Touchstone Backstage

Every fall, a new class of apprentices comes to Touchstone, to begin a year of work, learning, and artistic creation. It’s always an energetic, artistic breath of fresh air when they join the company, and those of us in the Ensemble are consistently impressed and revitalized by this infusion of new energy into our creative consciousness.

But it’s once the ball gets rolling and the weeks get busy that we really start to see how important our apprentices can be. We’re a week out from The Pan Show – In Pan We Trust, and with oodles of marketing chores, props and costumes to finish, scenes to perfect, lighting and sound cues to tweak, and more; and it’s in moments like this that we really start to appreciate just what these apprentices can do.

Like Gary. Gary’s being with us is especially impressive in that it’s his first time seriously pursuing theatre, and he’s putting in some really solid work. Besides his time in the rehearsal room, he’s taken on making sure that the trash and recycling are always correctly sorted and taken out in a timely manner (this may seem like a minor chore, but knowing that it’s taken care of and not something we have to worry about is an amazing help). He’s also a fantastic tenor and father to two sweet kids.

And then there’s Kathryn, who’s been a huge asset to The Pan Show, both as a comedic actress and as a musical genius. She’s been helping Jp with the musical direction and sound design especially, leading music rehearsals and recording sound cues, but with her panache and comic timing, she’s also just a blast to watch onstage. On top of that, Kathryn is a recent Muhlenberg graduate, and she’s been tireless in her efforts to promote at Muhlenberg and help get students in the door here at Touchstone.

Many of you will already know Kyle for his work in A Resting Place last year, where he played runaway slave Charles, and The Young Playwrights’ Festival, where he portrayed the memorable alligator. This year, he’s thrown himself fully into the work of apprenticeship, assisting with stage management of The Pan Show (a formidable technical trial by fire), working hard in rehearsals for The Tempest and The Odyssey Project, taking on a host of marketing chores, and just looking for any chance to help.

And finally, Kayla comes to us from halfway across the country, where she was recommended our way by Sean Christopher Lewis, guest artist of last year’s presented work Killadelphia. Besides Kayla’s sunny, positive attitude and solid, articulate artistic ability, she’s recently been endearing herself by taking on a number of costume chores, often bringing projects home to work on, even after long days of rehearsal. She’s also helping out with hosting Touchstone rental events.

The apprentices debut with their first production as Touchstone company members on October 4 with the opening of In Pan We Trust. We’re so excited for our audiences to meet them and see the fruits of all the hard work they’ve been putting in – we can’t do this without them.

Tickets for The Pan Show: In Pan We Trust available here or by calling 610.867.1689

Stay tuned for more of the apprentices in Christmas City Follies, Fresh Voices, The Odyssey Project, and more.

It’s two weeks away, which means I have 336 hours left to make, beg, borrow, and buy 54, that’s right 54 (I just counted… and then fainted …), costumes for The Pan Show.

This past weekend and subsequent week entailed searching the Internet for a new Chairman Mao cap, French maid costumes, 50’s style bathing suits (which I found for only $6, yay! But when they arrived today, apparently it was just a top, no bottoms. Oh, the joys of Internet shopping…), plus many more finds that are coming in daily. Mail time is so much fun this week! I also scoured the discount and thrift shops looking for some kind of outfit and add ons that could go from “heavy metal cheerleader” to “Greek solider” to “Greek stripper”. Definitely got some strange looks as I bought three matching sequin zebra mini-skirts, especially since the rest of the purchase included very professional looking business attire for the White House staff cast members. I felt the need to explain why I was buying such an odd mix, which was promptly met with, “Ooooh, okay, I was wondering.” I also received the comment, “You must really have a lot to clean!” when purchasing the accompanying feather dusters for the French maids. And twice on Monday I said, “Sorry I missed your call, I was out of the office this morning picking up a Panda,” which was met with much confusion and then laughter.

I’m sure the following two weeks will be filled with a combination of despair – “How will I ever get this done, and done well?” – and joy – “Hurray, I finally figured out a solution to that costume piece that’s been my Achilles heel!” But 336 hours from now, all the actors will have costumes – many, many costumes – the show will open, and I can relax and enjoy… until Follies kicks in!

Touchstone, Christopher and myself have been getting ready all summer for the delivery of our newest baby, In Pan We Trust.  In preparation, we spent the summer months on a farm helping delivery helpless little goat babies.  Notice our delicate womanly hands helping out in the delivery above.  We hope you’ll come celebrate with us in October as we once again push Pan through the birth canal!

Paul Curtis walks through a class as students interact within “technical form”

Not long ago, Paul Curtis, Founder of the American Mime Theatre, the oldest continuously practicing mime company and school in the world, passed away. It was days after their 60th Anniversary.

I and the rest of the AMT tribe are heartbroken. The AMT Company continues, and we are all hopeful the art form will stay alive and vital.

For many years, I studied and worked with Paul and consider him one of three mentors that shaped me profoundly. The first is John Pearson, and the theater hall here at 321 E. 4th. St. is named after him. The second is Paul Baker of the Dallas Theater Center, also a mentor of John’s. And finally, Paul Curtis of the American Mime Theater. Paul was an extraordinary artist, and a profoundly gifted teacher. I owe him my creative life. His voice still goes off in my head every day with his guidance– always working on the “greatest lack”;  if we allowed problems to get in the way of our work, we’d never get any work done (or as he’d say it, “someone’s always bleeding from the ear”); or being mediocre is easy, being good is hard, and being great is not really something we have control over. Endless wisdoms to live by, and of course his technique which unites movement and drama in a coherent and flexible form. That gift was like teaching me the language of the stage. At least I could see and hear, speak and make cross-discipline work within a unified aesthetic. Read more…

The new season is nigh! With summer vacation but a fond memory, we’re all looking ahead and getting into gear for when things really kick off in September. We have new apprentices, new tasks to be distributed among the company, new ideas being developed not only for this season but for seasons to come. It’s a truly exciting time of year, especially with our annual infusion of new blood, because with the new apprentice class, we remember that in the work we’ll be creating this year, anything is possible.

But we would be remiss if we didn’t recognize not only the fabulous original work that we’ll be producing this semester, but our presented works as well.

When we produce original work, we have all sorts of challenges – what will be the specifics of the material? How do we develop that? How can we balance the aesthetic so that everyone’s creative voice is satisfied? And that’s besides the logistics-side questions of things like how will we build a life-sized elephant and where will we find the time to do this right? It takes a lot of discussing and sorting out (and arguing. That’s a big part of the ensemble process).

When we present work created by other artists, friends from the artistic community that we want to bring to our space, the challenges are different – instead of building and buying prop/costume/set bits, we’re bringing in someone else’s and helping them get assembled. Instead of rehearsing our own scenes, we’re watching our friends run through material they already know.

The big challenge, though, is how to get the audience as excited about these artists as we are. We’re lucky to have a real home in the community of Bethlehem and the Greater Lehigh Valley, and our audience recognize us, likes to come to shows to see us, but convincing them to come check out a show by someone we’ve only told them about? That’s a challenge. Marketing these shows tends to involve a lot of what is it that we personally find delightful about these artists and to whom in our community can we best recommend that?

This fall, we have three phenomenal presented works.

The Little Farm Show will be presented out on the Greenway during VegFest on September 8. Created by NACL (North American Cultural Laboratory) Theatre and billed as the “Greatest Show on Dirt,” this is a ridiculously fun two-person show where, in kid-friendly, family-friendly strokes, the performers explore the history of agriculture, sustainable farming, organic food, and why it matters to think about what we eat (And given what your average public school cafeteria food looks like, this is an important message for kids to be hearing!).

Later that night, also in conjunction with VegFest, is Cravings: Songs of Hunger and Satisfaction, a gorgeous cabaret about the things that feed us – in every sense. Belle Linda Hamilton belts out show-stoppers, sets up an onstage kitchen, discusses her Jewish-American heritage, and talks about “Hunger for food. For love. For acceptance. For fame. And for true nourishment!” It’s a beautifully balanced performance of musical skill and personal reflection, plus the audience will get to nibble on the charoset (a sweet spread of spiced fruit, wine, and nuts, part of the Passover meal) she makes during the show.

Finally, in November, we proudly present the acclaimed Kristina Wong, recently returned from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in Going Green the Wong Way. Wong, Los Angeles’ self-described patron martyr of carbon-free living, tells her story of trying to “do the right thing.” Adventures include going door to door trying to talk to people about recycling, presenting a confrontational 6th grade science project, and buying a 1981 pink Mercedes that ran on vegetable oil. It’s easy to want to do the right thing but, Wong explains in detail, actually doing the right thing is awfully tricky.

We hope you’ll join us for our presented artists this year. They’ll be coming from New York, Boston, and LA to be with us for just a few days each, and it’s a great opportunity for you to share the work of some fellow actor-creators that we find to be inspiring and delightful.

The Little Farm show plays September 8 at 1pm on the Greenway. Admission is free.
Cravings: Songs of Hunger and Satisfaction plays September 8 at 8pm. Tickets are $25 / $15 for students and seniors, with group rates available. Buy your tickets online here.
Going Green the Wong Way plays November 16 and 17 at 8pm. Tickets are $25 / $15 for students and seniors, with group rates available.

Here at Touchstone, “spring cleaning” usually happens over the summer, when the season is over and the new one has yet to start up in full force. This year has been quite a whirlwind for us all! Right from the get go, with creating two original works in the fall, as well as presenting a guest artist, pressure cooking the The Civil War Project, teaching, touring… the list goes on and on and gets more and more lengthy as the season plunges forward. As I look around my (embarrassingly!) messy and cluttered office I find remnants of the past season.

 Behind my desk, on top of a cabinet, is the fake gun from Into the Dark that Bill was going to use, purchased from eBay but never actually used because our apprentice Rob brought in an identical fake gun from home. It never got put away at strike (the time right after the last run of a show when all the props, costumes, etc. get put away) in the hopes of returning it, but then I thought, Hmm… we may need a prop gun again, and this one wasn’t too expensive, so let’s keep it! And there it sits, waiting to find a home in the prop shop, along with café and lobby decorations from Into the Dark and Follies that somehow found their way into my office and not back with the rest of the decorations… oh, and a random fake mustache from I’m not sure what. (Possibly Don Quixote? – Ed.)

On the floor next to me, leftover program inserts from The Civil War Project panel discussion and lecture. After the event, I carefully put them all in a box to use for scrap paper over the next few months. It’s worked, too! The long pink slips are for urgent daily to-do lists or phone messages, and the longer green and blue sheets are for more substantial lists. How long will they last– into next season perhaps?

As I look around for other remnants, I notice a lone inner tube box hidden under the bookkeeper’s desk next to mine (An area I often take over for quick costume fixes; luckily, our bookkeeper is patient and has a daughter who’s a theatre artist, too). The box, which I will promptly remove and recycle, is leftover from the play I directed for this year’s Young Playwrights’ Festival, involving the creation two life-size “donut people” out of inner tubes.

 Looking over at my office-mate Emma’s area– she’s a bit more organized and tidy than I (Vicious lies. – Ed.)  –there’s the owl from Into the Dark watching over her desk, a sign from her Young Playwrights’ play two years ago which exclaims “GO AWAY” and is strategically placed atop her desk when she’s gone for the day. Ah ha! She also has a couple of fake mustaches, and a pair of goggles, on her desk.  I won’t spend the time now, but I bet if I looked around each office here, I would find a random piece of a show or two or three.  A sign that we are full with the work of creating theatre and that we have pretty darn unique (or lazy?) decorating styles.

The final picture I’ll leave you with is an area I will NOT clean up this summer. It’s my menagerie of gifts from current and past company members and apprentices, guest artists and donors, ranging from a Jesus pencil topper to eraser sushi straight from Japan. It’s a regular reminder of all the people with whom I’ve worked over the years and the memories associated with each one of them.

On that note I should take some time to tidy up my office before summer slips away into the fall and the season’s odds and ends fill my office again.

As my year comes to a close, we’ve been asked to take some time and reflect on what we have learned this year… Read more…

I guess Christmas City Follies is paying off in good will from Santa. My dear friends, just this week we received a great gift, and in a couple months, you all get to help us celebrate it. Yesterday close to midnight I received a phone call from Hollywood (alright, that sounds more amazing then it is) and former Touchstone apprentice Zach Kanner informed me that he is able and willing to come back to Bethlehem this fall and reprise his role as Pan’s dutiful side kick Daphnis for The Pan Show: In Pan We Trust!

This is amazing to me for a number of reasons. First, we all love Zach and can’t wait to spend time with him. Second, Zach is an amazingly talented and giving actor and I can’t wait to share the boards with him again. Lastly (and there are many more reasons), as Christopher Shorr and I are putting the final touches on the new Pan script, we celebrate in knowing that the actor we actually wrote the part for will bring Daphnis back to life.

Thank you Santa!

The Pan Show: In Pan We Trust opens October 4, 2012
Stay tuned for more on the upcoming season at http://www.touchstone.org

Things have quieted a bit over here at Touchstone. Time to stay home and mow the lawn perhaps, clean the house, the computer hard drive, and instead of having one’s entire being buried into a project, lift it up a bit and actually look at what one is doing, has done. Watch the river flow.

It’s true, for me and I imagine for many of us, that we are so busy with our lives that we seldom have time to step back and fully appreciate them, or those of our fellow travelers. Summertime provides a little breathing room, and stumbling on a stray video excerpt I took almost eight months ago– while cleaning up my telephone– my thoughts go to the winter and Christmas City Follies.

For me, while watching, it’s bittersweet, knowing Nicole (who plays the Black Swan), Cathleen (Corps de Ballet), and Rob (Hunter Gatherer) won’t be with us next year.  But also reassuring, seeing Emma’s demure smile and Mary’s strident and righteous chubby swan– knowing they will be even more vital to the work in the coming year.

This last weekend, we did a reading of The Tempest with friends. Such an amazing play– in range (from the low drunken clowns to the high ceremonial pageant of the wedding), content (the essential need for forgiveness in our lives), and language. But one theme rings true for me as I hit the mid-sixties– an increasing intimacy with the dark and of all that has been left behind. Prospero refers to it in his summary with Alonzo as he talks about his joys, his retirement, and how “every third thought shall be my grave.”

Well, not ready for retirement and certainly the grave yet, but determined more now than ever to not only live my life, but enjoy it. Even if all that’s left are these grainy telephone videos stolen from the wings to stir the memories of great friends, great times, and delightful art.

Photo by Anthony Medici

At Touchstone Theatre, the stage manager’s hang-out is usually the tech booth.

When I came to Touchstone four years ago, this was a surprise for me. Isn’t the stage manager supposed to be– well, you know– backstage? Or at the very least, on headset and in communication with someone else backstage? That’s part of the stage manager’s job, as far as my training and background stated: keeping a handle on things happening behind the scenes, knowing if we need to stall for a moment, or if we need to skip ahead. Was I seriously going to be managing these shows without any kind of lifeline to backstage, just taking it on faith that the actors would deal and find a way to communicate me in the booth if an emergency came up?

Apparently, yes!

Much to my (pleasant) surprise, this was very doable and much less nerve-wracking than I assumed. For the most part, the shows went smoothly, and on those rare occasions when a problem came up, communication happened, word was passed along, and all was well.

Seriously. It’s more fun backstage.

But I must admit– I find it much more fun to be backstage.

In the theatre world, it’s a bit of a cliche– “the real drama happens backstage!”– but there’s certainly truth in it. All of the epic drama, ineffable beauty, and side-splitting comedy is somehow made all the more intense by seeing the mad scramble that precedes it. A missing prop that isn’t found until half a second before your entrance cue? A costume change that takes just two seconds too long? An actor getting “emotionally ready” (whatever that means) before plunging into a difficult scene? Watching from the wings as someone struggles to pick up a line they’ve forgotten? It doesn’t get more scary. Or beautiful. Or hilarious.

The Young Playwrights’ Festival is one of the only times of year that I get to just stage manage in the traditional sense, and I love it. I love being able to sit offstage, watching the action onstage out of one eye and the action backstage out of the other– all the comings and goings, scurrying onstage with a cardboard set piece, scurrying offstage with an armful of greenery, getting to see all the frantic, frenetic motion that happens just out of sight.

There’s also the real human drama backstage. In one of our education programs, we introduced some young men– boys who, in some cases, had never before and would never again get a chance at an arts education–  to the world of acting, and when performance day came, just watching them get ready as the audience came in– the nerves, the energy, the angry anxiety, and the beautiful camaraderie were incredibly moving to see.

Shopping cart ballerina onstage, hair-do designer offstage

Follies is another great instance of this. By nature, the show involves a ton of quick costume changes, comic props, and carefully choreographed timing. You develop skills you never thought you’d need: learning to jump feet-first into a panda suit, for a thirty second cameo was my favorite this year. Some sketches are strategically positioned in the show just for the time it buys for preparing things offstage; Bill’s first Old Guy monologue this year bought us time to haphazardly change out of reindeer and elf gear, all while holding our jingle bells to keep them quiet. The opening beat of Little Red’s final scene bought Cathleen time to transform from Christmas Mouse to Tiger. The voice-over that introduced the zombie scene? Oh, yeah. That meant we had time to get into our “I AM ZOMBIE” t-shirts.

There’s also the period before the hectic storm, where the cast painstakingly does their hair and make-up, gets warmed up vocally and physically, finds their place of cool, collected calm… before sprinting onstage, dancing off, getting hair mussed, make-up smeared, fixing both in between scenes, and having a good time doing it all.

It’s a tricky dance we get to do, in live theatre, and for me, that’s most evident when watching the show unfold in the muted, dim lighting of backstage. Is it more stressful? Maybe, maybe not. But the dichotomy between the moment before and the moment of stepping onstage? It’s a wonderful thing to see. I wouldn’t trade my harried panda quick-change for the world.

Photo by H. Scott Heist