Black Swan Lab

Great news from the ONE camp to get the fall rolling right!

We’ve been offered a two-day workshop with the amazing Oregon Shakespeare Festival in their Black Swan Lab.

Since last summer’s journey to workshop in New York, Wade and Kristin have been hard at work incorporating all of the actor and audience feedback into a great rewrite of the script. And now it’s time again for actors to breathe some life into the words so they can see what works and what needs tweaking.

We’ll head down to beautiful Ashland, Oregon (Wade’s old stomping grounds!) in October and work through the script, focusing the time and attention on the history of the piece and the book. We’ll be joined in the lab by a crew of seasoned and talented actors, as well as an amazing dramaturg.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival continues to grow by leaps and bounds, taking chances and doing some of the most beautiful work. In addition to showing established works in a new light, their commitment to developing new work is inspiring. The American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle will commission up to 37 plays over the next nine years. We had the opportunity to see American Night: The Ballad of Juan José last month and were blown away by the bravery and commitment to a production and script that told stories of America that aren’t always in the books.

It’s amazing to be in such talented company, and we’re incredibly honored to have ONE in their very capable hands!

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a happy new year! May 2010 bring you lots of joy, magic, laughter and love.

-Kristin, Wade & Sam

Busy little elves...

Wade and Kristin are hard at work to revisions and edits of ONE. But Wade has been busy doing some fun elf work at Portland Center Stage and was featured on Broadway World.

Check out the write up here: Broadway World

Let the show begin...

There is nothing so valuable as an audience!

The space we’re in for performances is so interesting, its intimacy making it that there is no dark back corner to lurk in. Everyone is looking right at one another, actors and audience alike.

It’s like we’re living life right in front of each other. Which is what we do every day, but sometimes it takes the slow rise of lights and the thud of an actor’s shoes across the set to help us remember that everything is happening all the time.

The audience is the third pillar of theater. Watching them lean forward, hearing them laugh, seeing them have a moment that catches them off guard, and getting their feedback is vital as we continue development.

As Hermann ruminates, “It’s nothing until someone reads it.”

Take a listen...

BRAHMIN'S SON



FAIRY TALE



THE OTHER SHORE



RING THE BELL

A Place To Call Home

We wanted to take a moment to give a special thanks to Telsey & Co. for their generous support of our workshop. Sonnet Repertory Theatre Co. advisory board member Bernard Telsey generously agreed to allow us to use his audition studio as our rehearsal space. What a perfect fit. Centrally located in Midtown, the studio happens to be a perfect match to the theatre space we will be moving into. We have been able to map exactly where every audience member will be sitting, and play in a space that will feel very familiar when we move into the theatre. Rehearsal space in the city isn’t always easy to come by… especially when you’re making BIG NOISE… like we tend to do. So we thank Telsey & Co.

Interestingly enough, Bernie Telsey happens to be featured in this month’s Playbill Magazine. Read all about him…

Playbill.com

In The Studio

Kristin & Wade are in the studio today... working on a rewrite.

Watching a Master at Work…

With 29 songs in the show, music is a very important part of the rehearsal process. Add to that complex harmonies, daily edits, the addition of an underscore track, changing time signatures… and you’ve got your work cut out for you! But watching Music Director Karl Mansfield at work makes it look as easy as breathing. He brings a joy and skill to the room that gives ease to the actors and allows room for questions or changes. It’s a total joy to watch him work.

Add to that the “compose on the fly” style when Wade sees an opportunity to fine tune or refine, and the rehearsal process gets very exciting. The moments of discovery are beautiful. And when the sound is full the goose bumps suddenly appear.

Capturing Moments

Enter The Magicians...

The music has been taught, the actors are on their feet working their way through the text and exploring each moment of the scene, and now we add a new element... DESIGN.

Last night Set Designer Lex, Sound Designer Justin, and Light Designer Jessica began to add color to our canvas. Lots of beautiful and exciting ideas being shared.