Well I’ll say this about the Fargo/Moorhead Area, they love them some theater. High School theater, that is. We’ve seen two productions, Suesical the Musical at the Moorhead High school last year, and Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Trollwood Summer Camp for dramatic arts last night. both puts tons of money into these shows, and the whole community comes out to support and see them. The result, a damn fine rendering (if a bit shaky at times) of current broadway trends up here in the mid north. the kids doing these shows must get a little nervous, with all the pressure, but then it must be great experience. the props and stage sets are really upscale in relation to the plays my high school put on.
Trollwood is actually a camp that attracts aspiring actors from all over the country, and the talent is darn good. The singers last night had what kelli called “American Idol” voices. and the show was outdoors, in a natural hillside Ampitheater-like setting. Helicoptors buzzed over head, and during our 20 minute intermission, we were asked to vacate the seating area to allow the spraying for mosquitos. And it worked! I didn’t get bit once, as I was dreading.
In the studio, I continue working on a clay bust of myself. a bit conceited perhaps. I am learning the slip cast method, wherein I may be able to reproduce the bust in a hollow porcelain shell. Its exciting.
July 31, 2007 at 4:32 pm |
Can I get a copy of your bust? I’d love to have one, really!
Yeah, community and youth theaters often have better budgets than a lot of the professional stuff here in Chicago. It’s helping to keep theater alive in the age of tv and movies, so I really appreciate it despite my personal minimalistic aesthetic (all you really need is a good actor, a good story, and an audience – everything else is frills), though it seems like only musicals do really well. It’s hard to make much money on straight plays.
But you don’t get to pick what the people want. For good or ill, the unseen hand of the marketplace offers you a limited set of options off of which to make money. If you just want a hobby, you can do whatever, but if you want to make a living, you either have to pick something they want to see or figure out a way to make them want to see what you like, which is almost impossible to do on a consistent basis. I’m guessing you come across that regularly, Pappa. Does it make you sad?
July 31, 2007 at 5:22 pm |
thanks for the comment Jerk.
What’s challenging and interesting is trying to find a way to move your intentions to a consistently renewed and self-renewing place. what i mean is, you or i may assume that “A” is what we really want to show people, and at some original point it was. but it may become quickly didactic to stay with “A”, like the longer you stay with a plan of your show, the more you define it and it defines you. Being aware that it isn’t some refined irreducible jewel or grain that is the thing you are doing, but a day-to-day changing process, helps to focus on what is really going on, and focus it as a practice.
So as far as what people want, I’m happy to oblige, but just twist and tweak it enough to make it original. that would be a good aim i guess.
September 23, 2007 at 4:28 pm |
it doesn’t seem conceited to do a bust of yourself if you’re trying to work on the technique. i mean, wouldn’t it be worse to mess up somebody else’s face?