Not only is Bruce a FINE performer, but insightful, intelligent and generous! Check this out... can you tell we filmed this 45 minutes before he went on for the FIRST TIME? What a Pro!
YouTube Interview with Bruce Sabath
Not only is Bruce a FINE performer, but insightful, intelligent and generous! Check this out... can you tell we filmed this 45 minutes before he went on for the FIRST TIME? What a Pro!
10 Minute Q & A with BRUCE SABATH - OR - Wall Street's Loss is Our Gain!
Full Given Birth Name?
- Bruce Guggenheim Sabath – Guggenheim is my Mom’s maiden name, and even though all her relatives have names like William, George and Samuel, we don’t seem to be at all related to any copper fortune.
Where ya' from?
- Rochester, NY – Kodak Town!
All time favorite Band or Singer?
- James Taylor – I’m a guitar player, and listening to his music, and trying to play his riffs is really how I taught myself as a kid
Favorite Role you ever Played?
- Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon
Favorite moment in HA?
- So many, but I have to give it to the Nurse’s climax and, um, “aftershocks” in the scene with the College Boy. Brilliant.
Pets?
- A shelter dog (sort of a cockapoo) named Chase, and an orange tabbycat named Simba.
First Equity Contract Role?
- John Dickinson in 1776 at West Virginia Public Theatre, exactly ten years ago, this summer!
Favorite Breakfast Food?
- Bacon. Or Lox. No, definitely bacon.
Most Played Song on your iTunes? Answer truthfully, don't try to be cool.
- “Fantasy” by Earth, Wind and Fire
Performer you most want to work with? Dream BIG!
- A toss-up between two Kevins: Spacey and Kline
Wackiest On Stage moment EVER?
- In the 2006-07 Broadway revival of Company, the “color palette” was most definitely monochrome – black, whites, glass and chrome. So one night, the lighting system went haywire, and the scrollers (the computer-controlled motors that change the colored gels on the lights) started running through every color in the rainbow through most of the opening number. It looked like we were doing the show in a disco - definitely a bit different from what we were used to. It was as if the ghosts of the theatre were paying homage to the psychedelic lighting effects of the seventies, when Company was born.
The Theatre Bug bit me...
- at age 11 when I got to sing in the “urchin’s chorus” in Act II of La Boheme at the Rochester Opera. Then at 13, I got to play Tevye in “scenes from Fiddler on the Roof” in a middle school chorus concert. By the way, I played that role in high school and again in college, and I can’t wait to play it at a more realistic age!
Have you ever wanted to be something other than an actor?
- Well, that’s a question I don’t even have to speculate on, because for a long time, Iwasn’t an actor. I was passionate about acting in high school, spending most of my spare time on stage, but I pretty much gave it up when I got to college, believing that I should “grow up” and do something “serious”. So I studied applied math and computer science, then got my MBA, and spent many years as a Wall Street investment banker and then as a corporate strategist. It all made sense! But I finally figured out I was barking up the wrong tree, and came back to my first love. I left my last “hi-rise job” at American Express, and spent two years studying intensively with Bill Esper and other brilliant mentors. That was thirteen years ago. I’m so happy to have seen the light!
Secret Talent, that few know about you?
- I do Muppet voices – from Kermit to Cookie Monster.
Photos from Hello Again
Sarah Ackerman stopped by Hello Again to take some gorgeous production photos! Check out what all the buzz is about!
Elizabeth Stanley as "The Nurse"
Elizabeth Stanley as "The Nurse"
Alexandra Silber as "The Young Wife"
Alexandra Silber as "The Young Wife" &
Nikka Graff Lanzarone as "The Whore"
Bob Stillman as "The Husband"
Blake Daniel as "The Young Thing" &
Bob Stillman as "The Husband"
Bruce Sabath as "The Husband"
Jonathan Hammond as "The Writer"
Jonathan Hammond as "The Writer" &
Blake Daniel as "The Young Thing"
Jonathan Hammond as "The Writer" &
Rachel Bay Jones as "The Actress"
Rachel Bay Jones as "The Actress"
Nikka Graff Lanzarone as "The Whore"
The Final Moment of Hello Again
The Cast and Crew of Hello Again
10 Minute Q & A with BLAKE DANIEL
- Full Given Birth Name?
- Blake Andrew Daniel
- Where ya' from?
- I grew up in White County, Georgia.
- All time favorite Band or Singer?
- I’m terrible at picking favorites when it comes to music, but right now I’m really into the mariachi band that plays on the A train in Washington Heights and Bon Iver.
- Do you believe in Ghosts? If it's a scary story, spill it?
- I have lived a ghostless life, but I’m open to/scared of the idea.
- If you could play any other part in HA, what would it be?
- If we’re disregarding gender, I think I’d want to play The Nurse. But no one could do it better than Elizabeth Stanley.
- Favorite moment in HA? It's allowed to be something you're in. :)
- Getting to stand on the side of the room and watch Scene 9 between The Actress (Rachel Bay Jones) and The Senator (Alan Campbell). I feel like I get a free masterclass watching them every night.
- Pets?
- Sadly, no pets. My parents have three cats back home in Georgia that they have replaced my sister and me with, but that’s it.
- First Equity Contract Role?
- I got extremely lucky and was cast as Ernst in Spring Awakening a few months after I graduated high school in 2007.
- Favorite Breakfast Food?
- All of them. Mainly sausage, biscuits, bacon, coffee, and salmon+cream cheese omelets.
- Most Played Song on your iTunes? Answer truthfully, don't try to be cool.
- I have the Touch of Death when it comes to electronics, so I’ve crashed a few laptops. On my current computer’s iTunes (containing 42 songs) it’s “Rumour Has It” by Adele, which has been played 3 times.
- Performer you most want to work with? Dream BIG!
- I’m a big fan of Carey Mulligan, I think she is so great.
- In High School, I was considered a _________________ .
- Samantha.
- Wackiest On Stage moment ever?
- So far, nothing crazy has happened in Hello Again. But in Spring Awakening I once slipped on a broken piece of flower during the funeral scene in Act II and almost fell into the grave.
- Worst Rehearsal Mishap ever?
- When Al Silber popped the rehearsal air mattress with her heel during sex with Bob Stillman after “Tom” and it sounded like a long fart but they kept going until they reached the ground.
Check out exclusive video of Hello Again at NY1
Bruce Sabath joins the cast of Hello Again
Exclusive Interview with The Whore
Metro New York stops by Hello Again and has an exclusive interview with Nikka Graff Lanzarone, "The Whore". Check it out at : http://www.metro.us/newyork/blog/post/819984--hello-again-to-a-rising-star
A Gentleman caller - chatting with Bob Stillman
A few minutes with one of the wittiest and most talented Actors we know. Meet Bob Stillman, our "Husband."
The Reviews Are In!
Read the reviews of Hello Again at http://www.transportgroup.org/cms/HelloAgainPress.php.
Check out what people are saying about the Men and Women of Hello Again!
Check out what people are saying about the Men and Women of Hello Again!
Photos from our talkback
Check out photos from our talkback with Ira Weitzman, Associate Producer of Musical Theater at Lincoln Center, and Michael John LaChiusa!
Michael John & Ira take audience questions.
Fascinating tidbits about the evolution of 'Hello Again'.
Michael John and Ira.
The Audience was both large and lucky! To hear the stories about the 'Infamous Scene 8'...
Elizabeth Stanley, Rachel Bay Jones, Robert Lenzi, Michael John Lachiusa, Ira Weitzman, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Blake Daniel, Alexandra Silber and Jack Cummings III after the talkback.
Photos from opening night!
Check out pictures from our opening night party. Friends, fans, and a giant cake!
CAKE!
Nikka Graff Lanzarone and her gorgeous friend, Amy Jo Jackson!
Bob Stillman (The Husband), Lori Fineman (Executive Director, Transport Group) and Broadway Favorite, Barbara Walsh (& Wife of Transport Group, Artistic Director and Director of 'Hello Again', Jack Cummings III)
Blake Daniel and friends
Now really... could this group be any more GORGEOUS?
Michelle Pawk, John Dossett (the original 'Actress & Senator' in Hello Again) and our 'Writer' Jonathan Hammond
The 'Hello Again' Family, gets ready to cut the cake!
Our Genius Leader, Jack Cummings III brandishes a blade. We sighed with relief when it was only to cut the cake.
Playbill.com interviews Alan Campbell ("The Senator")
Our own 'Senator' dishing about life, musicals and... gummi bears? Click here to read the article!(http://www.playbill.com/news/article/148760-PLAYBILLCOMS-CUE-A-Hello-Agains-Alan-Campbell)
TDF stops by and covers Hello Again
(http://wp.tdf.org/index.php/2011/03/a-very-intimate-hello-again/)
Playbill.com visits the Transport Group Gala
(http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery/2235/?pnum=1)
Adaumbelle's Quest interviews Alexandra Silber ("The Young Wife")
Check out the article here!
(http://adaumbellesquest.squarespace.com/interviews/2011/3/13/alexandra-silber.html)
Tech Week
Labels:
Creative Process,
Jack Cummings III,
Krista Williams,
Michael John LaChiusa,
Tech Week
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| The team figuring out a scene change |
Prior to this point, the actors may have been rehearsing in a separate rehearsal hall, or on the stage but without all technical elements present. At this point in the rehearsal process, it is expected that the creative aspects of the production are ready. Actors have their lines memorized; lights, sound, scenery, and costumes have been designed and completely constructed. If the production is a musical, then the orchestra has rehearsed the music completely, and any dancers are prepared with their choreography memorized. During technical week all of the various technical elements are fully implemented, making the rehearsals very similar to the actual performance.
The purpose of tech week is to rehearse the show with all technical elements in place. This allows the actors to become familiar with the set and costumes, the technical production crew to iron out unforeseen problems, and the director to see how everything comes together as an artistic whole. Tech week is when practical problems with the implementation of production elements are discovered. For example, an actor may report that their costume restricts their movement or that a hand prop is overly cumbersome. A set door that performed fine the week before may bang shut too loudly now that there are live microphones on the stage.
Rehearsals during technical week generally start just after lunch and often run until midnight or later. The first few rehearsals are characterized by the frequent stopping and starting of scenes so that the technical crew can practice their necessary duties (such as executing their cues or scene changes correctly). That the director will make major changes to various artistic elements during technical week is the rule, rather than the exception. Everything that goes wrong during a rehearsal is expected to be fixed by the next day.
The repetition and the long hours make tech week tiring (and sometimes tedious) for the actors. For the technicians, it is the most hectic part of a show's run, as they are forced to do a massive amount of work getting timings and cues correct, often without having seen the scenes in their entirety. Tech week is a very stressful time for all involved in a production. As the week wears on, sleep deprivation increases and tempers often wear thin.
Once the show is running smoothly, the last one or two rehearsals of technical week are often dress
rehearsals open to the public in which the play is performed completely, sometimes with the audience purchasing discounted tickets.
* * *
This is one of the most exciting stages of creating a piece of theatre: watching everyone's weeks and months of hard work come together over a week of twelve to fifteen hour days to create the three hour musical you see when you come to the theatre!
The crew and stage management team will show up around 8am (if not earlier) to set up all of the props, furniture and set pieces they have already collected from the property designer the night before-- the crew has already been building the set for over three days. Usually they create a stage right and stage left prop table, complete with labels detailing every single prop and it's location. Buuuuuut our Hello Again set is more than simply setting up the already established theatre space! In this production tech week becomes even more complicated because the staging is site-specific (most simply defined as "a performance which exists in a particular place." However, there remains a widespread debate about any more precise a definition. Some argue that any performance which takes place outside a theatre can be labeled site-specific. Other more rigorous practitioners argue that the title can only be applied to a production which has been developed in, developed from, and performed in, a specific place). As a result, there are a watershed of further complications to contend with.
Around the same time, the Wardrobe department bring in and prepare the costumes, they label and deliver each costume to the designated actor dressing rooms. They prepare to iron, sew and alter and discard as needed throughout the day. Costumes often change drastically throughout the technical process because lights, distance, mood, coloring often affect the visual results one cannot grasp out of context.
The lighting team has set up their lighting board and has begun to assess the set and what lights are available, and they begin work immediately. In this particular production, there was a real challenge with lighting because there is no traditional theatrical lighting per se-- it is entirely lit with ambient lights such as lamps, light bulbs and even lighting from the street itself.
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| the sound team |
And speaking of the orchestra, the very first step in a musical tech is the Sitzprobe (meaning: is a German term used in opera and musical theatre to describe a seated rehearsal where the singers sing with the orchestra, focusing attention on integrating the two groups [literally, sitting and probing the music]. It is often the first rehearsal where the orchestra and singers rehearse together. The equivalent Italian term is prova all'italiana.)
We then take the show, moment by moment, detailing every single technical aspect until it is just right, only moving on when we are all happy with it. There is tremendous pressure to do it quickly, because it is always important to remember that the first preview is Friday evening. Yikes!
And in our case, the living composer, Michael John LaChiusa will be a part of the previewing process, and that of course adds a pressure and excitement of its own!
Jack Cummings III, director, on working with the composer:
"Having any author present for your first run-through in the space is always a bit nerve wracking to say the least. As a director, you have your own anxiety but then you also start to take on the actors' anxieties as well which can put one's stomach on overload. But Michael John is very attuned to fellow artists and is ultimately generous and supportive. The great thing is he always has clear specific notes and so, in the end, multiple anxieties included, I love it when he's in the room. "
Jack Cummings III
There are multiple concerns in a musical: can you move and dance safely on the floor? Is it too slippery? too tacky? uneven? can we hear the orchestra? can they hear us? can we hear ourselves? Can we see in the dark? Can we make that quick change? Can we get to the other side of the stage in time to make our entrance? Will this hairstyle withstand rigorous fake sex? Can I breathe and sing and dance properly in this corset? Where should I exit? Who is the best person to set the props in this scene? Do the costumes look right in this lighting state? How will we handle this quick costume change?
Krista Williams, The Transport Group's in-house Dramaturg on tech week:
"A certain amount of insanity defines the week before any production opens, and site specific productions bring their own host of challenges, the space is just beginning to reveal all the ways in which it will and will not cooperate with you! And as we hit a seeming endless number of ceilings: budget, hours in a day, space restrictions, total exhaustion as rehearsals continue into the next day... I think what's amazing about this creative team and staff is how fundamentally unshaken they are by the chaos. The cast, the designers, and Jack [Cummings III--director], Chris [Fenwick--musical director] and Scott [Rink-- choreographer] all continue to offer creative and insightful solutions to the myriad of issues that arise continuing to be functional and even inspired hours after the Starbucks on the block closes down for the night. I think everyone is energized by their love of the music and the story and by a cast that is just disgustingly talented. And I think there is a fearless simplicity to [this] approach to staging that comes primarily from a trust of the extraordinary performers and material — no one is ever trying to distract you from bad acting or weak storytelling because there isn't any! The design is so brave, and the space so alive, and the performers so courageous, that you can't even check the time at 1:30 am at end of a loooooonnngggg rehearsal day because you don't want to look away even for a second."
The theatre is a tremendously complicated thing, but it is a series of delectable and sometimes maddening problems to solve, all in the name of art. It is always fascinating to think about what has gone in to creating the finished product on the stage that you see when you walk in ready to enjoy it.
And we certainly hope you do! See you in "the space" very soon...
*
"The drama is not dead but liveth, and contains the germs of better things."
--William Archer, About the Theatre
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| what happens when you tech very very late into the night... |
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