Friday, October 22, 2010

"....signifying nothing"

Wow. I called it. The Cleveland critics HATE the show. With vitriol. With uptmost contempt. Ok, Christine Howey (Scene Magazine and her blog Rave and Pan) thought it was mediocre. Fran Heller (Cleveland Jewish News) was the only one who enjoyed herself. But Tony Brown couldn't make his hate-note short enough and Bob Abelman couldn't talk about how "The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Abridged" is soooooo much better than "Kill Will" enough. I really want to find the first reviews of Complete Works sometime......

Apparently we didn't take Shakespeare seriously enough. Or funny enough. We are massacring The Bard's great works. The audience participation is outshines the rest of the show.... or is it painful to watch?

I am satisfied. With the exception of Christine's review they either hated it or thought is was mindless fun (what we've only ever set out for). On the whole, I would rather have vitriol than apathy. The audiences are having fun. We are selling the houses pretty well. People who don't read Shakespeare at all are telling us that they can't wait to start reading. That alone makes this show completely worth it.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

These weapons are all of a length?

That's not really an appropriate quote for this post, but whatever.  I like it.

First dress run went very well.  We actually did it in random order tonight, and it felt good.  I think it'll be fun to do a different order every night.  My fraternity brother Ethan was in town for a wedding, and he came to watch the show tonight.  He laughed, which is a good thing.  Can't wait until we have a full house to play to.

In other news, the Kill Will website is finally updated.  It only took me two months.  Are you happy now, David?

Bedtime!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Dun dun daaaaaah...Tech Week

Ok. I love this play. I have never worked on a play before that had a paper tech in under 3 hours, and a cue to cue in just over 3 hours. I am, of course, only considering full production techs here, not fringe festival ones. The video op picked up everything quickly, the lights look awesome...it was a good teching.

I know that's not a word.

We are sold out for both our previews! Opening night is selling fast. And the rest of the weeks are already getting booked. This is a small house people....reserve them soon.

We will definitely have t-shirts for the scene volunteers again!!! We will also be selling them every night. CPT will also be selling beer in the space, which they don't do for every show. Good times, folks. Good times.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

How could I forget???

So, duh, this is me hitting my hand on my forehead....Josh and I were interviewed for the Cleveland Magazine! Here's our little article!!

We will be buying all the hardcopies soon, so you might as well read it online!

Finally! Gah!

OK, so I lied....we have not been writing about our rehearsal process. We have not been giving you little tidbits if wit and insight to our artistic process. Will you forgive us if we say that now we have all the elements and we're shifting into high gear?

We wrote the song we've been talking about adding to the show. We have approval from Ali that it doesn't stink outright, so we are moving forward! Does this mean we can now bill ourselves as a musical or just a variety show?

This past weekend, Josh and I had a house guest from The Purple Rose Theater in Michigan. Their fight choreographer Nate Mitchell agreed to come down to Cleveland and help us out with the fights. He gave us some great improvements! And then we had time on Sunday just to play a little. I look forward to figuring out how to incorporate what I learned this weekend into my fights in the future.

So...suffice it to say we are tired, we are busy but we are also moving forward and adding more to our little show. I'll try to add more later!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Rehearsal #3

Sarah (stage manager) and I should probably not be allowed in the same room when creativity is supposed to happen. Ok, maybe not creativity, but productivity. But hell if we don't come up with some great ideas! Sadly, they aren't ideas that will be realized unless someone would be willing to pay us to have the Sarah and Kelly Awesome Random Show.

Josh and Ali despaired of ever coming up with a good idea for Richard III until Josh started giggling. And then he couldn't stop giggling while he told us his idea. When I came up with a way to end the scene, he laughed out loud for a solid minute before he shared with us what was playing in his head. I think we have a working idea for Richard III.

What is it? You will have to come see the show.

One thing that Ali showed us yesterday was a blog from Tony Brown (critic for the Plain Dealer) for CPT's season. What graphic did he use, you might ask. I might tell you it was our postcard for the Fringe! Go Josh with the graphic designing skills!!!! http://www.cleveland.com/onstage/index.ssf/2010/09/cleveland_public_theatre_has_a.html

Cleveland Magazine comes out soon with our interview.....woohoo!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

...a new Beginning.

Here we are again.....starting a new production. Not bad to have three-ish runs in one year, I think. The good thing is that the show is getting stronger and better. I think. Cleveland: You ready for this?!?!?

We had our first production meeting. Thank goodness this show is low maintenance! Raymond and the tech director Mike were both surprised when they asked if there was anything else for the set and we said no. Those were great faces. Great responses when we said we wanted to do the show in a random order every night. Yay!

Pandemonium is before the rehearsals though. For those who might not know what Pandemonium is - I am not talking about general chaos, or a kindergarten classroom after lunch. Pandemonium is only the most awesome theater benefit ever. Cleveland Public Theatre's theater is actually a campus. There are several spaces taking up almost a whole city block. Only two of the spaces are traditional theaters though. One space is an old church, another is the church's reception hall, another is a converted bookstore (where we are performing). Every inch of the campus will be taken up with stages/platforms with dancers, singers, actors, poets, musicians, etc. (I literally mean etc. You never know what you will find walking or standing around at the benefit!) What space is not being being used for performance is being used by food and alcohol. Oh, how I look forward to this night every year.

Josh and I are performing a few scenes from Kill Will there and will be conducting a couple of stage combat workshops. Come and have fun on September 11! Seriously, the tickets are only $125 and they are worth every penny.

The End brings....

Ok, ok. I know we can't really start again without finishing the last run. But really, out of the three people that read this blog, two have already heard the ending to our Minnesota adventures. (DH, next week is the last week we can schedule a night before rehearsals again....just sayin'.)

Suffice it to say we had a remarkable time in Minneapolis. We met some fantastic people. People I would love to work with again in my life, people that would just be fun to hang out with. We received great feedback - not just the reviews. The way the audience responded, the critiques, have been very useful tools as we prepare for this next run at CPT....our PROFESSIONAL WORLD PREMIERE!!!

But before we get to that and before the music swells and we go to commercial....Some thank yous.
Lindsay - MWAH! We couldn't have done this - literally - without you. Cool head, cool person. We will miss you.
Matt and Brion (and girlfriends/fiances) - Thank you for being such wonderful hosts and for seeing shows with us in them or just with us. Thank you for being our tour guides as well!
Tim - It was like there hadn't been almost 10 years since the last time we saw you. Every time I see you, I remember how much I like hanging out with you. I very much look forward to the time we can work together that's not a college production.
Mike and Tony - Two of the best tech guys EVER!!! If I ever start a theater company and need a tech director, I am TOTALLY head-hunting you two.
The audiences - We were told you wouldn't participate and that we would have a hard time with a volunteer show in Minneapolis. Thank you so much for jumping up on stage, or at least being good-natured enough to let Josh "poison" you. Thank you, Minneapolis!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Thursday, again!

Happy Thursday! We have our third performance tonight. Back in the mix!

Fruitcake - Ten Commandments From the Psych Ward was on the Fringe menu for us yesterday. Very yummy! Rob Gee is the creator/writer/performer and is a self-styled stand-up poet. He has won several competitions and it's very easy to see why. Fruitcake is a little slice of the people he met working as a nurse on psych wards in England, Scotland and Australia. Very funny!

We also saw A Streetcar Named Desire at the Guthrie (I mean, it's here, I'm here, why not?) I wouldn't say it was the best production of Streetcar (not to say it wasn't gorgeous and the accent work wasn't good and the scenic and lighting design weren't top-notch - they all were, but it was missing.....something), but last night I saw the best Blanche (Gretchen Egolf) and Stella (Stacia Rice) I've ever scene. For the first time, Blanche felt like a real person to me and Stella was so well done, that this was the first time watching I felt passionate enough about her choices that I wanted to get up on stage and shake her!

After the show, we went to Pizza Luce - a local chain. It had mixed reviews on the internets, but I enjoyed the pizza very much. Josh said it was better than Dewey's. Very trendy atmosphere and the waiter was on top of things. Our friend Brion says that Punch Pizza is better and we are going to meet him there for lunch tomorrow.

Sorry for the bland entry. Josh wasn't feeling well yesterday and we felt it would be better to take it easy. Maybe we'll have more exciting news for you tomorrow....

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Forget the numbers...Day Wednesday!

Yesterday (Wednesday) Josh and I went to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The pictures are on Flickr, but for those of you who have never been there, there are some amazing sculptures. Please watch the video of the trees. The artist hung dozens of wind chimes in the trees and the sound is just beautiful. The sculpture garden is right across the street from the Walker Art Center and unfortunately we didn't have enough time to spend going through that treasure trove. Hopefully before the end of the stay we will.

We didn't have enough time for the Walker Center because we wanted to see a Fringe show and then we had tickets for The Scottsboro Boys at the Guthrie.

Before the Guthrie we saw An Evening with Alan Jr. and Chasity Gambler. As a fellow-out-of-town comedy duo act, Josh and I felt we needed to support them. Plus, at the out-of-towner showcase last week, they made us laugh. They still made us laugh last night. The show was mostly scripted, but it was obvious at times that the actors would improv some lines every once in a while. They cracked me up almost cracking each other up.

After making a friend in the audience (Hello Michael!) we made our way to the Guthrie theater. So, you've maybe read about the tour that our friend gave us of the lobbies and sneaking into the opening night party of The Scottsboro Boys. We finally got to see the actual show last night. Written by John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret) and directed by Susan Stroman, this is the second full production. Oh. My. God. Brilliant. Stunning. Heartbreaking. I had tears running down my face for almost the entire show. Kander and Ebb have taken a horrific event in American history and have made it relevant and even more gruesome by having the play done in the style of a minstrel show. If you are not familiar with the Scottsboro Boys, please look them up. This series of trials in the 1930's are a part of the backbone of the Equal Rights Movement and how due process is carried out in this day and age. (Or not carried out, depending on what country you come from and happen to be in prison in this one.) The production will be taken back to NYC (where it premiered) and will have a run on Broadway in the fall. If you happen to be in NYC during the time it's up please, please see it.

Another good review! We were the second mention in the City Pages Fringe Reviews! I'm glad we didn't let you down, Quinton! I'm making Josh link all of the reviews on our website.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Day #... what day are we on again?

So, we gave up and rented a car for the rest of the week. It's hot, humid and we're far enough outside of the city that it's worth the extra money. You know, it's funny....I believe that Fringe festivals cannot exist without being the most humid time of the year. I can't explain it at all, but I bet that no matter what city it is, no matter what time of the year it is, the Fringe festival takes place in the most uncomfortably humid conditions.

However, with the car we can come and go as we please, we are not dependent on others, it won't take us an hour to get anywhere. Ah, freedom. Now all we have to deal with is – dun dun daaaahhh – parking.

We saw three show yesterday: Zombie High School, Rachel Teagle Believes In Ghosts, and Bite Me, Twilight.

There are, of course, a couple of shows here at the Fringe with zombies and vampires in them. And, of course, Josh needed to see a zombie one. Zombie High School advertised zombies AND a capella singing. What's a nerdy boy to do? Fabulous show though! This is one that, if we were in NYC, would probably get an Off-Broadway run. However, I think it would also be great for my friend Malia, who coaches/directs a high school theater competition team every year and is on the lookout for fun, large group, easy/cheap to produce shows. This would be perfect.

And then we had to see Bite Me, Twilight because the performer, Tom Reed, is one that did an encore performance last year, the trailer for last year's show looked funny and Josh wants to see anything that makes fun of Twilight. No brainer. Mr. Reed is kind of hysterical.

Rachel Teagle wasn't quite what I expected, but still delivered a solid story-telling show and some interesting history about some haunted places. Rachel did a wonderful job holding my and, I think, the rest of the audience's attention.

Reviews for our show are still trickling in. They are still very positive. We're expecting Quinton Skinner's review tomorrow in the City Pages. We'll see if that breaks the trend. The feedback and excitement that we've been getting about the show has been intensely overwhelming for me. Every time Josh tells me we have another 5 or 4 kitty review on the fringe website, or we get mentioned in another local paper, I get a huge knot in my throat.

OH!!! We received an email this morning from Dominic Cianciolo, the Cinematic Director of WBIE/NetherRealm Studios, who did the cinematic direction for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. He asked when we were performing in Chicago!

I just don't know what to do with all of this.

Monday, August 9, 2010

One more week!

One week down....

We were extremely busy over the weekend.

Saturday: After spending the day updating blog/pictures, we saw two shows: Slapdash and Opera Buffet's Inside the Kaleidoscope. Both shows were at the Ritz Proscenium (the stage we perform on) and we wanted to stay close to the theater for our performance that evening. After seeing those we had dinner at a fish and chip place down the street called The Anchor. Very yummy!

Our show at 10:00 was very full. I have no idea what the official count was, but it looked like there was maybe 100 people there!!! Very vocal, very fun...we didn't have any problem getting volunteers that night! In fact, when I started singing the "Imperial March" the audience sang along! AWESOME!!!

Our host Matthew and his girlfriend Monica, Brion and his fiancee Katie all came to see the show and we went out to the Northeast Social Club down the street from the Ritz. Nice place. Great server.

While Josh and I were cleaning up from the show, a gentleman came up to us and struck up a conversation. Dave Schneider is a local SAFD guy and, once he found we were a combat show, "had to come and see it." He came along with us to the restaurant and is a wonderfully nice man. He is a few years out of college and sounds like he is starting to make a name for himself in the community. Good luck, Dave!!

Sunday:
After staying up late on Saturday, we decided to wake up at 7:00 am to join Matthew and Monica to go to the Minneapolis farmers market. Clevelanders, imagine the West Side Market...now picture it 4 times bigger with independent farmers, Thai vegetables, fruit picked right off the bush/vine and lots and lots of artist vendors. Yay! Fresh veggies!

Afterward, we tried to see as many shows as possible. Unfortunately, we missed a couple. One was sold out, one we just got there too late. However, we still managed to make 4 shows. Three of them were stellar!!! I wrote my online reviews for them on the fringe page. What a great tool that's been!

**One of my complaints of the MN Fringe is that the show starting times aren't staggered. In NY, if you can't get into a show, there is another one starting in 15, 20, 30 minutes and as long as you haul ass, you can see something. At MN, shows start at 5:30, 7, 8:30 and 10 on weeknights and there are a few more on the weekends. If you get there too late, too bad. Find something to do for an hour - which isn't bad if there is a bar near by, but sucks if you are trying to see as many shows as possible.**

To give a shout out to the shows that ROCKED on Sunday: In A Black Mood (dance, exceptional dance), The First Five Minutes Are Slow (an Alice in Wonderland based story that would be perfect in any school auditorium, but more than entertaining for adults), O(h) (a dancing and singing duo that pokes fun at art in general, contemporary dance and themselves - brilliant.)

Today, we're going to see another three plays: Zombie High School or Sincerity Forever (it depends on if either one is sold out), Rachel Teagle Believes in Ghosts, and Bite Me Twilight. The last one is the one we tried to see yesterday and was sold out. We promptly went online and bought tickets for today. Wish us luck!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

A nice rest.

Yesterday (Friday) we had a day off. We returned the rental car, bought brunch, updated blogs/websites, read our audience reviews (4 1/2 kitties after only one performance!!!) and planned what shows we were going to see in the evening.

We decided to see two shows: Ringtone and ROBO-homa! A territory Tale with a Technological Twist.

Ringtone
was really cool. The space was an art gallery and there was no stage. The play (which is set in an art gallery) took place all over the room and we were warned before it started that we might need to move. We needed to move. The actors jumped on benches, sat next to audience members, talked to them and made us uncomfortable at times. Brilliant directing and acting. The play explored the effects of social media and technology on our psyche. The script did a nice job of bringing it to a personal level.

ROBO-homa was very fun. Post-apocalyptic future, humans are killing each other or mutating, and someone has programmed a group of robots to create a new "home" for humans using parts of the musical Oklahoma. Kinda hysterical. I LOVED the dance choreography. My friend Sarah might even have put up with the musical part of it.

Josh and I saw ROBO-homa with Josh's fraternity brother/one of our hosts in MN Brion and his fiancee Katie. Before we went, we had Chinese at a great little restaurant called Evergreen. Josh ordered a delightful dish that you can see a picture of on Flickr. It was gross. However, we all applauded him for trying. After the play, we decided to get a drink and Brion took us to the Guthrie Theater, since he is a subscriber and knew that there would be actors in the bar/restaurant there because two shows are up right now. Before we went into the restaurant, Brion took us on a tour of the theater. Long story short - too late - we managed to get ourselves up to the ninth floor which was closed off to the public for the opening night party of The Scottsboro Boys (thank you Fringe pins!). Up there we were able to see the views from the floor to ceiling windows and take some pictures and almost get in trouble. Heehee!

Brion then walked us around the different lobbies and public areas of the theater. My goodness it's beautiful. The architecture design is so thoughtful and cohesive. As Katie pointed out, it's probably good that we got the tour last night instead of the evening next week that we're going to see a show there, since it took a while. But as I kind of intimated, it was worth it.

PS. Thank you, usher-person that shall remain anonymous! Thank you thank you thank you!!!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Photos!

The Flickr stream is up.

We're officially open!!

We had our first performance of Kill Will last night. My fears of doing this show in another city are somewhat allayed! About 30 people attended (a small number for the venue which seats about 220) and they were laughing and participating. It was wonderful! Quinton Skinner from the City Pages came last night, too. I had a chance to say hi to him and thank him for giving us some wonderful press. However, Josh and I didn't have a chance to see if his interest in the idea of the play actually translated to the performance. My fingers are crossed.

We have some audience reviews on our page through the fringe website (I wonder if we can use those for future PR) and as of 9:30 this morning, all five of the reviews were five cats out of five (the MN Fringe equivalent of stars)! Yay!!!

We have been taking pictures and we'll be creating a Flickr site so anyone who's interested can view (thanks, moms!).

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Cry havoc, and let loose the dogs of... theater?

Well, it's been a pretty long 36 hours, but we are in Minneapolis and done with tech. Yesterday morning we boarded a Megabus in Cleveland and drove for about 15 hours, stopping in Toledo, Chicago and Milwaukee on the way. We got here at 11:30 PM and our hosts, Brion and Matt, were waiting for us. We drove to Matt's house (saw the Guthrie Theater on the way!), got the nickel tour, and bedded down for the night. This morning we got a ride to Enterprise, rented an SUV, loaded it up with our ridiculously heavy props trunk, and drove to our performance venue to meet our stage manager Lindsay and tech the show.

Lindsay, by the way, is super awesome. All props to Tim Perfect (yes, that's his real name) for suggesting her. She is handling all the multimedia duties for our show, and she managed it like a real trooper. Tech went off without a hitch. We were a little worried about the 10-minute time limit for setup and break down, but apparently we have less stuff than we thought, cause we're coming in under 5 minutes for both. Score! The tech guys at Bedlam were also super awesome and there will be some beer in their future. Well, tequila for the one.

We are now sitting in Fringe Central, which is located at the fantastic Bedlam Theater - which is apparently about to lose its home, according to the City Pages, Minneapolis' alt. mag. We are enjoying a couple of beers and are waiting for food because, of course, it's also a restaurant and bar. Soon, the out-of-towners showcase will commence and we'll be giving a small taste of the Kill Will to the in-the-towners.

Going back to the City Pages... There is an article: The Fringe Starter Kit. This article mentions 20 shows that the writer finds intriguing and good ones to start with if a person is overwhelmed with the selection. The article starts on page 17 (in the print edition). We are mentioned on page 19!!!!! (the second page of the article.) EEEEEEEEEEEE! (that was from Kelly.)

Here we go...

Monday, August 2, 2010

Our wagon is prepared, and time revives us

The script is revised. The fights are rehearsed. The bags are packed. The props are shipped. The dogs are at Kelly's mom's house. Tomorrow morning we get on a Megabus and 15 hours later, more or less, we'll be in Minnesota. Keep an eye on this space, 'cause we'll be making all kinds of updates.

Also... Vote for our Fringe trailer! There is a Fringe video trailer contest, and I've submitted a shortened version of our trailer for the contest. You have until 3PM (Central Time) on August 4th to vote for our trailer up to 3 times. They track it by email address. If we win, we get $500. Now, I know I got it up there late, but come on, Cleveland (and family and friends outside of Cleveland)! If 300 of you vote 3 times, that's 900 votes. That's not too shabby! Vote for our trailer here!

The official Fringe trailer is up!

Go to killwilltheplay.com, click on Multimedia, and watch the official trailer in all its glory!

We leave on Tuesday morning. Wish us luck!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Crunch Time!

Josh and I have a little over a week to finish everything before going to MN. We can do it, no problem...it's just going to be a little hectic. We are, of course, changing what we can before going. Hopefully it won't be too much - you know, an overload of new so we can't remember any of it. There is still quite a bit of tweaking that needs to be done on the script and fights. Of course, that begs the question, "Will it ever be done?"

I kind of like not knowing what's going to happen once we get to Minneapolis. There is a freedom in it. No one has seen the show yet, so it will be completely fresh to them. We can see how the show will work with a different city's sensibilities. If we fail out there, well, we won't have to apologize to them on a day-to-day basis afterward.

While we are packing and getting ready, we probably won't be writing much. However, once we are on our way, Josh and I will try to add something everyday. A little update.

Thank you all again for being so supportive of us and of this show. Josh and I owe you all so much.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Benefit Wrapup and Website

First of all, thanks so much to everyone who came out to our benefit on the 10th. We had a really great time, and you were all so generous! The donations at the benefit plus other private donations we have received have already put us at our goal! This is so great and we really appreciate it. I understand that there were people there with cameras… if you have photos of the benefit, send them to us! We'd love to get them online.

And second, the official Kill Will website is up and running! Visit www.killwilltheplay.com and find out all about the play, upcoming shows, reviews (if we get any), and other such sundry information.

Thanks again, everyone, and see you in Minnesota!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Joooooy!!

So....Josh, my sister and I all passed out flyers for the benefit at the Tremont Art walk tonight. One woman had seen us on Facebook and was thinking about coming. Another saw the show in January and TOTALLY recognized us! It. Was. Awesome. The other people we stopped were very excited for us going to Minneapolis and being a part of CPT's season. I think a number of them will show tomorrow. And hell if we don't have publicity drumming up for the fall.

See you tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Benefit info is up

Go check out www.killwilltheplay.com and find out all the information on Saturday's benefit. Don't know how to get to CPT? There's a map there! Want to know what sort of items are in the auction? We've got that info there, too! Everything you could ever want!

Monday, July 5, 2010

We need your help!

Hello friends!

Kill Will's new website is almost ready! We are looking for audience reviews from our January Big[Box] performances. If you saw the show, please send a 140 character sum-up of what you thought of the show and either post a comment here, or email to killwilltheplay@gmail.com.

Thank you!!!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

BIG NEWS!!!!

Josh and I have been DYING to announce this! We are sooooo proud of and happy with our little show! We are a part of Cleveland Public Theatre's 2010-2011 season! "Kill Will" will have a proper run!!!

There are so many things we can try with a run! As you know we are rewriting parts of the script for the Fringe, but the Fringe is where we are going to test them out for the fall. There will be more writing for the run at CPT. Some props and costumes will be more durable (yay!) and the best part for Josh and I....we are going to have the budget to bring in an outside choreographer to clean up/rechoreograph the fights. Don't get me wrong, I think our fights are not bad, but it's hard to direct yourself and check angles and see if the actors are getting too tired if you are one of the actors. Happy happy!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Progress on the script

Kelly here!

Josh and I have been making some major changes to the script. Well, major changes to two scenes. They were the most problematic of the play last January, so hopefully the rewrites will help.

Last week, we had our first rehearsal with Ali since we did Big [Box] in January. All three of us were a little surprised at how much Josh and I were able to retain the show in our bodies. We still haven't been able to practice the fights yet because of Josh's "virus" (what-ever. I think he's faking ;p)

We are still trying to get donations for the auction for the benefit on July 10. Seriously. If any of the 5 of you who read this, can donate a good or service, or know of someone who can - please let us know. Sorry about the last minute and all, but we are waiting to see if we can get 501c3 status attached to us. I'll know for sure on Tuesday!

What really stinks for me is that I'm going out of town for work most of this week. So as soon as we know about the 501c3, I have to dump all the work on Josh. While he is also going to his full-time job and taking care of the dogs, designing the t-shirts (did we mention we'll have t-shirts?), and finishing the website. What's one more thing, right?

Whine, whine.

On the whole things are going very well. We have a stage manager in MN, a place to stay, a connection with a local arts editor with a media outlet, an incredible break on our postcards - which should be done soon! - and we found a cheap way to get to Minneapolis! Yay, Megabus! (I wonder if they'll sponsor us...)

Don't forget to come to the "Send Kill Will to MN Party" benefit on July 10! 7:30 pm. There will be food, an auction, BYOB, and the FABULOUS band Queue Up will be playing for the entertainment of all! The best part.......IT'S FREE!!!!!! Tell your friends, come and party! See you there!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Minor setbacks

Got an email from the Fringe tech director saying, "I saw in your Fringe tech form that you're planning to throw glitter at the end of your show. We don't allow that, unfortunately. That stuff is impossible to clean up, even if you have more than 10 minutes to do it."  So, no glitter.  Boo.  The cream pies are ok, though.  Go figure.

Also, I seem to have come down with some kind of vertigo-ish thing.  I'm very dizzy and lightheaded.  Going to the doctor (for the second time) tomorrow morning to try and get it sorted.  Kelly probably wouldn't appreciate a fight partner who's dizzy during the whole show.  Makes the sharp pointy things a lot more dangerous.

Friday, June 4, 2010

All the world's a stage...

Especially your living room on Memorial Day at midnight when you've had two Christmas Ales, which shouldn't even be possible, thank you very much, plus many other alcoholic drinks, and you have a deadline to meet in 18 hours... but I digress.

Long story short (too late!)... The first deadline for the Fringe was creeping up on us.  Well, not creeping so much as looming thuggishly.  OK, fine, it was standing right there the whole time looking perfectly normal, not saying a thing, it was we who chose to ignore it until it was (almost) too late.  By June 1 we had to have a bunch of paperwork done (easy), some descriptions of our show written (harder, but not impossible), and a show image.  What?  A photo?  How were going to get a photo that represents this show in three days?

I called Dan, the guy who did our lights back in January.  He'd had a friend come to the final dress to take pictures of the other show, Cramped, and we had asked him to please shoot our final dress, too.  Only we never got the CD.  Anyway, I managed to contact Dan and he graciously offered to come to my office and drop off the disc.  I figured maybe there would be a good photo from the rehearsal that we could use.  Meantime I also called a photog acquaintance to see if he could do a cheap last-minute shoot for us on Sunday if things didn't pan out.

They didn't.  Kelly and I picked out several photos from the CD that we really liked, but Dave and Gretchen, our PR gurus, poo-pooed them all.  Too blurry, not clear enough action, just not good enough.  Dave strongly encouraged us to take the time to set up a good shot with no motion blur, lots of expression and focus on our faces... you know, an actual PR shot?  I wasn't convinced, but we said we'd think about it.

Then, at the last minute, we ended up hosting a small party at our house on Memorial Day, the day before the deadline.  So instead of having the whole day to work on Fringe stuff, including a photo, we were cleaning the house and getting ready for a party.  Then we were hosting and drinking and eating and time got away from us, and before you know it, it's 10:30, 11:00 and all of a sudden we're like, "Hey, guys, want to help us do a PR photo shoot... right now?"  Luckily all our friends were totally game for it.  Kelly got some poofy shirts from my stuff-I-bought-when-I-was-in-college-and-only-keep-for-costume-purposes stash, we grabbed some swords, had Sarah and Andy hold up a black blanket behind us, and voila!  PR photos!

After forwarding the best of the shoot to Dave and Gretchen, we agreed on one and I did some basic Photoshop work, saved it and sent it on to the Fringe.  I was not convinced.  I thought it would be largely ignored.  Then I got the latest Fringe Producers' Newsletter in my email today.  It says, and I quote, *ahem*:

The June 1 deadline has passed and assorted press outlets have already started using the information you provided. In fact, congratulations to Joshua Brown and Kelly Elliot for being the first show of the 2010 festival to have a photo run by a press outlet—and in City Pages, no less! Take a look:

http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2010/06/love_at_a_knife.php

How amazing is that?!?!  Not only did our photo turn out great, but we were the first show chosen for a photo!  I'm gobsmacked.  And I guess City Pages is a big deal?  I wouldn't know, I don't live in Minneapolis.  But I intend to find out.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Long time

Sooo....we are not good about this blog thing. OK. I'm no good with this blog thing.

Josh and I just took some time tonight to start filling out the necessary forms for the MFF (Minnesota Fringe Festival). We've put everything on hold long enough and now it's time to really step up the game. We have a month and a half until the benefit performance and little over two months until we go to MN.

Wow. That really put things into perspective for me. OK, next thing to do is to get my stage manager hat on and stop being a lazy actor.

PS: Who wants to donate something for our benefit? We will be having an auction.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Fringe update

Just a quick update on the status of the show.
  • We have the venue and dates for the Minnesota Fringe Festival!  We will be at the Ritz Theater in the Proscenium space - 345 13th Ave NE.  The dates are:
    • Thursday, August 5, 7:00 PM
    • Saturday, August 7, 10:00 PM
    • Thursday, August 12, 5:30 PM
    • Saturday, August 14, 8:30 PM
    • Sunday, August 15, 5:30 PM
  • We will be launching an official site for the show soon.  Check back here later for the URL.
  • We need money!  We are in the early stages of planning a benefit performance/party sometime in July to raise money for the Fringe, and we are also planning to do two stage combat workshops (learn how to do the fights from the show!) to raise money.  Or you can just donate directly to us.  We'll have a PayPal link up here soon.  Contact us if you would prefer to send a check.
  • Become a fan on our Facebook site!

Friday, March 12, 2010

We are going to the Fringe!

Minnesota, that is.  Land of a thousand lakes.  The home of the Prairie Companion.  Or something.

The Minnesota Fringe called me this afternoon to say that they had another company drop out, and since we were next on the waiting list, did we want the slot?  After discussing the pros and cons of waiting to hear from New York with Kelly, David and Ali, we decided to go with Minnesota.  After all, if we turn this one down, and then NY chooses not to accept us, then we're out both festivals.  Better to take the opportunity we've been handed.

Who wants to go to Minnesota to help us?  Who wants to give us money to get there?

Monday, March 8, 2010

The Fringe approacheth!

We are now number 1 on the Minnesota Fringe Festival waiting list!  Keep your fingers crossed!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Minnesota Fringe update and YouTube video

I couldn't think of an appropriate or clever Shakespearean title for this post.  Deal.

Item 1 - We are #5 on the Minnesota Fringe Festival waiting list!  Yay!  I think the chances are pretty good that we'll get a slot.  Surely there will be 5 companies that have to back out for one reason or another, right?  We won't know about the New York Fringe until late April.  Boo!

Item 2 - The "Mortal Kombat: Scotland" video is now on YouTube!  Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncjw-8wTyYo.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Big....

So, yesterday Josh took a big envelope stuffed with a DVD and paperwork to the post office. The address was in NYC and it was for the Fringe Festival. Josh had gone once as an actor, I've only been as a stage manager. For me, it will be nice to perform instead - if we get the opportunity.

This all seems very far away. We have no idea how it will play out with bosses and jobs. It is a little worrying. However, some congrats are in order, because we didn't worry ourselves out of sending in the applications in the first place! (You don't have to, I just just did....[a moment later]so, I just spent the last 3 minutes having delusions of grandeur.) Sigh.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Livin on the Fringe

Ok. So responding to the advise of many after seeing the show, Josh and I have decided to submit Kill Will to Fringe festivals. Minnesota is first. We just filled out the paperwork last night (it seems suspiciously easy) and we will email it in tonight. Dave went some years ago and he said it was a fantastic festival. I'm excited!

New York Fringe's application is due in a couple of weeks. We are about to get the video footage of the performances soon. Josh will then put it all together and that will be sent in.

So, some ink and a few dollars lighter, we head off on that journey of: Yes, family and Cleveland people liked it, but will the rest of the world?

We'll keep you updated.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Post-opp

Well.....all the fretting is over. I'm not sure what to do now.

Josh, Ali and I all heard from several people that we need to shop this show around. That we need to call Shakespeare festivals, submit to fringe festivals, have a run of our own. That would all be wonderful! However, how do you pay your bills at the same time?

That question and more are what your masochistic sword-fighting duo will try to answer in Kill Will, Part II: How the Hell Do We Market This Thing.

Stay tuned.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

The play's the thing

That was awesome.  Everyone loved it, they laughed through the whole thing, the audience participation was great... all in all, an excellent show.  Can't wait to do it again tomorrow!  Now, bed.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The Readiness is All

Fight Club - CPT opens its Big [Box] with gratuitous violence

That's a link to Scene Magazine's pre-show piece on us!

So we open tomorrow.....we've had three nights of last minute tweaking, more bruises, throwing tech people to the wolves of cues and audience participation. Are we ready?!?!?

Josh, are we ready?

Yes, Kelly.

Are you sure?

Yes, Kelly. Stop asking me stupid questions.

But, how do you know we're ready?

I don't know where you're going with this. Stop typing. Why are you typing that?

Eh. If we're not ready. It might make the show more fun. I will be glad when this week is over and I can slump on my couch and snuggle into a blanket and watch movies....until I have to do something again.

The families are all coming (Josh's grandma is going to HATE it!!!) My sister is dog-sitting for us and bringing us food. My mother is fielding panic attacks from me. I'm fielding panic attacks from Josh. Yep. We're ready.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

PR People!!!!

Our friend - I mean - fantastic journalist, Brian Thornton wrote a pre-show piece on his website. If you haven't checked it out, let this be the first!!!

'Kill Will' Hopes to Slay 'Em at Big[Box]

We will also be mentioned in this week's Scene. So exciting!!!!

Last night was Josh and my first night in the Levin Theater. We set props, the projector, and ran lines and fights. While all of that was going on, our FABULOUS lighting designer (who is so kindly designing our show, even though the Cramped crew brought him in) was creating light cues. Yet again, Curtis at CPT has worked his magic at creating a general light plot that is beautiful and so useful.

We're tired. I've never worked a real "9 to 5" job while doing a show before. I've always been able to find the time to relax around tech week. The fact that both Josh and I are having to deal with the stresses at work at the same time we both have to deal with the stresses of getting a show up is starting to show. By 11:30 last night, we were dragging. I got sloppy and scratched Josh with a dagger.

Buck up, girl. Only a few more days to go!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Was ever man so beaten? Was ever man so ray'd? Was ever man so weary?

This post's title is from Taming of the Shrew.  I found it by using this amazing online Shakespeare resource, which includes a searchable concordance of all the Bard's works.  I was looking for the word "weary".  Which is what I am.

We must be doing something right, because people keep... helping us.  Let me explain.  This week marked the point where we going to start putting everything together - lines, fights, as much as we could.  Only trouble is, we didn't have a good space to do it.  It's all well and good to mark your blocking and fights in your living room, but when you have to go all out on five or six sword fights, a 6 x 10 space with low ceilings just ain't gonna cut it.  And that goes double with two overstimulated dogs running around your ankles.  So we started looking around for a space.  When we were getting ready for the video shoot we rented the Parish Hall at CPT, but some other theater group has rented virtually every available space at CPT for this entire week.  We were feeling kind of lost.  Then we had the brilliant idea to contact the Beck Center and ask for space.  (For you non-Clevelanders, the Beck Center is a big theater organization in Lakewood, a small but densely populated city just west of Cleveland.)  Anyway, the Beck, which is a partner for CPT, graciously offered us the use of their Studio Theater for this week.  Awesome!

Then we started asking around for folding gym mats.  We wanted to do some tumbling and falling in the show and we not looking forward to doing it on hard floors.  Two different people suggested that we contact the theater department at CSU, which we did, and on Monday afternoon I had two large folding mats wedged into my car, cutting off all visibility out the rear and passenger windows.  It was also snowing like a mother.  Made for some white-knuckle driving, I can tell you that.

And on top of all that, Ali has just been fantastic.  She's been giving us great notes, and she's been so helpful with putting the show together.  Yesterday she went out and bought stuff to make props, and at last night's rehearsal we ended up working solely on fights because we still had a couple things left to finalize.  She stayed and gave us some good perspective on what we were doing.  And then tonight, when Kelly and I got home from work, I said that I was feeling particularly stressed out and on a short fuse, and Kelly suggested that we cancel for tonight.  So I called Ali, and she agreed.  She said the show looks great, but that Kelly and I look very tired, and we should take it easy for a night.  Hence, the title of this post.

If it doesn't snow horribly tomorrow, we'll be going back to the Beck Center for one more rehearsal, and then it's hammering away at the multimedia for the rest of the weekend, and then we tech on Monday.  We go, we go, see how we go!  Swift as arrow from Tartar's bow!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Coming Together

For the last two nights we've been able to rehearse in a space big enough to swing a sword. That's been a relief. We realized quickly that some bits we made didn't work in the space because instead of being inches away, we are now feet. I'm glad we're finding that now....

Last night, our lighting designer came and he said he enjoyed it! Even if he didn't, I'm taking him at his word. I want the confidence boost. ;)