Live Blog: Tech Week

Mon 9:28 AM: We are officially loading in. Jenny and I bought groceries for the week, packed our day bags and moved into the theater last night after rehearsal. We slept on the futon in the space, and will probably do that a] couple times throughout the week, to save time we would otherwise spend sleeping soundly and washing ourselves. Vive la teatre!


Mon 10:21 AM: It was raining, and now it's not. We are ready for the real storm to hit.



Tues 9:06 PM: I don't know why I ever thought I'd have time to blog during tech week. We've been working furiously for 48 hrs and we have miles left to go. Our floor is done, the screens are hung, we're in the middle of our light hang and trying to sort out the hundreds of media files that go into this show and it is slow going. I am extremely confident that when this show is ready it will be an amazing sight to behold. The question is whether we can solve all these challenges in time to open!




Thu 11:10 AM: I didn't have a chance to blog anything yesterday. We all worked until extremely late trying to hang and focus projectors (our show started with seven, we've managed to cut it down to five) and to let the actors have a little time on set to get used to all the new things they're doing. Two straight 20 hour days in a row, and we've got two more to go! I won't say it'll take a miracle, because I don't believe in miracles.

Fri 10:36 AM: We ran the show last night and it wasn't a complete trainwreck! The end is certainly in sight. We have a preview tonight, which will be our first real run of the show with the whole cast. I am going to work to finish up the last few items - adding light cues, finalizing some video sequences, and moving everything upstairs so an audience an come and actually watch this thing. We are nearly done the hardest part, and suddenly it all seems worth it.

Sat 5:05 AM: The sun is rising in Los Angeles and I'm wondering why I put myself and everyone I love through ordeals like this one. For me, it feels like a compulsion, an escape, but it isn't always healthy. The effort and self-sacrifice to create on this scale, from scratch and with limited resources, is immense, all for a mere 16 show run in a 30 seat theatre. But now that the end is in sight, now that we have ironed out the biggest wrinkles on our canvas and filled it with brilliant color and meaning, its obvious to me why we set out each year to make a play like this one, Its because art is an act of love, love for oneself, for beauty, and for the world. I think that loving makes a difference, and that we filled this play so full of it that anyone who gives us their trust and two hours time will leave feeling good and loving <3.

Now I'm going to sleep.

T minus ZERO!

Well this is it! A mere 12 hours before we load-in to the theatre, and the anticipation is palpable!

Right now, we're in the basement of a tiny theatre in Hollywood, getting in one last music and choreography rehearsal before we move in. It feels like we've gone so far, but come tomorrow morning, it will be clear that our greatest hurdle has yet to be reached.

Wish us luck during tech week! More updates to come as we near OPENING NIGHT this Saturday......((gulp)).

<3 Michael.

Our Tour of Mexican Restaurants PART 2!

This project has taught me a lot of things...including the names of every taco stand east of Vermont.  You may recall we decided early on to have each production meeting in a different Mexican restaurant in Silverlake - a task that turned out to be relatively easy.

Sadly, last night was our last stop...but what a treat it's been.  We could certainly keep going as we barely scratched the surface of what Silverlake has to offer...but we'll leave that for our next production!

 
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Week #6:  MALO

This place was fan-CY!  Perhaps a little too fancy for me.  I had a delicious quesadilla though.  And about 20 pounds of chips.

Week #7: Barragan's

I never understood why this Mexican place has the name of an Irish place.  Regardless, we had a great time at Barragan's.  The waitress was so friendly to us, even though we can be sort of a demanding group.  And if I remember correctly, the burritos came with eggs on top!  Crazy! 

Week #8: El Chavo

I think this ranks as one of my favorites - though Joseph had to go to bat with the manager to get them to split our check for us!  Again, we're a demanding group.

Week #9: The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada

I eat here all the time, so this was like coming home for me.  I can't say enough good things about TBFTiE.  It was the perfect place for our last meeting...quiet, informal, it was more like tacos with friends than a production meeting.  

And that's it!  Our tour of Silverlake Mexican restaurants has come to a close...Unless we decide to order in during tech week....do they have Mexican places in Koreatown???  Anyway: we hope you've enjoyed following along as much as we've enjoyed actually doing it!

DANCE BREAK!

A dear friend once told me "why do a play when you can do a musical?!" ... and I totally agree!  Music can convey human emotion far better than words alone.  What might be a breif moment in a scene can be elaborated into an entire two minute dance break.  And hell, musical numbers are fun!

If you've watched our video trailer then you're probably familiar with the incredibly addictive tunes of Freddy & Francine ... BST's new favorite band (IMHO).  (If you haven't watched our video trailer then go watch it already!!  http://www.restartyourheart.com) 

Well, we're honored to have had Freddy & Francine themselves come into a rehearsal to teach everyone their  song "HOLD ME" which will make an appearance in <3.>

xoxoMichael. 

multimedia-tasking

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I must say, even as an outside observer, the scene we worked last night was awfully difficult.  The organization of thought required to perform that scene would be really daunting to me.  

That is why I like pushing play on the sound cues.

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Drew on Set

Drew in the film shoot at studio/stage.

This is really worth checking out...

ROBOTS!

I want to get married!

These are words I have never uttered!  But now it’s all I can think about.  I do!  I want it!  I don’t care if it’s an out of date institution built around blah blah blah—I don’t care! 

I remember myself a year ago saying that what needed to happen to the institution of marriage was a total overhaul.  I preached that marriage as a whole needed to be unrecognized by the federal government.  Everything would be reduced to a domestic partnership, and if you wanted to get married in a church then fine, but that would hold nothing when it came to government recognition. 

Pfbt!

The development of this show, combined with the whole prop8 debacle, paired with my meeting someone who I think I could actually stand being with for the rest of my life has really done a number on me. 

I’m not sure what to do about it.    

Maybe I’ll just get drunk and propose….

<3