Wonder Week - Day 4

Wonder Week was exactly what Roger said it would be -- a chance to meet more people in five days than you normally would be able to in five years. It was inspiring, occasionally intimidating, and always exhausting. We also got to know each other a lot better as a group (the "Fab Four" as Roger refers to us) and we saw a ton of theatre.

We met with a casting director, an agent, four different artistic directors, a literary manager, an SDC union rep, a program director at New Dramatists, a Broadway producer, and probably a few more which I can't remember. We had dinner with the design team of Lifetime Burning directed by DL alumna Pam McKinnon and then went to see the show at Primary Stages. I loved this, because I was able to look out for design elements in the show that otherwise I might have missed (such as the brand of shoe a character was wearing, or the angle of the window frame), and know the "back story" of how those choices were made. Another great session was with Jon Marans and DL alumnus Jonathan Silverstein, the playwright/director team of The Temperamentals at The Barrow Group, which we also saw. Jon and Jonathan were very open about their collaboration, which obviously paid off in the creation of a really fluid and clear production.

The week also gave me a chance to get to know Mike, Laura, and Ed better. It's remarkable to me that we were all picked by the same panel for this fellowship, and yet we are all so different. We have different backgrounds, different kinds of work we are drawn to, and different goals for our careers. But the collegial, non-competitive atmosphere of the fellowship has helped us become something pretty rare -- an ensemble of directors, a group I know I can turn to for support and advice. I can't wait for DirectorFest so we can actually share work with one another. (There are times when four directors doing something together can be exactly what you would think it would be... Try sending four directors into Staples to choose one packet of Thank You cards ... it almost came to blows.)

We also saw a ton of theatre, including many shows I have wanted to see for a while. It seemed like every show we saw was directed by a DL director. In addition to the two shows mentioned above, we saw Toxic Avenger and Click Clack Moo (both directed by DL alumnus John Rando and associated by DL alumnus -- from last year! -- Wes Grantom), In the Heights, Next to Normal, The Bacchae, Shrek, The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side (at PS122), One of the highlights for me was watching the put-in rehearsal at Billy Elliot (the resident director BT McNicholl) is, you guessed it, a DL alumnus). I was especially fascinated because I am about to start working on what could be (knock on wood) a long-running show, and I am fascinated by how you maintain the original piece but give new actors a chance to explore for themselves. I was surprised to learn how committed the Billy Elliot director was to giving each new actor a chance to find his own performance, rather than just rehash what the last guy did.

Despite occasionally feeling like contestants in Next Top Model (in a good way), Wonder Week was a lot of fun and a great look (a "look-see"?) into the world of professional theatre in NYC. Up next ... our Berkshires retreat!

(posted by David)