Post Mortem

Done and done. L.A. Blues is no more. At least this incarnation. And we won’t look back. Except for right now…

I would like to start by apologising for the lack of updates in the week before we opened (I know regular readers will have been devastated by the reduced coverage!). Things were intense, to say the least. As we approached opening night, each day seemed to bring its own disaster. So much so, that this installment is long. It’s still good though, I swear.

(i) Costume Woes

Hiring costumes from the Abbey is a double-edged sword. On the plus side, they have a great collection, the staff is incredibly friendly and helpful and the cost is relatively cheap for what you get. But against that, there are some big drawbacks. The warehouse is only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, between 10am and 4pm, which can make getting an appointment that works for you difficult. Also, and more frustratingly, there is no system for cataloguing the items in the warehouse. Which, when you think about it, is ridiculous. We knew exactly which costumes we needed but rather than type a unique code into a database and be given an exact location to pick it up, we had to scour the warehouse for desired items hoping that a) they were there (the lack of a database means that no-one knows what is in stock and what isn’t), and b) they were in the correct section. Of the seven items we needed, we were able to find five. One of Winifred’s dresses was missing (presumably with another company, but who knows?) as was her hat. Not ideal. So it was back to the dressing room to find a replacement. At the last minute we did get a new dress and it worked very well. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the new hat. After a rather spectacular hat malfunction during the dress rehearsal and a very close call in Act One on the opening night, it was decided that the hat would stay in the dressing room.

These may seem like minor issues but every little thing takes its toll. The costume work had been done before. All we had to do this time was pick them up and wear them. But because of a system (or rather complete lack thereof) outside of our control, we had to make last minute changes. The staff at the Abbey costume department are fantastic and did whatever they could to help us. But until a proper system is put in place, costuming a production will remain a bit of a crapshoot. And given that one has to pay to hire from the Abbey, that is unacceptable.

(ii) Sickness Woes

Tuesday 29^th May. 6pm – 9pm. Penultimate rehearsal before the get-in. Things go well. We are in surprisingly good shape.

Thursday 31^st May. 9.50am. Text message arrives. Matthew is sick, going to the doctor that morning. Diagnosed with septic throat and ear infection. Can’t make final rehearsal before get-in. Balls.

Thursday 31^st May. 6.00pm – 8pm. Rehearsal minus one cast member goes well. Gives us time to work on the niggly bits that have been a bit sloppy. Feel okay.

Saturday 2^nd June. 10.00am – 5.00pm. Set get-in goes well. Matthew’s eye looks suspiciously like something bad is going to happen.

Sunday 3^rd June. 11.00am – 8pm. Matthew’s eye seems much better. Tech get-in goes well.

Monday 4^th June. 7.16am. Text message arrives. Matthew is sick again, can’t make it in. Technical run-through replaced by quick top and tail and some individual scene tweaking. I am not a happy bunny. I am not a bunny at all. I am a ball. A tightly-wound ball. Of stress. And anger. I do not resent Matthew, but I hate his left eye. Hate it. Consider the possibility of having the character of Billy one-eyed.

Tuesday 5^th June. 3.00pm. Look for eye-patch for Matthew. Search unsuccessful. Devise method to construct eye-patch from felt and duct tape.

Tuseday 5^th June. 6.00pm – 10.00pm. Dress rehearsal pretty good (I think, see below). Matthew has use of two eyes. Stress begins to subside. Audience numbers panic sets in. I remain a tightly-would ball.

(iii) Lighting Operator Woes

When I was in college, I was a techie. I designed, rigged and operated lights. That was 2000 – 2004. On occasion since, I have helped a friend out whenever they were stuck. But for the most part, I no longer get involved in the technical side of things if at all possible. Not because I feel that I have risen above it. Far from it. Part of the reason is that I do not want to take on too much responsibility. Also, as I have said before, collaboration is good, vital even. With actors and techies. Although perhaps on different aspects of the production.

The lighting for L.A. Blues was designed by the fabulous Gráinne O’Driscoll. She has designed the Winedark shows for the last number of years and has kindly worked with Neon Fringe too. But Gráinne doesn’t operate. That job belongs to Colm Kinsella – Winedark’s lighting operator/stage manager in residence. The problem this time around was that Colm was on holidays for the get-in and part of the run and was therefore unable to act as operator. Which left us a little bit fucked.

We tried calling in a number of different people. People we knew and trusted and will happily work with time and time again. They were already working on other shows. We sent out a call for anyone with experience who was interested to get in touch. Nothing. Which meant that there was only one option left open to us. I had to do it. It was with reluctance that I took on the role. I hadn’t done it in a long time and didn’t know if I would be able to do a good enough job. Also, if I was operating the lights, who was keeping an eye on the dress rehearsal? To make matters worse, Colm being absent also meant that we had no stage manager. Guess who had to step into that role? That’s right, yours truly. At least the redesigned show (see L.A. Blues: Redux, Part 2) meant that that role was drastically reduced.

In all, I had too much to do, too much responsibility on my shoulders. It all worked out in the end, I suppose. Certainly there were no disasters. But I did forget to do some things. Thankfully the cast had thought ahead and prepared themselves – otherwise we would have had some big problems. Write/director/operator/stage manager: it was not a pleasant situation to be in and one I hope never to have to repeat again.

(iv) The End

Three nights. Three packed houses. Three great performances. Each evening of L.A. Blues was met with huge audience approval and overwhelmingly positive feedback. People enjoyed watching it. We enjoyed doing it. The stress may have been worth it after all. Who am I kidding? We at Neon Fringe do this because we love it. We don’t make much (read: any) profit but we cover our costs – thanks to the support of those who come along to share in (and hopefully enjoy) our artistic endeavours. And until the Abbey come calling, we’ll continue to forge our own path.

And that’s it for L.A. Blues – The Director’s Blog. Unless and until we revive it down the line. In the meantime, look out for details of our next production – hopefully premiering in the autumn – on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for reading.

Chris Lynch

Problems Continue To Mount

*The following was written on May 30th 2012*

Another week, another disaster. This time two-pronged. I couldn’t make this shit up if I tried…

Regular Winedarkers will know that productions always run from Wednesday until Saturday. L.A. Blues, however, is only running from Thursday until Saturday. The reason? The venue has another event on on the Wednesday. This is itself is not a major problem. When we produced Love in the Time of Social Networking, we were unable to use the theatre on the eve of the production. That time, though, we were able to rig our tech beforehand and leave it up. This time is different.

You see, the event taking place in the Cobalt Café the day before we open is a wedding. That means we have to clear everything out on the Tuesday. All set, all lighting equipment. Everything. I understand why the management are demanding it. My question is, has anyone asked the bride and groom? I mean, who wouldn’t want a 1940s style cabaret bar set and matching lighting as a part of their wedding day? Honestly.

So we have a get-in on the Bank Holiday weekend and a dress rehearsal on the Tuesday night, before clearing out completely to leave the space empty for the Wednesday and coming back on the Thursday to start the show. The gap of a day doesn’t bother me. In fact, I have always been of the opinion that too many run-throughs can actually spoil a production. Let the cast and crew have a day of rest (yes, director’s are god-like). If the play still needs work the day before it opens, you’re in more trouble than one more run-through can fix. No, the problem isn’t the gap. It is that fact that on the day we open, we have maximum three and a half hours to completely build and dress the set and rig and focus the lights. Never have I been involved in a production that has had such a short get-in time and such a small crew to do it. Freaking out doesn’t cover it. But my team assure me that it is not only possible but that it is ‘grand’. I hope for all our sakes it is.

That’s prong one. Prong two is that out usual lighting operator, the guy who operated the lights for the last run and who knows the cues, is unavailable for the duration of our get-in. So we need another new person to get involved. That’s right, more change! To be frank, I can do it myself and it is looking increasingly likely that I will have to. But I would really rather not. So if you are a lighting operator or you know one, please do get in touch with us and come onboard. I can guarantee that you will have fun. We can be contacted on 086-0591346 or at neonfringe@gmail.com.

Come and join us.

L.A. Blues: Redux, Part 2

*The following was written on May 24th 2012*

In the words of Ozzy Osbourne, we’re going through changes. Not the menopause, you understand – we’re too young/old/masculine (delete as appropriate) for that. No, L.A. Blues is changing again. Which is becoming quite the theme this time around, I suppose. I have already written about the new cast, poster, dynamic, director/actor decisions, etc… New is the new new and all that. The difference is that while each of the previous circumstance-changes has resulted in more than a little expleting (is that a word? it is now) and kicking of furniture, the latest batch of tweaks are entirely intentional. Because, despite the impression I may have been giving, change isn’t always a pain in the arse. Yes, it is annoying when the European football causes Coronation Street to be switched to a Thursday, but sometimes change is good. During the previous run of L.A. Blues, there were decisions made concerning blocking during rehearsals that turned out to be an annoyance during the actual run of the show. [Blocking, for those unfamiliar, is the term used when deciding where the actors move/stand/etc…]

Those familiar with the Cobalt will know that it has no stage. But it also has no raised seating. For L.A. Blues we needed one or the other. So we built a stage (see picture below for the undressed stage). As you can see, the stage was split in two – an upper, smaller area and a lower, larger one. For the first run, I decided that most of the action should take place on the lower level. It was more central and closer to the audience. The problem was that it made some of the most important scenes very difficult to see. Key lines and actions were delivered from a sitting position and I don’t know how much the audience missed. For me, and I’m sure for others, some scenes might as well have been from a radio play. No one complained. No one even mentioned it. But I noticed it. And it bugged the shit out of me every night.

So doing it again given me a chance to address the mistakes made back in December. A lot of the action has been flipped – scenes that took place on the lower level now occur on the higher one, and vice versa. Interestingly, as well as (fingers crossed) allowing the audience to see more of the action, it has allowed us approach things in a way that we hadn’t realised before: Does it really matter that Billy now goes to the bar rather than sitting at his table? Yes. Does moving Winifred away from the action in Act 2, Scene 2 really increase the tension? Yes. How much meaning can moving a cocktail glass really have? A lot.

I don’t know if anyone who saw the show the last time will notice. Hopefully you will. Hopefully you will enjoy it more and get more out of it. Even if you don’t, I think it is important that you come along again and see for yourself. Which is better, L.A. Blues or L.A. Blues: Redux. You won’t know unless you see both. Go on, you know you want to...

Tickets can be reserved by calling 01-8730313 / 086-0591346 or emailing neonfringe@gmail.com

L.A. Blues: Redux, Part 1

*The following was written on 18th May 2012*


There is a period between casting and the first read-through during which a director experiences a number of things:

1. confidence that he has the perfect cast 
2.  a combined feeling of doubt and fear that he has cast the wrong people
3. an inability to remember exactly what each auditionee was actually like
4. a sense of self-belief that he must have made the correct decision
5. a renewed (and infinitely more potent) feeling of doubt and fear that he has cast the wrong people
6. acceptance that what is done is done and that everything will work out fine (a mental state made more manageable with the knowledge that if it doesn’t work out, he can always fire everyone and look for replacements)

The above is a fairly accurate description of how I felt in the week between casting our new Fats Rothstein and actually having the whole cast sit down together and read through the script. I needn’t have worried so much. Killian has proved a worthy addition to the cast and is very much holding his own against Sorcha and Matthew.

But, as I had feared, things are different. This is no mere revival anymore. Each actor (sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly) has his own interpretation of a role, a line, a movement. Each actor also has their own energy. All of this affects how the other actors act and react. Which effects the production as a whole. In short, while we expected to begin again for every scene that features Fats, we did not anticipate revising the scenes from which he is absent. For example, decisions made by myself and the actors in rehearsing Act 1, Scene 2 (the initial meeting of Winifred and Fats) have resulted in a need to look at how Winifred and Billy behave in Act Two.

I’m not complaining. Well I am. But not because of the changes. Theatre is a creative process and change is necessary – to force one actor to mimic his predecessor is unfair and unproductive. I am delighted that we are moving in a new direction. It has allowed us to explore the script in new ways and gives us an opportunity to make the play even better than before. The problem is that we timetabled the pre-production period based on a revival structure. And now we are starting from scratch within a very short timeframe. I’m happy to reboot. I just wish that we had more time.

Poster Problems

*The following was written on 12th May 2012*

Here is our new poster. You will see from this very blog that it is more than a little different to our last poster for the same show. Why? you may ask. The last poster was cool and conveyed the tone of the piece perfectly. This, of course, is true – it was and it did. And indeed, the plan was to continue to use the original design with a nice sticker on the front announcing the new dates. But then we had to re-cast Fats and all of a sudden our poster needed not only new dates but also a new face. Stickers can only do so much. And the last thing I wanted was to give the impression that one of the cast was Pacman. So we needed to make changes.

Those readers who followed the blog back in late 2011 will know that the original poster design was a collaboration between myself and Katie McDermott. The natural solution was to contact Katie and make the necessary minor amendments. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of doing something different. I decided that since we had a new cast member and a new dynamic (more on that next time), we needed a new poster.

Taking a leaf out of Winedark Productions book, I wanted a single silhouetted image with text on a solid-colour background. So I needed an image that would sum up the play: a martini glass? A revolver? A woman? All were tried and revolver won. There was some debate amongst the team as to which colour the background should be – I favoured red, others blue. I was afraid that a blue background for a production called L.A. Blues would look to amateurish. I was wrong. Blue nails the tone of the play while my red version resembles some sort of straight-to-DVD sex thriller. Decision made.

If I’m honest, there are things I would like to change – some of the text needs repositioning and possibly re-sizing. But regardless of these niggles, I think it is a good poster, maybe a great one. Not necessarily in the pantheon of theatrical posters, but for this play. Certainly, it is a lot stronger than it’s predecessor. And that’s what matters for now.

Booking now open!

If you want to reserve tickets for L.A. Blues (seen it already? see it again!) then you can do so by following one of these very simple procedures:

Call 086-0591346. Let us know who you are, how many tickets you want and for which night.

Or: 

Email neonfringe@gmail.com and let us know who you are, how many tickets you want and for which night.

Spaces are limited so please do book early to avoid disappointment.

Auditions

* The following was written on 6th May 2012*

Re-reading the previous instalment, I realise I neglected to mention which cast member will not be returning this time around. It is Neon Fringe regular Andrew Deering. Which means we have a Fats-Rothstein-shaped hole to fill. And fill it we have! But more on that later…

Last time I bemoaned the process of auditioning. And having just completed it once more, my opinion has not changed. This time around, though, wasn’t quite as bad as when we were casting Love in the Time of Social Networking. Back in 2010, we held open auditions and suffered because of it – not creatively (that cast was a joy to work with and truly delivered) but administratively. Over the course of three hours we saw a lot of people. But we didn’t have a structure in place – one minute we had a group of eleven, the next a group of three. It was a mess. But it taught us a valuable lesson. This time around we were prepared.

First off, we asked actors to express an interest in auditioning and submit a headshot and CV. From this we narrowed down the list to those we wanted to meet face-to-face. We had a number of criteria: looks (Fats is an older character), theatrical experience and, perhaps surprisingly, grammar and presentation. This may seem harsh but if someone cannot correctly format their own CV then I would question their dedication and work ethic. If that makes me a bastard, so be it. As I said before, personality counts. So does grammar.

But I digress. We narrowed it down to ten potentials and called them in to audition. Naturally, there were one or two no-shows (automatically bridge-burning offence) but otherwise things ran pretty smoothly. Auditions ranged from bad to excellent and there was healthy discussion as to who would be best for the role. In the end it was a unanimously agreed that the role of Fats Rothstein would be played in this production by Killian Sheridan. He joins the returning cast of Sorcha Ní Chléirigh, Matthew O’Brien, James Barry and Margot Doherty. So no pressure!

Lastly, a note on the casting decision. I mentioned that it was unanimously agreed upon. You will also have noticed that I have used the word ‘we’ a lot in this piece. This is not a ‘Royal We’. It is a first person plural we. The auditioning was a collaborative effort. I firmly believe that casting should never be undertaken by one person alone. Yes, the director has final say but he should not underestimate the advantage of extra opinions. It is all too easy to get caught up in the audition of one actor and a team approach can help ensure that the director stays grounded. Of course, the opposite can be true and casting by committee can be equally disastrous. But a few choice collaborators can, and do, make all the difference. I guess time will tell…