“It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country – the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead..."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/obama-state-of-the-union-democrat-classic-87560.html#ixzz2Kl2hMuL9
Poster
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Quote of the Night, Process Notebook 2.12.13
"Y'all don't have night vision. Pick up a carrot."
Kieran aka Greta to Maude & Ben Franklin as they were pointing out the difficulties of coming through the stage blacks.
Kieran aka Greta to Maude & Ben Franklin as they were pointing out the difficulties of coming through the stage blacks.
Holding Up Thoughts and Making changes, Process Notebook 2.11.13
2nd to last Rehearsal, we went from Krissy holding up Jenn's new idea about the show so that she wouldn't forget them while we discussed a few changes. We are now keeping David onstage through 'constitutional convention' so that we can strengthen the conflict between David and Benjamin Franklin. Thus building an emotional connection for the audience when the fight occurs.
We also decided to strengthen the narrative of the American Dream in the story. So now when David re-enters as the American Dream after Ben in France he will be dressed in David's contemporary clothes from the beginning of the play. We are literally saying that the American Dream is a coked up mortgage bundler and that is who Benjamin Franklin challenges to a duel.
We also decided to strengthen the narrative of the American Dream in the story. So now when David re-enters as the American Dream after Ben in France he will be dressed in David's contemporary clothes from the beginning of the play. We are literally saying that the American Dream is a coked up mortgage bundler and that is who Benjamin Franklin challenges to a duel.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Honest Sam Upham Gets the Last Word, Process Notebook 2.6.13
"Fuck you Freddy, it's My Scene." (Alex, the actor playing Sam and Freddy.)
We discovered today that the moments when Freddy is the most successful are when Freddy and Sam are on two different tracks. It's key that Sam reacts to what Freddy is saying, which is no easy feat when your an actor playing Sam and Freddy.
Aaron also gave us the final line for Scene 4, which is Sam's "Yes we shall Freddy, yes we shall." Effectively closing the scene with Honest Sam Upham getting the last word.
We discovered today that the moments when Freddy is the most successful are when Freddy and Sam are on two different tracks. It's key that Sam reacts to what Freddy is saying, which is no easy feat when your an actor playing Sam and Freddy.
Aaron also gave us the final line for Scene 4, which is Sam's "Yes we shall Freddy, yes we shall." Effectively closing the scene with Honest Sam Upham getting the last word.
What's behind the End of the Play? Directors talk Inspirations.
After tonight's run through, I had a quick chat with Krissy about her inspirations for the post-fight end of the play sequence. Although there are various inspirations for the exercise Krissy and Jenn engage the actors and audience in at the end of the play. The two main inspirations are:
1. The Wooster Group, check out their amazing blog with lots of video here: THE WOOSTER GROUP
2. The Rude Mechancials, check out their website here: The Rude Mechanicals
The audience's Journey at the end of the play, Process Notebook 2.5.13
In the script Aaron describes the end of the play as follows:
Ben knocks out the American Dream. He’s down. And on his fall, everything else stops,
the song, the striptease, everything. The work lights come on and the
costumes come off, the wigs, the makeup, everything. The vaudeville
show is over. The characters are gone, now it’s just the actors playing
them as each becomes the other, Sam and G and C and Maude and Ben
Franklin, all but David, they’re all one, they’re all each other, they’re all of
us together. And as the American Dream slowly, so so so very slowly rises
up from the floor, the others repeat the whole show, a whirlwind, acts
from before overlapping, multiplying, reversing, everything wrapped up,
torn apart, coming together, again and back over, the never ending story
of us.
And yet as it all falls apart, these layers of reality collapsing onto and into
themselves, one thing remains – or perhaps becomes – startlingly clear:
the present moment of us, here, together, pretending. Here we are, a
bunch of people, in this room. We feel it in our bones, all the way down to
our unearthly cores, blinding us and binding us.
And then as the actress playing Maude comes back to the third verse of
“Only Money,” we see the American Dream has risen almost all the way
back to his feet. The other actors stop to watch.
Jenn and Krissy have chosen to explore this moment by having each actor re-act their character tract in the show. With importance paid to location and dropping characterization. Which creates a super interesting experience as an audience member. We tracked the audience member's journey as: Confusion, Delight, Confused, Absurdity ie "are they really going to redo the whole play?", to a meditative state, then you come out of it and the actors are still redoing their characters and then everything stops when Annie/ Maude begins to sing. And the pay off in that moment is really internalized, making a very personalized audience experience out of chaos and spectacle.
Ben knocks out the American Dream. He’s down. And on his fall, everything else stops,
the song, the striptease, everything. The work lights come on and the
costumes come off, the wigs, the makeup, everything. The vaudeville
show is over. The characters are gone, now it’s just the actors playing
them as each becomes the other, Sam and G and C and Maude and Ben
Franklin, all but David, they’re all one, they’re all each other, they’re all of
us together. And as the American Dream slowly, so so so very slowly rises
up from the floor, the others repeat the whole show, a whirlwind, acts
from before overlapping, multiplying, reversing, everything wrapped up,
torn apart, coming together, again and back over, the never ending story
of us.
And yet as it all falls apart, these layers of reality collapsing onto and into
themselves, one thing remains – or perhaps becomes – startlingly clear:
the present moment of us, here, together, pretending. Here we are, a
bunch of people, in this room. We feel it in our bones, all the way down to
our unearthly cores, blinding us and binding us.
And then as the actress playing Maude comes back to the third verse of
“Only Money,” we see the American Dream has risen almost all the way
back to his feet. The other actors stop to watch.
Jenn and Krissy have chosen to explore this moment by having each actor re-act their character tract in the show. With importance paid to location and dropping characterization. Which creates a super interesting experience as an audience member. We tracked the audience member's journey as: Confusion, Delight, Confused, Absurdity ie "are they really going to redo the whole play?", to a meditative state, then you come out of it and the actors are still redoing their characters and then everything stops when Annie/ Maude begins to sing. And the pay off in that moment is really internalized, making a very personalized audience experience out of chaos and spectacle.
Meet Playwright Aaron Weissman
Anatomy of our Fight Scene, Process Notebook 2.4.13
The fight scene between the American Dream and Benjamin Franklin is assuredly one of the most climactic moments in Counterfeiters.
So here's a little behind the scenes breakdown, the fight begins with the American Dream and Benjamin Franklin doing a series of moves in sync. And then after three rounds of this solo mini fights, they bump into each other, spin around to face each other and start swinging.
The thought behind the American Dream moving in slow motion is that he is passing through time as he fights. While the original idea was to base their fight off bare knuckle 19th century boxing. A la Sherlock Holmes and Far Away (Clips of which are posted earlier in this blog.) That was the style choice when the American Dream was fighting Sam.
The fight sequence between Ben and the American Dream is styled on more modern street fighter boxing technique. The American Dream's knock out punch to Ben Franklin was taken from this video about street fighting, a strait uppercut to the jaw. J & K really wanted to make Ben and the AMD's fight dirtier and more gruesome to incite a stronger reaction from the audience.
So here's a little behind the scenes breakdown, the fight begins with the American Dream and Benjamin Franklin doing a series of moves in sync. And then after three rounds of this solo mini fights, they bump into each other, spin around to face each other and start swinging.
The thought behind the American Dream moving in slow motion is that he is passing through time as he fights. While the original idea was to base their fight off bare knuckle 19th century boxing. A la Sherlock Holmes and Far Away (Clips of which are posted earlier in this blog.) That was the style choice when the American Dream was fighting Sam.
The fight sequence between Ben and the American Dream is styled on more modern street fighter boxing technique. The American Dream's knock out punch to Ben Franklin was taken from this video about street fighting, a strait uppercut to the jaw. J & K really wanted to make Ben and the AMD's fight dirtier and more gruesome to incite a stronger reaction from the audience.
Process Notebook 2.2.13, Race in Counterfeiters
Post today's run through, playwright Aaron Weissman brought up a question of how race is portrayed in the show.
Since the show follows 5 white counterfeiters and Benjamin Franklin, are we presenting an appropriate collage of the American Experience? And do the few lines that refer to race do so in a way that doesn't come across as flippant or minimizing?
Fellow Dramaturg Brittany had some great thoughts on this in that the American dream is a very white dream and the whiteness of the cast or characters doesn't take away from the story we are trying to tell. The insertion of race issues at this point would not only be difficult but might verge on tokenization.
As to the lines in the text that do refer to race, there is the moment in which Freddy, the counterfeit confederate bill uses the N-word and immediately after Sam apologizes to the audience for him. The other reference to race comes via Ben Franklin in Ben in France. But it occurs during a moment when Ben is selling the virtues of the American Dream to France, and this act of selling the dream ends up as the inciting incident for when the American Dream becomes corrupted in the show.
Since the show follows 5 white counterfeiters and Benjamin Franklin, are we presenting an appropriate collage of the American Experience? And do the few lines that refer to race do so in a way that doesn't come across as flippant or minimizing?
Fellow Dramaturg Brittany had some great thoughts on this in that the American dream is a very white dream and the whiteness of the cast or characters doesn't take away from the story we are trying to tell. The insertion of race issues at this point would not only be difficult but might verge on tokenization.
As to the lines in the text that do refer to race, there is the moment in which Freddy, the counterfeit confederate bill uses the N-word and immediately after Sam apologizes to the audience for him. The other reference to race comes via Ben Franklin in Ben in France. But it occurs during a moment when Ben is selling the virtues of the American Dream to France, and this act of selling the dream ends up as the inciting incident for when the American Dream becomes corrupted in the show.
Behind the Top of the Show, Process Notebook 1.30.13
Today we worked the top of the show.
here are some notes on the thoughts behind the movement and direction of the prologue, and Scene 1, constitutional convention.
With the prologue we want a dark and menacing tone. Almost this sense of soullessness. Of wall street and mortgage bundles and money scams. But we didn't want to isolate the audience from playing the lottery so we know we're walking a middle ground. David's drive in the prologue is to go from the the highest point, and then fall down to the absolute lowest point, then build to the highest point again, only to fall even lower. We are really looking to establish this boom and bust cyclical nature from the top of the show.
(*every time I watch the prologue Aaron nails this American Pyscho-esque interpretation of the wall street party boy!)
Scene 1, Constitutional Convention. We tightened the movements of the four actors behind Benjamin Franklin. Each one is playing one of the founding father's he references. So that Alexander Hamilton, Jimmy Madison, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are represented onstage through the silhouettes. Each silhouette makes a really defined movement right before Ben mentions what they said, that way when Ben speaks for each of the founding father's he copies the gestures the silhouette made.
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*so the top of the show feels like from American Psycho into the Founding Fathers. It'll be interesting to note after we open which scene will seem creepier.
here are some notes on the thoughts behind the movement and direction of the prologue, and Scene 1, constitutional convention.
With the prologue we want a dark and menacing tone. Almost this sense of soullessness. Of wall street and mortgage bundles and money scams. But we didn't want to isolate the audience from playing the lottery so we know we're walking a middle ground. David's drive in the prologue is to go from the the highest point, and then fall down to the absolute lowest point, then build to the highest point again, only to fall even lower. We are really looking to establish this boom and bust cyclical nature from the top of the show.
(*every time I watch the prologue Aaron nails this American Pyscho-esque interpretation of the wall street party boy!)
Scene 1, Constitutional Convention. We tightened the movements of the four actors behind Benjamin Franklin. Each one is playing one of the founding father's he references. So that Alexander Hamilton, Jimmy Madison, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are represented onstage through the silhouettes. Each silhouette makes a really defined movement right before Ben mentions what they said, that way when Ben speaks for each of the founding father's he copies the gestures the silhouette made.
*so the top of the show feels like from American Psycho into the Founding Fathers. It'll be interesting to note after we open which scene will seem creepier.
Fight Scene and Audience Engagement Questions, From Process Notebook 1.29.13
When it came time to rehearse the fight/ end of the play, Jenn and Krissy brought the questions they were struggling with to the cast and rehearsal room at large.
1. How do we move the audience (when the fight happens) in such a way that it engages them in the space?
2. How do we activate the audience so that everyone is up and out of their chairs, watching the fight?
Since the end of the play only takes about 20 minutes, at most we're asking audience members to stand for 20-25 minutes. We discussed having a designated sitting are but felt that that might give away the ending. We don't want people to expect that their going to be asked to move.
K & J (Directors, Krissy and Jenn) shared that they want the audience to feel like it's an upheaval. They want the audience to feel displaced.
We worked out that Ben and the American Dream will come down to the edge of the stage, and the AMD will informed the audience, "We are going to have a fight, right there in 30 seconds." Then they'll begin the countdown, ":30-29-28-27..."
While that's happening the remaining cast members will verbalize to the audience the necessity of moving while literally pulling tables and chairs out of the way. Our goal is that the disruption and verbal commands to move will be enough to engage the audience in the fight.
Process Notebook 1.29.13
Today's rehearsal kicked off with Scene 4, Sam and Confreddy The Confederate Bill.
To better the intricacies of a ventriloquist performance we looked specificly at moments in the text when Freddy is speaking to Sam versus moments when Freddy is speaking to the audience. This gave Alex (aka Sam) the chance to really block out Freddy's movements. From when Freddy wipes his brow, to tossing one leg over the other and occasionally scratching his crotch.
To better the intricacies of a ventriloquist performance we looked specificly at moments in the text when Freddy is speaking to Sam versus moments when Freddy is speaking to the audience. This gave Alex (aka Sam) the chance to really block out Freddy's movements. From when Freddy wipes his brow, to tossing one leg over the other and occasionally scratching his crotch.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Process Notebook 1.28.13
Today's working of the G & C opening scene was all about precision of movement.
We tried to create a vocabulary for poses so it becomes more purposefully. We also realized that a dynamic in the text that we haven't explored is status. How does status affect their relationship.
The actors explored status in the opening of "How We Do it" and discovered that C aka Conrad is higher status than G, Greta. This affects Conrad driving Greta out of audience interactions and into the top of their scenes.
Status also plays a role in their interactions with the manager and waiter. The manager and waiter are lower status than G & C. (Kieran and Caroline realized playing them as dumb Mobster w/ NYC accents was the perfect foil for G & C)
One thing I realized is that during their re-enactment of the waiter/ manager exchange, Greta plays higher status than Conrad, as Greta is playing the manger and in terms of their comedic sketches, Greta drops the punchlines. The fascinating thing about that is that all of G & C's interactions really embrace the interchangeability of their relationship. Even in status they cross lines and break rules. Which feels very G & C. And very vice.
I've also included this great Vaudeville Comedy duo clip. As the precision of movement and language that G & C hammered down for their manager/waiter re-enactments really solidified their comedic timing.
We also realized that the current casting of audience members for this scene was too complicated. If you watch in the video above, while Lee and Shaw call out to the audience they maintain the comedic timing of their scene by keeping it simple. Just them onstage, and their bits are well rehearsed. With so much audience interaction the drive to the central question of would you accept art as money was getting lost.
So we re-worked the audience interaction, to just one moment, where one audience member is cast to say yes, YES, they will take G/C's drawings of money!
*Footnote: Vice = maintains the integrity of the vaudevillian world we are trying to create!
We tried to create a vocabulary for poses so it becomes more purposefully. We also realized that a dynamic in the text that we haven't explored is status. How does status affect their relationship.
The actors explored status in the opening of "How We Do it" and discovered that C aka Conrad is higher status than G, Greta. This affects Conrad driving Greta out of audience interactions and into the top of their scenes.
Status also plays a role in their interactions with the manager and waiter. The manager and waiter are lower status than G & C. (Kieran and Caroline realized playing them as dumb Mobster w/ NYC accents was the perfect foil for G & C)
One thing I realized is that during their re-enactment of the waiter/ manager exchange, Greta plays higher status than Conrad, as Greta is playing the manger and in terms of their comedic sketches, Greta drops the punchlines. The fascinating thing about that is that all of G & C's interactions really embrace the interchangeability of their relationship. Even in status they cross lines and break rules. Which feels very G & C. And very vice.
I've also included this great Vaudeville Comedy duo clip. As the precision of movement and language that G & C hammered down for their manager/waiter re-enactments really solidified their comedic timing.
We also realized that the current casting of audience members for this scene was too complicated. If you watch in the video above, while Lee and Shaw call out to the audience they maintain the comedic timing of their scene by keeping it simple. Just them onstage, and their bits are well rehearsed. With so much audience interaction the drive to the central question of would you accept art as money was getting lost.
So we re-worked the audience interaction, to just one moment, where one audience member is cast to say yes, YES, they will take G/C's drawings of money!
*Footnote: Vice = maintains the integrity of the vaudevillian world we are trying to create!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Anatomy of a Scene, Pas De Deux
The crux of Pas De Deux is that David needs people that are going to fall for the scam. That are going to happily take his counterfeit money without suspicion, he's as much a Con Man as a counterfeiter. And when Maude appears we decided a seductive dance number would be the best way to show how David manipulates people. He makes sure Maude see's the money and then he withholds until the end of their dance sequence.
We then realized that because Maude takes money from David, she's a prostitute. Which J+ K took a moment to think about and then said, "I'm ok with that."
Images from Left, A drawing titled “The Genius of Advertising” from an 1880 issue of the National Police Gazette shows men outside a brothel gazing at pictures of some of the attractions awaiting them inside. And a 19th Century Prostitute, Google Images
We then realized that because Maude takes money from David, she's a prostitute. Which J+ K took a moment to think about and then said, "I'm ok with that."
Images from Left, A drawing titled “The Genius of Advertising” from an 1880 issue of the National Police Gazette shows men outside a brothel gazing at pictures of some of the attractions awaiting them inside. And a 19th Century Prostitute, Google Images
"You should never spot a person, there always gunna move."
Anatomy of a scene, meeting Maude the songstress
One of the first conversations I ever had involving the character of Maude was about the costume mechanics of her having an inflatable pregnancy belly.
Seeing as the opening stage directions for Scene 2, Maude –– You Don’t Wanna Know Me include:
Maude takes the stage, stunning in her flapper gown. Sam’s at the piano.
At some point, we realize that Maude is also quite pregnant.
At some point we knew Maude had to be pregnant. But it puzzled us. Maude is a woman making money, literally ironing out her counterfeit bills. The song she comes out to sing while she performs this ritual of "ironing" is about her being able to do anything a man can do. And that thing is counterfeiting money, not only is she a kick ass feminist but she's our premier female counterfeiter.
And while watching her belly inflate as she sang, and then seeing her give birth to money avec prebirth seemed like a strong visual, it became a stronger idea to keep it simple. To stick with Maude's story, her song, and play upon the natural assumptions the audience will have of seeing Maude as she walks onstage beautiful, bellyful of baby and potentially barefoot woman. To start there and then reveal that she's not pregnant, she's not a good little wifey poo but a counterfeiter who "doesn't want to know you."
Through Maude's domestic actions we are peeking at the sexuality of ironing, pregnancy as a fetish and female identity and ownership. The video below is titled Beautiful Lines of Woman Triumphant, it's a video of a woman modeling lingerie.
While the twenties may have this feel of heightened sexuality, women were still props. For her time, Maude isn't scandalous, she's a radical...
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Vaudeville as National Entertainment
Very short article written by a successful vaudeville producer in the early 20th c. He articulates why vaudeville is a successful theatrical form and why it should become "America's national theatre."
Twenty Years of Vaudeville
Twenty Years of Vaudeville
Monday, January 28, 2013
Crash of 1929
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/crash/player/
Link to PBS documentary on the crash of 1929. The first few minutes are an especially good context for the boom-bust cycles of our economy, as well as the underpinnings of our addiction to credit.
Link to PBS documentary on the crash of 1929. The first few minutes are an especially good context for the boom-bust cycles of our economy, as well as the underpinnings of our addiction to credit.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Shadenfreude & our First Run Through
The Designer Run Through and Shadenfreude, or my feelings when David stood me up and said 'it wasn't my fault' while singling everyone else in the audience out for blame.
Even with my involvement in this process, this is the kind of show that forces you to put down the pen to absorb and embrace everything that happening on and offstage. Two things I thought I post about were the audience's relationship to David, and the new 're-doing' of the end of the play.
This run through really highlighted for me various feelings as an audience member. Due to my interactions with David at the top of the show, I felt a real connection to him. When he brought me up during the "it's my fault" speech it was an interesting experience.I honestly felt good, a slight shadenfreude (to borrow the language of the play) against my fellow audiences member who were all feeling the brunt of his blame.
Perhaps it was this specific interaction with him, and the way it made me feel about my fellow audience members, that produced a real "Ah ha" moment when Ben pointed to the American Dream. And I looked back over my shoulder and saw David. I felt viscerally uncomfortable upon learning this. That this was the American Dream, the man who made millions of bad mortgage bundles. This man who essentially symbolized the broken economic system who had made so that I cannot ever imagine making more than my parents. Or affording the house that my parents own, or any house really. And suddenly I felt mad, so mad that this is what the American Dream was. But it made sense to me, despite my anger, that this of course was the American Dream. Otherwise why would people be so negligent in pursuit of their own personal wealth. It was this con man, that had only minutes before made me smile and so before he even opened his mouth I rather hated the American Dream. Because he had betrayed me.
And I realized that before the American Dream says or does anything, there is a visual statement that is made about the American Dream simply because I've had this real connection to David.
Also the final re-doing of the play was a fascinating exercise in frustration. I made more physical moments watching these actors try to re-create their own paths. I was physically uncomfortable and I felt this urges to help them. Correct them. And when the actors let their frustration show, when they said with their voices or body "fuck it," it made me laugh and it invoked in me this sense of release.
This run through really highlighted for me various feelings as an audience member. Due to my interactions with David at the top of the show, I felt a real connection to him. When he brought me up during the "it's my fault" speech it was an interesting experience.I honestly felt good, a slight shadenfreude (to borrow the language of the play) against my fellow audiences member who were all feeling the brunt of his blame.
Perhaps it was this specific interaction with him, and the way it made me feel about my fellow audience members, that produced a real "Ah ha" moment when Ben pointed to the American Dream. And I looked back over my shoulder and saw David. I felt viscerally uncomfortable upon learning this. That this was the American Dream, the man who made millions of bad mortgage bundles. This man who essentially symbolized the broken economic system who had made so that I cannot ever imagine making more than my parents. Or affording the house that my parents own, or any house really. And suddenly I felt mad, so mad that this is what the American Dream was. But it made sense to me, despite my anger, that this of course was the American Dream. Otherwise why would people be so negligent in pursuit of their own personal wealth. It was this con man, that had only minutes before made me smile and so before he even opened his mouth I rather hated the American Dream. Because he had betrayed me.
Also the final re-doing of the play was a fascinating exercise in frustration. I made more physical moments watching these actors try to re-create their own paths. I was physically uncomfortable and I felt this urges to help them. Correct them. And when the actors let their frustration show, when they said with their voices or body "fuck it," it made me laugh and it invoked in me this sense of release.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Krissy and Jenn's first thoughts on The End Of the Play
End of the Play, the Crazy Breakdown...
Jenn and Krissy let us into their thoughts behind the end of the play. After G/C call the fight, "Benjamin Franklin is the winner." The cast begins a chant of "I'm feeling Lucky...I'm so lucky...Let's get Lucky..."
The crazy breakdown is that the play starts over again.
THE ACTORS legitimately as people trying to redo the play, word by word. The rules of this breakdown are as discussed:
-Start with the first scene of the play, unless your Benjamin Franklin and your in it. You do all the scenes your not in, skipping the ones you are.
-There is no rehearsing this.
-ppl are not expected to have every line of the play memorized
-the key to theatrical chaos, is that it's not chaos for the performers
-rule is that if you don't remember something, you move onto the next line, next song, next scene
-probably cannot involve props
-the attempt at doing it perfectly will create frustration and urgency in the performance
When the cast began to ask why? Where does this moment come from? Why do we need to do this?
J- "if you don't re-do the show to the best of your ability, then we've broken the show and there is nothing left to save."
K-"We are re-doing the show to get back to David's line, 'it's my fault.'"
J-"We are challenging the audience to say, 'its my fault.'
The GOAL of getting everybody in the audience to all say 'it's my fault.' is the goal of re-doing this whole play. It's like there's a fork in the road, after scene 9, when David says "it's my fault." ANd since the audience didn't say it then, we have to re-do the show to get them all to say it.
And I had to leave rehearsal just as Kieran was pointing out that we might need to think about a contingency plan.
While all of this is happening the American Dream comes back to life, and crosses really slowly, {ie Robert Wilson's work. The AMD will cross so slowly across the space that it will take him literally the same amount of time to cross the space as it will take everyone else to re-do the play}
Jenn and Krissy let us into their thoughts behind the end of the play. After G/C call the fight, "Benjamin Franklin is the winner." The cast begins a chant of "I'm feeling Lucky...I'm so lucky...Let's get Lucky..."
The crazy breakdown is that the play starts over again.
THE ACTORS legitimately as people trying to redo the play, word by word. The rules of this breakdown are as discussed:
-Start with the first scene of the play, unless your Benjamin Franklin and your in it. You do all the scenes your not in, skipping the ones you are.
-There is no rehearsing this.
-ppl are not expected to have every line of the play memorized
-the key to theatrical chaos, is that it's not chaos for the performers
-rule is that if you don't remember something, you move onto the next line, next song, next scene
-probably cannot involve props
-the attempt at doing it perfectly will create frustration and urgency in the performance
When the cast began to ask why? Where does this moment come from? Why do we need to do this?
J- "if you don't re-do the show to the best of your ability, then we've broken the show and there is nothing left to save."
K-"We are re-doing the show to get back to David's line, 'it's my fault.'"
J-"We are challenging the audience to say, 'its my fault.'
The GOAL of getting everybody in the audience to all say 'it's my fault.' is the goal of re-doing this whole play. It's like there's a fork in the road, after scene 9, when David says "it's my fault." ANd since the audience didn't say it then, we have to re-do the show to get them all to say it.
And I had to leave rehearsal just as Kieran was pointing out that we might need to think about a contingency plan.
While all of this is happening the American Dream comes back to life, and crosses really slowly, {ie Robert Wilson's work. The AMD will cross so slowly across the space that it will take him literally the same amount of time to cross the space as it will take everyone else to re-do the play}
Anatomy of a Scene, Ben In France
The Anatomy of Scene 10:
We read the new draft of scene 10. And 'nuggeted it', summed it up as "Killing the Monster we created."
Some thoughts raised by the new draft were the idea of putting the song from 'Ben-In France' back into the beginning of Scene 10, which would introduce Aaron as the American Dream and create a bit of the bubble before the final bust of the play. And might help with the transition of David into the American Dream. Krissy raised a concern that since we set Benjamin Franklin up as the face of the $100 dollar bill then have him fight the American Dream do we raise any imagery that money is fighting The American Dream.
The cast didn't seem to feel there was a connection in the latter but the idea of bringing the top of 'Ben-In France' back stuck. Ben introduces the AMD to France through the song, to us the audience. And the les filles song helps with the transition from David to the American Dream. Rehearsal went on to handle the many facets of the new Scene 10 on it's feet:
"Ben In France"- Or the Scene where Father Takes Son to the Brothel.
-The cast began exploring the Father/ Son relationship between Benjamin Franklin and the American Dream. The AMD became more of an adolescent in Paris. With Benjamin Franklin and the AMD literally playing catch together onstage.
-Les Filles choreography really became a pastiche of all things France. With everything from sixties dance moves to the cockroach being thrown in.
& While les Filles is still interested in the AMD, they were literally chasing Benjamin Franklin around the stage. The AMD ran offstage as Benjamin Franklin sang, "They truly have a thing for romance." Thus leaving the AMD innocent off the very sexual turn the song takes when the les filles pants Ben. We discussed that the pantsing of Benjamin Franklin isn't about humiliation but sex. The the song in France ends with everyone going off to have sex.
"Woe is me" to the Boxing Match
-In the next part of Scene 10, the American Dream has grown up from an adolescent to a Con Man. As Jenn put it, imagine Bogart in the shadows.
The line in the text that sticks out so strongly, is after Ben agree's to being on the hundred dollar bill. The American Dream says, "Consider it done. Now, Everyone will spend with glee." Then the money chanting which becomes drumming starts, setting up not only the next conversation between Ben and the AMD but really their soon to be fight. This rhythmic chanting/ drumming invokes some old school pre battle imagery for me and apparently the opening sequence to the music man. "Rock Island"
We paused on Fight work, but the a couple quick questions raised by were that we don't want it to be about bringing the fight to the audience but rather than that's where it builds to. And that once we do move an audience-we lose them.
We paused on Fight work, but the a couple quick questions raised by were that we don't want it to be about bringing the fight to the audience but rather than that's where it builds to. And that once we do move an audience-we lose them.
The Depression Era Cartoon that has inspired Scene 10
Click here to watch Confidence, a Depression-era cartoon starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit:
Watch me!
(This video was previously posted but we thought it deserved re-posting due to it's importance! Unfortunately it has been locked from being embedded or directly loaded. So just click above and enjoy.)
Watch me!
(This video was previously posted but we thought it deserved re-posting due to it's importance! Unfortunately it has been locked from being embedded or directly loaded. So just click above and enjoy.)
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Narcissister
S/he's a performance artist that calls z's self The Narcissister. G/C material for sure!
http://www.narcissister.com/photos.php
http://www.narcissister.com/photos.php
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Ragtime Era Dance
Link: Videos and explanations of Popular 1920's dance
"...many Americans began to find it "modern" to dance their Two-Step to the new Ragtime music from the rural South and Midwest. Some high society ballrooms embraced the African American Cake Walk as "the popular fad of popular society." In the early 1900s, Ragtime music gained a wider acceptance and was soon accompanying the new Four-Step (soon to be re-named the One-Step) and a spontaneous menagerie of "animal dances" such as the Grizzly Bear, Turkey Trot, Bunny Hug and Camel Walk, especially among the lower classes....
"...many Americans began to find it "modern" to dance their Two-Step to the new Ragtime music from the rural South and Midwest. Some high society ballrooms embraced the African American Cake Walk as "the popular fad of popular society." In the early 1900s, Ragtime music gained a wider acceptance and was soon accompanying the new Four-Step (soon to be re-named the One-Step) and a spontaneous menagerie of "animal dances" such as the Grizzly Bear, Turkey Trot, Bunny Hug and Camel Walk, especially among the lower classes....
Preamble (with capitalization)
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Confederate States of America National Anthem, Video/Song Clips
So technically there isn't a national anthem for the Confederate States of America. Apparently it not as important for them to pick a national anthem as it was for them to establish other things. But there are three anthems that are considered the CSA's unofficial national anthems:
1. Dixie
2. God Save the South
3. The Bonnie Blue Flag-(fast forward to 37 sec in!)
1. Dixie
2. God Save the South
3. The Bonnie Blue Flag-(fast forward to 37 sec in!)
Monday, January 14, 2013
Video Clip: Mind over Money
The behavioral psychology associated with money. The opening scene shows an experiment in which people bid on a $20 bill. The catch is that the highest bid will get $20, but the second highest bidder will have to pay the amount they bid. And bidding ends up going over the $20 the bill is worth.
Then it explores the aftermath of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, NOVA presents "Mind Over Money"—an entertaining and penetrating exploration of why mainstream economists failed to predict the crash of 2008 and why we so often make irrational financial decisions. The program reveals how our emotions interfere with our decision-making and explores controversial new arguments about the world of finance. In the face of the recent crash, can a new science that aims to incorporate human psychology into finance—behavioral economics—help us make better financial decisions?
Saturday, January 12, 2013
$100,000 Bill!? The Stories Behind The Biggest Coins And Bills In U.S. History (PHOTOS): via HuffPost http://huff.to/VuAj9U
Friday, January 11, 2013
Confidence, a Depression-era cartoon starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjGTCchapOk
Thursday, January 10, 2013
You guys.
There are J.S.G. Boggs prints at the Art Institute RIGHT NOW
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/artist/Boggs,+J.+S.+G.
And we can maybe see them!
According to my friend who works at the Art Institute and also according to mine own eyes and this here internet, none of bills are on view currently - they're all in storage. However, they're in the Prints & Drawings dept, which has a study center - which means it's possible we may be able to have them pulled out of storage so we can study them. My friend has no particular connections with this department, so unfortunately there aren't any strings to pull. But it looks like we can contact the study center ourselves and set something up.
http://www.artic.edu/collections/goldman-study-center
"Appointments to view selections from the collection of prints and drawings can be made by calling (312) 443-3660 or by e-mailing pdstudy@artic.edu."
Looks like appointments can only be made Tues-Friday mornings (for groups) or Tues-Thursday afternoons (for losers). I work right around the corner and can easily spend a lunch checking this out...anyone else?
There are J.S.G. Boggs prints at the Art Institute RIGHT NOW
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/artist/Boggs,+J.+S.+G.
And we can maybe see them!
According to my friend who works at the Art Institute and also according to mine own eyes and this here internet, none of bills are on view currently - they're all in storage. However, they're in the Prints & Drawings dept, which has a study center - which means it's possible we may be able to have them pulled out of storage so we can study them. My friend has no particular connections with this department, so unfortunately there aren't any strings to pull. But it looks like we can contact the study center ourselves and set something up.
http://www.artic.edu/collections/goldman-study-center
"Appointments to view selections from the collection of prints and drawings can be made by calling (312) 443-3660 or by e-mailing pdstudy@artic.edu."
Looks like appointments can only be made Tues-Friday mornings (for groups) or Tues-Thursday afternoons (for losers). I work right around the corner and can easily spend a lunch checking this out...anyone else?
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Sam Upham article
http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/BEHprint/v028n2/p0313-p0324.pdf
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Gender Thoughts from Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
'Gender is performative: no identity exists behind the acts that supposedly "express" gender, and these acts constitute—rather than express—the illusion of the stable gender identity. Furthermore, if the appearance of “being” a gender is thus an effect of culturally influenced acts, then there exists no solid, universal gender: constituted through the practice of performance, the gender "woman" (like the gender "man") remains contingent and open to interpretation and "resignification." In this way, Butler provides an opening for subversive action. She calls for gender trouble, for people to trouble the categories of gender through performance.'
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity is a 1990 book by Judith Butler. Influential in academic feminism and queer theory, it is credited with creating the seminal notion of gender performativity. It is considered to be one of the canonical texts of queer theory and postmodern/poststructural feminism.
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity is a 1990 book by Judith Butler. Influential in academic feminism and queer theory, it is credited with creating the seminal notion of gender performativity. It is considered to be one of the canonical texts of queer theory and postmodern/poststructural feminism.
Clip Penn & Teller Card Trick PBS 1985
watch Penn & Teller interact with their audience in this 1985 card trick clip
J.S.G. Boggs - The Art of Making Money
The inspiration for G!C funny money art transaction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEtKSqzpj0Q
Customer stuck with counterfeit money from the post office
Click here to find out what happens if you receive counterfeit bills from a branch of the federal government! (Hint: not much...)
The Great Gabbo (1929)
There's something really magical about this opening ventriloquist act (roughly 1st 2 mins) from The Great Gabbo .
Monday, January 7, 2013
Capitalism n. (OED)
The possession of capital or wealth; an economic system in which private capital or wealth is used in the production or distribution of goods and prices are determined mainly in a free market; the dominance of private owners of capital and of production for profit.
Democracy, n. (OED)
1.
a. Government by the people; that form of government in which the sovereign power resides in the people as a whole, and is exercised either directly by them (as in the small republics of antiquity) or by officers elected by them. In modern use often more vaguely denoting a social state in which all have equal rights, without hereditary or arbitrary differences of rank or privilege.
b. A state or community in which the government is vested in the people as a whole.
And then I thought this second definition was particularly interesting...
a. Government by the people; that form of government in which the sovereign power resides in the people as a whole, and is exercised either directly by them (as in the small republics of antiquity) or by officers elected by them. In modern use often more vaguely denoting a social state in which all have equal rights, without hereditary or arbitrary differences of rank or privilege.
b. A state or community in which the government is vested in the people as a whole.
And then I thought this second definition was particularly interesting...
2. That class of the people which has no hereditary or special rank or privilege; the common people (in reference to their political power).
1827 H. Hallam Constit. Hist. Eng. II. xii. 322 The power of the democracy in that age resided chiefly in the corporations.
1841 T. P. Thompson Exercises (1842) VI. 151 The portion of the people whose injury is the most manifest, have got or taken the title of the ‘democracy’. For nobody that has taken care of himself, is ever, in these days, of the democracy..The political life of the English democracy, may be said to date from the 21st of January 1841.
1868 Mill in Eng. & Ireland Feb., When the democracy of one country will join hands with the democracy of another.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Radio LInk: Podcast on Minting A Trillion Dollar Coin
Here are the main points of this magical coin worth a trillion dollars:
-People are looking for a magic bullet to make the whole re-occurring debt crisis go away, and they think they found it in a platinum coin worth a trillion dollars.
-Much like a dollar bill, is just a piece of paper, this coin is what the government and society say it is worth. So if the government & society say it's = to a trillion dollars, then it is.
But if government and society cease to exist, then it's only worth the platinum this trillion dollar coin is made from.
-It's not dumping a trillion dollars into the marker, it's not a trillion one dollar bills which go out to everyone. It's just going to sit in a bank, so that the government doesn't have to raise the debt ceiling but they can go on spending the way they would.
Click Here to Listen to MarketPlace Podcast on the Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin
-People are looking for a magic bullet to make the whole re-occurring debt crisis go away, and they think they found it in a platinum coin worth a trillion dollars.
-Much like a dollar bill, is just a piece of paper, this coin is what the government and society say it is worth. So if the government & society say it's = to a trillion dollars, then it is.
But if government and society cease to exist, then it's only worth the platinum this trillion dollar coin is made from.
-It's not dumping a trillion dollars into the marker, it's not a trillion one dollar bills which go out to everyone. It's just going to sit in a bank, so that the government doesn't have to raise the debt ceiling but they can go on spending the way they would.
Click Here to Listen to MarketPlace Podcast on the Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin
Watch Bare Knuckle Boxing Clip #2
From the motion picture Sherlock Holmes, albiet Robert Downey Jr is using an Asian Boxing style but his opponent is stays true to late 19th century American Bare Knuckle Boxing Match technique. Click Here to Watch Bare Knuckle Boxing Clip #2, Sherlock Holmes
Bare Knuckle Boxing Clip #1
19th Century Boxing Clip from the Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman movie 'Far and Away' The fighting sequence is from the top of the clip until 2:05 min,
Click here: Bare Knuckle Boxing Clip from Far and Away
Click here: Bare Knuckle Boxing Clip from Far and Away
Saturday, January 5, 2013
The Ascent of Money: Swift Economics Economic Documentary of the Year
The Ascent of Money
Niall Ferguson has written plenty of great books and made some great documentaries, but nothing beats his six part series on the history of finance. He goes over the history of banking, the bond market, corporations and insurance and then moves into how those institutions work today (and how everything went wrong). A must see for anyone interested in economics and history.
click here to watch!
What is a Bubble? The dot.com bubble.
Click on this link to watch a 3 min explanation of economic bubbles: What is a Bubble? dot.com Bubble
An Excerpt from Goodbye to All That (The End for Now) Amphetamine Logic by Cat Marnell an expose on snorting up in NYC
I snorted dope in DUMBO and I smoked dust on the beach. I preyed on editors during the day and slept with monsters at night. Life's never dowdy in an Audi scoring pudé up in Washington Heights, is it babes? I drank Diet Coke and had coke sex and sat in Yorkville townhouse basements playing Mario Kart on a grimy old Super Nintendo. We smoked crack until our fingers turned black and watched Mel Gibson's Apocalypto. I chilled with famous downtown stupor freaks tweaking and listening to Diplo.
"WHY IS EVERYBODY DRESSED LIKE MR. PEANUT?!" I screamed once at Le Baron. I had about 40 pounds of fake hair on.
The Boom Boom Room was always full of doom. Our PCP smelled like burnt balloons. I was dressed Boricua heroin chic. Shaun was asking me if I saw Wu Tang at Milk Studios that one weird Fashion Week.
read more here, http://www.vice.com/read/goodbye-to-all-that-the-end-for-now
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