Paderewski Show, Part Two
Posted by Mike M on March 16, 2012
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