Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Video | Departmental Tour of Publicity
Dramaturgy | Snapshot: Rome 200 BCE
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Interview | Cathy Parrott, FORUM Costume Designer
Rachel Lerner-Ley: First of all, I’m so excited you have your binder with you because that was actually going to be one of my first questions.
Cathy Parrott: Oh good!
RLL: Which is: you get the FORUM script, you read it, you laugh a lot—I certainly did. And then how do you start to approach it as a costume designer?
CP: Working very closely with the director. We’re doing an all-male cast. Jess’ vision was going to be a little different than past productions. So it was really seeking out her vision and seeing where she wanted to take it. And the biggest piece of the puzzle has been figuring out the courtesans. How are we going to shape our men into women? So it was about really nailing down the concept of the production.
RLL: And what kind of sources did you use for research? Where did you start looking?
CP: We started looking online and, funny enough, I actually started looking at a lot of modern influences to inspire me and not necessarily get locked into Roman togas. We wanted to have a little bit of freedom especially with our courtesans. My first month was internet research and then I had access to the university library where I was. And the costume designer there has her own fabulous costume book library so I was able to pull images and resources from there. And send that back to Jessica. We were able to tie all that in, from actual period garments from drawings or pictures of sculptures to modern day influences to have a slight little twist on our courtesans.
CP: So this is my bible that I’ve been working from. (Flips to a section with sheets of measurements) So about a month and a half ago all the actors came in for body measurements and I was able to get a good sense of their height, weight, and you know every other measurement from there. Anything the shop may need as these people are making custom-made garments. (Flips to a new section with photos) Then we take body shots. We take a front view and a side view and a back view and then we take the headshots and send them off to the wig designers. (Flips to next section with sketches, photos, images) And then we came up with our research board. So for each of the characters I come up with an inspiration board through my collaboration with Jess. I’d send her an image and she’d respond negatively or positively or we’d put something together like “Oh, I really like the drape on that.” “Let’s do the simplicity of this one.” Then we come up with our own color palates. And color theory—in terms of what different colors mean to a modern day audience. So that’s where the magic happens.
RLL: Now, there are so many characters in FORUM and also we’re doing it with doubling so I can imagine that there are many, many costume pieces that are flying on and off. So do you have to make charts for that? How do you keep track of it all?
CP: We do. That’s what I’m wrapping up today. I’ve been working on it for about a month. (Cathy pulls out many sheets of charts) But this is kind of the short version. It’s broken down by act and scene and then character. So here’s act one. It’s broken down by act and scene. In terms of some of the characters like Jeremy Shamos’s who’s playing Vibrata and Senex, he’s Vibrata and then several scenes later, Senex. But then at the end here you can see how he has to change…
RLL: Oh my goodness. That’s all in one scene!
CP: And then in Act 2, it’s just as crazy for him. On, off, on, off, on, off. So that’s kind of how we set-up the tracking so everybody can see it visually how many changes there are in one scene.
RLL: And how many dressers do you have working backstage on the show to help? Or is it happening on stage?
CP: All the changes happen off-stage, well most of them. So you won’t see all that. And I believe that we have 7 dressers at the moment. It’s what we were shooting for.
RLL: An army of dressers! And because there are so many fast changes happening, do you want to give our audiences a little peek into the magic that happens? Can you give me an example of how one of the fast changes works? Or would you rather keep that a secret?
CP: The magic of snap tape and zippers. (Laughter) And a little bit of underdressing. So if you see something shiny and blue underneath a costume…
RLL: But of course they won’t be seeing any of that.
CP: Of course they won’t because we’ll have it all figured out by then!
RLL: It always just amazes me how quick changes happen.
CP: In addition to zippers and snap tape there’s a lot of elastic.
RLL: Oh that’s so smart.
CP: And all their drapes are nailed at a point so all they have to do is lift their arms up, the dressers put it on, and send them on out.
RLL: And do the guys have basic costumes that are underneath everything? That everything is piled on top of?
CP: The courtesans will because of our quick changes. So everything is built off of that. And then the rest of the silhouettes are tweaked to adapt to the costumes underneath. So there are some of the base costumes that have some shoulder decorations so we have to put a shoulder pad on the side of the other costumes so he doesn’t look like a hunchback.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Fridays@3 | 2010
Weekly Preview | June 28 - July 4
book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
choreography by Denis Jones
directed by Jessica Stone
Paul Castree
David Costibile
Christopher Fitzgerald
Zackary Grady
Josh Grisetti
Adam Lerman
Chivas Michael
Bryce Pinkham
Joe Aaron Reid
Graham Rowat
Jeremy Shamos
David Turner
Jon Patrick Walker
Costume Design | Catherine A. Parott
Lighting Design | Jeff Croiter
Sound Design | Drew Levy and Tony Smolenski
Production Stage Manager | Gregory T. Livoti
Production Manager | Joel M. Krause
Casting | MelCap Casting
It's Jewdy's Show Final Week
Performances run through July 4th, so get you tickets while you still can!
Fridays @ 3 Begins July 2
Friday, June 25, 2010
It's Jewdy's Show Opening Night!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Special Feature | Our Lives as a Theme Song
But the one day when this lady met her production team
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Dramaturgy | A Brief History of Situation Comedy
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Interview | Kate Moira Ryan and Judy Gold of ITS' JEWDY'S SHOW
Kristin Idaszak, Dramaturg, had a chance to interview Kate Moira Ryan, playwright, and Judy Gold, co-writer and performer about the creation of It's Jewdy's Show.
Kate Moira Ryan: So are you Jewish?
Kristin Idaszak: No, I was raised very Roman Catholic.
KMR: Me either. But it’s kind of like Stockholm’s Syndrome. So what do you want to know about us?
KI: First I’d love to know how you two started working together.
Judy Gold: We’re friends. Years ago, she met my ex at a party—
KMR: When Henry was eight months old—
JG: And my ex said, I met these really cool people, we’re going out to dinner with them. We went out for Mexican food and had like 400 margaritas. So that’s when I knew Kate and I were going to be friends.
KMR: If we didn’t have alcohol, we wouldn’t be friends.
[laughter]
KMR: We were in Chicago—
JG: And I was doing the clubs and Kate was in town—and we were at this party, where there were free martinis, but I was working so I wasn’t drinking, and I said, Kate, I can’t do the clubs anymore—
KMR: You’d had a martini. You were done for the night.
JG: I’d had a martini.
KMR: And I said, why don’t you do a one-person show—
JG: No I said, I want to do a one-person show.
KMR: And I said, let’s do it about Jewish mothers.
JG: No, you asked what my act was about. It was about my mother, and I was getting ridiculed by the Jewish press for playing into stereotypes.
KMR: So I had another martini and said, well, why don’t we interview Jewish mothers and find out if the stereotype is real. We came up with 25 questions on the back of a cocktail napkin. So she called me the next morning and said, I’m so excited to get started. I asked, on what? Because I’d had too many martinis—
JG: And I’d only had one! But then we started working on 25 Questions for Jewish Mothers, and that was very successful.
KMR: It played in New York for nine months and toured around the country for three years.
JG: We just finished that a year ago. Then I started this project—and this is more standup-y—with my friends Eric and Bob.
KMR: Then Judy called me and said, "I want to go in a different direction." I asked her what she wanted it to be. She said, "I want it to be about my quest for a sitcom and why it didn’t work out." And her relationship with comedy and how that transformed her life. As a child she was bullied because she was different—she was very tall at a very young age, and a little geeky, right?
JG: A little geeky?
[laughter]
KMR: And she wanted her own sitcom because when she was a kid she really lived in this world inside the tv set. I said, let’s write about that. We took the structure that Bob and Eric had come up with and then I stripped it down and we really made it into what she wanted it to be about. And it’s great because every process is really that, a process. A lot of cooks went into the pot. And we worked furiously to rewrite the show for three months.
KI: So what is that process like? Obviously, Judy, it’s your life. What’s it like for you, Kate, to write about someone else’s life—how do you do that?
KMR: Judy and I are so connected. I provided the structure but Judy was really interested in helping shape it. We write really well together. She’ll get up and do something and I’ll watch, so the writing really takes place in the rehearsal room. And we’re always cracking jokes together and having a great time. I love writing with her, and I love writing for her. Of course sometimes we want to kill each other, but that’s not often. I mean, we had such a great time at Stop n’ Shop last night—but we’re also rather demented. I was chasing her down the aisles trying to run her over with the shopping cart. It’s not that we don’t have deep conversations—sometimes we do—but mostly we really just enjoy each other’s company.
KI (laughing): That’s fantastic. And you’re also a well-known playwright in your own right. How does this compare to your other work?
KMR: I’m really eclectic. I’ve written several adaptations—I wrote an adaptation called BeeBo Brinker Chronicles based on lesbian pulp novels from the 40s and 50s, and a play about four women rehearsing Chekhov before they’re executed, called OTMA. I do travel a lot to Eastern Europe, mainly Russia. That’s my fascination. But I do really almost anything. Sometimes it’s successful, and sometimes it’s not. But that’s what a life in the theatre really is. You put it out there and you keep moving forward.
KI: Is this your first time at WTF?
KMR: I was actually here with Bart Sher—about ten years ago now—we did readings for a of a few of my plays.
KI: And you were here last summer at the cabaret, right Judy?
JG: Yes. It’s a very creative, productive, positive atmosphere. You really feel like you’re in the middle of major creativity. And I love the apprentices—they’re so wide-eyed and eager—
KMR: They’re so enthusiastic—
JG: And I just want to go up to them and whisper into their ears, “Get out.”
KMR: “Get out while you still can.”
KI: So I have one last question for you—what’s your drink of choice?
KMR: What is your drink? You like red wine.
JG: Coffee. Black.
KMR: That’s not a drink.
JG: Yes it is. She asked what my drink of choice is. Any drink, right?
KI: Right.
JG: Coffee. Black, strong coffee. I also like ice water. Ice water and coffee.
KMR: Well I like Diet Coke. And I like tequila. But I don’t drink tequila during the day.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Weekly Preview | June 21st-27
June 23 – July 4 by Judy Gold and Kate Moira Ryan
original music by Judy Gold
lyrics by Kate Moira Ryan and Judy Gold
additional material by Eric Kornfeld and Bob Smith
directed by Amanda Charlton
Building on the success of her show 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, funny-woman Judy Gold returns to the stage in this hilarious look at her amazing life through the lens of the classic sitcoms of her youth. With multimedia, original music, laughter, and love, Judy shows us how she balances family and ambition in a world where she sometimes does not fit. Festival Artistic Associate Amanda Charlton directs.
Scenic Design Andrew Boyce
Lighting Design Marcus Doshi
Sound Design Alex Neumann
Production Stage Manager Libby Unsworth
Production Manager Joel M. Krause
New Nikos Q & A Series begins Saturday, June 26th
This Saturday, Judy Gold and special guest, Rabbi Joshua Boettiger will participate in a new Q & A series, hosted by Sarah Slight, Literary Associate.
Check out the remainder of this series, offered after the first Friday performance of every Nikos show.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Welcome to WTF Summer 2010
Welcome back to the Williamstown Theatre Festival Blog! As we gear up for this summer’s season of shows, beginning performances on June 23rd with It’s Jewdy’s Show: My Life as a Sitcom by Judy Gold and Kate Moira, we’ll be bringing you some preview info on all the shows of the season.
Look for our usual weekly schedule devoted to the show opening that week—Monday | Preview, Tuesday | Interview, Wednesday | Dramaturgy, Thursday | Special Feature and Friday | Opening Night Photos—beginning on June 21st.
Also, remember that aside from the exciting season of shows on the Main and Nikos stages, the Workshop will produce the Fellowship Play and Musical, Directing Assistant Projects, Directing Intern Projects, and the Greylock Theatre Project. Aside from Fridays @ 3 and the Tuesday Talkback, Literary will also host a Friday Q & A for all of the Nikos shows. The playwright along with a special guest will converse with audience on the new work at WTF this summer. Don’t miss this exciting new addition to the first Friday performance of each Nikos show.
More information about all of the events at WTF (don’t forget the Free Theatre and the Cabarets) will be posted each week, so be sure to check us out regularly. Its bound to be another busy and exciting summer!
Sarah Slight, Literary Associate