August 23rd, 2007- "Moonlight on the Lake" by Kristopher Lencowski

One never knows if the thing that you are creating is going to be any good. When you do Hamlet, you know you've got a winner of a show, you just need to do it justice. However, we are creating a show that is completely new, and it is next to impossible to know if anyone will enjoy this thing until you can begin to see glimpses of the show in its entirety. Today, we did our first run through. The show moves with the light. It starts quite bright and sunny, and as the sun goes down, the issues get more complex, it begins to lose its language in exchange for images and the journey that the audience takes, walking around the cemetery, is inspirational.

I would like to confide here that up to now, there was a lingering doubt in my mind as to whether or not a show in a cemetery could work. Tonight, I got a glimpse at this show in its nearly completed form and it is funny, engaging, inspirational and beautiful. It is going to work. It is extremely satisfying to go through a long process (about a month of rehearsals and six weeks of time) and come out the other side with something interesting. I have to say that Noah Bremer, our stage manager who has had an artistic hand, has been a great help. He's in Chicago right now enjoying a break, but he really helped me to set my compass toward something beautiful.

Anyway, my blog is just to say that we have the show within our grasp, now. We are inviting a number of really great theater artists to give us reactions and help out with the piece. Barbra Berlovitz of Jeune Lune is coming, as well as Jon Ferguson. Also, the Pioneer Press will be covering the show, so we get to see Dominic Papatola soon, too. I'll try to do increased blogs as the show nears.

 

August 14th, 2007- "Structure" by Kristopher Lencowski

We have been wrestling with this show. Today is the first day of our official rehearsal process before opening night (in less than three weeks!) We explored for a couple of weeks in July, then took a couple of weeks off for the Fringe. I'm really glad that we did some exploratory work first. Starting from scratch on a show can be very difficult. We have no book we are adapting or a script from which to start. We have been doing some exercises, and working with music and trying to work physically, rather than going to the more cerebral "making sense" place, which can often yield boring, predictable results. This intuitive exploratory work can be very scary, though. It's like running through a hallway in the pitch dark. Luckily, we've found some lights and guide points and our eyes have adjusted to the darkness. (Literally, since we work in the dark cemetery a lot of the time.)

Our structure is one that will give us fun stuff to work with. The first thing we say in the show is basically, "This is not what you would have expected from a show about the dead." That is the most pleasing thing that came out of these explorations- this is a show with hot blood coursing through its veins. It is not dead by any means. I thought, "If I had entered a city of the dead, undoubtedly, all of my passions would be magnified." So, that is what we're beginning with. I'll write more as we get into it again.

 

 

July 24th, 2007- "Rehearsals Begin" by Kristopher Lencowski

We have worked for the past couple of weeks on some explorations for the show. Since we are starting basically from scratch, with only a concept and some images and ideas, we wanted to spend a couple of weeks exploring first. It has proven to be very useful, because the idea that I went in with turned out to be not as interesting in the setting and for what we were doing as what it could be. I had planned to have very specific narrative storyline, which fit the more traditional playwrighting model and is something that you might see in a typical theater. Once we started working, though, and we started to try to nail down definite character traits and put them into specific scenes, it just didn't work. The city has got to be something more lyrical, poetic and important than realistic and literal.

So, we began to open our minds up by reacting to music provided by Beth and Steven, giving very basic, but potent ideas for the actors to react on. Instead of trying to close down and narrow options to something, we wanted to explore movement, dance, music and poetry for inspiration. It has proven to be a much more prosperous adventure. We have found some really exciting material. In a few days, we will take a break for the Fringe Festival, then resume again. Thankfully, we'll go into the real working time of the process with a strong and clear idea of the style of the show.

 

June 11th, 2007 - "Online" by Kristopher Lencowski

Cityceased is online in more ways than one. This website and the blog has been started, but I've also received official approval from Lakewood Cemetery to perform. It is really exciting, because my goals in the world of performance, is to create events that are meaningful, exciting, memorable and give people something that they won't forget. Cityceased promises to be that and more.

A little bit of background on the project. This idea was spawned by an old partner and I. We applied to the Fringe Festival, but didn't get in through the lottery system. Then, I had an amazing idea occur to me- we should perform this in a space where the issues of death, remembrance and the next realm are palpably present: in a cemetery. So, I contacted Lakewood Cemetery. They have been enthusiastic about the project from the start, and since my initial contact, we have been working out details as to how this project would work. It was really important to them (as it is to me) that this project not be a spooky horror movie kind of event. Ron Gjerdy laughed after we got to meet face to face for a while and said that he was worried I wanted to have a reaper jump out from behind a gravestone. We got a good laugh: it couldn't be further from what I had in mind! My starting point in thinking about this project is to imagine that one of my grandfathers was buried in Lakewood and to do a project that would honor them and make them proud.

With that, I would just like to say that this is going to be an exciting ride.