Free Wine and All You Can Eat Pizza

Howdy [bostossers] -

Christine here, the Marketing Associate for SpeakEasy. Just wanted to let you all know about a sweet deal we're offering with BRIX Wine Shop. If you still haven't seen [title of show], (or if you need to see it again), get your tickets for Tuesday, Feb 9th because... (drumroll...) We're having a FREE wine tasting beforehand at BRIX Wine Shop!

Stop by BRIX at 6PM before the show for a free sampling of port and dessert wines. The shop is at 1284 Washington Street in the South End, barely a 7 minute walk from the theater. PLUS, South End Buttery is providing free cupcakes at the tasting! That's right! Red Velvet cupcakes! Yummy and perfect for Valentine's Day. (Not sure if they're going to have Rice Krispy Treats, though...)

Also, if you like pizza, check out Picco Restaurant on Wednesday, February 10th for all you can eat pizza, salad, and ice cream for only $25! Seatings are every half hour from 5:30 – 9:30pm and a portion of the proceeds are donated to SpeakEasy Stage.

E-mail piccoboston@gmail.com or call 617.927.0066 to RSVP. Reservations are first come, first served and seating is limited.

That's all from me for now, so enjoy, friends.

[load in]

Wassup [bostossers]-

Load-in is a period of a few days were the crew sets up the theatre to look like the designers evisioned. The set gets brought in and assembled. The lights get hung. Sound and video equipment set up. Through the state of the art camera phone technology, I documented tech day-by-day.

[tech]

Aloha [bostossers]-

I am in the middle of the second of two "ten out of twelves". That means we have a tech rehearsal for 10 out of the 12 hours everyone is called for. The cast was called at 11am, had a dinner break from 4-6, and we finish at 11pm. Throughout the tech process, we incorporate all of the technical aspects into the show. That means sets, costumes, lighting, and in the case of this production, projections.

Tech rehearsals are infamous for being slow paced and boring because it takes a lot of time to build cues and work out transitions between each part of the show. Because [title of show] only has one set, and no costume changes, this tech process has been one of the smoothest I have ever experienced.

There are a lot of light cues in the show that Jeff Adelberg has been programming at lightning pace. Our costume designer Chip Schoonmaker has been changing the cast into different outfits to get it just right. Prop master Natalie Kearns is making adjustments to the props (a few chairs have had to get repairs). Set designer Eric Levenson is taking notes on what needs to be adjusted in the set. And video designer Seaghan McKay is adding some great touches into his fabulous projections.

The long process also allows Paul Daigneaul to tweek blocking and parts of the show that isn't working. Our fabulous cast has a lot of time to work difficult parts of the show and settle into their own characters.

Because there is a lot of down time during tech, the actors came up with a brilliant way to keep themselves occupied...shadow puppets.

[radio]

This morning members of the cast of [title of show] woke up early and performed live on the radio on WERS's Standing Room Only. After a brief rehearsal in the studio, they went on air at 11am. Jordan Ahnquist (Jeff) and Joe Lanza (Hunter) sang "Two Nobody's in New York" and "Part of It All" while Amy Barker (Heidi) sang "Way Back to Then".

I hope some of you got to listen to this fabulous cast performing, because they all sounded so great. With less than a week left before we open, the show is really coming together. Make sure to buy your tickets today!

The [bostos] team in the WERS Studio
(l-r) Paul Daigneault (Director), Will McGarrahan (Musical Director/Larry), Amy Barker (Heidi), Joe Lanza (Hunter), Jordan Ahnquist (Jeff), and Adam Nickerson (SRO Host).

[production meeting]

Helló [bostossers]-

Yesterday afternoon we had another production meeting for [title of show]. These meetings are a way for all the designers to get together with the director to talk about their designs and work through problems they are having.

So much of theatrical design relies on the other design in the show. All the elements of design (sets, lights, costumes, props, projections, sound, etc) are so closely related that the lines become blurred sometimes. For example, the set of [tos] has lighting booms (freestanding poles with lights hanging up them) incorporated into the set design and also includes spaces for images to be projected onto it. These meetings let everyone become involved in the collaborative process and bounce ideas off of each other.

The biggest topic of discussion was led by Natalie Kearns who is our Props supervisor. The show's production values are described as having "four chairs and keyboard". Each character has their own chair that shows a little bit of their character. She has done a great job at finding four really lovely chairs and we were talking about minor changes to be made to make them fit more. She is changing the cover on one to change the color. Painting another. Cutting the legs of another to make it a little shorter.

Here are some pictures of possible chairs Natalie came up with a few weeks ago. Which ones will make the final cut? You will have to come see the show to find out.

[amy]

Hallo [bostossers]-

Mark your calendars (or just click and let us do all the work for you). The cast of [title of show] will performing a few songs this Saturday (Jan 9) live on the radio at 11am. For those of you in Boston (or the surrounding area) tune into WERS 88.9 FM, or WERS.org for those out of town. It will be a great way to hear this [tos]ome cast!

Amy Barker - Heidi


Have you ever been in a SpeakEasy show before?
Sorry, Wrong Number 2008 and 2009!

Where did you grow up?
Austin, TX

Zodiac sign?
Aries

What is the worst job you have ever had?
Temping for a partner at a big NYC law firm (I had to make tea and serve it on a silver platter.) I think I was only there for 2 days.

What is your first memory of theatre?
I was in some shows when I was little. My mom was a dancer and choreographer so my sister and I ended up in the chorus of things. I saw City of Angels on Broadway in 1990 (I think.) That experience inspired me to try acting professionally.

Do you have any funny/embarrassing on stage mishaps?
Too many to count! Most recently, I cut my finger during the opening scene of Sisters of Swing at Foothills Theatre. Since we weren't supposed to leave the stage for the first 30 min of the show, I bled all over place. It was really gross.

Who are your favorite heroes of theatre?
Wow, hard question. There are so many! Agnes De Mille, Cherry Jones, Audra McDonald and Stephen Sondheim to name a few.

Who are your favorite heroes of real life?
Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, my parents and my mother-in-law. Also Mary-Mitchell Campbell, a NYC based musical director who founded the charity ASTEP (Actors Striving to End Poverty.)

What vampires do you face your own life?
The "you're a big toothed, too-tall, talentless wonder" vampire is a frequent visitor.

Rock, paper or scissors?
ROCK.

Milk, dark, or white chocolate?
Dark.

Boxers or briefs?
boxer briefs

Favorite drag queen name?
Tequila Mockingbird

Guilty pleasure?
So You Think You Can Dance. I LOVE it.

Who would play you in the movie of your life? (Lifetime Original or Cinematic release, you choose)
Hmm, I will let someone else cast this.
(Jim Torres, SpeakEasy's Marketing Director, thinks a younger Cherry Jones would make a great Amy Barker)

If heaven exists, what would you like God to say as you arrive at the pearly gates?
Good job, kid. Then I would like him/her to lead a choir of angels in a big gospel number complete with tambourines.

[victoria & scott]

Guten Tag [bostossers]-

Over the next few entries I am going to introduce everyone to the cast through a questionnaire I made up (and lovingly "borrowed" from Proust and James Lipton). They are all in the process of answering it, but our Production Stage Manager Victoria Coady decided she wanted to play as well and sent me her answers. She convinced me to answer it as well, so I am combining both our answers into this one blog post. Feel free to respond in the comment section with your own answers!

Victoria Coady - Production Stage Manager (aka PSM)

Have you ever been in a SpeakEasy show before?
I stage managed "The Wrestling Patient", the co-production between SpeakEasy, Boston Playwrights and FortyMagnolias last year.

Where did you grow up?
Here, in Boston! It's funny that I'm working in this town now- when I was growing up, there weren't a great deal of professional companies in Boston, so I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to be a professional theater artist in this town. It's pretty awesome, kind of a dream come true.

Zodiac sign?
A Leo. *Totally* a Leo.

What is the worst job you have ever had?
Actually, it's related to one of our props in [title of show]! In high school, I worked for a restaurant called Johnny's Luncheonette in between Harvard and Central Squares, and my first position there before I became a waitress was to walk around Harvard Square in the brutal heat of summer wearing a sandwich board and handing out takeout menus. It was such an absurd gig- I became friends with all of the street people of the Square.

What is your first memory of theatre? First show, first class you took, first movie you watched that sparked your interest?
My first memory is of "Queen Zixi of Ix", a play I did when I was maybe 6 or 7. I played a fairy, and my blocking for the first scene was to blow bubbles and do fairy things in the background. I only had one line: "But shouldn't there be a limit to the number of wishes?" I completely dropped my one and only line, because I was too busy blowing bubbles. Thank god we had a great stage manager to feed me my line, right?

Do you have any funny/embarrassing on stage mishaps?
Too many to count. TOO MANY. Curtains getting stuck as the play was supposed to start, an actor that didn't show up for a performance and I had to read his lines from the booth, gunshots that didn't go off onstage... the stories, man. The stories.

Who are your favorite heroes of theatre?
I'm a huge Shakespeare buff, so a lot of my heroes are in that field of theater- Mark Rylance, for what he's done with the Globe Theater, Cicely Berry, Darko Tresnjak, Sir Peter Hall. I am also a big fan of the work of some more modern playwrights, and friends of mine: John Kolvenbach, Deborah Asiimwe, Sigrid Gilmer.

Who are your favorite heroes of real life?
Those are my heroes! They're real!

What vampires do you face your own life?
Well, I've only been working professionally for about three years now, and so the decision to pursue a career in the arts is one that I sometimes question in this economy. It's not easy to make a living doing this job, but I remind myself that many people aren't lucky enough to find what they love to do at a young age, and I honestly, truly can't imagine myself doing anything else with my life. So, I stick with it!

Rock, paper or scissors?
Scissors- I'm a stage manager, I like office supplies.

Milk, dark, or white chocolate?
White chocolate, all the way. Those Lindt truffles are heavenly (cast, you know what to get me on opening night!)

Boxers or briefs?
Uhm... Gap undies?

Favorite drag queen name?
I'm actually going to steal from the show, because it's too perfect: Tulita Pepsi!

Guilty pleasure?
TV. And popcorn.

Who would play you in the movie of your life? (Lifetime Original or Cinematic release, you choose)
Well, I've been told I look a little bit like Zooey Deschanel, and she's got a really pretty voice...

If heaven exists, what would you like God to say as you arrive at the pearly gates?
Places for Act 2, please... haha.

Victoria and I enjoying ourselves on a break from rehearsal

Scott Sinclair - Assistant to the Director

Have you ever been in a SpeakEasy show before? If so, what?
I had a cameo in Jerry Springer – The Opera as “Guy at water fountain” in the video of Jerry entering. Don’t worry, I will make sure to sign autographs for you all.

Where did you grow up?
Suburbs of NYC in a town called Suffern, NY, which was made famous by an episode of Sex and the City.

Zodiac sign?
Pieces.

What is the worst job you have ever had?
I spent a summer collecting census and traffic flow information. That included walking around different neighborhoods in the blazing heat looking at houses and trying to determine how many people lived there by counting doorbells and mailboxes. We also would sit at railroad crossings in our cars and literally count how many cars crossed the tracks over the span of 5 hours. Sometimes we were on back roads where there would only be 4 cars the entire day we were there.

What is your first memory of theatre?
I saw Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan on Broadway when I was 4 years old, and the only thing I really remember is watching the show with binoculars and telling my mom, “They’re not really flying!” The next show I saw, which I really remember is Beauty and the Beast. I was transfixed by the costumes and the fireworks on stage (this was before it moved to the Lunt-Fontainne and was downsized).

Do you have any funny/embarrassing on stage mishaps?
This one time, I was playing Wendy in Peter Pan, and they accidentally pulled the cable for me to fly instead of Peter and I was yanked out of bed…oh wait…that wasn’t me, but luckily it was preserved and is on Youtube for everyone to enjoy!

For real, a funny mishap was when I was in West Side Story back in high school. I was Action and in the prologue, Riff was supposed to hold one of the sharks while I punched him in the face. I went to “punch” the Shark, and accidentally punched Riff in the face for real. Lieutenant Shrank then comes in and breaks it up. While she (of course it was played by a girl because there we didn’t even have enough boys to play all the Jets and Sharks) was talking, I looked down at my hand and saw blood on it and started to freak out. I thought I broke his nose or something. However I noticed the "blood" had a raspberry scent and realized it was the fake blood used in the same scene...

Who are your favorite heroes of theatre?
Tony Kushner. Every word that man writes is gold. Jerome Robbins for brilliantly connecting dance to the plot and adding so much emotional weight to the shows he worked on. Joe Papp for having such a vision that is still being executed to this day.

Who are your favorite heroes of real life?
Ellen Degeneres. I honestly think she is the great equalizer. Who doesn’t enjoy Ellen?

What vampires do you face your own life?
With college graduation coming in May, beginning the job search process is a huge vampire. I am constantly thinking to myself “You aren’t smart enough. You don’t know enough. You don’t have enough experience. You’ll never get a job.” Die vampire die is becoming my new motto.

Rock, paper or scissors?
Paper. I feel you can do more with it.

Milk, dark, or white chocolate?
Dark. If you haven't had dark chocolate Reeces, I highly suggest going to the store and buying a bag. It will change your life.

Boxers or briefs?
The hybrid.

Favorite drag queen name?
Cybil Rights or Robyn Banks

Guilty pleasure?
Jersey Shore.

Who would play you in the movie of your life? (Lifetime Original or Cinematic release, you choose)
The only thing I have ever gotten was Haley Joel Osmont circa the Sixth Sense. I don’t think there is any resemblance anymore.

If heaven exists, what would you like God to say as you arrive at the pearly gates?
“That’s what she said.” I know it makes no sense, but I would hope he has a sense of humor…

[bostossers]

Bonjour my [bostossers]!

Thanks to the beauty of the internet, I have gotten in touch with the mexcellent creators/original cast of [title of show]. They are all incredibly sweet and are really excited about our production (as well as the other four productions going on around the country). We have been listed on the [title of show] homepage and Hunter has just written a beautiful blog entry about my [title of blog]. How ouroboros is this?! Hunter has coined a term that I am now stealing.

As you know [tossers] are chat room slang for [title of show] fans, so fans of the Boston [tos] are now [bostossers]. Tell your friends. Use it in a sentence. Use it in your belated Christmas cards. Let's brand this!

As for the actual show, we are ahead of schedule (for now at least...that will probably change at some point). We finished blocking the show this afternoon. That means all the actors have a vague idea of what they are physically doing on stage for the entire show. Now we are going through slowly with a fine toothed comb and fixing problems, tightening up sections, making sure everyone is on the same page, etc. This is where a lot of the intricate details of characters start to become discovered and incorporated into the show. Over the course of the next week is when the show really starts to come together and is exciting to watch. Don't worry, I will try my best to keep you all updated!

So long farewell for now [bostossers]!

[vampires]

Hola tossers-

We have returned from our Christmas hiatus and back to blocking the show.We are only a few scenes away from having the entire show blocked and choreographed (Of course half of that will probably be changed between now and opening night, but it is there!). It has been a blast watching these actors find the essence of their characters that already exist, while imposing so much of their own personalities into them.

Last night we blocked the song "Die Vampire Die." In it Susan tries to comfort Jeff and Hunter and get them past the "vampires" in their head getting in the way of their artistic vision. Director Paul Daigneault shared his own personal "vampire".

Paul started SpeakEasy Stage in 1992 and has directed countless shows for the company since then. He said that his vampire involves people's reactions to his shows. No matter how many people might love a show, all it takes is one negative comment to get in his head. Every single reviewer might say "Run now to see this show! Must see! Best show I've ever seen!" but have one minor criticism at the end that is so insignificant compared to the rest of the glowing review. Or he might get 200 emails from people saying how much they loved it, but have one email with something nitpicky in it. Those insignificant minor criticisms morph into a vampire in Paul's head and haunt him night and day. Susan's reaction to this problem? "Die vampire die!"

What are some of your own personal "vampires" that get in the way or your life?

[hiatus]

Greetings [tos]sers-

We have completed one full week of rehearsals and are now on a week long hiatus for Christmas. Rehearsals start up again on Monday, but this break is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to let things settle in and really start thinking about the show. The actors now have a week to sit down and start memorizing their music and lines which is something that rarely happens in a production. Usually the actors are expected to come to rehearsal all day, then spend more time at home learning everything, just to come back the next day and do it all over again. This will make everything less stressful and easy (hopefully).

As of right now, we have blocked a good chunk of the beginning of the show. It is really fun to see this show start to come together. I keep hearing people saying that [title of show] should not be done without Hunter, Jeff, et al, playing themselves as they did in NY. However I do not agree with that at all. The show, while about them, does not require them to play themselves. It is a concrete book musical, where as long as the actors are talented (and trust me, these 4 are not going to let anyone down), it doesn't matter who originally played the part.

I like to equate it to A Chorus Line. The characters, dialogue, and song lyrics in A Chorus Line were taken almost verbatim from the dancers who participated in that initial workshop organized by Michael Bennett. Even though the role of Cassie, for example, was a combination of a few different dancers/actors in the workshop, a good chunk of her story was from Donna McKechnie (who originated the role). The words of Cassie, were the words of Donna. I don't think anyone can argue with the success of A Chorus Line (It became the longest running show on Broadway for an number of years) and during the 6137 performances over 15 years, a number of women played Cassie besides Donna McKechnie to great success.

[photo shoot]

Hello again Boston [tossers]-

The other night the cast of [title of show] took a break out of their music rehearsal to pose for publicity photos. Also known as pre-production (or pre-pro) shots, these photos are used for any publicity purposes before the show opens and we have real production photos. While these photos are not shot on the actual set of the show, or use costumes that probably will not be worn in the real show, these are the first images of the cast together in character. I hope you enjoy the following photos shot by Mark L. Saperstein...

Jordan Ahnquist and Joe Lanza star as
"Two Nobodies in New York"



Susan (Val Sullivan), Hunter (Joe Lanza),
Jeff (Jordan Ahnquist), and Heidi (Amy Barker)
"Filling Out the Form" to enter the festival



Heidi (Amy Barker) tries to find
"A Way Back to Then"



Jeff (Jordan Ahnquist) and Hunter (Joe Lanza)
hope to become "Part of It All"



Susan (Val Sullivan) and Heidi (Amy Barker) wonder
"What Kind of Girl is She?"



Jeff (Jordan Ahnquist) and Hunter (Joe Lanza)
write "An Original Musical"

[first rehearsal]

1 rehearsal down, many more to go. Like I said earlier today in my post, tonight was the first rehearsal/Meet & Greet. Following an Actors Equity meeting at 6 (Before every show starts rehearsals, all of the union actors/stage managers have a meeting with only themselves to go over some business activities, pick a deputy, etc), we all gathered together at 6:30. Our director (SpeakEasy's own Artistic Director, Paul Daigneault), gave a passionate speech about the reasons he wanted to do the show and his ideas about how to play characters based on the actors who originated the roles. Our designers then got up and spoke about their ideas and we all got to look at a model of the set. Like everything in this show, simplicity goes a long way, but it is going to look great.

Following the Meet & Greet, the cast started learning music with musical director Will McGarrahan (also in the show as Larry, the musical director). The cast will learn all the music over the next couple of days and put it all together for a first read through on Friday evening. There is nothing more exciting, in my opinion, than the start of rehearsals.

Now presenting the cast of the Boston Premiere of [title of show]...
(From left to right) Joe Lanza (Hunter), Amy Barker (Heidi), Jordan Ahnquist (Jeff), and Val Sullivan (Susan).

[meet&greet] slash [history]

Hi y'all!

Today is the day! Day 1 of rehearsals. Tonight is our "meet & greet" where everyone in the cast and production team gets together to meet each other. The Meet & Greet usually also includes a talk by the director (Paul Daigneault) about his ideas for the show and plans he has, as well as design presentations by all the designers. I personally am most excited to see what our fabulous team of designers (Costumes by Chip Schoonmaker, sets by Eric Levenson, lights by Jeff Adelberg, sound by Aaron Mack and video by Seaghan McKay) comes up with! I will report back to everyone later with more details of how everything went.

Today I would like to give you all a little backstory on the NYMF Festival where [title of show] premiered.

The show (as well as the show within the show, as well as the show within that show, as well as...oh this could go on for a while...) was written for the New York Musical Theatre Festival aka NYMF. According to the NYMF website, the purpose of the festival is "to revitalize one of America’s greatest art forms by introducing a diverse audience to the vibrancy of contemporary musical theater, and by discovering, supporting and promoting new musical theater artists, producers, and projects." NYMF is a fringe like festival that runs for about 4 weeks in September/October each year with about 25 new musicals running. The festival started in 2004 and featured [title of show] in its premiere season. [title of show] is the first of two SpeakEasy shows this season to come out of NYMF's inagural season. The second is The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Running April 20-May 29). Other famous alumni of the festival include Altar Boyz (also in 2004) and Next to Normal (then called Feeling Electric in 2005).

The festival was the catalyst for the entire show. The original plot revolves around Hunter and Jeff trying to write the show in 2 weeks to make the deadline for submission. Since 2004, the show has changed to include every step along the way past NYMF, however it is still featured prominently in the final version of the show.

*********************

32 days until opening night!

"What is [title of show]

While searching youtube tonight, I found a few videos that might answer your question, "What Is [title of show]?"

The first is a video made by the creators/original cast entitled, you guessed it, "What is Title of Show?" I will leave it at that and let the video speak for itself...


Next I wanted to give you a little taste of the music in the show. This is a clip of Heidi Blickenstaff singing "A Way Back to Then".


If you want to hear more of the music, you can listen to previews of all the songs on amazon.com by clicking here. (If you really like the music, you can also buy individual songs, or the whole album there as well).

Lastly, I would love to hear comments from everyone reading this! Tell me what you like, what you don't like. If you have anything you are curious about pertaining to either [title of show] itself, the rehearsal/production process, SpeakEasy Stage in general, I am glad to answer any questions you may have.

[title of blog]

Hello everybody and welcome to what I am calling [title of blog]. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Scott Sinclair and I will be the Assistant Director on [title of show] at SpeakEasy Stage. I will be blogging throughout the rehearsal process to give readers an inside look at what goes into a production.

Rehearsals start in less than a week and everyone cannot wait to start this truly original musical. If you are unfamiliar with the show, please visit the [title of show] page on SpeakEasy's website by clicking here or visit the official website of [title of show] here. To give a brief summary, [title of show] is a musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical.

Are you confused yet?

Don't worry. [title of show] is an autobiographical musical written by Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen (Who also starred in the NY productions) that follows their process in writing the show which you are watching on stage. Described accurately by original cast member Susan Blackwell as an ouroboros (a snake eating it's own tail, pictured to the right), [tos] is filled with self references blurring the line between real life and the show being performed on stage.

Over the next month (maybe even longer if you are lucky), I will be reporting back here to give everyone updates on the rehearsal process, share fun stories, provide interviews with the cast and crew, and hopefully give you a backstage glance at the first of three musicals in the second half of SpeakEasy's 19th Season!