Rehearsing the Revolution

Here's a report from rehearsals of Paris Commune by Adam Odsess-Rubin! The show opened last night at ArtsEmerson - many congrats to all of the cast & crew! Grab a ticket to see the show in Boston HERE!

We are just days away from the beginning of tech here in Boston, as the room focuses in on Nina Hellman as she begins a rousing rendition of ‘The Internationale.’ As Hellman’s voice trembles with empowered indignation, the rest of the cast slowly joins in the final chorus.  With the end of the song, the rehearsal studio breaks into chaos as the actors/ communards prepare to defend the utopian socialist society they created, a new society that is tragically set up for defeat.

Nina Hellman

Late night rehearsals this past week have seen many laughs and frustrations, tensions and giggles, but what stays consistent is a unified drive to create a piece of art we can all be proud of come opening night.  As Assistant Director, I have the unique opportunity to sit back and observe the masterful focus this cast and crew puts into their work, and the rapid progress that comes of it.  Sam Breslin Wright infuses intense humor and passion into his performance of Pere Duchesne, the fictitious joker that provides commentary on the action, Jeanine Serralles glows with the light of the revolutionary as Louise Michel, the ‘red virgin of Montmarte,’ and Daniel Jenkins gives goosebumps as a poor incensed baker who joins the Commune.  The entire cast and crew turn history into a living, breathing experience from the first moments of rebellion, to the infamous ‘Bloody Week.’ With a healthy dose of tragedy and comedy, we are thrilled to bring this show to the public.

The show is certainly complex: Stage Manager Terri Kohler and ASM Lily Perlmutter as well as Director Steve Cosson have their hands full.  On the tables down in front of the stage, one might find hundreds of pages of blocking notes, floor plans, piles of gaffe tape, floor plans, aspirin, and sometimes grapes!  The crew is small, but dedicated.  Coming early and staying late, they work to support the actors and keep rehearsals running smoothly.  While Steve gives notes to an actor, stage management might be running around swiftly transforming the stage from one scene to another, while still composer Michael Friedman is in a corner with pianist Jonathan Mastro discussing ‘Yodeling Ducks,’ a song adapted from a 19th Century French tune to tell the story of a lonely duck who finds the virtue of socialist solidarity.    

Laughing over drinks at the Intermission Tavern after a late rehearsal, becoming short of breath as Aysan Celik (Seamstress) beautifully sings ‘Mon Homme,’ marveling at the majesty of Arts Emerson’s newly renovated Paramount Theater- these are the experiences that make up our time leading up to the world premiere of Paris Commune in Boston.  As earnest and wild as the commune itself, it will surely be an experience we will all never forget.  

Here are some photos from tech rehearsal generously shared with us by Sam Breslin Wright!

Nina Hellman and Jeanine Serralles - scandalous pose! 

Charlotte Dobbs as The Soprano

Aysan Celik and Daniel Jenkins working on "Yodeling Ducks"

Nina Hellman, Aysan Celik, Daniel Jenkins, and Kate Buddeke working with Director Steve Cosson

The Commune on The Common

Many thanks to Adam Odsess-Rubin for writing up this post, and to Sam Breslin Wright for the photos!!

"Welcome to Boston!” says Kate Buddeke, as the company of Paris Commune loses its place rehearsing a maniac can-can finale, with Michael Friedman on piano. The cast and crew arrived in Boston last week to begin rehearsals at ArtsEmerson. Buddeke plays La Bordas, a popular singer who performed at the Tuileries palace for the reign of the Commune in 1871. The mood of the room changes at the drop of a hat: one moment, Kate captivates the rehearsal room with her powerful raspy voice singing ‘The Cherries of Spring,’ and in another the cast will fall into laughter over Michael seguing into some music from the musical Annie. 

The cast in dance rehearsal in Brooklyn

Rehearsing in a large windowless room on the fourth floor of ArtsEmerson's Paramount Center, the cast and crew manage to entertain each other between running scenes. The other day, director Steve Cosson was working with Aysan Celik (read more about her HERE), who plays the Seamstress: a Parisian who moonlights as a prostitute. Fellow actress Nina Hellman off-handedly commented that the rehearsal room looked like the dance studio from the Natalie Portman movie Black Swan. Michael started to play some music from the movie on his piano and Steve took on the Vincent Cassel director role in talking to Aysan. Steve cried, “You can be the white seamstress, but I need to see the black one!” as the cast burst into laughter.

The cast in rehearsal in Boston

The first and only stop before Paris Commune’s run at the BAM Next Wave Festival in the new Fisher Space, ArtsEmerson and Boston have welcomed us with open arms. Most of the cast and crew are staying around the Boston Common, a landmark not far from where so many significant moments in the American revolution occurred. Mere minutes from the church where Paul Revere famously warned the colonists of the oncoming Red Coats, the city’s history lends fascinating layers to the play's text. Chronologically between the American Revolutionary War and the current Occupy movement, the Paris Commune lives in one of the most exhilarating and bloody chapters of the revolutionary history book, and we're looking forward to reflecting on all these themes with audiences in a few weeks.

The stage!

The cast on stage at ArtsEmerson

For tickets to the show at ArtsEmerson, click HERE!

TALES FROM MY PARENTS' DIVORCE Actors Working with Students

Get ready! TALES FROM MY PARENTS' DIVORCE is heading up to Boston for a run at ArtsEmerson next week. Jenny Morris and Robbie Collier Sublett (actors in and writers of the play) are there now leading a workshop for some students at Emerson College, who will be creating their own piece from interviews that they are conducting. Check out this great article in the Emerson's newspaper The Berkeley Beacon HERE to find out more about what the students are up to! And for tickets to the show at ArtsEmerson, click HERE!

While the show was up at Williamstown for its very successful run, Jenny and Robbie led a workshop for the apprentices. They conducted some of their own interviews about family and the holidays, and they made a lovely piece about it that they performed as a coda to The Civilians' show (which is what the Emerson students will be doing, too). Here's a clip featuring a hilarious song (that I think one could call Michael Friedman-esque at points)! Congrats to these talented youngsters!

TALES FROM MY PARENTS' DIVORCE at Williamstown

TALES FROM MY PARENTS' DIVORCE has officially opened at Williamstown Theatre Festival, and we still have a weekend of performances to go! The actors, who all interviewed their own parents and in fact play their own parents, do a fantastic job of, dare I say, becoming their parents and telling the stories of building and dividing their families. Writer and actor Robbie Collier Sublett brought up another layer that the show offers during a talk-back after Tuesday's performance - which is that these actors witnessed a lot of these events as kids, and in fact, the stories that they're now telling had a major impact on shaping their childhoods. So it's all the more cathartic to be able to look at these events with the distance (all of the parents are over 20 years divorced at this point) that their parents' have been able to get over time.

The Boston Globe liked it, too, saying it's an "engrossing production" and applauding the actors' "impressive skill." Click HERE for the whole review!

And here are some wonderful program notes written by our most fabulous former Literary Associate, Rachel Lerner-Lay! The notes take a look at some of the statistics (with some great info-graphics) to accompany our stories of one of the wide-spread social phenomena in America today (click on it to enlarge).

And here's a photo of the theater....

And here's a photo of the set! (Note the dishwasher in the back - it really works!)

Congrats to all the cast and crew - break a leg this weekend, and we can't wait for the show to go up to ArtsEmerson in October!