It's important that I document exactly what I learned from producing/directing/designing this show. So I'm just gonna let it fly...
First and foremost: Pick the right people to work with. Peter Prouty, Kelly Komlem-Amadei, Sara Hymes, Brian Scruggs and Devon Davey were WONDERFUL to work with. This project wouldn't be what it is without each and every one of their efforts. Brian was indispensable with how much he knew about actually making a show run from a practical standpoint...lights, sound, set, tech...he was very good at offering up advice: I don't think we'll have time to do that. Oh, what if we did this instead!...just a phenomenal team member.
Devon has learned a lot from this experience, I think. This was his first show he's done outside of an educational setting and he's grown quite a bit. He took some time to bring around to exactly how I wanted him to work as a stage manager for this production, but that's just as much my "fault" based on the fact that I was still learning what I needed him to be.
Sara was pretty much the glue that held it all together. She did the stuff that she knew I couldn't do...without me having to ask her. Probably helped that she lives with me and could see how stressed I would get. So she took over costumes, makeup, reservations and money. I needed that. Producer Jordan was taking too much time away from Director Jordan, which wasn't good. I didn't really want to produce this anyway...it's just how it had to happen. Without Sara, I don't think we'd be where we are today:)
Petey has made GIANT strides fro where he started...and he started out pretty much AS Doug. The biggest challenge with Pete is to kill off schmacty "i'll make the audience laugh" Pete. When he starts getting laughs, he starts to float away from the truth of the play in order to make the audience laugh more. Bullshit. And he's starting to realize it. Yesterday's run was the best I've seen him I think...particularly scene 8. He was the first guy I asked to do this and I'm glad he said yes, because he's really grown nicely into this roll.
Kelly IS Kayleen. Same deal as Pete being Doug. To BRAG, I cast this perfectly. Kelly is one of the hardest working actors I've seen...and also one of the hardest ON herself. It makes her strive for perfection though, which is wonderful to see as a director. She really pushed herself and has been rewarded with comments such as, "That's the best thing I've ever seen Kelly do." I like to think I was 5% of that because Kelly deserves the credit. She's great and she really helped out with the press release and everything.
Pick the right people to work with.
Doing the show at the Park Bar has been rewarding and unbelievably frustrating. The fact that we didn't have to pay for the space has been amazing. I really can't thank them enough for that. And they were great about allowing us time to rehearse in there...mostly. HOWEVER, I almost think you NEED to pay for a venue...or have total control over the space. I can't tell you how many times we've gone in there and the place is trashed and something is missing. The place isn't organized, clean or run very efficiently. Joe has been playing a bit of hard ball with me about the bar, which I INTENDED and got permission to run for our shows. I don't really know why Joe isn't letting me do that, other than that maybe he doesn't trust me...which sucks because I've been a great tenant..I've made sure of it. We haven't taken any beer (ok THREE glasses), I've tried to be good with communication and hell...we're the only ones that f-ing clean the place up! We always leave it nice and in order. I'll be glad when i don't have to deal with that space, as much as I love it. Again, you have to be careful to work with people that are as committed to the product as you are...and Park Bar just isn't:/ The great CAVEAT to all of this is though...they gave us the space for FREE. So ultimately, THANK YOU to the Park Bar:)
Press
Fuckin' Press. Jordan as a director is very satisfied with his work and thinks everything ran smoothly. Jordan as a producer is disappointed in himself for not getting the press involved and butts in the seats. I THOUGHT I did what I was supposed to do with the Press Release, but evidently not because our only review was PAID for. Still not happy with that. It's HARD to get people to come see your show. Even your friends...even the friends you COUNTED ON to come see the show. People don't want to see theatre. I know how they feel...but I also know's how if feels to pour your heart and soul into something and WANT people to come....almost NEEDING them to see it because of all the work you put in. But really it comes down to the guy on the street reading a paper or seeing a poster and wanting to come see a show. I think we were definitely hurt by the fact that I didn't want to start a theatre company...I didn't want to do this through a theatre or production company. Add to that the fact that half of us are moving to New York DIRECTLY after the show closes and NOBODY wanted to do a story on us except for Wayne State's South End. That's fine...that's fair...but it's disappointing.
So my big goal right now is to figure out what I can do in the future to get people to come see a show. And after that I wanna figure out how to get the money. Those two things are the key to success in theatre. Sadly, product is MAYBE third if it's lucky...nobody seems to care about product.
And maybe I need to explore forming a theatre company and finding a venue. But with that comes this: $. I'll have to worry about 501(c)3 paperwork, donations, funding, subscribers, building maintenance, lights, speakers, curtains...shit I just don't want to care about. I know there's grants out there that can defray or sometimes even completely cover startup costs. But that's a LOT of work for something that might not ever make it. Someday I think I want to find an old theatre space and try to fix it up...Detroit, I might come back. But I gotta get experience first. Great Lakes is a good start They've restored the Hanna and found a good business model. If I could work at the Alley Theatre or Arena Stage or OSF, then I could truly learn from an institution that is what I want to be: An artistically fulfilling and financially stable theatre.
Side note: I was watching on old SNL last night...probably from around 1978. Man it was good. Madeline Kahn was the guest host and Carly Simon was the musical guest. That shit was ALIVE! It's not a dying artifact that SNL is now. All I needed to do was listen to the audience to figure out they loved it. THIS was new. THIS was something they'd never seen on this scale before. They captured lightning in a bottle and were original. I want to find a way to get MY audiences excited like that.
But how?
In order to do this, I think you need to do 2 things: 1) Get young people excited about what you're doing. 2) Ask why can't we do that? No more saying 'no.' Brian was cautious about a lot of things in this production, which was nice because we avoided mistakes. But I think he learned that a lot of the "risks" I wanted to take were right on. And having seen our show now, I can tell you we could've gone so much further. I see that now...but it's too late. But I think I know how to get to where we got much sooner and thus leave us with more time to go further. I can't wait to direct something else...or better yet, devise my own piece.
Transitions: I learned a lot about these now having seen them so many times. I think we needed more joyous music. When we had a sad song it tended to bring things doooowwwwwnnnn. I know why the Russians always seem to use upbeat music in their shows. Life is sad enough as it is, maybe, so why make it more sad. Make it happy...make it JOYful. Uptempo stuff helps too...keeps the energy up. That's a good thing to take away from it. Any way you can ADD energy to a show is key. Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love" was a great song. Had a good beat, good tempo, but it still was sad somehow. Maybe it's in a minor key or something. But that song I think was the most "correct"...I wish I would've had the actors incorporate dance into the transitions more. Not the entire time, but almost wisping into the center and twirling while embraced and then rushing back out of it. Or incorporating dance and costume/makeup changes into it...perhaps they could've helped each other change rather than making it so individual and isolated.
I loved the use of chalk. That's the thing i'm most proud of with this show...it was my "risk" and I am so glad it's succeeded...or maybe I should just say the audience has liked it. What I love about it most is it utilizes a material that is threaded throughout the show. Like the use of sawdust in "Don Quixote" in Russia...just amazing. I've always had paint and fans in my head. I can see using dry leaves or something kind of like Mary Anderson used once. I like materials that can completely manipulate and change a space with very little effort. Chalk was great cause it added color and texture as needed. Sawdust was great because it had a distinct smell. I love that stuff...and the audiences of Gruesome love it too! Basically I'm just drained and tired of doing "the. same. old. shit." I want to bring it to Iowa and have people be blown away. Not for notoriety's sake, but so people can see something NEW and DIFFERENT! Stop doing shit in a proscenium...it's dull and played out. Or better yet, show me something in a proscenium that I'VE NEVER SEEN! Not a NEW production...but something completely DIFFERENT.
I think that's all...I'm sure there will be more random thoughts to come.
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