I had I lovely interview with Hannah from Blog Critics.
The article was posted on Monday, and I will be posting the entire interview here shortly.
For some reason the link isn't working on this computer.
Midsummer has gone well the past two night. The theatre is painted, lights have been focused, and we are ready to build the cues today.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The Misunderstanding
Well-Another show closes while the other goes into Tech
Today The Misunderstanding closed. THe show had a successful run, money wise, but there was a lot of negative energy surrounding the production. I don't say this to be mean, it is an observation. There seem to be a lot of communication issues from Day One that spread from the rehearsal room. That being said, I met some wonderful people at The Flea as well as some special collaborators.
Midsummer Tech starts tomorrow night. Rich (the General Manager of the Queens Players) will be meeting with myself and Lisa (my lighting designer) in the theater to show us how the system works. Lisa will watch the run through tonight, and join me at the theater on Tuesday to start building cues. The light plot is going to be fairly simple, but effective. Midsummer as a whole is focused on the story with everything else as the spices that make it delicious. I have confidence in Lisa's design for this show and am looking forward to showing her what we have been up too.
Also on Monday is the painting party! That theatre has to get white somehow!
Thursday our sound designer, Jill Walker, gets into town. Friday is dedicated to Jill and I working in the space while some actors help out cleaning, hanging fabric, and adjusting costumes. I cannot stress enough how wonderful working with this cast has been. They are extremely giving.
If you haven't bought your tickets yet check out www.MidsummerInWinter.Weebly.com for details on online ordering.
Today The Misunderstanding closed. THe show had a successful run, money wise, but there was a lot of negative energy surrounding the production. I don't say this to be mean, it is an observation. There seem to be a lot of communication issues from Day One that spread from the rehearsal room. That being said, I met some wonderful people at The Flea as well as some special collaborators.
Midsummer Tech starts tomorrow night. Rich (the General Manager of the Queens Players) will be meeting with myself and Lisa (my lighting designer) in the theater to show us how the system works. Lisa will watch the run through tonight, and join me at the theater on Tuesday to start building cues. The light plot is going to be fairly simple, but effective. Midsummer as a whole is focused on the story with everything else as the spices that make it delicious. I have confidence in Lisa's design for this show and am looking forward to showing her what we have been up too.
Also on Monday is the painting party! That theatre has to get white somehow!
Thursday our sound designer, Jill Walker, gets into town. Friday is dedicated to Jill and I working in the space while some actors help out cleaning, hanging fabric, and adjusting costumes. I cannot stress enough how wonderful working with this cast has been. They are extremely giving.
If you haven't bought your tickets yet check out www.MidsummerInWinter.Weebly.com for details on online ordering.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Looking Forward
Tuesday and Wednesday went by in a flash. Both rehearsals were very productive, and on Wednesday we even had cupcakes. In this photo we have Bottom encountering the fairies for the first time.
I am proud of the progress we have been making in rehearsals but there is always a concern about tech. While our tech isn't as intricate as others there are still going to be many new elements introduced into the playing environment. All of my designers have unique ideas, and I am looking forward to putting it all in the mix to see what comes out.
Monday post rehearsal we will be having a big painting party (got to make the space white somehow!). It's going to be fun to help transform the space into our world of Midsummer. I always find that casts can really come together when doing physical labor for a common goal. True story!
Also in the works is The Rose Gardener reading set at The Tank for end of January along with Production Managing DirectorFest 2009 in Mid-December.
This weekend marks the end of The Misunderstanding at The Flea. The best thing I will take away with me will be the people I have met at The Flea, great bunch. Their show The Great Recession is playing now- I suggest you go!
Finally- I am almost done with my interview with Hannah for BlogCritics. I will post it here when it goes out.
Check out the Midsummer Website designed by Tim Cox:
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
My Beautiful Cast!
My beautiful cast of Midsummer Night's Dream!
Check out the show website at: www.MidsummerinWinter.weebly.com
And more production photos at my website www.KatherineMCarter.com
First Full Cast Rehearsal
Tonight was our first time together as a cast! As the director I couldn't me more pleased to see everyone. When rehearsing Midsummer you find yourself in the room with the four main groups (The Lovers, The Clowns, The Fairies, and The Mortals) but rarely all together. It was important for everyone to see the work their cast mates had been up to these past two and a half weeks.
Starting around 8:30pm we began our work through the play, stopping and starting, relocking, tweaking, etc. We got through all of Act One and half of Act Two. Ideally this would have been a full run but I knew it wasn’t going to be that simple and prepared myself to continue the work tonight and Wednesday.
Overall I am very pleased with the work I saw last night. We have polishing to do, but we are in a good place to take the crazy that is tech week and Thanksgiving.
Tonight I am working with The Lovers and The Fairies (plus Bottom), Wednesday The Clowns. By the end of Wednesday night we should have, at least, a complete run-able show.
Thursday I will be posting rehearsal and production photos.
Starting around 8:30pm we began our work through the play, stopping and starting, relocking, tweaking, etc. We got through all of Act One and half of Act Two. Ideally this would have been a full run but I knew it wasn’t going to be that simple and prepared myself to continue the work tonight and Wednesday.
Overall I am very pleased with the work I saw last night. We have polishing to do, but we are in a good place to take the crazy that is tech week and Thanksgiving.
Tonight I am working with The Lovers and The Fairies (plus Bottom), Wednesday The Clowns. By the end of Wednesday night we should have, at least, a complete run-able show.
Thursday I will be posting rehearsal and production photos.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Our High Tech Lives
8% of Twitter Users Twitter during Theater and Live Performances
Shame on you Twitter Users During Theater!
This harkens back to a time when Twitter was just getting big and a casting director tweeted during auditions about their bad or good auditions-Bad form!
People-Tweet Before, Tweet After, Hell Tweet During Intermission-DO NOT TWEET DURING A SHOW! OR text for that matter...
Oh and turn off your cell phones.
Rant done.
Shame on you Twitter Users During Theater!
This harkens back to a time when Twitter was just getting big and a casting director tweeted during auditions about their bad or good auditions-Bad form!
People-Tweet Before, Tweet After, Hell Tweet During Intermission-DO NOT TWEET DURING A SHOW! OR text for that matter...
Oh and turn off your cell phones.
Rant done.
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Neil Simon Plays Closed Sunday November 1st
After only 25 previews and 9 performances The Neil Simon Plays closed last Sunday.
Currently playing was Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound was set to play in rep with Brighton starting in December. The two autobiopgraphical plays Neil wrote based on his life were together renamed The Neil Simon Plays. Brighton Beach got wonderful reviews from the Times and it looked like things were going well for the classic american playwright-and then it happened, a closing notice.
Why is this important? (shame on you for asking)
The premature closing of The Neil Simon Plays has two lessons to teach:
1. Marketing is everything (I will explain in a bit)
2. If Neil Simon cant sell tickets-its not a good sign for theater.
Lets start by looking at marketing. On my way to work each day I pass by the Neederlander. And each day I saw the Billboards for The Neil Simon Plays. I also work in theater and am aware that The Neil Simon Plays is indeed happening on Broadway and I just assumed people bought tickets becuase it is Neil Simon.
But what if you didnt know it was happening? I would wager that a vast majority of the american public had no idea these shows were being performed. Since I am a stickler for good marketing here are some of the things I noticed in the lack of marketing and what I would have done.
1. Renaming both shows The Neil Simon Plays-doing this created confusion for the public. I had many questions if this was a new Neil Simon play. I understand that they were trying to make an event out of the two plays but they didn't do a good enough job of making it a MUST SEE event. Rather than rename the two why not call them what they are-Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound in a rare must see event-or something like that. Make the titles prominent so that people see them and go "Oh! I remember Broadway Bound" Its nostalgic.
2. Getting the word out about the performances. I saw no adds or billboards or commercials or anything really. The only reason I knew it was happening was because I walked by the theater.
3. Broadway Bound was scheduled to open later into the run of Brighton Beach. What they should have done was opened both at the same time in Rep to promote the event of the two together.
All of that was to say that marketing is important to every show-hence why Midsummer's Marketing is so important to me. In order to get the word out we are having fundraisers, facebook events, twittering, advanced ticket sales, and a great cast telling all of their friends.
What do you think was the problem with the Neil Simon Plays?
Currently playing was Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound was set to play in rep with Brighton starting in December. The two autobiopgraphical plays Neil wrote based on his life were together renamed The Neil Simon Plays. Brighton Beach got wonderful reviews from the Times and it looked like things were going well for the classic american playwright-and then it happened, a closing notice.
Why is this important? (shame on you for asking)
The premature closing of The Neil Simon Plays has two lessons to teach:
1. Marketing is everything (I will explain in a bit)
2. If Neil Simon cant sell tickets-its not a good sign for theater.
Lets start by looking at marketing. On my way to work each day I pass by the Neederlander. And each day I saw the Billboards for The Neil Simon Plays. I also work in theater and am aware that The Neil Simon Plays is indeed happening on Broadway and I just assumed people bought tickets becuase it is Neil Simon.
But what if you didnt know it was happening? I would wager that a vast majority of the american public had no idea these shows were being performed. Since I am a stickler for good marketing here are some of the things I noticed in the lack of marketing and what I would have done.
1. Renaming both shows The Neil Simon Plays-doing this created confusion for the public. I had many questions if this was a new Neil Simon play. I understand that they were trying to make an event out of the two plays but they didn't do a good enough job of making it a MUST SEE event. Rather than rename the two why not call them what they are-Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound in a rare must see event-or something like that. Make the titles prominent so that people see them and go "Oh! I remember Broadway Bound" Its nostalgic.
2. Getting the word out about the performances. I saw no adds or billboards or commercials or anything really. The only reason I knew it was happening was because I walked by the theater.
3. Broadway Bound was scheduled to open later into the run of Brighton Beach. What they should have done was opened both at the same time in Rep to promote the event of the two together.
All of that was to say that marketing is important to every show-hence why Midsummer's Marketing is so important to me. In order to get the word out we are having fundraisers, facebook events, twittering, advanced ticket sales, and a great cast telling all of their friends.
What do you think was the problem with the Neil Simon Plays?
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