Mo Brady and his amazing costume changes!

blog entry written by Mo Brady (Zebulun, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)

During HELLO, DOLLY!, I blogged about costume changes. Specifically, the "quick changes" from one costume to another, usually done with the help of dressers and a lot of velcro. While we have a number of quick changes in JOSEPH..., what has been more present in our minds are the changes in costumes throughout the tech and preview process.

The costumes we wear in JOSEPH... were originally used in a 1990s Goodspeed Opera House production. They were designed by Mark Thompson, who used the same costume design in the JOSEPH... movie (starring Donny Osmond).

This summer, these Goodspeed costumes were shipped to The 5th Avenue, and our AMAZING resident costume and wardrobe supervisor, Lynda Salsbury. She and her expert costume shop crew coordinated which 5th Avenue actors would wear each costume and tailored them for us. In addition, The 5th Avenue costume shop also purchased us new shoes and created new pieces when needed.

Although the costumes came virtually completed, there have been changes during the tech and preview process. During this time, the costume shop was constantly tweaking the design of the show. Sometimes are very small, and other times they greatly alter the look and feel of a scene.

One of my costumes to go through the biggest changes was my outfit for Go Go Go Joseph, the psychedelic Act I finale. In its original incarnation, the costume is almost exactly like it came from Goodspeed: a red tailored suit with capri pants. The design staff at the 5th Avenue had me wear a rainbow hat on top of my Potiphar wig. I also wore my POTIPHAR socks, and boots (which are actually my same shoes from HELLO, DOLLY!) Backstage, other actors told me I looked like a crazy Christmas elf.



During tech week, Mary Jones, the Hair and Make-up Designer, gave the entire company new wigs for this number. Now, we all have neon colored hair, in all shapes and sizes. Additionally, I was given a pair of neon green socks to go with the boots.

The final touch was a new pair of green platform shoes. These 3-inch heels were added the day before opening. The first time I got to practice with them was in front of 2,000 audience members. Dancing in these new shoes certainly changes how I can dance in the song, but they're a pretty spectacular addition to the look of the scene.



The look for my brother, Zebulun, also changed throughout the tech process. The first afternoon I dressed a brother, I had a long dark wig, a moustache, and pointy sideburns.

When I came that evening, the facial hair had been cut altogether, as you can see in this photograph of Dane Stokinger (Reuben) and me. I was also given a new, lighter wig.



Eventually, Mary settled on a smaller piece of facial hair, which is what I have worn in all the previews and performances.

Every show morphs on its journey towards opening night. Not only the costumes, but the staging, orchestrations, and every other aspect of the production can change. Although these changes take a lot of time and energy, each edit can help the audience to understand and enjoy the show even more.

--
-M-

Mo Brady - Best of 2009

Mo Brady (just announced as Seattle Weekly's Best of 2009: Best Cute Actor Never In A Leading Role) is tweeting from backstage of Catch Me If You Can!

Check out his "mini-blog" entries on our twitter page at
www.twitter.com/backstage5thave

Also, tonight is 5th Avenue Theatre's first tweetup and we're co-hosting it with Fairmont Olympic in their lovely Terrace Lounge. Our RSVP has only a few spots left, so check it out and swing by tonight between 5pm and 7pm for free hors d'oeuvres, happy hour beverages and to chat with staff and fans of The 5th Avenue and The Fairmont Olympic. Click here for more info and to RSVP.

Cohesive Ensemble by Mo Brady

Last week's rehearsals were about getting comfortable - but this week we began to delve deeper!

Since the ensemble learned most of our material last week, we spent the first half of this week "cleaning" - specifying movements and music, so we all are sure where our arms are exactly placed on a jump, or that the vocal cut-off is on the second beat of a measure.

It is a taxing process to run and re-run a number, but the repetition builds your stamina to be performance-ready, and helps us to move together and become a coheisive ensemble.

On Saturday morning, the full company began stringing the show together in order. Beforehand, we had worked songs and scenework in seperate rooms simultaneously. Now, starting from the top of the show, Jack put the scenes on their feet, giving us entrances and exits, and seeing how the show would move.

Once we had initial blocking for a few scenes, we would go back and run it again.
And again.
And again.
The opportunity to run the scenes in sequence allows us to find the flow of the show, and begin creating the arc we will take audiences on, only a month from now.

Running a number multiple times also allows an actor to clarify the song's emotional journey. Each time we review a number, I've focused on specifying the intentions played in each scene.

While all of our songs certainly have a presentational element, each one has a different underlying tone that fuels the plot further forward. As we incorporate Jack's guidance with the staging, we find where the direction motivates specific movement, and visa versa. The ultimate goal being a throughline where the movements and motivation work seemlessly together.

Buzz in the air - by Mo Brady

I had been looking forward to June 9, 2009 for a long time. Well, about five months actually. I got the call to join the cast of the world premiere of Catch Me If You Can in early January, and the subsequent months have been filled with anticipation, pride, and preparation for our first rehearsal. So, to say the least, it has been thrilling to finally be in the rehearsal room and start working on this show.

I would say the biggest surprise about the rehearsals so far has been how comfortable they have been. In many ways, we're just putting up another show. This production feels similar to the other four 5th Avenue shows I've been a part of this year. Last season, DAT5 has become a second home, so I feel very comfortable and capable within its walls. I walk the halls of the theatre with a familiarity and an ease that allows me not to be flustered by the amount of star power we have in our rehearsals.

It's not just the space that feels comfortable, but also the people. I look around rehearsals and see many familiar faces: two of my Pontipee brothers, Karl Warden, Kyle Vaughn, along with Shanna Palmer from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, one of my oldest friends, Jason Kappus, who I first shared The5th Avenue stage with in West Side Story, stage managers Amy Gornet and Bret Torbeck, who I had the pleasure to work with on both Sunday in the Park with George and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers last season. Even our rehearsal accompanist, Dwight Beckmeyer, is a familiar face from many previous productions (it seems that the theatre can't get rid of either of us!)

We spent the first week of rehearsal doing what we do at the beginning of every rehearsal process: learning the material. The week was filled with constant music rehearsals and choreography sessions. The learning curve is steep but nothing out of the ordinary, although Marc Shaiman's ensemble voicings are surprisingly difficult to pick up (I'm not used to being so challenged by note memorization, but his jazz-infused score is full of surprises.)

The choreography sessions consist of learning patterns: small snippets of moves that Jerry Mitchell then tries on different people in different positions in different spaces on the stage. The challenge of those rehearsals has not only been remembering the steps, but which version of the steps we last tried.

And while a lot of what we've done feels normal, there is a buzz in the air. It's an excitement that permeates each day of rehearsal, one that I've never felt in a rehearsal process before. We are putting this show on its feet for the very first time. And while I will be careful not to jinx our show, there is so much talent in rehearsals that I can't imagine how we could go wrong.

Everybody, from writers Marc Shaiman (music & lyrics), Scott Wittman (lyrics), and Terrence McNally (book), to director Jack O'Brien, choreographer Jerry Mitchell and musical director John McDaniel, down to our ensemble, is highly capable, highly inventive, and highly passionate about this story. And yet, at this point, there are more questions than answers about the show. This week, a lot time was spent this first week discussing the tone of the show: while the creative team seems pretty clear about the story they want to tell, they are still creating the way in which that story will be told.

It is the exploration of how to tell this story that has been the most exciting part of our rehearsals thus far. During our final rehearsal of the week, the entire company sat around in chairs, reading through the script and singing the songs. When actors had lines or songs, they would go into the middle of the circle and act their material from there. And at the end of each scene, Jack would give a few pieces of direction, or comment on the tone of a song or a line. It honestly felt like we were creating the show right then and there. For my part, his thoughts about the ensemble and our motivation to tell Frank Jr.'s story were elegant and powerful. Suddenly, I was seeing the material we had spent all week on in a new light, which made each song more poignant and vital.

It was a fantastic end to a thrilling week. And I'm looking forward to June 16, June 17, June 18.... and beyond.

It Only Takes A Moment

blog by Mo Brady (Barnaby) written Tuesday 3/24

Once a show settles into a consistent rhythm, the cast can begin to concentrate on developing the moments between the moments. What I mean by this is we're developing everything between the lines - the fleeting glances and knowing looks that take place onstage. This is one of my absolute favorite parts of acting - existing onstage in the moments when I don't speak, but get to simply react to the other characters and the plot they are developing. The delightful challenge of this is to create a realistic through-line that informs and connects the dialogue.

"Dancing," the full company dance number near the end of Act I, is full of these kinds of moments. In this song, I only speak twice. However, I get to exist onstage in the world of Barnaby for five, delicious non-verbal minutes. Without uttering a word, I get to take Barnaby out of his shy shell, learn to dance, meet a girl, and fall in love. All without saying a word!
Part of this story was developed by David Armstrong's staging. His choreography gave us guideposts for the journeys we each take during the song. For Barnaby, this journey begins by being so frightened of dancing that David has staged me literally hiding in the closet. From there, he created moments for Barnaby to come out of his shell, first by dancing with instructor Dolly, then with cohort Cornelius, and finally with the fabulous fashionista Minnie Fay. David's choreography shows Barnaby's shift from cautious, to ecstatic, to finally confident for the first time in the play.

Between these guideposts, the scenes get fleshed out in cahoots with fellow actors. Most of the time, moments are created without being planned or discussed - a glance between two characters in reaction to a piece of staging or a line will add weight and dynamics to their relationship. Often these unplanned moments will become an intrinsic part of a performance - seemingly necessary to the non-verbal through line of the show.

For me, these moments are some of the most fulfilling parts of a performance. My current favorite is in "Dancing," just before we leave Mrs. Molloy's Hat Shop. As Dolly (Jenifer Lewis) begins to instruct me, I share a brief look with both Cornelius (Greg Allen) and Minnie (Tracee Beazer). My look of self-defeat, and their looks of encouragement, happen simultaneously with my first dance steps, so by the time I look at my feet, I've already begun to dance. These interactions are fleeting, but bring a vitality and truthfulness to the beginning of Barnaby's journey in the song.

These kinds of moments are so complex that they take a paragraph to describe. But their complexity endow a character with so much life that they can't help but feel real. Even as they become slightly expanded for a 2,200 seat house, they can feel big, but exact. Broad, but specific. Theatrical, but truthful. And with their complexity, they bring sense of satisfaction when performed, and the hope that in each performance, we will create one more moment to play.

Quick Change!

Written by Mo Brady (Barnaby) 3/16/09:

While staging "Put On Your Sunday Clothes," David Armstrong, our director, casually told Greg Allen (Cornelius) and I that we would have a quick change during the number. It would begin with Cornelius and I getting out of our work clothes onstage, running offstage, and returning in our "Sunday Clothes" a few moments later. At the time, this seemed perfectly manageable. In Seven Brides, I had a couple of quick changes during the song "Goin' Courtin'," and managed those without a hitch. I figured that anything we did in Hello, Dolly! couldn't be any more challenging.

I was wrong.

During tech, I realized that this was going to be the quick change to end all quick changes. The quickest change, if you will. David gave me the formidable tasking of leaving the stage in my period underwear (or, as I like to call it, my "onesie") and coming back onstage fully dressed only 21 seconds later. 21 seconds, from the moment we finish singing "Until we've kissed a girl," til the moment we return singing "Beneath your parasol the world is all a smile." I knew that David would devise a plan for us to make the costume change possible, although at the time I wondered how.

A major player in the costume change is my dresser, Rita. I knew from our work together on Seven Brides that she is fantastically thorough, attentive and speedy. However, even with her help, the change seemed impossible at first. In fact, the first time that Greg and I tried the quick change, it took almost double the 21 seconds we have in the show. We knew it would take a lot of practice and some creative thinking to turn this costume change into theatrical magic.

In order to devise the plan, David scheduled a couple of rehearsals just for this one quick change. While tech rehearsals continued upstairs, the quick change was rehearsed downstairs in DAT5. Rita and I, along with Greg, his dresser Marlys, our associate director, Aaron Tuttle, and other members of the wardrobe, music, and stage management departments, ran the change again and again. Eventually, we broke it down move by move, creating an order that made it easy to move from costume piece to the next, and that allowed both actor and dresser to be working simultaneously.

The wardrobe and costume departments also manipulated many of the costume pieces so that they could be changed quickly. Most pieces are "quick rigged," with velcro on shirts and pants instead of buttons, or elastic instead of shoe laces. However, some of the pieces needed to be altered so much, that we were given a new set of costumes, just for "Put On Your Sunday Clothes." Rita and I took some pictures, to show you exactly how we create this piece of theatrical magic.




This is the costume I wear when I return onstage after the quick change. It looks like a normal suit, except for that a close eye might notice that there are no shirt sleeves around my wrist. While wearing this costume, I mime tugging on shirt sleeves with my fingers a couple of times. Hopefully, you can't tell from a few rows back...



However, this is what the costume looks like without the suit jacket. As you can see, I wear only the collar of the dress shirt, which has a pre-tied bow tie attached to the neck. The shirt collar is snapped to the vest, so that all three pieces can be put on at the same time. The shoes have pre-tied laces, so Rita can easily slip my feet into them with a shoe horn.



After "Put On Your Sunday Clothes," Greg and I have more time. Therefore, we use the beginning of the Hat Shop scene to complete the costume change. After we ride the train out of Yonkers, I change into this costume. As you can see, it includes a completely different set of shoes, and a new shirt. Rita and I also take off the onesie and replace it with an undershirt, add kneepads (for all of that crawling around in Mrs. Molloy's Hat Shop,) and attach the pre-tied bow tie to a neck strap.





And here is the complete look that I wear for the next scene. A virtually undetectable costume change from the one I wear in "Put On Your Sunday Clothes." With a lot of planning by David and Aaron, rigging by the costume and wardrobe departments, and fast changing by Rita and I, the resulting quick change impresses the audience and helps draw them into the excitement of our New York adventure.

Wanderprobe

written by Mo Brady (Barnaby) on 3/9/09

We completed two smashing performances, and have two more before Thursday's opening. However, I wanted to catch you up on one of the more exciting rehearsals of the last week, The Wanderprobe.

I love wanderprobe. For pure emotionally value, wanderprobe is my favorite part of performing. Its thrilling, its communal. Its like church for actors.

For those of you who don't know the term 'wanderprobe,' let me explain. It is the rehearsal in which the band and the singers come together for the first time. The term comes from the German 'sitzprobe,' describing "a seated rehearsal where the singers sing with the orchestra, focusing attention on integrating the two groups." (thanks, wikipedia.) Wanderprobe is a take off of the aforementioned German word, because instead of sitting, we wander.

Only, we don't exactly wander. We execute the choreography for all of the songs, as well as the blocking for scenes that are underscored. On a technical level, it's a chance for the actors to hear orchestrations, time out dialogue with underscoring, and figure out which instrument is playing their starting pitch. This can be particularly important for dance numbers. When you hear the staccato notes of "Call On Dolly," you feel how it fits together with the choreography that our director, David Armstrong, gave to us. Or when you hear the wistfulness in the orchestration of "Ribbons Down My Back," you can understand how it expresses Mrs. Molloy's longing for change.

Many parts of wanderprobe are extremely technical. Usually when we work on music, it is within the context of a run-through or a performance. Wanderprobe gives our music director, Joel Fram, a chance to make sure that both actors and musicians are performing as a cohesive unit. If something doesn't go right the first time, we can run it again to smooth out the kinks.

However, the overall feeling of wanderprobe is one of enchantment. Part of what makes musical theater so exciting is the use of music to tell these larger-than-life emotions. So when I hear the orchestra play a score for the first time, it fills me with exhilaration (which is welcome at the end of a long week of tech rehearsals.) And as a soloist, its thrilling to sing with a live band. Sorry, karaoke singers, but being backed by a full orchestra beats singing with a synthesized CD track any day.

In every rehearsal prior to wanderprobe, the actors work only with a pianist. So to go from one instrument to 20 instruments in one day is magical. I can't tell you many actors updated their facebook status that night with "I cried I a little when I heard the orchestra and cast perform 'Put On Your Sunday Clothes' together for the first time." Actually, I can tell you. It was four cast members. But almost everyone commented on those status updates. Trust me, you'll enjoy hearing it just as much as we enjoy performing it.

Piecing the Puzzle together

written by Mo Brady (Barnaby) Feb 24, 2009

This week, the HELLO, DOLLY! Company has been working together a complete a puzzle. Only thepieces of this puzzle are not cardboard, and they don't fit together to form a photograph of a toy poodle or a New England landscape. Our puzzle pieces are the scenes and songs of our show, which we have been slowly but surely putting together, one day at a time.

For the last week, our rehearsal days have been spilt into one or two hour sections. Each section of time is used to stage a scene or choreograph a specific song. Most of the time, these daily schedule do not follow the order of the script, but how to accomplish as much as possible each day. On top of that, each day may include costume fittings, makeup design appointments, or publicity appearances. Trying to piece this all together creates a puzzle more challenging than the hardest game of Sudoku. It often takes many people, from stage management to the directors and their assistants, to create each days rehearsal schedule.

Add into the mix that you never know exactly how long it will take to block a scene or choreograph a dance. Sometimes a three-page scene will take an hour to block, if you begin to really delve into the subtext. And sometimes a song will seem to choreograph itself, and be completed in half the time you've scheduled. Although the success of finishing a rehearsal early is often short lived, as you inevitably move onto another portion of the play that needs to be completed or refined.

Recently our daily schedules have included sections from both acts of the show. On a typical day, we might begin the morning working on a Waiter's dance in Act II, followed by a full cast production number, and finishing the morning with smaller singing or scenework. Then after lunch, we might try running Act I in order, and end the day by reviewing another dance number. Although we tackle a different set of songs and scenes each day, the general flow seems to stay the same from day to day.

Creating a theatre production feels a little like sculpting a statue. Each rehearsal is an opportunity to chisel away at a song or scene, one piece at a time until the work of art is completed. Somedays you start carving the feet, and move upwards. Other days, you take your chisel to the arms and move around to the back. But eventually, the entire work will be completed in a way that audience won't see which section you worked on first: only the complete piece as a whole.

Photo adventures of Barnaby & Cornelius

Entry by Mo Brady (Barnaby) March 2, 2009

As an actor, I've had some great first entrances on stage. I've emerged from lockers, slid down banisters, and scaled down brick walls in various shows to make my first appearance on the set. But HELLO, DOLLY! gives me my first chance to enter from "the pit," the space below the stage. , Greg McCormick Allen (who plays Cornelius) and I took some photos to show you how the twists and turns we make into get to our "places."

Greg and I share a dressing room with Matt Owen, our Ambrose Kemper. Our room is on the second floor of the Theatre, above the Brooks Brothers store in the Skinner Building. Our first entrance in the show isn't until the Scene Two, which gives us a bit more time to get dressed, style our hair, or (in my case) take pictures of ourselves in the mirror.

When we hear Jenifer Lewis begin singing "I Put My Hand In," that's our cue to make any last minute costume adjustments, grab a cough drop, and head out of dressing room (Hey! That's me!)


We twist and turn on our way to the stage, walking through the green room, past the wardrobe and sound desks, the water cooler, and the sound booth (where offstage vocalists sing), and to the stairwell.

Passing the entrance to the stage, we head down one more flight, into the catacombs of the Skinner Building. (You can tell its dark because I forgot to turn on the camera flash.)

Here we are in the pit. Its a large, mostly empty room, virtually the same size as the stage. The ceilings are also very high, to house any large scenery that may come up from the floor. However, in HELLO, DOLLY!, the only two things coming out of the floor are Greg and I.

Since the ceilings are so high, we climb two ladders to reach the bottom of the stage. (Be careful, Greg! Use the handrail!)

Our platform is so high up in the air, it feels like a treehouse. We like our little home in the floor, so we're a bit protective of it. That's why we made this sign. NO GIRLS ALLOWED...


... except, of course, our Jessi, our wonderful Production Assistant. She's down in the clubhouse with us, talking to the other stage managers on her stylish headset.

Just before our entrance, we crouch below the trap door, and wait for our cue from Jessi.

And just like clockwork, Barnaby and Cornelius pop out of the stage floor and into Vandergelder's Hay and Feed Store. TA DA!

Table Work & Learning Music

Blog entry by Mo Brady (Barnaby) 2/19/09

Hello from Hello, Dolly!

The 5th Avenue is back in the rehearsal studio, preparing for their next big production from the golden age of Broadway: Hello, Dolly! --and I am lucky enough to once again be along for the ride.

Although rehearsals for the principles began almost two weeks ago, today was our first day of rehearsal with the full cast. Until this point, the company had been layering in small groups of actors little by little.

For the first few days, just the principle cast was called for rehearsals. The schedule for these rehearsals consisted primarily of "table work" - where actors literally sit around tables with our director, David Armstrong, just to speak through the lines and to discuss the plot, situation, our characters and their motivations. This is a good time to discuss the historical context of the story, as well when major information in the plot is revealed. Basically, its a great opportunity to get everybody on the same page. Literally.

For me, table work is influenced primarily by the script - looking at the lines and thinking of how I can say them in the most realistic way. I always figure that if the director has done a good job, he has cast me because he sees a lot of myself in the role. So I try to encounter at the situations in the plot as I would encounter them myself. Of course, there are some technical things that go through my head, such as being aware of where the jokes are. Also, since I recently played another shy and goofy teenager in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, I am hyper aware of how the two characters can be different. But essentially, table work is about finding the truth in the text.

Then we began to learn music, learning harmonies and cut-offs, marking in our music the lyrics that Joel Fram, our wonderfully meticulous music director, wants us to emphasize. I'm a sucker for music direction, and I enjoy his passionate take on breath marks and ending consonants. He's the kind of music director that turns the work of being particular with your notes and your lyrics into a game. Its hard not to get excited when you see the way Joel conducts.

And as the throngs of dancing waiters began staging their leaps and turns, the principles began putting the scenes on their feet (or in my case, on my knees, a lot of the time. Again, it seems that shy and goofy teenagers crawl around on the floor a lot). Most of this work takes place simultaneously, in separate rehearsal studios. Today, I was joking around with Troy Wageman, a friend and fellow cast member, that even though we had both been called for four rehearsal days, we hadn't yet been in the same rehearsal room at the same time.

Finally, today was the first day that the female ensemble joined us. Seeing the legions of waiters and cooks and society ladies - almost forty cast members in total - was almost overwhelming, and definitely exciting. This day's rehearsal culminated in another read through of the script. This read through is quite the event: all of the actors sitting around with scripts on music stands, reading the lines and singing the songs together for the first time. I should say, everyone was sitting, except our fantastic Dolly Levi, played by Jenifer Lewis. She was strutting and marching all over the room, to the delight of the cast and our small audience alike.

Now that everybody is called for rehearsals, we can begin to stage the large production numbers, such as "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" and "Before The Parade Passes By." We only have seven more days in the rehearsal studios before we get to the stage. It'll be a busy week, full of blocking and staging - quite the task with over 40 bodies to choreograph. But having the full cast at rehearsal is motivation for all of us, and should propel us to complete the task by the end of next week.



Tracee Beazer (Minnie Fay), Suzanne Bouchard (Irene Malloy), Mo Brady (Barnaby) and Greg McCormick Allen (Cornelius) enjoy the read through.
photo credit Neil Badders (Ensemble)

Mo Brady ...back to the backstage blog!

Mo was an avid backstage-blogger for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and spent the time during Memphis: The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll as Assistant to the Director!

We're excited to have Mo back on stage for this upcoming production, starring stage & screen's Jenifer Lewis and Seattle's own Pat Cashman.

When asked about his favorite places to eat around the theatre, he replied:

"I love happy hour! Dragonfish and Palomino's especially. Give me $2 Miso Soup or $5 Pizza and I'm set. I'm Jimmy John's all the time now. Their Beach Club is great (no mayo, please). Plus, I'm a sucker for a black white and cookie from Speciality's."


Mo joined by some fellow cast members.
Left to Right, Maya RS Perkins (Ensemble), Mo Brady (Barnaby), Steven Reed (Associate Choreographer) and Tracee Beazer (Minnie Fay)

Snowpocalypse!

I just walked in the door to my house for the first time in three days, because I spent this weekend camped out at The 5th Avenue Theatre (not literally, thankfully.)

A week ago, when I used a can artificial frost spray of to write "MO & WES ROCK!" on our dressing room window, I wouldn't have imagined it would have beckoned such a down pouring of the real white stuff. In downtown Seattle, we've received a good half foot of snow: enough to watch police cars get stuck in front of the theatre, and to watch cross country skiers glide down Union Street on a Saturday afternoon.

That evening, some of our Brides who live in Bothell and Redmond began what has become a four-night stay at downtown hotels. By Saturday evening, most of our cast, crew, and orchestra were avoiding the icy roads by camping out downtown.

This impromptu slumber party, combined with our stage manager's birthday on Saturday, resulted in one of the most surreal experiences in my recent memory: almost thirty members of company creating a party in the wardrobe department, complete with snacks, an ipod stereo, and a dance floor. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Although this weekend has felt like a strange version of theatre camp, we are all ready to get out of downtown and to go back home. This morning, I'm glad to be back at my house, in my bed, with a fresh change of clothes. But this experience has really bonded our company together: sharing the wacky weather and impromptu overnights has helped this experience even more memorable.

-- -M0 Brady (Gideon)

Getting in The Groove

Our second week of performances came and went with great energy both on the stage and in the house. The buzz of opening night has died down, but positive reviews keep trickling in (including a certain Seattle Weekly blog post that my family cannot stop talking about.) It feels like we're settling into a place where the excitement of performing this story feels normal.

However, we're already half-way through the run of our show. In total, we have 31 performances (I think), and tonight's show will be number 17. I enjoy longer runs: my second show at The 5th Avenue was a show that toured into elementary schools around Washington and Oregon, and that run lasted four months. With shows at 9:00 AM. In Ashford, WA. If you even know where that is. And I liked it.

So, although we're only two weeks into our run, we're finding our groove. Now that I'm not trying to remember the changes we made during tech, or where my next costume change is, or how I can sneak a drink of water before my next entrance, I have enough energy to do what I love during a long run: explore my character's involvement with other characters onstage.

Now, when a director opens a show, he or she typically "freezes" the staging. Which means, their watchful and discerning eye has created the best show possible with the actors involved in this production. And it's our job as actors to maintain that high quality of work throughout every performance.

But it is also generally understood that the more time an actor spends in scenework with his fellow performers, the more truth he is able to derive from each onstage moment. This is a combination of 1.) feeling comfortable in my character's skin, and 2.) knowing the show enough to be truly present onstage, allow for some new moments to occur between me and my fellow actors.

As I wrote before, Luke Longacre and I used rehearsals and tech to create a lot of specific non-verbal communication through our opening scenes. For example, when I admit to Milly that "I've thought about being with a girl of my own," most of the other brothers laugh at me. But I give him a silent plea that helps motivate his next line, an admission that "we don't know how to talk to girls."

This week, Luke and I have found a few more moments that cement the relationships and motivations of our characters. When we enter the harvest social, we have a whole new section of quiet dialogue about meeting the girls, motivating my attempt to procure a pie in order to meet Alice, my future bride. And in "Where Were You," Luke silently pleads for me to stay and convince Adam not to leave. And I return with a silent shaking of my head as I exit.

All of us Pontipees have found these new moments of motivation. When Karl Warden and I stare each other down before my first solo in "We Got To Make It Through The Winter," it clearly motivates my choreography. And as we enter the harvest social, Wes Hart and I have a thorough discussion about what not to do in front of ladies: no cussin', no fightin', no nudity. (It's funny if you've seen the show...)

These interactions were all created organically, but have quickly become vital to my performance. These moments are (hopefully) so small, that they don't distract from the dialogue, but they do enhance the plot, and our investment in the story we share each night.


-M-

THE REVIEWS ARE IN!

People love our show! Which is great, not only because I love the show (and it's nice to have my opinions confirmed). Every day, I talk to people that are pleasantly surprised by the wonder and warmth of our production. And the reviews only confirm this sense of positivity. I apologize if there was a shortage of copies of The Seattle Times this past Monday. Because that was the day our review was published in it, and I swear my father went out and bought every copy in the Puget Sound area.

I thought one of the nicest reviews we've received was from the Tacoma Weekly because of the shout-outs it gave to so many of the brides and brothers:

"Two of the brothers were outstanding dancers, even in this exalted company. Whenever Daniel (Karl Warden) and Benjamin (Luke Longacre) were dancing, you couldn't see anything else on the stage... The characters' personalities came through, even in the group scenes. Outstanding to me were Meaghan Foy as sweet Alice, partnered with Gideon (Mo Brady), the youngest brother; Amanda Paulson as flirty Dorcas; and Brittany Jamieson as shy Ruth."

From the beginning of the rehearsal process, Allison Narver inspired us to make our characters unique personalities. And I think that this review was proof that our work to create a town full of individuals has paid off.

I can only second that review's praise for my brothers and our brides. I love standing in the wings watching Amanda and Brittany as they drop wood on the feet of their beaus. Their improvised dialogue on whether to feel "sorry" or "not sorry" for injuring Benjamin and Caleb puts a smile on face every time. Luke and Karl are not only vibrant dancers, but simple and beautiful actors. In just the first few scenes, Luke and I share a great amount of unspoken dialogue that helps me establish my character for the rest of the performance. And I can not say enough about Meaghan, who is one part-comedienne, one part-Drill Sergeant, and one-part prima ballerina.

But I want to give praise to some other members of the company that do great work to make Oregon City feel vibrant and real. For example, my cohort in dressing-room-crime, Wes Hart, has me in stitches every night, both on and off the stage. When he, as Frank, drops his jaw and glares at Milly for teaching us "sissy stuff," it's all I can do to keep a straight face. And his version of "Lonesome Polecat" is so simple and beautiful, especially when he accompanies himself on guitar.

Maya Perkins, who plays Martha, had me in stitches during our first read through, and the way that she and Kyle Patrick Vaughn partner is a sight to behold. They both have technique for days, and I think that Patti's choreography really gives them a chance to show that strength. Every time I watch Kyle's dance during "Lonesome Polecat," I think, "How is it even possible to make such amazing dance look so effortless?"

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I love the way Christian Duhamel slowly curls his hand into a fist upon his introduction to Adam Pontipee (and in time to the music, no less!) Vickielee Wohlbach cracks me up during her bedside scene with Amanda. And paragraphs could be written on Shanna Palmer's spunky strut alone.

I think we're lucky to have such a dedicated group of actors in this project. Allison and Patti created an environment that encourages us to go out there and play (realistically, of course). And when you see the show, I think you'll be able to tell that we are truly, honestly having a great time.

--- Mo Brady (Gideon)

A DAY OFF

And on the seventh day, we rested. And it was good.

Very, very good.

The show is open! And it is really a great show. And the first weekend of performances came off swimmingly. Other than a few minor wardrobe malfunctions and a couple of twisted ankles, our show has left the metaphorical train station and is cruising towards Christmas at full speed. Have you seen the YouTube video of our Challenge Dance? It's friggin fierce. I watched it backstage yesterday, before our first show and got chills.

And let me tell you, when each performance begins, it doesn't pause until its over. I am lucky in that my first entrance isn't until 20 minutes into the first act. But once I hit the stage, I don't leave it. When I'm not in a scene or a dance, I'm backstage changing costumes. And there are a lot of very fast costume changes. If you see any of us actors exiting the stage in a surprisingly hurried fashion, its probably because we're running towards one of the dressers, stripping off shirts, pants, and boots in the process.




This is a much bigger technical show than I would have anticipated. I think when you read the script, it's easy to think, "Well, it's just a bunch of scenes in a forest. That should be easy." But it's not. During tech, it took hours just to coordinate the timing of those tree sliders crossing back and forth across the stage. And the snow that falls downstage, midstage, and upstage, all in different amounts at different times seems like a feat unto itself. I've got to hand it to our stage managers, Bret, Michael, and Amy, as well as Laurel, Diana, and all the fierce and funny crew backstage. Because they are working just as hard as we are, but for more hours each day.

The schedule of the last week has been exhausting: afternoon rehearsals and evening performances, leading into five shows in three days. And I've been dealing with a sore throat to boot. So before each show, I've been sitting in front of a humidifier, or gargling concoctions of cayenne pepper and ginger root and lemon juice (yuck), or sneaking Ricolas into my cheeks every chance I get. But my lack of health hasn't seemed to affect the show yet. Phew.

I'm surprised at the number of people I know that are REALLY EXCITED to see the show. My Facebook wall is filled with notes from people excited to see the show, or excited to have seen the show, or that are just excited that I'm in the show. And I'm excited too, although that excitement has mostly manifested itself in fear. Even after we opened, I was still spending my rare offstage moments worried that I going to forget something.

It wasn't until last night's performance that my nerves left. I was finally able to feel confident that I AM going to remember all of the dance moves and the costume changes, and have incorporated all of the notes from previews. I was able to go out there and have fun. Which was AWESOME.

So I'm grateful to be a part of this big aforementioned metaphorical train we call "747." But today, what I'm REALLY grateful for is a day off.

--
- Mo Brady (Gideon)

FIRST PREVIEW

I just got home from our first preview. It was simultaneously nerve-racking and thrilling. And sweaty - it was also very, very sweaty.

The past couple of days have been full of excitement. In the past 36 hours, we:
a.) Ran the show for the first time with all the technical elements.
b.) Sang with the orchestra for the first time.
c.) Had our first and only dress rehearsal with the orchestra.
Part of being a professional is being able to pick things up quickly, because you might only get one chance to try something before you put it in front of an audience. But even with the steep learning curve of the last two days, things were on track for a successful first preview tonight.

I've performed in a handful of 5th Avenue shows before, but never in a role as big as this one. There's a lot to remember, not only in terms of choreography, but also harmonies, blocking, and character arcs. And that's just the performing - there's just as much to remember about entrances, exits, costume changes, picking up props, and moving set pieces as there is character work.

Just before tonight's performance began, I sat in my dressing room looking in the mirror. I suddenly thought about the great task ahead of me in the pending performance and thought, "How in the hell am I going to do this? I'm going to forget every single line, dance, and song. This is ridiculous. I'm going home and going to bed."

Well, I didn't end up fleeing the Theatre, And luckily, I didn't forget everything. (Although I did forget one very brief, but obvious move in "Goin' Courtin'," but since I'm pretty far offstage at that point, hopefully all eyes were towards center stage.... Hopefully.) But for most of the show, my body took over.

All the work memorizing, repeating and reviewing came together for a pretty spectacular performance. The applause at the end of "The Challenge Dance" felt like an ocean - waves of sound rippling from the audience onto the stage. My real estate agent, who saw tonight's performance, sent me an e-mail stating, "I WANT TO KISS YOU, YOU WERE SO GOOD!" Considering he's a 50-year-old straight man, I'll take that as a compliment.


--
Mo Brady (Gideon)

A VERY PONTIPEE THANKSGIVING

As I left the Theatre Wednesday night, I thought, "Dang. A whole morning to myself tomorrow! The Broadway show performances in the Macy's Day parade end at 10:00 a.m., and family dinner isn't til 3:00 p.m. What am I going to do?" Maybe it was my desire to think about Seven Brides without a BlackBerry in hand. Or maybe it was that we had just teched the scene in which I wear only a dance belt and blanket, and felt some serious cardio was in order. But however it happened, I decided that I'd go for a hike. I figured Little Si would be a good choice: Away from town, only two hours on the trail, and you get a view at the end. Sounded perfect. So I hopped in my car and headed East.

As I got out of the car and began scaling the first switchback, my mind drifted. It wasn't until the elevation started climbing and the trees became more expansive that I thought, "Wait a second. This looks like the set for Seven Brides. I'm walking through the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Just like my character, Gideon Pontipee, would have done 160 (or so) years ago." I mean, take away the Nikes and strap on a pair of hiking boots, and the similarities were striking.

Go with me on this one, folks. Gideon's a thinker. He's always making lists and quietly assessing the situation. Whether it be with his father figure, Adam, his surrogate mother, Milly, or his new-found love, Alice, Gideon is eager to impress. He can stress himself out, trying to figure out the right thing to say, do, or feel. Which is pretty similar to how I felt this morning. As we gear up towards performances next week, I've been stressing myself out about character arcs and line readings and hitting my marks onstage.

So, while scaling Little Si, I channeled my inner Gideon, using the forest around me as inspiration. I started speaking lines out loud and going through songs, stopping when I saw another hiker coming towards me (and hoping they hadn't heard my rendition of "Love Never Goes Away" from 100 feet away.) I came out of the woods and back to my car with some new thoughts on Gideon and the show.

With this new-found empathy, I trekked back into the city for my family's Thanksgiving dinner. I have six siblings of my own, just like Gideon, so I know what its like to grow up with a big family. I mean, when Milly calls the brothers to dinner at the end of "I Married Seven Brothers," I run onstage and grab as many biscuits as I can get my hands on, because I know there's never enough for seconds in a big family. That's not acting - that's life experience, folks.

Even today's dinner had a striking Pontipee touch. I arrived to find my Aunt and Uncle's cabin-esque home filled with family. And as we squished into the dining room, with serving dishes, noisy conversation, and a lot of laughs circulating the room, I saw my family as Pontipees: brazen, loud, and full of love.

Pretty good for a day of character research, if I do say so myself.

-Mo Brady (Gideon)

Mo Brady (Gideon) - Rehearsal Update

I love the 5th Avenue Theatre. While I have strong feelings of affection for the company, its directors, and staff, I mean specifically the theater building. The auditorium, the lobby, the ceiling: the physical space itself. The first time I walked into the theater was in the mid-1990s, when my family got season tickets. I remember watching shows from high up in the balcony, thinking to myself, "This theater has got to be the coolest place on earth."

As a "recent rising star at the 5th Avenue" (or, at least according to David Armstrong's blog), I'm now familiar with the routine of mounting shows at this theatre. When I worked on Sweeney Todd, Company, and West Side Story, rehearsals began approximately a month before performances. For the first three weeks, we worked in studios on the 4th Floor of the Seattle Center House. Everything from our initial discussions of characters to our first run-through would take place in those studios. It wasn't until our technical rehearsals began, that we would even step foot inside the theater (except for the occasional costume fitting). It was like the theater itself was the carrot dangling at the end of our rehearsal process, motivating us to get to tech.

Rehearsals for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers have been different, in that we've used the theatre's new in-house rehearsal studios. These new studios, located in the basement of the Skinner Building, are great -- lots of room to relax, floor-length mirrors, a kitchen for heating up leftovers for lunch, and a serious lack of the dust bunnies that seem to seep from the walls of the Center House. And outside the studios, we have downtown Seattle, currently decked out in its Holiday glory. No offense to the Center House Food Court - I love me some Kehab House, but rehearsing downtown is a treat. Even so, our first three weeks were not spent in the theater itself, but one floor below. This time, the carrot was dangling even closer, but still just out of reach.

Tonight was our last rehearsal in the downstairs studios. At the end of the evening's run through, Allison Narver (our director and fearless leader), announced to the cast that our show was officially "too big" for the rehearsal room, and therefore we "must" move on to the stage for tomorrow's rehearsal. Of course, that isn't exactly how it works. The production staff carefully schedules our rehearsal schedule months the cast is even assembled. But even so, it was a nice complement and welcome reminder that we were finally moving upstairs and on stage! Tech week, here we come!

-Mo Brady