The Director Sector

I’ve been terribly negligent of this blog for quite some time now.  Hopefully this will change soon.

Tomorrow night is the opening performance of The Mammals’ DEVILS DON’T FORGET.  It’s something that I’ve been working on with Bob and our cast for quite some time now, and I’m very proud of the end result.  I’ve blogged a little bit about the challenges of being an assistant director to the writer/director, but again, I’m incredibly proud of this show — both the cast and the crew.

I’ll blog more about the process and my interactions with the cast and crew over the next few weeks, but for now I just want you to take a few minutes, call 866-593-4614 and reserve tickets for DEVILS DON’T FORGET.  There is a suggested donation of $15 and it’s BYOB.  And it’s short at only 75 minutes.

Come on out.  Support me, support Bob, support the cast, support The Mammals, and support Chicago theatre.

You won’t regret it.

In which a Girl approaches Buster

In which A Tough Guy assaults Buster

In which the Girl makes a Promise

I believe that respect is crucial for any project to succeed, whether it’s a web development project, a theatre production, a baseball game or even running a country.  There has to be a respect by the participants for each other, for the chain of command, and for the project itself.

When respect goes out the window, so does quality, trust and, well.. fun.  This is not to say that one must be polite and suck up to the boss at all times, but there has to be a line that will not be crossed no matter what.

For example, when my boss comes to me with a web development project, he gives me guidelines.  “I want this logo here,” he says.  “And I want an image to pop-up in a lightbox.  It’s a really cool image.  I made it myself.  Oh, and lets put an animation over here and can we make the background image change depending on what day of the week it is?”

As a web developer, it’s my job to make it the best website possible.  So when my boss gives me these guidelines, I have essentially two options as to how to respond:

Option A:  I can agree to what he asks for and get right on it, or

Option B: I can disagree

The first option is pretty self-explanatory.  It’s good advice and I’m going to follow his instructions.  The second option is a little tougher.

You can’t just disagree.  You can’t just say “That’s a stupid idea; I won’t do it.”  You just can’t do that.  Why not? Well, quite simply, your boss has the power to fire you.

So what do you do when you disagree?  You have to sell your version to the guy in charge.  You have to explain why it’s a bad idea and what a better solution would be.  If you think your idea is better, fight for it.

“Well, sir, I can definitely do the background change, but you might want to avoid the lightbox pop-up image.  You see, users don’t like things that pop-up when they didn’t click on something.  It sends warning sirens off in their mind and they think it’s an ad.  They’ll close it immediately without bothering to look, and it will make them want to go somewhere else.  The Flash animation that you asked for would look really cool, but not everyone has Flash and it’s not very accessible for our disabled users.  I think the Flash animation would be okay to do, as long as you understand that not everyone would see it.  I would recommend against the splash image.  Instead, make it the background or the header image.”

Now I’ve laid out my case, and my boss now has two options.  In fact, they’re the same options I had when he gave me the assignment.  He can agree or disagree.

Unfortunately for me, my boss doesn’t have to explain himself.  If he agrees, I win.  If he disagrees, I don’t have much recourse other than to do what he asked me to do.  To do anything else risks his ire and may wind up costing me my job.

The same thing applies in theatre.  When you’re acting on stage, the director will give you notes.  If you feel that the director’s choice isn’t the strongest choice, then you have an obligation as an actor to say so.  Offer an alternative, lay out your case, and await the director’s decision.  And then abide by whatever the director says.  Don’t pout, don’t sulk, don’t argue back — it might cost you your role, whether in this show or future shows.

A good director will respect your thoughts and your ideas.  He might not agree with them, but he’ll respect them.

Bob, the writer/director of Devils Don’t Forget, respects my ideas and my input.  He doesn’t always take them (in fact, I’d venture to say that he incorporates a little less than half of my suggestions), but he at least listens to me, takes the notes under consideration, and then decides.  And when he makes his decision, I don’t make a scene arguing for it.

There are two or three points in the show during which I have brought up the same point multiple times, because I felt strongly that there was something that could be improved.  Some of them got better, some of them didn’t.  But ultimately, the decision rests with Bob and I, as assistant director, have to respect that.

Our actors have to respect that.

Having said this, your input as a subordinate is nearly always helpful.  It helps your superior, whether it’s your boss or your director, make a better informed decision.  It gives him insight into other perspectives and helps make the show better.

Prolonged battles over motivation and intention don’t.  They slow down the process and cause tension that doesn’t need to exist.

Since Bob wrote the show, he has had a very clear vision of what he wants this show to look like.  I see my job as my responsibility to give choices, options.  The more options Bob has to choose from, the more choices that he hasn’t thought of yet, the better the show’s going to be.  I don’t mind that he doesn’t take my suggestions — I’m just throwing them out there — but I would mind if I felt he was disrespecting me.

I look forward to working with Bob in the future, because I respect him as a director and writer, and he respects me as a colleague.

Don’t be stupid.  Don’t argue and push and shove and be difficult for the sake of your choices — it’s not your job to make all the decisions — it’s your job to offer options and accept the final decision from the director.

Trust me.  It’s the difference between being cast again and never getting another chance.

I know a lot of you theatre bloggers have this intense dislike of Broadway for a variety of reasons, most of which are perfectly valid.  But today I saw my favorite musical at a Broadway in Chicago venue.  And it rocked.

I saw RENT last year — a year ago this weekend, I think — in Atlanta.  I thought the show sucked.  I was so very disappointed, because the lighting seemed off, the vocals were sub-standard, and the sound system seemed to be broken.  Most of the performers weren’t properly actors — they were mostly American Idol rejects.  In fact, at that performance, the guy who played Roger was a South African Idol runner-up.  The best performance was by the girl who played Maureen, and if I remember correctly, the tour of RENT that year was her first professional gig.  Kind of says a lot about the quality of that cast.

This performance, though, blew last years’ out of the water.  The staging was mostly the same, but every one of those little things that bugged me about last years performance were fixed in this one.  There was never a moment where I thought “Well damn, that didn’t work.”

Of course, the highlight of this production is the return of the two original leads, Anthony Rapp (as Mark Cohen) and Adam Pascal (as Roger Davis).  The chemistry between these two actors is undeniable, their stage presence stupendous, and their vocal quality dazzling.

I’ve always loved RENT, ever since the first time I heard the soundtrack in its entirety.  It encapsulated everything I felt about life, death, relationships.  The music was catchy, the lyrics told the whole story, and the characters were vibrant and real.  I felt a connection to each and every character, even the homeless guys and the drug dealers.

A few years ago I had a life-altering experience, and essentially I’m living on borrowed time.  One of the themes of the show is “no day but today”, the idea that there is no future and no past, but only today.  Don’t worry about the future, don’t dwell on the past — focus on the now.

For someone like me, that’s imperative.  Last week, a kid I went to college with died of a heart attack.  He’s my age, 27, and otherwise seemingly healthy.  That really sent the message home for me, and I’ve spent the last week barely getting a wink of sleep, pondering over death.  When will it come for me?

Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare?

I began to cry during this song.  Will this happen?  The “no day but today” idealism is strong, but how can you accept this in the face of logic?

If I find some of what you teach suspect,
It’s because I’m used to relying on intellect.
But I try to open up to what I don’t know,
Because reason says I should’ve died
Three years ago…

The answer, of course, is in the chorus that follows:

No other road,
No other way.
No day but today….

Despite these thoughts, despite my fear of death and my fear of the future, I’ve survived.  Not only have a survived, but I’ve found a certain amount of contentment in my life.  I’ve got friends and family who care for me, and even should something happen, I can rest assured that I’ve made a difference in the lives of those around me.

Mark is the character that I empathize with the most.  I’m not blonde or strikingly good looking like Anthony Rapp, but Mark and I share some personality traits that I find intriguing.

I’m a watcher.  I like to sit back and observe my friends having a great time.  I like to document what’s happening, to offer my advice when I see a problem, but otherwise to stay back and watch.  I want my experiences, my observations, and my work to have an impact on people, even if it means sacrificing close personal relationships.  When I come across something I feel strongly about, I’m perfectly able and willing to take centerstage to get my point across.

It’s easy, however, to feel so utterly alone and rejected when I’m in this position.  It’s easy to focus on others so much that when they’re gone, the emptiness hits like a wrecking ball to the nads.

A part of me screams Rogers’ accusations at myself:

Mark hides in his work
…
From facing your failure
Facing your loneliness
Facing the fact you live a lie

Yes, you live a lie, tell you why
You’re always preaching not to be numb
When that’s how you thrive

You pretend to create and observe
When you really detach from feeling alive

And part of me screams Mark’s answer back:

Perhaps it’s because I’m the one of us to survive…

RENT has had an incredible impact on my life.  Jonathan Larson has given each of these characters insights into the human psyche that mirror my own so closely that I can’t help but be touched by these characters.  This show has put into words thoughts that most of us, I think, have had at one time or another.  And despite all of these thoughts, despite death and love and hate and separation and drugs and corporate evil and government obstruction.. despite all of this, there is hope that we can continue on to another day, that our lives can change things for the better.

There’s no day but today.

DEVILS DON’T FORGET opens May 1st!  I can’t be more excited.  I’ve had a wonderful time working with such professional actors and have learned a lot from Bob about directing and producing and putting together a show.  Once the show closes, I’ll be writing a post-mortem of my experience with this show.

For now, check out these rehearsal photos:

Stay tuned for more updates and information about this show!