Why so serious...?

Week 21 - 302 days to opening night

Starting to think about the proper publicity for the show, all the teasers are done and ready, which takes us up to the Panto, and then after the panto it's the full marketing stuff. At the moment none of the teasers give the actual dates - they just say July 2010, which is right this far away from the show - pique interest, that's all they need to do. Am trying to decide at the moment wether to market the show as fairly serious - as it does deal with some serious themes (alcohol and drug addiction) as well as comedy, or do I stay quite flippant. Ah'm thinkin, flippant at the moment, but you never know I might find a happy medium.

I'm moving at the end of October, so I'm trying to get as much done now before my life gets stored all away in boxes. How did I accumulate so much crap over the years? I surely don't need 3 boxes full of 'Happy As A Sandbag' posters, do I? Answers on a postcard please...(first prize is a box of posters). Probably won't order as many posters for M&M...

Neil 

Double or quits...

Week 21 - 304 days to opening night

Xmas show auditions today, which went very well. Good singers for the singing bits and good actors for the acting bits. Should be very good. Chatted with Georgina about choreography very briefly as well for M&M.

Interesting conversation, also, about people rehearsing two shows at once, provided rehearsal nights are on different nights. BBLOC are doing 'The Producers' next summer - big theatre, and a very good professional director - and several members of HCP are involved/auditioning, and as their rehearsal nights are Mons and Weds and ours are Tues and Thurs it's physically possible for someone to be in both - which I'm happy about, and it's fine by me provided they understand that they will be out 4 nights a week (knackered or what), and that they just let me know which rehearsals they can't do (as BBLOC work in week chunks from time to time) so I can work around it. It is an excellent show, so I'm certainly not going to stop anyone being involved. Unfortunately it seems that BBLOC won't let people be in two shows at once - even if it doesn't affect rehearsals - which is a shame as it means it'll force people into having to choose between the shows. Ah well. We'll see what happens come November. 'C'est la vie' as they say somewhere french speaking.

I was very surprised today to hear how many people read this drivel, by the way. What really? Pete has promised that he'll do bits for it, as it is just a bit of a vanity project at the mo. Otherwise it's just me, me, me. And that just gets boring. 

Neil 

My two left foots...

Week 20 - 305 days to opening night

Tap, Tap tappity tap, step ball change, tap, tap, tappity, tappity, tappity tap. Tap. Tap. Tappity tap.

**singing**  If a sky full of crap always lands in your lap make a curtsey and tap your troubles awwwwaaaaaay.**

So says Jerry Herman's lyrics - but I'm assuming he'd want you to change first, y'know, if your lap was covered in crap - tapping would just spread it everywhere. (very strange lyrics if taken literally...)

Did a quick graphic for something today (above) and been blocking a bit of the 2nd half today, mainly towards the end as that isn't too complicated - but it does involve the BIG tap number but luckily that's Georgina's nightmare not mine. Any choreography I did would just involve a lot of shuffling and bumping into one and other. I did try tap dancing once, but kept falling into the sink (**ba boom tish** I thang yew. That joke will now be retiring due to old age). Anyone who knows me knows I can't dance - I'd like to put it down to the fact that I'm male and straight...the 'good-at-dancing' gene completely bypassed me at birth unfortunately (...in my head I dance like Gene Kelly, though). 

HCP Xmas show auditions are tomorrow, so it'll be a good way for me to size up the potential cast for Mack and Mabel. Whilst it's not an enormous cast, it's going to need quite a few chorus members (both male and female) to pull it off. Not sure how many will turn up as it's being rehearsed at the same time as the Panto and I'm not sure many people will want to be in both. Still, we'll see...

Anyhoo, back to my tap dancing....a one, anna two, anna three, anna four...

Tap, Tap tappity tap, step ball change, tap, tap, tappity, tappity, tappity tap. **fades into distance**

Neil 

Ahhhhhhhhh-fter Effects. Was it good for you too?

Week 20 - 306 days to opening night

I'm a geek. No, hush now, I am. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Geek. Geek. Geek. But this is a seriously geeky posting....

.....alright, but you've been warned.

To achieve what I want with the animations etc I've been needing some new software to help with it, and its call 'After Effects' (**sound of angels singing**). And a few weeks ago I got a copy of After Effects (**sound of angels singing**), and today I opened it up in anger for the first time to do a couple of tests, and by golly, After Effects (**sound of angels singing**) does exactly what it says on the tin. It's the missing link between all the other software I have and use at work and at home, so I've had a stab at a little teaser for Mack & Mabel using After Effects (**sound of angels singing**) which is my back up for projecting during the Panto if my plans for a proper animated advert doesn't come off. And it's aint looking too shabby to be honest - it, that is to say, After Effects (**sound of angels singing**) will be invaluable for the overture. 

Click here for the HCP's Mack & Mabel Teaser 

So thank you After Effects (**sound of angels singing**) - if you were a women I would have booked a double room in a swanky hotel and ordered something from the room menu by now....

Plus Eliot (Lighting) has emailled me today to say he has some new toys at the Regent Theatre  that I might want to have a play with. 'Emotionally erect' is phrase that seems to sum it all up.

Weird, moi?

Neil 

Oh Ffffff...iddlesticks

Week 20 - 309 days to opening night

Ooops. Zut alors and merde. Made un petite cock-up this week and double booked myself. (Gosh darn it, Neil. How. Are. You. Sooo. Popular? (**whisper** no, not really...**slightly lower and more pathetic whisper** please, please be my friend...I have money)).

We were going to have the 'Evening of Interest' on Wednesday - and still are, Jen and Simon will still do their thang, but unfortunately it's fallen on the same night as Brownsea Open Air Theatre presentation evening whereby donations from 'Hamlet' are officially given to the National Trust. And as I was the **cough** lead role **cough** I think it'd be really bad if I wasn't there - so I've done a powerpoint for the HCP evening with some basics about M&M, but there's been problems with getting Powerpoint working on a laptop - so I've done a pdf that people can look through during the evening (on Pete's laptop) if they are so inclined.

Pdf is available if you click here (3.3Mb)

On another related but unrelated note, Pete had his auditions yesterday for the Pantomime and he says it went well, so full steam ahead on that front. Man's got his work cut out for him as I believe they start rehearsals tonight....

Neil

The whole thing's rigged...

Week 19 - 312 days to opening night

On-stage scene docs, visible lighting rigs and usable crates should make the staging of this show fairly easy. Now to just make the stuff...

Neil 

Moving Titles

Week 19 - 313 days to opening night

Quick movie test. Quality's a bit crappy though which is a shame as it looks very crisp on my desktop...

Neil

It's a fair cop....

Week 19 - 316 days to opening night

I've officially started blocking today.  Yeah, I think that deserves an emboldened typeface for emphasis. It's months earlier than I normally do it, but I've decided to try doing this show in a different way to the others, and getting the basic blocking done will help me see if what I want to do is possible. Watched a bit of Singing in The Rain (cos it's set during this period) to see how the film equipment, in particular the mics were set up for a shoot - and very useful it was too... in fact I've found the exact bit on Youtube as well:

Singing In The Rain - shooting  the Dualling Cavelier Scene

I've also been building the 3d model for the Keystone Cop (above) to be used in the overture, I haven't got very far but it's a start. I've nicked-named him 'Bernie', don't know why ( I do know a Bernie, but it's not because of him) - but 'Bernie' it is for the time being.

The big news of the week is a backstage thing - constantly during pre-productions of recent shows I wished I had someone like John Gayler around - a man who loved the theatre and was a bit of a pro carpenter and a dab hand in building sets. Plus a thoroughly decent chap, and more importantly a mate. Unfortunately he went to live in Spain about 7/8 years ago, but only this week he's got in contact that he's coming back to Blighty and "did I need a had backstage with any shows I was doing". I could have kissed him - in a very platonic way obviously - and I emailled back saying yes, yes, oh bloody hell yes. I haven't spoken to him about M&M, (thought I'd make sure he's back in the country and can't escape) but any help he can bring to the show would be excellent...

So revolving stage, here I come. No, not really. (**whispers** revolving stage you will be mine, oh yes...). 

Neil 

Balls to Christmas

Week 18 - 3 hundred and something days to opening night

Haven't had a chance to do much M&M because of work, but I've quickly built a template for the HCP Xmas show poster that I can easily change once Simon and Jen have decided what they want to call it, and finalised ticket details etc. The xmas show is a fundraiser for Mack and Mabel so it pays to advertise it and sell out.

I should get a chance to get back onto M&M next week - particularly as we have this 'Evening of Interest' coming up in which I'll show a few bits of stuff to the group...

Pete's auditioning for his Panto next week, so there's plenty for everyone to get involved with....

Anyway, with a fah lah lah lah laaaah, le lah lah laaaaaaah...

Neil 

Shape of things to come

Week 18 - 323 days to opening night

A coupla new images. This is officially my shortest blog posting. 

Eleven words. 

Oh, no that's two more. Thirteen. Ah, Nineteen. Twenty-on...

...aw, buggerit.

Neil 

Ding Dong!

Week 17 - 112 days to Xmas

Only 16 weeks til xmas, dontcha know. Had the Xmas show meeting last night which was all very positive - Simon and Jen are in charge and they seem to have it all well in hand. I'll watch over Simon and Georgina will watch over Jen, but only in a advisor and helping way - it's their baby. It'll be an evening of carols, a one act play and then some individual songs. There's going to be a lot on for HCP in the coming months with the Panto rehearsing at the same time.

The one M&M tit-bit to come out of the evening - apart from it being a fundraiser for the Summer show - is that we will be doing an 'evening of interest' on September the twenty-mumble (I forget - wrote it down on a bit of paper that's now at home) which will be Jen and Simon explaining about what they want for the xmas show, then a bit of a readthrough of the one act and then I'll give a quick presentation of what where I'm going with Mack and Mabel, initial ideas and thoughts etc basically I'll just use some of the visuals from this blog, and some clips etc just to get people interested in the show itself...

Xmas show will be on the 19th/20th December - should be fun...

Neil

Thinking inside the box

Week 17 - 329 days to opening night

Yeah, usable crates might just work, y'know. 

Been looking into cost and it's probably a bit out of budget but I've got feelers out seeing if we can blag any. If anyone does know of any going free/cheap let me know.

Also looking into building fake film projectors/cameras versus hiring as we'll need some for that old chestnut we all like to call 'period correct' - the projector above, for the start of 'Look what happened to Mabel',  isn't 'period correct' but I thought 'ah sod it', no-one will know unless I point it out...which I just have. Dammit, Mathieson, you and your chubby typing fingers...

Neil