What a nice calm rehearsal we had, despite the fact that we were working on a huge fight sequence. The fight choreographer (Adrian) spent a good part of the day putting together a fight that will probably be less then three minutes on stage. The actors are flipping and flying across the stage, so the fights will be quite spectacular.

The weird thing about the whole day was the fact that the Citadel had an open house and visitors could watch the rehearsal. Thankfully, we were rehearsing in the Rice Theatre, which had a balcony. The visitors sat in the balcony and watched us work, but didn't interrupt any of the flow.

Today is another day of fight and dance choreography. We're trying to sharpen everything in the first act. By Wednesday, we'll probably move on to second act stuff. It's amazing how little time there is to put together a show, and it's a little sad to see everyone else have fun while I sit on the sidelines and make line cuts. Ah well, that's the life of a playwright. Spend all day in the kitchen, but never get to see the diners enjoy the meal.

Posted by marty at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chapter two is on the Edmonton Journal website! Hope you enjoy. Here is the continuing story.

Posted by marty at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phew! What an insane week. The actors had a crash course in Peking Opera acting and make up. Plus, they had to learn fight scenes and songs as well as learn the lines for the script. Everyone's holding up fairly well. It's a bit chaotic as there is just so little time and so much to do. Actors are really stepping up to plate. The chorus members are a bit rangy, as they just want to get into the fights, but I'm sure once they get into the choreography, they'll be more focussed.

I had a few script changes and cuts. Put my foot down on one major one, and then back off on some other ones. The problem right now for me is the director keeps wanting to go back to an older version of the script, but the story has evolved since then. Let's just say we've had some spirited discussions. I've moved the script partway back to what it used to be, but not all the way back because the huge challenge is one of plausibility. I can't believe that a father would leave his son in the east to go to the west if there's no danger in the west (which is what the script used to be way back in 2007). So, there has to be some kind of danger, which is what I put into the script. I'm still not sure why there's such resistance to the evolution of the script. Maybe it's a fear of change or maybe there's something I'm just not seeing.

Anyway, it's a continuing conversation that will be resolved one way or the other by the time the show opens.

Anyway, other than that, I'm pretty happy with how the production is moving forward. Sadly, our Peking Opera consultant leaves us Sunday when his contract ends. William is a great asset to the team, and I'm really going to miss his positive energy.

Posted by marty at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Confused yet? I am. This blog entry is to let folks know that chapter 2 of The Forbidden Phoenix is in today's Edmonton Journal. I haven't seen it pop up on the website yet. If you want to get today's paper, you can read the story in hard copy, but if you want the e-version, you might have to pester the Edmonton Journal to post the chapter.

Hope you enjoy!

Posted by marty at 01:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Interesting end to yesterday's rehearsal. I gained insight into how a director works. My director (Ron) was very much into the details of the scene, to the point where he neglected the ripple effect of changes throughout a script. He argued to change the motivation for Sun Wukong to go to the west, wanting Sun Wukong to be banished, instead of Sun Wukong offering to be a spy in the west. While this might have made it simpler for the actor to play, it would have taken all the drama/conflict away when Sun Wukong returned to Jung Gwo later in the play. I had to remind Ron of this. Our discussion was heated at times, but I put my foot down and said I would not rewrite a scene to change intention, but I was happy to cut lines. I chopped away a page from the scene in order to clarify the mission. We had to cut the script down anyway to make sure the play ran under 90 minutes (to accommodate school matinees), so I was okay with cutting. I was not okay with doing a full scale rewrite on a scene for the sake of my director, and I said so. He backed off.

At a certain point, a playwright has to be able to stand up for his work, and draw a line in the sand. I drew my line yesterday. If I'm wrong, I'm happy to be wrong, but I can't change a scene based on someone's knee jerk reaction to an exposition heavy scene. Sometimes, you have to dig under what's said to find what the real problem is. It reminds me that in the heat of the moment, hasty decisions are what kill scripts. I made sure that the cuts were done to preserve the story and motivation rather than to undermine the foundation of the script. Phew! Dodged a bullet on that one.

Anyway, I'm visiting schools today, and will drop in to rehearsal at the end of the day to see where everyone is at.

Posted by marty at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're halfway through the second day of rehearsal, and things are going great. Yesterday, we read the play and then spent the afternoon working with William Lau on Peking Opera movements. The cast looks amazing. I'm really impressed with all of them, even from just the cold read at the start of the day. Shannon, the actor playing Laosan is hilarious and so very cool. We also have a fanastic percussionist (Peter) who worked on my show, Mom, Dad, I'm Living with a White Girl. He's great.

This morning, the cast started working on the first song of the show and everyone sounds pretty awesome. My composer (Robert) said he was very impressed with everyone's voices and range.

The only sad thing about this experience is that this is probably the last full day I can spend at rehearsal. Tomorrow, my school visit season begins. I'm going to become at tourist at my own play. Sigh. My two loves (theatre and kids fiction) are clashing.

The big news I'd like to share with everyone is the Citadel Theatre is hosting an opening house this Saturday afternoon, and William Lau has agreed to do a Peking Opera demonstration for the public. If you're interested in seeing this demo, give the Citadel a shout. Admission is free and I think it all starts at 2:00 pm. This is a great chance to see what inspired the style of The Forbidden Phoenix. Hope to see you there.

Posted by marty at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At last, here is the first chapter of The Edmonton Journal's serial novel, The Forbidden Phoenix. Apologies for the delay. Hope you enjoy the story.

Posted by marty at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)