West Side Story Blog

Two Weekends Down - and selling like mad!

2009-03-24T00:24:00.005-04:00

Greetings! We are now officially into the third week of our run - the proverbial home stretch! The second weekend went very well (despite some minor mishaps...) and I know we are ready to deliver another weekend to our much-appreciated audiences.

As I mentioned, this past weekend was not without it's issues... We had some problems with sound - microphones, amplification, etc... These are not abnormal problems to have and most of the time they go unnoticed or are forgiven by the audience. Most notable, though, was an injury sustained by one of the cast members, Tyler who plays Snowboy, a Jet. He landed funny on his ankle after a section of the Dance at the Gym and garnered a definite sprain. You can see my video interview with him that I did during intermission that night below. In the true spirit of "the show must go on", Tyler finished that evening's show and then went to the ER to get checked out. The rest of the weekend was a little crazy requiring some re-staging of the dance numbers that he is in. But, by Saturday and certainly Sunday, he was back up on his feet and the show was running with it's original choreography.

The other videos I have put up on this post are from more of the cast talking about how it feels to get back into the swing of things after a few days away. This is always a challenge that we seem to rise to pretty easily - it just requires extra focus and attention to the task at hand.

I plan to be back at the end of the week as we bring the curtain up on the final weekend of our run. A reminder that we have added a Wednesday night performance this week to accommodate heavy ticket sales at the Box Office. If you would like to get in to see the show this week with a decent seat, that may be your best bet! Be sure to call the Box Office - 317.923.4597 - or visit www.civictheatre.org to get your tickets now!

That's all for now. Enjoy the videos!--
--BRENT

One weekend down...

2009-03-16T01:15:00.002-04:00

It's Sunday night and I'm beat! The show is open and, if the rumors are true, our first weekend was a success.

I apologize for not getting the video footage I mentioned in the last post, but it is hard to find time to film when the show is up and running -- plus, I'm a little preoccupied during that time as well. I do promise to try and get some cast/crew reaction to things next weekend.

As I said, the show was popular with audiences in attendance this weekend (let's hope that continues to be the case...!). That is not to say that there weren't hitches and glitches along the way... It is simply the nature of live performance that some things will not always go as planned. In a big musical like WEST SIDE STORY the probability is high that there will be a misstep or two! Thankfully, the audience rarely has any idea that something unusual is happening - that is, if the cast on-stage, the crew backstage and the orchestra in the pit are well-rehearsed and ready to make split-second decisions. Whether it's a missed entrance, a mechanical failure of some kind or a jumped cue, the show can still run smoothly if everyone is on top of their game. That's our job!

Now, I certainly won't give anything away, but there were some "interesting" moments this weekend... But, we shall chalk those up to the gremlins that hang around theatres and press on with the task at hand - which is to produce two more successful weekends! That's right, only two more weekends. So, get your tickets now if you haven't already. Call the Box Office at 317.923.4597 or visit www.civictheatre.org today!

One weekend down!

It's OPENING NIGHT!

2009-03-13T14:50:00.006-04:00

Well, this is it! The long weeks of rehearsal will finally pay off tonight at 8.00 when the curtain rises on WEST SIDE STORY. I haven't had a lot of time to blog this week. Dress rehearsals have gone well, but they were pretty grueling. Locking everything into place has taken time and patience on everyone's part, but I am confident that tonight's audience will be impressed! The show is gorgeous to look at and, if i do say so myself, it is sounding pretty darn good, too.

The pics above are from backstage and rehearsals. A couple are also publicity photos.

Ticket sales are also very encouraging. This weekend is almost completely sold out, which is great news for the rest of the run (and for our Finance Department!). We are definitely on track to make our goal for ticket sales.

If you are planning to see the show, you will want to get your tickets ASAP! Call the Box Office at 317.923.4597 or go online to http://www.civictheatre.org/. The show runs through March 29th.

I will be getting some video footage this evening and will post something at the end of the weekend. I will also continue to post throughout the run. So be sure to check back frequently.

Break a leg, West Siders!

What in the heck is a Sitzprobe?

2009-03-09T12:27:00.003-04:00

sitzprobe (n.) from the German for "seated trial", sitzprobe is a term used in opera and musical theatre to describe a seated rehearsal where the singers sing with the orchestra, focusing attention on integrating the two groups. The equivalent Italian term is prova all'italiana. (from the Oxford Dictionary of Opera)

So there you have it. And we did "it" yesterday afternoon with the cast and orchestra of WEST SIDE STORY. Although I was majorly stressed about how the rehearsal would go, I am very happy to report that my "fears" were unfounded.

We set up the 19-piece orchestra on the stage with the cast seated in two rows behind them. I'm not sure if it was excitement or maybe panic on my part, but as the vocalists and instrumentalists started to trickle in and warm-up, there was certainly an air of anticipation in the room. I am sure that for many of the cast this was their first experience with this sort of run-through. It is only the second time I have run one in the ten years I have been at Civic. (The first was for RAGTIME in 2006.) At any rate, as one o'clock approached and everyone was ready to go, I took to the podium ready as I was ever going to be to tackle this insanely brilliant and challenging score.

Why a sitzprobe? Well, in preparing for this season, given the challenges I knew this show would place before us, I felt that having a session to concentrate solely on the score with everyone involved would help to eliminate confusion and consternation during dress rehearsals - the time when we traditionally throw the orchestra into the mix. The goal was to get a jump on issues that normally arise (but on a small scale with more "traditional" scores) such as tempo changes, various instruments playing parts the cast was used to hearing from a piano, cues and pick-ups, etc...

Was it a success? Tonight's rehearsal will be the true test. Beyond that, though, I can say that I was most pleased with the way things went. It was evident that the orchestra members had spent time on their own rehearsing the trickiest parts of the score. They played well! The cast was also great; focused and, I think, impressed with the sound we were all working to produce. It should be mentioned that the orchestra had only been together twice before yesterday's session - a total of 6 hours. So, I can't say enough about how nice it is to be working with such a talented and cohesive group of musicians and how fortunate I feel to be working in a theatre that prides itself on having a full LIVE orchestra for ALL musical productions - a rarity in the city.

So, we shall continue to polish and cement things as we work through this week towards opening night on Friday! Tonight it all comes together for the first time - costumes, lights, sound, scenery, props, orchestra, choreography, staging, actors. Very exciting!

Be sure to check back for more posts this week. And, if you haven't already, get your tickets now! They are going fast! Visit www.civictheatre.org or call the Box Office - 317.923.4597.

That's all for now!

Tech rehearsals successful!

2009-03-07T00:40:00.006-05:00

Greetings!

Tech rehearsals for WEST SIDE STORY began on Wednesday night and as of tonight's (Friday) session we have made it through the entire show. Tech (or "technical") rehearsals are the point where all technical elements of the production are added. This includes all scenic elements and lighting as well as sound. It is pretty incredible to think that in only three days, all of the "visual" elements that make theatre into the exciting story-telling art form that it is are thrown into the mix. Thanks to the up-front organization of our stage manager, Joanne Johnson, and her stage crew I can candidly say that the process was as smooth as I've seen.

That is not to say that there haven't been weeks of preparation on the part of other staff members leading up to this week. Designer Ryan Koharchik (Civic's resident Scenographer) has been working closely with director Bob Sorbera to come up with a dynamic and really beautiful design. Ryan is first and foremost a lighting designer, but his scenic design skills are in evidence in the set for WEST SIDE STORY. The set consists of lots of moving parts (parts that are moving smoothly and creatively thanks to the expertise of Technical Director Troy Trinkle) and a interesting chain link fence motif that will transport the audience to the urban arena in which the play is set.

Props should also be given to Propsmistress Janet Sutton (pardon the pun...). This essential element of any theatrical design sometimes goes unnoticed, but Janet has been her usual thorough self and the show will succeed in no small part because of her attention to detail.

The cast has remained in good spirits in spite of the nature of tech rehearsals which require patience and focus as the production lurches toward opening night. Lots of stops and starts at a time when continuity is key have in no way diminished morale. In fact, these rehearsals have allowed for some further tweaking by myself with some of the music and by Bob with staging and Michael Worcel with choreography as well. In short, no time has been wasted!

There is a complete run-through tomorrow morning. This will be a "costumed run". Not quite a full-out dress rehearsal as we will not add make-up and wigs until Monday. But, it will give the actors a chance to work through costume changes and any other issues that might arise. Sunday (you can see that we are working hard!) will see our sitzprobe rehearsal where the actors will sit with the pit orchestra for the first time and sing through the score. Should be interesting..! Be sure to check back for my reactions to what is certain to be a challenging day.

I have posted some new video! These are some brief interviews with a couple of cast and crew members who each have something to say about the challenges of working on this great piece. Feel free to leave some comments..! And my apologies for the shakiness... Can somebody get me a tripod?!

Remember -- you can get your tickets now for WEST SIDE STORY by visiting our website - http://www.civictheatre.org/ - or calling the Box Office at 317.923.4597.

That's it for tonight!

3.02.09 Rehearsal update

2009-03-02T23:41:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first of my rehearsal blogs on WEST SIDE STORY. I hope you find them informative! (A small disclaimer regarding the videos -- tonight was my first time with the camera. I apologize for the sometimes-too-soft audio - I will be working with the device in order to maximize the quality of the footage I post.)

Here goes...

After many weeks of rehearsal (we started with choreography January 10th!!) and a few successful run-throughs of the entire play, tonight's session was a chance to do some cleaning and re-spacing - it also allowed me time to shoot some "rehearsal-in-progress" video footage. Choreographer Michael Worcel took time to review and polish several of the dance numbers including "Cool", "The Prologue" and "Mambo". Director Bob Sorbera worked on, among other things, the "Taunting" scene in which Anita is tormented by the Jets at the drugstore. I had a chance to clean-up the vocals in "America". Everyone is looking forward to getting the show up on it's feet. Technical rehearsals, where lights, scenery and sound will be added and finessed, are starting on Wednesday. Be sure to check back for an update on that later this week!

Seeing as how I mentioned the lengthy amount of time we have spent rehearsing this show, I should explain to those of you who may be a bit in the dark about our process...

Each show is allotted a specific amount of "production time" in our season. This time includes auditions, rehearsals and performances and, depending on the show title, can be anywhere from 8-10 weeks, normally. Now, that may seem like a long time, but you have to remember that, as a community theatre working with avocational actors, we are limited on rehearsal time - we average about 15 hours a week. Plus big dance shows, like WEST SIDE STORY, require more time spent really working with the actors and dancers of various talent levels to get everyone on the same page. The same could be said of big "singing" shows that require a lot of time working on learning, refining and really serving the score. At any rate, our goal is to produce the best possible production and our formula seems to be doing just that!

That's it for tonight. Enjoy the videos! I'll be posting more soon.--
--BEM

Welcome to the Indianapolis Civic Theatre Blog!

2009-03-02T16:54:00.000-05:00

Greetings.

My name is Brent Marty and I am the Director of Music and Education at Indianapolis Civic Theatre. I am also the Musical Director for our upcoming production of the ground-breaking musical, WEST SIDE STORY!

You are reading the first in a series of postings that I will be making as we rehearse and prepare for our opening on March 13th and then as we proceed through the run of the show. The blog will consist of my own personal observations as well as "mini-video-interviews" with cast, crew, artistic staff, etc... who will offer their own unique perspectives and experiences.

This blog will also become a regular feature on our website and will be updated for each production in our season.

So, stay tuned and get ready for a glimpse backstage at Indianapolis Civic Theatre!

--BEM