Production Meeting 3/21

LAST PRODUCTION MEETING

• Monday is last day to call line
• Monday we are adding costumes and sound
• Wednesday-final rehearsal-add everything else
• Show is Monday April 1
• ask Frida about what to do with Katherine's hair

Sam on lighting:

• another meeting with Mr. McGuire early next week on the backlighting
• use black tablecloth material to cover the lights to make it darker
• hasn't gotten word from Mrs. Burke about aprons--going to use Mrs. Burke's

Gwen on set:

• red material for tablecloths
• has 6 or 7 black chairs

Production Meeting 3/13

We had a production meeting Wednesday on March 13.
Gwen is in charge of set design--she shared her progress

• no response from Mr. Landis about key to box in stairwell and Mr. Wonzer about chairs and tables from cafeteria
• emailed art teachers about seats-about 25 we can use
• working on canvas for corkboard-working on brownish color-so we can we put stuff on it
• she checked with Frida (costumes) and Aishwarya (props) about colors to use on corkboard

Catherine is in charge of sound

• played her songs that she plans to use for the show
• orchestral piece for when rhinoceros comes through-from live action production of Peter Pan in 2003
• "He's a Tramp" from Lady and the Tramp for the end of the scene leading us out into the curtain call
• "Kiss the Girl" for when Daisy enters--THIS IS MY FAVORITE I LOVE IT SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• "A Little Town" from the beginning of Beauty and the Beast for the beginning of the play when Jean and Berenger are sitting in the cafe.
• ask Elaine to record the voice of Daisy

I am in charge of PR

• I brought a rough draft of the program
• Must email teachers/administration to save the date for the production
• Everyone else is emailing me head shots&short bio for the program
• work on ticket for the next production meeting-3/21

Frida is in charge of costumes

• I showed everyone my red dress and red high heels
• Aishwarya will bring in a scarf that could go with my dress
• I'm going to practice wearing my heels to see if it's possible
• Katherine has a wrinkled, pinstriped shirt and the pinstripes are red which goes with our theme
• I need to take a picture of my dad's bowler hat
• Look for broom skirts for Sam
• Sam needs to ask about an apron and bring in his cardigan
• Bring in maid cap

Sam-lighting

• meeting with Mr. McGuire tomorrow
• wants black construction paper over the lights to make the scene darker
• yellow paper over window
  · keep stairwells darker so the audience is more focused on the stages
  · stages more lit up so they're the focus of the production
  · hopefully some lighting instruments in the stairwell
  Aishwarya-Props
  · Take pictures of my stuffed animals to see any of them would work for the cat
  · Check about trays
  · Necklace chains in the glasses for the spillage
  · Bring in gold/silver chains
  · Towel hooked into Frida's apron for when she cleans up the glasses-check for red towel
  · Giant paper bags
  · Brandy bottle
  · Aishwarya and Katherine need to bring in stuffed rhinos
   

Just Everything

So we get really off topic in theatre class, so today we were talking about the emotions from movie. Aishwarya told us about this Ernest Hemingway quote: "For sale. Baby Shoes. Never worn."

Rhinocerous Production Options

We are planning to produce Act I in class, so we talked about how to make that possible

• we could have our scripts in hand so that we wouldn't have to memorize all of the lines
• but it might look awkward because it wouldn't be a fully realized production

Performance is going to be March 28 during 2nd period. That gives us 11 rehearsals leading up to it. Blocking in the first week of rehearsal. 9 left to perfect, get off book, do design aspects, lighting, etc.
I will be Jean and I'm going to try to memorize my lines to the best of my ability.

Theatre Dream

The other night, I had a theatre dream! In class on Monday, February 11, we were talking about theatre of the absurd in class, as well as breaking the third wall, where the actors talk to the audience as if they're actually there. Then, that night, I had a dream that I was in a play. I had to pretend to talk to the audience at some points and actually join in the play. I can't even really explain what was happening. It was sooo weird, and the whole thing felt totally real. Then, when I woke up, I remembered the dream and realized that I had dreamed it because of what we had discussed in class earlier that day. Theatre is even invading my dreams!

Crowd Behavior Research

Before we begin Rhinoceros, Mrs. Burke wanted us to do some research on crowd pyschology, crowd behavior, and mob mentality to find out more about the mass hysteria that often ensues in crowds. This will occur with the mounting hysteria about the rhinos. I found some great, information articles about the topic, posted below:
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-crowd-psychology.htm
http://source.southuniversity.edu/examining-the-mob-mentality-31395.aspx
http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/hysteria
I think this picture is a great representation of how anything in a crowd can escalate, causing chaos.

http://www.trustprofessionals.com/f-digest/2005/2005-12-19-f.html

Then in class we talked about these things:

• mall at Christmas-bumping into people, frustrating, beyond your control
• cattle-slow process, people don't think, like animals
• 2 kinds of crowds: the frustration of other people around you or the crowd were the feelings are catching (mosh pit)
• good: inaguration, THON
• Penn State mobs-lynch mob mentality, anger focuses on a specific thing, "attack without mercy, attacking because you can" "need to be first one to give opinion" act without thinking
• leader(s) will emerge-alpha, elder, strength
• anonymity-lack of responsibity, not held accountable for actions
• emotions rule actions
• people do what they see being done
• mass confusion!!
• conformity
• aftershocks of incident-changes entire community-have to become individuals again
• protests/riots create destruction
• when one person tries to be an individual, they just overrun them
• reality is gone-Sweedish night club incident: people smelled smoke but denied it
• even outside observers can be affected even if they don't participate-my sisters at Penn State during the rioting didn't participate, but still saw everything, smelled the tear gas so it got in their minds as well
• poeple not paying attention
• panic, freaking out, need to get out
• people everywhere
• freezing up, can't do anything
• finding/losing people in a crowd
• feelings are catching
• sit-ins and protests

Rhinoceros Research

We are soon going to start reading Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco in class, so Mrs. Burke asked us to do some background research first. The play is about a drunk named Berenger, whose town becomes plagued by rhinos. Soon, everyone has been transformed into rhinos, and in the end, he vows to fight the rhinos. This play sounds crazy!!!! People transforming into rhinos?!?! I can see why they call it theatre of the absurd; this plot is certainly absurd. I wonder how they are able to act out these scenes because a play does not have the special effects that are available in movies. The author, Ionesco, was born in 1909 and died in 1994. He grew up in France, but moved to Romania in 1925, where he eventually met his wife. They had one daughter, and Ionesco often wrote stories for her. He wrote his first play in 1950, when he taught himself English. Ionesco's unique work is characterized by his rejection of the logical plot, character development, and thought of traditional drama. He created an anarchic form of comedy to show that man's existence is meaninglessness because everything happens by chance.
Sources:
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc19.html
http://www.theatrehistory.com/misc/rhinoceros.html