The pantaloon pump

I can take it as well as the next guy, so here's a video Amy Gray caught of me handing out "direction" to our Gremio, edited and set to music.

My wife can attest, I have no shame:

Amy Gray Photoblog 2

More photos sent to me by cast-member Amy Gray! :)

You may click any of the images to go to Flickr, where you may see full-size photos. Check these out, then grab your tickets to see us at The Taming of the Shrew over opening weekend. Tickets are really going fast, we're expecting opening Friday and Saturday nights to both be sold out soon!

Kate's playlist

Katrina Stevenson, who plays Kate in our production of The Taming of the Shrew, shared with me her inspirado songs for rehearsal. Check 'em out!

Saving Jane - Girl Next Door

Interview with Will Mackenzie

Amy Gray --who plays Biondello, Curtis and the Widow in our version of Shrew -- put me in contact with Will Mackenzie a few weeks back. Will is an old friend of Amy's and a prolific director of stage and screen.

The connection is that I was discussing the Shrew Moonlighting episode (Atomic Shakespeare, season 3), when she let me know she actually new the guy who directed it. I fanboyed out a little, and asked if she might put me in touch. She did, and Will and I managed to exchange some emails before he packed up for his summer vacation.

I led with a story about how I was 12 when I saw the episode. It was maybe the first time I ever thought Shakespeare was or could be cool. It's also a year before I started tinkering seriously with the thought of acting, and two years before I would transfer to a performing arts school.

Here's some of what he had to say:

DJ: I see that Moonlighting writers Osborn and Reno (along with, of course, "Budd" Shakespeare) are credited with writing that episode. I'm curious though if you remember any sort of on-set improvising by the actors or at your coaching? Some of those bits seem so off the cuff, so in the moment that it begs the question.

WM: As far as I remember, there was really no adlibbing or improv on the set because of the rhyme. We did lots of improv in the staging, though. Bruce was always great at coming up with bits and I was given a lot of free reign for staging, although so much was in the original script. This was, in fact, one of the few Moonlighting episodes that Glenn (Caron) didn't rewrite at the last minute, because he was so afraid of screwing up the rhymes. And the actors had to really work to learn the lines and get the meter.

DJ: What's your fondest backstage memory or story from working on that episode?

WM: My fondest memory backstage was staging that "Good Lovin'" because Bruce loved it. He played harmonica and had a band at that time. Those days in the church were probably our most fun on the set.

DJ: How often do people still bring up this episode to you (like I did when I told you the story when I was 12)? Do many random strangers, like myself, get in touch with you to thank you for the impact it made on them or ask you questions about the making of episode?

WM: People haven't mentioned the episode in quite a while. I think because Moonlighting isn't in reruns or syndication. At the time and for about five years later, I got many requests from schools to use it. I remember we all signed releases for it to go to high schools and colleges.

DJ: Sidebar -- In addition to the story I already told you about how it impacted me when I was 12, my mother HATED Moonlighting, so that episode had me hooked from the beginning with the setup between mother and son. ...

WM: I liked your story about you and your mom being similar to the opening. I think it helped set the tongue in cheek stage.

DJ: The ending is obviously far different in context than Shakespeare's, but it works (ed: I asked this question because a few of my cuts for our production change some of the context as well). Do you recall any critical reaction to the way the story was "altered"?

WM: I think the ending was done because of the relationship on Moonlighting. Maddie really was the ball breaker and he was in love with her. He would say it was the sun, if she told him. It brought us back to the real TV characters. I don't remember any serious objections. The show was joyously received. We were lucky because it was about the most expensive hour of TV for that time.

DJ: Thinking on it, you all may have presciently invented the genre mash-up we're now seeing with so much fan-fiction on the internet and books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies with your fusing the stories of Moonlighting and Shrew. :)

WM: We thought at the time: "this is either going be really terrific or a DISASTER! I always think we dodged a bullet! The success of Ron and Jeff's script was that fabulous fusion of Shakespearean patter with Moonlighting patter with a bit of inside Hollywood patter. The cast all jumped on board, luckily.

DJ: Do you have a moment on-screen from that episode that you are most proud of? Something that you worked hard for, or that just came together perfect?

WM: As I said, I think the Young Rascals version of "Good Lovin'" done with a Shakespearean quartet, Bruce so involved and us all singing and jiving in this church was the best! We had SO little rehearsal. Bruce and Cybill had never done Shakespeare before. I watch it now and remember how rushed it all was, but they were very excited to do something so different.

DJ: Do you have any opinions as to why we cling to this type of narrative? It really is a cultural archetype at this point: Kate and Petruchio, David and Maddie, George and Martha, Mulder and Scully - just curious if you have any thoughts as to why we might cling to those figures, or what function they might serve culturally.

WM: I think it all must go back to the battle of the sexes. We're all still fascinated with a good tale about the warring couple either that finally love again or, depending on the playwright, destroy each other. Not sure of the cultural significance, but it's all about one upsmanship!

Thanks so much for your time, Will!

Friday Shrew Photoblog!

Perhaps I take too many pictures during rehearsal?

 Blocking...

 Eating....

 Rehearsing....

 Getting ready to take promo pictures....

 Rehearsals are never dull!

Final performance of reasons to be pretty!

Today, 4pm, we conclude our run of reasons to be pretty.

This has been a true joy to work on, to watch and to bring to the area. If you haven't made it out yet, today is the last day.

"Dayton Sinkia gives a near-perfect performance, one so definitive that I can't imagine [Greg] played by any other actor ... Kari Goetz as Steph is also superb, passionately upset by Greg's remarks and very funny as she tries gamely to restore her lost dignity.... See it with someone you find gorgeous." – Creative Loafing

"Jobsite brought Neil Labute's Tony nominated play to life in a palpable and refreshingly forward thinking manner I've come to expect. Jobsite's wonderfully gifted cast shines once again in this alarmingly relevant production.... I thoroughly enjoyed reasons to be pretty." –OnstageTampa

"Jobsite's reasons to be pretty has plenty of rewards. Few playwrights have LaBute's gift for dialogue, and the writing in the play's most memorable scenes are indeed masterful." – St. Petersburg Times

"The acting was superb and the fight scenes beautifully choreographed..." – Found Randomly

Shrew Photoblog!

I was asked to post to this lovely photoblog of Shrew. I'm very excited to be a part of this production and to see where it goes. -Spencer Meyers, Hortensio.

From my first blocking rehearsal...

Playing around with apps...

Shrew Photoblog

These are all from our very own Amy Gray, who plays Biondello, Curtis and the Widow.

Getting To Know Baptista

David suggested during our first rehearsal the other night that if we were motivated to write anything about our experiences putting Shrew on stage that we could send it to him to be posted on the Jobsite blog. I'm one of those annoying people who tend to spew tons of information about their lives online, so I figured I'd take advantage of his offer and jot down some of my thoughts as we get started on this process.

Without delving too deeply into my own personal closet of psychological issues, I often find myself feeling slightly out-of-place among the talented people I've had the pleasure of sharing the stage with in my years as part of the Jobsite ensemble. Part of this is due to the fact that I haven't had much in the way of formal theater training outside of high school. I took some classes at the Polk Community College, but that was the extent of it. This tends to make me sometimes feel like I'm the rube that just happens to keep getting work professionally. You'd think that after 10 years as a member of the theater community here in Tampa I'd have gotten over that. You'd be wrong.

Welcome to the funky place that is my brain.

Our first rehearsal for this show was a prime example of that. Several of my fellow cast members mentioned during a round table discussion that this was their first professional Shakespearean production. I pointed out that this was my first Shakespearean production EVER.

An exciting and nerve-wracking situation to be in, to say the least.

I wasn't originally slated to play Baptista. David initially offered me the role of Hortensio, but due to some unfortunate casting difficulties he asked me if I would be willing to switch. I wasn't particularly married to playing Hortensio so I didn't have a problem in swapping to make things easier for the company. I must admit that there is a small part of me that hopes Mark Leib repeats the criticism he made of my casting in Maxwell and points out that there's no way I could be Katrina's father, but beyond my angst over not wanting to look “old” I'm fine with the change.

I don't want Baptista to just be a horrible father. I think that's an “easy” way to play the character. Baptista could be played as yet another chauvinistic man in Katharina's life. A thoughtless father who doesn't give a damn about his older daughter and only wants to marry her off so that he no longer has to worry about her. Someone who believes his daughter is as horrible as everyone else does and is happy to see her broken at the end of the show. As someone who IS a Father this is an unappealing choice that I think would ultimately play stereotypical and boring.

In my mind, Baptista treated Katharina like the son he never had. I believe that the source of much of her rebellion is rooted in the fact that her Father didn't put the restrictions of “proper” and “lady-like” behavior on her until it was far too late. I think he feels a great deal of guilt over that fact - That he failed Katharina and put her at a disadvantage when it comes to finding a husband. I think this is one of the reasons why he tolerates her actions. Secretly, however, I believe that Baptista is proud of the way that she is. I think this is particularly evident during the dinner scene at the end of the play, when he is convinced that Petruchio will not win the bet. At the current time, I see that last scene as something sad for Baptista. Like Petruchio, I think the Baptista recognizes what a huge loss it is to see Kate changed so drastically.

Kate gets some of her fire from her Father. Even though you don't see it much in the context of the play, there are moments when it has the potential to show through. There is one moment in particular where she is pushing him (by continuing to abuse Bianca after he has attempted to break up the fight) and he turns on her. There are some interesting things that can be explored in that moment, depending on what Katrina has in her head at the time. It could be a place where she shows remorse over making her father sad. Conversely, I could play it as a moment of genuine anger and the audience can see where she inherited some of her fire from.

Something else I've noticed – Kate has a lot in common with the Disney Princesses we've been raised with. What is it about story tellers who seem to operate under the belief that women who aren't raised with a Mother are the only ones who have the ability to be rebellious and/or independent? Is there something about having a Mom that stamps out any fire in young women?? I'm assuming that Kate's Mom is not around, anyway, as she isn't mentioned at all in the show.

There are two reasons why Baptista treats Bianca differently. The first, and most obvious, is that she is the youngest. Stereotypes tend to be based in some sort of reality, and the fact is that in most households I am aware of the youngest children get the most attention (I'm especially aware of this from BEING that spoiled younger child). Bianca also reminds Baptista of his (deceased? missing? traveling the universe in a TARDIS?) wife, and while I by no means think there is any kind of incestuous love there (there's room enough for that in other Shakespearean plays) I do believe there is a level of affection toward Bianca that would not be there if his wife was around.

That's pretty much the sum of my thoughts at the moment. I'm getting together with David to discuss things further tomorrow night, so perhaps I'll have more to share after that. We've only had a few rehearsals so far, but I'm really excited to put this all together and see where I eventually end up with the character.