KCACTF: Region One

Last week, the Saint Michael's Drama Club sent 16 people to the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival at Fitchburg, MA, a convention featuring workshops, acting competitions, design and stage management competitions, the best shows from our region performing, devised theater and short play activities, and more.

We sent 3 Irene Ryan competitors (the acting competition award is known as the Irene Ryan) that were chosen by ACTF reviewers who came to see and evaluate our largest shows; their acting partners; Heather Lessard to compete for stage management after she was nominated for Romeo & Juliet which performed last spring; and the rest of us mainly to attend workshops and support our fellow students. Marla Caram tried out for and participated in one of the short plays, and Heather also stage managed for the director/choreographer competition. I went as a tech intern, which was an amazing experience.

As a tech intern, I was assigned to Jim Dougherty's crew at the Dukakis theater, around a 1100 seat house at a local high school with a fairly new weight loft/catwalk and grid system, though not without some challenges. Wednesday-Friday I went there each morning to assist with the load-in of whatever show was coming in each night. Then I went to workshops or other shows for the afternoon, before returning to see the performance and strike it. Each school that was chosen to come perform at the festival brought set and some lights and a crew (or actors who could help), all set up, tech'ed, performed, and struck within 16 hours or so.

Sweeney Todd load-in

On Wednesday, we worked with Western Connecticut State University on Sweeney Todd, which was fun. That afternoon I went to a stage photography workshop given by William Kenyon, which was awesome. I hope the notes I took will help me practice taking better pictures of my work-- stage lights change the exposure and so we looked at settings for that. I also saw Spelling Bee by Emmanuel College that afternoon, which is always a fun experience. I returned to see Sweeney that evening, and for a college production it was pretty good! The music and singing was amazing, lots of talent there. We got to help a lot more at the strike than we did during the load-in; as the house crew, we didn't know their set as well as they did and were really on hand to answer questions. Loading out is easier than loading in, however, and after a big performance and long day they could really use the extra hands!

William Kenyon at the Stage Photography Workshop

Thursday dawned bright and early with a 6:45am call to help LeMoyne College load in Rhinoceros, an absurdist social commentary piece. I knew a few people from LeMoyne already, so it was kind of nice to be able to say hi. Because they had a smaller crew, the interns were able to help out a little bit more, especially with lighting and rigging stuff. They had a pretty cool set of metal scaffolding covered by paper walls, with windows and flower-boxes all drawn on, which during the show the actors ripped right through when they needed to look out the window or come through a door. That was fun! That afternoon I went to a Vectorworks drafting workshop, which all agreed needed to be tackled differently next year because of various levels of advancement with the program. The performance of Rhinoceros was a lot different than I expected, but I really enjoyed it-- the beginning was funny, and the second half and ending were thought-provoking. I think I worked on rigging and weight loading for most of the strike, which I am really coming to enjoy.

St. Mike's represent!!

Thursday also featured a show from Boston University, who always has shows worth seeing, called Our Lady. This was a one-man written and acted by James Fluhr show about his experiences growing up homosexual and the effect the recent suicides had on his life-- including the suicide of his boyfriend. It was incredibly moving, and had its light points and dark points, and culminated with a transformation and growth of the boy overcoming his fears and accepting himself in the world. Given the past year's events at Saint Michael's, the piece touched many people. Absolutely unforgettable.

Our Lady pre-show

On Friday we came in for the load-in of The Icarus Project, an original devised piece from Suffolk County Community College about the legend of Daedalus and Icarus. I also already had a friend among this crew, a carpenter from Gateway last summer. The crew was huge, and despite the large amount of lights, truss, equipment, and a few scenery pieces they brought in, we weren't really needed. I could tell a few things could have been done differently to be safer, like some of the weight loading and flying things for the round truss that hung over the stage, but they managed it in the end. The lighting crew was nice enough to tolerate me observing some of what they did-- with an ion board and moving lights, this community college was way beyond the level of technology St. Mike's has to offer.

Stargate in the sky? It could work

 I was thinking about staying for the tech rehearsal because they had such interesting stuff, but Jim and my friend Paige encouraged me to go to a workshop, and I'm glad I did. Friday afternoon I attended Rafael Jaen's Digital Design/Tech Portfolios workshop. Rafael is the head of the design/tech/management program at ACTF and works at Emerson College in Boston as costume designer. He had some great advice and ideas for young (or any!) professionals hoping to get their name noticed and trying to keep up with modern marketing. His book Showcase has a similar theme. Because of this workshop, I've been working this week on reformatting my resume, creating a website for myself, and pushing to connect this blog and my other online resources. He covered paper portfolios and basic interview tips, as well. It was a really great workshop to go to!

That evening was Icarus performance...which absolutely blew me away! The costumes and lighting reminded me of Avatar. There was little speaking, but lots of movement and physical telling of the story. The children were played by puppets, which their students had the opportunity to use and learn how to control. Daedalus had a light-up jacket and helmet (the helmet, of course, representing knowledge). The lighting was as if for dance, with sidelight and saturated colors; the props and set were rustic and provided contrast. The king and queen were huge puppets, and the bull and minotaur were awesome. There were some breathtaking moments for sure. It was hard to believe a college was producing this, though some moments (from each day of the trip!) reminded me that we're all still learning, always. The strike went all right; I was put on the task of inventory for the ALPS rental stuff the house had from the beginning of the week, which presented some wracking moments between the Icarus crew and myself. They made it out just fine though, and I worked with the rest of the interns to load our own truck with the rental equipment. That was it for the Dukakis center!

the bull head

Saturday was a more relaxed day. I saw my friends among the interns often, between tech olympics, the job/college fair, and the dance that evening (during which the electricity went out and we were called on to help keep things calm). Sunday's drive home was exhausting, but our mammoth SMC vans made it just fine.

I had a great week! It was a good blend of workshops, learning, and working, which I love. I'd rather be busy in the theater. The people I met were incredible-- my supervisor, Jim, who works at Middlebury College was fantastic and I'm hoping to see some of their shows this semester; my friend Paige who lives in NYC and works primarily with props, we have a lot of things in common; friends from Johnson Stage College among the tech interns and stage managers; Fitchburg State students who were interns as well; people on the crew from each of the schools who came in.... Thanks to all for making it a great week! Keep in touch!

Stairs to the weight loft/catwalks/grid in Dukakis...talk about saving space!

A cute video by UniqueNYProductions: Beer Garden Polka! I worked at Saint Michael's Playhouse and again at the Gateway Playhouse with Brian Golub, the second man to appear :)

Mamet on Actors

     "Acting is not a genteel profession. Actors used to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through the heart. Those people's performances so troubled the onlookers that they feared their ghosts. An awesome compliment.
    "Those players moved the audience not such that they were admitted to a graduate school, or received a complimentary review, but that the audience feared for their soul. Now that seems to me something to aim for."

"It is not childish to live with uncertainty, to devote oneself to a craft rather than a career, to an idea rather than an institution. It's courageous and requires a courage of the order that the institutionally co-opted are ill equipped to perceive."
                                                        --David Mamet, True and False

Union Call

Yesterday, I worked a call at the Flynn theater as an electrics overhire with the local 919, the stagehands' union for the Burlington-Dartmouth area. The National Tour of Mamma Mia! was in town for two performances, and I worked the load-in early in the morning and load-out late last night. It was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed working with the tour people and the locals, despite the frigid temperatures. I also met a lot of students from UVM and Castleton, which was cool. 

The tour arrived with several tractor trailer trucks of equipment and scenery. We unloaded cases of lighting and sound cables, computers and control boards, work boxes, hanging motors with chains, and most memorable, truss towers and full electrics, already hung with white moving lights that blended in with the white truss and blue-and-white drapes, scenery, and floor. Although I didn't get to see the show, it was amazing to see the quick transformation of a blank, black stage into the dreamy world of Mamma Mia. There were probably 30 local IATSE members/overhires there, and at least 20 more people with the tour-- the stage was crawling with people from start to finish! It was a shock at the end of the night when everything was loaded out, how the stage was the same old familiar place. I wish I took some pictures of the process!

I find it pretty funny, but not surprising, that I didn't touch a lighting instrument all day! I worked on unloading and loading the trucks, unfolding and setting up the electrics trusses, filling foggers and moving ladders and coiling massive cables, repacking cases, unplugging and sorting more cables, draining fog machines... all good stuff. I want to go on tour now someday. Big thank-you to Krissy Freeman for recommending me for overhire!

SLEEP NO MORE: NYC

I just got back from a quick visit to NYC to see SLEEP NO MORE, a theatrical experience that I will never forget! I heard about the show from my professor, Cathy Hurst, a year or so ago when she saw it, and haven't stopped wanting to see it since then. An old hotel building in New York was transformed over the course of 4 months into an interactive, garbled version of Macbeth, one in which the viewers roam all 6 floors of the building to see various scenes and follow characters or explore the settings.

I flew into the city on Monday night and had some fun navigating the subways with the help of my friend Krista, a SMC alum who lives in the city and kindly showed me around and let me stay with her. Tuesday was a day of walking around the city and doing a little shopping...I would have, however, done less walking had I known what a night I was in for!

My friend and I entered the McKittrick Hotel for the 7pm entrance time. We checked all bags and coats--definitely the best decision of the day-- and checked in with our previously purchased tickets. We were each given a playing card and told to enjoy our stay at the hotel. From that point on, everyone who spoke to us was a professional actor/dancer. We were guided up dark passageways to a 30's style bar, complete with drinks and smoke and jazz. Having heard about the experience before, we skipped the drinks because when the number on your card is called, you have to chug the drink and leave. In this way most guests are separated from their friends to enter in small groups. It's absolutely, above all, an individual experience: if you go, don't try to hang on to your friends. You'll see them in 3 short hours to compare what you saw!

When my number was called, I went up and was given a mask. All non-performers wear big white masks that cover your face to the chin, which sounds creepy but was actually very beneficial throughout. We were herded into an elevator, told not to talk for the next 3 hours, and slowly ascended. I exited on the 3rd floor and entered into what appeared to be an old house in the 30's, complete with glamorous old furniture, extremely detailed props and dressings-- which we were encouraged to touch and explore-- and actors. After a quick interaction with one actress, I went through one of the zillion doorways and hallways and found myself in a hazy, smoking ruin, with broken bricks underfoot and eerie statues all around. Then I found myself outside of the bedroom, looking in through big glass windows. After finding the door to get in and watch the scene unfolding, I can't re-trace my steps. There was a two-story ballroom that transformed into a forest, a village of shops and servants' homes, a lounge with a piano, one whole level of hospital beds and tubs and laundry rooms, chapels and a graveyard...almost all of which were dimly lit and full of fog.

The experience of the individual in this setting is incredible. You choose where to go, who to follow, and if you're lucky you'll see a lot of scenes, but it's easy to lose yourself in the rooms and examine the details of the whole building. I remember it as a huge maze, and I suspected for a while that the crew members (all around, with black masks) were changing the names of the stairways on me. The sheer amount of staircases was staggering. I remember following an actor down 5 flights of stairs...and winding up at the top of the ballroom, somehow, when I could have sworn it was far above us. I came to recognize some stairs and passages, but it was easy to get turned around, and I visited some places (like the hospital floor) only once and never found them again. I know I missed 3 scenes, but I couldn't find the places again in time. It was a little frustrating, but you will never see anything in one viewing. I did see several scenes over and over again, but they changed sometimes, so it was never not worth it.

Come 10pm and our exit, I was exhausted. I didn't want it to end, but my body was refusing to move anymore. I can't imagine how the actors do the show every day (lucky for them, it's usually double-cast so they don't have to do it twice a day) with those kind of physical requirements: running through hallways, up and down hundreds of stairs, acting, dancing, moving-- and always with a dozen people in masks following, running behind you, standing a foot away watching. I wonder how they changed costumes or cleaned blood off themselves to reset for the beginning of a scene, when scenes were repeated. We met people before going in who had been before, and each time were determined to follow a different actor to see a different aspect of the story. I learned quickly that when the herd of people is on the move, if you're not in the front and moving quickly you'll lose the actor or fall behind. However, you don't always want to follow actors-- often I felt the need to explore the settings or try a different area, or see what was up this flight of stairs, and that is good to pursue as well.

The masks were a good thing, if creepy. I still have mine (the amount I was sweating after all that walking and running and stairs, I don't imagine anyone would want to reuse it!). They marked the spectators from the actors, and while the lines were sometimes blurred there, it made it a little easier for everyone. The masks also were fascinating to watch in themselves. At one point, near the end, I went to the ballroom and a lot of people were sitting to rest for a few minutes, and it was so interesting to see the masks waiting and watching. The juxtaposition in the scenes was fascinating as well-- sometimes the actors could "see" us, and other times they couldn't, but when a character was going crazy or acting a very emotional scene, and all these people are around them in masks, it's an unexplainable, phenomenal illustration of real, unreal, insanity, and consciousness.

All in all...I'd go again in a heartbeat. If you get a chance, check it out! Here is the New York Times Review, which goes into greater detail about the show. There are also a lot of websites and blogs currently looking at interpreting what you see and understanding how all the characters relate and fit into the story.

Spring Semester: Senior Year

In about a week, I'm going to be moving back to Saint Michael's College for the last time as an undergraduate student. Everyone has told me that it will be the best time of my life, and I believe it. I'm looking forward to a variety of things the semester has to offer.

One thing that has always made me think is that college is supposed to be about learning.You learn new things every day, whether it is in class, learning to live with other people, learning your limits when it comes to going out on the weekends, and learning how to survive in the "real" world. Something I learned this past semester was that I have a passion for studying Shakespeare. Because of this, I decided to drop my Spanish class for spring semester and pursue an independent study in Shakespeare. I will keep you posted on how that goes!

My other classes are all on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have a 4-hour senior seminar in theater, which will involve reading and discussing plays and working on our showcase projects. I'm taking costume crafts, at long last, which will be an awesome class. Finally, the icing on the cake is Tolkien and Medievalism, a class where we will read and discuss Tolkien's major works. That class is also a 4-hour whopper. It should be great though!!

Other things coming up this semester include the American College Theater Festival, a week in January where the drama club sends contestants and involved members to Fitchberg, MA, to compete for acting and design awards; to attend workshops; to meet peers and contacts; and to work as stage managers or interns. This year I'm going as a tech intern, which will be fun.

The Drama Club also hosts a trip to NYC to see a show, which I've never participated in but am hoping to this year. We have 2 senior showcases apart from the mainstage this semester, all of which will be great opportunities for actors and technicians to get involved. My own senior showcase is lighting design for the mainstage, a devised piece of theater called APP-etite. It will be a challenge because I don't know the storyline yet! There is no script. I will start attending rehearsals in February and watch the show take shape.

More updates to come, including my job search/applications, shows for 2012, and more! Thanks for reading.

Christmas Eve Shenanigans

Christmas Eve has always been a special part of the holidays for my family. In recent years, the traditions have included visiting my Grandma for Christmas with her, eating munchies and fondue and everything fried, and watching movies or playing games. With my brothers now married, Christmas Eve is sort of the highlight of my Christmas because all of my siblings, now, spend the day at my parent's house with us.

Having had a few weeks to relax and unwind from the fall semester, I decided to do something special to wrap up the year, which started with me studying abroad in Spain for 4 months. I made paella, a dish my land lady in Spain made for me and her family at Easter from scratch. Paella (pronounced pie-ey-ya) is a Valencian or Eastern Spanish rice dish, a very traditional dish in Spain. The recipe I made for Christmas Eve was a lot of memory from Easter, along with some additions from online sources. My dish was also made entirely from scratch to get as many authentic flavors as possible.

Paella was a slang term for “pan” back in the day; today it exclusively means this dish, and the pan that is specially made for it.

The rice dish probably evolved from Moorish dishes that influenced Spain until the late 15^th century. There are 3 types: paella valenciana, seafood paella, and mixed paella. The whole idea of paella is pretty much a mix though, it is rice with certain spices, and whatever meat and vegetables were around throughout the centuries. There are specific ingredients that are more traditional than others today, however.

We had a traditional mixed paella with chorizo (sausage) and chicken and vegetables. The paella valenciana is often made with eels or snails, and the seafood paella (although it encouraged me to expand my horizons while abroad) isn’t something everyone in the family would have enjoyed. There are many types of paella that result in competitions across Spain, including kinds with black rice (colored with squid ink) and many different meats and seafood (rabbit, chicken, sausage, clams, shrimp...)

I made a vegetable stock and infused the rice with white wine, saffron, and a mix of sautéed vegetables called the sofrito. Then I combined the stock, rice mixture, and meat in a big pan until the rice is cooked. I was hoping for a crust of rice at the bottom of the pan when it is done—not burnt, but sort of caramelized—called a socarrat (soh-kah-raht, from the verb socarrar, which means to toast lightly). It is the mark of a well-made paella.

When it is done, paella is traditionally eaten directly from the pan.Since we had to transport it to my Grandma's, we skipped this part. I saw some signs of the socarrat but again, with transferring it to a traveling dish, it was hard to tell. My recipe was as follows: 

Paella with Chicken and Chorizo

Stock:

1 1/2 large onion- peel + chop finely or grind

1-2 heads garlic- peel + break into cloves

2 stalks celery- chop off leaves and chop finely or grind

2 carrots- scrub and chop finely or grind

1 bay leaf

½ tsp saffron (<1gram)

1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika (Pimeton)

5 cups water

Paella

½ cup dry white wine

½ large onion, chopped

½ red bell pepper, chopped

½ tomato, chopped

½ lb cooking chorizo in 1/4” slices (Spanish or Basque chorizo, or Portuguese Linguica sausage)

¼ cup chopped parsley

½ cup frozen peas

½ cup green beans

4 tbsp chopped garlic

6 oz roasted piquillo peppers

2 cups Bomba calasparra rice (or Goya California pearl rice, paella rice, medium grain rice)

4 chicken thighs or breasts

extra virgin olive oil

1. Fill pot with stock vegetables, paprika. Sweat for 5 min with lid on, then remove lid and add cold water. Simmer for an hour, and then strain the vegetables off.
2. Chop chicken into small pieces. Salt it and rub with paprika.
3. On medium/high heat, brown the chicken and chorizo in olive oil in a 13” pan 5-10 min. Remove and set aside
4. Add onion, bell pepper, chopped garlic, parsley, tomato, and piquillo peppers and cook for 5 min, stirring occasionally. This is the sofrito. The technique is simple: sauté the vegetables over medium heat until they soften and the flavors meld, and the water from the tomato has evaporated. This mixture should be thick enough to hold its shape in a spoon.
5. Add rice to the sofrito and cook 2-5 min or until golden, stirring. Add wine to the rice and stir until absorbed.
6. In another pan, sauté the saffron in oil for just a few moments.
7. Pour the broth from the pot into the paella pan and add saffron, green beans, and peas. Allow it to boil. Simmer on lower heat until the broth is almost all absorbed. During this time, move the pan to get even heat coverage, but don’t stir the rice. The liquid may boil off too quickly to cook the rice (rice will start to float a little when it’s close) so keep extra stock handy just in case. Rice should be done but not mushy- 20 min of cooking. Last 2 min of cooking, cover with foil or place the whole pan in a 400 degree oven to get even heat.
8. Socarrat is the caramelized crust of rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan. To get some, increase the heat at the end of cooking, paying close attention to the sound of the rice (it crackles) and the smell.
9. When the liquid is absorbed, the rice is done, the paella needs some time alone to finish cooking and round out its flavors. Cover the pan with a clean towel or foil and let it rest off the heat for five to ten minutes.
10. Serve directly in the pan it was cooked in.

To reheat: Add water and heat at 350 degrees until warmed through with the water re-absorbed. 

*Some notes: I found that timing was very important, especially when cooking the rice. I added the saffron a little late, so the rice didn't dye evenly. Also, my paella could have used more flavor--  I was light-handed on the spices and on adding the meat. Finding ingredients was hard, especially finding non-long grain rice, saffron, and the chorizo. 

Everyone seemed to enjoy the paella, and the Indian dish my brother made for later in the evening. We introduced my parents to the game Apples to Apples, which was a rousing success, and watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-long Blog. A great Christmas for the Liptaks!

Happy holidays, and thanks for reading!