| Production Proccess - END DAYS Technical Rehearsals
by Jim Davis - Managing Director on 10/24/2009 02:56:00 PM
Greetings from Jim Davis, your friendly neighborhood Production Manager, reporting from the theatre and the first day of technical rehearsals for END DAYS. I am always amazed at how quickly the scenic, prop, lighting, sound and costume elements can change to an entirely new world. We've gone from the basement research lab of BOOM to he living room and kitchen of the Stein family of END DAYS in no less than ten days!
The creative team has been hard at work in planning meetings since last summer, and especially hard over the past few weeks to get all of the elements ready for this very concentrated time known as "technical rehearsals". A simple looking transition can involve several light cues, sound cues, movements of props and costumes. In these days of amazing technology we're now able to make amazingly complicated effects that would have been impossible just 15 years ago, but all of these effects must be programmed into the sound and lighting computers... and that takes LOTS of time. Add that to a stage manager calling the whole thing from the control booth, a sound engineer and light board operator running the cues, and the assistant stage manager making sure that the movements of props, costumes and props all happen with perfectly with the actors, the complicated details can be enough to give you a headache... but without the talented people to do this work, there would be naked actors in the dark on an empty stage!
I've always felt that people who earn their living as technicians, stage managers and designers often get overlooked by audiences who maybe don't realize all the details that go into putting up a professional production. So, below you can meet some of the members of the creative and technical team who are responsible for bringing this play to life:
Production Stage Manager Nancy Staiger, Director Shade Murray and Lighting Designer Lee Fiskness discussing cues on a break.
Sound Designers Marni and Nick Keenan programming a complicated palette of complicated and layered sound effects and music.
Lighting Designer Lee Fiskness adding a few lights during the first technical rehearsal.
While every detail is being worked out on stage, the rest of the creative team is working on elements in their department.
Assistant Scenic Designer Izumi Inaba and Scenic Designer Andre LaSalle making plans for set dressing while the tech rehearsal takes place on stage.
Costume Designer Mellisa Torchia training cast member Carolyn Faye Kramer the correct method for applying her makeup.
Production Assistant Justin Argenio and Properties Master Patrick Fries working on building a lot of fake bibles.
Next Theatre Company is very fortunate to work with some of the most talented and creative theatre artists in the Chicago area, and I know that I'm lucky to be able to spend these long days with these amazingly talented people, sitting in the dark theatre working our way cue by cue, costume by costume, prop by prop, creating the world of the play.
Talk soon,
Jim Davis, Production ManagerLabels: End Days, Production Department, Technical
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We really enjoyed this show! Along with the first show of the season, this is shaping up as the best since we began subscribing.
Wonderful cast, costumes,and great set!Next knows how to deliver an enjoyable performance.J.Waters
Production Process -- Boom Technical Rehearsals
by Jim Davis - Managing Director on 9/05/2009 02:12:00 PM
Greetings from the first technical rehearsal of BOOM. With the actors onstage and the lighting, sound, scenic designers, technicians and stage managers all sitting in the back of the theatre and facing a line of computer control consoles, we've begun the unbelievably complicated and detailed process of programming the lighting and sound cues.
I'd like to introduce to some of these talented individuals that Jason Southerland and I have assembled to do this work:
Production Stage Manager Nancy Staiger and Assistant Stage Manager Katie Eckert discussing cues before the tech began.
Lighting Designer Seth Reinick programming the lighting control console.
Composer/Sound Designer Nathan Leigh creating music and sound effects.
Sound Engineer Hilary Murray running the cues at the sound control computer.
Finally, and most importantly, the cast and crew gathered outside the theatre during our dinner break today for our own holiday weekend barbecue...
It's been a great first day... I'm holding off sharing photos of the show with you... Maybe tomorrow... stay tuned!
Stay tuned for more from the theatre as things develop.
Talk Soon,
Jim Davis, Production ManagerLabels: Boom, Creative Team, Production Department, Technical
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Tech was the fourth cast member of this play. It was terrific!
Production Process - Meet the Props Master & Technical Director
by Jim Davis - Managing Director on 3/27/2009 05:29:00 PM
Many people ask me what the hardest part of my job is... and I think it has to be assembling just the right people for a specific production team. We've been very fortunate to assemble some of the best theatre professionals in the Chicagoland area.
Over the next few weeks, I'd like to introduce you to some of the people who make it possible for our production values to excel in the challenging space in our home here at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center Theatre.
Meet Props Master, Susana Pelayo:
Susie Pelayo is pictured above painting the market baskets for the show. Susie has over 70 properties in the show from very exact wicker chairs to lots of glassware to these hard to find market baskets. Susana has to be very creative about how to find these difficult items... asking just the right person the right questions at the right time can make all the difference. Susie has been our assistant stage manager for the past two shows and is also the stage manager for our Next Communities Project.
Meet Technical Director, Phil Canzano:
Phil Canzano has been hard at work building the set for the show. His attention to detail has really helped make the difference between a well-constructed set and a very detailed realization of the set designer's drawings. Phil has worked as a carpenter on many of our shows over the past few years and we're lucky that he was able to step into this role, taking complete responsibility for getting the set done WAY ahead of schedule.
We're just over two weeks out from the start of previews, so everyone is really hard at work putting the final touches on the technical elements of the play to be ready to integrate those elements into the production during the crazy five days known as "tech week".
Stay tuned...Labels: Production Department, Technical, The Overwhelming
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I was really impressed with the production. The acting was wonderful. Everyone took their part/s very well, and the accents were totally believable. A very powerful story. The set was simple and effective. Bravo!
Production Process - THE OVERWHELMING designs complete
by Jim Davis - Managing Director on 3/12/2009 05:45:00 PM
With the closing of DYING CITY, we've just had our second production meeting for THE OVERWHELMING, and after working out our lots of lists of costumes, props and furniture, sound and music and lighting effects... our designs for THE OVERWHELMING are complete!
Set Model by Tom Burch, scenic designer (click photos to enlarge)
 
Tom's set features sliding panels which will open and close in different configurations to allow us quick transitions and a creative way to suggest the play's many locations, and keep the pace of the play moving.
Three of 40+ Costume Renderings by Whitney McBride, costume designer
  
Whitney has her hands full with well over a hundred costume pieces for the show, which she has very carefully researched to suggest the plays very specific location and time period.
Shopping for costumes and props has begun and the technical director and his crew are working on building and installing the new set... so we can ready for rehearsals to begin on the 17th... stay tuned!Labels: Production Department, Technical, The Overwhelming
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Dear Next,
We've been subsrcibers for several years. We saw "Overwhelming last night. It certainly was! The acting was superb & the points you made were striking.
Alas, my daughter, her husband & my husband are unanimous in feeling that we have enough trauma & grief in our lives & they don't want to subscribe again next year. I stand alone in feeling that I will miss you & wish I could continue to attend. But I think there is an important message here; in these difficult times we need something less traumatic, more uplifting, more fun. I liked the messages I took away from this, but out of 4 opinions I was alone. Aren't there some light-hearted, thoughtful pieces out there? Something short of that satirical disaster you produced early last year...I've forgotten what it was!...but more like a musical or a comedy? How about "The Importance of Being Earnest"? Your regretful ex-subscriber, Lucia Miller
Dear Lucia,
I certainly hope before you and your family decide to leave the Next family, you will look closely at the season we have lined up for you next year. I agree that with everything going on in the world, we need a lighter approach to our serious issues and I have programmed a season that will do just that!
The opening show, "boom," has received tremendous praise for it's humor and wit, including the following reviews:
"Mr. Nachtrieb has a gift for darkly funny dialogue and an appealing way of approaching big themes sideways." The New York Times
"Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s play flips from pants-around-the-ankles comedy to hipster 'Twilight Zone' takeoff…'boom' is imaginative and easy to like." The New Yorker
"Nachtrieb possesses a sharp wit and has crafted an imaginative piece of social satire." Backstage
In addition, we are offering you a holiday comedy/musical that I developed with frequent collaborator Kyle Jarrow: "A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant." Our February production of "Return to Haifa" tackles some big issues, but is in that vein of uplifting drama about families finding hope together. Finally, "The War With the Newts" is a compelling and funny play that will take you many places, but certainly not dark places.
Thank you for sharing your feelings with us and with your fellow Next supporters. I personally appreciate your point of view and am glad to have the opportunity to let you know that I share your concerns and have programmed next season with them in mind.
So don't give up on us now. I trust you will find the upcoming season uplifting, hopeful and meaningful.
All my best,
Jason Southerland
Artistic Director
Inside the Production Process - THE OVERWHELMING first production meeting
by Jim Davis - Managing Director on 2/18/2009 11:54:00 AM
Fresh on the heels of getting DYING CITY up and running, we've started production meetings for THE OVERWHELMING. Director Kimberly Senior and her team have been meeting for the past 6 weeks creating the ideas and deciding what the world of the play should look and feel like. Last Friday was our first opportunity to assemble as a group and share ideas for all to see. It was also the deadline for preliminary drawings so that the process of bidding the show with our scene shop and the other individuals that make the show happen.
Director Kimberly Senior, Sound Designer Tamara Roberts, Scenic Designer Tom Burch, Costume Designer Whitney McBride, Properties Master Susie Pelayo and Production Stage Manager Erin Diener discuss the research images presented by Tom Burch. Photo by Jim Davis. It's my plan to continue to update you as the production process continues for this final show of the 08-09 season. Feel free to comment and let me know what parts of the process you're curious about. See you soon!
Jim Davis, Production ManagerLabels: Production Department, Technical, The Overwhelming
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DYING CITY Technical rehearsals
by Jim Davis - Managing Director on 2/03/2009 09:27:00 PM
Greetings from Technical Rehearsals of DYING CITY. It takes a lot of talented theatre professionals to put up a show here at The Next and we're so very fortunate to work with some of the best in the Chicagoland area.
This amazing team of designers and technicians have been hard at work over the past few days putting the final touches on the technical elements for the play and we've certainly come a long way since we started pre-production in early December. From design meetings where we decided as a creative team what we wanted the world of the play to look and feel like, to scheduling the load-in of lighting and scenery to making sure that the costumes, sound and props departments all stay within their budgets... there are thousands of details to work out and it's my job to coordinate the minutiae of all of it.
We're very lucky to work with the likes of Lighting Designer Keith Parham and Costume Designer Kristine Knanishu (both back in town from their amazing work on the Off-Broadway production of THE ADDING MACHINE) as well as Sound Designer Nathan Leigh who joins us for the first time from Boston. As Production Manager I'm enjoying serving double-duty as Scenic Designer to work with this amazing creative team, led by our old friend (and new Washington DC resident) Jason Loewith, who is directing the show.
Properties Master Michael Groth and Assistant Scenic Designer Diane Fairchild at work re-upholstering the show's sofa.
It always amazes me what a wonderful and talented team of resident technicians I was able to assemble to work with us on our shows. Erin Diener is now in her second show with us as Production Stage Manager and she's assisted again by Susie Pelayo. Our Master Electrician Mac Vaughey has been with us since my first show here two seasons ago and Matt Hallock, our Sound Engineer is doing his fourth show with us. Grant Sabin is back again as our charge Scenic Artist who painted the show to very careful specifications and Properties Master Michael Groth has done amazing work rigging our onstage kitchen to do some pretty cool things. My Associate Production Manager Patrick Fries and Assistant Scenic Designer Diane Fairchild have both been hard at work to make sure that I keep my sanity while serving double duty.
For now, I should get back to work... there's still much to do to make sure that we're ready for our first preview.... in 45 and a half hours!Labels: Dying City, Production Department, Rehearsal, Technical
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I thought this play was excellent and the acting superb. The brothers, I felt, had an unsatisfactory and unhealthy relationship - though they each clearly wanted more. The wife was truly victimized by both of them. I did feel as though I was left hanging - that the play was a work in progress. I couldn't help feeling I wanted more answers.
Our group of four viewers found much to discuss in this play. I personally was too aware of all the facial and arm gestures of the wife: I almost never felt that I was unaware of the acting. That was disappointing. None of us felt that the comparison to Bagdad or any other city was clear and stand-alone. I was not clear whether the flashbacks were intended to be what the widow remembered as opposed to what actually happened; grief could alter the widow's perception of reality greatly. We wondered if the warrior twin was a closet homosexual. It also was not clear whether Peter's motivation was his hope that he might be able to father a nephew as a link to his twin. These ambiguities did not strengthen the play in my mind.
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