Making A Living

After several attempts we finally had the big “career in the theatre” seminar with our Production Manager today.  I have yet to decide if the whole discussion was helpful or just depressing.  I’ve been told many times from professors that its hard to make a living in the theatre, so that was old news.  However, the PM did put a personal spin on the discussion, touching on his own problems with relationships, money problems, and having to choose work over family.  I’m certainly in no hurry to start a family and I’ve learned to live on the little money I’m earning right now, so the big picture doesn’t seem very challenging so far.  But as I start to look for jobs, or begin grad school, I will keep today’s discussion in the back of my mind.

Tomorrow is the first day I will be on acceptance letter watch.  Its been over a month since my interview at Yale, and I havn’t put much thought into the the situation besides thinking about what I will do if I don’t get accepted.  Its really crazy to think that the next 3 years of my life come down to a letter that will come in the next few days.  I saw Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance at the Yale Rep last week.  The play was ok but I’ve come to expect a little more out of Yale productions.  The show was student designed and it showed.  The set was a green proscenium with gold trim and a match portal.  Each Act had its own plug for the portal and furniture, but the whole thing just didn’t work.  The set didn’t evoke high society and completely clashed with the furniture and gorgeous costumes.  The lighting design was solid but not spectacular.  I’ve worked with the LD a few times and he’s a nice guy, but I don’t think there was much for him to work with.  Once again, I’ve come to expect a little more from their productions.

Baseball is back.  The start of the season has always been exciting because it means my birthday is soon and summer is not long after.  I’m playing in a couple of fantasy leagues this season, including one with my co-workers at the theatre.  Hopefully I don’t completely neglect my teams and finish in last place again.  And best of luck to fellow St. Louisan Tyler Hansborough in the final four.

Phenomenon on Playbill.com

The show I’m designing in April is sneaking up, and I found out that our show got an update on Playbill.com yesterday.  I’ve been mentioned in a few local reviews over the past few years, but this is the first national theatre publication that I have been featured in.

Spring Awakening

I’ve wanted to see Spring Awakening for over a year now.  I love the music and the concept of a rock musical infused with a 19th century groundbreaking drama.  I finally had my chance to take in the show yesterday.  And before I even entered the theatre I was happily surprised to run into Jonathan B. Wright (Hanschen) on the street.

I enjoyed the show and the show fufilled every aspect of what I expect when I see a musical.   A solid story, an amazing score, great performances, and a pretty kick ass lighting design. However, I may have made a mistake by hoping for a perfect show.  There were some flaws, but not enough that I didn’t leave the theatre feeling fufilled.

The lighting design was very ambitious and included some fantastic elements that even extended into the audience.  But there were a few things that I found more distracting than amazing.  The transition from story to song was very bold which was established from the beginning.  And it completely worked in the big numbers, but it ultimately seemed to forced when a moving song is overmatched by the shift in lighting.  Also the use of moving lights following performers became distracting to me.  I like this technique when a round pool of light follows an actor in a slow cross, but when a shutter cut pattern follows actors all around the stage it turns out ugly and pulls me away from watching the actors perform.  And when will I be done with hanging light bulbs and neon lights.  I’ve seen around 10 shows since I moved to Conn, and all of them had HLBs or NLs and SA included both plus florescents.  I’m not against these elements, just a little tired of seeing them all the time.  But to be fair I hated glowing shapes and target circles after this summer and I’ve moved on from that.

The lighting was for Spring Awakening was very solid and I learned a great deal from it, but I expect a little more out of a tony winning design.

August: Osage County

I’ve been to New York City a number of times since I moved to Connecticut, but today was the first time I made it to a Broadway show in a few years.  I thought August: Osage County was brilliant.  It had the right mix of laugh-out-loud comedy, warm family moments, complete insanity and tragedy.  And the set was stunning.  A triple story home with countless rooms and a pretty cool set of staircases.  But I think the best part of the production was the great performances and the layers of secrets that each character embodied.  I will say that I predicted a few turning points, but there were a lot more that kept me engaged in the 3 1/2 hour play.  And I’m certain everyone left the theater thinking, “I’m glad thats not my family.”

Full Speed Ahead

Today we had a meet & greet for the Resident/Intern production at my theatre.  It was pretty exciting to get the playwright, actors, the residents and all the theatre staff together to discuss the production.  The show is called Phenomenon of Decline and it opens in about a month and half.

I will be designing the lights for the show, and I’m thrilled to be doing some design work after spending the last sixth months as a technician.  I have the director, scene designer and sound designer as roommates, and I’m sure that will amount to plenty of interesting stories that I will have to blog about.

#88 & Summer Fun

So I admit that I left this one a little vague.  But regardless I donated a dollar to MS today at the grocery store and I say that qualifies as donating to a charity.  Hopefully this good deed leads to more in the future…

I’m getting more excited about my summer job.  For those of you who don’t know, I’m returning to Timber Lake Playhouse this summer as the Lighting Designer & Production Manager.  This is my 3rd summer at TLP, my second as a designer and I’m creating the PM position this summer.  In just over 2 months I’ll be spending 3 months in the woods designing 6 productions and overseeing the production staff.

A major part of my excitement is the people that are coming back and some new TLPers that I’m excited to work with again.  Summer stock can be a trying experience, but its the people you work with that make the experience worth the stress.