The Bill Raiten Blog

Halfway through our run of the “Mack the Knife” play (The Threepenny Opera) and we’re all having lots of fun.  What a great way to spend a few hours!  People from all over the peninsula participate and it’s such a cooperative effort: actors, backstage crew, lighting, musicians, refreshment people… everyone has to be there and do what they’re supposed to do - and it works.  All our differences get forgotten; we’re different sizes, shapes, colors, religions, political leanings, etc. and none of this makes any difference.  It’s about the moment and working together to achieve a goal.  Thanks everyone for what you do!

The Blue Hill Town Hall Theater has a new look - thanks to a generous grant from the Quimby Family Foundation.  The grant money allowed us to purchase a new light board (controller and dimmers), increase the available power (so the full capability of the new equipment can be realized), install new lamps in all the lights (most of the lamps were well-past their rated life), purchase some new lights and build risers for the audience.

Every seat is a good one!

New Surry Theatre is starting its 38th season this year - we hope to see you at our shows!

NST’s latest production in the works is the classic The Threepenny Opera. This landmark musical features book and lyrics by Bertolt Brecht and music by Kurt Weill.  A scathing and comical critique of the excesses of capitalism that premiered on the eve of the Great Depression, The Threepenny Opera has been widely and frequently produced over the last eighty years.  This is the first time it has been done in Maine in the 21st century, and NST Artistic Director Bill Raiten expects this production to resonate with today’s audience.  It portrays a scandalous and musical tale of thieves, beggars, and various other lowlifes.  Chief among them is the notorious highwayman, MacHeath — more widely known as Mack the Knife, from the song that details some of his exploits.

The play is being directed by veteran NST actor Shari John who recently directed NST’s special one-man show A Christmas Carol.  She has also recently acted in NST Playwright-in-Residence Rick Doyle’s play Too Good To Be True, My Fair Lady and Laughter On The 23rd Floor (all in 2009).  She also directed On Golden Pond (2009) and Last of the Red Hot Lovers (2008).

The main set element is a rather large bridge, constructed with more-or-less traditional timber frame techniques.  The dialog is quite clever and the songs are sensational.  Brecht was frustrated that contemporary theater didn’t seem to have much impact on the audiences; they viewed what happened on stage purely as entertainment.  He wanted to make his audiences think and often confronted them with unusual situations, staging techniques, etc.  There is a moral to this story!  We hope you can enjoy this play with us in March and April.  Here’s a rehearsal picture showing part of the cast:

I strongly encourage anyone who likes Charles Dickens’ tale A Christmas Carol to see NST’s special holiday presentation of it.  I’ve seen this classic several times, done different ways (traditional, avante garde, etc.) and I like the Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Winters readings of it.  NST’s production is more like the latter.  Veteran actor Tim Pugliese (directed by Shari John) plays ALL the parts, walking about a fairly plain stage, switching back and forth from character to character, each with a different accent, intonation, pitch, etc.  At times it seems there’s half-a-dozen people on the stage (including the narrator) and in the mind of the audience, there really is.  It’s very entertaining and showcases Tim’s great talent.  Highly recommended.  It’s on at the Blue Hill Town Hall Theater for one more weekend (Dec. 18,19 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 20 at 3 p.m.)

NST has decided to add a special show to its season in May 2010: La Cage Aux Folles.  This was made into the famous movie “The Birdcage” (starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman, among others.)  The musical centers on the confusion that ensues when the son of a Saint Tropez night club owner and his gay lover brings his fiancée’s ultra conservative parents for dinner.  It will be produced at the Grand in Ellsworth.  We’ll talk more about it in the future.  Anyone interested in acting (there’s a big chorus!), contact Bill Raiten.  See www.newsurrytheatre.org for details.

Best Holiday Wishes to everyone.

NST has had an interesting project developing over the past year or so.  Resident playwright Rick Doyle approached us with an idea for a play.  A group of us worked with him in Scene Study class in autumn 2008 to develop the characters and dialog.  We would read the scene, discuss with Rick, then he would rewrite the dialog, and so on.  The initial work was presented as a scene about a year ago during Theater Arts Week 2008.  The story is about a Maine family and how they are being impacted by the shutdown of the paper mill in their town.

Rick continued to work on the play (with director Bill Raiten’s input) and it is now two full scenes.  I don’t think he knows if he wants to write more or not: it could actually stand alone as it is now.  (It’s almost 1-1/2 hrs. long at this time.)  Everyone involved agreed that this was one of the most interesting theater experiences they’ve ever had.  For Rick, he saw his words and ideas brought to life on the stage.  For the actors and director, we’ve never had the chance to work with the playwright directly.  Usually the director has his/her own interpretation of the feelings and emotions that the playwright wants to convey to the audience.  In this case, the playwright is at the rehearsals and we could ask him exactly what he wanted!  And he was receptive to our ideas!  We would like to make working with a Maine Playwright an annual event.  We think we can provide a good outlet for Maine writers.

There is a workshop production of Too Good To Be True on Friday November 20 and Saturday November 21 at 7:00 p.m.  Admission is just $10 and there will be a discussion with the audience, actors, playwright and director afterwards (that’s the “workshop” part).  This is not a lightweight play: it’s the type of thing that Arthur Miller might write.  There is strong language used.  This production has been partially supported by a grant from the Maine Community Foundation.  Please try to attend - we’d love to see you there.

Actually, this performance is part of NST’s Theater Arts Week: on Tuesday 11/17/09 there’s a scene from Arthur Miller’s The Price being presented (scene study and director’s class.)  On Wednesday 11/18/09 there’s a performance by Bill Raiten’s Truth In Acting class, on Thursday 11/19/09 there’s a show by the Musical Vocals class (with instructor Abigail Greene.)  These three shows are free admission!  And there’s still a chance to audition for The Threepenny Opera on Sunday 11/22/09 at 4:00 p.m.  There’s lots going on so please try to attend!

New Surry Theatre was honored earlier this year when we were notified that we were being awarded a grant from the Quimby Family Foundation (www.quimbyfamilyfoundation.org).  Shari and I traveled to Freeport to accept the grant on August 21.  We had requested funding for two major items that we would not otherwise be able to afford.  (1) upgrade our theater lighting and (2) rake the audience (i.e. improve visibility by installing portable risers.)

We arrived at the Harraseeket Inn about a half hour early.  We found the large conference room where the luncheon was being held and proceeded to look at displays of photographs, old maps and as others started arriving, we met some interesting people.  Shari suggested we reserve a couple of seats at the round tables as she didn’t want to have to turn around to see the podium.  She left her bag on a chair and we leaned the chair next to that one on the table, in the universal sign that it was “taken.”  We continued to meet other folks - one of the most interesting was Roxanne Quimby’s aunt (Liliane Willens) who was born in China and always gives the keynote speech at the awards luncheon.  I guess it’s always an interesting time for the family as Liliane never reveals her subject matter in advance.

When the luncheon was starting and folks were starting to sit down, we moved back to our table to see that someone had taken our seats!  Shari told the man who had evidently moved her bag that we had saved the seats earlier and he pointed out that she could sit next to him.  She thanked him (nicely) but assured him that she’d rather sit with her husband.  We were quite disappointed as no one else had their reserved seats taken and there weren’t a lot of empty chairs left, at least not together.  I grabbed one of the waitresses and explained our predicament.  She told me not-to-worry-there’s-plenty-of-places-sir.  She beckoned us to follow her and after touring around all the tables, proceeded to seat us at one of the two head tables reserved for the family and Board of Directors!  So things worked out alright after all.

We almost felt like intruders but enjoyed meeting Hannah Quimby, her brother Lucas and some others on the Board who were at our table.  Liliane made a wonderful speech about Percival Baxter, one-time governor and the man who gave land to the State which eventually became Baxter State Park.

Grants were awarded to forty-four different groups in the areas of conservation and the arts.  We were honored and humbed to be included with those fine organizations.  Each representative shared a few words about their work and we were really amazed at all the good things going on in our state.

New Surry Theatre is very grateful to The Quimby Family Foundation for their support.

“My Fair Lady” was a fun show that we produced in a non-traditional manner (see previous post.)  The audiences all had a good time (so did the cast) and that’s what counts!  NST has a cast-party tradition where fun gifts are handed out (ex. Doolittle got a four leaf clover kit - so he could make his own little bit o’ luck.)  Shari always procures these and hands them out along with the story of why they were chosen.  It’s a lot of fun.  The kids in the chorus went swimming (so did some of the adults - it was pretty hot outside) and there was too much food but somehow we persevered.

A lot of times cast members don’t get much of a chance to chat during rehearsals.  That time is generally pretty well scheduled in an effort to remain productive.  Parties are great for just hanging around and relaxing and (believe it or not) usually the show isn’t discussed at all.

Sometimes the best part of a production is simply enjoying time with the people you’ve just performed with.

Our reprise of “Laughter On The 23rd Floor” was fun and reasonably successful.  We’ve performed this show so many times that it was very easy and fun.  It’s over, so on to new things…

Our original plan to perform another Neil Simon play “The Sunshine Boys” this summer was derailed when one of the principals became seriously ill and had to drop out.  We scrambled around for a solution and decided to try something new for us: a musical play in concert form.  “My Fair Lady” was chosen as it’s well known, has great music and would (hopefully) be easy to get going as we didn’t have much time!  By the time we got a script, score, etc. we only had about 5 weeks to work!

Principals were quickly cast and a chorus was assembled, mostly with new people to NST.  Rehearsals proceeded.  A stage extension was built (think of a large capital “E”, with everything 4′ wide except the center leg of the “E” which was 2′ wide.)  This extension brings actors right down to the audience, with chorus members seated inside the “E”.  Very interesting concept which seems to work.

Performing the play the way Encore productions at City Centre in New York are presented, actors are “on book” for some of the play and “off book” and staged for all of the songs and some of the scenes. Costumes are minimal but colorful and of the period.  It’s a very interesting way to present a musical and the audiences so far seem to like it.  I do too.

So the last show is over: the set is struck, costumes cleaned and borrowed props returned.  Well, in the case of “Laughter On The 23rd Floor” it’s not truly over as the show will be reprised in July.  The question is still valid though, now what?  What does an actor do when a production ends?

A lot of people don’t realize that acting is very much like sports: any kind of team sport.  A bunch of players (actors) are all on the field (stage) together.  There’s a game plan (script) and coach (director) making sure all the players execute the game plan as well as they can.  The object is to move everyone towards the goal the way we practiced.  Sure, there’s not generally an opposing team (unless the audience gets unruly, lol) but the analogy is still pretty good.  Sometimes we slip-up and call “intermission” “half-time.”

Just like in sports, everyone’s action or reaction depends on what happens immediately before they get to play (say a line.)  Sometimes unexpected things happen and you have to get the team moving towards the goal line again.  You’re all on the field together and trying to accomplish the same thing.

When a game is over the players will remember their good plays and lament any mistakes.  They will think about how to improve for the next game.  Actors do the same thing.  And when the season is over, players say goodbye and “see you next year.”  And they can miss their teammates and being on the playing field.  I guess actors are the same.

One of the challenges of playing at The Grand is that they show movies during the week.  Naturally, they think our sets *might* interfere with this activity, so we have to move behind the screen all the time.  Conceptually this sounds easy but in reality it can be quite involved.  The movie screen is about 10′ from the back wall.

For “On Golden Pond” we set up part of the set so that it didn’t have to be moved out of the way.  Panels (”flats”) on each side of this did have to be moved.  These flats were connected to each other using screws and braces for strength and alignment.  The assemblies were then connected to the “fixed” part of the set using hinges.  Each time we had to move behind the screen, hinge pins were pulled, several people grabbed the assemblies and shuffled them back out of the way.  This play used a lot of large props (including a massive fieldstone fireplace) so prop storage was an exercise in packing.

For “Lettice & Lovage” the set was designed so that everything that had to be behind the screen was on wheeled platforms.  It was pretty simple to move things back out of the way.  There were a few awkward pieces (like stairs) that made things interesting but in general it was fairly straightforward.

“Laughter On The 23rd Floor” was more of a challenge.  The main part of the set is on a 8′ X 16′ platform (actually 4 smaller platforms hooked together), which gives some nice elevation changes.  The whole thing is on many wheels.  12′ long side panels (made up of 3 flats) are hinged on with removable pins (actually, one side panel is screwed on but it was easier to do that than manufacture a hinge-holding system) and these can be removed by 2 people.  After they’re moved out of the way, 2 people can pull the entire main assembly behind the screen using ropes passed through big eye hooks.  All the props can be stored on the main platform.  It can be done pretty quickly.

It’s always interesting trying to get the thing back in the same place.  Even though the position is “spiked” or marked on the stage, the wheels are all castered, so it not only takes a bit more effort when you start pulling (to get all the wheels turned around and lined up) but the assembly can move sideways as well.

The biggest challenge of course is making all these bits work in the Blue Hill theater.  That stage isn’t flat and square pieces don’t always end up that way!  That’s another story of course.