Coming Up this Month.

It is not yet the end of the first week of April, and the calendar is already looking incredibly full. After an excellent series of planning meetings, we are proud to announce that one of our latest pieces, The Dream Grimoire will be premiering at Art All Night on April 27th. We are thrilled to be joining in and participating in what has quickly become a Pittsburgh arts institution. More details can be found on their website: http://www.artallnight.org/.

Before that happens, however, we still have two important projects to handle, the first of which is Soup N'at. This fundraiser involves every guest at the event receiving a bowl of soup, bread, and desert, as well as a ballot. This ballot is then used to vote on which group of artist receives the proceeds of that night's event. Theatre Sans Serif's Community Outreach is one of the eligible projects, specifically our efforts at Urban Farming, After School Programs, and a Toy Drive for children in underprivileged families during the holidays. The community has given so much, and we now have an opportunity to help out. The grant would greatly assist with out efforts. The exact details are available on their website as well: http://soupnat.wordpress.com/.

Finally, after much delay, we launch back into rehearsals for Artie Goes West, formerly the Great Big Western Show. After issues with casting, and locations, we are ready, willing, and excited for the show to begin! That will take place in May at the Kaufmann Auditorium, at Hill House.

I hope to see you soon,

Andrew 

Rehearsal Log #3

Well, as the saying goes in theater, "The show must go on." And on it does. We hit a few major snags recently, but after a few hair-pulling, sleepless nights, the problem seems to be solved.

Now that the cast is mostly off book, we are really starting to have a lot of fun with the physical aspects of the show. The Commedia dell'Arte is a very physical art form, and I think we are doing it justice, ranging from the circus arts of Doc Bernie, to Artie and Bo's slapstick, to the pratfalls and girlish screaming of the not so brave Captain. While all of this is going on, Kelsey is keeping a watchful eye over the cast (myself included) to make sure no one gets hurt.

We were also pleased last Friday to do a quick preview of some of the effects in the show for the Open Mic at Future Tenant. The audience response was fantastic. I hope to see you all there.

Well, I must go back to work, it seems like the paperwork never ends to produce a show. And of course, more rehearsal photos are below.

Until next time,
 Andrew

Rehearsal Log #2

Well, I guess first things first. The more aware among you might have noticed that the first rehearsal log was not written by me. Instead, it was written by the new Associate Artistic Director, Kelsey. You will be seeing plenty more of her.

One of the hardest parts of directing is the blocking. In the case of a venue such as Future Tenant, this is doubly so, due to the smaller confines of the space. This means that every move, every cross needs planned and timed out. Fortunately, with today's rehearsal, the actors now have all of the blocking for the show, and we can now focus on the physical comedy, as well as the lines.

We also started to touch on all of the fight work and physical comedy in the script. There are kicks, punches, slaps, falls, kisses, and head butts. There is also a lot of magic and sideshow stunts (fortunately, my specialty.) Part of me is a little worried about just how exhausted we are going to be on the 23rd, with its two shows, but I think we will get through it.

There really haven't been that many amusing anecdotes from these rehearsals, as we have been incredibly busy. I will therefore leave you with a few more images to tease you as to what we are doing.

Until next time,
Andrew

Rehearsal Log #1

Hello there again!

So, the show has had kind of a rough start (better now than later, though!) - due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, we had to find a new rehearsal space for the first few weeks of the month. Luckily, we found a wonderful space with people who have been extremely gracious, I can't wait to start rehearsals there!

However, because of aforementioned rehearsal space complications, we had to have our most recent rehearsal/table talk at Milano's restaurant on 6th.  It was a really fun and productive time, and as promised, full of fun stories.

So FIRST, the cast ordered a large pizza to share, because nothing fuels creativity like food.  As we're divvying up the slices, someone, and I won't name names, tried to pass the entire pizza tier down to the other end of the table. One thing lead to another, and about 3/4 of the pizza slid off the tier, past someone else, and both pizza and metal plate crashed onto the floor. Not only that, but there is an open space in between the floor and window of the second floor of Milano's, and that's where much of the pizza went. So essentially, we made it rain pizza on anyone of the first floor. (You're welcome) Thankfully, our waitress wasn't angry, we cleaned up the pizza and got another, and the waitress blamed the mess on the party of children that were also upstairs. Note: I do feel slightly guilty about that, because that group of 20 or so children were about a million times better behaved than we were.

Second, we had another read-through of the script at the table, so everyone could get more comfortable with the flow of the show and address and questions/concerns. During said reading, we were probably louder than average, but it was manageable until we got to a heated part of the script and someone shouted "HELP! HEEELLP!" He was immediately shushed by the rest of the table, but not before everyone in the restaurant turned to look at our section. Indignance abounded, and rehearsal had to be paused while we got our giggles under control.

All's well that ends well, though - a combination of a truly wonderful and good-natured waitress, a large tab and a healthy tip made sure we are still welcome back, and the show has had its first round of embarrassing occurrences. At least after that rehearsal, no one should be afraid to act foolish in rehearsals, which is exactly what we'll need - this show is pretty exclusively foolish :)  That being said, if anyone's looking for a place to eat/purchase libation downtown, I recommend Milano's...Partially because I like it there, and partially because I feel like we owe them patronage :P

That's all for now, check back soon for more tomfoolery!

Kelsey


P.S. Here's a picture of the pizza carnage - it got stuck on the glass of the atrium. Thanks, Kyle for risking personal shame to get this pic

The Great Big Western Show

Good evening, theatregoers!

The Great Big Western Show is officially under way! Auditions were had, the cast list made, and with the first rehearsal out of the way, I am confident this will be an amazing experience, for cast and audience alike. We were fortunate enough to pull together a great group of performers, and I couldn't be happier. It's going to be a whirlwind of a reherasal process, but then again, when isn't it?

A little bit about the show: As you may have previously read/heard, this is an original show from Theatre Sans Serif, written in the style of Commedia Dell'Arte, which is a style of old Italian comedy. Don't worry, though, no subtitles are necessary for this show, because we've taken the ancient style of Commedia and applied it to the good ol' American West! It's a funny, farsical, rip-roaring good time, you won't want to miss it!

Working on an original show is ALWAYS exciting, and frightening, and thrilling. All of these emotions are heightened this time around because we are putting up the show in just a few weeks!

We'll be sure to keep you updated as rehearsals progress; with a script like this, there's sure to be some good stories. And remember, come see The Great Big Western Show, Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23 at Future Tenant Gallery on 9th and Penn Ave. And just so the suspense doesn't drive you crazy, here's some behind the scenes photos and the promo pic!

More to come,
Kelsey