A New Year, a new turn.

So, it's 2011, and after the ordeal of accomplishing a Master's degree, I am looking forward to a year in which I will be able to pursue a new beginning in NYC.  Perchance To Dream Theatre is planning mode and is looking forward to producing our first fully realized production this summer.  I am very excited about this step, and am chomping at the bit to get rolling.  We've asked a select few to be intimately involved from the start, and once we hear back from them, we're off!

Done. At least, I think, I hope, I'm done.

It's pretty unbelievable, but I'm done with my master's program.  I submitted the final essay late Sunday night, for it had a 5pm deadline (UK time) on Monday.  I didn't want to sleep through it!  I cannot believe that my year is done.  I cannot believe it.  It's really difficult to realize what I've just been through over the past year.  So many things have happened, it seems like someone else's life.  Maybe it's just because it's been such a whirlwind getting back to New York, and dealing with the insanity of moving, and visiting home, and then going through the crazy rehearsal process and performance of MND.  Now that it's all over, and I'm sitting down to start looking for work, it's hard to process that all that actually happened.  It is amazing what we human beings can deal with sometimes.  And the fact that Liz and I didn't kill each other, and pretty much agreed on what we were doing (besides the occasional exhausted argument), is a great sign for our company's continuation.

I am going to try to keep this blog going, because it is important to document and reflect upon my activities.  It is also a great reference material to use in the future .

For now, I will say goodnight, and keep fingers crossed for finding a job!

more audience reactions

Ian Buckley:
"What was interesting to me was how cinematic the performance was. I enjoyed seeing people in perspective, both up close and far away and would have loved to seen more of that. I have seen nine productions of Midsummer, and this one by far stood above the others."



Carl Bellenas: Friends of Maple Grove Historian:
"I wanted to let you know what a delightful evening we all had last night. I think the hardest audience to win over are the young. I can certainly tell you that when I took Derek, Jean and Little Philippe home they were all talking about what a wonderful evening they had. I think it is magnificent that they were introduced to Shakespeare in this brilliant way. Especially for nine year old Philippe, for this was his first exposure. Derek and Jean had read it recently in High School so were familiar with it. What a wonderful first impression.

As I mentioned to Elizabeth, as cemetery historian, it seems I have more friends who are dead than alive and some of them have been gone over a hundred years. Have to admit after working there for about twenty years I have never had a spiritual encounter or have seen any type of apparition but I had this incredible feeling that you did not have an audience of 25 or so but an audience of 80,000 who are cared for at Maple Grove. They in their way embraced you and your work and there was a wonderful spell cast over the evening and I could feel the appreciation of thousands who were remembered and entertained last night."



Megan Lee: (Actress Hermia)
"One of my managers came to see the show, and she summed it up nicely for me-- she said that seeing Midsummer in this new way really thrilled her with the creativity of the project. She also said that seeing a play that is so familiar and beloved in a place that primarily belongs to the dead was refreshing because then, Shakespeare had never seemed so alive for her."

more feedback

Heidi O'Connell writes:

It was so lovely to finally meet you last week at your performance. I hope the show went well for night 2 and that you've been getting lots of useful feedback. Lea and I had such a wonderful evening in your world. It was a refreshing and thought provoking take on Midsummer.

The full use of the space, especially the impeccably timed entrances from across the cemetery, continually made the experience expand beyond individual scenes. Lots of gorgeous moments, notably with Oberon/Titania in the distance. (Their translucence as the night got darker was truly ghostly)  I wondered several times if I could have followed a separate story line across the graveyard away from other audience members.

Reaction to the site performance

Bonnie Dixon
Executive Director of Maple Grove Cemetery commented:

"…thank you for introducing us to theater in the cemetery. I think that it was a wonderful, energetic performance and given rehearsal time a very cool production. Bravo to you, your cast and your puppets. You certainly made good use of the cemetery landscape and the Celebration Room interior, as well as, its exterior. Big challenges I guess were audio and darkness, although the flashlight spotlights were good for the audience they were probably difficult for the actors. It was a real thumbs up for me. "

It is great to have such enthusiasm for the project from the woman who made the decision to allow us to perform at her cemetery.