So in the Director Program urban legend a student who would later become a TV actor and award winning director and performer around town had his cast quit on him two weeks before his final project would hit the stage.  Now this is gossip and legend so I don’t know what actually happened but my guess is knowing this directors reputation for being a award winner and putting on killer shows around town I can only guess it was not cause he was an asshole to work with.  My best guess would be it was because he cast very talented performers who got busy and that is what the universe handed him all at once.

This is one of my greatest fears.  I told the cast this, and they teased me that they wont quit until mid way through opening night scene one.

But I can’t not stress enough how wonderful it has been to have a cast that comes in prepared, ready to pitch idea, ready to try anything and give feedback. It makes what I do so easy.  So so easy.

This week the show will really start to take shape. We are now not only still trying new things but we are now in the round of re testing stuff.  I am real excited for this time.  Things are a bit more polished, a bit more beat’d out and that conversation with the audience will continue.

We have sets Friday at the Playground in Graffiti and Saturday at No Shame.

More to come during the week.

No Shame set 4-21

On this very special episode of Process the Cast learns a lesson.  

So at our very first dinner I said to the cast if actor x wants to jerk off and cum on an audience members face as a scene…lets say they really want to do this.  I might challenge them, ask them what they are trying to say with the scene (the point of view) and is there anything else in the world we can do to illustrate this POV.  But if Actor x is hell bent on the ONLY way they can say with POV is to jerk off on an audience member till cum comes out THEN I WANT TO TRY IT!

You see darlings more than one person has told me just on the names alone what an amazingly talented cast I have.  So we all have instincts…good ones.  We have to say YES to everything and trust that the conversation with the audience will lead us to where we need to be.  

Last night I walk back stage after the set and one of the ensemble said “Well scene blah blah went well” and I answered “Yeah”  He responded “I didn’t think it was gonna work.” Then two other ensemble members said “I didn’t think it would either”  All I could say was “You guys have to trust process.”

What I will say is at least they tried it, even if it was through a thin veil of kicking and screaming.  AND it worked big time!

“When someone presents a scene idea, I like to put it up right away….immediately. I’ve wasted too much time in my life in endless conversations about ideas. I hate getting sucked into those measured, lazy, talking for the sake of talking I have a better idea or we could this or we could do that look, it appears we are being productive but we’re not bullshit discussions. 90% of the work will happen on stage, so why not just get up there and do it right now.” -Mick Napier on “Paradigm Lost” process

Set tonight 10:30 at CIC opening for Pimprov 1422 w Irving Park

So last night we tried two scenes and two blackouts.  I think it went great! Especially the blackouts.  I can’t stress enough how important good blackouts are for a show.  Next steps for these scenes are to take Gay Marriage to script and get another improv rep on Future Me.  MORE SETS THIS WEEK!!!!

This is by far the hardest week for the cast. We had reho yesterday and we have THREE sets this week. If that’s not dedication I don’t know what is. Over the three sets we will try 47 min of material. We have already tested 39 min and we are doing a 45 min show. So it’s safe to say we are in a good place. Tonight 7:30 sketch test above Fizz Bar. It’s free so you should come by and tell me what you think.

Tonight we have a 20 min set (not strictly cause I am in the booth aaaaa wink) so we should get a better feel for how we work in front of a crowd. Personal goal is to look at each pitch through this question “What is the point of view of this scene? Is that what came through? Can I help it be heightened or more clear?” I am excited for tonight. It’s 10:30pm at CIC (1422 w Irving Park) join us.