CAST PHOTOS

Congratulations to the entire cast of Our Town for snagging the Contribution Through Character Award! As Tracy explained at our cast party on Sunday, nominations were given to numerous of you. So numerous, in fact, that no one received more than two a piece! With no clear "winner," it was decided to simply award it to all of you. This has happened at least once in the past, where an entire cast has essentially nominated each other.

Here's what one person wrote on a nomination form about our cast :

Everyone worked together to make this an exceptional show. Backstage was typically a fun place to hang out and everyone helped each other with lines or entertaining each other. This is likely the most diverse cast for a straight play we've ever had and we came together like family.

As winners, you should all be receiving a certificate redeemable for two tickets to another HFAC show this season.

Some of you asked about the photos of the cast which were screen savers on my monitor during the party. Here's a link so that you can download them for yourselves:

https://picasaweb.google.com/111524086662205692566/OurTownShow?authkey=Gv1sRgCMWszuOPntyKFw

I also have put together a small book of Our Town photos which I was going to give to each of you at the cast party. But they don't ship until Tuesday of this week, so I should have them for you by Friday's show. See you all then!

REVIEW IS OUT!

Here's a link to our review in The Houston Press. As usual, DL Groover spends more time reviewing the script than the performance.

But you can read it for yourself at:

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2012/08/houston_family_arts_center_tac.php?ref=navigation

I will be out of town on Thursday, but Tracy will be there in my stead. Please be ready to place your T-shirt orders!

TALKBACK

We had our first talkback Sunday afternoon and about 20 people stayed. It couldn't have gone any better if I had scripted it myself. 

Mario, Whitney, Patrick, Doug, Jeff, and Peyton stayed to participate. I know Rita sat out in the house and I think LD was out there, too. The actors onstage regaled everyone with how they prepared for their roles, what kinds of research they had done, and so on. 

The audience was VERY complimentary of all of your performances. One woman, in the front row, kept saying that the show was a real eye opener. We discussed the setting of the show being in a small town and at first, everyone thought that small towns were inherently better. People are happier there.

I was able to point out that Grover's Corners inhabitants, as you guys portrayed them, are no happier than anyone else. Simon Stimson certainly isn't happy. Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs lead lives that are filled with unanswered yearnings and missed opportunities. I think Jeff's Mr. Webb is committed to staying married and raising his kids, but I think he sometimes wonders if he didn't make a mistake at the altar. And L.D. shows us a Mr. Gibbs that is saddled with a burden of grief in his later years.

The themes there are universal. Some people may prefer small towns over metroplexes. But even in complex urban communities, people tend to subdivide their lives into smaller groups of co-workers, school groups, or church friends. You created a community of very real people that the audience particularly liked.

An older lady, who looked like she was a grandma several times over, noted that the two moms in the play seemed to be too busy to always connect with their children. She said that she felt exactly the same way when she was raising her children. Now, from the vantage point of her senior years, she has loads of time. She offered encouragement to the younger parents and it made me wonder why Wilder wrote about such nuclear families in the 1930's. There are no grandparents portrayed or even mentioned in the Webb's or Gibb's households.

Someone else (I think it was Estus' mom) asked Whitney how she went from being a bustling mother in Act I to dead in Act III. Another man asked how the show has evolved or changed over the years. (Our show is obviously the best production of Our Town ever!) Another inquired if Our Town had ever been made into a movie.

The best comment came at the very end. As I was wrapping up, one woman in row three waved her hand frantically in the air saying that she had a comment. She said that she and her husband had lived in New Jersey for 15-20 years and had just moved back to the Houston area. They had seen shows on Broadway on a regular basis during that time. AND everything that had seen at HFAC was as good, if not better, than what she had seen in New York!

I think it was Patrick (or maybe Doug) who told her that her check would be in the lobby at the box office!

You guys should be very proud of the work that you have done. You obviously touched a lot of hearts over the weekend.

Check the blog over the next few days. If we get a review, I'll post it here.

Just a reminder, we have a pick up on Thursday. No lights, no sound, just lines. It would be best to do all of your blocking, but you needn't pull out all the stops emotionally. I am actually out of town that evening, but I'll see if Tracy can "baby sit." I'm very particular that pick ups NOT dissolve into an evening of who can say their line in the funniest manner. That simply wastes time and some of you drive quite a distance to get there.

One more thing, Rita will be appearing in The Nacirema Society opening on Sep 22  (previews) and running through Oct 21 at Ensemble Theatre. Why don't we all get together and go support our Mrs. Webb??? Right now, all of those dates work for me except Oct 6. Would anyone like to attend the Friday Oct 12 or Sat Oct 13 performances? Post a reply and we'll put together a Rita-night!

Correct call time...

I'm still in rehearsal mode, apparently. Call time tonight is 7:00 PM, not 6:00. Enjoy your dinner!

FRIDAY AUGUST 17 Opening night!

We’re here! You have all worked so hard against really bizarre sorts of casting challenges. But I think the cast that appeared onstage last night was absolutely perfect! 

You guys are ready!

Patrick, I think this is the best role you’ve ever done. You’re Stage Manager transcends the boundaries of vintage sentimentality and yet still presents a heart warming tale. That’s a tough job. And you also cover a variety of other characters from all walks of life and even different genders! Bravo!

L.D., Doc Gibbs is subtlety nuanced; he’s open and gregarious with folks on the street, but not nearly as gracious with his own wife. And you still make him a likeable, lovable character. I absolute get lost in the scenes you have with Whitney; they’re too real for words.

Whitney, your eyes communicate so much longing. You barely have to finish the line about Paris and I understand how much that dream means to Mrs. Gibbs. And the body language you use as you putz around your kitchen??? It’s transports a paper-bound Mrs. Gibbs to the depths of a real person with a soul.

Robert, wow! I can’t believe that you just stepped into this role two and a half weeks ago. You’ve had a baptism by fire. And you’re hitting your stride, right on time! The entire cast, me especially, owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you for taking George from the awkward throes of teenage adolescence to a grieving husband who has had his life ripped apart. Very powerful performance.

Peyton, you’re absolutely adorable. Rebecca is a forthright and engaging little sister who has a sense of wonder about everything. You bring that out at EVERY rehearsal! And I have no doubt you’ll now do it at every show.

Jeff, I have seen you push Editor Webb all over that stage! I love the amount of experimentation that you did to capture a time pressed and weary husband who loves his family even though he is trapped in it. Great depth of character there.

Rita, playing Myrtle Webb is tough for any actress. The easy job is to simply make her a nit-picking shrew who nags her family and ignores their emotional needs. But I don’t think that that’s what Wilder was writing. You’ve given us a real woman who has issues and conflicts AND a great deal of love for her family.

Playing Emily Webb is certainly an accomplishment. But Sarah, you’ve created an Emily who is more than just a saccharine sort of ghost who warns us all to take time to smell the roses. You die and say good-bye to the world every single night. I love how you bravely take that plunge! Now you’ll have a chance to take an audience along with you on that journey.

Sam, you go from being an active, adorable boy scout to being dead- what a range! I’m so glad that you’re a part of this show. Keep those pants pulled up at the knee!

Shaun, you have only a few seconds to let the audience fall in love with you before they learn that your character dies before he has a chance to live. It takes a really fine actor to accomplish that. Thank you.

Mario, I just love Howie! You spent a lot of time working on this almost incidental character and made him so believable.  Howie doesn’t just recite lines, he embodies them. And that laugh fest you have with Reid every night about the drunken Poles in the snow? Priceless!

Matt, thank you for making Professor Willard such a character. There are so many ways to interpret this guy; you’ve made him into someone we’ve all known and encountered before, namely that nerdy science geek from chemistry class. The audience all knows someone like this, and they’re going to relate to that onstage.

J, like Robert, you’ve had to just jump into this whole hog. Stimson, as you play him, is a tortured man with demons chasing his soul. The easy way out is to simply play him for laughs as the town drunk. But you dig deeper than that. Thank you.

Michel, you bring Mrs. Soames to a wonderful level. She’s not just a simple gossip. Even though she loves to dish about the people in Grover’s Corners, she also is passionate about her cares and concerns. And she wants to be heard! You make her all of that.

Reid, you tackle two different roles with equanimity. You’ve made Constable Warren a self-important, swaggering cop who also manages to age before our eyes. And your Joe Stoddard is a delicate layering of polite funeral director and concerned clergy. Excellent!

Gia, you’re such a cutie! I love how you’ve learned to scale back your tremendous musical theatre skills into something more nuanced and reality-based. Keep up the good work!

Doug, your Sam Craig is a completely convincing businessman. In your performance, I see a man who parlays a business trip into possible new leads, and then into a home coming, and finally into a true episode of grief as he confronts his own mortality. All that in just two or three pages!

Emily, you’re a true ensemble member. You’ve read in for other actors who couldn’t make rehearsal, you’ve taken those small parts and made them perfectly real and genuine, and you’ve done it all consistently every night. I love listening to you ask about drinking every night. I hear the concern and just a little bit of self righteousness from this teetotaler who sits in the back every night!

Sophia, you’re also a trouper. You have a small role in this show, but you’ve shown that you have a real heart for theatre in making every small moment count. Continue making those small moments into much bigger ones.

Estus, you have graced our stage. And I mean that in all sincerity! Without you, our pack of baseball players would be immeasurably diminished and our school kids lacking that extra spark!

And Desi, I would like to have lunch with your Artistic-Lady-in-the-Box. Just that one line, and you’ve created someone who has life and depth and reality. 

This show would never have made it this level without the hard work and commitment of our AD, Katie. It has been a complete pleasure to partner with you on this show and I can't thank you enough for your innumerable contributions to the staging and directing of Our Town. 

I woke up with this tune in my head; watch and enjoy. See you all at 6:00.

T-Shirts and other fun stuff

Congratulations on a fantastic show!  I know our audiences will love what you and the production team have created.  There's a lot of information below, but it's all important, so please make sure you read carefully and completely, and ask Lisa, Katie or me if you have any questions.

T-SHIRTS:
Each shirt is $10, and you can order as many as you like.  All sizes are available.  If you want to order more than one shirt, you can mix sizes - just make sure to let me know exactly what you want on the order form, which will be backstage starting tomorrow.  I have found that the shirts seem to run just a hair small, so if you want a loosely fitting shirt, order a size larger than normal, especially if you've got a little "extra" around the middle or a large neck like I do.

As I mentioned last night, the shirts will have the show logo and performance dates as well as the HFAC logo on the front, and will have all of the names of the cast and production team on the back.

All you need to do is fill out the indicated information on the form and give me (or Lisa or Katie) your payment.  We can accept cash or checks made to HFAC.  If you need to pay with a credit card, let me know, and I'll figure out a way to run that through the box office credit card machine for you.  We'd like to get a final count by the end of this Sunday's matinee show so that we have a chance to get the shirts printed and distributed no later than the cast party.  We'll accept your order prior to payment, but you must pay before you can receive your shirt.  Duh.  :-)

PARKING:
In addition to the earlier note about where to park, please note that for tomorrow and Saturday that the Academy has a show PRIOR to our show, so the parking lot is likely to be full of parent's cars when you arrive at call time.  Your best bet is to park in the lot at the park across the street.  Their show today runs concurrently with ours, so parking shouldn't be as much of an issue since you'll be arriving before most of the Academy parents.  VITALLY IMPORTANT: Near the far east end of the parking lot there are often two spaces with reserved parking signs for one of the other tenants.  If the signs are posted (they are portable), and you park there, you WILL be towed.  Consider yourself warned.  If the signs are not posted, then you can park in those spaces.

CIRCLE:
As Lisa wrote yesterday, circle is mandatory for all actors and crew.  However, the prayer near the end of circle is voluntary.  While we'd love for everyone to stay for this short prayer, we certainly respect the wishes of anyone who desires not to participate.  Note that the motto recital, "Touching hearts, touching lives, in a dramatic way" is spoken immediately after the prayer ends, so if you skip the prayer, you may not get back to the circle quickly enough for that fun part of our routine.

POST-SHOW:
Again, as Lisa wrote yesterday, our patrons enjoy meeting the cast in the lobby after the show.  If you choose to participate in this HFAC tradition, you have the option of going to the lobby immediately after bows, or changing into your street clothes first.  We also understand if you choose not to participate or if you need to skip this from time to time as we know there are often other demands on your time other than this production.

CAST PARTY:
It looks like it will be on Sunday, September 2nd after our matinee.  That would put it at about 6:30 or 7:00.  Since the next day is Labor Day, hopefully most of you won't have to worry about making it an early night.  The party will be at Lisa and Mario's house, which is near Goodson Middle School in Cypress (about 20 minutes north/northwest of HFAC).  Her cast parties are always great fun, and you won't want to miss it.  We'll let you know by next weekend if we will have enough room for you to bring a guest (obviously the kids can have a parent present), and if you need to bring anything (if so, it's typically a dessert).  They do have a nice pool, so bring a suit and towel if you think you might want to swim.

Have a great final dress rehearsal tonight, and I'll see all of you at opening night tomorrow!

Tracy

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15

Robert is out tonight; Doug, you've become the go-to guy to read in parts. Would you mind reading his part in again?

Here's some notes and reminders of what to do on show days:

• Call time is always 1 hour before curtain: 7:00 PM for Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 PM for Sunday matinees.
• Please do not park right next to the doors of the theatre. Save those primo parking spots for your audience, some of whom might be arriving late. Park further down, at the ends of the parking lot, preferably facing Grant Rd, so that head in spots can be saved for the audience. You can also park across the street at Matzke Park.
• When you arrive, SIGN IN!
• LD will be giving you count downs to 3 different times, first to circle, next to house, and finally to curtain or places. Here's what happens during each:

1. 7:15 (2:15) is mandatory cast circle. Since our cast is relatively large, we'll do this onstage. (LD, can you leave the rollup door open until after circle?) We'll have a few brief announcements and last minute notes, followed by a brief prayer, and our traditional HFAC chant which is "touching hearts, touching lives, in a dramatic way." Please check props, if you have any. You are free to move about the stage or house. In respect for actors who are preparing for roles, please keep it quiet. You can certainly carry on a conversation, but be mindful that some actors are working very diligently to prepare for the performance.
2. 7:30 (2:30) The rollup door will be closed and the house is open. You can no longer go out on stage and must be quiet backstage. Get into costume and makeup.
3. 8:00 (3:00) Places. 

• During the show, keep it quiet backstage. Kids, bring some sedate activity to keep yourself occupied. A game with the sound turned off, e readers, comic books, knitting, embroidery, yoga- these are all quiet things that don't disturb others. Performance time is NOT a good time to play a group game or run around. If you really want to be a good performer, practice being a good actor backstage.
• Each intermission is 10 minutes long. 
• After the performance, you may exit to the lobby to greet your audience. This is not required, but we have found that out audience loves to meet and congratulate you.

Katie and I can't repeat this often enough: stay focused, keep up the pace and sell your audience the best performance that you have!