Hello Blog Followers!  Well life after returning from Barrington this summer has been moving along at a fast pace!  Within the week of returning I was seeing some AMAZING theater with Roger Danforth and some of my fellow colleagues.  THE BEST MAN was my favorite.  I was also straight into my own production meetings for a full scale production of CRAZY FOR YOU that I am directing in Brooklyn, at the Narrows Fort Hamilton Theater.  Check out the current press release:  http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/narrows-community-theater-presents-gershwin-musical-crazy-you.

I am also directing a new play written by internationally acclaimed playwright Inigo Ramirez de Haro, entitled DO I HAVE TO DIE FOR YOU TO NOTICE ME?  This play explores the social commentary of death, and the right to live, euthanasia, and suicide.  It’s based off of the principle that we as a society should not be afraid to speak of death, as for “without death there is no life, and without life there is no death.”  Interestingly Inigo flips this idea around and approaches the subject matter through four scenarios, both funny and intriguing, this play will leave you questioning your values.

Do I Have to Die For You to Notice Me? runs October 24-28 in The Royal Theater at Producers Club, 358 West 44th Street.  The press opening is Wednesday, October 24 at 7:00pm.  Smarttix box office at: 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.

It’s interesting coming from Barrington, where I mainly Assistant Directed, and created a Cabaret.  As the Cabaret was a piece that I conceptualized and fused a bit of French style with American, it’s not the same as directing a full length production with story lines, plot development, and character archs.  None the less I learned from my experiences.  But boy it feels good to be back in the directors chair again, utilizing the knowledge I gained.

I am also working on a staged reading with Pan Asian Repertory Theater with Tisa Chang and Ron Nakahara, called NO-NO BOY.  A story about the American Japanese camps.  Readings in Nov.  More info to come.

All in all-the Drama League has been a great support system for me.  Roger Danforth and Gabriel Shanks are so inspirational and filled with knowledge, and they so kindly and graciously are willing to share that with me.

Can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Thank you for all my wonderful comments fellow readers! Currently I am Assistant directing a new musical called The Black Suits music by Joe Iconis and directed by John Simpkins.  This is the first time this rockin musical has been fully realized and given room to breathe life into it, thanks to the William Finn Musical Theater Lab and Barrington Stage.

What’s interesting is that this coming of age story is layered in reality and stands the test of time by holding it’s own next to Stand By Me.  I also feel that John Simpkins’ direction allows for the standard musical theater rules to be broken, similar to how Hair broke the musical theater rules of it’s day.   It’s refreshing.

Because this is a new musical in development, it is a rare opportunity to be working with the creatives in the room.  Watching Joe and John work and discuss, as they create new music and book lines right under our noses is exciting.  It’s also great to see that creative impulses and changes are growing as the cast makes organic choices, nothing feels too forced.  Watching this process has shown me that the clearer the characters become, the tighter and stronger the structure becomes.

The Black Suits rocks!  The music is moving and the book is funny.  I find myself constantly jamming with the music.  There’s nearly a perfect mix of ballads and uptempos to keep the pacing alive.  This musical theater production most certainly deserves to move onto NY’s stages.  It’s a hot one!  More to come…

Style…

So the Cabaret that I directed opened this weekend at the new Mr. Finn Cabaret space at Barrington Stage.   It was entitled the Rhythms of Life Cabaret.  I created the evening to be a combination of American style cabaret with dashes of French style.  Some numbers were simply sung, others staged and choreographed.   I conceptualized it, as a group of friends meeting in Central Park and sharing stories using their own Rhythms of Life.

Mr. Bill Finn observed my run-thru and gave me some notes.  The one thing I can appreciate from Bill is his candor and honesty.

I received a large response from our interpretation of If I Only Had a Brain sung as a simple ballad and male duet.  I tried to simultaneously capture the same story told with two different meanings, one sad, the other uplifting.  I strayed from much relationship material, and went more for story songs and up beat harmonies from contemporary shows and spins on the classics.  We had a drummer join our team, which added such a great dynamic to the music.  Both the public performances were rather successful.

Art is subjective, and everyone sees something different in the work, so I valued staying true to my own artistic voice, as well as mixing in a healthy dose of others artistic opinions.

Life has been crazy hectic here, so I do apologize for not blogging more often-but hang on for my next blog about the show I am currently working on called “The Black Suits” by Joe Iconis an directed by John Simpkins.

Fiddler opened to a standing ovation and a lot of patron tears.  It was nice that they were following the story, and not caught up in the bits or just the music.  It was their connection to the characters and the story.  Bravo Gary John LaRosa!

We had the extreme pleasure of meeting Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist for Fiddler, and the only surviving member of the creative team.  Bill Finn hosted a talk back with him, and boy was Mr.  Harnick sharp and funny!  I enjoyed how simply he spoke of the characters, such as his comment on Golde singing Do You Love Me:  ”I thought it would be funny if Tevye simply asked Golde do you love me, and she responded with do I what!?” So much to be had in simplicity.

Bill Finn and Sheldon Harnick-Fiddler Talkback

That said, Dr. Ruth, All the Way, written by Mark St. Germain and directed by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, was a study in simplicity.  A one woman show starring Debra Jo Rupp (That 70′s Show), as Dr. Ruth.  She did a stellar job!  The play takes us through a maze of boxes and belongings in Dr. Ruth’s apartment as she prepares to move.  As she goes through her belongings we learn intimate details about this remarkable woman.  At times we are transported to a not so pleasant era of war, and how she kept sane and strong in her own young relationships and struggles.  It was a beautiful balance of memory and reality.  Nothing stood out.  It was all quite seamless and simple.  Simple does not mean easy, in fact it’s just the opposite, like when an Olympic gymnast makes those parallel bars look easy, you know darn well it’s not.  But thats pro’s for ‘ya.

On opening night Dr. Ruth sat in front of me and to the right a couple of seats!  My neighbor (blogger Kelly from renaissance-mom.com) and I enjoyed the beauty of watching Dr. Ruth respond to her own stories-the good and the bad.  You could see when she was engrossed, holding the hands of her son and grandchildren, or laughing hysterically.  I did the voice over of her Papa in the show, and wow what an honor that was.

So…Simplicity.  What a beautiful concept, easily spoken of, but very difficult to achieve.   Can simplicity be something you actually direct?  Or does it come from having all your ducks in a row?  Is simplicity something one strives for in their directorial work?  Or is it something that occurs?  There’s a difference in directing an actor to stand still, and directing an actor to stand still while being filled with an intention.  Which is Simplicity?  I say the latter.  Neither requires the actor to move, but the latter creates an internal breath, which then creates an external energy, which I believe is much more interesting than just standing.

Here is my musical quote, while contemplating life and all the energies that go into it, ” Oh the rhythm of life has a powerful beat, puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet, rhythm in your bedroom, rhythm in the street, yes the rhythm of life is a powerful beat!” - Sweet Charity

Starting this week, Swaine will be blogging about his experiences right here! Join us in welcoming him as the 2012 Musical Directing Program Fellow and get to know him, below!

SWAINE KAUI has had the extreme pleasure of crossing many stages throughout America and beyond, both on and off stage. Studies include: Webster University, CW Post/LIU. Directing credits: Hair, A New Brain, Blood Wedding, and Creeping Hard (NYC). Performance Credits include: La Rondine, As You Like It, Mame. Awards include the Carol Burnett/Tom Selleck Musical Theater Scholarship. Swaine is a member of AEA.

The Drama League recently announced the exceptional stage directors selected as the 2012 Fellows of The Drama League Directors Project: Knud Adams, Amy Claussen, Vesselin Dimov, Shana Gozansky, Jess Jung, Swaine Kaui, Jesse Jou, David Mendizábal, Cat Miller, Patrick Walsh, and Christopher Windom.

The eleven exceptional young stage directors, who will spend the next year as part of the award-winning program, have been accepted into five different programs of study: the New York Fall Directing Program, the Hangar Residency Program (a partnership with the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY), the Musical Directing Program (a partnership with Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA), the Classical Fellowship for Directors of Color (a partnership with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA), and the U.S./Bulgaria Stage Directors Exchange (in partnership with Art Office Sofia and New York Theatre Workshop).

The Directors Project’s Class of 2012 begins their tenure with Professionals Week, beginning May 15th, during which they will meet industry luminaries, attend Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, and start their developmental training. They will be publicly introduced to the professional theatre community during the 78th Annual Drama League Awards on Friday, May 18 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square.