We are just about to start the second week of rehearsals for The Lieutenant of Inishmore and it has been a wild ride so far. The cast is glorious and we are having a wonderful time in the rehearsal hall discovering all the hidden treasures in Martin McDonagh's script.
We are truly blessed with eight tremendous actors in this show – and that is a pretty big cast for Actors Theatre. Some of them have long term connections with our company: Oliver Wadsworth (Angels in America, Stones in His Pockets, The Pillowman), David Vining (A Christmas Carol – for many years), Beau Heckman (A Christmas Carol, again for many many years); some are just in their second show with us: Cale Epps (The Pillowman), and Kerry McCue (Augusta); and some are fresh meat: Colin McFadden, Tim Shawver, and David McCormick. We are all of the opinion that this is one of the funniest plays we have worked on in quite a while. The only problem is that as we rehearse – and say the same punch line over and over and over again – it starts to lose it’s humor. Ah . . as they say “dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
The design and production team have actually been working on this show for months and everything is starting to come together. We have all been enjoying the production meetings for this show – for how often do you get to sit around and discuss what color the blood should be and how to make it? Do we want it to be gooey? Do we want it to be bright red (is this arterial blood?). And how much we do we need? On Broadway they used 6 gallons per performance but we have a much smaller stage so we are estimating only 3 gallons.
And then of course there is the question of cats – live cats – dead cats – black cats – tabby cats. (PLEASE NOTE: NO ANIMAL WILL BE HARMED IN THIS PRODUCTION) (REALLY). Have you ever tried to buy a realistic looking stuffed cat? Try it. They don’t really look like REAL cats – the look like some kind of “cute” version of a “SMURF CAT” – their heads are WAY out of proportion with their bodies and their legs are too short and fat. Really – go to a toystore and check it out.
We have many more adventures ahead of us before opening night. So stay tuned.
We are truly blessed with eight tremendous actors in this show – and that is a pretty big cast for Actors Theatre. Some of them have long term connections with our company: Oliver Wadsworth (Angels in America, Stones in His Pockets, The Pillowman), David Vining (A Christmas Carol – for many years), Beau Heckman (A Christmas Carol, again for many many years); some are just in their second show with us: Cale Epps (The Pillowman), and Kerry McCue (Augusta); and some are fresh meat: Colin McFadden, Tim Shawver, and David McCormick. We are all of the opinion that this is one of the funniest plays we have worked on in quite a while. The only problem is that as we rehearse – and say the same punch line over and over and over again – it starts to lose it’s humor. Ah . . as they say “dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
The design and production team have actually been working on this show for months and everything is starting to come together. We have all been enjoying the production meetings for this show – for how often do you get to sit around and discuss what color the blood should be and how to make it? Do we want it to be gooey? Do we want it to be bright red (is this arterial blood?). And how much we do we need? On Broadway they used 6 gallons per performance but we have a much smaller stage so we are estimating only 3 gallons.
And then of course there is the question of cats – live cats – dead cats – black cats – tabby cats. (PLEASE NOTE: NO ANIMAL WILL BE HARMED IN THIS PRODUCTION) (REALLY). Have you ever tried to buy a realistic looking stuffed cat? Try it. They don’t really look like REAL cats – the look like some kind of “cute” version of a “SMURF CAT” – their heads are WAY out of proportion with their bodies and their legs are too short and fat. Really – go to a toystore and check it out.
We have many more adventures ahead of us before opening night. So stay tuned.
1 comment:
A friend and I attended the first rehearsal event of 'lt. of Inishmore' and very much enjoyed it.
Lot's of onstage blood letting has been promised so I suspect patrons will be looking to enjoy dark humor, but if that's your gig, there is a great event waiting for you - we can't wait!
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