AND...BREAK!

So last night we picked up where we left off scene wise and worked through the rest of the play. Then we took a break and ran the whole show. Wanted to plant the whole picture in everyone's heads before we left for our three day break. I feel like we're right where we need to be. Honestly, though, that's not always the most comfortable place to be. The play will come into sharp focus suddenly and then two minutes later its just not there any more. Which is right where we need to be right now. And what rehearsals are all about. Yadda, yadda, yadda. And really, this is what I like about making theater--the live-ness of it--that you work on this medium with other people--it's not you and your words or you and your footage. But but like I said, it's not always the most comfortable place to be. Also, it might be wise to bring some in some Clif bars or something to munch on. Interestingly, the further we get into the piece the more I'm discovering how complex it is under the surface which is, of course, what gives it it's depth. Chris is seeing that too.
My brain is starting to turn into a hunk of fudge though (and I suspect I'm alone in this experience) so I'm glad we're getting a breather. Friday I'm going to record all the internal sound cues. Saturday we load the set in and start putting it up. Cast will meet again at 7.
Our good friend Ed Bodey did some pig tale images. Check them out.
I love them both. The first one is...strangely inspiring....

Page to stage and pig moves

Still making the transition off book. They're doing a great job. It's a very physical show particularly for Jesse and Patrick. Apart from physically becoming the pig, Jesse only has lines made up of words in the first and last scenes. All other responses are pig sounds (some of which are scripted in) and physical movements. We discovered from the reading you have be incredibly specific about what you're saying and how you "say" it, otherwise there's a real danger of becoming general and ultimately meaningless. Patrick has the opposite challenge. He has the bulk of the lines but his scene partner is a pig--essentially non verbal. It's definitely not a monologue but it must be a real challenge to get off book for something when your cues aren't lines. So we have been concentrating mainly on blocking--connecting words (and non-words) with actions to set them into memory.
We're also working on physicalizing the pig--or acting like a pig, if you will. I never really noticed how uniquely pigs are put together. They have short little legs which don't appear to bend much when they walk. Effectively, they trot and are very agile. They don't really have necks (at least not the way we do) which restricts their side to side movement. As far as noises, they squeal when threatened, snort when they're rooting and can even bark when being agressive. This is a lot to chose from. The key is being specific. Also, since Dave is a person and a pig when is he what?

Set Design

We're really fortunate to have Ray Klausen doing the set for PIG TALE! Here's excerpt from his bio:

Ray Klausen (scenic designer) has designed over 350 productions for theatre and television in England, Monte Carlo, Germany, Mexico, Australia and Canada. Broadway: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Liza’s at the Palace, On Golden Pond, Brooklyn The Musical, Big River, Comedy Tonight, Waiting in the Wings, and Bea Arthur On Broadway. Off-Broadway: Pete ‘n’ Keely and My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy. Other NYC productions; My Favorite Broadway (Carnegie Hall/City Center) and My Fair Lady (Avery Fisher Hall) . Regional theater: Mark Taper Forum (5 shows), St Louis Rep (3), The Kennedy Center (6), Prince Music Theatre (2), and Reprise! In Los Angeles (3). Television credits include sets for Diana Ross, Martha Graham, Michael Jackson, Liza Minneli, Ann-Margret, Elton John, Princess Grace, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, and yes, even Elvis. He is the recipient of 3 Emmy Awards and 11 nominations as well as the Hoffman Eminent Scholar Chair from Florida State University. He is a graduate of the Yale school of Drama. Website: http://www.rayklausen.com/

Okay, that's an excerpt. There's more and it's pretty awesome. Totally check out the website.

Here's a picture of the model Ray made of the set:

The above is JOHNNY's small east village apartment. Entrance to the hallway is upstage right. Below that is a small portable wooden shelf unit. The large unit is a TV set on a milk crate. There's a low sofa in front of the door. Up center is a curtained off sleeping alcove. Window at the far back. Stage left near the bedroom opening is a small work area, chair and small table. Farthest off is a kitchen area w/ a pegboard over a sink and a small refrigerator.
This particular theater has two small side stages which are going to be used of other scenes: couple of outdoor scenes, KYLE's apartment etc.
Early last month a show Ray designed off broadway closed and he offered us use of the wall units. Miraculously, they fit perfectly into our space. They used to look like a well appointment upper west side psychologist's office, but they will like a less than pristine east side cubby hole. Parts of the floor will be covered by sheets of linoleum and throw rugs. Some of the furnishings are coming from my apartment and some from the theater. Ray's got some extra touches for the walls which I can't wait to see. It's all really exciting.

Up to the read thru

The first reading of the full length script of PIG TALE was in the Robert Chesley/Jane Chambers Playwright Project for TOSOS on June 22, 2008. Chesley/Chambers is our monthly play reading series where we read a play for an audience and then all go out to dinner afterwards. It's a great casual way to hear plays (which I think is more effective than reading them b/c they're written to ne heard) and for us to get together as a company and catch up/ network etc. Many of the plays we've read at CH/CH move on to full production if not by us by other companies. That's not the intent of the Project but it's an added bonus.
The reading of this draft of PIG TALE was a big success. We had a terrific turn out. Not only did the play really come across but Wings Theater had representatives in the audience which facilitated talks on partnering for a production. Ray Klausen, who's doing our set, was in attendance and Chris' mentor and friend of TOSOS, Tina Howe was there.

(in the pic above, we're all eating cupcakes b/c it was also my birthday, l to r. Moe Betran, me, Jamie Heinlein who read stage directions, back row l to r, Kevin Held, Chris, Steven Fales and Jessie May.)

Once it was agreed that PIG TALE was actually going to happend, (gulp!) we set about putting a cast together. We had a terrific cast for the reading, but they weren't all avialable for a December/January run. Company member Kevin Held currently lives in Los Angeles and our new friend Steven Fales is also in LA about to open his new one-man show MISSIONARY POSITION. Jesse May had read from PIG TALE several times when it was in development at Hunter. He's so great in the role of Dave (who becomes the pig) we needed to cast him right away. Moe Bertran (who I've been lucky enough to work with before) came aboard for the reading and was absolutely terrific. We thought it'd be wise to sign him up too. This left two roles open: KYLE, JOHNNY's stoner, sex-fiend best bud who happens to have a Masters in Compartive Folk Lore and JOHNNY...the lead!
We had an all day EPA and another day of appointments and call backs. We saw so many talented actors and were made absolutely miserable be the limitless casting combinations. I'm always amazed at how many amazing actors there are in this city. And we were only looking to cast two roles! If were looking for all 4 parts we probably would still be around that table matching headshots to headshots and banging our heads against the wall.

In the end, we wound up casting Patrick Porter as JOHNNY and Tim Dietrichs as KYLE. They are both really great!!!!

Chris had been working on the script in the interim and on November 8th we had our first readthru at Hunter College. In photo on the right that's (l to r) Tim as Kyle, Jesse as Dave, Patrick as J0hnny and Moe as Mama.

On the left is (l to r) Chris, Tracy Calhoun (our press rep) and me--sweating and looking to my chair for support. 1st read thru always make me nervous--as you can tell from my shirt--b/c you don't really know everyone and you want everything to be perfect. We started a little late. Traffic in the city was murder and the trains were very screwed up. It's never rained in New York City before so the MTA was completely at a loss! Actually, this kind of relaxed everyone and we got a solid read thru done, everyone met everyone else and we were able to get some photos taken and get ready for our blocking rehearsals. More later...