON…..

I know, I know. But what else do you call it?! And we need to let you know it’s a musical and on many levels, The Winter’s Tale (the original Shakespeare play) works perfectly as a musical theatre piece! Scenes BURST with dramatic plot twists that are almost more believable in a musical! For example, when Leontes initially suspects his wife of adultery with the line ‘too hot, too hot…’ makes a damn fine song. And the infamous stage direction ‘he exits, pursued by a bear’….the bear gets a song, finally.

9 DAYS TO MOUNT A FULL LENGTH, 22 PERSON MUSICAL?

Yup. Chris and I flew to New York in July after taking out an ad in Backstage, and held auditions. We saw over 200 people and were blown away by the talent. I am honored to work with these folks. They were then given scripts/scores/CD’s via mail/email and away to work we all went. The cast is amazing, the rehearsal space booked, and the desire to rock is huge.

WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE A MUSICAL?

Good question. I was raised on musical theatre. Literally. My dad proudly tells everyone his favorite thing to do as a 16 year old kid was dance around the basement singing “I Enjoy Being a Girl” from Flower Drum Song! My Dad said this, not my Mom, my Dad. He lives, breathes, musical theatre and so we all do. Me, my mom, and my sister. We moved up to Canada where he is Program Head of a Musical Theatre College, and so I slipped off to University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Theatre BFA Musical Theatre Program where I got the greatest education. Aubrey Berg is one helluva a great teacher, and I continued to learn more and more about this genre of theatre. Up in Edmonton, I’ve directed everything from Spitfire Grill to Marie Christie to NINE. I’ve written several plays, this is the first musical I’ve written.

Tech Day

Technical rehearsal yesterday went well, actually. We were prepared for the worst, but the entire cast and crew really pulled it off. Sometimes doing a show of this size here at this festival seems like an imposible task, and since we’re from out of the country we have to rely on the “kindness of strangers”. Luckily we had some of the “Bash’d” crew hanging around. Specifically Narda McCarroll, who is a fantastic designer helping give the show a great look. She just jumped in and helped Nancy. We love Narda! “Bash’d” is a great show from Edmonton that is also at the Village Theatre. Click here and go see it.

We also had an old friend (and past employer) of mine come in and take photos of the cast. Darryl Estrine is a great photographer in New York who set up a little studio in the lobby and take amazing portraits. He took some 250 pictures as we were setting light and sound levels. Great guy. Go to his site there’s great pictures there and we’re going to start adding the photos he took for us to our press packs!

Dave

Rehearsal Days

Rehearsals are cruising along. We don’t have too many so there’s not too much time to ponder. Tomorrow is our tech and we open on Sunday…Things are coming together, though. This is the view from where I’m sitting right now.

-Chris W.

The Shaky Face Project

So the digital cameras have been clicking away down here. It seems like photo games are the best way to keep your sanity while slogging away at a crazy rehearsal schedule. There are many more photos where these came from, I assure you. But due to missing USB cables and computer errors, these are all that can be put on here.

Pity the poor individuals that rely on this sort of thing for stress relief.

Click Here to see!