What a time here in Prague! It has been quite the journey and this city is like no other! The PQ and the Scenofest has been a great experience, the friendships, collaborations and contacts that I have made here have been amazing. The Scenofest has published the video of the performance on youtube!!!! Thank you to James and the whole Scenofest publicity staff for all your hard work.
Please check out http://scenofestexchange.com/?p=760 for a desricption and video of the First Act!
Also, notice that at the bottom of the page there is a link to my blog. What a city, what an experience and I could not have met better people!
More to come...
Monday, June 20, 2011
Day of performance!
Performance day! The day started out very cold and rainy, not to mention we were very tired from all the rehearsal. The day began with a run through of each piece in the garden to make sure we were all on the same page. Also, this was the first time that we learning the true playing order of the all the pieces. This was very exciting for everyone because all of us were just trusting Pavel with the cohesiveness of all the work. It was difficult to rehearse with all the people in the garden and in the cold and rainy weather but we managed. Mean while, when pieces were being rehearsed in the garden we were back in the studio building and fixing puppets, scenery and costumes. The performance as a whole was really coming together.
Later in the morning Pavel's company Continuo Theatre showed up with their van and they emptied out lighting and sound equipment. This is when I realized how big this performance had become. We had lights and sound all over the garden. It was truly amazing. It was interesting to me that for all the technology for lights and sound, we were extremely low tech on the scenery and costume end. We, the performers, brought these objects to life.
It took all day to get the through the entire performance. The roles that I was a part of were the opening speech outside the garden, book monks and the column father. I know it sounds funny and I don't really have any pictures because it was so hectic those days. I do have these pictures from rehearsal.
These images are what became the book monks.
These are the only two images I have from the garden. My dad took pictures and the scenofest took video of the performance so hopefully I can get some more imagery on the blog. Check out www.scenofestexchange.com for all the info!
So as the time grew closer to 9 pm all of us prepared for the opening. We were so excited to make it to this point and it was just an incredible task that we had to make a performance of this magnitude in 5 days. I took my opening position in front of the garden with all of the audience in front of me with my follow collaborator Ingrid. Just before we began the sun came out! What a beautiful sight! We delivered the speech and the performance had started. People just kept pouring in. We expected about 75 people and there was well over 200. This turned out to make things very interesting because we used a lot of the walking path for our performance. People absolutely loved it and it was a huge success. The mixture of the garden space, the sound that we created out of paper and our voices that we recorded a day earlier, the lighting and the paper blended into a cohesive piece that was lovely, fun and exciting. We told a story of the garden, our story, that was told through our work with paper and directed by a fanastic process oriented director.
The end of the performance was exhilarating. The audience filed out and we understood what we has accomplished. They were moved and we were exhausted, relived and proud. Pavel gave a speech after we had finished the strike and he posed a question to us. How did we feel about the process? I felt like it was the most unselfish piece of art that I have ever worked on in my life. Everyone helped each other whether it was their idea or not. We were perfect strangers 5 days ago and we grew together and learned a deeper meaning of collaboration. It was a huge success on many fronts and the communication of work paided huge dividends in the rehearsal process. I loved it!
During the day, Pavel had gotten cold and I offered him my sweat shirt to stay warm.
Brooklyn college got a little free publicity all day long! I am so glad that I was a part of this project!
More to come...
Later in the morning Pavel's company Continuo Theatre showed up with their van and they emptied out lighting and sound equipment. This is when I realized how big this performance had become. We had lights and sound all over the garden. It was truly amazing. It was interesting to me that for all the technology for lights and sound, we were extremely low tech on the scenery and costume end. We, the performers, brought these objects to life.
It took all day to get the through the entire performance. The roles that I was a part of were the opening speech outside the garden, book monks and the column father. I know it sounds funny and I don't really have any pictures because it was so hectic those days. I do have these pictures from rehearsal.
These images are what became the book monks.
These are the only two images I have from the garden. My dad took pictures and the scenofest took video of the performance so hopefully I can get some more imagery on the blog. Check out www.scenofestexchange.com for all the info!
So as the time grew closer to 9 pm all of us prepared for the opening. We were so excited to make it to this point and it was just an incredible task that we had to make a performance of this magnitude in 5 days. I took my opening position in front of the garden with all of the audience in front of me with my follow collaborator Ingrid. Just before we began the sun came out! What a beautiful sight! We delivered the speech and the performance had started. People just kept pouring in. We expected about 75 people and there was well over 200. This turned out to make things very interesting because we used a lot of the walking path for our performance. People absolutely loved it and it was a huge success. The mixture of the garden space, the sound that we created out of paper and our voices that we recorded a day earlier, the lighting and the paper blended into a cohesive piece that was lovely, fun and exciting. We told a story of the garden, our story, that was told through our work with paper and directed by a fanastic process oriented director.
The end of the performance was exhilarating. The audience filed out and we understood what we has accomplished. They were moved and we were exhausted, relived and proud. Pavel gave a speech after we had finished the strike and he posed a question to us. How did we feel about the process? I felt like it was the most unselfish piece of art that I have ever worked on in my life. Everyone helped each other whether it was their idea or not. We were perfect strangers 5 days ago and we grew together and learned a deeper meaning of collaboration. It was a huge success on many fronts and the communication of work paided huge dividends in the rehearsal process. I loved it!
During the day, Pavel had gotten cold and I offered him my sweat shirt to stay warm.
Brooklyn college got a little free publicity all day long! I am so glad that I was a part of this project!
More to come...
posted from Bloggeroid
Friday, June 17, 2011
Conclusion of day 4
Well this day could been called: "Welcome to the garden part 2" or "Now that we are here see if it works." This project started as a walk, then a jog, now its full speed ahead and tomorrow will be a sprint to the opening of the show.
The day began with physical training of the actor. We played following, concentration and focus games for 2 hours in the studio. It was challenging and a whole lot of fun. The games were a lot like my collaboration classes in grad school. We played the games in the hardwood floor in bare feet and of course my precious feet have blisters on them now. I am usually in sneakers most of time. The training was very helpful in getting into the performing spirit. Once we were done at 12 we transported all of our puppets, costumes and scenery over to the garden. The PQ had rented a room in the garden for us to work in and use as dressing room and break area. As a side note, this experience has been masterfully organized. The management, the technicians and the volunteers have been amazing. It is nice for me to be on the performer side of the process. Usually, I am trying figure out all the logistics and it kinda feels like a vacation to be witnessing the td's and managers do their work and not be a part it!
When we arrived at the garden we took 45 minutes to get acquaint with the garden once more. This was cool because now we could visualize all of our work in the garden itself. Once we were finished we had the first meeting that began the epic sprint. Pavel gave us a list of all the items that we would use in the production. I had one of my creations make the performance, the monk costume. I'll have pictures of it soon. Not only did he select pieces he added multiples of the same pieces which meant a ton of more work. I stepped up and made the master list and I kind of became the stage manager of all the projects. Then my father, Bob walked into the garden! It was such a nice moment to see a fimilar face. After we began working in the new studio everytime something was done we brought it out into the garden for Pavel to work with us in the area that he had in mind. Keep in mind that the garden is full of people coming and going or sitting down for a rest in the tranquillity. This pattern repeated over the course of the whole day and the day lasted until 1230 Czech time. I was so busy that I hadn't even taken a picture. So at conclusion of the day we all have performed in at least one part of the performance. I am currently in 3 parts. The funniest part is none of us know when, where or how the performance is linked. That will come tomorrow I suppose and yes we perform tomorrow at 9pm local time...3pm for NYC. It's safe to say that this experience has been like no other and surely it is one that I will never forget. It may just be the beginning of something big.
The performance will recorded by my dad and I will attempt to post it on the blog.
More to come....
And by the way this is only part one of the experience. I have yet to be to the USA student exhibit of which I have a set design in. That part comes on Sunday and there will be lots if pictures!
The day began with physical training of the actor. We played following, concentration and focus games for 2 hours in the studio. It was challenging and a whole lot of fun. The games were a lot like my collaboration classes in grad school. We played the games in the hardwood floor in bare feet and of course my precious feet have blisters on them now. I am usually in sneakers most of time. The training was very helpful in getting into the performing spirit. Once we were done at 12 we transported all of our puppets, costumes and scenery over to the garden. The PQ had rented a room in the garden for us to work in and use as dressing room and break area. As a side note, this experience has been masterfully organized. The management, the technicians and the volunteers have been amazing. It is nice for me to be on the performer side of the process. Usually, I am trying figure out all the logistics and it kinda feels like a vacation to be witnessing the td's and managers do their work and not be a part it!
When we arrived at the garden we took 45 minutes to get acquaint with the garden once more. This was cool because now we could visualize all of our work in the garden itself. Once we were finished we had the first meeting that began the epic sprint. Pavel gave us a list of all the items that we would use in the production. I had one of my creations make the performance, the monk costume. I'll have pictures of it soon. Not only did he select pieces he added multiples of the same pieces which meant a ton of more work. I stepped up and made the master list and I kind of became the stage manager of all the projects. Then my father, Bob walked into the garden! It was such a nice moment to see a fimilar face. After we began working in the new studio everytime something was done we brought it out into the garden for Pavel to work with us in the area that he had in mind. Keep in mind that the garden is full of people coming and going or sitting down for a rest in the tranquillity. This pattern repeated over the course of the whole day and the day lasted until 1230 Czech time. I was so busy that I hadn't even taken a picture. So at conclusion of the day we all have performed in at least one part of the performance. I am currently in 3 parts. The funniest part is none of us know when, where or how the performance is linked. That will come tomorrow I suppose and yes we perform tomorrow at 9pm local time...3pm for NYC. It's safe to say that this experience has been like no other and surely it is one that I will never forget. It may just be the beginning of something big.
The performance will recorded by my dad and I will attempt to post it on the blog.
More to come....
And by the way this is only part one of the experience. I have yet to be to the USA student exhibit of which I have a set design in. That part comes on Sunday and there will be lots if pictures!
posted from Bloggeroid
Conclusion of rehearsal day 3
Day 3 turned out to be the most fun I have had since I've been here. Rehearsal was so much fun. We began the day see the students who hadn't performed their pieces on day 2. They were very inventive and inspiring. Here is some of the pictures.
After the performances were complete, Pavels next director was to make simple masks out of paper bags or paper. It is incredible how he could transform a simple paper bag into a mask that had character and spirit. This started a long ride to the end to the first part of the day. We made and performed masks until 4 pm and then we took lunch. That's kima of a late lunch for guy like me...don't worry friends I didn't eat my foot...lol! Here's pictures of the work we created:
That was just the afternoon rehearsal! The great part is we get an hour and a half for lunch here. So I took a nap after lunch...much needed! For the afternoon session we split up into 2 groups. One group to create songs and interesting music using only our voices and group two made percussion only out of paper. I joined group one cause I can still hold a tune and I felt like singing. It was totally fanastic and amazing. The talent of everyone in the group blew me away. I felt like this session helped bring us together and tighten the group synergy. I have some pictures of us recording and making percussion.
Thus performance in the garden is taking shape even though we as collaborators have no idea what the performance will be. We have been building, designing and performing elements of the performance that may or may not be a part of the performance. This afternoon we go the garden to begin playing with all of our ideas. I can't wait! I have really enjoyed working this way because it raises the stakes and makes it more exciting. Pictures should be fun for tomorrow entry.
As a side note: I have switched hotels today to join my father in his swanky hotel at the Marriott! Great WiFi here I come!
More to come...
After the performances were complete, Pavels next director was to make simple masks out of paper bags or paper. It is incredible how he could transform a simple paper bag into a mask that had character and spirit. This started a long ride to the end to the first part of the day. We made and performed masks until 4 pm and then we took lunch. That's kima of a late lunch for guy like me...don't worry friends I didn't eat my foot...lol! Here's pictures of the work we created:
That was just the afternoon rehearsal! The great part is we get an hour and a half for lunch here. So I took a nap after lunch...much needed! For the afternoon session we split up into 2 groups. One group to create songs and interesting music using only our voices and group two made percussion only out of paper. I joined group one cause I can still hold a tune and I felt like singing. It was totally fanastic and amazing. The talent of everyone in the group blew me away. I felt like this session helped bring us together and tighten the group synergy. I have some pictures of us recording and making percussion.
Thus performance in the garden is taking shape even though we as collaborators have no idea what the performance will be. We have been building, designing and performing elements of the performance that may or may not be a part of the performance. This afternoon we go the garden to begin playing with all of our ideas. I can't wait! I have really enjoyed working this way because it raises the stakes and makes it more exciting. Pictures should be fun for tomorrow entry.
As a side note: I have switched hotels today to join my father in his swanky hotel at the Marriott! Great WiFi here I come!
More to come...
posted from Bloggeroid
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Conclusion of rehearsal day 2
Today many more paper costumes, sculptures, puppets and scenic elements were developed. Pavel, our director works for an organic space and he has been shaping the story of the garden around our creations. It has been so much fun. We have been working in groups bases on the designs that we have created as a group. Pavel selected 5 yesterday that we began working on when we arrived at the studio. One of the puppets that we built was a bird puppet that I designed. It was mildly successful and it was a lot of fun collaborating with everyone in my group. These are pictures of the morning session:
The afternoon session was back to the drawing board to get a more in depth look at our discoveries in the garden. This session I created a monk drape and hood but I forgot to give someone my camera. If it makes the performance I'll no doubt get pictures of it on the blog. At any rate here's some pictures from my collaborators!
This image is of the opening ceremony for Scenofest.
It was a very full day and I am happy to report that I finally slept through the whole night. The transition 6 hours ahead was tough on me when it was time for sleep. Tomorrow we will continue making more paper objects for most of the day and tonight we will go to the garden to begin working with these objects.
The food has been pretty darn good! Last nights dinner I had potato crochets. They were tasty and the came in the shape of a whopper candy.
More to come...
The afternoon session was back to the drawing board to get a more in depth look at our discoveries in the garden. This session I created a monk drape and hood but I forgot to give someone my camera. If it makes the performance I'll no doubt get pictures of it on the blog. At any rate here's some pictures from my collaborators!
This image is of the opening ceremony for Scenofest.
It was a very full day and I am happy to report that I finally slept through the whole night. The transition 6 hours ahead was tough on me when it was time for sleep. Tomorrow we will continue making more paper objects for most of the day and tonight we will go to the garden to begin working with these objects.
The food has been pretty darn good! Last nights dinner I had potato crochets. They were tasty and the came in the shape of a whopper candy.
More to come...
posted from Bloggeroid
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Conclusion of rehearsal day 1
Wow! What a day yesterday, it started out with 4 hours of exploration in the Franciscan Garden doing research on the space and the world around the garden. Meeting all the different students and our director Pavel was fantastic and inspiring! Everyone brought so many ideas and unique perspectives on what we could do and what our play will be. After we finished our initial research we headed to the DAMU (pronounced dam-ooo) where we will work in the studio building our scenery, puppets and costumes. It was great fun and it was great to see our ideas come to life so quickly.
Studio picture
Studio picture of us working
These are so of the creations from Tuesday.
Today will be the day where we continue building creatures and characters. Starting build the structure of the play. It's all very exciting.
What's a blog entry without some food pictures. I had some great goulash and some pork. They sure do love their pork here in Prague. Also, the dumplings are interesting too, they seam to be just pieces of bread. They are delicious none the less.
The white pieces of bread are the dumplings.
More to come...
Studio picture
Studio picture of us working
These are so of the creations from Tuesday.
Today will be the day where we continue building creatures and characters. Starting build the structure of the play. It's all very exciting.
What's a blog entry without some food pictures. I had some great goulash and some pork. They sure do love their pork here in Prague. Also, the dumplings are interesting too, they seam to be just pieces of bread. They are delicious none the less.
The white pieces of bread are the dumplings.
More to come...
posted from Bloggeroid
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Six Acts rehearsal day 1
Good morning family and friends! Today begins the PQ for me even though the conference doesn't officially begin until Thursday. So for clarity's sake I am going to try explain the Six Acts project structure. The PQ sponsors the Scenofest which has a number of different workshops and performance / design related activities over the course of the PQ. The six acts project is a part of Scenofest and I am a part of Act 1 of 6. I hope that helps!
The performance that my group and I are creating is taking place in the Franciscan Garden. This place is so peaceful and serene, it is a perfect place to stage a performance. It is amazing to have such tranquility is such a busy place like downtown Prague. You never realize how much noise pollution we deal with in New York until you come to a city like this. Most of the streets are so small and historic that most if them are pedestrian only. It's so beautiful! Here's some pictures of the garden and believe me the pictures don't do the garden justice.
This image is from the main entrance from Narodni street.
This image is from the opposite side of the entrance.
This is a picture looking back at the monastery.
So it would be an entry if I didn't talk a little about food and my hotel! I had a Czech favorite last night at a pub in Old Town, fried cheese and potato salad. It was tasty! Here a picture for all my foodie peeps (Babycakes, Mr. Hoyt this picture is for you!)
Yummy!
My hotel room is cozy, it reminds me of a west village apartment, sloped ceilings and enough room to use the bathroom and sleep...lol! I have already met some great people and I haven't even met anyone from the PQ yet! It's been so much fun so far and it will only get better!
More to come...
The performance that my group and I are creating is taking place in the Franciscan Garden. This place is so peaceful and serene, it is a perfect place to stage a performance. It is amazing to have such tranquility is such a busy place like downtown Prague. You never realize how much noise pollution we deal with in New York until you come to a city like this. Most of the streets are so small and historic that most if them are pedestrian only. It's so beautiful! Here's some pictures of the garden and believe me the pictures don't do the garden justice.
This image is from the main entrance from Narodni street.
This image is from the opposite side of the entrance.
This is a picture looking back at the monastery.
So it would be an entry if I didn't talk a little about food and my hotel! I had a Czech favorite last night at a pub in Old Town, fried cheese and potato salad. It was tasty! Here a picture for all my foodie peeps (Babycakes, Mr. Hoyt this picture is for you!)
Yummy!
My hotel room is cozy, it reminds me of a west village apartment, sloped ceilings and enough room to use the bathroom and sleep...lol! I have already met some great people and I haven't even met anyone from the PQ yet! It's been so much fun so far and it will only get better!
More to come...
posted from Bloggeroid
Monday, June 13, 2011
Made it!
I have landed in Prague right on time this morning! The flight was painless and smooth. I sat next to a very interesting woman named Karla who grew up in Prague to the age of 35 then left with her husband and two children in 1977. She now lives in LA after stints in NYC and Minneapolis. Her husband is an actor performing this week with an opera. It was fantastic to have had such a great opportunity to ask questions and talk about this amazing city. She talked about the iron curtain and a communist Prague which was so interesting and informing. It turns out that today is her birthday and it almost marks half her life in Czech and half in the states. She coached me on how to get out of the airport and the ins and outs of Prague. She also, invited myself and my fathers entourage to the show her husbands performing on June 21st which is our last full day in the city. All in all it was a great traveling experience.
So, after I picked up my bags at the baggage claim it was the simplest commute from the airport. I bought a bus ticket after I exchanged $30 in the airport. I hopped on the 119 bus to the subway which was the A train and poof I was in the heart of the city. I found my bearings and headed over to the hotel to have them hold my bags until check in. I headed over to the bank where I exchanged the rest of my American cash...good thing I read up on this because they did not accept one of bills because it had a little marker on it. When I took cash out in the states I was very particular with the banker about no writing on the bills. She thought I was a little nuts but it paided off because if I didn't read about the cash money exchange I might be a little broke.
See the little marker in corner, the bank would not accept that...note to Bob bring clean bills! Mom please remind him...lol!
Well, I am off for a walk over to the Franciscan Garden, then a nap!
More to come...
So, after I picked up my bags at the baggage claim it was the simplest commute from the airport. I bought a bus ticket after I exchanged $30 in the airport. I hopped on the 119 bus to the subway which was the A train and poof I was in the heart of the city. I found my bearings and headed over to the hotel to have them hold my bags until check in. I headed over to the bank where I exchanged the rest of my American cash...good thing I read up on this because they did not accept one of bills because it had a little marker on it. When I took cash out in the states I was very particular with the banker about no writing on the bills. She thought I was a little nuts but it paided off because if I didn't read about the cash money exchange I might be a little broke.
See the little marker in corner, the bank would not accept that...note to Bob bring clean bills! Mom please remind him...lol!
Well, I am off for a walk over to the Franciscan Garden, then a nap!
More to come...
posted from Bloggeroid
Sunday, June 12, 2011
At the airport
Here we go! I made it through the security and all the airport confusion. This is my first time at JFK and it wasn't to bad navigating through the check in and security process. The delta employees were helpful and friendly. The only issues that I experienced was that awful traffic getting to the airport. Now, I totally understand when jerry seinfeld would holler about not driving on the van wyck. It's a total nightmare, thank you seinfeld for being right! Anyhow, I do have some mild anxiety about the airport and public transit in Prague. The good news is that I do not have any conference related plans for Monday. So I have no need to rush. The only plans are to check in to the hotel and walk until its time for sleep. I am so excited to be a part of this amazing experience! Thank you to all that have helped me reach this day.
Next entry will be when I arrive in Prague 10 am local time and 4 am NYC time. Hopefully I'll get some shut eye aboard the 8.5 hour flight.
Also, thank you Jeanette for the helpful food tips! Anyone who knows me, knows how much I like food! I can't even believe it myself but until you commented on the blog I hadn't even thought about the food. Those tips are a great starting point and my friend Stephaine raves about the fried cheese sandwiches. I mean who doesn't love fried cheese??
More to come....
Next entry will be when I arrive in Prague 10 am local time and 4 am NYC time. Hopefully I'll get some shut eye aboard the 8.5 hour flight.
Also, thank you Jeanette for the helpful food tips! Anyone who knows me, knows how much I like food! I can't even believe it myself but until you commented on the blog I hadn't even thought about the food. Those tips are a great starting point and my friend Stephaine raves about the fried cheese sandwiches. I mean who doesn't love fried cheese??
More to come....
posted from Bloggeroid
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
4 days till departure
Well as the weeks grew to days the information is now flowing and I am getting a better idea of my schedule at the PQ. We start rehearsal for the 6 acts project on Tuesday June 14 at 10. I am so excited to work with other artists from around the world. The six acts project is part of the scenofest. The scenofest is an off shoot from the entire PQ. There are different performance / design projects going on through out the city. For more info check out: http://scenofest.pq.cz/ for the basic information or check out www.scenefestexchange.com for daily info on what is happening in the scenofest. It's pretty cool! The piece that I am working on is based in the Francescan Garden which is in the heart of Prague. Our director is Pavel Stourac (you can read his bio in the six acts section of the scenofest website) and our media that we our using to tell the story of the garden will be paper. So far we have been collaborating via facebook. There are 28 people in our group and everyone has posting some amazing work. I am really looking forward to meeting and working with everyone. Basically, we conceive a narrative, collaborate, design, build, rehearse in 4 days! The show goes up Saturday June 18th at 9pm Czech time which translates to 3pm nyc time. Totally excited!! It should be very cool and I will be posting pictures and video over the course of the collaboration.
So in the days up to my flight its pack, friends wedding rehearsal, friends wedding, baby christening then off go JFK! So when packing this time I am not forgetting the most important thing for European travel:
Power converter! When tanya and I went to Spain on our honey moon we forgot this and all of our electronics died...not this time!
More to come....
So in the days up to my flight its pack, friends wedding rehearsal, friends wedding, baby christening then off go JFK! So when packing this time I am not forgetting the most important thing for European travel:
Power converter! When tanya and I went to Spain on our honey moon we forgot this and all of our electronics died...not this time!
More to come....
posted from Bloggeroid
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