Shots from the UNCLE VANYA set build

Tech starts tomorrow for Uncle Vanya--yep, that's how quickly things go. It seems like just yesterday I was posting images and descriptions of Erik Flatmo's set, and now it's becoming a reality.


Photos by Jay Yamada.

Jonathan Moscone on cows

Courtesy of Jay Yamada, our man on the Ideal Husband tech weekend scene:

Jonathan Moscone on the cows on the hill beyond the stage mooing:“It’s so not An Ideal Husband. It will work with Uncle Vanya. It would work with Pericles. But not with this play.”

The Stop Motion of Francois Boucher

Below is a 27-second film prepared by myself (Stefanie Kalem) and Cal Shakes' ever-resourceful designer/webmaster Ilsa Brink using photos taken over the course of last week, while our talented (and also ever-resourceful) scenic charge artists cereated a massive reproduction of a Francois Boucher painting for the set of An Ideal Husband. Below the film are two photos by Jay Yamada, taken of the set in action during the first evening of tech, i.e., last night.





And here it is at the beautiful Bruns Amphitheater, helping (to paraphrase Jon Moscone) create four interiors in an outdoor theater.










A similar shot, this time with more of our lovely late-June sky.

Notes from Pericles Tech Weekend

Here are some more of Jay Yamada's observations from a weekend of Pericles Tech:

• FIGHT CALL: Early in Pericles, Ron Campbell takes a long staff and swings it between Alex Morf’s legs. Now you would expect Dave Maier, the fight choreographer, to be worried about Alex’s family jewels. Actually, Dave would like Ron to hit Alex high up on the thigh, so he's more worried about Alex’s knee.

• FIGHT CALL II: Danny Scheie is swinging a bare, blunt pine scimitar at Chris Kelly (playing Pericles) who is trying to catch it with his bare hands. Chris asks Joel, the director, “Is the sword sharp?”

Joel answers, “It will be painted.”

Chris asks, “Does Pericles think the sword is sharp?”

Joel responds, “I missed the metaphysical question. Yes, Pericles thinks the sword is sharp.”

• YEAR OF THE SAND DUNE: No, Cal Shakes is not doing Beach Blanket Babylon. But there is a lot of sand on the set.

According to Cal Shakes' resident technical director Dave Nowakowski, the set will eventually have “over three thousand pounds” of sand on the deck. Cal Shakes buys Quikrete Premium Play Sand in fifty pound bags.

• VELCRO: Ron Campbell, while helping with an onstage costume change: “When the Velcro comes off, somebody cough.”

• PROPS: Danny Scheie takes the same bare, blunt pine scimitar and bangs it on the floor to make a point. It breaks into two pieces with a sharp crack. Jo in props will either insert a dowel in the middle and glue it back together or take two hours to craft a new one. I guess it depends on what else needs to be done in props by tomorrow.

• SOFTWARE VERSUS THEATER: Joel Sass, the director of Pericles, use to be in software development and testing at American Express. According to him the difference between software development and theater is that with software “you can push the delivery date back.”

• MORE SAND: Asked Jean-Paul, Cal Shakes production manager, how much the sand cost. It runs for about $4.50 a bag. Cal Shakes is also using 3,250 pounds of sand or 65 bags. Let’s see--that comes to about $300 for the beach.

JP also says there is a finer sand than what we’re using. He bought some of the finer stuff by mistake. He says they give you a funny look when you’re trying to exchange 20 of the 50-pound bags at OSH.

• RED VINES: Each stage manager has their traditions. Les is usually the stage manager for Cal Shakes’ first and third shows. She’s on tour right now with the Ballet at the moment (and going to China). At the start of Tech, she plops a four pound tub of Red Vines on her desk for everyone to share.

Got to Tech on Thursday--no Red Vines (and of course no Les). Fortunately the Orinda Safeway has a sale on tubs of Red Vines. Bought a tub and left it on the table next to the coffee and hot water in her honor. The big question is how long they will last.

A few more photos from Pericles tech rehearsal--costumes this time!

Some more pictures just came in from Jay Yamada:





Sarah Nealis wigs out (with half of Christopher Kelly in the background).

















Ron Campbell contemplates.

Jay Yamada on the First Night of Pericles Tech Rehearsal

Jay Yamada is a member of the Cal Shakes Board of Directors, but he's actually much more than that. He's our official photographer, IT angel, and a tireless volunteer both in- and off-season. Today, he makes his debut as a Cal Shakes blogger, with this account of last night's first technical rehearsal for Pericles. Scroll down to the bottom for photos!

The night is warm and the air still.

Joel Sass’ production of Pericles unfolds with a fairytale-like air. It’s not a tech heavy show with lots of lighting changes and special effects (at least I haven’t seen them yet). They’re still rehearsing in their street clothes and I’m looking forward to seeing how the costume changes work.

I’ve always thought of Pericles as a play easy to watch and hard to read. Parts of the play are Shakespeare at his best. Other parts seem so flat on the page that you can’t imagine Shakespeare would have anything to do with the play.

Watching this production, I’m starting to see unsuspected bits of Shakespeare in new places. Sass picks pieces out of the Tempest–the storm scene would hold its own in any of Shakespeare’s later plays. The high formality of joust has echoes in the history plays.

Joel has done fine job in adapting the play. You don’t see the clunky parts of the original.

Some observations from the first night of tech:

• There are too many Dannys in the cast.When both are on stage, there are lots of references to Danny and Danny the younger (i.e. Danny Scheie and Daniel Duque-Estrada).

• The horses have names. Near the end of Act II, the knights all come out with their horses. Each horse has been name by the actors and somewhat color coordinated. The names are Cocoa, Butterscotch, Stinky Cheddar and Brie. Ron Campbell insists that his horse’s name is “Shik-a-Poo” and he says that it’s a cheese in one of his made-up languages, but I’m not sure.

• The Bruns is a big stage. I was wondering how they were going to find a carpet big enough to work on the main stage. They didn’t find one but a whole collection of Persian and modern rugs arranged in a patchwork pattern. Lots of production crew wandering around with staple guns.

• I was concerned about how a small cast and a big stage would work. But the set frames the space well and the cast is energetic.

Below, the Bruns stage the week before tech rehearsal.

The stage during tech; photos by Jay Yamada.