Finally, an update
Wow. So I've been at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham, NY for a month now. And what a crazy, fun month it's been.
I got in on opening night of the first show of the season (which they got someone else to music direct since I couldn't be there for rehearsals). After every opening night, the cast and crew go down to a restaurant called the Chatham House (aka The Tavern), which stays open late just for us. My first night here, I met a couple girls from the costume shop and the propsmistress, and formed fast friends. I've been dating Nicole, one of the stitchers, since then, and am having a great time.
The next day we started rehearsals for "Oklahoma," and I met the principals and the ensemble I have for the summer. It was a great morning, because it's a young, energetic, enthusiastic group of really good singers/dancers/actors, and my assistant is extremely helpful and hard working, and really makes it so I'm able to get things to the level they should be. I was able to teach all of the music in the first day of rehearsals, with only about 4 hours total of ensemble work, and the principals didn't need much work either. The show went great, and then....
"The Pajama Game" was a bit of a different story. It actually opened this past Thursday night, and by Sunday finally started to really settle in. The director completely rewrote the script (badly at that), and made me change the music so drastically that I had to rewrite page after page. I never was given the time I needed to rehearse the music, because his blocking process was so slow, and the choreographer wanted everything her way. I was getting conflicting messages from both of them, but the choreographer was even worse. She had the nerve to not only constantly give my actors music notes, but to actually sit in my music rehearsals (that I had to fight to get) and tell me and the actors that the style I was going for wasn't right and didn't fit her choreography. Haven't we ever heard of choreographing to the style of music the composers wrote? It was a nightmare, to say the least. It certainly made me long for the director/choreographer of "Oklahoma."
We're currently rehearsing "Thouroughly Modern Millie," which I have a feeling is going to be the best and most exciting show of the summer. The director/choreographer of this show is a fairly young guy who is really excellent, and easy to work with. The ensemble, once again, sounds teriffic, and has actually learned these difficult, close jazz harmonies even faster and better than I expected. The principals are excellent, and after tonight, several scenes are blocked, and we're right now finishing choreographing the last huge dance number, with a full week to go before tech. What should be far and away the hardest show of the season, both musically and choreographically (well, "Rain" might be harder choreographically), is the one we're furthest ahead of the game on, and I'm just really excited about this show.
I get one day off here every two weeks (In late July, I'll have two consecutive days off). The first one, I went down to Manhattan with Nicole, Jillian (costume shop), and Charissa (propsmisstress). We spent the afternoon hanging out in the city, and that evening Jillian went shopping or something like that, Charissa went to see "Avenue Q," and Nicole and I had a lovely evening seeing "The Fantasticks." I had still never seen the show on any stage, and I much enjoyed it, even though the kid playing the boy (some kid from American Idol) wasn't particularly impressive. The rest of the cast was quite good, and it was a very fun show.
My Aunt Debbie is coming at some point next week, because she's from upstate NY, just a couple hours away, and she has to go home for some things. She'll be coming by to see me and catch a show while she's in the area. Hopefully she'll be able to bring her kids, but she's not sure yet.
Outside of that, things are going really well. I don't get much (i.e. zilcho) free time, but it's a fun job and good people, and I'm glad I came up here. More to come later (if I ever get free time).
I got in on opening night of the first show of the season (which they got someone else to music direct since I couldn't be there for rehearsals). After every opening night, the cast and crew go down to a restaurant called the Chatham House (aka The Tavern), which stays open late just for us. My first night here, I met a couple girls from the costume shop and the propsmistress, and formed fast friends. I've been dating Nicole, one of the stitchers, since then, and am having a great time.
The next day we started rehearsals for "Oklahoma," and I met the principals and the ensemble I have for the summer. It was a great morning, because it's a young, energetic, enthusiastic group of really good singers/dancers/actors, and my assistant is extremely helpful and hard working, and really makes it so I'm able to get things to the level they should be. I was able to teach all of the music in the first day of rehearsals, with only about 4 hours total of ensemble work, and the principals didn't need much work either. The show went great, and then....
"The Pajama Game" was a bit of a different story. It actually opened this past Thursday night, and by Sunday finally started to really settle in. The director completely rewrote the script (badly at that), and made me change the music so drastically that I had to rewrite page after page. I never was given the time I needed to rehearse the music, because his blocking process was so slow, and the choreographer wanted everything her way. I was getting conflicting messages from both of them, but the choreographer was even worse. She had the nerve to not only constantly give my actors music notes, but to actually sit in my music rehearsals (that I had to fight to get) and tell me and the actors that the style I was going for wasn't right and didn't fit her choreography. Haven't we ever heard of choreographing to the style of music the composers wrote? It was a nightmare, to say the least. It certainly made me long for the director/choreographer of "Oklahoma."
We're currently rehearsing "Thouroughly Modern Millie," which I have a feeling is going to be the best and most exciting show of the summer. The director/choreographer of this show is a fairly young guy who is really excellent, and easy to work with. The ensemble, once again, sounds teriffic, and has actually learned these difficult, close jazz harmonies even faster and better than I expected. The principals are excellent, and after tonight, several scenes are blocked, and we're right now finishing choreographing the last huge dance number, with a full week to go before tech. What should be far and away the hardest show of the season, both musically and choreographically (well, "Rain" might be harder choreographically), is the one we're furthest ahead of the game on, and I'm just really excited about this show.
I get one day off here every two weeks (In late July, I'll have two consecutive days off). The first one, I went down to Manhattan with Nicole, Jillian (costume shop), and Charissa (propsmisstress). We spent the afternoon hanging out in the city, and that evening Jillian went shopping or something like that, Charissa went to see "Avenue Q," and Nicole and I had a lovely evening seeing "The Fantasticks." I had still never seen the show on any stage, and I much enjoyed it, even though the kid playing the boy (some kid from American Idol) wasn't particularly impressive. The rest of the cast was quite good, and it was a very fun show.
My Aunt Debbie is coming at some point next week, because she's from upstate NY, just a couple hours away, and she has to go home for some things. She'll be coming by to see me and catch a show while she's in the area. Hopefully she'll be able to bring her kids, but she's not sure yet.
Outside of that, things are going really well. I don't get much (i.e. zilcho) free time, but it's a fun job and good people, and I'm glad I came up here. More to come later (if I ever get free time).