Jitters, 1988

Jitters by Canadian Playwright David French was written in 1979.

The better known Noises Off, a similar backstage comedy, was written three years later and was made into a movie in 1992.

 

When the play begins we see a traditional box set on the stage and actors come on and start to perform in what looks like it is going to be an awful play.

After a few minutes the “Director” stands up in the audience and stops the action on stage and we find out that we are watching a play-within-a-play.

Now this would have been funny except our director decided to add some preshow action with fake stage hands that gave away the joke.

He would make some other changes that did not help the show either but it was still funny, well for the most part.

After a set change the bad box set is removed and a two story dressing room unit is rolled downstage.

On this big rolling platform we also see the stage door, bathroom, stairs to the upper level and the greenroom.

Through an opening in the middle we can see part of the set that has been reassembled upstage.

It was a nice effect and worked fairly well.

I really like working on these kinds of sets and like all the added details that make it real and make it fun.

There were old theatre posters and programs, working mirror lights and even fire extinguishers under the stairs.

Fortunately unlike Picnic we did not need them during the show.

There was lots of action with people running about the set with one of the characters being knocked out at one point.

Over the years we have had many of our play adjudicated; now it is called a “response”, but the one for Jitters was extra special.

As I had said the director added some bits to the opening of the play and also cut some lines because he thought the plays was running too long.

Now we all know that if you read the fine print on your royalty payment forms to the publishers that you are supposed to do the play as written without any changes, but again we know that everyone makes a few changes from time-to-time.

The changes were big enough that during the talk with the adjudicator she asked if there was a different version of the script used in Canada because she did not recognize the play.

Opps.

As it turned out that her husband wrote the play.

VERY BIG OPPS ! ! !

This play had about three non-student actors in it but there were plenty of parts for the students.

I know that many students enjoyed the department costume designer who was in the play.

Was her over acting real or part of the show?

Depends on who you ask.

Still everyone involved had a good time.

I wonder what ever happened to that cat?

***

Tartuffe, 1987

For our production of Tartuffe written by Molière in 1664 we used the popular translation by Richard Wilbur.
The production was updated to the current day and set in back yard of a rich family in Connecticut.
The set had just one long wall along the back with only one door which led to what was supposed to be a sauna.



Tartuffe, 1987



A little smoke from a fog machine would flow out each time the door was opened.

The front of the stage had a pit extension with a cut out to represent a swimming pool complete with a diving board and chrome ladder coming up out of the water.

Downstage right a hot tub was built into the stage.

The hot tub was really a large oval horse trough with a plastic liner and we filled it each night just before the show with about 100 gallons of very hot water.

By the time the water was used it was just about room temperature.

After each show that water was bucketed out and dumped and fresh water added before each show.

Fun.

 

One of my favorite moments was the seduction scene that took place in the tub as Tartuffe chased after Elmire.

Later in the play Orgon would fall, fully dressed, into the tub.

Yes I have a photo of him falling someplace and will, along with many others, scan it and post it here.

As can be seen in the photos there also was a large canvas “Sail” above the set.

I was never sure what the scene designer had in mind with it and I do not think I did the best job in lighting it but I tried.

Like most plays I have worked on, I did enjoy this production but felt that there were too many non-students in the cast for me.

The non-students were very good and it made for a stronger production but because we are a college I always like to see the students get a chance to act and design when possible.

When we did the play again twenty years later (2007) the entire cast was made up of student actors.

For that production the director set the production into the past to the 1980’s which made it the same time frame as the production noted here.

The newer production was done with a different script and a much broader comic style.

The ending was fun and there is a short video on YouTube of part of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oasPhJ_-3aI

Tartuffe, 2007

Cherry Cheesecake

When I started my blog almost four years ago I was not really sure what I was going to write but I knew That I had lots of Theatre stories to tell and just started writing them down.

I thought I would just go back to the earliest show I could remember, start from there and see where it would go.

With over 150 posts covering  many plays I know that I have often said how any given show was special and everyone had a good time working on it.

Not every play is extraordinary and back in April I wrote about how working on some plays have driven me crazy at times.

But for the most part I have always enjoyed working in Theatre and if I did not like it why else would I keep doing it for over forty years.

My Blog does have a few loyal followers and I know that people do read it from time-to-time, the stats page tells me that my Blog  has had over 12,000 visits so far, but I was still surprised to the reaction to my last blog post.

When I wrote about Picnic I said that I really enjoyed working on it and that and I knew that it effected many of those people who worked on it.

As it happened one of those who was in the play read my blog and shared it on Facebook with many of cast members and staff who worked on the play.

I knew that many of the actors from the play were still friends and had stayed in touch and it was fun to read their posts and recollections of the show, even those which may have differed from my own memories.

Not every show forms long lasting friendships, but that production of Picnic did.

Four of the actors from Picnic would go on to work together on a student production of Extremities which further strengthened their friendship.

The play also caused many bruises for the actors.

Again, not every show will have long lasting effects on everyone involved in it, but some do and that is what keeps us all coming back to work on more.

Even if a given play turns out bad, it is in the weeks rehearsals that bonds of friendship are forged.

When I worked summer stock back when I was in college, the conditions where I worked were poor by most standards, but by overcoming the lack of a well equipped shop with large power tools it gave me more self confidence in my work with hand tools and the basic circular saw.

As I look back on all the plays that I have worked on I have seen many relationships come and go.

I remember a couple who worked on several plays together while in college and met up again a few years after graduation and are now married.

Of course there are those couples who were madly in love while in college and ended up married to others.

Life backstage is not that much different than the rest of the world, but sometimes the pressures of working in Theatre can seem to magnify emotions.

I am happy though when I see those long lasting friendships that I know started on a bare stage or rehearsal room so many years before.

 

 

 * * *

Picnic, 1987

By my fifth year at Brockport I can safely say that I had settled into my job with its added duties and was in the middle of what I call my second generation of students.

Brockport is a four year college but we get many transfer students who stay only two years.

Of course we have students who stay only one year and others who have been here for six or more years with time off here and there.

After some long and complex calculations I have decided that a generation of students is three years.

So after 31 years at Brockport I am in the middle of my 10^th generation of students.

I just made all of it up because every year, every semester is different with new students, returning students and a few that we are never sure about.

By the fall of 1987 all of the students who were here when I first came to Brockport were now gone.

As with most years we had production season that would offer a wide range of plays with many challenges and plenty of laughs.

Our production season for 1987-88 was: Picnic by William Inge, Tartuffe by Molière, Jitters by David French and The Last Baron of Arizona by Joanna Halpert Kraus.

 

 

 

Picnic was a fun production and I have many fond memories from working on it.

It was the last year for the scene designer and I think he wanted to go out with big and memorable sets and Picnic’s really filled the stage.

There were two houses on the stage and the main house had to have a second floor on the inside so we could see people walking by windows.

 

It was a great play for lighting as the play takes place during one day and we see light moments from early morning, afternoon, a sunset and evening.

At one point the actors actually stop, watch and comment on the sunset.

Most of the playing area was the front porch and yard of the main house complete with a stump and swing that was supposed to be hanging from some large unseen tree.

 

 

We did have a few not planned moments during the run.

Part of the action is there is suppose to be a trash burning barrel just offstage and an old can in the barrel explodes.

We used a big old metal barrel and fired a blank gun into it and it sounded great.

Although we did dump the trash out there was still a little sawdust in the bottom and it caught fire on opening night from the flash that came out of the starter’s pistol.

A quick thinking stage manger used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire and we all had a good laugh after the show.

That should have been the end of it except the second weekend of the show after the sawdust dried out, yes it caught fire again.

OK, it was more of a smoldering kind of thing, but you could smell it.

Again the stage manager put out the fire.

Of course since that time the college has removed all of the old water only fire extinguishers and I do not know if the new ones would work as well as the simple water filled ones.

 

 

I talk about the lighting in this play often in my classes and I like to use the example of the end of the play for my students.

The director wanted a single down spot on the stump that had the boots of the male lead who runs off without them.

I thought it would be a corny moment and would look silly.

But as I tell my students I could have done it one of two ways: first I could make it look bad and maybe the director would cut it or second I could do it the best way I knew how and hoped it would look good.

Well it still was a bit corny but it fit well in with the rest of the play and the audience loved it.

I made the right choice.

I use this as an example of working with the director and not fighting with him.

 

 

I wish I had better pictures of the show but my film was not processed right at the time.

The show had a good cast that worked well together and enjoyed working on the play.

Up next: Tartuffe

 

Anything Goes, part II

So, the professional that I am I would never do anything stupid in the Theatre.

As I sat in the back row of the Mainstage Theatre this afternoon I remembered something really dumb I had done in the past.

I seem to remember that at some point during the summer of 1987 with the Anything Goes set on stage I got the bright idea to fire some bottle rockets at the set from the back of the auditorium.

No damage to the set or fires started.

Ah the silly things we did in our youth.

I was only 31, just a baby at the time.

 

I would never do anything like that now, BUT wait I still have some of those same bottle rockets at home.

Gee I wonder if they will still work after 25 years.

They are in my basement and every time I see them I think I should try them but never do.

Oh I better not; we got a new super fire alarm system in the Theatre.

I can assure you that I and many other people have done plenty of other stupid things in Theatres all over the world, most of it just letting off some steam after a long days work.

Maybe I will have to make a new list of all my stupid moments, wait that might be too long.

High school, some flash power and a match . . . . . Lucky to still have eyebrows.

 

Please note that I have recently added some photos to some of my older Blog posts and will add more as I find and scan them.

In my next Blog stories from the 1987-8 school year and four very different productions.

First up: Picnic.

 

 

* * *

Everything is wonderful . . .

If you have read my Blog on a regular basis you might think that everything about working in theatre is wonderful.

Well it is not.

There are times that I hate it and think I should do something else, but then I come to my senses and realize that I am lucky to have made Theatre and Teaching my career.

So what is not to like.

Well the hours can be a pain.

During the build for a show I often work a month or more without a day off.

Because of the students limited available free time to work on the productions I have to offer work call hours as much as I can, including nights and several weekends.

 

As we get closer to a production we go into the technical and dress rehearsals which mean that after a long day in the shop I have to sit in theatre for another six hours and get home after midnight.

As long as we are busy it is not too bad, but recent technical rehearsal was driving me a bit crazy.

My areas were fine, the set was done and the lighting was all set but we needed to work on the sound.

Everyone in the theatre had to sit through hours of starting a stopping every sound cue and re-setting the levels or timing.

It was something that needed to be done and I think we could have found a better way to do it, but it was not my area and did not want to butt in.

The hardest part is keeping the cast and crew focused during the painfully slow process.

We got through and the show opened and everything went fine.

Sometimes production meetings and more often faculty meetings make me want to scream.

We go over the same stuff over and over and over again.

No one ever seems to remember things from one meeting to another.

There are times even when something is in the meeting minutes that people will say: “No, that can’t be right, we didn’t agree to that . . . . “.

My favorite example is from a few years ago when we were voting on students awards at the end of the school year.

We had voted not to give out one award but because it was not written down right away we had to have another vote and that time the student was given the award.

Now I am sure that he was a good student who had done some good work but I clearly remember that he had lost the first vote.

Gee is there anything else that drives you nuts Gary?

People from outside the department or college who want to use the theatre.

They never plan early enough; want to know why they cannot use the theatre a week before our production is set to open and that the theatre does not come with a staff sitting there ready to jump to work at a moment’s notice just for them.

I try to explain how things work but they never hear what I am saying, all they want me to say yes to them.

 

Our latest show here at the college and turned out excellent and the students who helped all did a very good.

Of course next week there will be some students who did not finish their work hours and I will have to fine them work.

Fortunately there is always something to clean, sort or throw away in Theatre.

 

Sometimes if I get a bit down I read a few chapters of Robert Edmond Jones’ The Dramatic Imagination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Edmond_Jones

 

You can still find online, it may seem a bit pricey but it is worth it.

Quick, go online find a copy, get it and then read it and then read it again.

There will be a quiz on this . . . .

Robert Edmond Jones

 

 

 

 * * *

"Anything Goes", summer of 1987

My first three summers at working on the Sumer Arts Festival at Brockport I had designed the sets for the straight plays.

The summer of 1987 was the first time I designed the set for the musical production.

I had run the lighting board for a production of Anything Goes about 15 years before with the Sayville Musical Workshop.

A much younger me working on the 1972 production

My design was typical of many other productions with a multi-story view of the cruise ship.

Anything Goes, Scene Designer 1987

I was surprised a few months later when the set for the Broadway revival with Patti LuPone opened and it was very similar to my set.

The set for the most recent revival with Sutton Foster in 2011 the main view of the ship was from the side.

Of note here, Jessica Stone, an actress who appeared in several of our summer musicals was a featured actress in the 2011 production.

The main section had three levels but the third was only for looks.

The two large staircase units were designed to pivot out of the way for the stateroom platforms that rolled in from the side.

In keeping with its Art-Deco design, the set was just black and white with silver accents.

I remember that I wanted to use blue on a small set piece but happily I stayed with my tight palette and did not use it.

My set model

The nightclub scene was fun as I designed a number of white flats that were flown in around the staircases and in front of the main section of the boat unit.

 The flat had a simple black line design and silver panels of Rosco slit drape filled in between the flats.

Like many other set pieces, we had bits and pieces of the slit drape for years after the production was over.

I was very happy with some of the design ideas and solutions that I came up with for this show.

For the Bon Voyage number I had ramps up over the orchestra pit and onto the stage and actor would run down the house aisles and up onto the ship.

We also made Art-Deco railing piece that ran across the front of the stage and were easily removed by the dancers at the end of the number as the ship set sail.

I was sad to see the last of the railings in the dumpster during the clean-up for the renovation.



Stateroom Sets

I know that down in our basement storage we still have the two main doors that I made that have round portholes in them.

Adding some gold panels we use the draped a few years later when we did 42^nd Street.

Like many pieces from the past, the last bits if it were thrown during the recent renovation.

We now have a large “Rain” curtain, similar to the Rosco slit drape that we used in The Rocky Horror show hanging in the theatre.

The Rocky Horror Show, 2012

I wonder how many years we will have this and when it may be used again.

For the nightclub scene we wanted to use classic bentwood chairs but did not have enough.

I remember looking all over trying to find some used ones but the only ones I found were too expensive.

Today a few clicks on the internet and you can have as many as you want in a few days.

Not finding what we needed I had to find a way to fix some that we had and found that I could use pieces of garden hose to fill in the backs on some of the chairs.

It worked well for the show but over time the hose pieces have drooped and have become misshapen.

Although I did not design the poster I gave to campus artist an idea that he used and the poster came out great. 

Some years later I would do even more work on all four posters for school year season.

I had some research examples and did some rough sketches that were used to create the finished posters.

Like most of the other summer musicals at Brockport I had a good crew, we worked hard but had a good time working on the show.

***