Good
Lord, I have to be the worst blogger ever. I was just reading Ken Davenport’s
wonderful producer’s blog, and he was talking about his daily offerings to his
readers never going on vacation. Of course, the man has many many many people
who read his blog religiously (including me), so I can understand his desire to
keep us all happy… and he mentioned momentum being a great motivating factor.
Momentum… that’s an amazing thing, folks.
So,
just in case anyone is interested in knowing how things are going, here’s a
little update! Things are going pretty well! We’ve got MOMENTUM going for us!
I
have to tell you, our little team is just amazing. We’re all pulling rabbits
out of hats, and everyone is getting along beautifully, and we all just want
this workshop of “The Virgin Courtesan” to be such a good experience all
around!
Tara
Bissett and Lara Oundjian are producing
on behalf of Music Theatre Montreal, and people, these ladies are wonderful. Tara
and I have known each other for several years, so I knew that she was an
on-the-ball kind of gal, but she impresses me more and more every day. Just as
Ken Davenport explains that he has to stay on top of his business even while he’s
on vacation, Tara also stayed on top of things from Brazil! And Lara, earlier,
was skyping into production meetings from Europe and the States! They’re both
excellent organizers, and pleasant delegators when not taking on particular
tasks themselves. They know the power of momentum! And assisting these
wonderful ladies is 17 year-old Apprentice Producer Adam Daniel, who has proven
that his slender shoulders can actually bear a pretty heavy load! And the kid’s
funny. I like funny.
Alexander Smith (Associate Director) and Andres MacLeod
(Stage Manager) have also been invaluable. Both of these young men already
bring a wealth of experience in Theatre and the Arts in general to the team. They’ve
helped with scene breakdowns, cast lists, our promotional material, design
concepts, and anything and everything that gets thrown at them. Both have keen
instincts and generous spirits. They’re invaluable.
Melanie Michaud, you might know already because I’ve
blogged about this woman already! Ah, she’s a treat in the best possible way!
When presented with a very challenging budget, she dug in her heels and announced
that she was going to find ways to make this show beautiful… for me. Just writing
that now, well, it makes me feel great. She’s got so many ideas percolating in
that creative genius brain of hers, and she’s constantly hunting for fabric and
dreaming up options that will work for our piece. And while we know that “it’s
just a workshop”, Melanie has frequently reminded me that we can’t know what
impact this presentation will have. This presentation deserves our best work, she’s
prepared to give it just that, and I’m so grateful for her amazing commitment.
Kevin John Saylor is our Dramaturge… and what a difficult
task that is for anyone dealing directly with a writer! I like to think that I’m
quite open to suggestion. I like to think that I easily embrace other’s ideas
about my work… but imagine my reaction to Kevin’s suggestion that an earlier
draft of the play should go in a significantly different direction! It changed
characters! It changed motivations! It changed… everything! So while I didn’t
argue (that much), I was prepared to dismiss the advice, stick with my original
plot, and just hope he’d be content to help me edit the text at a later date.
But Kevin communicated his ideas so gently, so soundly, and with so much kind support,
that they haunted me for many days. He never brought up that work session again
until I did… and that was to admit that he was sooo right. The current plot is
ten times more straightforward than what I had originally conceived. And then
came the editing… and there will be so much more editing to come. But again, to
Kev’s credit, when I’ve tried to aggressively red-pencil the script, he’s
gently told me to hold off until the workshop… to hear how it plays in the
mouths of actors. Kev’s work is far from done!
And brand new to our Creative Team is Guylaine Martel, who
is a top representative and Hair Artist for L'Oréal
Professionnel Canada. Her award-winning international career is
staggeringly impressive, and we’d ordinarily never dream of asking anyone of
her calibre to donate their time to our modest project… but you know what? She’s
family! Guylaine is composer Blair Thomson’s wonderful sister-in-law, and she’s
been in our cheering section for some time now already.
And
then there’s Blair’s lady, Sylvie-Anne Martel, whose love has informed every
beautiful note our composer has put on the page. As a television producer,
Sylvie-Anne’s insight and regular morale-boosts have certainly helped to keep
us focussed and believing in ourselves.
There
are other folks who have and are contributing to the momentum of our fast
approaching workshop. I thank everyone who’s given us a pat on the back, a word
of advice, a monetary contribution, or even just told us that they like what we’re
doing. At this point, Blair and I are coming to understand that it’s the people
outside of us who will make this project live.
Finally,
the most important part of our endeavour at this point… the story-tellers. Our
cast of actors will inhabit these characters; they will breathe life into
dialogue and music that is otherwise cold on the page. And it’s a donation of
time and talent that is priceless to us.
We’re
blessed! –and we have momentum! September 22nd, we hope to see you!
