July 5 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev and Members of the San Diego Ballet. In the original Don Juan story, the Don is dragged down into Hell. In some versions, he gains redemption. The Byron version of the story is unfinished, so we have no idea as to what was in store for him. So I did put in this moment before the end of the ballet, where the Don is at least weighed down by his past indiscretions.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev, Stephanie Maiorano, Joseph Hochschild, & Chris Jovilar. At the end things come back to a circular conclusion, with the Don taking up again the cloak that he removed at the start of the piece.

Daily Stuff: In the Heights rehearsal. Worked on the opening number. Will be able to finish it tomorrow I think. So I am on schedule. Wish I was ahead but "Oh well." Looks fun so far.

Went in to the office for a moment. Caught up with Melinda Gilb before SUDS rehearsal. She was kind enough to bring in a black swing coat for a cast member to borrow. it is a nice gesture since the girl in question will be playing a part that Mel created.

Then went up to New Village Arts for SUDS rehearsal. Technical rehearsal today. Cue to cue of lights, so a bit of a slow go. But we also put the actors into costumes, so were able to fix some issues there. The show is starting to have a nice recognizable SUDS quality.

July 4 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Joseph Hochschild & Stephanie Maiorano. A moment from an extended lift in Act Three.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Members of the San Diego Ballet. Act Three. All the women return one last time. By now, the Don is pretty worn out psychologically.

Daily Stuff: New Year's Day! Was supposed to spend the evening with one of my oldest friends but she had to cancel due to an illness in the family. Another friend just happened to be in town and off we went to see "This Is The End." Had some funny moments, but unless you knew something about the actors playing themselves, some of the movie can fall flat.

Nice italian dinner with another friend. Theatre gossip.

Came home and watched fireworks from my terrace.

Back to work tomorrow. Start of a busy weekend.

July 3 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Max Tchernychev. Act Three, its all about yearning for what you are not. Ballet drama.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers:Joseph Hochschild, Stephanie Maiorano, & Max Tchernychev. A vision of the wedded bliss that it not available to him. Just had to go "there."

Daily Stuff; In The Heights. Started in the morning working with the ensemble. Then started layering the principals into the opening number. A bit of slow going but it looked good. I had been thinking that the background movement I had set was going to be to distracting but it is fine. Pretty good in fact. :)

July 2 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev & Members of the San Diego Ballet. Here in the zenith of the Third Act, Don Juan is haunted by the Visions of Women from the Act Two Dream.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev & Members of the San Diego Ballet. This concept actually came to me after late in the staging of the ballet. The similarity of musical motifs in the two unrelated pieces struck me and it just made sense.

Daily Stuff: In The Heights rehearsal. A very nice rehearsal day today. Had some very nice work with the ensemble on the opening number. Followed by some work on a salsa duet for two characters. Some very strong dancing. 

July 1 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Alexus Hill, Stephanie Maiorano, Joseph Hochschild, Regan Nuchereno. Act Three. The difficulty of creating a marriage ceremony in a ballet. In this case it was easily solved by using a lasso. Having the couple step over the wreath together created a simple physical moment that resonated with most audience members.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Members of the San Diego Ballet. All of the hyper hubbub of the Wedding celebration was contrasted by a simple rund dance that brought us into the final movement. The connected circle also served as a reminder to the Don that he was a figure outside of society and would in al probability, always be.

Daily Stuff: SUDS days off. SDB day off.

First day of In The Heights rehearsal. Things went very well. Did a little bit of show and tell with the SCPA students. And then the cast did a read/sing through. All of the leads were brilliant. They pretty much now all of the music. It looks to be a great show.

June 30 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Joseph Hochschild & Stephanie Maiorano. Another exuberant moment from the Act Three Wedding celebration!

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Joseph Hochschild & Stephanie Maiorano.

Daily Stuff: Had a designer run thru for SUDS today. The show is in great shape. The cast will take a couple of days off now, while the set gets finished and the lighting designer goes in and starts focusing and getting to work.

After the run, I had a "paper tech" with the stage manager and lighting and sound designers to get all the cues decided. Because I had already had a few preliminary meetings it went smoothly.

June 29 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Joseph Hochschild. The wedding dance in Act 3. The idea was to create a "folk dance" that could be repeated in a variety of combinations. I love how well this image captures Joe's long clean lines. Even when he isn't in a particularly classical position.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: max Tchernychev, Joseph Hochschild, & Stephanie Maiorano. Here is the Don watching the happy peasants, unable to really be part of the community.

Daily stuff: Started by having breakfast with my SUDS cast in Carlsbad. Then we did two run throughs of the show. Nothing big to report, the actors are at least in good shape. Run through for the designers tomorrow morning. Oh and it is hot!

June 26 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano, Joseph Hochschild, Sarah Nyfield, & Chris Jovilar. Act Three. The happy peasants continue their happy peasant dance.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano, & Joseph Hochschild. More happy dancing. This dance had a kind of aerobic element to it, but then many peasant dances do. They just go on and on. Like the Tarantella where participants danced themselves into a state of exhaustion.

Daily Stuff: Car seems to be ok. Worked a bit on the next 24 Preludes. Having to do some editing on this one as I have two version I need to mix into one.

Had a nice surprise in the office. Former SDB dancer Megan Lotz dropped in from the East Coast. She and her (soon to be doctor) husband are in town for a vacation and she took class in the morning. Nice to see a smiling face.

Met with Young Audiences today to discuss our offerings for next year. It was productive :)

Zoomed up to SUDS rehearsal. Got there early and there was a Farmer's Market on the street. Yeah! Lemon pie, Cuban sandwiches, and fresh squeezed Lemonade!

Got through the 2nd Act of SUDS. Cleaned up and put the sound cues in. Got done early, so we all got to go home early. Worked a bit on getting one of the sequences a bit more romantic and cleaned up some dialog scenes.

June 25 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Joseph Hochschild  & Stephanie Maiorano. Act Three Celebratory Dance leed by a soon to be Bride and Groom.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Joseph Hochschild  & Stephanie Maiorano. I am actually quite fond of the movement phrases in this sequence. It is fairly fast and bouncy.

Daily Stuff: Had a meeting this morning at SDB with Matt regarding setting up some communication systems for next year.

Then off to the Rep for a meeting about props for In The Heights. Trying to let that show slowly enter my consciousness. Rehearsals start next Monday.

Then off to a production meeting for SUDS. Mainly dealt with scenic elements and props. Followed by a stumble through of the first act. We plugged all of the sound cues in and worked more props into the show. Dealt a little more with style elements for the women.

The day started with a bit of car trouble, so I had to zoom about in a rental. The mechanic says he thinks he has fixed the problem so hopefully I'll be back in my car tomorrow.

June 24 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield & Chris Jovilar. The exuberance of the 3rd Act.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano & Joseph Hochschild. After the little "show" dance, we have a large celebration dance for the whole community, led by the soon to be bride and groom.

Daily Stuff: Started the day by meeting with Steve Gunderson. We are developing a show based on the songs of Harry Nilsson. We shall see how it goes. We already have a basic shape and song order. Today, we honed down some of the lyrics we are using and who will be singing them. So Steve has a nice base to start writing arrangements.

Afterwards, I finished up posting this week's installment of 24 Preludes on You Tube. And also wrote and scheduled tomorrow's e-mail blast.

Got some good news. The art installation the SDB is hosting in the Mandell Weiss Gallery is going to be able to stay up for an extra month.

Met Candye for an early dinner. She is off for a tour tomorrow. So we had a discussion regarding a possible local holiday/X-mas show.

In the evening, I had SUDS rehearsal. I got to take it easy today as we had a music rehearsal. Steve (who arranged the music) was able to come in today, so I turned over all the time to him. He gave great notes and the cast was eager to work with him. It IS a singer's show after all.

Having a little car issue right now, will have to take care of it tomorrow.

June 23 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield & Chris Jovilar. In the middle of this showy dance, we split the stage and do a bit of plot development.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev & Stephanie Maiorano. Don Juan makes his moves on the young bride to be. Unfortunately for him, she is immune to his charms.

Daily Stuff: SUDS rehearsal. Finished staging the show. Learned two big long musical sequences. Then we went through Act One. The cast is more solid than they know. We don't have our first audience until July 12th. Still a lot to do, but we are in a good spot.

June 22 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield and Chris Jovilar. The inclusion of two dancers performing for the others also gave me an excuse to put in a bit more bravura, showy steps to push the excitement this late in the ballet.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield and Chris Jovilar. For the most part< I tend to stay away from anything that looks intentionally "difficult." That "in your face" type of dancing or choreography has never really impressed me much. It is also the easiest thing to set.

Daily Stuff: SUDS rehearsal day. Accomplished what I had hoped. Staged two scenes and a number. One of the had already been half staged, so quick work was made of it. Then ran everything and staged the cast for a theatre benefit they are doing tonight. Just one number from the show, but it will be around a single microphone, so there is a little position jockeying that I set.

At least the rehearsals were early in the day. No traffic. :)

June 21 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield. The Peasants Dance at the Wedding. I always felt that this little piece needed to have a bit more presentation "Oomph" than the rest of the Act.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield & Chris Jovilar. As the dancers were actually portraying "dancers."

Daily Stuff: Met with Steve Gunderson on a possible project for next year. Very exciting if it comes through. I had done a little work previous to getting together, so we actually were able to discuss specifics.

Sent out the contracts for next year's trainees. And had a couple of meetings.

Music festival in Carlsbad today so a bit hard to park for SUDS rehearsal, but not horrible. Ran everything we knew. Pretty good shape. Then staged two little scenes and a song (You Can't Hurry Love). I let the cast know that it was the first number that we staged in the show over twenty years ago. Still have a bit to go will try to do a two more scenes and a song tomorrow.

June 20 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: As the peasant wedding is a celebration, I decided to set a sort of Peasant pas de deux.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield and Chris Jovilar. Here are the "Celebratory Dancers" Kind of like the "official entertainment" at the party. It allowed to introduce a piece of music that had a bit of more classical Spanish flair, than what the peasants had been dancing to.

Daily Stuff: San Diego County Fair Day. Even though I am immune to the allure of big, fried food, then sun and the the food still managed to get me a little sick. Still it was a nice day. Good company. Candye was performing, so got to do the "Backstage Pass" thing. She did great and was in good voice.

And of course, the Swifty Swine Pig Races :)

June 19 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Members of the San Diego Ballet. So after an Intermission, Act Three begins with a peasant wedding.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev, Joseph Hochschild, & Stephanie Maiorano. The Don is welcomed by the soon-to-be-groom.

Daily Stuff: Early in the day, my dog was barking non stop outside. When I went out, he was fixated on a specific spot with some woodwork. As a got nearer, I smelled the unmistakable odor of skunk. Luckily, the dog hadn't been sprayed. So we retreated in to the house and I hope my lovely black and white visitor found his way out.

Pretty much just a SUDS day today.  Missing a cast member, so we spent a lot of time cleaning and giving notes. Then I let Tyler (the guy) go and worked with the two ladies who play the Angels in the show. They have the most to do. Up until now I have been working the sections that involve everyone. But now, have to focus on their stuff. 

We learned a piece set to the old hit, Locomotion. Went well. And then did some scene work. 

If only Carlsbad wasn't so far away. Takes me about an hour to get there. Less to get back because its late and no traffic. Am enjoying the different food choices. Today it was Knockout Burger. I got the Featherweight. It was like a nice slider. Just enough to serve the craving.

June 18 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev, Elana Lewis, Stephanie Maiorano. Looking at this, I am reminded of how quickly Stephanie had to change costumes. It really was only about 30 seconds to get out of the red "Dream" costume and get the white one on.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Matt Carney & Elana Lewis. The pleasant peasants. They are about to call Don Juan to Join in the Act Three festivities.

Daily Stuff: Sent out a few more contracts today. Had a meeting with Matt, our director of communications about an upcoming grant and a recent San Diego dance initiative.

Then went to have a late lunch/dinner with my friend Candye Kane. But eating was scrapped in favor of helping with errands. It was cool. She paid me in yellow lemon Starbursts. Anyway, I'll see her playing at the fair on Thursday.

SUDS rehearsal at night. We set one of the big medleys from the first act and two ballads that follow it. The first medley is fairly physical as it involves the women in the show terrorizing a washer repairman in the name of female empowerment. It is always the worst rehearsal for the male cast member as he pretty much crawls around on the floor for a few hours.

Afterwards, we reviewed the opening of the first act. Sarah (the girl playing the lead Cindy) is doing some very nice things with the opening song. As a matter of fact, the entire cast is doing exemplary work. We ran the second act in its entirety. Just need to keep encouraging them to simplify once they discover where they are going with their choices.

June 17 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev, Stephanie Maiorano, & Elana Lewis. Don Juan awakens from his dream on a convenient shore.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Max Tchernychev & Stephanie Maiorano. And of course, the young peasant girl who discovers him has the face of his "ideal."

Daily Stuff: Got out the first batch of dancer contracts. Will send out more tomorrow. Posted the 11th Prelude (of the 24) on You Tube and got the e-mail blast written and scheduled for tomorrow.

The evening was all about taking the parents to the Olive Garden for a belated Father's Day.

No SUDS rehearsal today.

June 16 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Sarah Nyfield. It is always nice when the costume does a little work for you.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Members of the San Diego Ballet. The end of the 2nd Act Dream. There is the Don on the floor as his visions dance around him.

Daily Stuff: Just another SUDS day today. e had a 6 hour rehearsal day, but I was missing a cast member for the first half. So we set the stuff without her and then went back and worked her in once she came in. It isn't as troublesome as it sounds, as there is usually a lot of multi-layering going on in the staging.

So we finished the 2nd Act and ran it. They had a particularly ood time learning the Secret Agent Man number. The show is very playful, so the number is like a cross between Our Man Flint and the Spy Vs. Spy comic from Mad magazine.

June 15 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Members of the San Diego Ballet. Part of the "folk dance"

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Stephanie Maiorano and Max Tchernychev. As I was resetting this movement for the piece (remember I lifted it from a previous work), I added some new entrances for Don Juan and his "ideal."  This arabesque is from one of those passages.

Daily Stuff: Was supposed to attend a meeting on local dance this morning Was derailed by a smll emergency. Nothing huge, but had to be dealt with ASAP. Sometimes these things pop up. The rest of the day was a SUDS day. Set more of the 2nd Act. We had a fun time with Chapel of Love. Starting to see some ownership of the characters, which is nice.

June 14 2013

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancer: Sarah Nyfield. The long adagio is followed by variation on a Spanish folkdancc.

Don Juan in Tech Rehearsal February 2013. Photo: Manuel Rotenberg. Dancers: Leila Gardener. The folk dance is led by 2 soloists.

Daily Stuff: Did a little work on dancers contracts. They are ready to be sent out.

Day was spent dealing mostly with SUDS rehearsal. Reacquainted myself with the second act. I always start with the second act of the show for tow reasons.

First, it is a less dense choreographic act, so it is easier to set. It gives the cast a good sense of what the show is about.

It also allows for the whole cast to be involved from the start. There are large sections of the first act where the guy in the show is offstage. So setting this stuff first helps everyone feel like a big happy cast.

Anyway, I set a nice chunk. A fairly large medley and the 3 solos that follow it. Also some small scenes between the central character and a Mr. Right. Took a little work but started to get into the right area. The cast does sound great. :)