There Will be (not as much) Blood

"We need a Seahawks blanket", said one of the designers.

"There should be no problem finding one of those this weekend", said everyone else at the table.

"Yes, but will people be willing to lend it to us?"

Anthony Winkler directs Trick Danneker
and Jesica Avellone along with the rest of the cast.
Photo: Agastya Kohli

"There is no blood in this show - shouldn't be a problem!" Gary Menendez declared in a reference to the "Blood and Corpse" Saturday night last weekend.

"Says who?" said the rest of the table.

The Uprising by Courtney Meaker is all set to end the first half with a bang. No pun intended. The props/set-list includes a gun, school furniture, backpack, students, biology lab equipment, and blood. While you may think this is a show about "another shooting at a high school"... it isn't that sort of a shooting.

Anthony Winkler directs Melissa Fenwick, Jesica Avellone, Trick Danneker, Cody Smith and Ben Burris in this explosive piece!

Design Runners have Arrived

Design runners are starting to return to the theatre and construction work has begun. I will try and sneak out of tech every so often and give you an update on the eagle's nest and monster tentacles. 

"Let me get a picture of that Michael."

"It's not done yet", Michael replied very sternly.

I know Michael, I know. You're not just going to put an HVAC duct on the stage and call it a tentacle! :)

Michael Mowery with the beginnings of the monster tentacle.
Photo: Agastya Kohli

"What are you making Gary?"

"I am making the eagle's nest. And this is as far as I've gotten so far."

Gary Menendez working on the eagle's nest.
Photo: Agastya Kohli

K.D. our Costumer Goes For A Ride

K.D. Schill, Michael Mowery, WillAbrahamse, Dave Baldwin, Gary Menendez, Gerard Menendez
Photo by Joe Iano

I got to take a walk with the amazingly talented K.D. Schill who borrowed my auto to make her costuming run.  Amy Lazerte and Charlotte Peters join K.D. for today's costume magic.  I hope the 14/48 gods help her along like they did yesterday when Chris Ensweiler whipped out a pair of blue skivvies to round out his Spider Man costume for last night's Act II opener, Touched for the Very First Time by Matt Smith.

K.D. Schill
Photo by Teri Lazzara

Paul Budraitis, K.D. Schill, Gary Menendez
Photo by Joe Iano

Another Hot Designer

Now I have the "Love in an Elevator" song stuck in my head.  How 'bout you?

Pictures, Round 1

Our wonderful photographer Joe Iano of ianophotography.com shared some pictures with us blogger types.

Beautiful Bullitt

Manny and his claw share thoughts with the film crew as Alyssa Keene listens in.

Andrew Murry learning lines.

Table work in 8th floor rehearsal room

Gary M, K.D. Schill and Paul B sorting out sets and costumes.

Rehearsals Underway

The playwrights got here first and turned in their plays. Then came the directors and designers, and started reading them. Finally, the actors were picked, scripts handed out, rehearsal spaces assigned, and Bullitt cabaret cleared out.

Peggy Gannon talks to Alex Samuels,
Charles Smith and Andrew Murry.

They're scattered all over ACT theatre - in Busters, in Lower Falls Lobby, in the Allen, in the Allen green room, on the 8th floor, in the Lalei and in the Bullitt dressing room #4!

If you linger in any of the rehearsal spaces, you might overhear some serious theatre making, like Peggy Gannon telling her cast "As long as we're not all coming from a place of anger, I think we'll be fine."

In a different space, Ben McFadden suggests, "let's go Monty Python with this... we can always pull it back if we need to".

"Or take it further", director Paul Budraitis responds.

Over in Allen Green Room, director Suzanne Cohen tells the cast to take it from the top. As the actors get in place, Sara Coates yells out "let's turn this bitch into a musical!" Virgin actor Justin Huertas chuckles, "done and done!"

Back in the Bullitt, the designers are discussing props and costumes. "We need three babies and dog that fall from the sky. The second baby needs to bleed when it hits the ground", explains K.D. Schill.

Justin Huertas, Adria LaMorticella and Sara Coates
rehearse Obstakles For To Make Honeymoon.

"Does it actually need to bleed, or are they wrapped in such a way that you can't really tell?" Gary Menendez seeks clarification.

"Well, he'd like a splatter effect", responds K.D. Schill, referring to director Manuel Cawaling.

"That's fine. We have plenty of babies. We can get a blood pack, and weight it so it hits blood pack first." Gary Menendez has solved another problem.

14/48 caravan rolls along.

TECH - Expecting Bobby (or Nicole) by Joy McCullough Carranza

Gary Menendez did it... he made Tyrone's wall. Will probably take a forklift to bring it on and off stage, but Tyrone got his wall.

Alex Samuels has rang the dinner bell and the artists are beginning to gather in the staff room.

5:20... I told Brandon Whitehead that I was hitting a wall. He laughed and replied, "You? No one has sympathy for you."

Apparently I'm turning into Charlie Brown. Good grief.

MENENDEZ and MOWERY

MOWERY: We need a baseball glove... and some baseballs and Barbies.

MENENDEZ: I think there's some baseballs and Barbies in there.

TIM HYLAND: Baseballs and Barbies?

MOWERY: They throw them... the baseballs and the Barbies.

MENENDEZ: Tyrone wants a wall with a flat screen TV on it... and a door... I told him we couldn't do the door.

For those of you following at home, yesterday Tyrone had a ground plan for his show which consisted of a living room, bedroom and kitchen (not to mention a backyard, two car garage and swimming pool) and he now wants a flat screen TV. With the help of Gary Menendez, Tyrone's home in ACT is almost complete and he can probably move in starting next week.

MENENDEZ AND MOWERY

Michael Mowery explaining to Gary Menendez and Carol Roscoe his "need for guns... any guns... hand guns."

This is making Gary very nervous as the picture clearly indicates.

Design Visits

I spent some of my morning with Gary Menendez, a designer who has been volunteering for 14/48 for four years ("And I've only missed one weekend that whole time"). Gary is one example of why 14/48 works. And why it works so well.

Gary is a professional carpenter who volunteers for 14/48 "because I love it." He designs and creates and builds and pulls together set pieces, props, costume pieces, and whatever else directors, designers, and actors ask for with a team of about four other volunteer designers.

The designers read the plays and then meet with the directors on "design visits" to talk about what each show will need. I went with Gary on his design visits. Here are some quotes and snippets that I saw and overheard from actors, designers, and directors during our visits:

"I need a chair. Plaid if possible. Ugly if possible. More trailer-parky than anything else." (director Katjana Vadeboncoeur)

"This play is about show choir. Its perfect, I was IN show choir!" (actor Jason Harber)

"And then there is a line- something about baby coochies. And then a blackout. We'll figure it out in rehearsal." (director Elizabeth Eller)

"James, your my first call for a shotgun. I need a shotgun and I thought of you. So call me back." (Gary Menendez leaving a voicemail for James Frounfelter)

"We need a life-size PBR can. Oh yeah, and a Jesus beard."

"So there's a chipmunk and a beaver? Right, two beavers." "Ok, so we need two beavs?" (Conversation between Gary and Katjana)

"I got in Jim Jewell's play. Which is funny because he told me he thought of me when he wrote this character. And then I read it and she is written with a really shrill voice. So, I was like, oh, thanks Jim." (actor Shawnmarie Stanton)

"Well, we need more flashlights. We always need flashlights as props. And phones. Those are what we need every weekend. Flashlights and phones. And dildos and porn." (Gary Menendez)