blogs - brad dunn, director

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This is very normal. Going into the last two weeks before a show opens I become mentally inundated and I usually stop all other outside activity. The show opened two days ago – so now I have time to breathe - and write.

Reading Scott’s entry on his last days at iO – ImprovOlympic – got me thinking about mine. I too went through the training program at iO, then was fortunate enough to be put on a team right after I finished my student shows. Most shows were entertaining, every show would feature one or two people who were absolutely on fire. It would be different people every week. The shows were sometimes hysterical, often just fine, rarely did they totally suck. After almost a year on the schedule, we were disbanded. We were all heartbroken, because like Scott, all 10 of us were going to be on Saturday Night Live someday. I have to say, those people were amazing friends and though I’m in contact with only a few, they all still provide me with great memories. 

Two months after this happened, right when I began getting comfortable not being at iO every week, a friend called to congratulate me for making a team at iO. I think I literally said “What the h--- are you talking about dude. My team got cut two months ago.” [Ed note: I think it’s hilarious that I have to bleep out h---, but this is a civic organization. Truthfully I probably didn’t use that word, but I don’t even feel good referencing the other word even if it is bleeped]

In typical iO fashion, I was put back on the schedule and no one called me. Anyone familiar with how iO works, knows that every two months a schedule comes out and about 4,000 improvisors all over Chicago desperately begin pulling up the website to see if their name is on the schedule and with what ensemble. I didn’t do that. But I had been put on a team, and in fact had missed the first rehearsal because no one called me.

Our shows weren’t that funny. Cut to the end.

The last scene in my last show at iO took place at the Grammy Awards ceremony, but involved giving no awards, just speeches. The scene was so bad, so awfully bad, that I think I remember some of my fellow cast mates started giving acceptance speeches for “awards” they didn’t win – like five of them at once. But they were speaking without making any noise, claiming the “microphones” weren’t working. One after another just jumped in on the bit. “And I’d like to say Tha…. Y…. f…. hu……. …. …. a….. ….. I…… …. … j…. .” Then came the end of the end. One of my castmates ran out, jumped on the back of another for no apparent reason, climbed up onto his shoulders while the guy holding him miraculously stayed upright. The guy on top then began yelling out “I’m teabagging him! I’m teabaggin’” while wildly bouncing up and down. I'm not sure what this had to do with anything.

This was when I made the worst move I’d ever made at iO. I couldn’t stand the thought of being on that stage any longer – or on the side as it were, since in improv shows the actors not in the scene stand on the side until they join that scene, or another.

So I entered the scene, proclaimed myself to be a sound engineer, said I was going to check out the “problems with the microphones,” I think in an English accent, and walked off the stage. If you ever improvise by the way, NEVER leave a scene. And if you do, don’t go to the bar to get yourself a drink. I did rejoin the cast on stage for our bow though.

The idea of five people giving acceptance speeches on mics that aren’t working could be funny. I think it was months of very tiring rehearsals and un-rewarding shows, then a line about teabagging on stage that finally broke me.

But all told, I had a great time at iO. I really did. I even made friends on this second team. And I learned a ton. Both in classes and in performing. I even had the good fortune to be invited back a couple of times to be in the Late Night Late Show. But now, I have so much fun directing and performing in other venues and it’s a very satisfying experience to work with a cast like I just had in Indecent Proposals. I feel like I made six really good friends. Smiling, gorgeous, talented, fun-loving, smart, good-spirited new friends. You have to go see this show. It opened last Saturday night, and it’s really fun - and I swear - at times you'll laugh 'till you cry. You’ll pick up on the actors' happy, energetic vibe right from the get-go. I'm proud of Scott for writing this really funny script and of the actors for their really funny performances. Really, go see it.

Using the Internet

Scott got really mad at me today because I sent him a link to the Indecent Proposals page on this website, and he couldn’t get it to work. I told him he didn’t know how to use the internet. He really didn’t like that. Scott is one of the most easy-going guys I know. But he really did not like being told he didn’t know how to use the internet.

He insisted that he in fact did know how to use the internets, and that the link I sent to him was wrong.

So I think to be fair, I should give Scott a chance to prove that he does in fact know how to use the internet.

There’s a contest that Metropolis is doing for Indecent Proposals. Then there’s also a second event, that’s not really a contest, rather a… Well I guess it’s an event. But a potentially BIG event. I’d like to tell you about both of them because they’re both really cool and fun, and they get the public involved in the show. I think you’ll love reading about them, because you may be able to participate. But the details of both of them are on the Indecent Proposals page of this website. And if Scott can set up a link to that page in his next blog post, then we’ll know that he knows how to use the internets.

A Real Update

I thought it might be a good time to provide a real update as to where things stand with the show. Scott and I will continue to snipe at each other in the next entry...

Tomorrow's rehearsal is the official off-book date. That means it's the first rehearsal where actors are not allowed to use their scripts anymore. I guarantee you that at least one of them are in total panic mode right now trying to memorize every last line. Though maybe not - they've been setting down their scripts in rehearsal and flying without them. So maybe they're ready. Either way, it's normal to call for line for the first few days after the off-book date.

More interesting stuff
We're actually starting tomorrow's rehearsal with a recording session on stage. We've been choreographing body percussion stuff - basically like Stomp. Just not quite as hard core. I'm not sure what else to call it. But I originally devised it as a way to present the performance poem in the middle of the show, and now the sound designer, Bill Franz, and I are going to record a bunch of it to possibly use as scene change music. The scene changes will be really tight and short, but these might be really cool underscoring for them. I'm really excited about it.

The other cool thing about tomorrow is that Scott can no longer make any revisions in the script. Sorry dude. You're play is done. It's ours now!

It’s not that I mind Uranus

I mean, as a joke, it’s fine. But Metropolis is a community organization, a civic-minded theatre that produces great work on stage, and I’m not sure that our audience out here will enjoy Uranus jokes all that much. I mean sure, we can push the boundaries a bit. Since it’s a late night show, we can get a little rough around the edges. But performing comedy is harder than just writing poo-poo jokes, Scott. I appreciate your attempt to bring your humor to the internet, but without the capacity to perform it, frankly I think it loses some of its umph. If you will.

Ok, I’m not really angry. I’ve enjoyed working with Scott on all four of his shows. I just get riled up when people – yes even Scott Woldman – think that doing comedy is just silly faces and funny sounds. It’s real hard work. Uranus isn’t funny on paper, but on stage, coming out of the mouth of an actor in front of an audience, that’s something else entirely. That’s performance. That’s theatre!

Ok, I’m off my high-horse. Scott, can we change the subject?

the truth

The thing that Scott neglected to mention was that he had to go to Starbucks because his wife came home and heard him yelling in his best trashy female voice, “Kill that *&^%$!” ; “Kill that -----!”; “Kill that ~@#$!”

Keep in mind that Scott and his wife just had a beautiful little baby girl. So though he won't admit it, I think his wife actually kicked him out, and he had nowhere else to go but Starbucks.

Political discourse that’s fit to share

So much political discourse these days tends to be pretty biting and harsh, whether one way or the other. And being that Metropolis is a community organization, I think the proper stance is one that is polite, and neutral. But a beautiful and awesome little piece of work has come along that I think is amazing and worthy of showing to anyone. I’d like to share it here.

Though it has nothing to do with the show, it was written and directed by, and stars Jessica Rosenberger, who is in Indecent Proposals.

You can watch it here.

Enjoy.

There’s a poem in this show

Something that you may not know about Scott Woldman is that he is a wicked-excellent poetry writer and performer. He’s been a finalist at the National Poetry slam competition as part of Chicago’s National Poetry Slam team, and was a regular at the Greenmill’s weekly poetry slam competition. The Greenmill, by the by, is the birthplace of Slam Poetry.

Early on when writing this show, Scott said this: I'm writing a performance poem right in the middle of the play.

My response: Great. I’ve never done performance poetry. But I’ve always wanted to be in Stomp.

So that’s what we’re working on now. I’ve never been a fan of the Joe Namath approach, but I will say that the poem in the show is currently amazing. The cast is really finding their groove with it.

I’m not saying it’s like Stomp. And I’m not saying that it’s going to make an appearance at the National Poetry Slam. And I’m not saying that one of my actresses will be playing the ukulele while another beat-boxes. But I’m saying, it’s going to be really fun and you won’t want to miss it.

Two instances of technology helping process: Or, how I learned to stop worrying and enjoy having a great Stage Manager.

Several nights ago, we were rehearsing a scene that involves a very popular, well-known song. We didn't have the actual song yet, because rehearsals just got started a week ago, and we're only blocking the scenes right now (putting in the physical movement of the actors). But as it turned out, having the song would have been great for helping the actor, Geoffrey Carlson, work out his timing for a joke. As I was talking to the actors, Geoffrey and Michelle Weissgerber, about the scene, my Stage Manager, the wonderful Allison Orr, opened up iTunes on her MacBook, bought the song. She had it cued up to the exact spot by the time we ran the scene again. I didn’t even know she did it. But all of a sudden the song started playing right on cue. It was great.

Then last night, we had a Dialect Coach come in to work on some Italian dialect with our actors John Victor Allen and Anna Schutz. Though we had given them a CD of the spoken Italian dialogue, they wanted to be able to hear each word individually in a couple of sections, so they could really learn the pronunciations. Great idea. So Allison started her MacBook, opened Garage Band, and our Dialect Coach sat at the laptop and recorded them right then and there. The built-in mic picked it up perfectly. Allison then just burned a CD of the recordings and gave it to Anna before she left rehearsal.

I feel like I should be doing one of those commercials for Apple. Or for Allison.

So, does this mean we should change our Facebook status?

We began last night telling stories of relationship beginnings and endings. One of our actresses told a great story. During that awesomely awkward period of dating when both people are clearly smitten, but no official status has been unanimously recognized, she had to introduce her boyfriend to someone they ran into at the mall. But since he wasn’t yet officially her boyfriend, she introduced him as “dude.” [ED. NOTE: She used his name, I’m calling him dude here]

Of course, this led to the conversation of status, and fortunately, they both agreed they were smitten, and they should refer to each other as official.

His response: “So does this mean we should change our Facebook status?”

Awesome.

The Writer

If I haven’t made this clear yet, Scott Woldman, the playwright of this show is a very talented guy and a good friend. He’s also going to be joining me on this blog, which should make things much more interesting.

The only thing is, I’ve asked Scott to not write as much about his personal life, which frankly, I’m concerned about. Rather, I requested that he write about the process. The process of writing this show, what goes into writing a comedy, how he came to be a playwright, etc.

We’ll see how it goes. I mean, he’s obviously a really funny writer so I’m not worried about that. I’m just worried about the stories of his family. I can’t really explain what I’m talking about here. It wouldn’t be right to expose the problems he has in his personal life. Anyway… Hopefully we’ll hear from him soon.

first rehearsal

A few facts: This will be the fourth show that Scott Woldman has written. I've been involved in all of them. I was in Thinking with Your Head... Men Exposed and Dates from Hell, and I directed Speed Dating the Musical. This show, Indecent Proposals, I am also directing.

It opens September 27 and runs through November 8, Saturday nights at 10:15. The :15 is because of those Damn Yankees. Damn Yankees.

About Men & Women
It's a comedy about the vulnerability of men. I also think it's about the inferior nature of men, relative to women. Both of those things. The men and the women both get to be the hero, depending on the scene. My opinion, is that in real life, women are almost always the heros. Really. But that's ok, because this is a play and it's funny.

About the Show
It's built in little vignettes, some of them actually quite long, and is going to involve some stomp-like percussion, a performance poem, performed by the entire beautiful cast, a tribute to David Ives, lots of really funny scenes, some really touching moments and I'm pretty sure it's going to be very fun for audiences. 

We had our first read-through last night. Really fun. Tonight we really start to jump into the work. This will continue on, five nights a week, for the next 5 weeks. I'll be documenting the process here. I hope you enjoy it.

Brad