Rehearsals - In Progress

Hey kids...

Tim here. Also Austin. Also photographer. Here's a brief sampling of what we've been up to, y'all.

Bootleg!

First, an announcement: there are officially less than 300 seats remaining for Part One: Eric Bogosian's subUrbia. And, based on my very unscientific research, there are another 100 or so who have replied 'yes' to the Facebook invite who also have yet to reserve. You probably want to beat them to the punch, especially if you're looking to come on opening or industry night, which are each over 1/4 sold, or (somewhat randomly) February 27th, which is already half sold.

Bottom line? It's time to e-mail theninechicago@gmail.com and get you some tickets!

So, we're hot and heavy into rehearsals for Part One: subUrbia, and one of the big the biggest discoveries is how to deal with the reverse round staging we are using for the show. It wasn't until halfway through the first blocking rehearsal that I even stopped to consider that this idea might not have worked -- I've never used it anywhere before and honestly had no good reason to be so certain it was going to pan out. Luckily enough, it did, and we don't have anything to worry about in terms of our entire conceit falling through.

One of the things we've learned about putting up a reverse round show, however, is that staging comes first, character second (speaking solely from a directorial scheduling standpoint). That isn't to say that any less focus is being placed on the characters. What it is saying is that before we can allow time for the cast to settle into the skin of these characters, we have to shake them out of proscenium style movement and into this 360-degree world. It also means that my cast is packed full of tremendously wonderful actors for being game to be moved about like pinballs as we work out ways to ensure that all sides of the audience are played to as often as possible.

We finished the initial blocking for the entire show on Saturday. This week we get to start truly finessing the ground plans we've worked so to hard create. And I couldn't be more ready. There was a moment last week during which we inserted a two-person scene that we had already blocked into a larger group scene that it is a part of. Possibly more exciting than learning that the reverse round staging is going to work, what we discovered is that the scene, which was solid when we initially staged it, instantly grew emotional legs the second time around. Confident in the basic structure of the scene, they were newly able to explore the character intricacies of the scene without having to worry about which side of the audience may or may not be out of the line of sight.

And sometimes... well, sometimes it just clicks right away. The following video is from the initial blocking rehearsal for this scene. Granted, it was at the end of the night after we had worked it a while, but still -- first night this was on its feet. This is why I love my cast. What follows is rehearsal footage combined with in-show footage. An impromptu parking lot concert by Pony (Sam Quinn) is caught on tape by Buff (Greg Wenz). When you come see the show, keep this footage in mind -- this is what it looks like through the camera Buff is hauling around. Also appearing in the scene: Sooze (Emily Shain), Jeff (Alex Hugh Brown), Bee-Bee (Meghan Reardon), and Erica (Katie Genualdi). Enjoy! Enjoy and then reserve your seat!

Bries.

I've got two steps for you.

Step 1: Take a listen to this cut from the pre-show mix for Part One: Eric Bogosian's subUrbia:

Makes you wanna get up and dance? Shake yo' groove thing? Be pretty much amazing? Awesome. Hold onto that feeling. You'll want it for the show. Especially that dancing part. And that pretty much amazing part. Okay, now that you're in the right state of mind, the second step.

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Step 2: If you haven't done so already, e-mail theninechicago@gmail.com and make your subUrbia reservations now. For real. We've set up a Facebook invite for this guy and the Yes count is already over 120 -- that's not even counting any Maybes. You might remember that magic 360 number? Yup, we've got a yes count over a third of our entire run capacity, and we're still a month out from our Feb. 19th opening! (Speaking of which, Opening Night and our Monday, March 1st Industry Night are going twice as fast, so get in that line, like, yesterday.)

We'll be back this weekend with a full report on all of the awesome happening in rehearsal, and there is much awesome, but I thought you might want the heads up while there's still a few tickets for you left to grab.

You can thank me later. At the show. When I see you there.

Bries.

Here we go!

Alright, the holidays are now long over, it's for real time to get back to business -- business being Part One: Eric Bogosian's subUrbia, of course. What did you miss in the past couple of weeks? Quite a bit, actually!

First, personnel: We've added one new cast member and done a little shuffling with two others. I'd like to first introduce you our new Erica: Miss Katie Genualdi! We couldn't be happier to have Katie on board with us and ready to roll. Also in the way of cast changes: Aimee Bello, initially our Pakeesa for the second half of the run, will now be taking the role for the entire run, while Amrita Dhaliwal, who had been listed as our first half Pakeesa, is sliding over behind the scenes as our Language/Dialect Coach. Little bit of last minute settling before we begin...

And begin we shall, in full force! I've been meeting with the cast individually over the past couple of weeks to discuss the changes in the script. (By the way, have I mentioned that there's a new script? Bogosian's revisions from the from the 2006 Broadway production were published on December 1st. How convenient is that?) And tonight begins rehearsals proper!

So expect blog content to pick back up and expect it to change quite drastically. Where I was giving you lots of talking and philosophizing before, be keeping an eye open for the nitty and the gritty. Maybe some rehearsal photos from our very own Austin D. Oie! Maybe a couple of guest blogs from cast 'n crew! I even hear rumblings of a video! Lots of exciting stuff, and a lot more in the trenches just for you.

Also, now that rehearsals are starting, the reservation lines have been opened completely. I'm working on getting a ticket counter set up so you can have a real-time look at how few seats are still available, but for the time being let me tell you that it's less than 350. Repetition: there are less than 350 seats available for the entire run of subUrbia. Looking to plant your fanny in one of them? E-mail theninechicago@gmail.com or call 312-772-4014. And do so soon, 'cause that counter keeps ticking down!

Bries.