Pish Posh

Check it, I don't have the time to write my blog. I'm working my usual 9-5 job at CTC and I'm working for Pied Piper Players in San Mateo on the weekends for their upcoming production of Once Upon a Mattress. Working seven days a week stinks.

And then you get your paycheck(s).

 And you realize why do the things you do (MONEY!!) and that you are getting paid to do what you love.

Nevertheless, I'm not getting paid to do this, so it's not important (sarcasm). Also, it's hard to avoid talking about things that people could take wrong. I work in a field that is built on who you know and schmoozing. And we're a bunch of artists (i.e. have the emotional maturity of a five-year-old). So writing about the things I think about day in and day out, well, you can tell what editing those thoughts has done to the blog. However, I'm determined to carve out time to write again.

Today I'm going to just give an update about the shows I'm currently doing:

The Life and Times of Ben Franklin, AKA "Ben Franklin" + 6 "Apprentices" tell you about all the cool stuff Mr. Franklin did in his life. And I get the opportunity to make a rear-projection screen out of ironed wax paper. Yep, ironed, basket-woven strips of wax paper. Pictures forthcoming (assuming it stays in one piece once we install it). (Also, I get the opportunity to stupidly design a somewhat touring show, and make a "printing press". Also fun.)

Pirates of Penzance, Jr., AKA "The Great Spring Musical" for Sunnyvale-area students. For this I'm costume designing, which is quite a test of patience and organization. And my alteration skills (hemming a 6-panel skirt 8 inches without cutting!). It's great fun. We go into tech for this show in about 2 weeks.

Once Upon a Mattress, AKA The true story of the "Princess and the Pea." This is the one I'm doing with PPP and it's been fun because I get to work with great and varied parent-volunteers every weekend. Apparently I'm awesome and have us 3 weeks ahead of "schedule" (if we refer to previous production "schedules", or lack there of). Little do they know that my organization is a ruse. Also, side note, this was the last show that I did in high school and my scenic design was pretty lame (still blame it on the director's insistence that though she was transplanting the story to the 1980s, the set still had to be a castle) and so now I get some redemption. Sweet. :)

Lastly, I wish I'd been able to go to SETC this year, and, for that matter, was getting to go to USITT down in Long Beach. Oh well.

I leave you with a picture of Kevin Kline in Pirates of Penzance because, well, he's dreamy and we're ripping off his style pretty clearly in our production:

Happy Saturday or How to Keep Up Morale When Nothing Else is Going Right

Fired. I am fired. From writing about my career and thus thinking deeply about it. There is really no excuse, but let me tell you a a little bit about why I haven't written since November.

Do you recall that production of The Cherry Orchard that I was working on in the summer? Well, for reasons I still do not fully understand, I faced a battle to get paid my fee when everything was done. I did, in fact, get paid (Hallelujah!) but it really put a damper on my feelings about working in theatre. The occurrence called into question the integrity of the field and the economic viability. And since then I've been thinking of a way to talk about the situation without 1. whining or 2. bad-mouthing the whole experience and possibly getting sued for libel. I wanted to write up a post about contracts and wording for contracts, but, as is obvious from the situation I faced, I have no clue about designer contracts. (I didn't ever sign one-- yes, yes, I know!) And then I wanted to write about artists supporting each other and everyone being open and honest when financials don't measure up, but, well, since I don't understand what happened, again, I didn't want to possibly get in trouble with libel. Combined with the rather rude comment I got on my post about sewing made me just feel like there was no good to come out of this field right now.

And then fast-forward to my life right now, and, well, things have been looking bleak.

That's why I've made a concerted effort to look on the bright side of things. Because of this, I'm bringing back the blog (especially after reading The Pioneer Woman's "Ten Things I've Learned About Blogging") and a tradition I started when I was trying to decide on a pie recipe for Thanksgiving: "Happy Saturday." Basically, when I was trying to find the right recipe for a Turkey Day Apple Pie, I had to test them out. But I didn't want to eat lots of pie. So after one successful Friday night of pie-baking, I brought half of the pies to work at CTC for the cast/crew/whoever was in the building. I wrote a note with a description of the pies: "Happy Saturday!" Because, let's be honest, working on Saturday stinks. I baked pretty regularly on Friday evening (who can go out partying when you have to be at work the next morning and either use power tools or at least paint within the lines?) and brought in a portion of the goodies to work Saturday morning. And, not surprisingly, the company members at CTC started to look forward to this little ray of sugary delight at the theatre on Saturdays. After Christmas I decided to stop because, well, it does cost me money and time. And people were sad. Combined with the very arduous task of our annual Fund Drive and our bleak financial situation, I needed to resurrect my baking. And so "Happy Saturday" returned this past weekend with Cranberry-Orange Coffee Cake and Apple-Cinnamon Coffee Cake. It was a rousing success. This time I put out a donation can so that people can help pay for the treats if they can, and, well, along with the compliments for the goodies, I got some money to help offset the tradition. And it's awesome. I'm happy to be back in the kitchen as it were, and I know that it's something everyone enjoys looking forward to.

This is all to say, I'm glad I can bring some good to my place of work, especially when I could just be a dark, doom-and-gloom rain cloud. This is not to say that things are peachy and I'm happy with all of the decisions being made by management, but I want to make sure my peers--my company--have some happy in their lives. So, here's to an awesome tradition and pictures of last week's Happy Saturday treat and recipes from The Joy of Cooking:

Apple-Cinnamon Coffee Cake

 

Cranberry-Orange Coffee Cake

Have all ingredients at room temp.
Preheat the oven to 350°
Grease a 9-inch square baking pan or a 9-inch spring form pan

Combine
.5 c sugar
2 T all-purpose or rice flour
2 T unsalted butter
Blend until crumbly then add
.5 t cinnamon
(.25 to .5 c of nuts if you'd like)
This is your streusel topping. Set aside.

Whisk together:

1.5 c of flour
1.25 c of sugar
2 t baking powder
.5 t baking soda
.25 t salt
(1 t cinnamon for Apple Cake)

Beat well in a large bowl:
1 c sour cream
2 lg eggs
(1 T grated orange zest for Cranberry-Orange Cake)

Add the dry ingredients and beat until just smooth. Overbeating tends to toughen the cake. Spread batter in the greased pan.

Add

2.5 c dried cranberries or diced, peeled apples (depending on type of cake)


Sprinkle with streusel.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Enjoy with your awesome friends!

Mermaid's Horatio and Such

I am fired. So unbelievably fired. My only excuse for not having written since my last post is that I'm just tired and worn out and there are things I want to talk about but cannot in a public forum. One day, promise, but for now, things are better left unsaid.

So, what have I been up to? Well, The Cherry Orchard is over and done with and I'm trying to get CTC's The Little Mermaid ready to open on Monday. OMG, on Monday. And then I have a week to do all the stuff for CTC's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow... oy vey. Things for Mermaid have been going well. I carved a statue for the show. Yes, see the pictures below of Horatio in progress:

Step One, Draw him out on pink foam.

Step two, Cut out his basic form.

Step Three, Start to carve on the Z-axis... and freak out a bit.

Step Five, Continue to carve and question what you're doing.

Step, um, nine? Chisel his face with a hot knife and make him look weird... Are those Mick Jager's lips?

Look! He's done! And still slightly pink. But you can see how he turned out. :) These two lovely friends of his are Brendan North as the Prince and Sarah Thermond as The Little Mermaid.

Here is a picture of part of the set:

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the show. The crunch of time and energy has been trying, but that's what theatre is all about. And, damn, designing for a touring show is hard. :( But I suppose I will get the hang of it. I hope so, because otherwise the rest of the season at CTC is going to feel like a constant up hill battle. And, for reasons best unsaid, I'm very done with uphill battles in theatre.

I just want to work in this business I love, creating amazing art in a collaborative way, and with people that are generous and awesome. Sure, things go wrong; we're only human. But let's not stab each other in the back. Okay? Thanks. More blog updates soon. Maybe even something of substance... I'm working on it. ;)

Work Where You Live & Live Where You Work

Okay, The Cherry Orchard opened on Friday and I have finally been able to stop driving to and from Martinez. The one thing I realized during this process is that commuting to and from theatre is not fun, especially when you are the only crew and you are holding down another job.

This was my commute

View Larger Map

It takes 1 hour 14 minutes according to Google, but really, it's an hour. But when you add in traffic... one day it took me almost 2.5 hours to get there. And on the way home I had to stop at a sketchy gas station, at midnight, to get gas because I wasn't sure I would make it home otherwise. Not cool.

So, while it might seem great to get a professional gig and some extra money, I think when I factor in what I spent on gas and the amount of years shaved off my life from the stress, was it worth it? Probably not. And despite realizing this during the project, I had made a commitment to the show and what's done is done. So I put in my all, or as much of my all as I could spare as I got back to work at CTC and chalked it up to a lesson learned.

Next up: CTC's The Little Mermaid. I have had some trouble wrapping my head around making a touring set, but I'm going to make it happen. And it will be great! Pictures to come after final approval tomorrow.

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For those of you who may not have seen them on Facebook: Some photos from my phone of The Cherry Orchard & process for the cyc:

Raw Materials for the cyc.

One garland done.

Many garlands hanging in my window.

First part of the install... I did not have enough, even with the store-bought ones added in.

Not quite done, but you can see where it was going.

Pretty much done, though there was still work to finesse some stuff.

A Blossom Cyc?

Hello! Two posts in one week! It's because I have been busy busy busy trying to make headway on this design for The Cherry Orchard. Keep in mind, it's hard to be that bus or productive (or excited) when I only have one floor plan out of two for the spaces the show is performing in. And no sections. And no idea what space #1 looks like (that's right, I have no idea what the first space the show is performing in looks like... wah-wah).

BUT! I have done some sketches. Based off of this research image of a Victorian sun room:



I like it because it's open and airy and has an linear quality that evokes the idea that the house is made of those taut strings that snap at the end of Act II.
And so I rough-sketched this:



And, though you may not be able to see it, have been toying with the idea of a cyc (that's short for cyclorama) that is composed of "cherry blossoms."

I've since sent my sketches and thoughts off to the director, and now I wait. Fortunately I have a walk through scheduled at theatre #1 on Tuesday, so that will also answer a lot of questions, and potentially dash some of my hopes and dreams. So woo?

In other news, I'm also updating my website with my big paint show for CTC. And just realized I never got photos up for Orpheus Descending. Must go remedy that now. Or after lunch. :)

Life Thus Far

With no one holding me accountable to updating this blog, I have failed. That and life is busy and rather depressing right now.

The Intermediate/Advanced conservatory has begun. This means we're working with 11+ y.o. It's both great and frustrating, all at the same time. Some of the kids are interested, engaged and superbly well behaved. Many are still a little immature. But what gets me is the short timeline to create things. We go into tech for the Advanced shows on Friday and we have yet to erect the set on the main stage. This worries me immensely. But John and I are pretty much our own crew of 2 for 6 shows. And have to teach and visit Core Conservatory sites on a regular basis... just not sure how things are supposed to get done.

I'm just grateful that I came up with a design that does not involve a lot of shifting between shows. There is a rep set of platforms that is not going to move. We're just going to be dealing with things hanging in the air that have to come down and change out. Phew.

In related news, I've been soul-searching a bit about whether design is really my chosen path. I enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but having to do all the grunt labor for it: building/painting/propping is frustrating. I feel like some kind of lazy humbug when I admit this to myself, but I really would like to have a less physically demanding job. And I'd like to wear non paint-clothes on a more regular basis. Is that too much to ask?

Okay, off to work today. I leave you with a photo of the drop design for Los Altos 2 for a show called "Romeo and Winnifred."

These Are a Few of My _______ Things

It's Sunday, a week after my last blog, and I'm updating! Whoa.

This week I will touch on some stuff because I actually have to leave for tech in 1.5 hours as well as call my mom and get ready, so this will be more listy than usual.

1. This week I "designed" a backdrop for the first Summer Conservatory here at CTC. I did this by taking all of the ideas drawn and colored by the kids and mashing them together into something coherent based on the two director's opinions. It was fabulous! All my creative input was layout (which I actually enjoy) and some toy ideas, but the majority of what made it was the kids' drawings. Including an awesomely spiky, lime green dinosaur. (I will get a picture, promise). Then, after drawing out the final design on 18'x24' piece of paper (finally getting some use of of my huge sketch pad from Grinnell) I went to the site and drew it on 4 king-sized sheets sewn together.

Again, it was freeing. I can be so anal about drawing, but when you're outside in 80+ heat, in the noonday sun, on a blacktop w/ no shade, drawing w/ a permanent marker, you just accept the lines you draw. And it turned out great. I cannot wait to see how the kids paint it. :)

2. Tech! Is today, as I mentioned. Tomorrow is my day off. Seem strange? Yes, it is. While I do not mind coming in tomorrow to work if I need to (this is the first time the designer has seen any of the set), I also don't know if I get a day off instead. I really wish I had control over my own schedule. It would make me feel better about the hours I put in and more likely to work more, actually.

3. I applied to some jobs yesterday, and sent out feeler resumes for the 1.5 month that I have off at the end of summer. While I would like to be employed, it isn't life or death since CT will be bringing in money and I am planning to put as much away as I can to cover that open gap of income. So it was nice to send out resumes and not freak out about all the details. If they like me, great. If not, oh well. I do kind of hope that I can wrangle a job somewhere to start getting my name out there in the Bay Area. We'll see.

I think that may be it for this week. Next week starts 2 more Conservatories--so 2 more drops!--and Black Coffee opens on Friday. Followed by my own Intermediate/Advanced Conservatory teaching experience. I am definitely enjoying myself this summer. Perhaps I am more cut out to teach younger kids than college students. :P

Rhythm, Rhyme, Reason

Okay, so I have been trying to find a schedule that will allow me to post more. Ha ha. We are in the midst of the Summer Repertory at CTC and just opened Around the World in 80 Days last Friday and will open A Servant of Two Masters this Friday... so yes, schedule sh-medule. But, hey, we now have a chair! Which makes sitting down to write easier.

Well, the things that I have been thinking about to write about are the following:

1. Weekly schedules are not the best, but can be dealt with. However, getting the calendar less than 24 hours in advance of the beginning of that week makes it difficult to deal with. :( And not having a full day off, super :( .

2. The reason it is nice to have a paint/design assistant is not really to have someone fetch your coffee or do the grunt work, it's nice to have the company. Last night I had to stay to line the stage (AGAIN!) and was by myself. It was very lonely. Especially in a mostly dark theatre (because I didn't want to have to go to the booth to turn off the lights). I kept thinking about my awesome assistants in the past and how much I miss them for their help and company (and input).

3. Being a scenic painter for someone else is hard. I already knew that, but this summer really hit that home with me, in part because the designer is only around a few times a week. So I have to make decisions (without complete renderings) so I can continue and move on, hoping that when the designer is around, I didn't waste my time. I vow to be a more available designer, or, barring that, have complete renderings available.

4. Children's theatre is interesting. I have more to say about this, but I need to get my head around the best way to talk about the importance of the genre compared to the stigma and quality often associated with it. So more on this later.

On that note, it's my first full day off in 14 days. Time to go get my oil changed and go grocery shopping. Woot. Such a life.

PS. CT is employed!!

CTC's publicity photo for Around the World in 80 Days:

California Theatre Center

I have been remiss in writing in my blog. Right now I am steeling my nerves to get going on the day so I figured I could update quickly.

CTC's theatre is small but functions. It does not have a real fly space, which makes me very sad, but I suppose with touring shows, that doesn't make much difference. The company rents from the city of Sunnyvale, so there are all kinds of rules and regulations to follow including not being able to build on stage (though I suspect that has more to do with rehearsal time/space), which makes the small, postage-sized shop get crowded very quickly.

The one thing I know for sure is that it gets tough to come into a situation in the middle of things. As the official summer scene painter, it is frustrating to find that paint for shows opening this morning was not labeled as such. And there isn't a stock of basic colors. And things are a mess. But I'm getting a handle on that (organized a lot yesterday while also doing paint touch ups the best way I could with mystery paint). I also mixed a lot of color and am ready to jump in and paint columns and arches a lovely speckled sandstone.

Hopefully by Friday I will be more on top of the show we load in on Sunday.

Okay, probably should get going then, huh? More soon.