A frustrated director...

 Just a little update... These posts will be getting less profound and likely more immediate or personal, as the days progress..

Stress levels are running very high this week...

• Have lost my glasses twice (they were on my head), have lost my phone at least 3 times while wanting to text someone (I was talking on it), have left this room 4 times to do something but keep forgetting what it was by the time I reach the next room, and can't remember the simplest of words... old age, perhaps?

• Tech rehearsals start tomorrow, while I have spent the day dealing with trivial political garbage about the spelling of the word theatre... from the theater.  People should really know when to quit. All this while still moving, while still unpacking, working on the list of a million cues, while still doing PR that someone else dropped the ball on...  Wow, this reminds me of something... 

• We have lost a valued cast member due to illness and impending gall bladder surgery, so I will spend the next few days trying to replace her and rework her ensemble scenes.  AND, we still have another cast member in the hospital with kidney stones.   Wishing both of these girls a speedy recovery.

• We still have that never-ending list of niggly little props and niggly little details that have to be addressed, while reviewing the 'big picture' of the show, itself

• Have been told of an actor in the cast who wants to emulate another actor's interpretation and has said backstage that he will play his character any way he wants to when the time comes... hmm...

• AND, we are not done moving our household stuff from our old house yet...

Yep, a standard tech week!  Only only 7 more rehearsals.  

BUT, the show is coming along beautifully.  Only a tiny bit of cast drama (most of it is occurring outside of the protection of our cast and crew ensemble), set is amazing, costumes are coming along, we are well within budget (so far!), and lighting is underway today, as Andy is doing set and focus as I type (though he should be helping finish our move)...

Now, enough whiny nonsense.  Much to do before STREETCAR makes a stop in Xenia!

The journey to Elysian Fields...

Tennessee Williams crafted a famous allegorical line... 'Take a streetcar named Desire, Transfer to one called Cemeteries, ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields...'  Anyone with a shred of classical knowledge knows that Elysian Fields may refer to the 'heaven' of ancient classical culture - Elysium, Elysian Plains, or Elysian Fields.

When in High School, I often wondered exactly what Williams was trying to say.  Always looking for the story behind the story or hidden symbol, I struggled through scores of reference books trying to make sense of it all for an English paper.  Well, years later, here we are...  In my mind (and numerous others, I am sure), this wonderfully visual piece of text clearly shows the journey that Blanche is about to take (or is about to finish, as her life has been one long ride of desire and despair.)  The nature and consequences of DESIRE (of every sort, carnal or innocent) will surely lead the individual to the physical resting place of CEMETERIES, ultimately resulting in arrival at ELYSIAN FIELDS.  We see her haunted with a past filled with pain, while seeking love in every possible form... all leading to death and eventually, Peace... rest.  In some sad form, at the end of the play, Blanche may ultimately reach the peace and rest she needs and desires... we can feel that, if we don't think too hard about many of the techniques and 'explorations' of psychiatric medicine during this time period...

Now, as we are continuing the latter part of our text work, we are discovering many other aspects of Blanche's character and potential history to explore.  But, that takes us back to the original idea of this post... Elysian Fields... Is Williams' Elysian Fields really the restful 'heaven' Blanche seeks, when she finds her sister.  Well, in the current state, I would have to say no.  Even textually, Williams allows us the vision of a derelict, decrepit ruin, not far from the ruin of Belle Reve that Blanche just left.  Having visited New Orleans many times while playing parent to a Tulane University student, I went in search of 632 Elysian Fields.  This is what I found...

 These two buildings stand right next to each other at the point 632 would have stood... The white one on the left and the yellow on the right.  The photographs below depict other buildings on or around Elysian Fields. 

Playing with the poster....

 

Playing with the poster....  Will be exploring other poster alternatives over the next few days...

Moving on along...

                                       Titus Wolverton as Stanley and Juliet Howard-Welch as Stella
                                                            (Photo by Larry Coressel)

Well, it has been a couple of really busy weeks...

Not only has being in rehearsal for STREETCAR and the childrens show, CINDERELLA VARIATIONS,  kept me overly occupied, but moving from one house to another has kept me horribly unfocused on the blog...  That doesn't mean that the show hasn't been moving right along!

Much has happened since I last posted.  We are currently in our final week of regular work and runs.  We move into tech rehearsals this weekend.  So much development and growth has  occurred.  We have had a bevy of photographers in and out of rehearsals documenting our work.  My photographer, Larry Coressel, will soon be shooting a final dress and has been in to do some rehearsal shots, while X*ACT's photographer, Kathleen from www.shooootphotography.com has also been giving us some great rehearsal shots. 

This is how we looked two weeks ago:

                    Titus Wolverton as Stanley and Juliet Howard-Welch  as Stella                                                          (Photo by Larry Coressel)

Titus Wolverton as Stanley, Mike Frazier as Steve, Daniel Wilson as Mitch and Geoff Moss as Pablo                                                          (Photo by Larry Coressel)

                           Cassandra Engber as Blanche and Juliet Howard-Welch as  Stella                                                        (Photo by Larry Coressel)



And, this is how we looked just last week...(These photos are by Kathleen from www.shooootphotography.com)

Just a Quickie...

Nothing profound today, just a few impromptu pictures taken at rehearsal tonight...

The passion of Stanley and Stella...

It is clear to me why New Orleans is the setting for this incredible play of passion, desire, and devastation.  Having spent much time in the city, and particularly in the Quarter, I finally understood when people would say that a city had a heartbeat.  Just walking the streets of the Quarter, I could feel the life, the passion, the soul of this city.  It breathed.  I could feel every inhale and exhale of it's existence.  This was a place that brought me back to life, after several years and started me on a new journey, allowing me to release my old self, which had become such a tired, 'ruin' of my former self.  

This city is one of the most electrifying and passionate places on earth... not romantic, like Florence or Paris - but, Passionate, primal, raw.   

This city is part of the fuel in the fire between Stella and Stanley Kowalski.  It is a magical city, a place of power and raw emotion that pushes and prods these two people into emotional oblivion.  When these two characters are on stage, something electrifying occurs.  A pulsing heartbeat is felt... something inexplicable, something deep... 

The passion between them could be compared to that of pure primal, animalistic  emotions.  They need each other, they ache for each other and, in some sense, they are each other.   

Even the abuse thrown on Stella is wrought with a passion so deep, that only when they are together, does any of it make any sense...

 There has been some debate amongst our cast about whether Stanley cheats... whether Stella stays with him after Blanche is sectioned... why AND how they got together in the first place...

What fuels Stanley's anger... his abuse... his control?  Stella's own attempt at control?  Or, is it something else...Blanche?

 What of his heartfelt, desperate plea for Stella to return home to his bed... Why does she do it?  Why does their need for each other overpower what is sensible...  What is he really fighting for?

 Stella?  Stanley?  Blanche?  ... What is the dangerous co-dependency they share, fight against, Run from and run right back to...

The actors taking on these roles must be able to draw on a deep connection, while trusting and understanding each other.   As we finish up blocking in our production, it is my hope that Juliet (Stella) and Titus (Stanley) will be able to let go and allow the elements of Stanley and Stella,  already inherent within each of them, push through. 

New Orleans vs. Nawlins...

Dialect is always a major consideration when doing a piece such as Streetcar.  Of course, I always look for clear authentic dialect development... you know, forming the words and sounds naturally; not mimicking; listening to people of the local area and learn all the formation and resonation points. But, the question is what level of dialect should we approach.

In a small regional show such as this one, we should not over do it or over think it.  A true and honest hint of the dialect will be our primary goal...

Many of the actors came into the rehearsals with a hint of authenticity in their dialect already, while others brought a general southern drawl into the work.  Over the next few weeks, we will be working to localize the southern and accentuate the already developing accents.

Here is a little NPR tidbit to get everyone started...

NPR New Orleans Dialect