WYPR reviews “The House of Yes!” Listen to it here.
Will Emory, Amber Levow and Matt Baughman. © Joe Williams 2010
“The House of Yes” review
February 18th, 2010 — MET
“The Canterbury Tales” Begins!
February 18th, 2010 — MET
On Sunday we had our traditional potluck and first read through for “The Canterbury Tales.” We ate a ridiculous amount of good food and then settled down to read the script out loud for the first time.
Karen Paone (cast), Tad Janes (director), Pat McDonald (props), Reiner Prochaska (adapter, cast), Carly Lawrence (cast) and Joe Jallete (cast)
Ken Poisson (stage manager), Moses Goldberg (cast), Tom Majarov (sound designer), Bill Stitely (cast), Karen Paone (cast). Not pictured are assistant stage manager Sarah Shuman, set designer Mark Barnhart, costumer designer and cast member Julie Herber and costume designer Sherry Shaner.
And Reiner read a bit of “The Canterbury Tales” to us – first in the old English in which Geoffrey Chaucer wrote it, and then in modern English:
The show opens March 26th!
The Pirate Dance!
February 17th, 2010 — MET
“The Amazing Interactive Adventure” opens this Saturday, February 20th! Will you do the Pirate Dance with them?
Matt Baughman, Karli Cole, Michelle Simms & Vanessa Strickland are pirates!
Choreography for the Pirate Number
February 16th, 2010 — MET
Director Jon Paul teaches actors Matt Baughman, Karli Cole, Michelle Simms & Vanessa Strickland a few dance moves for their big pirate number in “The Amazing Interactive Adventure!”
The show opens this Saturday, February 20th!
Audience Reactions to “The House of Yes”
February 15th, 2010 — Maryland Ensemble Theatre
“The House of Yes” (finally!) opened last weekend! How was it? Well, I think it totally rocked, but check out these comments from the audience to see for yourself!
“The House of Yes” – director’s notes
February 11th, 2010 — MET
If we only had one more week…
If I had a nickel for every time I said that when getting ready to open a show….
Anthony (Will Emory), Jackie-O (Amber Levow) and Marty (Matt Baughman). © Joe Williams 2010
The House of Yes just got one compliments of Mother Nature. By all accounts, we should be ecstatic, right? No! This is one of those rare occasions where the show was begging (screaming, really) for an audience.
The House of Yes (or HOY as we have been lovingly referring to it) had a relatively short rehearsal process due to the holidays and the annual MET Retreat. This makes it even odder that the show was in such great shape going into tech week. A combination of a stellar cast, efficient rehearsals (due to my amazing stage management team), amazing designers, and a short show (the show runs less than 1 1/2 hours) have made this one of the amazing and terrifying rehearsal processes of my career.
Why terrifying? The extra week! I get an extra week to stress about whether or not the show “works” or if I’ve missed anything. I always find it rather disconcerting when a show comes together quickly and painlessly. My insecurities don’t allow me the satisfaction of enjoying the ease – ease means I haven’t worked hard enough and so have therefore missed something! The last time this happened was with Killer Joe. And, MET, as always, is a buzzing hive of activity this week – classes starting and The Fun Company’s The Amazing Interactive Adventure is in tech week and so takes possession of the theatre for regular rehearsal times. My cast, crew and I only have one pick up rehearsal to get the show back on its feet and ready for our postponed Opening Night.
So we’re ready for you! We NEED you! Never will audiences be more appreciated than those that walk through the doors this coming weekend. We can’t wait to see you!
‘The House of Yes’ – costumes
February 11th, 2010 — Maryland Ensemble Theatre
A post from “The House of Yes” costume designer Ashley Hall:
I’ve been costuming since I was in the eighth grade, when I helped my mother costume The Wizard of Oz. I’ve done shows ranging from Fiddler on the Roof to The Full Monty. I love dressing the actors, allowing the clothing to convey aspects of their personality and their psychology subtly to the audience. I also love a challenge, whether it be a period (such as Tommy, which ranged from the 1940s to the 1960s) a fantasy concept (Morgan le Fey’s gown in Camelot) or a really unique piece (like g-strings. I had to make seven of them for The Full Monty. No, I did not keep them).
The House of Yes offered me two distinct challenges. One: to recreate the iconic pink Chanel suit Jackie Kennedy wore when JFK was assassinated. Two: to capture the fashions of the 1980s without letting those costumes overwhelm and distract the audience from the performance. Because, let’s face it, people (even those considered highly fashionable), wore some pretty laughable things in the 1980s.
A dress worn by Jackie-O (Amber Levow). It may not look very impressive on the hanger, but on Amber, it is stunning. Very classy, very 'Jackie'. This is actually a Ralph Lauren dress I got for $20 at Chic Consignments on Patrick Street.
For the first challenge, I enlisted the help of MET company member, Julie Herber. Julie graciously agreed to help me recreate Jackie-O’s suit. I turned to the internet, where I found as many images as I could of Jackie-O in the suit, both before and after the assassination, as I could. This suit is part of American history and I wanted to recreate it as faithfully as possible. Most people just think that it is a pink wool two-piece ladies suit. In fact, it was made of pink boucle (a pill-y wool like fabric) with navy blue lapels and trim. Jackie also wore white gloves, navy blue pumps and the pillbox hat she made famous. (Interesting fact: The suit, glove and hat, currently reside in the National Archives in a climate controlled room. They have never been on display). I also needed to find another outfit for Jackie-O, something very simple, classy and well, something “Jackie”.
- Lesly’s suitcase. Please take note of the stylish Dyeable pumps (that I found at Goodwill) that match the blue dress. All these items come out of the suitcase and are seen by the audience, so they had to be character and period appropriate.
For the second, I had to work to create the feel of the 1980s fashions without making them look like a bad 1980s theme party. Although I’m sure I’ll get a few dirty looks, I was born in 1982, so the entire decade isn’t that clear in my memory. I looked for the cuts and silhouettes of the clothing of that era. I looked to people like Nancy Regan and Princess Diana, Michael Douglas in “Wall Street”, the girls of “The Facts of Life” and Alex P. Keaton of “Growing Pains”. For these looks, I spend several weekends trekking to Goodwills and consignment shops not only in Frederick, but in Germantown, Gaithersburg, Hagerstown and Charles Town, West Virginia.
- A dress worn by Lesly (Rebecca Goldstien). When I showed this dress to Gene, she swore she had a dress almost exactly like this when she was in high school!
In terms of preparation, I read the script and figured out the basics: year, place, the number o f days the show takes places over and if any specific costume items are mentioned. I made note of those and then sat down with Gené, the director, to see how she saw the characters and the overall look of the show. I firmly believe that it is the costumer’s job to help bring the director’s vision to life, so I wanted to make sure I understood how Gené saw the characters and the overall look of the show.
- A sweater worn by Anthony (Will Emory) which he wears with with a collared button-up shirt underneath. Izod sweaters were very popular in the 80s (though this isn’t an Izod, it does look like one) and I wanted this character look very straight-laced and sort of “Alex P. Keaton”-ish
Even after the costumes are on the actor’s, the job isn’t over. As rehearsals go on, Gené may think of something else she wants, that she isn’t crazy about a certain outfit, or that something just doesn’t ‘work’. In the case, I try to find something else. I also took care of any pieces of clothing that appear on-stage, such as the clothes that appear in Lesly’s suitcase. I also keep an eye on what I call “costume consistency”, meaning things like if a character falls asleep on the couch, would their shoes be on the next morning? I keep an eye on thinks like hair and make-up, making sure that the actors not only look appropriate to their character, but also the time period.
Once opening night arrives, I still have to do laundry at least once a week, as well as iron the costumes. I repair any damages that occur (lost buttons, etc.)
And that’s how I costume. Or at least, that’s how I costumed “The House of Yes”!
