Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
Friday, January 21, 2011
Monday, March 23, 2009
A great weekend for Zacki!
It was nice to have a weekend just roll on by at the perfect pace with lots of fun stuff to do, and some relaxation thrown in.
Friday was dinner after work with my Uncle Ken, my sis, my friend Mark, T and myself. We hit up Home in Silverlake for some really yummy foor then headed over to the Bigfoot Lodge for a cocktail or two. Since the week had really taken its toll on us, we were all pretty tired, and add into that a huge dinner and we were ready to head home a little early.
Saturday I woke up, headed back home for a quick shower before spending the day with my sister and uncle. We grabbed lunch at Litterati 2 in Century city and then headed to the Skirball Center to see a staged reading of Kenneth Lonergan's "This is our youth" starring Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hamilton, and Missy Yager. This reading was done without a set, costumes, or any kind of framework except for the actors reading and an actor off to the side creating all the sound effects from a door slam to rolling a joint. It was great to see a play pared down to this, it just shows how good the writing is and just how talented these actors are when they are simply sitting on a stool, but you aren't missing a bit of the realism and emotion. I really dug it and am totally in love with Mark Ruffalo.
After a stomach churning trip to the almighty Tommy's Burgers in Eagle Rock, we headed to the Echoplex to see the band "The Sadies" from Toronto. They were pretty great.
I liked the venue of the Echoplex, but must say I could do without the 1,000 degree temperature... it was like standing in hell's mouth with a tiny fan blowing on you intermittently while you stand and drip...
Sunday I met up with T for lunch at his place, and we headed out to the Faultline for their beer-bust LA Leather kick-off party. It was a good time. His friends were there and it was fun to see them and do some people watching. We swear we saw perfect look alikes for Morgan Freeman and the Blair Witch. After the merriment, we had some delicious yellow curry and hit the hey for some snuggle time. All in all a great weekend!
Friday was dinner after work with my Uncle Ken, my sis, my friend Mark, T and myself. We hit up Home in Silverlake for some really yummy foor then headed over to the Bigfoot Lodge for a cocktail or two. Since the week had really taken its toll on us, we were all pretty tired, and add into that a huge dinner and we were ready to head home a little early.
Saturday I woke up, headed back home for a quick shower before spending the day with my sister and uncle. We grabbed lunch at Litterati 2 in Century city and then headed to the Skirball Center to see a staged reading of Kenneth Lonergan's "This is our youth" starring Mark Ruffalo, Josh Hamilton, and Missy Yager. This reading was done without a set, costumes, or any kind of framework except for the actors reading and an actor off to the side creating all the sound effects from a door slam to rolling a joint. It was great to see a play pared down to this, it just shows how good the writing is and just how talented these actors are when they are simply sitting on a stool, but you aren't missing a bit of the realism and emotion. I really dug it and am totally in love with Mark Ruffalo.
After a stomach churning trip to the almighty Tommy's Burgers in Eagle Rock, we headed to the Echoplex to see the band "The Sadies" from Toronto. They were pretty great.
I liked the venue of the Echoplex, but must say I could do without the 1,000 degree temperature... it was like standing in hell's mouth with a tiny fan blowing on you intermittently while you stand and drip...
Sunday I met up with T for lunch at his place, and we headed out to the Faultline for their beer-bust LA Leather kick-off party. It was a good time. His friends were there and it was fun to see them and do some people watching. We swear we saw perfect look alikes for Morgan Freeman and the Blair Witch. After the merriment, we had some delicious yellow curry and hit the hey for some snuggle time. All in all a great weekend!
Monday, March 02, 2009
Oedipus told by vegetables...
actually, pretty amazing and funny!
Thanks to Smrtmnky for the tip off!
Thanks to Smrtmnky for the tip off!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Big Surprise... (Insert sarcasm here)
The revival of David Mamet's "American Buffalo," starring John Leguizamo, Cedric the Entertainer and Haley Joel Osment, closed a week after opening. Oy vey, who didn't see that coming?....
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
My waiting for Guffman moment circa 2000
Once upon a time, during the summer of 2000, I joined a group of artisans headed to a little town called Leavenworth, Washington. Our mission, and my paying gig, was to assist in costuming a cast of over 250 locals, in 5 days, for a single theatrical performance called "Icicle Times" that spanned the history of the area from early Native American beliefs to modern day. Basically you could superimpose the plot of "Waiting for Guffman" onto this experience and it wouldn't look all that different. "Red White and Blaine" and "Icicle Times" both made me chuckle and feel embarrrassed for the people on stage with equal amounts of gusto.
A little Backgound: Leavenworth is a small town located in the Eastern slopes of the cascade mountain range in Washington State. If I remember correctly it took us about 4 hours to get up there in my dad's Bronco II. The town had been slipping in tourism so they had a twon meeting and decided adding a theme to the town just might work. The town was reborn in the 1960s into a Bavarian Village theme, very much like a small German village you might find in your European travels. "The authenticity has attracted many people of direct German, Austrian and Norwegian descent who have made Leavenworth Washington their new home and livelihood." -According to the chamber of commerce. Really? I guess I did eat a sausage or two while I was there...so that must be true!
One-Reel was the group putting on this gigantic project, commisioned by Harriet Bullitt. (Sidenote: it was rumored that Harriet, longtime resident of Leavenworth and co-owner of King broadcasting in the Northwest, commissioned the piece to perhaps get a better local public image after it was found that her family's logging investment was one of the prime causes of the devestating fires in 1994 that nearly wiped out the town. But you didn't hear that from me....like I said...just a rumor...wink) Anywho, the production was intended to bring the town together by creating a theatrical history of the town, that could be done every few years and would incorporate as many townspeople as possible. Me and my friends Jen and Carrissa were all brought on by Ron the designer to assist him in pulling things, sewing hems, making special outfits like the cookoo bird costume for the giant clock scene....I'm not kidding...
The costumes varied through every period within the last 100 years and also included costumes like a "School of Salmon" and more.... We worked in the basement of the local church that sat across the street from where the tent was set up. The preacher's wife lived two dorrs down and just kept coming in and bringing us treats. Eventually that graduated to bringing us treats and trying on clothes like a little girl playing dress up. Then one day that dress up included a red feather boa....and then it was clear.... she HAD to play one of the prostitutes in the wild west scene! She seemed cautious, but she got the roll no prob and her hubby almost lost it when he saw her up there. He laughed it all off, but you know that night they had some serious fun a few doors down!
Peg Phillips from "Northern Exposure" fame was the narrator in the show. It was pretty cool having a tv personality in the show, I was impressed....and she really was the nicest lady on earth. She didn't even care if we expected her to go out there wearing nothing but a pasty, she trusted us. Sadly she died two years after this event, but you can always see her as Ruth in "Northern Exposure" now that dvds of television shows are so popular.
Here's the Salmon "Teacher" costume I ddesigned and built for the "School of salmon" scene. This woman drove me nuts. She was a local middle school teacher that was such a diva. She kept asking if it would be possible to just paint her face like a fish so she didn't have to "wear a costume." I kindly explained that the kids were wearing fish on their heads as the "Students" and if she wanted to comman some presence in a tent filled with 1000 people that this was the best way to do it. It took the director "schooling" her to get her to shut up and wear the damn thing. (I always liked the book in its mouth that flapped up and down when she walked.)
Um...I think we all know what I'm really taking a picture of here, but this was the local sherriff that played the sherriff in the wild west scene. I was his dresser and as a thank you, he gave me a really cool cowboy hat of his. ahhh swoon...his wife is one lucky gal.
I just loved this pic I got of one of the "Bavarian townspeople" heading into the port o potties in such a beautiful serene countryside. You can even see the church we worked in across the street.
Us playing with the costume accessories for the train sequence. (God I look so young...)
Me and Jen comparing the pregnancy bellies we had made that afternoon.
Pieces of the cukoo bird head used as falsies....you get the gist... we had alot of fun! I love looking through old photos and the memories they bring back.
Click HEREto see a short video about the show, with some great footage of the bizarre event, by our local PBS station. Made possible by viewers like you...
A little Backgound: Leavenworth is a small town located in the Eastern slopes of the cascade mountain range in Washington State. If I remember correctly it took us about 4 hours to get up there in my dad's Bronco II. The town had been slipping in tourism so they had a twon meeting and decided adding a theme to the town just might work. The town was reborn in the 1960s into a Bavarian Village theme, very much like a small German village you might find in your European travels. "The authenticity has attracted many people of direct German, Austrian and Norwegian descent who have made Leavenworth Washington their new home and livelihood." -According to the chamber of commerce. Really? I guess I did eat a sausage or two while I was there...so that must be true!
One-Reel was the group putting on this gigantic project, commisioned by Harriet Bullitt. (Sidenote: it was rumored that Harriet, longtime resident of Leavenworth and co-owner of King broadcasting in the Northwest, commissioned the piece to perhaps get a better local public image after it was found that her family's logging investment was one of the prime causes of the devestating fires in 1994 that nearly wiped out the town. But you didn't hear that from me....like I said...just a rumor...wink) Anywho, the production was intended to bring the town together by creating a theatrical history of the town, that could be done every few years and would incorporate as many townspeople as possible. Me and my friends Jen and Carrissa were all brought on by Ron the designer to assist him in pulling things, sewing hems, making special outfits like the cookoo bird costume for the giant clock scene....I'm not kidding...
The costumes varied through every period within the last 100 years and also included costumes like a "School of Salmon" and more.... We worked in the basement of the local church that sat across the street from where the tent was set up. The preacher's wife lived two dorrs down and just kept coming in and bringing us treats. Eventually that graduated to bringing us treats and trying on clothes like a little girl playing dress up. Then one day that dress up included a red feather boa....and then it was clear.... she HAD to play one of the prostitutes in the wild west scene! She seemed cautious, but she got the roll no prob and her hubby almost lost it when he saw her up there. He laughed it all off, but you know that night they had some serious fun a few doors down!
Peg Phillips from "Northern Exposure" fame was the narrator in the show. It was pretty cool having a tv personality in the show, I was impressed....and she really was the nicest lady on earth. She didn't even care if we expected her to go out there wearing nothing but a pasty, she trusted us. Sadly she died two years after this event, but you can always see her as Ruth in "Northern Exposure" now that dvds of television shows are so popular.
Here's the Salmon "Teacher" costume I ddesigned and built for the "School of salmon" scene. This woman drove me nuts. She was a local middle school teacher that was such a diva. She kept asking if it would be possible to just paint her face like a fish so she didn't have to "wear a costume." I kindly explained that the kids were wearing fish on their heads as the "Students" and if she wanted to comman some presence in a tent filled with 1000 people that this was the best way to do it. It took the director "schooling" her to get her to shut up and wear the damn thing. (I always liked the book in its mouth that flapped up and down when she walked.)
Um...I think we all know what I'm really taking a picture of here, but this was the local sherriff that played the sherriff in the wild west scene. I was his dresser and as a thank you, he gave me a really cool cowboy hat of his. ahhh swoon...his wife is one lucky gal.
I just loved this pic I got of one of the "Bavarian townspeople" heading into the port o potties in such a beautiful serene countryside. You can even see the church we worked in across the street.
Us playing with the costume accessories for the train sequence. (God I look so young...)
Me and Jen comparing the pregnancy bellies we had made that afternoon.
Pieces of the cukoo bird head used as falsies....you get the gist... we had alot of fun! I love looking through old photos and the memories they bring back.
Click HEREto see a short video about the show, with some great footage of the bizarre event, by our local PBS station. Made possible by viewers like you...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Plays are like cars....
Amy Thone is brilliant, and is getting high kudos from "The Stranger" in Seattle. Most likely none of you who read, or glance at my scattershot blog will know who this woman is, but you should....and now you can...
the article: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=316789
Amy thone is an actress, professor in acting at my alma mater Cornish College of the Arts and an inspiring director. I first worked with Amy on "Cloud Nine" by Caryl Churchill my second year in undergrad, she was directing and I was designing the set. This was my first big mainstage and as the show changed late in the game from "Troilus and Cressida," we were already behind. I had a matter of two weeks to finalize designs in two weeks on a show I had only read the night before and would get all of two good long days of meetings with the director as that was what our schedules would allow. I fell in love with Caryl Churchill about halfway through the piece, so knowing Amy had picked this show let me know we might have a similar charge for the material. I was right.
Our first meeting was in the Ned Skinner Theatre where the show was going to be held. The theatre was a great big turn of the century gymnasium with a frame beams above, a makeshift grid of lighting poles, moveable seating units, and a running track perimiter around the upper walls that always proved a challenge to incorporate or hide in a design. We launched into our discusssion with an in depth disecction of the piece an I must say it still strikes me as one of the most exhilarating discussions I've ever had with a director about what we felt, what we disagreed with, what we wanted the audience to feel, and how we put our stamp on this work for all to see..... She rocked my world as a director, and still to this day I have yet to collaborate with a director so insanely connected to a piece that I actually could feel the life of it growing with each passing word. In the article she is wuoted as saying "I think of plays like cars—every play has its own engine; you have to learn to pull it apart" and she certainly practices what she preaches.
Amy Thone truly inspired me as a teacher, a collaborator and an actor in the many shows I have seen her in over the years back in Seattle. Congrats Amy on receiving a Genius Award from the Stranger, its been long overdue!
Also receiving a Genius Award from the Stranger is the Strawberry Theatre Workshop which is headed up by my former professor Greg Carter, and a team of several cohorts from back in my Cornish days. He's another brilliant guy with strong opinions, great work ethic, strong attention to detail, is a good devil's advocate when its needed, has passion for politics and art, and is just an all around smart creative man. Congrats to them as well for all their crazy brilliant work being recognized.
here's an article on them as well: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=316793
the article: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=316789
Amy thone is an actress, professor in acting at my alma mater Cornish College of the Arts and an inspiring director. I first worked with Amy on "Cloud Nine" by Caryl Churchill my second year in undergrad, she was directing and I was designing the set. This was my first big mainstage and as the show changed late in the game from "Troilus and Cressida," we were already behind. I had a matter of two weeks to finalize designs in two weeks on a show I had only read the night before and would get all of two good long days of meetings with the director as that was what our schedules would allow. I fell in love with Caryl Churchill about halfway through the piece, so knowing Amy had picked this show let me know we might have a similar charge for the material. I was right.
Our first meeting was in the Ned Skinner Theatre where the show was going to be held. The theatre was a great big turn of the century gymnasium with a frame beams above, a makeshift grid of lighting poles, moveable seating units, and a running track perimiter around the upper walls that always proved a challenge to incorporate or hide in a design. We launched into our discusssion with an in depth disecction of the piece an I must say it still strikes me as one of the most exhilarating discussions I've ever had with a director about what we felt, what we disagreed with, what we wanted the audience to feel, and how we put our stamp on this work for all to see..... She rocked my world as a director, and still to this day I have yet to collaborate with a director so insanely connected to a piece that I actually could feel the life of it growing with each passing word. In the article she is wuoted as saying "I think of plays like cars—every play has its own engine; you have to learn to pull it apart" and she certainly practices what she preaches.
Amy Thone truly inspired me as a teacher, a collaborator and an actor in the many shows I have seen her in over the years back in Seattle. Congrats Amy on receiving a Genius Award from the Stranger, its been long overdue!
Also receiving a Genius Award from the Stranger is the Strawberry Theatre Workshop which is headed up by my former professor Greg Carter, and a team of several cohorts from back in my Cornish days. He's another brilliant guy with strong opinions, great work ethic, strong attention to detail, is a good devil's advocate when its needed, has passion for politics and art, and is just an all around smart creative man. Congrats to them as well for all their crazy brilliant work being recognized.
here's an article on them as well: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=316793
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