Posts relating to school shows.
Posted by Dan R. on March 30, 2012
School Shows
This morning was crazy!
The show at Dewey was at 9:00, so we all met up for breakfast at 6:00; it’s something of a Barrel of Monkeys tradition. It lets us have a little relaxation time together before we do a show and it makes sure that we’re all together before heading to the school, so that loading in and setting up goes more smoothly.
The show was amazing. It was the last day before Spring Break and the classes of Ms. Jones, Ms.McGinley, Ms. Malone and Ms. Brackin were in fine form. They gave us such great material to work with and (we hope) we gave them a great show in return.
Here’s Rani singing about her heartfelt desire to cook Ricky with some catfish. Our teachers often feature in students’ stories, but not always in the way that you might expect.
Here’s Tai in his Rubik’s Cube costume that you can see in the previous blog post. The student’s didn’t know quite what to make of him at first, but who can resist his angular and multi-colored charms?
Finally, a report of the show would not be complete without the description of The Balloon Party. Here, you see the cast in the final moments of our final story. At the climax of the play, balloons were thrown to the audience and they responded in the most appropriate way: they joined in with abandon! It’s what Barrel Of Monkeys is all about: joining in, having fun and going a little bit crazy!
Posted by Dan R. on March 30, 2012
School Shows
This evening was our final rehearsal before we head to Dewey, bright and early, tomorrow morning.
This is our last chance to finish building props, gather together our costumes, hone our play and polish our songs. It’s also the night that we do our run-through: a practice of the entire show in the order that we will perform it at the school.
As you can see, we have some pretty wacky characters in this week’s show. Tai is playing a Rubik’s Cube that just doesn’t want to be looked at.
We have a lot of props for this show and keeping them in order is part of what we practice when we do a run-through. Barrel Of Monkeys shows are fast paced and there isn’t time to be scrabbling around for props as you go from one story to the next.
At the end of our rehearsal, everyone was excited for the show tomorrow. Cars are now stuffed with balloons, wigs, hats, bags and all sorts of paraphernalia. All that remains is to grab a few hours sleep and then hit the road: Dewey-bound!
Posted by Dan R. on March 29, 2012
School Shows
This week will see Barrel Of Monkeys return to the Dewey Academy for a school show.
For the past week, 12 actors have be adapting the stories of students of the Dewey Academy. Along the way, we’ve learned that Wizards, Werewolves and Weather are topics of interest to our authors. We’ve learned that the Barrel Of Monkeys teachers who run the workshops are great sources of inspiration. We’ve been introduced to Thunder Boy, Pickle Girl and even the lowly Rubik’s cube.
Out of these amazing stories have sprung a number of original songs, some amazing dance routines and even a few magic tricks. Tomorrow will see us putting the finishing touches and polishing our plays before Friday morning’s performance. From where I’m sitting, we’re looking to be in great shape and everyone’s excited to get to Dewey bright and early for an hour of fun!
See you there!
Posted by Mike M on March 19, 2012
School Shows
I’m still picking silly string off of my shirt and out of my hair. If you weren’t there, that might just tell you everything you need to know about today’s Paderewski show.
There was friendship in the face of adversity, like in Tamia Tucker’s “The Day They Became Friends,” in which a vampire and a wolfman find common ground, or Reid Thompson’s “Untitled,” in which Question Mark and Comma are able to get along after all. There was magic, like in the group story “The Witch Chicken Bird Forever After Gone” and Janiqua Byrd’s “The Librarian.” Smiles turned to frowns, wounded hearts were repaired, and in the end, the King of Lunch restored harmony to the school.
A big thank you to all of the authors at Paderewski who made this show possible. Though it comes to an end today, the stories will live as long as we continue to tell them. What an adventure we had.
Until the next time,
Mike
Posted by Mike M on March 16, 2012
School Shows
On Monday of this week, I sat in a circle with eight other Barrel of Monkeys artists and read through some stories from the Paderewski School. I couldn’t wait to get started on adapting those stories for the stage; I was also a little intimidated by how hard the process might be. Would we be fair to the original material and live up to the expectations and intentions of the authors? Could we make something as fun to watch as the stories are fun to read? Could we do it in only 18 total hours of rehearsal?
As it turns out, we did it in less than 12.
Today, about a half hour before the end of rehearsal, we officially finished the adaptation process. In 11 1/2 hours, we’ve turned 20 stories into stage pieces. I’m amazed at how quickly it happened and how easy it was to do the work. The process really does happen naturally when you’re working with good material, I guess, and we had plenty of that for this show!
Tomorrow and Saturday we will “peat” and repeat our lines, gestures, notes, blocking, dance steps, and animal noises until every sketch is ripe and ready to perform on Monday. Speaking of which, I’m off to look over some lines. This process happens fast, but no one lets that be an excuse for not doing it right or doing it well. Everyone is determined to make this show an off-Lawndale hit, and I’m not about to be the squeaky wheel.
Doing it again tomorrow,
- Mike
