Last days

The last weekend of the show went well… as well as could be expected. One of the leads, the one who struggled with his lines the whole way, stumbled through each scene, slowing down the play. Thank goodness for Shanna and Christina, who play his daughter and wife, who kept the action alive.

I got stronger in the opening song, once I allowed myself to look at the audience. After I stopped acting in high school. I developed a debilitating case of stage fright. Exclusive only to acting, the anxiety did not disrupt my singing performances, because when singing, I let the audience melt away. I give all my attention to some architectural fixture, as if I were trying to drill a hole in the wall. Only when I was absolutely solid on a song would I dare look at faces, god forbid I interpret their expression instead of listening to my accompaniment.

But this weekend, I thought about my performance as a “street singer” and I fought to break down the “fourth wall” between the audience and myself. I looked at people, sang to them, and my performance improved exponentially.

Friday night was hilarious, not in a “ha ha funny” way, but in a “ha ha bad” way. One actress, an extra, thought it was a great idea to bring her Sudoku ON STAGE with her as “business to do” while the leads had the focus for a song. She became so involved with her stupid puzzle that she forgot her line, which was the LIGHTS UP cue. Great. So someone else stepped in to say it. That night, a bunch of us memorized all of her lines to fill in for her if some “unfortunate accident” befell her, preventing her appearance in the show. If only…

As an ensemble, we 13 were close and we had a lot of fun for warm-ups. After leading them in a vocal warm-up, we would choose a song from the show and sing it together. With Brecht’s words, all of the songs are hilarious, and we constantly sang the Jealousy Duet and What Keeps a Man Alive.

We also exchange epithets among ourselves from the show:

GUTTER LILY
STRUMPET
TART
BIG GIRAFFE
STUPID CALF
THICKEST ANKLES IN THE CITY

The lines that got the most laughs were:

When the whores visit: “Mrs. Peachum, there’s a bunch of sleepy lookin’ hens come to see you.” “Ah, the laying hens.”
“How would you feel if somebody fished the best trout out of your pond?” “It’s like this, Mr. Peachum, I haven’t got a pond.”

“A fine opinion of your daughter you have.’
“The worst, the very worst. A lump of sensuality, that’s what she is.”
“If so, she didn’t get it from you.”

MAC That’s pretty underwear you’re ironing.
WHORE From the cradle to the grave, it’s all about underwear.
OLD WHORE I never wear silk. Men think it means you’ve got a condition.
DOLLY But cheap underwear can worry them too.
OLD WHORE I get good results with cheap underwear.
VIXEN It reminds the gents of home.

Of course it helped that the “Vixen” was played by a man.

In other news, the Shakespeare Festival is going to be GREAT! We have 6 groups coming from public and private schools. The plays/scenes they are doing are:

A small class, “Shakespeare in Film,” six students, will bring a scene from Much Ado About Nothing, as will a group of Montessori middle schoolers. Their scene is great-- a combination of the eavesdropping scenes to trick Beatrice and Benedick.

The student council of Dober Elementary (4-6th grades) will bring the final scene of Hamlet. They are very excited about the sword play and dying.

The Honor Club of Muller elementary school will show us Macbeth- 4.1—the “Double double toil and trouble” scene, with Cameos of Macduff and Lady Macbeth.

A huge group of 50 students will work on five minute versions of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night.

Bethany and I have a class at Antilles who will bring a combined scene with “Dysfunctional Lovers of Shakespeare Comedy” featuring Petruchio and Kate (Taming of the Shrew), Viola, Orsino, Olivia, Sebastian and Malvolio (Twelfth Night), Biron, Rosaline, Longaville, Maria, Dumain, and Katharine (Love’s Labour Lost).

Then at Pistarckle, Bethany has five kids who will bring the love scenes of Midsummer Night’s Dream between Demetrius, Helena, Lysander, and Hermia.

I have also agreed to write a script for Pistarckle based on Alexanrdre Dumas’ Nutcracker Prince.

More on that...

Last Week!

Last night, a bunch of us (Ellie, Arley & Marlas, the Carolina Boys-Mike D, Lee, and Charles, and Sean, Kristin, and Me, and then Dan & Kristen) went over to Shanna and Kyle's for a big Italian fiesta. They have a new place that looks out over Magen's bay and Tortola. Kristin, Shanna's friend who just arrived on island, wants to throw me a going away party before I leave.

It's sad to think of leaving all these great people behind, but I know I'll be back soon (April 30-May 8) for the Shakespeare Festival.

Speaking of, I went to a great little elementary school on the waterfront last week and did a Shakespeare workshop with 30 honor students, 4th-6th grade. They were so great! One girl, a sixth grader, approached me confidently and said, "Hi, I'm Jenay, I'm the president. Welcome to our school." Then she shook my hand and turned to the class and shouted, "Alright, let's begin! This is Betsy, or Ms. Summers, from Pistarckle Theater.... What's her name?" And they all responded "Betsy!" It was adorable.

The way I structure most workshops is begin by asking how many students have seen theater. Most of these kids had seen things in New York or at Disney World: huge productions like "The Lion King," or "Aida." Then I ask what they know about Shakespeare's plays. They all know Romeo and Juliet. Then they totally surprised me with the information they knew about William Shakespeare. They knew where he lived, and who he worked for, which is great for 4th-6th graders.

Then I ask them how they feel about Shakespeare's language. They all say that it's scary and incomprehensible. And then I ask, "well, you know that famous balcony scene with Romeo and Juliet? What's the line, Romeo, Romeo..."

And most of them knew the "wherefore art thou Romeo." And we talk about what she means, and then I gave them the whole line:
"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse they name,
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet."

Then I get them on their feet and act out the witches' scene from Macbeth: "Double double, toil and trouble..." with students being "witch-like" repeating that line while walking in a circle. When the others make eerie sound effects of a scary forest, the scene is really cool.

The festival is quickly picking up momentum, woohoo!

Second Weekend...

So this is our second round of performances. Yeehaw. The picture is Shanna and me in stage makeup, being funny.

Yesterday, I went motoring on JB's boat again, with Ellie, her mom Diane, Shanna, her friend Kristen from Tucson, and more friends, Rose and Scott. Full boat, we did the usual excursion: Norman Island for snorkeling (we saw a HUGE Barracuda, about 5 feet long under our boat), Smuggler's Cove for drinks and a beautiful beach, then to Jost Van Dyke for food at Soggy Dollar's. Soggy Dollar's always lives up to its name, because you have to wade ashore to get to the beach. There is no dock. Of course, with catamarans and double hulls, like JB's boat, getting up close is no problem.

So after lunch, and few Vanilla Painkillers later, we shoved off and returned to St Thomas. It was a lovely afternoon.

That night, I went back to the theater to see a reading of the "after-school" production that Bethany has been devising with a group of 6 teenage girls. The show is called "Superhero Girls Like Me" and these girls and Bethany have been writing a script based on their hopes, fears, anxieties, empowerment, etc, for 3 months. Each girl created her own superhero character, complete with specific powers, and costume. But with great power comes great weakness as well, and each of them have a crippling kryptonitic obstacle to overcome. For one, it is an abusive parent, for another, it's anorexia. You get the point. Anyway, it was incredible, and all the parents were there to hear their daughter's words.

I sat behind two mothers who, throughout the show, were giving each other the "I can't believe I'm hearing this from her mouth" looks. I just wanted to tap them on the shoulder and say, "I’m sorry, but your parental anxieties are distracting me. I'm trying to watch the show." At the question and answer part of the evening, the adults got caught up in the fact that there was no adult role model, and that the message was "rely on each other" rather than "rely on adults." To quell this whole fervor of parental grappling, Bethany said, "The reason why you will not find that theme in here is because we are trying to avoid 'parent speak.' We all know the 'right answers.' These girls wrote what they feel and live everyday, and we lose the whole point of this exercise if parents try to exercise control over their daughters' words. We also don't mind that you might come away from this feeling anxious and disturbed."

GO BETHANY!

So now I’m blonde and tan, so I have successfully enjoyed my Caribbean jaunt.

Two More Weeks

So Denny and Steve left today. A sad farewell for sure. But I'll see them in a few weeks in Vermont. The show has gone very well so far, and I gauge its success on the number of people leaning forward throughout the play. Many people are visibly offended by the content at times, which is also a point in our favor. The play is controversial, and if it does not shake some people up, it is not doing its job.

It did not become Hitler's LEAST favorite play for nothing.

And ha ha, the last quatrain we sing begins with "Combat injustice, but with moderation." Because if you work too hard to stand up to injustice, you will face retaliation, because as Jenny Diver says, "when you kick a man, he tends to kick you back."

Doing the Threepenny Opera in St. Thomas has been an uphill climb. As Steve says "theater is most difficult to do in places where it is easiest to live." VERY TRUE. When people are comfortable and complacent, getting them to relate and feel the urgency of edgy stuff is like herding cats. It seems that people want "feel good" theater here. Boo. Keeping the energy up through the play as been a struggle, but we have a few key people who help elevate every scene. And I kick off the show with a rousing rendition of Mack the Knife as a street singer. Yee haw.

For the most part, the audiences love it, especially the Caribbean-islanders, who identify very much with Mac the Knife's last words:

"Ladies and gentlemen, you see before you a declining representative of a declining social group. We lower middle-class skilled workers who toil with our humble crowbars on the cash registers of small shopkeepers are being swallowed up by big corporations with banks behind them. What’s a crowbar compared with a share of stock? What’s robbing a bank compared with founding a bank? What’s rubbing a man out compared with giving him a job? "

HERE HERE!!

So two more weekends (six more shows).

OPENING NIGHT

is officially tonight! We had a "pay-as-you-can" performance on Thursday, but this is the official. Because there's champagne and roses.

Last night, the show went well, but with many hiccups. So I hope tonight will be spectacular! The audience had a good time, and really listened to the songs, which is GREAT. For example, they all laughed at the end of the Solomon Song's "His sexual urges brought him to this state. How fortunate the man with none." Ha ha. Or the Love Song's "Anywhere you go, I will go with you/" "You go with me, then I won't go anywhere." Hah ha.

But it is so hot on stage! My first costume is 3 layers: a shift, a long sleeve shirt, a long skirt, stockings, and a long black tuxedo coat with tails. And a top hat. And gloves. AGGGHHHH. But it's a great costume. I hope to post pictures soon.

Final Dress Rehearsal...

is TONIGHT!

The show is going much better, and even though I still give notes to everyone about improvements, I have resigned myself to the depressing resolution that it won't be anything to write home about.

The costumes and set design are wonderful, the music is fun, but some of the actors are amazingly flawed. Denny and Steve leave after the opening weekend, so after their departure, I am in charge. I just hope there isn't a coup des acteurs.

So other than that, everything is swell. I've met wonderful people here, and I love spending time with them. And the beach is LOVELY, and I'll be wonderfully tanned when I return, to the dismay, I'm sure, of all the pasty wonter-weatherers.

Shoddy Karma

Taking advantage of the sunny weather, I stripped off every extra piece of covering on my jeep. I looked pretty cool, yes, but finally my security carelessness caught up with me.

After rehearsal on Friday, Shanna and I returned to my car to find the stereo face, registration and insurance information stolen out of the glove compartment. The jeep I’m using is Carl’s, on loan to the theater. (Carl is a 30ish guy acting as General Counsel to Pistarckle and the Board, and he’s also in Threepenny.) So Shanna and I trudged back into the theater to tell him. Getting back int o the car with heavy hearts, Shanna noticed a piece of paper on the ground. Turning it over, I saw that it was the registration! Further down the parking lot embankment I was the stereo face and the insurance booklet! Struggling back up the hill, through brambles and thorns, but with everything in hand, I hopped into the jeep to take Shanna home, boasting loudly about what great Karma I must have….

Well that night I went out with Ellie, Jordan and Dylan, and what do I discover upon returning to the car? Yeah, it’s all been stolen AGAIN, and this time search, the loot was not stashed right next to the car.

So what about that karma?

So It's Come to This

Well, it's a shambles. I am 70% sure I will never return to Pistarckle Theater to direct another show. There is no technical support and Denny, Steve, and I have spread ourselves way too thin. Besides that, I am not billed on any of the Posters for teh show, except for as a castmember. As I am in the cast, that's fine, but I also spent more energy and am contracted to music direct it... ughhh. Everyday in this theater is like cleaning up a messy room. And there's no Mary Poppins to make the job a game.

But on the bright side, Shanna and I will try to steal away from the office to have beach time.

Happy Valentines Day!

I love Valentines Day!

It's really big on the island. In stands on the side of the roads, women sell huge platic wrapped teddy bears holding chocolates, roses, and other red and pink doo-dads. Everyone greets you with "Good morning, happy valentines" and all the single men try to make women their valentine.

But it's just another day at the theater. The show is a week away and though we aren't in a state of panic, all of the shortcomings that Denny Steve and I shrugged off early on are now presenting BIG problems. Like the fact that the "technical director" hates theater and hasn't read the script or attended a full rehearsal... or that we have no light board operator... or that our lighting designer can't be at the full tech rehearsal... or that our stage amangaer is leaving next week... or that one of the leads CANNOT memorize his lines... or that the costumer is on the verge of a nervous breakdown...

AGGGGHHHHHH

But it's Valentine's Day!

Strike

Last night after dinner and a rousing evening of "the Fiddler" at Latitude 18, Shanna, Kyle, Dan and I went to Pistarckle to strike the Island set. Of course, the actors and everyone involved in that show should've stayed to help, but the director, the actors, the stage manager and costumer were four people, and they managed to sneak out the back. So it was the Threepenny cast and the carpenters helping.

The Island set consisted of a jail cell--half iron bars, half wooden walls, and a barbed wire fence. For those not familiar with the Island, it was written by Athol Fugard (author of the novel, Tsotsi) of South Africa. Set in the famous Robben Island prison (in which Nelson Mandela was held for 17 years), its main objective is to attack apartheid through the display of two cellmates' relationship and their rehearsals of Antigone for the upcoming prison "concert."

The intersections of Sophocles' Antigone lends its themes of man's law versus God's law and whether "guilty or not guilty" is a valid and grave question given the bias of Creon's law. The two cellmates, John and Winston, argue over the play's relevance, and whether Antigone is guilty or not guilty. And of course, they vehemently argue over who will dress up as a woman in front of their cellmates and guards at the concert.

But it's over, so Tear it Down! And we did.

This evening, we have rehearsal, then Shanna and Kyle and Kaiden and I and her crew are going down to Coki beach to hear Cool Sessions play and dance the night away. Before all that ensues, I have to read more Shakespeare and find scenes or line couplets that I can bring into the two student workshops I'm doing next week...