Hi everyone!
Well...it has been quite awhile since I`ve posted anything on my blog, and for that I apologize. I will attempt to bring it somewhat up to date and perhaps, if I can focus, continue posting my reflections on living as a theatre professional in Canada.
Since Cat On A Hot Tin Roof closed I have been fairly busy. In fact, I think this season has been one of my busiest in a long time. I had a few weeks off when Cat took its final bows and the usual sadness and feelings of loss set in. With every show, every contract we seem to adopt our colleagues as a type of family. We work very intensely together for a short time and as I have said before, bonds form quickly and fairly strongly. This show in particular was such a lovely experience and I miss it dearly.
My next gig was diving into Assistant Stage Managing.... a role I haven`t performed for over a decade! The show was a co-production between The Segal Centre for the Performing Arts here in Montreal and The National Arts Centre in Ottawa. After all of this time working in theatre, it was very much an honour to be working at Canada`s National Arts Centre. I feel that is especially so right now with Peter Hinton at the helm of English Theatre. Peter and I have worked together fairly extensively and aside from thinking of him as a very good friend, I truly believe in him as a true artist. Since his appointment as Artistic Director there, I have felt proud of our industry in Canada and the bravery to put an artist of his calibre in that seat.
The show was Sam Shepard`s Buried Child. What an incredible piece of theatre this play is! And to see it done on the scale that we performed it was truly inspiring. I will openly admit that I was very nervous to be ASMing once again....I felt fairly rusty to say the least! Luckily for me, my stage manager was a wonderful woman named Laurie Champagne and also the person that oversaw my apprenticehip 17 years ago at the Shaw Festival. In those days, I spent 3 seasons as Laurie`s assistant as she was the production stage manager of the festival...a big job to say the least. Working with Laurie on this project was fantastic. Within minutes, I felt the comfort and safety I felt from being by her side all those years ago. In a nutshell, I feel like our chemistry works very well and we were a great team together. It was also very interesting to see how each of us had grown and changed as professionals since we last worked together. Laurie was so gracious and conscious that I had been doing stage management for years since then and wasn`t nearly as green as I had been. For her, I noticed that she had mellowed a little and had such an easy way about her in dealing with the show and all the issues that come along with that. Simply stated, it was just a really, really great time.
We rehearsed the show and opened it in Ottawa first. Working in that facility was great...lots of support and Peter has really begun to build a wonderful company around him. This was also my first IATSE show in a long time. It took me a little while to get used to not being as hands-on as I usually am used to but my crew backstage were terrific. I had a blast working with them and am thrilled that I will get the chance again next season....more on that later.
We had a powerhouse of a cast on this show. I was thrilled to be working with actors that I idolized back in the days before I decided to work in this profession and saw on stage in productions that truly changed my life. We had the great David Fox, the magnificent Clare Coulter and the incredibly talented and lovely Randy Hughson in the lead roles. Rounding out the cast we had the lovely Adrienne Gould, John Koensgen, Christie Watson and Alex Ivanovici. The work was haunting and disturbing in just the right way. The cast worked beautifully together and supporting them from behind the set (which was absolutely gorgeous, thank-you Eo Sharpe!) was such a pleasure and a job I will not soon forget.
It is a challenging show to run. The script calls for heaps of corn that is husked on stage, fresh carrots that are cut and peeled onstage, broken glass bottles (real glass...no sugar glass here!), mud and fresh roses. Running props such as these are a challenge. Especially things like corn when you are doing the show in January in Canada!. At the Arts Centre this was a breeze for me since I had a superb props runner (Michel) who took care of all of this for us. Moving the show to Montreal was a bit of a shock to my system to say the least. Gone was my lovely IATSE crew. It was just me, the corn, the carrots, the mud, the glass and the roses. Thankfully, I had Ace Martens, our house tech at the Segal who helped me with sweeping and moping the stage which following each show is covered in mud, corn husks and carrot peelings, not to mention glass. Still, my preset took me a solid 90 minutes without stopping. My old bones were feeling it by the end, especially at the Segal where I had to truck many of the fresh props up and down the stairs.
That said, it was a successful and very enjoyable run. I had a few weeks to rest up before beginning my next adventure. This next contract was my first contract at The Centaur Theatre here in Montreal. I had never been hired there prior to this probably because I think the past Artistic Director (who shall remain nameless) simply didn`t like me. No worries...I wasn`t a big fan either truth be told. The new AD is Roy Surette, an old friend of mine from my Shaw Festival days. The play was a world premier... Bryden MacDonald`s With Bated Breath. It basically is a fragmented story of a young gay man who disappears in Montreal after fleeing a broken heart in Cape Breton and the effect he had on those he left behind. Bryden is a wonderful playwright, and I am proud to say a very good friend. Bryden and I had last worked together in Toronto in the `90`s on a play called Medusa Rising at The Theatre Centre...when I was still a young pup!
This production was an absolutely incredible experience for all of us involved. The play is just gorgeous....sad, very, very funny and touching. I can`t say enough how much I loved working with this cast and creative team. We all bonded so quickly and so comfortably, I am still mourning not seeing these folks everyday. This was perfect for a script like this. All of the characters in the story have to do some sort of striptease to varying degrees. Nudity on stage is a very vulnerable thing for actors and respect and professionalism come to play quite a bit for the stage management team. I had a fantastic apprentice stage manager handling the backstage (Stephanie Link....hire her if you are looking for a good one!!) and my house technician, Mr. Tanner Harvey. They were just a dream for me to work with. And very, very much a part of this terrific ensemble. I can`t say enough good about this group of actors as well. They were all so beautifully cast in this play and I can say that I love each and every one of them. The play was seen as risky for the The Centaur...lots of swearing, sex and nudity. We did have the odd person get up and leave but the majority of audience members...senior citizen and young adult alike seemed to just love the piece. Quite often, they would be waiting outside the theatre to thank the actors for the play. It was such a satisfying and exciting project to be a part of and I am so thankful to Roy and Bryden for having me along on the journey. I`ve made some life-long friends on this one.
The show (*sob*) closed just over two weeks ago and I have basically been laying around the house alot and playing video games (I`m a video game junkie and have a new Xbox 360 that I`m obsessed with). In under a week, I pack up my stuff and am heading to Gananoque, Ontario for the summer. I am stage managing for the Thousand Islands Playhouse. The show is a one woman piece called The Blond, The Brunette and The Vengeful Readhead by Robert Hewitt. It is being directed by one of my faves...Sarah Stanley and is featuring Julie Stewart who I don`t know yet but those who know her assure me that we will get on like a house on fire. I read the play a couple of days ago and was just blown away. It has been quite a few years since I`ve done summer stock and from the title, I thought this was going to be a light, frothy romp of sorts. I couldn`t have been more wrong. It is a tragic and beautiful story with incredible depth of emotion. I am very excited to see theatre like this being performed at our summer theatres and am looking forward to getting started. I hope to be continuing my blog entries during the process as I hope that I will have a fair amount of time on my hands being in a small town and away from home. I`m gonna miss my guy Serge and our beasts very much, but it will be nice to be rural for the summer...if the summer ever gets here!! Man it`s cold....but I digress.....
So keep your eyes out for more posts.... hopefully I haven`t lost any readers with this long delay and hopefully I can rope in a few more. I have a busy season ahead after my summer adventure as well including a show with a cast of 20 actors plus and another trip to the National Arts Centre. Stay tuned...
: )
Todd
Well...it has been quite awhile since I`ve posted anything on my blog, and for that I apologize. I will attempt to bring it somewhat up to date and perhaps, if I can focus, continue posting my reflections on living as a theatre professional in Canada.
Since Cat On A Hot Tin Roof closed I have been fairly busy. In fact, I think this season has been one of my busiest in a long time. I had a few weeks off when Cat took its final bows and the usual sadness and feelings of loss set in. With every show, every contract we seem to adopt our colleagues as a type of family. We work very intensely together for a short time and as I have said before, bonds form quickly and fairly strongly. This show in particular was such a lovely experience and I miss it dearly.
My next gig was diving into Assistant Stage Managing.... a role I haven`t performed for over a decade! The show was a co-production between The Segal Centre for the Performing Arts here in Montreal and The National Arts Centre in Ottawa. After all of this time working in theatre, it was very much an honour to be working at Canada`s National Arts Centre. I feel that is especially so right now with Peter Hinton at the helm of English Theatre. Peter and I have worked together fairly extensively and aside from thinking of him as a very good friend, I truly believe in him as a true artist. Since his appointment as Artistic Director there, I have felt proud of our industry in Canada and the bravery to put an artist of his calibre in that seat.
The show was Sam Shepard`s Buried Child. What an incredible piece of theatre this play is! And to see it done on the scale that we performed it was truly inspiring. I will openly admit that I was very nervous to be ASMing once again....I felt fairly rusty to say the least! Luckily for me, my stage manager was a wonderful woman named Laurie Champagne and also the person that oversaw my apprenticehip 17 years ago at the Shaw Festival. In those days, I spent 3 seasons as Laurie`s assistant as she was the production stage manager of the festival...a big job to say the least. Working with Laurie on this project was fantastic. Within minutes, I felt the comfort and safety I felt from being by her side all those years ago. In a nutshell, I feel like our chemistry works very well and we were a great team together. It was also very interesting to see how each of us had grown and changed as professionals since we last worked together. Laurie was so gracious and conscious that I had been doing stage management for years since then and wasn`t nearly as green as I had been. For her, I noticed that she had mellowed a little and had such an easy way about her in dealing with the show and all the issues that come along with that. Simply stated, it was just a really, really great time.
We rehearsed the show and opened it in Ottawa first. Working in that facility was great...lots of support and Peter has really begun to build a wonderful company around him. This was also my first IATSE show in a long time. It took me a little while to get used to not being as hands-on as I usually am used to but my crew backstage were terrific. I had a blast working with them and am thrilled that I will get the chance again next season....more on that later.
We had a powerhouse of a cast on this show. I was thrilled to be working with actors that I idolized back in the days before I decided to work in this profession and saw on stage in productions that truly changed my life. We had the great David Fox, the magnificent Clare Coulter and the incredibly talented and lovely Randy Hughson in the lead roles. Rounding out the cast we had the lovely Adrienne Gould, John Koensgen, Christie Watson and Alex Ivanovici. The work was haunting and disturbing in just the right way. The cast worked beautifully together and supporting them from behind the set (which was absolutely gorgeous, thank-you Eo Sharpe!) was such a pleasure and a job I will not soon forget.
It is a challenging show to run. The script calls for heaps of corn that is husked on stage, fresh carrots that are cut and peeled onstage, broken glass bottles (real glass...no sugar glass here!), mud and fresh roses. Running props such as these are a challenge. Especially things like corn when you are doing the show in January in Canada!. At the Arts Centre this was a breeze for me since I had a superb props runner (Michel) who took care of all of this for us. Moving the show to Montreal was a bit of a shock to my system to say the least. Gone was my lovely IATSE crew. It was just me, the corn, the carrots, the mud, the glass and the roses. Thankfully, I had Ace Martens, our house tech at the Segal who helped me with sweeping and moping the stage which following each show is covered in mud, corn husks and carrot peelings, not to mention glass. Still, my preset took me a solid 90 minutes without stopping. My old bones were feeling it by the end, especially at the Segal where I had to truck many of the fresh props up and down the stairs.
That said, it was a successful and very enjoyable run. I had a few weeks to rest up before beginning my next adventure. This next contract was my first contract at The Centaur Theatre here in Montreal. I had never been hired there prior to this probably because I think the past Artistic Director (who shall remain nameless) simply didn`t like me. No worries...I wasn`t a big fan either truth be told. The new AD is Roy Surette, an old friend of mine from my Shaw Festival days. The play was a world premier... Bryden MacDonald`s With Bated Breath. It basically is a fragmented story of a young gay man who disappears in Montreal after fleeing a broken heart in Cape Breton and the effect he had on those he left behind. Bryden is a wonderful playwright, and I am proud to say a very good friend. Bryden and I had last worked together in Toronto in the `90`s on a play called Medusa Rising at The Theatre Centre...when I was still a young pup!
This production was an absolutely incredible experience for all of us involved. The play is just gorgeous....sad, very, very funny and touching. I can`t say enough how much I loved working with this cast and creative team. We all bonded so quickly and so comfortably, I am still mourning not seeing these folks everyday. This was perfect for a script like this. All of the characters in the story have to do some sort of striptease to varying degrees. Nudity on stage is a very vulnerable thing for actors and respect and professionalism come to play quite a bit for the stage management team. I had a fantastic apprentice stage manager handling the backstage (Stephanie Link....hire her if you are looking for a good one!!) and my house technician, Mr. Tanner Harvey. They were just a dream for me to work with. And very, very much a part of this terrific ensemble. I can`t say enough good about this group of actors as well. They were all so beautifully cast in this play and I can say that I love each and every one of them. The play was seen as risky for the The Centaur...lots of swearing, sex and nudity. We did have the odd person get up and leave but the majority of audience members...senior citizen and young adult alike seemed to just love the piece. Quite often, they would be waiting outside the theatre to thank the actors for the play. It was such a satisfying and exciting project to be a part of and I am so thankful to Roy and Bryden for having me along on the journey. I`ve made some life-long friends on this one.
The show (*sob*) closed just over two weeks ago and I have basically been laying around the house alot and playing video games (I`m a video game junkie and have a new Xbox 360 that I`m obsessed with). In under a week, I pack up my stuff and am heading to Gananoque, Ontario for the summer. I am stage managing for the Thousand Islands Playhouse. The show is a one woman piece called The Blond, The Brunette and The Vengeful Readhead by Robert Hewitt. It is being directed by one of my faves...Sarah Stanley and is featuring Julie Stewart who I don`t know yet but those who know her assure me that we will get on like a house on fire. I read the play a couple of days ago and was just blown away. It has been quite a few years since I`ve done summer stock and from the title, I thought this was going to be a light, frothy romp of sorts. I couldn`t have been more wrong. It is a tragic and beautiful story with incredible depth of emotion. I am very excited to see theatre like this being performed at our summer theatres and am looking forward to getting started. I hope to be continuing my blog entries during the process as I hope that I will have a fair amount of time on my hands being in a small town and away from home. I`m gonna miss my guy Serge and our beasts very much, but it will be nice to be rural for the summer...if the summer ever gets here!! Man it`s cold....but I digress.....
So keep your eyes out for more posts.... hopefully I haven`t lost any readers with this long delay and hopefully I can rope in a few more. I have a busy season ahead after my summer adventure as well including a show with a cast of 20 actors plus and another trip to the National Arts Centre. Stay tuned...
: )
Todd
P.S. The attached photo is by Andrée Lanthier and features Clare Coulter as Halie & John Koensgen as Reverend Dewis in the National Arts Centre\The Segal Centre production of Sam Shepard`s Buried Child
Click the title of this post for information about With Bated Breath!
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