Dueling and Pianos

Rehearsal Day 14: Stage Combat Sunday #4

Four weeks in already?!

Last week, Beau was able to choreograph the entirety of the epic boss battle that is the fight against Simon. After letting it marinate and soak in to the actor's bodies, this SCS rehearsal was all about fixing little moments that didn't work or didn't fit with the character work. Lots of new tidbits were sprinkled in, moves that could be filed under "awkward turtle" were tossed. There are a couple more brilliant moments that truly had me laughing and giggling so hard I nearly fell out of my chair. While many of these happen during the fight, I spent a lot of time watching the rest of the cast's reactions as they observe the fight in character. Even when focused on where to move, how hard to hit, what comes next in the action, the little quirks each character has developed come through and really start to show the whole picture. And seriously, don't mess with Sunny's crate. It's just a bad idea.

Jake is all ready to lay the smackdown.

Simon teaches the New Girl a lesson

Yes, this looks very heroic. However, an eagle (or Simon) doesn't need a hero when he wants to sing.

"Ummm...what are you going to do with those?"

This shot was just too perfect to go along with some of the storylines. Hank, Molly, and that Dolly.

Meanwhile....

During these three hours of gratuitous violence, Josh was recording the final piano tracks for the music in the show with Joe Griffin, our amazing orchestrator. It was an intense session of jams, songs, and a couple tall boys. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall to see them work on finessing the music, but alas, you and I must settle for pictures from the event.

Ticklin' the ivories. Well, really, the keys are plastic...but who's counting?

Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Griffin!

Joe was able to turn around many of the tracks overnight, and they sound incredible. Just you wait. Your ears might explode with delight. Well done, gentlemen.

Rockin' When We're Just Off Of Work

Rehearsal Day 12: Sing, Sing a Song...

End of Week 3.

One Month Until Opening.

Bring it.

Big day at rehearsal! We blocked and choreographed four of the songs, it was off-book day, and we are exactly one month out from letting this monster loose on Chicago. Like the Kraken.

Now, I have never been a server. Worked in customer service, yes, but never as a waiter. According to Josh, at every restaurant, no matter where it is, the servers always go out for drinks after work and it is always the pinnacle of dive bars. Thus, "The Billy Bar" was born. In the show, Simon sings its praises (?) to Molly to try and convince her to join them when the restaurant closes. The rockabilly sound fits in well as we'll be performing at the Apollo with Million Dollar Quartet running upstairs. The approach to blocking this song was quite simply, "Let Bryan Campbell play." And play he did.

Don't try the margarita or touch the tables. Trust me.

PeeWee would be so proud.

After hearing the tale of Miriam belted incredibly by Carla on Tuesday night, it was exciting to have the cast hear her sing it for the first time. At this point, Denise takes on a den mother type mentality as she shares the cautionary tale of one of their own. In a scene where everyone is absolutely beaten, this song almost becomes uplifting and you can't help but sway along.

"Come sit next to me, little one."

"She was six foot tall, her eyes were blue, she wore a size 11 shoe. She could have played for the WNBA."

We went from goofy/disgusting to uplifiting, it was time to move on to inspiring. Ashley Wint (Sunny) rocks out on the reprise of "The Hero Song" which is introduced in Act 1 of the show. Will Sunny be able to rally the troops to fight against the unrelenting customers? Or will they all quit and just have a rooftop party?

Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred...oh wait, wrong show.

Cat Woman? Spider Girl? You choose. Either way, that crate is awesome.

Wrapping up the night was more of Bryan playing around with "The Rally Song" where Simon tries to rally folks to his plan. There would be pictures, but I was laughing too hard. So now the question remains, blogosphere, who will win? Sunny? Simon? Customers? Well, that's why you're going to see the show.

That wraps up yet another week of rehearsal and also brings us exactly to the halfway point of all this craziness.

Yes, Bryan, I know you're sad we don't have another rehearsal until Sunday.

But, this is a chance for the cast to be all like dis:

Rest easy, friends, and enjoy the weekend!

I'm Lost....Can I Follow You?

Dear Hop-Blog Readers,

I know you love reading all about The Regulars, otherwise you wouldn't be here. I also know that typing in http://theregularssm.blogspot.com/ can be very, very tedious. We here at Hobo Junction have a terrific solution for this...follow the blog! I know, I know you're going to say, "But Amy, I'm reading this right now, isn't that following?" Well, dear ones, yes and no. It's FANTASTIC that you have found your way here and we love your support. However, we want you to be proud of your excitement and we love street cred. So, take a second, and break away from reading this briefly and look at the right hand side of the blog page.

Go past the "Breads will Roll" poster...you can skip the show info (for now), too. See the pretty pictures of our cast? They are so dreamy. Don't get stuck staring at them for too long, keep moving down. STOP! There! See where it says "Followers" with a bunch of tiny thumbnail pictures? Those are the awesome people who have already clicked on that little button that says "Follow." And guess what...all you have to do is click that teeny button. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Did you get it? Good! Now you've got the Hop Blog all set up and you will get email updates whenever there is a new post! Also, it makes commenting a whole lot easier! Let us know what you think throughout the process! Plus, you can take it easy on that old Nintendo injury and not have to type in the whole URL. You're going to check your email anyway, take the American way and have the blog delivered to you!

Bryan and Ashely are very proud of you!

So go forth, follow, comment, and be crazy. But not too crazy, we like having you around.

Sincerely,

The Hopper Chopper

"Let's Just Do What Cyra Says...Can We Do That?"

Rehearsal Day 11: Music Tuesday 3, or the night of Amy's favorite songs

Last night we covered the last two (and a half songs) we had not covered yet, "The Rally Song", "Miriam", and adding Cyra Polizzi into "Sharing My Time With You."

Bryan Campbell was up first to work through "The Rally Song." We had worked a little with this at the end of last week where Bryan was able to just play in the rehearsal space with the song. For this time 'round, Josh and Bryan were able to get very nitpicky about the tone, rhythm, and quality of the vocal performance. The lyrics and Green Day/Weezer style are enough to make anyone giggle, but I have a feeling when we solidify the blocking and add some camp-counselor style miming, it will be absolutely over the top.

"Can't get fired if you quit..."

Once Bryan had that down, Carla Kessler began to work on "Miriam." Check out the preview video of Josh and Dan singing here. This song comes out of nowhere in the script, but is incredible. "Miriam" was the first song completed, and it's been the one we've been singing to ourselves for quite some time. This time, it was Carla's time to show what she'd been working out on her own. What we didn't expect but were thrilled to hear was Janis Joplin come back from the dead and tell the story of a fallen waitress. Just as with "Rally," it came together so well that Josh and Carla could spend more time picking apart the tiny details of timing and inflection.

"The more they eat, the more they spend. And if you're good, they'll leave 15%"

Moving from Joplin to Queen, the last song of the evening was "Sharing My Time With You," the ballad of Wisconsin. Cyra Polizzi, who will be playing Ana the Bus Girl, joined us for the first time in this process to get to know the song and her role. Ordinarily, Maddy Chilese would have been there as well, but laryngitis has reared its ugly head. So who better to fill in for Autumn than Simon? Bryan graciously stepped in and sang the female part of the duet with Jake Autizen. Combine that with Cyra echoing in gorgeous soprano and the laughter could not be contained. The Spanish lyrics are very close to being finished, and those of you fluent in Spanish will get some extra jokes out of the song that those of us who don't will completely miss. It's like a DVD easter egg...but live.

Cyra, Bryan, and Jake sing.

"It's better when it's Maddy, it's funnier when it's you, Bryan."

One month from today is our Opening Night! There seems like there is so much more to do, which there absolutely is, but as I drove back from rehearsal last night, I took time to think about all we have accomplished so far. It is definitely not a time to rest, but the cast has gone above and beyond what we have expected, the script and music keep improving, Chris Jacobs has been working hard on all kinds of new marketing, and this marathon keeps going! So pass the Gatorade and let's keep running!

Capri Sun Pacific Cooler

Rehearsal Day 10: Blocking in a Storm

Lots and lots of good work last night! It's really getting to be crunch time as we're a month away from opening night. Last night, we finished blocking the first musical number in the show, the lead-in to "The Billy Bar" song (where get a glimpse of the creepiness of Simon), and the terror of corporate quality control .

To kick things off, we reviewed the blocking from "The New Girl" as it leads directly into "The Hero Song." The number includes just about the whole company, minus Simon and Molly, and I think getting the scene on its feet has really amped up the energy the cast puts into it vocally. When we ran it through at music rehearsal, it sounded great but last night it was obvious the cast is drilling these songs at home, playing with harmonies and finding the best way to showcase their voices as well as deliver the jokes.

Again, another perfect Hank face. He looks on to his New Girl.

"You don't need a hero."

As the sun set, the rain began to absolutely pour outside and led to some pretty terrific lightning as well. This fit very well, as we began to block a scene where our servers are faced with "shoppers" - quality control monitors sent by Corporate. Not only that, but things are crumbling faster than a cookie in a toddler's hands.

"What about the bathrooms?"

Josh has his directing pants on.

To wrap up the night, we blocked the scene that leads into the rockabilly song "The Billy Bar," where you seem to get a certain je-ne-sais-quoi vibe from Simon as he talks with Autumn and Molly. There was also some chatting on the choreography and certain moves for "Billy Bar" when we get the song up on Wednesday.

Janna came in and fitted more of the cast into their white shirts and black pants. While the costumes she fitted are the tamest in the show, I can't wait to see the intense battle damaged versions. As she pinned and tucked, I passed out treats to the cast, as tonight was our original off-book date. As this is a new work, there have been many script changes and the decision was made to push back the off book date so folks could get the changes solidified. I've said this before, but it's amazing going back and reading the first draft I received in December and the changes and finesse that has come to the script. The dialogue and story flows so much better. Josh has compared it to Iron Man: building something out of scraps in a cave and finessing it into something truly badass. After running most of Act 1 as a review at the end of rehearsal last night, I can't agree more. The energy and intensity is absolutely out of this world. When you see this production, be ready for the ride of your life!

Adorable.

Falafel Balls

Rehearsal Day 9: Stage Combat Sunday - The One We've Been Waiting For

Tonight began the choreography for the largest fight in the show. You can imagine a show that was inspired by 300 and Apocalypse Now would have some epic fights. Earlier this week, Beau emailed me his outline for the fights against Simon - and I couldn't wait to see some of his ideas in action. And action is exactly the way to describe the first three hours of rehearsal. To begin with, Denise (Carla Kessler) attacks Simon (Bryan Campbell) on her own. Bryan and Carla worked with Beau alone for about an hour to block out and solidify the lead-in to the fight with the rest of the cast. This also signified the return of the SPATULAS OF STRENGTH. The two of them worked with Beau diligently to get every strike, block, and kick precise and into their muscle memory.

After the first hour of Simon's intense fighting skills, the rest of the Regulars joined in to take their shots at Bryan Campbell. The original plan was to block out just the first section or two of the fight, as it is extremely intense. Beau began to bring out and introduce the weapons our servers would be using...crates, tongs, pepper grinders, rolling pins, frying pans, and dishtowel nunchaku. What seemed like it would be beyond ridiculous was all that and even more. Be it excitement, passion, or just the prospect of being action heroes, we were able to block out the entire fight. The actors are so invested in every move and put so much intensity behind every strike and block that Josh, Beau, and I had our jaws on the floor as they ran through the moves. As we have just started, the moves are far less than half speed now, but when you get a good slap or Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the face, you just have to say "Oh!"

Enjoy the following photos from the process. Just as with Molly's song, I would love to post more, but don't want to give away the whole shebang. Let's just say that I'll be surprised if the cast isn't hurting in the morning...

Just a moment between a Fight Choreographer and his actor.

This is what Beau was demonstrating. Angry faces!

Something about a small woman and her spatulas...I'd be afraid to cross her in a dark alley...

Sunny and her awesome crate are down.

I couldn't tell if this was Maddy's actual reaction or a character choice. Either way, I love it.

Oh yeah, we did some scene blocking, too...

Rehearsals will only get more intense from here on out. We have pretty much covered the scenes that have just one or two people in them, now we tackle the large group scenes. Monday night we will cover two songs and two straight scenes with the whole cast, Tuesday we learn the last two songs we haven't covered yet, and Wednesday is off book day for the actors. Big things coming up - We open in a month and two days!

Call Your Dad, He'll Pick You Up and Go for Pizza!

Rehearsal Day 8: "I Want" to "Rally"

It's the end of week 2 of rehearsals! I must apologize for the lack of pictures in this post, I neglected to charge the camera battery after my last post. Be prepared for epic pictures on Sunday!

Last night was the first night of polishing some of the scenes we have blocked already. Ashely Wint (Sunny), Eli Branson (Anthony), and Derek Elstro (Hank) joined us first (after fighting HORRIBLE traffic) to review a scene we worked on Monday. The scene between Anthony and Sunny was inspired by something you see in every single war movie - the war buddy bonding scene. Think of "Saving Private Ryan" when they are all in the church discussing what Tom Hanks did before the army and you will know what I'm talking about. One of my favorite parts of rehearsals comes after the blocking becomes muscle memory for the actors. Once that is down and they are off book, it is fantastic to see them really play with the lines, discover new ideas and follow their instincts. It's a different experience for me this time around as well, as I have watched the script and characters change on paper since December. Now you have actors breathing their own life and adding flair to it and it's a completely different animal. How you view a character or their motivation on paper can be and is drastically different when a live person reads the lines and connects with someone else on stage. Last night was a preview for what is to come as we shape this puppy like Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in Ghost.

After releasing Ashley, Danelle Wildermuth came in to block out the song she shocked us with Tuesday night, "What I Want." The scene surrounding it is essentially "How Many Innuendos Can We Pack In Here?" and it all explodes with the song. Molly really takes it out on Hank as she sing-screams at him, and I would say "poor Derek," but we were all laughing so hard at the choreography and I think he enjoyed throwing himself around the space. Eli also pops into the scene briefly bringing some sass at first and utter terror later. It's a gem.

In an effort to not kill Danelle's vocal chords or Derek's body, we took an extended break. Lo and behold, who appeared but Janna Weddle with costumes! Janna had just been thrifting for white shirts and black pants and stopped by to fit whoever happened to be at rehearsal. Bryan Campbell and Danelle were the lucky ones who were the first to be fitted and they looked very waiter-y. Janna will return on Sunday to see the rest of the cast and chat with Beau about kitchen elements and costumes. Just think Mad Max. With pepper grinders.

To finish the night, Bryan Campbell (Simon) worked on his song "Rally Song For One." This has become an infectious tune amongst the production team and I couldn't wait to see what the King of Karaoke was going to do with this song. (Seriously, see B. Campbell perform "Maniac" and you'll know what I'm talking about). This song comes near the end of the show when the crew is fairly beaten down and Simon is attempting to pump them up in Green Day/Weezer fashion. Danelle and Derek wanted to stick around and see how the song was shaping up. After a quick sing through (to the new track with HQ drums!), Bryan asked Danelle and Derek to help him play with the song onstage. They obliged and what resulted was some of the most hilarious miming of lyrics including frisbees, driving, and vodka lemonades. Top it all off with an 80's fist pump, and it's golden. Now I can't wait to see what happens when we really block the scene and have the entire cast present!

Until then, we're off for three days, in which the cast will rest, Josh will be fighting demons at "Legion," and I will be enjoying the sunshine.

Oh, and what end of the week blog post would be complete without a shameless plug? Our own Derek Elstro is performing in "POINT BREAK - LIVE"! Yes, THAT Point Break with Keanu and P-Swayze. Read the info and a review here! If you attend Saturday, it will be another "Regular" theatre night - I will be enjoying the show with Bryan Campbell and our own Maddy Chilese will be tending bar. Plus, Derek will be on stage. So grab your ponchos and go see it!