DREAMERS OF THE DAY has OPENED!!!!

Dreamers of the Day

has officially opened for a limited run at Roy Arias Studios and Theatres at the Times Square Arts Center, 300 West 43rd Street, NYC.

Only 11 performances left!!!

Get tickets now at www.goingtotahitiproductions.com or

call 866-811-4111.

Loading In...

We're loading DREAMERS in to the Roy Arias Studios and Theatres even as we speak! There was a moment of panic this morning when we initially couldn't get into the theater but we're in now. Set construction is almost done. Sound cues are loaded, projections are getting worked out now. To get tickets for DREAMERS OF THE DAY, click here or go to www.goingtotahitiproductions.com.

One Week to go!!!

So, somehow three weeks of rehearsal have flown by and we are now less than a week from opening night. The rehearsals are going very well and we can't wait for you to see what Agnes would call, "our little story."

Here are all the details:

DREAMERS OF THE DAY, a play based on the novel by Mary Doria Russell, is the story of one woman's accidental witness to history during the formation of the modern Middle East.

Egypt. 1921. Lawrence of Arabia. Winston Churchill. Woodrow Wilson...and Agnes Shanklin?

On the eve of the Cairo Peace Conference, a lonely American heiress finds herself the confidant of diplomats and the target of the attentions of a possible German spy. Part travelogue, part history, part journey of self-discovery, Kirkus Reviews calls the novel “an inspired fictional study of political folly.”

Five actors, Rhonda Harrington*, Kiwi Callahan, David Eiduks,* Adam Segaller*, and Maria Silverman* bring 70 characters to life in locations as varied as a Cleveland living room, a steamboat on the Nile, and a shadowy purgatory.

*denotes members of Actors' Equity Association

Performance Dates:

Thursday, September 16 - Saturday, September 18, at 8pm

Sunday, September 19, at 2pm

Thursday, September 23 - Saturday, September 25, at 8pm

Sunday, September 26 at 2pm

Wednesday, September 29 – Saturday, October 2 at 8pm

Dreamers of the Day will be performed at The Roy Arias Studios and Theatres in the Times Square Arts Center, 300 West 43rd Street, 5th Floor.

Tickets available online here and at www.goingtotahitiproductions.com or by phone at 212-811- 4111.

All tickets are $18.

End of Week Two...

Almost two weeks of rehearsal under our belts and the show is shaping up nicely. I don't really have much else to say except that I love my cast. They are gelling nicely with each other and the ensemble is just a fun talented group to be a part of. We have our first movement rehearsal on Sunday...Dana will be teaching the cast to ride camels. It should be great fun. The only thing I'm worried about is getting the camels into the rehearsal studio. :)

We Have A Cast!!!

So the show has been cast and we have officially begun rehearsals!!!!

The full cast assembled today for the first time and we had our first Read Through. It went very well...though we didn't actually get through the whole script - clearly someone is going to need to cut another 20 pages...BUT, the reading went great!!! It was so exciting to hear Mary's beautiful words coming out of the mouths of actors instead of out of my mouth talking to my reflection in a mirror and trying to figure out if this show is going to work. Having heard actual actors, and really talented ones at that, actually start to play around with the characters and bring something of themselves to the show...it was thrilling...it was, it is- what I live for and, I can tell you now, this show is going to work...and this was only the first day!!! I can't wait to see what happens when we really start to play with the script, with movement, with tech and design elements. I'm hoping to post some cast info - headshots and bios on the website soon. Keep an eye out for updates. AND, I promise, I will try to update the blog regularly throughout this rehearsal process, but for now, I'm hitting the hay.

Only ONE DAY LEFT for Kickstarter donations!!

ONLY ONE DAY LEFT to be a part of the DREAMERS OF THE DAY on STAGE Kickstarter Campaign!! Thank you for helping us reach our goal, now help us blow past it like a semi truck passing a family station wagon on I-95 at 3am!!!

You can still be a part of the action, and as my 7 year old nephew says, "This is SO much ACTION!"

Click here for details and to donate:
Kickstarter: Dreamers of the Day on Stage

We've got a theater, we've got a crew, now let's get a cast, shall we?

Things are heating up...

The Showcase Application has been submitted to Equity and is pending approval.

The Theater has been booked!

DREAMERS OF THE DAY will open on September 16th at the Roy Arias Theatre Center at the Times Square Arts Center at 300 West 43rd Street. The show will run for 3 weeks until October 2nd. Details and ticket information will be posted as soon as it is available.

We're almost crewed up!

We've got ourselves a set designer, a stage manager, a sound designer, a choreographer and a projections designer. We're still waiting on word about a lighting designer, but, seeing as we're still 6 weeks out from opening night, I feel like we're in pretty good shape.

And now, we just need a cast!

Auditions will be held Monday and Tuesday. Depending on how the initial auditions go, we'll probably do call-backs next weekend. Currently we're on track for an August 15th rehearsal start date!

KICKSTARTER!!!

You may have heard rumblings through newsletters or facebook, that we have launched a new fundraising campaign at a website called Kickstarter. I'm here to tell you, the rumblings are true! Kickstarter.com is this awesome site that helps fundees find funders. In the website's own words: "Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavors... Kickstarter is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands."


We have launched a campaign specifically for DREAMERS OF THE DAY. Although donations on Kickstarter are not tax deductible, they do come with rewards attached. Rewards like free tickets and behind the scenes access to the production. Take a look at our Kickstarter page to learn more or to make a donation. (there's a little video and everything):

Kickstarter - Dreamers of the Day on Stage!

As you'll see from the site, we only have until August 1st to hit (and hopefully surpass) our goal. So, the clock is ticking!

GOING TO TAHITI is going to the BAR!!!

When I first moved to New York and was faced with a big scary rent and no real job which would help me pay the big scary rent, I went through a couple of stages. The first stage was - Temp Jobs, wherein I signed up with 8 different temp companies and took every office job that I could (no kidding I have a scrapbook of letterhead from like 30 different temp jobs.)

I quickly realized that the whole temp job thing sucked and so I moved on to stage two - Waitressing, wherein I got a CRAPPY job waiting tables at a restaurant near my Upper East Side apartment (a two bedroom with 3 people in it. This wasn't an UES penthouse, people). Now, this crappy job had a couple of good things going for it: 1) the food was really good, so when I worked long hours and I needed to eat there, I had access to a good meal and 2) the staff of mainly middle easterners served up some great home cooked (or restaurant kitchen cooked) meals that weren't on the menu but that they invited me to join them in consuming. So the date, rice, chicken dish I had during Ramadan was awesome and something I still think about on occasion. That being said, with the exception of those to things, it was a crappy job and leaving that place was one of the greatest things I did.

And then there was stage Three - Bartending. This was my favorite stage. This was the stage where I spent a lot of money and took a two week bartending course so that I could learn to tend bar and then I would immediately be hired by a Cheers-like establishment, where everyone would know my name and would love that I did this whole "tend bar" thing while I worked on my directing projects and within a year or two, I would be a famous and successful director and I would leave the bartending profession with fond memories and great stories... it was a brilliant plan... too bad it didn't so much, you know, happen. Instead, after I spent all my money to take the bartending course and I went out there with my brand spanking new bartending resume which read "graduate of the American Bartending School" and then nothing, wouldn't you know it? No one would hire me because I lacked "experience." WhatEVER! People are so picky. Anyway, that little setback sent me back into Stage One and the various temp jobs led to more permanent office jobs and a whole lot of office experience - ugh.

"Who cares, Jess?" you ask.

"Well you do," I answer. And here's why:

Finally, after 15 years of my bartending certificate lying dormant in a drawer, I am resurrecting it, like a Phoenix from the ashes, and I. am. tending. BAR! Ok, so it's not like I've got a new job or anything, I'm guest bartending at BAR12 at 206 34th Street in NYC. And it's only from 6-9pm. And it's a one night only engagement - FRIDAY, June 25th. And, I'll have a "real" bartender backing me up with helpful reminders on how to make, uh, just about everything. But still, it should be fun.

It's all in support of our upcoming production of Dreamers of the Day. It's $10 at the door or $17 if you want the extended happy hour. AND, we just heard from a donor who is willing to match funds raised up to $1000! So come on out and help make our bartending night a success. And seriously, with me behind the bar, there should be no end to the hilarity that will ensue as I try my Tom Cruise Cocktail moves. (If anyone from management at Bar12 is reading this, no worries, my "Tom Cruise Cocktail moves" are limited to a cocky grin.) Oh, and I make a small request that you not decide to play stump the bartender with your drink orders and keep it to things like "vodka, on the rocks." I already know what goes in that drink order. Heh.

Here are the details again:

When: Friday, June 25th 6:00-9:00pm

Where: Bar12 at 206 East 34th Street

How much: $10 to get in the door or $17 for the extended happy hour

Second Draft - DONE! Now, in search of a Crew!

So the second draft of the script is finished and is currently with a few trusted readers for editing suggestions. It's still entirely too long (need to cut about 30 pages) but it's at least in production form and, in fact, in good enough shape that if I had a cast and crew right now I would feel comfortable workshopping it. The biggest change of this round of editing is that the play, originally envisioned as a one woman show, now includes a cast of 5 people. It's a pretty big change but one that I think will really benefit the overall production.

Speaking of the overall productions, I am currently looking for a crew to get started on pre-production design. If you are a set, lighting, sound, costume, or props designer, or if you are an artist of any type and are looking to try your hand at theater, or if you know someone who fits into one of those categories, please send them my way. They can reach me at jessica@goingtotahitiproductions.com. We're looking at performing the show in a blackbox theater with a minimal set and I think for the right kind of designer this could be a really fun project.

LEND ME A TENOR

For my first wedding anniversary, my husband indulged my love of live theater and took me to see the current run of Lend Me A Tenor at The Music Box Theatre on 45th Street. This version of Ken Ludwig's VERY funny farce was directed by Stanley Tucci and stars Tony Shaloub, Brooke Adams, Anthony LaPaglia and Justin Bartha. It was, in a word, HILARIOUS! Just great fun all around. The actors were clearly having a great time and Stanley Tucci's directing was superb.

One of the things I love about watching comedy is also one of the things that scares the crap out of me when it comes to directing comedy, which is that you need to walk a very narrow line. You never want to push for a laugh but at the same time sometimes you need to go pretty far out on the edge to get the laugh. If you don't know where that line is, then regardless of how hard the actors are trying, it can be a pretty interminable hour and a half. If the audience isn't laughing, you've got nothing. In my opinion, drama is much more forgiving. What I thought Stanley Tucci did marvelously was walk that line. He knew exactly how to direct this comedy and there were some gags in this show that I will not give away here but that were literally "fall out of the chair" funny. (At one point, I did in fact slip out of my chair laughing.) One last thing, at live theater, although people don't usually get out of their seats before the house lights come up, I definitely recommend staying through the curtain call and not bolting as soon as the lights go down on the show. Lend Me A Tenor has a brilliant gag as part of it's curtain call which is truly not to be missed.

Seriously folks, if you get a chance and you want to laugh, go see this show.

Anyone Can Whistle including GOD!

Anyone Can Whistle is one of Sondheim's lesser known musicals, and because it's his 80th birthday this year, even the lesser known musicals are getting productions. For something like five days this month NY City Center did a "staged reading" of Anyone Can Whistle. Now, for those of you who are familiar with staged readings they can fall on a WIDE spectrum ranging from a few actors standing on stage around music stands to a full on production with musical numbers, a band, costumes and sets that the actors move around in while happening to be carrying their scripts.

This version of Anyone Can Whistle fell in the latter category. It had a 29 person cast, including Sutton Foster, Donna Murphy, and Raul Esparza (who in my head is my Broadway Boyfriend - I'll digress for one second and say that I first fell in love with Raul Esparza when I saw him in Company, and the specific moment he became my BB was when I saw him sing "Being Alive." That was when I knew that I would have to see Company again and that he would forever hold a place in my heart. Now, I try to see him in everything (though budget often prohibits that) and I was thrilled when he turned up in the DVDs of the (sadly cancelled) show Pushing Daisiess and am hoping he turns up many other places as well) but alas, I digress.

What was I saying? Oh, right, there was a 29 person cast and though the sets were on the minimal side, I would bet that the budget for sets and costumes alone in this production was more than my entire budget for Dreamers of the Day. And, on the full musical production number front, they didn't scrimp at ALL. In fact, in this show, there was one of the most incredible dance moves I've ever seen...I'm going to try to describe it:

So there's this whole massive dance number in the middle of the show. It's like 15 minutes long. And it is chaos - beautiful, controlled chaos. The entire 29 person cast is running and dancing around the stage (no small feat because the orchestra was also on the stage - upstage center). It's basically this massive chase scene where a small group are chasing a larger group and one by one throwing the larger group into jail (which is Stage Right). So one dancer in particular is being pursued by 4 other dancers and the pursuee starts on the Stage Right side and starts to run, flat-out towards the proscenium arch on the other side of the stage. Her four pursuers are right behind her running with her and, just when it looks like she is going to smash right into the arch two pursuers grab her outstretched arms on either side of her and, with their support, she runs up the proscenium arch and flips over to land face down on the stretched-out-in-front-of-them-forming-a-cradle-like-landing-place-arms of the other two pursuers. Let me say that again...She RUNS UP THE PROSCENIUM ARCH AND FLIPS OVER!!! It was unbeLIEVABLE. In the middle of a crowded theater I believe I actually said out loud "HOLY S**T!" (luckily the music was very loud). RUNS UP THE PROSCENIUM ARCH AND FLIPS OVER! I've done a little computer diagram of the running up the arch thing:

It was AWESOME! Truly one of the most amazing things I've seen on stage. And then came the possibly the most amazing thing I've ever seen on stage. Are you ready?

So, in the program was the following note: "All patrons attending the Saturday matinee performance of Anyone Can Whistle are invited to attend a post-performance dialogue. Members of the artistic team will be joined by musical theater historian Robert Kimball and members of the cast. The discussion will immediately follow the performance and will run approximately 45 minutes." Now, usually when there is a talk back this means that maybe an actor or two will come out and, if you're really lucky the director or writer might appear and take some questions. It's great if you're a theater person but otherwise, a lot of the time, it's not something people care much about.

So, I'm there with Mom and Dad (by the way, thanks, Mom and Dad, for being Sondheim lovers, and for bringing me along with you to all of these Sondheim shows. Have I mentioned that you guys TOTALLY ROCK?!?!) and we're talking about whether we want to stay for the talk-back. When we saw Company the first time there was a talk back that we happened to be around for and it was really cool so we decide, sure, we'll stick around afterwards and, if some of the actors come out, it'll be worth it...and if it's boring then we'll just leave. But for me, any chance to see my BB for a little while more is comPLETely worth it.

So, Mom and I run to the bathroom before the talk back and Dad hangs out with our coats in the theater. We're on this crazy long line for the bathroom when we hear a swell of applause from the crowd and I say to Mom, "Oh, I bet Sutton Foster just walked out on stage."

Then there's another swell of applause, "Oh, I bet that was Donna Murphy and my BB" and then there's a huge swell of applause, much louder than the other two swells and I look at Mom with the expression of, "yeah, I have no idea who that was for." Not two seconds later, this woman runs into the bathroom and says (probably to a friend in one of the stalls but we all benefitted from her announcement) "get out here NOW, Stephen Sondheim just walked on stage."

WHAAAAAAT!!!?!??!! God is on STAGE!!!!! To hell with the bathroom trip. There's a mad rush out of the bathroom, our bladders forgotten for the next 45 minutes and we run out to the audience, and there, no lie, not 50 feet away, was Stephen Sondheim. STEPHEN F**KING SONDHEIM!!! In the same room!!! Stephen Sondheim! No kidding, for me, it was like seeing the Beatles. I'm pretty sure there were tears. Here's my picture, which totally didn't come out but I swear to god, the white blurry dude holding the microphone IS Stephen Sondheim. It was AWESOME.

And, as if that weren't enough, the whole cast was there too. Including my BB:

He's the dark blue fuzzy dude in the middle. He's wearing a beret. Heh, a beret. How friggin' cute is my blurry BB?

ANYWAY, it was awesome. God spoke for like 45 minutes (just as the note in the program promised) about the show and the original very brief production and about changes that were made and about theater in general. The cast spoke about their involvement in the show and how they came, in the middle of all of their busy schedules, to do a very short run of a very complicated and dare I say, odd little show. It was exactly the sort of thing I love about live theater. You want a glimpse of the behind the scenes? You want to know what it was like to put it together? You want to know what they think works best and what they think isn't working at all? You don't have to wait for DVD, folks. You just have to find a show that's willing to do a talk back and HOPE that you're lucky enough for Stephen Sondheim to walk on stage. I know I keep saying it, but AWESOME! Awesome, awesome, AWESOME!

Luke Duke and Wilhelmina Slater can SING!

Went to see Sondheim on Sondheim so I thought I'd enter a little review of it here on the blog. I don't think this will come as a surprise to anyone who knows me but I LOVED it. Seriously, Stephen Sondheim is a GOD!

I went expecting a revue of Sondheim songs - basically a concert - not really what I want when I'm seeing a Sondheim show, but then again, Sondheim is a god so it's not like it was going to be bad. And, don't get me wrong, concerts are great and all, it's just that I'm not a big concert fan. So, I went in expecting some great songs, sung well by some good actors and that was that...except that wasn't that. The show was so much more than a few musical theater actors wandering around the stage and singing. There was this really interesting revolving, moving set of television screens which had images and interviews playing on them. The show followed Sondheim's life roughly chronologically and playing on the screens were clips from all different interviews Sondheim has done in the past (and I suspect one or two that he did specifically for this show). He would talk about how he came up with certain songs, or why a particular song was cut from a show or altered to serve the show better and interspersed with these interviews, the actors would perform the songs he was discussing in the interviews. It was pretty cool. And the actors are extraordinary. Barbara Cook, Tom Wopat and Vanessa Williams headline the show and they are wonderful.

Now, when I saw it, it was still in previews and there were a couple of technical glitches that they were still working out. I assume by now those glitches have been un-glitched. There was only one disappointment I had with the Sondheim songs and it was regarding a song from Company. In the versions of Company that I know and love there is a song called "Getting Married Today." It is one of my all time favorite Sondheim songs. It's about a woman who is about to get married and she starts to panic and realizes that she can't get married after all and it's one of those Sondheim, tongue twisting, really fast, lyrically beautiful and funny songs that I just LOVE watching an actor really nail.

"Great, Jess, so what's the problem?" Well, the problem, dear readers, with its presence in Sondheim on Sondheim was that they did a version called "The Wedding is Off" and it wasn't the same version. In fact it was almost a completely different song. So, my issue with it was twofold. On the first fold: I wished that I was hearing the version I'm familiar with because I love it. On the second fold: It wasn't clear if they were performing a version that was originally written but never performed or if they were doing a version that was simplified for this production because the actor didn't have the time to learn the more complicated version. And, honestly, either issue would have been fine, but I wish they had explained it. Since the whole show was sort of a behind the scenes glimpse into Sondheim's work and productions, the lack of explanation about that particular song felt kind of glaring. If it was a change made specifically for this show, I rather wished that they hadn't performed it at all...That being said, that was really my only "complaint" about the whole show. It was great fun all around and, for a Sondheim buff, it was an absolute joy.

SO MUCH TO REPORT!!!!

I know that everyone has been breathlessly anticipating my next posts and I have, sadly, left you all in the lurch. No longer! New posts start NOW! Although I have been absent from the blogosphere, that doesn't mean that I have been sitting with my feet up, eating bon bons and twiddling my thumbs. Much has gone on during the off-season, (can we tell that someone has been gearing up for opening day of the baseball season?), or in tv terms, much has gone on during our hiatus (someone's a tv junkie). Much of this news will be covered in greater depth in the quarterly newsletter, but I wanted to get the big news announced on the blog asap. So, let me get right to it:

THE SCRIPT
Here's the biggest news - I have FINISHED the first draft of the adaptation of Dreamers of the Day!!! Now, it is waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy too long and it's not nearly in production shape, but it was a BIG step towards getting the show off the ground. And, in the process of constructing the first draft, the production ideas and the directing ideas are a-flowing. It is VERY exciting and I'm hoping to have a pared down second draft completed by May 1st.

A DEPARTURE and AN ARRIVAL
Sadly, Stephanie Bayliss had to step down as Managing Director of GTTP. Her schedule of commitments got too crazy and she had to take a more backseat role. She is still with GTTP as a production consultant and our go-to Stage Manager, but she will no longer be involved in the day to day running of the company. We are sad to see her go but we are comforted by the fact that she did not go far. Stepping into her position, we are absolutely THRILLED to announce our new Consulting Producer, Rachel Dalton. Rachel comes to GTTP with a twin background in acting and business. Her completed bio will soon be up on the website but in the meantime, I wanted everyone to offer Rachel a rousing GTTP welcome.

WEBSITE REDESIGN
If you haven't recently taken a gander at www.goingtotahitiproductions.com, by all means, click on over. We went through a re-design of the website. It took some time to get the re-design off the ground but we're thrilled with the results. Feel free to drop us a line and let us know what you think.

THE MUCH BALLYHOOED FUNDRAISERS
You have heard here many things about fundraisers and workshops and all manner of activities which have yet to manifest themselves. I wanted to let everyone know that with Rachel on board, one of the things we are most focusing on in the upcoming weeks is locking down our 2010 calendar of events. As SOON as it is locked it will be up on the website and here on the blog so keep checking back regularly!!!

So that's the skinny. I'll post again soon.