Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

What a Farce We Have Here

I’m glad we’re closing the smash hit Unnecessary Farce this weekend. on schedule. As funny as it is, it just can’t measure up to the one we’ve got happening on the financial and political fronts these days. Make no mistake the ramifications of the real world farce have great impact on all of our lives, and I don’t take the news about the financial calamity with anything but the utmost seriousness.

That said, if you put what we’re witnessing on the political front on the stage, it would get laughed off of it for being unbelievable. John McCain must have given his staff the last week off, because his response to the fast moving news has made him seem like a windmill on an old barn twisting with each gust. Some are calling it a Hail Mary. I call it the fake an injury play to stop the clock.

His latest attempt at seeming like a leader by suggesting the debates be postponed is quickly getting shown up for what it is, a political stunt. On the surface it looks bold and brave. After taking a breath, it comes off as desperate and an attempt to change the conversation without talking about anything.

President Bush pulled out the ‘wave a disaster to come flag’ with his speech in a way that I’m sure will only speed up the chance for more disastrous happenings to come. But then he’s familiar with that tactic, and unfortunately for him, so are we.

Again, I think there is serious work to be done on serious issues here. But it borders on being outright laughable to downright tragic when you watch the way the current anemic attempt at an administration is trying to work this, and at the same time, how McCain is flailing around for his lipstick while holding on to what little bit of pig he’s got left.

The only good thing we’ve got going for us in this, is that both the Republicans and Democrats in Congress are fearing for their lives and not caving in here.

Technorati Tags: Politics,John McCain

Unnecessary Farce: A Magical and Transcendent Opening

I’m still in awe. I’ve been producing, writing, and directing shows for over 30 years now and last night’s opening night performance of Paul Slade Smith’s Unnecessary Farce was one of the most magical and memorable opening nights I will ever remember at Wayside Theatre or anywhere else for that matter.

When you start out on a show all the artists involved aim for a wonderful show and aim even higher still for that transcendent performance where the communion between script, performers, and audience creates a brief and ephemeral moment in time where all are joined in the joy of what the best of live theatre can offer. That happened last night. The audience was ready for fun, the cast was primed to give it, and BANG!  It was like a chain reaction gone wild. Within seconds after the show opened you could tell it was going to be special.

But none of us knew how special. At several points during this outrageously funny farce the audience was laughing so hard and so loud that the cast could not continue. At several moments in the show the laughter reached such a level that it was impossible to hear anything. The cast was superb in their efforts and at the conclusion the audience spontaneously leapt to their feet in one of the most thunderous standing ovations I’ve seen in some time. We receive standing O’s quite a bit, but never, never, have I seen such joy and love as I witnessed last night.

Standing O’s don’t happen as often in comedy as they do in drama, at least in my experience. But last night’s audience was thrilled not only with the performers and the play, but they wanted to share their common joy of having just witnessed and participated in something magical.

Live theatre does not get any better than this. We all live for these moments in this business as it reminds us of why we do what we do. Thanks to Paul Slade Smith, the playwright, thanks to a wonderful cast doing amazing work, and thanks to all who participated in that magical and transcendent moment last night. Those who were there will never forget it.

More pictures here.

Technorati Tags: Unnecessary Farce,Wayside Theatre

Slamming Doors and Busting Loose

I’m relatively confident (but not overly so) that we’re going to have a stupendous opening night performance of Unnecessary Farce this evening at Wayside Theatre. Comedy is hard work, and everyone has worked hard to make this show shine. The show, by Paul Slade Smith, is hysterically conceived and written. During our two preview performances yesterday both audiences (very different audiences) hooted and howled with laughter and we got some great comments that will help us shape it further in the final rehearsal this afternoon before the opening night curtain.

The cast is doing exceptional work and Wayside Theatre is going to debut three young actors in this show who are just fun to watch. Leah Raulerson, (who actually debuted with us in Moonlight and Magnolias), Dacia Dick, and Matt Baldoni are all exceptional and very, very funny. They play with Larry Dahlke, James Laster, Barbara Callander, and Dustin Loomis, and the ensemble work is as tight as it needs to make a show like this work. When they are all on and cooking, it is breathtakingly funny to watch.

I could be wrong, I have been before, but I think we’re in for a healthy fun run with this show. I look forward to the silliness on stage, and the celebrating after.

Technorati Tags: Unnecessary Farce,Moonlight and Magnolias,Wayside Theatre

Unnecessary Farce Heading to Audiences This Weekend

Wow, it has been a rough week of rehearsals. But then doing comedy usually does lead to a lot of hard work. As we have our final dress rehearsal tonight for Unnecessary Farce at Wayside Theatre, I find myself in that unsettled place I usually am when working on a comedy. I don't think anything is funny anymore and I've lost all perspective. Drives me nuts, because I know we have one heck of a funny script and a very funny cast doing great work.

My staff gets tired of hearing me say I hate comedy, but in the final days before an audience shows up, I really do hate staging comedy.

Tomorrow we'll see just what adjustments we need to make once we get first audience reactions. I'm actually really looking forward to that. It helps me re-live why I loved the play in the first place.

Technorati Tags: Unnecessary Farce,Wayside Theatre

Another Wedding Anniversary Celebrated in Tech Rehearsals

Happy Anniversary to my wife, Thomasin, and I guess also to me. This one is number 8. We’ve celebrated most of them, as luck would have it, in rehearsals for one show or the other and this year is no different. We’re in technical rehearsals for Unnecessary Farce, and the entire company is having both a blast and a tough slog making this wonderfully silly farce work. The show I mean, not our anniversary.

But celebrating in rehearsals is one thing we are used to. When you consider that we got married on a Sunday, a day after two performances, then went into rehearsals for the next show on Tuesday, it only makes sense for our life in a small theatre. Too often, far too often, Thomasin has to play the preacher’s Artistic Director’s wife as we continue to try and grow and sustain this small theatre, and on many levels that’s a shame. She also works hard trying to sustain me as well. But she does that with the same talent, grace, and humor that she throws at everything in life.

I love you sweetheart and can’t thank you enough for all the wonderful things you bring to my life. Happy Anniversary.

One Show Down, Two More to Go

Whew.

Today was the closing performance and then strike for Moonlight and Magnolias. It was a great show. Just this last week, Potomac Stages picked the show as a must see in the Washington DC area. It is always sad to see a show close, and this was one of the sadder ones. The cast, Peter Boyer, Chris Reeder, Chris Todd, and Leah Raulerson, were all wonderful and provided a lot of great laughs for audiences.

But like all shows this one has reached the end of its run, and we got rid of all of the bananas and peanuts and now move on to donuts and sex farce.

Always Patsy Cline has one more week to play while we continue to rehearse Unnecessary Farce. It will almost seem like a vacation with only two shows to worry about this week. But not really. We’ve got a lot coming up and we’ll all be a bit crazy here pretty much up to the holidays. But hey that’s a life in the theatre.

You Think Comedy is Hard? Try Farce.

Whew. We’ve had a fun, but very hard first week of rehearsal on Unnecessary Farce. This play is packed with so much action that we spent what seemed like an eternity blocking what would turn out to be 10 seconds of stage business. All good stuff and the show is blocked.

The play is so funny, that I think the cast is auditioning for a remake of the Carol Burnett Show the way they keep cracking up, and I have to admit, they are cracking me up as well. We had a newspaper photographer in today to snap shots for a pre-opening article, and he was cracking up as well. Everyone is having a good time and working their tails off.

They’ll hate me next week though as we have to drill and drill in order to get the timing just right.

Technorati Tags: Unnecessary Farce,Wayside Theatre

Unnecessary Farce Kicks Off Some Sex Farcing Around

We’ve just started rehearsals for our next show at Wayside Theatre, Unnecessary Farce, by an old friend, Paul Slade Smith. Paul is one heck of a farceur as both a writer and an actor. Unnecessary Farce is a sex farce focusing on a scandal in a small town and takes place in two adjoining hotel rooms. Think eight doors. Think lots of underwear. Think a Scottish assassin. Think laugh out loud funny.

We’ve blocked about 70 pages of the script and would have gotten more done but we keep falling down laughing over the script and the fantastic cast and their antics.

As a director, there is nothing more fun than saying to actors, look, you jump on each other, lock tongues and then fall into the bed. Can I see that?

Should be a fun few weeks of rehearsal.

Technorati Tags: Unnecessary Farce,Wayside Theatre