Archive for the Rehearsal Category
ensemble: noun: a group constituting an organic whole or producing together a single effect.
A major part of the Ventoux Process (or at least from what I’ve noticed) is the cohesiveness of the Ensemble. We are all individual actors that come together and perform as a whole. Our tune-ups are done as a group, a lot of the focus work is done to make us aware of ourselves, our body is our instrument, and of those acting around us. This group is not about one actor or one performance. This group is about performing a ’single effect,’ the show.
Schedules and time constraints have made the cohesive aspect of this group more difficult, but we are all dedicated to the single effect, we all have the same goal; and regardless of what we have going on in our personal lives, we have to perform to the best of our ability. We owe the audience that and more.
The show has taken on a new life and we now know what the first layer of the show looks like, but in these next 9 rehearsals we’ll step up the intensity and see how deep we can make the layers. We are playing the same emotions as before, playing the same intent and need, but now it’s time to see how intense we can make that need. How many steps and layers into the process can we delve? That’s for each actor to decide, and I’d like to challenge myself and my fellow actors… find those 6 more changes and take it to a place you never thought you could get to. Step it up and start to play for the single effect.
Cheers.
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This being my second experience with the Theatre Ventoux process I find myself taking more from the Tune-Ups than I had with “This Flattering Glass.” I really love the Tune-Ups because it gives me a chance to let my world melt away and allow for my creative process to come forth. It doesn’t matter what I come into the rehearsal space carrying or weighting on my mind, as soon as we focus on our breathing and start playing with the Space Ball, the world as I know it disappears for the next 3 hours and I am in the zone. It’s a mini vacation from my life and playing in a life I am portraying.
“Childe Byron” is an intense, touching, and kick in the pants show that is so much fun to perform. I am loving this group of actors, most of which I’ve performed with before and some I’ve never worked with before. It really is a good range of talent.
Tonight we are to be off book. The dreaded time period (I’m sure you heard the do-do-dooooooooo music and a scream in the background) as the actors rush to make sure they know their lines better than they did last night. I spent the weekend camping and sitting by the fire memorizing my script, yes even when the drinks were getting passed around, I was memorizing my script. It’s strange what we are willing to do for our art, isn’t it?
I know that this week of rehearsal will be a little clunky, but that is to be expected. We are getting off book rather quickly, but I can’t wait to get it out of my hands and really be able to act. I especially can’t wait to further develop a particular character I am playing, knowing that it’s going to be an amazing connection.
So for now, I’ll be walking around my office, waltz stepping (I’ll let another actor talk about the Waltz Rehearsal), memorizing and speaking in a British accent as much as I can. 
VLB!
AL
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we begin formal rehearsals for cb tonight. more of the ventoux process, dialects, rough explorations of space and relationship, on our feet playing with what is, once again, a fantastically talented and dedicated group of interpretive artists. thanks to ebay we have our props and costumes (or most of them), thanks to steve sansebastian (fresno auction company) we have our set pieces.
i guess all that remains is to rush in where angels fear to tread…but then, we’re no angels. or, perhaps we are, and angels were never what we thought they were.
at any rate: VLB!!!
etonne-moi
g
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Drumroll, please……..the cast of Equus is finalized and we couldn’t be happier. The production will go up this fall under the direction of Lisa Mercier-Taber, in partnership with our good friends at the California ARTS Academy. While our production is not an adaptation, it is a modern staging and revisioning of one of the more lauded and award winning plays of the last forty years. We expect it to be something wonderful, and we hope you will join us for it.
This Is Who We Are:
Martin Dysart/ Greg Taber
Alan Strang/ Stephen Torres
Hesther Saloman/ Jessica Reedy
Nurse/ Suzanne Garcia
Frank Strang/ Dave Otero
Dora Strang/ Devon Bailey
Harry Dalton/ Ronald Blackwell
Jill Mason/ Renee Newlove
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Well, we’re finally here! It’s the week of opening and tonight and tomorrow night we are previewing the show.
Dress rehearsals are always a bit tempestuous… new playing space, costumes, hair/make up, lights, props, etc. Mondays are always the worst, Tuesdays are 10,000 times better and by Wednesday/Thursday you are just ironing out the final wrinkles and the show gels nicely.
We are at that place in time where our show will reach the beauty it is meant to be. There are always 6 more changes and I have seen some new things from the cast mates even now. It is exciting and I can’t wait for there to be an audience and to feed off their response.
This show kicks! I love performing in it, I love working with this group of people and I can’t wait to share that love with all of you!
Thank you to all!
Break legs!!!!
Alais
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as of last night we concluded the first major phase of our rehearsals for “this flattering glass.” the language, relationship, emotion, action, and character exploration is done (inasmuch as those things are ever truly “done.”) and, while i had absolute faith in the ventoux process , it was always the actors themselves who would prove my faith warranted.
and i now find it “all unpossible” to voice the humility and honor that i have felt in their presence for the last three weeks. they are Actors! each of them, renee, dave, hal, stephen, jessica, ron, rj, arthur, melissa, julia, rene, and matt, in their own way and to their own degree, have taken what i was confident would be a workable and useful tool for actors, and demonstrated, nightly, what Will and Dedication can accomplish when melded with Craft.
as we enter the final shaping phase of rehearsals, let me simply thank you for all you have done, and for all that i know you will continue to do.
and to alissa: thank you for joining our merry troupe and for your enthusiasm, professionalism and dedication. hell, girl, you scare me…and that’s just what a good stage manager should do.
and my darling lisa, my partner, my touchstone, my wife, my Love: none of this is possible without you. more importantly, without you, none of it matters.
etonne-moi
gt
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In talking with my cast mates and working on this show, ya’ll might not believe that our rehearsals are going as well as we are blogging. But it is! It is so nice to be a part of an ensemble and grow together and work together and be such a well oiled machine that anything can be thrown our way and we’ll conquer it, together.
There are no restrictions. We did not all agree to only reveal the good things about what we are doing… there just isn’t anything to complain about! That is so nice.
Tonight was amazing. In the scene I have with Isabel we were brought to the next level and it’s powerful. I love the transitions we have made, the places we are in and I love being Alais. She is such a fun ride. Every night there is a new step and after we got off stage, Isabel looked at me and wanted to strangle me… I loved it! I love how we have been brought to this place, this scene, and it is so real it is bringing out natural reactions and making our interactions that much more profound. Thank you Isabel for being there with me! You are truly my sister in arms!
Thank you to the cast for taking what you’ve been given and making it real!
Alais
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As we enter week three, I am amazed at the way this venture is taking shape. It is a grand undertaking, and we have no idea where it will take us. But we boldly step off the edge and trust our skills, intuition, and desires to take us to the heights we wish to achieve. What ever the result, we all have grown as a result of this challenge.
Thank you, Greg, for your dream and allowing us to be part of it. Lisa, you are so supporting and encouraging, we could not do this without your insight.
To my cast members, We are “This Flattering Glass”. What we do reflects back our dedication and devotion to our craft.
Thank you all.
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a few random thoughts that i had during the course of last night’s rehearsal (in no particular order): oh yes…GOOD!…i told you NOT to play with the guns…YES…i really need to learn my lines…hm, it doesn’t fall out when i have it…YESYESYESYESYES…i’m so happy…damn
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Exciting is when you can’t wait for the rest of your day to go by so you can go to rehearsal…. This play is exciting; this theatre company is exciting!
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