Final dress tonight. It’s late and I should be in bed sleeping but Owen Carey our photographer took photos at our final dress and sent me this.  It looks like I am sitting all alone, peacefully waiting for the actors to come on - but in fact there are about ten people sitting behind me with computers, scripts, cables, wires and headsets.  When the house lights are out it looks like a long cockpit in an airplane.  The set is by Bill Bloodgood and lighting by Daniel Ordower.  We are all looking forward to a day off before the big push next week of rehearsals and previews.  Can’t wait to have audiences.

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The Beard of Avon and 12th Night began rehearsals on Saturday with a brief design presentation from Bill Bloodgood, the set designer; and Deb Trout, costume designer. Both sets use major elements of the same set and costumes, with variations for each. Kim Crowe, our dramaturg for both shows has created a website for the company to access research about the period. You can peruse it as well at www.upstartdramaturg.com.

Ken Albers (Mr. Tarleton in Misalliance) plays the theater producer, John Heminge and Lord Burleigh in Beard; and Sir Toby in 12th Night. Cate Davis, plays Anne Hathaway in Beard; and Maria in 12th Night. Cate and Ken spent many years in the acting company at OSF, and this morning shared that this is the 75th play they have worked on together!

Daniel Harray plays a distraught playwright, Fitch, in Beard and Sebastian in 12th Night. Brian Thompson (The Fantasticks, Pride and Prejudice) plays the Theatrical producer Condel/Sir Francis Bacon in Beard and Malvolio in 12th Night. Brian actually played Malvolio many, many years ago as a student in college (Northwestern?) - and is tickled to have another shot at it.

This is the 12th Night costume sketch for Antonio.

And for Sir Toby.

Ben Buckley (left), our only Portland native, plays Geoffrey/Ludibundus/Cleopatra/Kate in Beard and Valentine/Soldier/Priest in 12th Night. He’s going to be a busy guy. This is his first PCS show. Jennifer Lee Taylor (Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice) is playing Viola in 12th Night and the Minstrel/Player in Beard.

Today we spent time around the table discussing Beard of Avon. I like to start at the end of the play and work our way back to the front. For me, it’s easier to see the relationship of the events if you go back to front.

A first glance at the set design for A Christmas Carol. This is a front elevation, so doesn’t show the shape of the set yet, but does offer a sense of color and scale.

Cliff Fanin Baker, who directed Act A Lady and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead for us returns to steer the project - which begins rehearsal on October 30.

Rick Lewis, our musical director on Cabaret has gathered music from the period which will be sung throughout the evening.

First sketches and set ideas arrived last week for 12th Night and Beard of Avon.  Bill Bloodgood (Misalliance, King Lear) is designing. 

The idea is to create an “Elizabethan backstage” with properties hanging from the sky.

The large  beams shown will mirror re-construction of the new Globe in London.

 Welcome to the scene shop!  One of the questions we are asked most often is, “Where does this show go after its run in Portland?”  I explain that most of the time the show isn’t going anywhere (though Cabaret is an exception because it travels to Geva Theater in Rochester, NY in January).  In fact most everything about our physical production is created right here in Portland for you. This is our scene shop out on Front Street, where all the sets are built.

Robert Welsh is our Technical Director.  He takes the Set Designer’s designs and via computer, translates them into construction drawings for the crew. 

Then Jeff Marchant (standing on the lift) works with the construction crew to build the set.  Chris Rousseau is leaning on the platforms that will become the revolve for Cabaret.

Michael Jones (a brand new carpenter who joins us from Arizona) is welding the steel that will form the structure for the false proscenium downstage.

This is a glimpse of our prop storage area, where we horde any reusable chair, sofa, desk, table, ottoman, batboy cage, elephant, or

goat that we may see a future use for.  You may remember this fellow from O Lovely Glowworm a few years back.  Not sure where he’s headed in the wagon, but clearly somewhere sunny.

While in New York, Joel Ferrell (choreographer for Cabaret) and I took the train out to Darien, CT to meet with Skip Mercier (our set designer) to talk through the whole show. If you’re like me, the only connection you have to Darien, CT is the trip Auntie Mame makes to visit her nephew’s prospective in-laws. Though I heard no one talking about “stepping on a ping pong ball” there were a lot of khakis on view.

Skip and his partner Rob bought their house 15 years ago, when it was a ranch – and added an entire floor above so that Skip’s design studio could fit above the garage. Way cool room.

Since the last iteration of the design, Skip had added (at my request) a catwalk along the back wall that will allow performers to be visually present in the Kit Kat Club without having to be in the central area. He also devised a “library ladder” that will roll along the length of the catwalk for access to the main playing area.

At a session like this we are really thinking through the logistics: “Okay Wilkommen ends, and the upstage curtain tracks off (is that mechanized or actor-driven?) and the train seats ride the revolve to their downstage position. Then the down stage right curtain comes in behind that unit.” “Hey - what if the Emcee showed up at the end of the scene dressed as the ticket taker?” “Yeah, yeah – perfect.” “The Emcee should just keep popping up from different locations and in different costumes.” “Can he pop out of the bed for ‘Two Ladies’” “We can’t trap underneath the revolve.’” “Right.” “Could he come out of the orchestra pit?” “Hmmmm, maybe.”

For any of you who want to know more about the woman who is playing Sally Bowles in our Cabaret – here is Storm’s pic. Check out her blog at www.stormlarge.com.

Notes from Skip re: Cabaret set design…
“Hope you’re swell. I rebuilt model incorporating thoughts from our discussion. It feels much better related to faded elegance and hopefully less Russian industrial. I changed the angle of side walls slightly.

The center platform is 32″ high (was 24″); two step units both portable - one circular (might be in 2 pieces); the other with landing for upstage entrance onto platform. The walls are now brick and stone rubble as if the plaster has been worn away. There is a free standing door that can move anywhere. MC enters down a fire pole that flips up after the number. The bedroom has bed, dresser/desk piece; wash stand, chair (one image with small stairs in one without). Train compartment has two options one with seats across from one another and other one double facing down stage (both have luggage rack). Musicians rail has gate and stairs into pit house left. Things that remained: cut velvet drapes; plastic curtain; sign with bulbs; footlights edge of stage & runway; tile floor.”

Just back from a week of vacation (largely spent here in PDX biking, hiking, piddling), to find early sketches of the set for Cabaret in my in box. Skip Mercier (designer for West Side Story) is designing and shared some very rough ideas about a direction we may head in. Thought you might be interested in taking a peek. The current plan has the orchestra in the pit, with a slim gangway extending out over it for the “Kit Kat Club Sequences.”

One interesting piece of research from the period: after WWI the Allies required economic reparations from Germany for instigating the war. The resulting economic turmoil was staggering. In 1921 a U.S. Dollar was roughly equal to 7 German Marks, by 1923 one U.S. Dollar was equal to 4.2 Trillion Marks!