Rehearsals - Week 2

Week sixty something - Week 2 of rehearsals

Week two of rehearsals and look! Two, not one, but two postings from cast member (see below). Two. Now this really is a production blog rather than 'Neil writes dull stuff' blog. Hopefully they'll just keep on comin'.

Soooo week two. Blocking and it's slooooooooow. I told the cast it would be slow, boring, complicated etc but I don't think the cast realised it would be slow, boring, complicated etc until we actually started...at which point they came to the conclusion that it was slow, boring, complicated etc. But it's doing this stuff now that'll pay dividends later on. Or so I keep telling myself.

Only one dropout this week - which takes the total to 4. But it was someone who hadn't come to rehearsals yet anyway so it doesn't get in the way of anything. However the dropouts have meant 'reblocking' - which is a nightmare particularly as I'm trying to give everyone something to do individually....so that they are at least on stage for the first quarter of the show.

Simon Abbott seems rather pleased with all the physical slapstick he's goin' to have to go through, which is good. I'll remind him of this when we're in casualty for the seventh time...

I'm almost done with an update to the website (above) which will be changable weekly/whenever I get the urge. Hopefully that'll go up this week. Doing all the artwork today for all the printed material, and starting the print specs etc for all the printers quotes - then it's onto the programme - need to start it now before it becomes impossible later on.

I've asked for 10 emails from all the cast so we can do an emailer later on, but I'm not holding my breath at the moment. We'll see.

Anyhoo, the Regent Centre drop banner is up and shouting about the show this week, so I'm off to check all the details are right - don't want a little old lady in the Shetland Isles being called in the middle of the night for show tickets now do we...?

Neil

A poem from Polly about rehearsals

Week 2 of rehearsal - 125 days to opening night

And another blog from a cast member, but this time a poem! How cool are my cast. So ladies and gentleman we present to you an ode from Polly Morris:

Blocking, It's Shocking, It takes so much time.

Are you in position Three, Seven or Nine?

Are you miming with make up, a piano or a bowl?

Or tussling with hot knockwurst on roll?

So Simon, poor Simon gets hit with a door,

While Kate, Dave and Crash-mat all meet on the floor.

It was all just pretend so the health risk was slight.

Can we block -book some medics to have on the night?

Polly Morris

A word from cast member David Gillard (MBE)

Week 1 of rehearsal - 126 days to opening night

A blog from a cast member, how exciting! But not any old cast member, it is of course David Gillard MBE, Daily Mail Opera Critic, and occasional stage diver:

I knew Jerry Herman’s hit songs from Mack and Mabel but, never having seen the show, I hadn’t realised how good Michael Stewart’s Book was. I’ve now read the piece and I’m really impressed by Stewart’s words and cleverly constructed ‘bio-pic’ plotline – this is certainly music-theatre at its most evocative, a ‘play with music’ if you like. Stewart’s dialogue is racily authentic but he tells a great tale, too. Sennett’s reminiscences cleverly and nostalgically weave a bitter-sweet love story through an authentic Hollywood silent film pastiche of those wonderful pioneering ‘flicks’, packed with glamour, slapstick and a sense of creating innovative and iconic early movies ‘on the hoof’. It’s fast, fun and ultimately very moving, too, full of – if I may borrow Neil’s pun from the flyer - ‘reel’ people. For me it’s added a literary as well as musical buzz to the early rehearsals.

David Gillard

Week One Rehearsals

Week 1 of rehearsal - 127 days to opening night

**FANFARE** Ba ba baaaa baaaa baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. (And cue Voiceover:)

And so it's begun. 1 production, 16 weeks, 35 cast members, 14 band members, and a production team of 15 all with one goal: get Mack & Mabel on the stage at the end of July. 

Yep, we're ooooofffffff. It's a little bit surreal for me having sat on it for so long to finally start is a little odd.

 

BUT we've started off slowly, as we've added an extra couple of weeks into the schedule, which gives us the luxury of easing into rehearsals. So rehearsal one was handing out the scripts from Samuel French, giving the score to Ian, me waffling for about half an hour (god I'm dull), and then we moved onto the proper stuff - learning the choral part of Big Time with Ian and then George starting to set the dance for it. And that was it for the first one. Second rehearsal was just for the Principals, Male Chorus (who have lines) and the production team - and we read through the script, with me again being a pain by butting in with my 'vision' of the staging at key points (the images above are a small part). But I think everyone in the main cast sort of knows where the show is going now. Roughly. Some fun bits. Some silly bits. Some serious bits. A pot pourri if you will....

The downside of the weeks is that we've started to get drop outs - we had planned for this, and it's all fine, a shame, but fine. A couple of good people though, and one was one of the principals - but all with valid and understandable reasons. So it'll mean a bit of shuffling around cast wise unfortunately. But we'll see.

 

Now. I'll be honest with you. People have said they'll blog for this site. Cast members have promised. But so far nothing. I'll ask again tonight. Maybe someone will hear my call. Maybe, just maybe the next posting will be from someone else?

So tonight. Week 2. Blocking. Will keep you posted.

Neil

Here. We. Go. **Deep Breath**.....

Week 53 odd - lots of days and days to opening night

Well...we start this week. I feel like I've been on this show forever already , and it is more than 10 months since we agreed to do this show and started work on it. But it still feels like it's come around really fast....

And now we have a very real and excited cast of 40ish people. We didn't turn anyone away, apart from one or two who went for the leads but understandably didn't want to be in the chorus - so if they turned up and wanted to be in it then they are. Makes it a nice experience if you have people in a cast who this is all new and exciting for...

So it's been a week of sorting the script out then it's been sorting out the rehearsal schedule which involves sending it off to the production team and making any changes that they needed - then it's the holiday schedule and making sure everyones dates are logged in - my house looks like a big paper factory at the mo. The script and vocal scores arrive from Samuel French on Monday and Sue is whizzing them up here from Cornwall.

And then there's the blocking. Oh, the blocking. My poor little pea brain really can't seem to cope with a cast of 40, so I've gone back and simplified everything - not creatively, just rather than ones or twos moving, it's fours or fives moving together ...but my script still looks like something out of an American Football strategy book.

However, the exciting thing for you is that from this week on we should, and I'll repeat should, have members of the cast and production team posting stuff/opinions on here, which hopefully will make me feel that this is less of a vanity project and more a proper team thing.

Good luck to everyone. Let my mental breakdown begin...

Neil

Full cast list for 2010

Week 50 odd - lots of days and days to opening night

Complete Full Cast list (which inc pit singers is a whopping 45):

Mack - Frank Ewins

Mabel - Louise King
Lottie - Tracey Challen
Frank - Stephen Hutt
Ella - Polly Morris
Kessel - Simon Leaton
Baumann - Pete Whitaker
Fatty - David Coward
Desmond Taylor - Simon Abbott

Ladies Chorus:

Zarene Bray

Heather Seaton

Fenella Courage

Asya Zuyeva

Rachael Battistini

Becky Coldwell

Laura Hiblen

Kim Doyle

Jennifer Balfe

Lorraine Rowan

Tori Borgers

Coral Norton

Emma Lane

Charlotte Starr

Ellie Mansfield

Caitriona Doherty

Valerie Gillard

Kate Claxton

Jane White

Mens Chorus:

Paul Beacroft

Jonathan Hall

Thomas Smith

David Gillard

Barry Sinclair

Phil Stevens

John Gayler

Ad Hoc Chorus:

Emma Pritchard

Jane Melling

Fiona Richie

Siobhan Ranns

Shelley Gould

Pit Singers:

Andrea Young

Joan Stone

Georgina Smith

Sue Woodward

Julie Pragnell

Neil

Casting off, Jim Lad

Week 50 odd - lots of days and days to opening night

So the cast list went out and the 'yes' and 'nos have been dribbling back in. So far the cast is about 36 (ish) with the principals as follow:

Mack - Frank Ewins

Mabel - Louise King
Lottie - Tracey Challen
Frank - Stephen Hutt
Ella - Polly Morris
Kessel - Simon Leaton
Baumann - Pete Whitaker
Fatty - David Coward
Desmond Taylor - Simon Abbott

So we start next week - just finalisng the rehearsal schedule and we'll be off and running

Will obviously keep you posted....

Neil

First hurdle over and done with...

Week 40 odd - lots of days and days to opening night

Auditions have been and gone. Two sets - one on Sunday afternoon (above), and one on Tuesday evening. Both really well attended, and of a very high standard which was really, really good.

We met up last night - MD, Choregrapher, etc and went through all the auditons that we videoed, and then sat and talked through people, pairings, and then lots of variations on the cast - it's the usual 'well if 'A' is that, then you can't have 'B' as that, because of XYZ, but if 'Z' is that then 'X' can be this and 'C' can be that. So on and so on. All very complicated. And the thing is once you've decided on a cast it isn't elation, or pleasing..it's all alittle depressing because you've got to disappoint so many people. So many talented people who went for a part and didn't get it. You only have to hope that they'll stick around. I don't think they all will but you never know.

So today was about confirming 1 thing which would allow the cast list to slot into place - which we got. And so tonight I'm organising the email list for the cast and the list gets published tomorrow. It was going to be Saturday but I've had an annoying amount of 'when are you going to publish the list' despite me telling people to be patient as we only had our meeting last night and it'd be before sunday.

Still it's nice everyone's so keen. My next posting - obviously will be the cast list. Then let the abusive disgruntled emails begin....

See you on the other side

Neil