|
|
|
|
The blog really needs to be read in chronological order. So breaking with convention, the NEW entries are at the foot of the screen, not at the top. Please scroll down to see new material. Please note: these comments and opinions belong solely to me (Peter Deane) and are not necessarily reflective of the "official opinions" of Wyong Drama Group Inc. Last entry date - Thursday 27 September 2007 - the refinement period
17-Sep-07 (Monday) Rehearsals have now been set for Mondays and Thursdays. This rehearsal consisted of Act II run twice. First time took an hour, second time through after coffee, 45 minutes. It's uncanny how if I don't interrupt, they get through it a lot quicker :-) It was prior to this rehearsal that I collared Renee and Duncan for the publicity shot you can see on the main Pass the Butler page. To get it, we went into the Blue Room and found a decent background of the brick wall. We then got Duncan and Renee posing away in a few contrived situations. I took 24 shots, four of which Renee later deleted out of the camera! I was hoping at least one of them would be all right. After a lot of discussion we settled on shot 16, and yes, it did come out all right. It will be emblazoning all our publicity (posters and flyers) so we'd better get used to it (if not sick of it)! I wasn't really keen on the brick wall background, so I carefully cut the background out and replaced it with white. This can be made transparent when printed, making for a much better effect. 18-Sep-07 (Tuesday) Designed the flyer/poster. Excited at finally having a publicity photo, I also wrote a press release (No 2) and sent it out along with the picture. I don't think any paper has run with it yet, however, I intend to send press releases weekly to barrage the local media with coverage so much so that when they have some free space, we'll be the logical choice of material to use. After all, what self-respecting local paper could resist publishing an interesting photo of a very pretty girl? I also sent the flyer to the printer (see below) for proofing in anticipation of its use in the mailout. 19-Sep-07 (Wednesday) Heated email discussion with Rose Cooper, the group's Publicity Officer saying she should be doing the publicity! The upshot is I'm to do the early weekly press releases, and she'll take over as the show dates approach (and I will be a lot busier). Also I have a lot of other far more interesting tasks for her to get on with (such as attempting to get us on various radio stations). 20-Sep-07 (Thursday) At this point in the rehearsals the planning gets a lot easier as we simply do the whole show each rehearsal. We now don't need a schedule - the one I produced in the second week wasn't able to be followed anyway due to cast absences, and the need to skip about the play a bit finding sections we could do dictated by the presence of cast members! I told everyone to throw it away weeks ago! I actually took a few notes tonight, and we had 100% attendance from those cast members who were in Australia at the time. This really helps for continuity when the actor who will be playing the role is actually doing the lines! John Czerniecki arrives back in Australia tomorrow, by the way. His arrival has been much anticipated. This rehearsal I took in a CD player with a few sound effects on it. We need a lot more, and I'll have to do a proper comprehensive effects list very soon. 21-Sep-07 (Friday) Graham Vale (Fast Colour 4332-4651 & the group's Treasurer) sent out the mail-out of flyers to our mailing list. So now, another 900-odd people know about the show, and have seen that photo of Renee and Duncan. 24-Sep-07 (Monday) Our second full run-through. This was the first rehearsal we've had with 100% attendance, and it really showed. John Czerniecki finally gets to read in Inspector Harris. And for a first time run (without any knowledge of the blocking) he was brilliant, bringing comic timing to his lines, and a stage presence to die for. The cast went so well tonight I was over the moon. The cue-biting is fantastic even at this early stage. The talent of all our cast members is not to be underestimated. There are some moments where they can make me laugh - and I've heard all the jokes a lot of times before! I just have to get everyone to make the pauses a lot longer (although perhaps they simply want to get home from rehearsal sooner!) 26-Sep-07 (Wednesday) Press Release 3 was written and sent out. 8 copies of this actually went via snail mail - and in them a printed copy of THAT photograph was included. I just need to work out how to FAX it effectively to the faxed recipients... 27-Sep-07 (Thursday) Our third full run through, with only Damien missing. This time thanks to Barry and Laci we have the gurney from under the stage which we are using as Sir Robert's box. I took quite a few notes at this rehearsal. It seems we are getting through Act I in about 45 minutes and Act II in 42, which is precisely a minute a page. However, with the addition of laughs, I reckon each act will be an hour long when actually performed to a live audience. At this rehearsal Graham dropped in a stack of DL flyers, larger posters and one HUGE poster. We have to get these out there, and the cast certainly did help to take a few. 05-Nov-07 (Monday) Hmm, I haven't had one iota of time to write this up for a whole month. This is what directing does to you, every other waking (non-working) moment is spent doing stuff for the play. We open in three days time. There is still a bit to do, but I reckon it's going well. We'll get there. I'll update this log in a week's time.
Hit No
|
Send email to
wdg@wyongdramagroup.com.au with
comments or questions about this site
|
