First rehearsal last night. Good fun. Plenty for everyone to do in scenes four and one, so it made for a good atmosphere with everyone feeling involved. Well everyone apart from secretary that is. Doorknocker is only in three scenes and as the part involves having your face covered in bronze make up, then taking on any other role is impractical. So she spent the evening having a good old chat to set man. About fashion and lifts among other items I believe.
Mort and DEATH are kept quite busy in all the scenes we did last night (one to five) so I and the ginger one had a good laugh. We will need to arrange a few rehearsals between the two of us, and maybe one or two with Albert & maybe Ysabell. The plan for last night was to do scenes one to four, so bashing through scene five as well was a bonus.
On Sunday, while producer was visiting parents, director her and director him had a meeting to do basic blocking of scenes one to eight and sort out rehearsal schedule. The schedule isn't perfect for me but there are ways of getting around a number of potential problems.
We have had two people pull out; gothic bloke and blonde girl, both could have been very good, but didn't want the smaller roles they were given. Much as I hate to see anyone go though, it actually helps us out, as it reduces the number of people in the show to 21, which is what we really wanted. It means that everyone has a reasonable amout of stuff to do. We have juggled things around and it all seems to fit well so far.
Tonight I went to see The Unexpected Guest at the Theatre Royal in Windsor with secretary, previous producer, set man, box office and high priest. Box office was very pleased with himself as he managed to correctly predict the outcome when we were in the bar at the interval. Previous producer had never been there before. I think she might like to go again. But not in the same seats. We were in the rear circle. One row from the very top of the entire theatre. Jolly steep.
Sadly, all six of us are on the Cast committee. This means we will see one another again tomorrow - as it's our six-weekly meeting. Then we shall see one another again on Thursday at rehearsal. Thank God tonight wasn't a Cast social, just the few of us enjoying a good night out. Otherwise people would think we were extremely sad. Hmmmmn.
Thought for the day: 'I hope you're sitting comfortably, I saved you the best seat in the house.' Messiah Ward. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Tuesday, January 9
Friday, January 5
Sleeping on it
A phone call from director her and an email from director him revealed one thing this morning; we were all very tired and had trouble getting to sleep last night, running through all the decisions over and over again in our heads until we eventually nodded off.Then this morning we woke up and were all happy about the decisions we had made.
The juggling of non-speaking roles remains to be perfected. We have to firmly establish whether we have the right number of guards, servants, guests and villagers in the crowd scenes. We made one minor boo-boo last night when we were shuffling things around, but director him worked out how to resolve it this morning with a stroke of genius.
I drew up a spreadsheet (previous producer - otherwise known as Keeble - would be proud of me) to map the flow of the parts, speaking and non-speaking, each person has under the allocation we have currently. Director her and director him will have a meeting on Sunday to sort out any adjustments. I shall be at my parents for the weekend so will have to be included by conference call.
I'm pleased by the way the three of us have been working together as a unit. We seem to be of like mind as to how we want the whole show to progress. Decisions never get made by a process of osmosis, but at the moment you could believe they are.
To wit, the way last night that we all managed instantaneously to reach the same decision was great; be it a definate instant verdict on who should get a part, or a desire to give people a second fuller opportunity to show what they could do, or a decision to see people again in twos or threes to see how they worked together.
So that's the first fence jumped, but there are many more ahead. Beechers' Brook and The Chair lie in waiting.
Thought for the day: 'Never underestimate The Power of Three' Charmed (obviously - well it had to come out sooner or later...)
The juggling of non-speaking roles remains to be perfected. We have to firmly establish whether we have the right number of guards, servants, guests and villagers in the crowd scenes. We made one minor boo-boo last night when we were shuffling things around, but director him worked out how to resolve it this morning with a stroke of genius.
I drew up a spreadsheet (previous producer - otherwise known as Keeble - would be proud of me) to map the flow of the parts, speaking and non-speaking, each person has under the allocation we have currently. Director her and director him will have a meeting on Sunday to sort out any adjustments. I shall be at my parents for the weekend so will have to be included by conference call.
I'm pleased by the way the three of us have been working together as a unit. We seem to be of like mind as to how we want the whole show to progress. Decisions never get made by a process of osmosis, but at the moment you could believe they are.
To wit, the way last night that we all managed instantaneously to reach the same decision was great; be it a definate instant verdict on who should get a part, or a desire to give people a second fuller opportunity to show what they could do, or a decision to see people again in twos or threes to see how they worked together.
So that's the first fence jumped, but there are many more ahead. Beechers' Brook and The Chair lie in waiting.
Thought for the day: 'Never underestimate The Power of Three' Charmed (obviously - well it had to come out sooner or later...)
The nightmare is over
It's all cast. Some people are very, very happy, some are disappointed. Some are surprised, others got what they might have expected. As for me, well I got THE PART, but by default in many ways. Rival emailed director him today saying that he wouldn't be auditioning due to work commitments and the other people who read for it were better at other parts. Anyway, I am one of the very, very happy ones.
Director him got a first taste of what casting is like. It is his first show as a producer or director and I think he was quite surprised at what he found himself saying and doing. It's not a case of picking the 10 people you would most like to invite to a dinner party, you have to be detached and make your judgement on the basis of what will work on stage. He grasped that concept just as well as director her or producer. We have ended up with the best cast possible and, after seeing some people two or three times for certain roles, were all in agreement over who should do what.
We've got someone doing their first show as Cutwell, two people who haven't done a show for four years as Ysabell and Albert and someone doing her first play as Keli. Then in the other main roles we have a regular as Footnote, secretary as Doorknocker, producer as DEATH, and some ginger bloke of ill repute as Mort.
Telling everyone is a nightmare, but we didn't cop out and announce the parts all at once or by email, we told each person individually before letting the group know. Director her did it the same way for Wyrd Sisters.
So we march onwards and upwards. Rehearsals begin on Monday. We have 20 between now and show week. That's just 60 hours to get everything perfect. It's not long...
Thought for the day: 'Onwards and upwards. The inside is bigger than the outside.' The Last Battle. CS Lewis.
Director him got a first taste of what casting is like. It is his first show as a producer or director and I think he was quite surprised at what he found himself saying and doing. It's not a case of picking the 10 people you would most like to invite to a dinner party, you have to be detached and make your judgement on the basis of what will work on stage. He grasped that concept just as well as director her or producer. We have ended up with the best cast possible and, after seeing some people two or three times for certain roles, were all in agreement over who should do what.
We've got someone doing their first show as Cutwell, two people who haven't done a show for four years as Ysabell and Albert and someone doing her first play as Keli. Then in the other main roles we have a regular as Footnote, secretary as Doorknocker, producer as DEATH, and some ginger bloke of ill repute as Mort.
Telling everyone is a nightmare, but we didn't cop out and announce the parts all at once or by email, we told each person individually before letting the group know. Director her did it the same way for Wyrd Sisters.
So we march onwards and upwards. Rehearsals begin on Monday. We have 20 between now and show week. That's just 60 hours to get everything perfect. It's not long...
Thought for the day: 'Onwards and upwards. The inside is bigger than the outside.' The Last Battle. CS Lewis.
Thursday, January 4
Geezer gets us going
A five minute phone call to producer geezer revealed that he has sorted out an agreement with Time 106.6 FM to record an ad for Mort which will be broadcast twice a day for the next three months. He's also got a regular slot lined up in the Slough Express and is contacting the Slough Observer tomorrow. Publicising Mort is going to be tricky. If you are a Pratchett fan, the single word will instantly provoke interest. If you are not... well that's where producer geezer will need to use all his talents.
After all, when it comes down to it, Discworld stories can be a little complicated to the uninitiated. For example, trying to explain the fact that the librarian at the Unseen University is an orang-utan is quite tricky. Any attempt to tell people about a Pratchett story unually involves an awful lot of subordinate clauses and contorted sentences.
I have absolutely no doubt that we will be able to sell out the show - it's 320 tickets when we have a supper night, which means £2,240 in takings if we shift them all. The tickets are £10 but £3 of that pays for the fish & chips, so it's £7 revenue per person. Judging by the number of people we are expecting to audition and cast (between 20 and 25?) we are only going to be looking at cast and crew selling one table each.
Next up will be the budget. Director him happens to be treasurer too, so we should have no problem there. We have got a number of other potential sources of income to include as well. The biggest expense is probably going to be on the set, but the recent acquisitions set man has made have been real money savers.
Anyway, by this time tomorrow.....
Thought for the day: 'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...' Mr Bardy again.
After all, when it comes down to it, Discworld stories can be a little complicated to the uninitiated. For example, trying to explain the fact that the librarian at the Unseen University is an orang-utan is quite tricky. Any attempt to tell people about a Pratchett story unually involves an awful lot of subordinate clauses and contorted sentences.
I have absolutely no doubt that we will be able to sell out the show - it's 320 tickets when we have a supper night, which means £2,240 in takings if we shift them all. The tickets are £10 but £3 of that pays for the fish & chips, so it's £7 revenue per person. Judging by the number of people we are expecting to audition and cast (between 20 and 25?) we are only going to be looking at cast and crew selling one table each.
Next up will be the budget. Director him happens to be treasurer too, so we should have no problem there. We have got a number of other potential sources of income to include as well. The biggest expense is probably going to be on the set, but the recent acquisitions set man has made have been real money savers.
Anyway, by this time tomorrow.....
Thought for the day: 'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...' Mr Bardy again.
Wednesday, January 3
Polishing piles of poo
Apparently in my job (I'm a newspaper editor) I am used to 'sifting through piles of sh1t until everything looks polished'. Well according to director him that is. Why are we on this topic? Well someone has to play Cyrus the cess-pit cleaner, don't they!
This discussion began with a conversation about the advice about characterisation we were giving to those who sought it prior to the auditions. One person has asked both director her and director him for guideance - and maybe had different answers! Last night I suggested to director her that if I didn't get THE PART then I would only be able to do something where I wasn't on at the same time because HE needs to be the tallest person on the stage. Which is where Cyrus came in.
Foolishly I asked director him and director her what advice they would give to me if I was to play that part... Which takes us back to where we started. Carte blanche for an open season on all things toilet related. Oh and I should add before we go any further that we usually have to unblock the drains at Colnbrook Village Hall (where we perform) a couple of times a year. There's no caretaker, so the lot falls upon us. If you get my meaning.
So here is the advice:
"Make sure you have had a good swim around in a cess pit - to get the flavour of the charater."
"Wear a snorkel and nose plugs. That is how I would do the job anyway."
"Whoever gets the part now has to go and sort out any drainage blockages that might occur at CVH in order to make sure they really understand their part. :))"
Plus the stuff about being an editor.
Thank the Lord that I didn't ask set man or dangerous (set man's Portsmouth-based sidekick). All sorts of gags about bumper books of crosswords would have come back at me. I'll explain why another time. Maybe when we get around to set build.
Thought for the day: Gutter jounalism. Fireplace toilets. Dr Livingstone I presume. Steptoe & son. Gordon Bennett Oh yes, there is a link between all five of those things. Here goes....
James Gordon Bennett was a real person, or rather two real people. The elder James Gordon Bennett was born in Scotland in 1795 and emigrated to the USA, eventually becoming a journalist and founding the New York Herald in 1835. The paper flourished to become the number one in the city. But Bennett's was criticized for his 'gutter press' methods. In 1836, in a pre-cursor to tabloid cheque book journalism, he published a notice offering to reward any woman who 'will set a trap for a Presbyterian parson, and catch one of them flagrante delicito'.
James Gordon Bennett Jr. inherited his father's talents for journalism and controversy, not to mention his multi-million dollar estate - and he's the one the phrase refers to. He took over control of the New York Herald in 1866.
He has the unenviable record, as bestowed by the Guinness Book of Records, of the 'Greatest Engagement Faux Pas', for the manner in which his engagement to the socialite Caroline May was broken off in 1877. At the 1877 New Year's party held by his fiancee's father, he became so drunk that he mistook the fireplace for a toilet and urinated in it in front of his hosts and their guests. Needless to say, the marriage didn't go ahead.
This didn't stop him being an successful and innovative journalist though. He invested heavily in developing on his father's news empire. In 1868, with the simple brief of 'find Livingstone' he sent the travelling correspondent of the New York Herald - Henry Morton Stanley, to track down and interview David Livingstone in Africa. After a long search Stanley was ready to give up but was encouraged by Bennett which, when he eventually located his prey on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, resulted in what has become one of the most famous of all journalistic lines - "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
From 1877 Bennett lived in Europe and died in 1918. The expletive 'Gordon Bennett' is a version of 'Gor blimey', which is itself a euphemistic version of 'God blind me'. That, combined with Bennett's outrageous lifestyle and newsworthy stunts, is sufficient to explain why his name was picked out.
But the earliest known use of the phrase in print is in the script for a 1962 episode of the BBC comedy 'Steptoe and Son' - The Bird:
Harold: Well that's that then. I said "That's that then".
Albert: What's that then?
Harold: That is! I've finished for the day!
Albert: Have you fed the horse?
Harold: Of course I've fed the horse - I wouldn't have said "That's that then" if I hadn't.
Albert: You wrapped him up?
Harold: Yes I have wrapped him up. Look when I say "That's that then" it means I've done it all, it means I've finished. Gordon Bennett, if you don't know that after all these years.
Phew!!! I think that explains it all... I told you that if you read this every day you would learn something.
This discussion began with a conversation about the advice about characterisation we were giving to those who sought it prior to the auditions. One person has asked both director her and director him for guideance - and maybe had different answers! Last night I suggested to director her that if I didn't get THE PART then I would only be able to do something where I wasn't on at the same time because HE needs to be the tallest person on the stage. Which is where Cyrus came in.
Foolishly I asked director him and director her what advice they would give to me if I was to play that part... Which takes us back to where we started. Carte blanche for an open season on all things toilet related. Oh and I should add before we go any further that we usually have to unblock the drains at Colnbrook Village Hall (where we perform) a couple of times a year. There's no caretaker, so the lot falls upon us. If you get my meaning.
So here is the advice:
"Make sure you have had a good swim around in a cess pit - to get the flavour of the charater."
"Wear a snorkel and nose plugs. That is how I would do the job anyway."
"Whoever gets the part now has to go and sort out any drainage blockages that might occur at CVH in order to make sure they really understand their part. :))"
Plus the stuff about being an editor.
Thank the Lord that I didn't ask set man or dangerous (set man's Portsmouth-based sidekick). All sorts of gags about bumper books of crosswords would have come back at me. I'll explain why another time. Maybe when we get around to set build.
Thought for the day: Gutter jounalism. Fireplace toilets. Dr Livingstone I presume. Steptoe & son. Gordon Bennett Oh yes, there is a link between all five of those things. Here goes....
James Gordon Bennett was a real person, or rather two real people. The elder James Gordon Bennett was born in Scotland in 1795 and emigrated to the USA, eventually becoming a journalist and founding the New York Herald in 1835. The paper flourished to become the number one in the city. But Bennett's was criticized for his 'gutter press' methods. In 1836, in a pre-cursor to tabloid cheque book journalism, he published a notice offering to reward any woman who 'will set a trap for a Presbyterian parson, and catch one of them flagrante delicito'.
James Gordon Bennett Jr. inherited his father's talents for journalism and controversy, not to mention his multi-million dollar estate - and he's the one the phrase refers to. He took over control of the New York Herald in 1866.
He has the unenviable record, as bestowed by the Guinness Book of Records, of the 'Greatest Engagement Faux Pas', for the manner in which his engagement to the socialite Caroline May was broken off in 1877. At the 1877 New Year's party held by his fiancee's father, he became so drunk that he mistook the fireplace for a toilet and urinated in it in front of his hosts and their guests. Needless to say, the marriage didn't go ahead.
This didn't stop him being an successful and innovative journalist though. He invested heavily in developing on his father's news empire. In 1868, with the simple brief of 'find Livingstone' he sent the travelling correspondent of the New York Herald - Henry Morton Stanley, to track down and interview David Livingstone in Africa. After a long search Stanley was ready to give up but was encouraged by Bennett which, when he eventually located his prey on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, resulted in what has become one of the most famous of all journalistic lines - "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
From 1877 Bennett lived in Europe and died in 1918. The expletive 'Gordon Bennett' is a version of 'Gor blimey', which is itself a euphemistic version of 'God blind me'. That, combined with Bennett's outrageous lifestyle and newsworthy stunts, is sufficient to explain why his name was picked out.
But the earliest known use of the phrase in print is in the script for a 1962 episode of the BBC comedy 'Steptoe and Son' - The Bird:
Harold: Well that's that then. I said "That's that then".
Albert: What's that then?
Harold: That is! I've finished for the day!
Albert: Have you fed the horse?
Harold: Of course I've fed the horse - I wouldn't have said "That's that then" if I hadn't.
Albert: You wrapped him up?
Harold: Yes I have wrapped him up. Look when I say "That's that then" it means I've done it all, it means I've finished. Gordon Bennett, if you don't know that after all these years.
Phew!!! I think that explains it all... I told you that if you read this every day you would learn something.
Tuesday, January 2
Adding a footnote
"Hello. Welcome to the Discworld, not a spherical world like yours, but flat… like a pizza. The Discworld moves through space on the backs of four giant elephants. They in turn stand on the back of a colossal turtle – the Great A’Tuin. Just goes to show the gods do have a sense of humour!"
Our version of Mort will open with Footnote, the narrator character used by Stephen Briggs in other Discworld adaptations, describing the locations and characters of the play for the audience. Pratchett's tales are easy to understand when you read them, once you have bought into the overall concept. On stage, life isn't so easy for the uninitiated. So to assist our audience Footnote will be their guide.
In the original play, as mentioned in an earlier blog, all the 'narration' pieces are done by characters in the story. Having decided to change this right at our initial meeting, replacing them with Footnote, the adjusted dialogue and new introduction needed putting together. Director her has done it all and sent it to director him, secretary and producer last night.
Apart from the usual caveat about spelling & grammar, which director her now always makes as a result of director him taking the p***, it is absolutely spot on. Whoever does the footnote role has got a pretty interesting job on their hands learning an introduction of 500 words. Strangely, it's the sort of thing I would normally fancy doing myself, but it's going to be a female part for us.
Thought for the day: 'Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste...' Sympathy For The Devil. Mick & Keef.
Our version of Mort will open with Footnote, the narrator character used by Stephen Briggs in other Discworld adaptations, describing the locations and characters of the play for the audience. Pratchett's tales are easy to understand when you read them, once you have bought into the overall concept. On stage, life isn't so easy for the uninitiated. So to assist our audience Footnote will be their guide.
In the original play, as mentioned in an earlier blog, all the 'narration' pieces are done by characters in the story. Having decided to change this right at our initial meeting, replacing them with Footnote, the adjusted dialogue and new introduction needed putting together. Director her has done it all and sent it to director him, secretary and producer last night.
Apart from the usual caveat about spelling & grammar, which director her now always makes as a result of director him taking the p***, it is absolutely spot on. Whoever does the footnote role has got a pretty interesting job on their hands learning an introduction of 500 words. Strangely, it's the sort of thing I would normally fancy doing myself, but it's going to be a female part for us.
Thought for the day: 'Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste...' Sympathy For The Devil. Mick & Keef.
Monday, January 1
Dream scenario, nightmare decisions
Happy New Year! It's 2007! Four days to go to auditions. Looks like we are going to have even more people turn up than we thought. All sorts of calls about auditioning have come in from new people to director her and director him.
A show in Windsor has apparently been cancelled according to one person who phoned director him. That person is definitely coming down and may bring others along too. This will be the largest turnout for auditions for a spring play since Stags & Hens, maybe the largest ever.
This dream situation makes life very difficult for those who have to cast the show. Secretary and I spent a very pleasant New Year's Eve at friends along with box office, director her and previous director. We stayed the night at director her & previous director's place and had a discussion over a drink (with box office as well) that there may be a lot of disappointed people (producer and box office included) after auditions.
We need good new blood and doing a Terry Pratchett is a useful way to draw a different group of people into CAST. You are going to have a rather different sort of person thinking about trying out for Mort than for say My Fair Lady, Cinderella or Outside Edge. The people who appear in this show are also quite likely to stay to do our next one, Return To The Forbidden Planet, as it has a similar sort of appeal.
The point here is that director her is already having nightmares over the casting. As each extra person comes into view, it gets to be more of a nightmare as well. But once DEATH, Mort, Ysabell and Albert have been cast I shall join director her and director him to assist with casting the other parts and to help take the blame from anyone who is disappointed! It will be good for me to have something to do to take my mind off being disappointed at not getting the part I wanted!!!
Thought for the day: '"Ah. Well. There's certainly plenty of raw material" sighed Lezek.' Mort (The book, that is) TP
A show in Windsor has apparently been cancelled according to one person who phoned director him. That person is definitely coming down and may bring others along too. This will be the largest turnout for auditions for a spring play since Stags & Hens, maybe the largest ever.
This dream situation makes life very difficult for those who have to cast the show. Secretary and I spent a very pleasant New Year's Eve at friends along with box office, director her and previous director. We stayed the night at director her & previous director's place and had a discussion over a drink (with box office as well) that there may be a lot of disappointed people (producer and box office included) after auditions.
We need good new blood and doing a Terry Pratchett is a useful way to draw a different group of people into CAST. You are going to have a rather different sort of person thinking about trying out for Mort than for say My Fair Lady, Cinderella or Outside Edge. The people who appear in this show are also quite likely to stay to do our next one, Return To The Forbidden Planet, as it has a similar sort of appeal.
The point here is that director her is already having nightmares over the casting. As each extra person comes into view, it gets to be more of a nightmare as well. But once DEATH, Mort, Ysabell and Albert have been cast I shall join director her and director him to assist with casting the other parts and to help take the blame from anyone who is disappointed! It will be good for me to have something to do to take my mind off being disappointed at not getting the part I wanted!!!
Thought for the day: '"Ah. Well. There's certainly plenty of raw material" sighed Lezek.' Mort (The book, that is) TP
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