February 8th, 1997
Hello
I think it's been a week since I've submitted anything here.
Sorry.
The show has prevented me from writing about the show.
Rough
Week.
We are but a few days from opening and, of course, I'm freaking out.
This last week a lot happened. We fucked with the running order,
made some cuts from the show, re-staged some things, worked on
transitions between scenes, etc.
Transitions, transitions
Transitions, transitions. See, Pinata Full of Bees was a show that
transitioned between scenes as opposed to blacking out, or taking
the lights all the way to dark after a scene. The blackout traditionally
came after the button or hook or out for a scene.....that little laugh
twist at the end where something in the scene is recalled or the
scene transforms or is resolved. This usually gets a laugh then you
take the lights out and there's an additional big or little laugh as
the players set up the next scene (chair set) in the dark and then the
lights would come up on something new. This worked fine for 37 years at Second City. Then Pinatata came along, and instead of blacking out it would go to "blues" (blue lights) and the audience
could see the transitions and you could just cut out of a scene and
back into it with a lighting change, etc. Citizen Gates did the same
thing. Now the advantage to this is that the show moves a little
smoother and feels faster and more fluid to the audience. That's
a good thing. The danger is when merely getting from scene to scene
in a cool way becomes the "new form" itself.
Well I decided that for this show, I wanted the transitions and the
scenes to be part of a greater context. Instead of having a sketch comedy show with unrelated scenes that transform into each other
well, I want to create a show where that there are unrelated scenes
and transitions mean something. For example, the first thing that comes to mind with something like this is a dream. (I use this example because I would never use this as the context.....way over done). But you get the idea, when the audience leaves the show they
haven't seen a clever show with fun changes between....they've seen
all that is in someone's dream......the show has a little level of greater
context.
So we're attempting to do something like this.
So I decided to have all the scenes in the show be all the thoughts
of one our current characters while he is in a coma. Pretty dark,
pretty scary, and it's hell getting there. See, a coma is not very
funny....and setting it up in the first place has been hell. We'll see.
The Show
The show is in pretty good shape. Not great, but pretty good shape.
Through some little running order tricks, it appears fairly balanced
as far as cast goes. A couple of people look a little heavy or a little light,
but no great problem. The scenes are working fine and the show
moves pretty well. It's a little long and there's too many two person
pieces in it. It's got enough improv, and for my money it's got enough
socially relevant material. It's very visceral/emotional...as compared
to Gates which was more regal and stoic......So it's a nice little show.
And that's what scares me.
There's some major element missing in this show and I can't put
my finger on it. I don't know if it's a strucural,context, or content
problem but something's not there. It needs a great big kick in the
ass in the next week, and right now I don't know where to kick it.
It's kinda like it doesn't want to give up what it is but what it is
isn't good enough. I have a feeling I'm going to have to rip it apart
and reconstruct it one more time before it opens. That's scary
but I think it's the only shot we have to make this great. Right now
it's good, but if it opened tonight I'd be embarrassed.....and it's nothing
in particular......it's just..........I'll figure it out.
The set
looks beautiful. Lyn designed it and Gary Jenkins built it. They both
did a great job. Lyn came in the other day and eliminated costumes
and what not that didn't match the color scheme we selected. That
was funny to me. Actors, especially improvisers, never think of color
schemes. But they are respecting that aesthetic, and it will show
up in the look of the show. The new lights came in, and Craig is learning the new board. I'm really putting him through hell.....he has
to learn this new board, keep up with the changes we're making, paint
the set, hang and focus lights, and in the next few days completely tech the show. Ouch...he's doing a great job.
How I am
I'm honestly a little bit scared/excited/anxious/intense/confused.
It's like tripping....everything around me is surreal and detached most of the time. I have to teach a class in a half an hour and I can't even
imagine how I'll do that. At 5:30 I'm working on a scene in the show
that is really lost and that's all I'm thinking about. It was an effort
to write this today but I'm glad I did. The next few days is when this
fucker crashes or clicks....and I have to be super focused and use time
extremely effectively. I trust myself completely, but I have no idea
what I'm going to do to deliver this show the way I really want to.
Improvisation.....the art of being completely o.k. with not knowing what the fuck you're doing.
email mick
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