Sunday, January 10, 2010
It's Everywhere...it's everywhere.
Last night , Peter and I went to Theatre Bristol to see their production of RENT: the first regional production of this show. I have been wanting to go to Theatre Bristol for a time for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that as Director of Outreach, I want to ...well...reach out to more theaters in this area , in order to establish at least some working knowledge of what we all do to produce live theatre in this region.
Also, the wonderful David Alford - who has been establishing himself as a popular teacher and director in the area ever since his wife came to Johnston Memorial to establish her medical practice - David has been working with Theatre Bristol, and suddenly it occurred to me that rather than being rivals in the areas of education and workshopping, I should at least attempt to establish the sort of relationship with Theatre Bristol that would , or could benefit us both: a creative way for each of us to feed and nourish each other's growth, rather than compete for the same population....so , I thought, going to see a production there would at least be a start! And so, I booked seats to see RENT.
It got snowed out in December, when i was originally going to see it - but they called and very professionally re-scheduled the last several performances for this weekend (Jan.7-8-9-, 2010) and handled it very well, as far as transferring already-paid-for-tix to our new chosen dates.
Peter and i went over to Bristol early to have dinner at the little bistro called KP Duty - it was a nice meal , very tasty - and then we sloshed through the snow to get our seats early, as it was general admission seats. We were handled pretty efficiently in the long line waiting to get in, and before we knew it, we were snuggled into our seats, bundling up against the cold inside the theater, which somehow seemed appropriate for seeing RENT....we settled in for what we feared would be a tortuous evening.
Well, it wasn't all that tortuous, and, in fact, both Peter and I , despite our natural reservations and criticisms, actually found ourselves surprised by this production. And the thing i walked away with from it with is this: the love of performing onstage in live theatre productions, is alive and well in the this corner of SW VIrginia - and, as I have been learning from establishing classes here over the past several years , people who want to be in musical theatre WANT IT and WILL DO IT NO MATTER WHAT OBSTACLES may be in their way!!
It's everywhere, this love of performing in front of tribal fires...it is everywhere, this need to do so..to tell the stories...to sing the songs.....forget voice training, forget getting technique in place, forget the patient mining of ones gifts into the most effective mechanisms of expression: LET's JUST GET UP AND DO THIS! And in that doing, there is passion, excitement, and true story-telling, because the main desire is to TELL THE STORY!! Get up , the need to get up, and TELL IT! BRING IT!
Well, this makes up for a lot more than you'd think...no one is more surprised than I am to discover that fact: the need to do it, the passion to tell it, supported by even a shadow of the abilities to truly do so in the most powerful way possible, is what gets the job done - and the average audience member - does not care if the voice does not quite hit the note , or if the acting is less than true, in the deepest sense - all the audience cares for is that they are getting the story delivered to them...AND LAST NIGHT's PERFORMANCE OF RENT? It delivered that story. They delivered it with joy and caring.
With all due respect to the performers in last night's show - because I do admire and respect all they did to get this difficult show across, especially musically and dramatically - i did miss the Broadway voices. There is no substitute for the pained soul in Adam Pascal's vocal sound, and the energy of Jesse L.Martin's sweet baritone, informed by who he is, as well as Taye Diggs' great style....well, that's not something that comes along every day to every community. However that being said, the actor who played Angel really pulled it off, and the young woman paying Mimi had both Peter and I on the edges of our seats as she did The Cow Jumped Over the Moon ...she had us laughing and genuinely engaged...we enjoyed ourselves!!! That plus the ensemble sound on those great songs really worked well, and a lot can be said to compliment the Musical Director for the work he got accomplished with the amateur cast...it sounded good! And from all I could observe: all un-mic-ed! I saw no amplification anywhere...so, given that, it was even more impressive!
So - the need to perform in front of the community is strong, and it seems to reside in us all, in some form or another, no matter where we are, how we are schooled, what our earn-a-living professions are: if we need to do it, we will find a way to do so.
And for that - humbly - I find my self incredibly grateful...and I wonder: maybe that is where my actual need to be part of theatre actually resides: in this need for community story sharing , not in the personal hunger i used to think I felt, to "star" in the telling...maybe I am an "amateur" in the true sense ( as the Theatre Bristol Executive Director said her curtain speech last night): I have a passion for it, .....and the word "amateur", with its roots somewhere in same place as the words "amour", "amatory", "amorous"etc....says something about the love I actually do feel for it....not the need to do it, but the desire to.
Thank you, Theatre Bristol, for helping me remember that....thank you.
Also, the wonderful David Alford - who has been establishing himself as a popular teacher and director in the area ever since his wife came to Johnston Memorial to establish her medical practice - David has been working with Theatre Bristol, and suddenly it occurred to me that rather than being rivals in the areas of education and workshopping, I should at least attempt to establish the sort of relationship with Theatre Bristol that would , or could benefit us both: a creative way for each of us to feed and nourish each other's growth, rather than compete for the same population....so , I thought, going to see a production there would at least be a start! And so, I booked seats to see RENT.
It got snowed out in December, when i was originally going to see it - but they called and very professionally re-scheduled the last several performances for this weekend (Jan.7-8-9-, 2010) and handled it very well, as far as transferring already-paid-for-tix to our new chosen dates.
Peter and i went over to Bristol early to have dinner at the little bistro called KP Duty - it was a nice meal , very tasty - and then we sloshed through the snow to get our seats early, as it was general admission seats. We were handled pretty efficiently in the long line waiting to get in, and before we knew it, we were snuggled into our seats, bundling up against the cold inside the theater, which somehow seemed appropriate for seeing RENT....we settled in for what we feared would be a tortuous evening.
Well, it wasn't all that tortuous, and, in fact, both Peter and I , despite our natural reservations and criticisms, actually found ourselves surprised by this production. And the thing i walked away with from it with is this: the love of performing onstage in live theatre productions, is alive and well in the this corner of SW VIrginia - and, as I have been learning from establishing classes here over the past several years , people who want to be in musical theatre WANT IT and WILL DO IT NO MATTER WHAT OBSTACLES may be in their way!!
It's everywhere, this love of performing in front of tribal fires...it is everywhere, this need to do so..to tell the stories...to sing the songs.....forget voice training, forget getting technique in place, forget the patient mining of ones gifts into the most effective mechanisms of expression: LET's JUST GET UP AND DO THIS! And in that doing, there is passion, excitement, and true story-telling, because the main desire is to TELL THE STORY!! Get up , the need to get up, and TELL IT! BRING IT!
Well, this makes up for a lot more than you'd think...no one is more surprised than I am to discover that fact: the need to do it, the passion to tell it, supported by even a shadow of the abilities to truly do so in the most powerful way possible, is what gets the job done - and the average audience member - does not care if the voice does not quite hit the note , or if the acting is less than true, in the deepest sense - all the audience cares for is that they are getting the story delivered to them...AND LAST NIGHT's PERFORMANCE OF RENT? It delivered that story. They delivered it with joy and caring.
With all due respect to the performers in last night's show - because I do admire and respect all they did to get this difficult show across, especially musically and dramatically - i did miss the Broadway voices. There is no substitute for the pained soul in Adam Pascal's vocal sound, and the energy of Jesse L.Martin's sweet baritone, informed by who he is, as well as Taye Diggs' great style....well, that's not something that comes along every day to every community. However that being said, the actor who played Angel really pulled it off, and the young woman paying Mimi had both Peter and I on the edges of our seats as she did The Cow Jumped Over the Moon ...she had us laughing and genuinely engaged...we enjoyed ourselves!!! That plus the ensemble sound on those great songs really worked well, and a lot can be said to compliment the Musical Director for the work he got accomplished with the amateur cast...it sounded good! And from all I could observe: all un-mic-ed! I saw no amplification anywhere...so, given that, it was even more impressive!
So - the need to perform in front of the community is strong, and it seems to reside in us all, in some form or another, no matter where we are, how we are schooled, what our earn-a-living professions are: if we need to do it, we will find a way to do so.
And for that - humbly - I find my self incredibly grateful...and I wonder: maybe that is where my actual need to be part of theatre actually resides: in this need for community story sharing , not in the personal hunger i used to think I felt, to "star" in the telling...maybe I am an "amateur" in the true sense ( as the Theatre Bristol Executive Director said her curtain speech last night): I have a passion for it, .....and the word "amateur", with its roots somewhere in same place as the words "amour", "amatory", "amorous"etc....says something about the love I actually do feel for it....not the need to do it, but the desire to.
Thank you, Theatre Bristol, for helping me remember that....thank you.
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