I hate to be two days behind on my journal. I want to write about Saturday because that is what’s at the top of my mind but I have to talk about Friday first.
But at least I can give you a teaser about Saturday – actually two: First Saturday by itself was worth the whole trip. Of course this is not the first time this has happened but I have to tell you about it. Second, do you remember the “laugh in” we were going to have on the plaza? Well it happened but not like you might think. But those stories are for tomorrow. (Or hopefully later today so I can get back on schedule.)
Friday was a slow day. We had three sessions but still finished at 5 and got the evening off. There was a party at a house up in Harlem but it didn’t start until 11 pm and we had a full day on Saturday so I didn’t go. I guess some of those who went didn’t get home till 4 am. Too late for me.
The first session today was about devised works. Devised works are plays that are developed during the rehearsal process. There are a wide range of ways to make this happen but in general, each participant brings an object or text or something that is important to them or that they think should be in the play. Then during the rehearsal process the group makes decisions as to which objects will be incorporated and which will not. Then a script is jointly developed and the rehearsal process continues as usual.
It didn’t excite me but I was surprised how many people are doing it.
After that Anne Cattaneo who is the Director of the Lab did a Q & A. We talked mostly about her various roles at LCT. She was the dramaturg on The Coast of Utopia – she started with the principal actors six weeks before rehearsals began to educate them on the historical environment of the play. This is something that I need to be more aware of – Enchanted April would have benefited greatly to have had a resource like this available to us.
She said that she doubted that The Coast of Utopia would ever be remounted again. It cost $7 million to do – far more than most theaters are willing to risk. The play ran nine hours – actually three shows that were three hour each.
Her “main” job at LCT is to read plays, work with playwrights to find a venue appropriate for the play and in general serve as the creative advocate of the Playwright.
A few statistics: LCT has 46, 000 members with a three year waiting list to join. There are two theaters at LCT: the 1,200 seat Beaumont theater and the 300 seat Newhouse. They plan to build a third theater of 100 seats for smaller works but are having problems finding a place to build it. The Newhouse does three plays a year – usually a 4 ½ week rehearsal period plus a 16 week run. The larger Beaumont does 2 or 3 shows a year.
She said: Those in the field have a bad disconnect with academia. Academia is serving their own needs without knowledge or care of what is happening in the real world.
A final thought from her: Directing a play is like climbing Mt Everest: It takes a lot of support and help to make it happen.
In the afternoon, we had directors in our group from other countries tell us about theater in their countries. An interesting session.
An interesting statistic: On Broadway, the minimum wage for an actor in a minor (chorus) role in a musical is $1,800 a week. In England it is $671. Tickets to musicals in England are $130 – on a par with Broadway.
Some theaters in England have “Scratch Nights” where people can present a ten minute segment from their shows for free. They can be seen and picked up by the fringe theaters and ultimately by a major house.
An interesting day but not earthshaking.
Do you realize I’ll be home in less than two weeks? Good and bad.
