Discussion: Performance Status

 Here is the latest discussion regarding

the status of performing under the threat of rain

for this weekend of October 1st 2011.

An Afternoon and Evening with 
Gilbert & Sullivan

You can join the conversation by following this blog and making a comment.

***********************************

NEW LOCATION 3:17 pm Friday 9/30/11

Well, it seems we now have an alternative location for the concert! The Lions Grove Stage.  It is located out by Second Street Pike and it will not be in use tomorrow.  So if it does rain and make The Meadow Amphitheater unusable, we can use this other stage for our performances, which is covered , has bleacher seating, and less drainage issues.  We can still have our picnic there also.  So even if it does rain tonight, we will still have the concert.  The film is another question.  If I can rig the screen in time, then we can also show the film there.  That will need to be determined tomorrow morning.

Please pass this word around, as I will be unable to do more than this for the time being.  AG

UPDATE: 12:00 Friday 9/30/11

Taken from the latest posting on Facebook;

Here's the deal on the performance in Tamanend Park -

If it rains tonight, the performance is canceled until further notice. 

I cannot confirm our use of the community center, the director is not available. 

Up until today, all the forecasts were favorable for this weekend. If it remains sunny for most of the day tomorrow then the field will dry up and we will be good to go. If it rains anytime between now and performance time we will be in trouble. What a drag! 

To all those performers who are involved in this - I am very sorry that we have to be exposed to such uncertainty. This taxes the joy of doing this and put a great strain on our enjoyment of the process.  If we find ourselves faced with cancellation, then I will work at producing this event again at a later date in a venue which does not cause us this grief.  

To any theaters/indoor venues looking for a program - we are prepared to make a presentation and would consider doing so under the right conditions. Do inquire with me and I will see what can be done. 

***********************************

Yes Laurie,

   Thank you. I have seen conflicting reports about the weather. More seem to indicate low chance of rain (30%) and nice weather, albeit windy.  We have faced this before when the weather suddenly cleared and was very nice, especially when the prediction was in the low percentage numbers.  The field in The Meadow Amphitheatre was very wet yesterday, to the point where if we do not have sunny weather, enough for it to dry up, then it would not be good.

   There are a lot of people involved in making this happen, and we got rained out once already, which is very frustrating.  We have a ton of potato salad.

   Our choices seem to be continuing with The Meadow Amphitheatre in the hope that it will work out, switching locations (which I am looking into today, having forgotten about that in the fray of preparations, sorry), postponing another week or possibly two (depending on what everybody wants to do), or canceling the fall presentation altogether.

   I personally feel that if the weather fails us, that postponing a week or two would be best, because we have been building expectations for both the performers and the audience. That may give us time to make sure the field is in good repair after all this rain, but it is also disappointing after all this work we have done.

   By the way- I was working on the two solos I had planned on doing, with Shawn playing for me and I nailed them both, easily, every-time. So don't worry about that.

   I will be seeking to make arrangements for another location this morning. Last time, we arranged for the Community Center, but I do not yet know if that is an option for us. If not, then a postponement might be in order, but I would not do that until the last minute, in the event that- we do not have torrential rains tonight and tomorrow turns out wonderful . If we have torrential rains tonight. Then it will have to be postponed, because the field is just too wet and it will not dry up in one morning of sun.

     I will post the results on the web page and on Facebook, along with this letter (if I can as a comment).  I suggest that you consider continuing the dialogue there if you are hooked up.

   I would appreciate your votes on what you would like to do. If consensus says we move it to a later date, then that is what we will do. We risk loosing our performers that's what happened last time with George and Jim, but we might gain some.  The Playbill has been printed, but I have not done an insert, which was to have been the credits, which means I need everyone to confirm their involvement and give me a one or two line statement to go with it. (contact info or something like that) We don't have to have that, but it might be nice, if there is enough time.

  I will be going to a sing in Center City tonight  (put on by The Philadelphia Opera Company) and working in a composing session with Shawn today, so I will be gone and unavailable from noon until tomorrow morning.  My cell number is 215-292-9787.  I don't answer numbers I don't recognize or have in my Phonebook, so if that is the case for you you will need to leave a message, in which event I will put you in my Phonebook. If you want me to have your number in my Phonebook, then call me so I can do that. My home number is 215-322-1566 there is a phone machine on that line.

  Again, the final determination will be posted on The Shakespearean Journal. I will also try to follow up with an email. Feel free to continue this dialogue without me to get a consensus on what everybody would like to do and by tomorrow we will come up with an answer.

  This is the big bummer about working with an Amphitheatre! Uncooperative weather.

  I do think that we can make this work to our benefit to develop a good sized audience and an awareness of what we are doing and if for no other reason we may get an audience for pity's sake, what with all these travails.

  Thank you all for working hard and hanging in there as we try to do this, when if finally comes together it will be a gas.

Keep on Truckin'

Arthur

Poster for the upcoming Gilbert & Sullivan show on October 1. 2011

 

Anticipated Playbill for Gilbert & Sullivan Performances

This schedule may change
but this is a selection of songs
it seems we will be able to sing.

These pages are set so you can print them on an 8.5"x11" sheet.
 _________________________________________________

Autumn Leaves Performance Festival

REFER TO 
Cinema Under The Stars
for further scheduling information

_______________________________________________


 September 24th

The showing of

"Shakespeare In Love'

with

"Spontaneous Shakespeare"

has been 

CANCELLED FOR RAIN

 October 1st

An Afternoon & Evening 
with Gilbert & Sullivan 

with The Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan Society and Friends

will be accompanied by

a picnic/rehearsal for performers & volunteers at 3:00pm

followed at 5:00 pm by a live performance of numerous favorites

and

a showing of the film 

"Topsy Turvy" 

 at 6:30 pm

 October 2nd

The anticipated rescheduling of a performance by

The Village Renaissance Players

with their shows

"Crime & Punishment" & "Cryanose"

to

October 2nd

with a showing of the film

"Cryano De Bergerac"

as part of 

The Autumn Leaves 
Performance Festival

has been

CANCELLED

The Old Dominion Society

On September 18th we did a reenactment of  

"The Consecration of George Washington" 

"... my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being..."

at the Old Monastery
in
 Wissahickon Valley Park.

I had the honor of performing as The Priest of Wissahickon in this reenactment of the moment when George Washington was given the mission of becoming the Deliver of the New World.  It was a wonderful presentation that delighted all of the many people who were there.

Last year I had the pleasure of participating in "A Concert of Sacred Music" at Washington Chapel in Valley Forge Park, performing as The Marque De Lafayette & John Hancock in that presentation.  It was overwhelmingly moving and superb.  To my great delight I have been asked to participate again this year and there is no chance that I will not do it, unless I am dead!

Also, for your information, I am working with The Old Dominion society to bring this "Concert of Sacred Music" to Southampton's Old School Meetinghouse, which is situated directly across from the entrance to Tamanend Park.  Next July 4th we will be inviting local talent to participate in what we are planning to be a costumed event.   All participants, both performers and audience will be expected to be in colonial garb for this event.  So if you want to have a "ball" then start getting your colonial outfit together for next years event.  This is really an opportunity that you won't want to miss.  We may do the concert twice, one for costumed participants and one for people who are not comfortable being in costume, that is yet to be seen.  The cost of tickets has not been determined, as we have not done the budget yet.  Keep a watch here for more information and if you'd like to help with planning, producing, or performing in this event, please let me know. AG

Tamanend Park Day, September 10th

 Tamanend Park Day 

is 

September 10th 

from 

10:00 am until 3:00 pm

A day of performances  including;

Assorted events for the entire family

Hayrides thru the Park

 Ponyrides

Face Painting & Balloon sculpting

Magician

Petting Zoo

Reptile Display

Exhibits

Live music thru-out the day

a Colonial Encampment 

WWII demonstarations

Food Booths

Friends of Tamanend Park Activities

and an evening of film

with
Cinema Under the Stars

join us for a showing of

and

Join us in
The Meadow Amphitheatre 
as

The Village Renaissance Players 

 grace the stage at various times 

between  10a - 2p

At noon on that day 

they will be presenting their new production 

based on 

Cyrano De Bergerac

titled

"Cyranose"

Come by earlier and see their antics with

"Crime & Punishment"

Here is their press release for their anticipated performances at 

The Village Renaissance Faire

In Wrightstown this fall

PRESS RELEASE

Village Renaissance Players
perform at the
Village Renaissance Faire
September 17 and 18, 2011
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Grange Fair Grounds, Penns Park Road, Wrightstown

Contact: Ann Cole, aka Feisty Fiona
mistressfiona@rocketmail.com
215 579 6379

Catch “CYRANO!” a five act play in twenty minutes, during this year’s Village Renaissance Faire on September 17 and 18, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.,
Grange Fair Grounds, Penns Park Road,Wrightstown.

Based on the play “Cyrano de Bergerac” by Edmond Rostand, this romantic comedy/tragedy will be more comedy than tragedy.

Watch as they duel with words and with swords!

The Village Renaissance Players will perform this amazing, dazzling feat twice each day, so make sure you are there for their morning and afternoon performances.

Swordfights! Love triangles! Witty poetry! It can’t be missed!

In addition, this fabulous group of players will perform a crime and punishment skit involving scandal, intrigue and more swordplay!

Look for the Village Renaissance Players as you enter the Faire!

Here they are at last year's

Tamanend Park Day

doing

"The Princess Bride"

and a bit from Monty Python

regarding some shrubbery

Keep a watch out for

the last weekend in September 

and

the First weekend in October

as we  continue to develop and present
"The Autumn Leaves Performance Festival"

Rebuilding the Stage in Tamanend Park

*  keep watch on this site as it is *

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The Meadow Amphitheatre

is located 

in

Tamanend Park

Southampton, Pennsylvania

The sign at the entrance-way to Tamanend Park

An effort is under way 

to rebuild the stage 

out of stone
 

We have been working since 2008 

to develop an Amphitheater

in Tamanend Park

This is a summary of how the stage came to be and what our current goals are with the stage.

*The Selection of the Location*

The very beginning of an idea

When we started this idea, we thought we would place the stage here,
the second location we considered. 


This location is actually behind where the concessions stand is now.

We realized that: this in location the sunlight 
would be in the eyes of the audience and 
it was not good for audience proximity to the stage.

The  taper of the hill is down and away, to put the stage here
would have caused the audience to look upward to the stage,
a very undesirable and ultimately unsuccessful proximity to use.


This photo shows the view from where the stage would have been 
had we placed it in this location.

A wide view of a VERY HOT Mid-day in July, when we did "Midsummer"

 The first location we considered 
was to the right of the stage,
(left in this photograph)
 at the foot of the tapering slope.


That location is VERY nice 
for positioning an audience  to a stage, 
and it has an excellent proximity to the sun. 

So that location would be a good place to put an amphitheater,
should a larger stage be desired.

However, it is in the middle of the roadway,
(which could work to an advantage for various reasons)
but the sound qualities of that position are very poor
and would most certainly require electronic support.

Still, it might be worth considering 
as an alternative, or additional location,
as in upper and lower staging areas.

This might be desirable as a means to accommodate
different size and types of events.

The Beginning of Construction;

Here are some images taken by Rich Bomze
when we first started setting up the stage in 2008

The Southampton Public Works 
came over to my office, picked up the stage platforms
and delivered them to the meadow 
where we were to begin construction of a stage

As you can see the foundation of the stage is cinder blocks,
albeit a bit more securely configured than you see here.


Ratty stage technician at no extra cost.

 After it was basically positioned and leveled,
I painted it with what I thought would turn out grey,
a mixture of old paint and new paint 

provided courtesy of MAB in Southampton.

King Richard Bomze


who was instrumental in keeping the energy going early on
and who insisted that we needed a name
hence;
The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park.


He is now touring his photography around at various galleries.

*Our Present Location*

A recent view of the stage and concession counter

The location that we chose for the current stage has VERY good acoustics
requiring little or no electronic support and
works quite well, in terms of the entrance-way to the field.

We selected it over the lower field for that reason 
and also so that we could develop this stage  
out of the way of the main area, especially the roadway
thereby,  being less offensive to people who might object.

The current  position of the stage is excellent for 
early evening, spring and fall performances.

It became clear, last summer,  that mid-day  performances
can be brutal in the hot summer sun 
on both the performers and the audience.

So during the summer, 
performances should not take place 
until the evening. 


During the Spring & Fall that does not seem to be a problem.

*Cinema Under The Stars*

As a means of showing you the concession stand,

The American Shakespeare at Tamanend Park?

 

We have an opportunity to host 

The American Shakespeare Center

at 

The Meadow Amphitheatre

with their production of

William Shakespeare's

"A Mid Summer's Night Dream"

in the Fall of 2012

To do so we will need to raise a significant

amount of funding to cover their expenses

and to plan the necessary accommodations.

If anyone would like to join in 

the fund raising and planning effort 

for that project, 

please make that fact known

and come by the stage sometime to discuss it...

or send me an email.

Arthur Greisiger

Shakespeare for Kids

Here is this year's offering for 

Shakespeare in the Park's

 program for kids

It is designed and directed by

Maret Genzlinger

Last year's the program was very well received and attended.

The staff at Tamanend Park and all those who attended

were very impressed and delighted by the program.

It nominated for an award within The Pennsylvania Park System.

Do join us again, for this most excellent way to 

bring your kids into the world of theatre

by introducing them to 

The Master Playwright;

William Shakespeare

click on the image to print out the poster

We invite you to hang this poster in the areas where other fold will see it.

You are welcome to stop by the stage in 

Tamanend Park's

The Meadow Amphitheater

is a facility 

that we are striving to build 

for the benefit of the community.

We invite your participation

and assistance

in any number of ways.

Films from London's Globe Theatre at Regal Cinemas

Here's a flyer from 

Regal Cinema in Warrington 

for those of you interested in 

seeing some of

William Shakespeare's

plays

produced on his home turf

The Southampton Days Parade

 We will not be walking in 

The Southampton Days Parade 

this year. 

I'm exhausted, burned out  and simply cannot muster up the energy to do it. For those of you who want to walk please do so. I did not register The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park with the parade.

I've been very busy with Cinema Under the Stars , the next film will be on July 2nd, come by if you want to talk about the parade or anything else.

Work on two Gilbert & Sullivan shows "Princess Ida" & "HMS Pinafore" took up most of the spring/summer planning resources for Shakespeare in the Park & the Parade, so this season will be focused on the films at the stage.  Performers who want to take the stage before the movies are welcome to do so at any time. Just show up an hour before the film.

I/we just spent a great deal of energy presenting a world premiere reading of "Nunc Licet: a stage play about Emanuel Swedenborg". 

Work is continuing on writing "The Gnomes of New Hope: a stage musical" and that is also talking a lot of energy to do.

 I hope that we will be able to have a picnic at the stage sometime soon, it will just not be during the parade this year and the picnic will be for those who are or want to be part of the efforts in Tamanend Park.

Sorry about that. I'm too pooped to pop. AG

Update: Spring 2011

 

•     This years efforts for a Spring production have been relatively non-existent because I am currently involved in three other spring shows that are not Shakespearean.  However the work is continuing on planning and stage improvements.  

• We are working to construct a trolley system for the backstage area so that we can quickly and easily  change the backdrops, we are expanding and improving the shop space we have in the barn, and we are planning performance events to go along with the Cinema Under the Stars program for this year.

•    After the past three years of effort, with some successes and some failures, I have concluded that offering the stage to performers before the film showings is the best way to keep The Meadow Amphitheatre active during the season. therefore I will not be planning any grand events for The Shakespeareans unless I have a few more folks join in to make those events happen.

• The July Forth Parade will only happen if more folks join in the planning and funding effort.  If you want to walk in the parade, you must let me know and give me a definite commitment, telling me what you are able to do.  We have some folks who want to do the parade, but I am not certain we have enough yet. We may offer simply a picnic at the stage, but walking in the parade would be very nice. Last year I paid for costumes for people, but this year, unless we have a costumer, you will need to get your own.  I may send out a notice about that.  The horse and carriage from last year will need to be paid for up front, as I do not want to take on a debt in that regard and I still have an amount due on account.  I  have not made an effort at fund raising for the parade, due to other projects that are demanding my time.  With at least two other people working on the parade planning and fund raising I think we can do it.   We will be showing "The Patriot" on July 2nd with Cinema Under the Stars, so any colonials who want to walk in the parade and join us would be fine. Costuming does not need to be Renniassance. Just so we have costumed people in the parade.  We are planning a Colonial Concert of Sacred Music for next year's Forth of July festivities. You are welcome to get involved with that. We need to build a troupe of singers and Actors for that event.

•   We are discussing building a Board of Directors for The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park because we need that in order to seek a 501c Not-for-profit status.  There have been numerous offers for funding but it is all contingent upon receiving this tax-exempt staus.

• We now have the opportunity to bring The American Shakespeare Centre's touring shows into The Meadow Amphitheatre. This will cost a substantial amount to support their tour, but it is worth the effort and we should come together to make that happen.  I will be producing a fund raising document specifically for that purpose and we may make a larger festival of it if we can.  Possibly seeking to include the Pennsylvainia Shakespeare Festival in the event. 

• We will be working on expanding the stage to accommodate this. Not so much the size of the stage but the facilities and flexibility of the backdrops. One current goal is to rebuild the backdrop frame so that it is strong enough for us to  make it into a balcony from which we can perform.  I will post pictures of the backdrop we need to start working on so anyone wishing to help with this will understand what we need to do.

If you care about seeing

Shakespeare in the Park

continue and grow, 

then I implore you to get involved 

in any way you can.

2011 Study Program

*******
This years study program will be  

"Romeo & Juliet"

We will be showing the  1968

Franco Zeffirelli

film 

at

Cinema Under the Stars 

this summer

Thespians are invited to begin preparing material

to present prior to the film.

We will be opening the stage an hour and a half
before the film showings this summer
for performances.

We also expect to be showing
Hamlet
Henry the Fifth
Richard the Third
and
Shakespeare in Love

Please refer to the web site for

"Cinema Under the Stars" 

for more details about the film programs


We also expect to be showing numerous

Musical Theatre films

such as;

West Side Story
Oaklahoma
Showboat
and others



and would like to have
local groups
perform
some of that material.


Keep an eye out for postings on the summer program.

1/17/2011 Current Thoughts

The Next Hard Copy of the Journal will focus on  Fund Raising and New Projects

It's time for me to focus more on the next edition of the Journal. If you would like to have material included both here and in the hard copy, let me know and send something my way.

The next edition of the journal will include a layout for installation of video systems and security camera in the Meadow Amphitheatre. If you'd like to be involved in the planning, installation an/or operation of those systems, please let me know.  Obviously, we will need to be raising the funds to do that and any help to do that will be most welcomed Beside the security advantages, this will allow us to record performances and post them live on-line.

We will also be seeking funding for the Cinema Under the Stars Program, as I will not be funding that out of my pocket this year.  Look for discussion on that subject on that site, but that material will also be published in the next Edition of the Journal.

Regarding Producing shows in The Meadow Amphitheatre 

My goal is to maintain and develop the performance space and to create opportunities for organizations and producers to take advantage of the stage in Tamanend Park.

Now, I do want the programs that other people produce to fall under the supervision of The Shakespearean of Tamanend Park as it pertains to using the stage, but I do not require all the programs to be of a Shakespearean nature.

I do expect them to be presented with a good heart and have some degree of theatricality, at least the intent to honor the stage and not be excessively amateurish.  Programs should be presented in an orderly fashion and should have the proper number of management people involved.

Producers will be expected to make a genuine effort to promote their events and not expect it to be done for them, although every effort will be made to promote thru email and web site information. Printed goods and published advertising will be the responsibility of the producers.

The Board of Directors

We will need to be establishing a Board of Directors for The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park. We've had numerous requests that we get out Not-For-Profit status, mostly from organizations who want to help fund what we are doing.  I cannot do that alone and we do have a few folks who are helping and are willing to serve on the board, but we need more people who can do that. As I have said- my goal is to maintain/develop the facility, equipment & supplies and develop/supervise programs. The management aspects of the NFP are something that I do not want to take on and we will need a team of people to do that.  If I have hands-on people I can depend on, I will front that effort, but I will not advance in that degree without a solid core group.

More later ...

Gathering Times at the stage

 ***
All live performance events at 

The Meadow Amphitheatre

in Tamanend Park, 

both work sessions and performance times,

unless otherwise noted,

take place between

2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
on Saturdays & Sundays

***

In the instance of an

Impromptu Performance

such as is expected to be the case

this weekend

October 2nd & 3rd

the gathering time begins at 2:00 p.m.

with a 

performance
taking place at 3:00 p.m.

***

Because of the Impromptu nature of the Performance;

Call is 1:00 p.m. for performers* to sign-in
giving time for rehearsal.

*Those who have not previously performed  on
The Meadow Amphitheatre stage
or
have not committed to being in
the offered performance,
will not be guaranteed stage-time
in the performance, if they arrive after 2:00 p,m.

Performers are welcome to arrive and use the stage at any time.

PRESS RELEASE: October Performances

***
The October Performance Schedule
at Tamanend Park's
Meadow Amphitheatre

***

Since the first weekend October has been identified as a Performance Weekend,  the stage will be set for a rather impromptu performances for both days this weekend in Tamanend Park.

 ***

Actors and musicians have been encouraged for the past year to prepare material for this time-slot and so the stage will be prepared in expectation that some people will like to perform.

 ***

Although no specific program has been prepared this year, due in large part to the work of building "Cinema Under the Stars"... remaining consistent in creating this Fall time-slot is most important.  With the goal of creating "Autumn Leaves : Performance Festival"  we offer the stage freely to those who would like to perform.

***

The invitation is extended to local performance groups who may like to present a sampling of the work they are doing and to promote their shows, as well as individual actors,  musicians & singers who are able and willing to walk-the-boards.

 ***

"Spontaneous Shakespeare" & "Scenes & Music" are the standard programs for The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park and will be the guideposts for presenting. However, other carefully planned presentations are welcomed.

***

We strive to maintain some degree of order & professionalism, so improvisational, unscripted performances are encouraged only in an environmental setting surrounding the stage.  We want to reserve the stage for presentations that are clearly theatrical and not chaotic.

***

The objective has been to encourage area actors, musicians, singers and others, to take advantage of the stage in Tamanend Park...  and for people who want this activity to remain an option to them and the community,  to assist in making this and other events at the stage, a reality, by either performing, helping to manage the activities, or observing as an audience member.

***

Contributions are accepted for all activities at The Meadow Amphitheatre.  which are presented free to the public.

Weekend Performances before the film

I just realized that we have the stage set every other weekend for the "Cinema Under the Stars", so... if anyone want the opportunity to perform before the film, we do that every other week. Actors & musicians, acoustic music only and we can do "Spontaneous Shakespeare" or any other type of live entertainment... comedians, jugglers, clowns, dog & pony acts... a regular vaudeville scenario! Let me know if you are interested. AG

Autumn Leaves: Performance Festival

__________________________________________

The Fall performance time-slot, coined "Autumn Leaves Performance Festival"  in anticipation of future growth, has been identified as the last weekend in September and the First Weekend in October. Depending on the weather it may be appropriate to move it forward to eliminate the September dates.  The reason being that other events are occurring in close proximity.  The theory was that it would be easy to remember the change from September to October as the time for performances.  Also the shift to Halloween occurs in October so that needs to come into consideration.

I received a number of inquiries about the performance schedule for this fall, some from performers and some from audience. I had to report that a program this fall was not promoted. Simply because I have not received commitments from the performers. I explored presentation of six different programs for this fall time-slot and was unable to obtain commitments from the performers and/or performance groups. Had half of these groups been willing to commit to the dates, then we would have had a nice program.

I did convey that I would promote a performance for the upcoming weekend if I received commitments, but so far none have arrived. (it is now Tuesday) I will however be setting the stage this weekend in the event that performers & audience do arrive prepared to present and observe.  At the least I will give a Flute concert and read some lines myself.  Or if need be we will work on the sets. If we are fortunate, others will show up. and we will present.

I have to say that economics play a huge role in this, for if I had been able to raise sufficient funds, then we would have had a definite program of some sort to promote, by paying for the performers.  But this cannot happen without sufficient sponsorship, because although some people do contribute when asked to, during the performances, most people do not contribute.  That is clear from the income of "Cinema Under the Stars" as well as other performances that have taken place this year.  So fund-raising has to be increased, if next year is to prove fruitful in terms of presentations.

This year for the September dates;

 Saturday, Sept 25th we showed Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" at the Southampton Library attendance was less than satisfactory. Considerably less than satisfactory.  Clearly, a film showing on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the fall is not a good idea. However, the space in the Southampton Community Room is well suited for film presentations, and the Library does do this every Friday Night, so I recommend attending a film showing there, if you would like to have a fun night at the movies.  We show a different type of film with "Cinema Under the Stars" outside in Tamanend Park every two weeks. I am striving for the cinema at the Park to be centered around theatre oriented films.  We are also thinking about a film festival, so keep an eye out for that.

Sunday Sept 26th was eliminated because, luckily (for me) it rained, but frankly I was too tired to push forward with it and did not have enough of a program planned.  The work on building "Cinema Under the Stars" had me focused more on succeeding with a full season of films than on planning a performance for the fall. I was counting on more actors & musicians to step up to the plate.

Saturday October 2nd & 3rd will have the stage set in the morning with anticipation that performers will be available. This will be the litmus test as to whether or not performers will show up on their own for a performance date. I rather doubt it, because I have not seen people willing to come to the Saturday & Sunday work sessions every weekend. Many people have come by the stage, some actors or aspiring actors, but few have come prepared to run lines and get serious about acting. So I have my doubts about performers with prepared material.  We will do "Spontaneous Shakespeare" as that is the easiest emergency performance program.  In terms of music, there are a few performers who can respond to the moment and if we are lucky they will be in attendance. If you are one of those performers come over Saturday or Sunday ready to rock, whether we have an audience or not it's a test of what we as performers can do together.

Kenneth Branagh's " Hamlet"

Here is a link to 

information about the showing at 

The Southampton Library 

on 

Saturday Afternoon

the 25th of September

 1- 5 pm

" Hamlet "

"Spontaneous Shakespeare"

from 12 - 1 pm

for those who come early.

A Performance Review

 ***

presented on July 5th after 

the Southampton Days Parade

The Opening Scene

to

"Midsummer"

by 

Michael Dutka

Photos by Mike Lally

This is not a critical review of the performance of "Midsummer",  rather it is an analysis of how the overall presentation at the stage went.

Food Services;

First, let me apologize to our audience for the fact that the food service vendor Fat Jack's did not show up.  This is the second time that has happened with them and it will be the last.  Not only did this disappoint the participants in the parade, who were intended to have a voucher to feed them after the parade, but also a number of people took the time and trouble to come back to the stage only to find that there was no food service and so they left. We lost at least half our audience because there was no food for them to picnic with.  In addition, our presentation schedule was effected and a lot of money was spent promoting the event with their name on the flyers and in the papers.  Thumbs down to Fat Jack's.

I will be working harder for us to secure the ability to provide this service using a dependable vendor . While I was working to gather sponsorship,  other food services in Southampton have expressed a desire to participate in what we are doing.  So, I will be designing a competitive program for the right to provide these services, one which will involve a written contract and a fee which will assure that the food service vendor shows up. Otherwise we will provide the food services ourselves.

We will also be certain to include vegetarian menu items, as a number of people do not choose to eat meat.

Performance times;

The performances at the stage were set for 1-5 pm and this rather arbitrary time reference was contingent upon the BBQ being available for people to picnic while sufficient audience gathered.  Obviously without the food services, this plan faltered completely

The other factor, which I thought might occur, but was uncertain how severe it might be, was the intensity of the sun in the afternoon.  It was brutally hot onstage. A few of the performers were quite unhappy about that. So this leads me to say that the performances during the summer months should take place no sooner than 4:00 pm.  At this time of day the field is entirely in shade and the stage is in sunlight, but only for another half an hour to forty-five minutes and the sun is less intense.

Having the field in sunlight, few people chose to sit in the sun and so the audience ends up placed farther away from the stage, making it more difficult to hear and making the performance less intimate.  So this is an issue that needs to be addressed.


Introductions;

As it turns out, I am the one who did the introductions onstage this time around.  I don't think this is the best thing to be doing.  I was exhausted from the parade and I tend to ramble on too long discussing issues of the developing programs and sponsorship.  I think we need to have a very definite plan for the preludes to the shows, which eliminate too much talk on stage and we need an MC who is not me, especially if I am going to perform in the show.

Technical issues;

I expect to be creating a manual which outlines the procedures we need to implement to set-up and operate performances in the Meadow Amphitheatre, because the details are too much for any one person to effectively manage.  That will be published both here and in the hard copy of The Shakespearean Journal.

From this last show it has become clear that we need a sound person who can be certain to play the interlude music and assure that the levels are set and left unaltered.  During this show, we had excellent interlude music, but it was not implemented, because it was on me to do it and I was simply too overwhelmed to make sure that it happened. It would have made for a more pleasant viewing experience if this music were used.

We also need a videographer to capture both the parade and the performances.

It is clear that the sound system cannot be backstage unless it is attended by a sound man.  I think we will be creating the ability for the control booth to be behind the concession stand and we have determined that we will wire the stage and bury the speaker lines.

We also need a house manager who can tend to the concessions stand, making sure the information is out, is there to answer questions and can tend to the beverages and snacks we will provide.  Also, details like the interlude music and tending to the audience's needs, as in blankets.

On that subject, I think we will rent blankets to people if they did not bring their own. We had talked about chairs, but blankets are easier.

Onstage Program;

If there is one thing that was blaring at me after briefly scanning the video-tape of the performance - it is that there was too much dead time onstage.  The programs need to be presented in such a way as to keep the pace up and that means that we need to have a stage manager who can see to that.

The concept for "Spontaneous Shakespeare" was not implemented well.  It is not possible to be so spontaneous when the audience is waiting to see the next bit.  That means that we need to plan out the scenes which will be read and we need a director who can oversee the onstage activities with this program.

Our fencing demonstrations went well and we are very appreciative of the folks who came over. Our swordsman was  'Bran ap Rees and his son' They presented a fascinating demonstration of fencing techniques and showed how it works in competition.  It was a wonderful addition to the program... Thank you Bran. I hope we can do more of this in the future.

The Audience;

Those folks who came over to the performances (and stayed) seemed to be very happy they did and were very enthusiastic about having this "Shakespeare in the Park" in the area. One comment, was that of surprise, that there was not a huge crowd there for this event. Another couple made the journey over from Morrisville just for the event.  I couldn't help myself and I had to give the gentleman a hug for doing so.  I think I surprised him, but I was so happy to hear that he came all the way over there just for our event.

There are things we need to do to make the experience more pleasant and more professional for the audience, but we took a casual approach to the staging and relating to the audience which seemed to work fine for the event.

"Midsummer";

Presenting this new Musical Opera in the park went well. It was the first try, so some things were not as together as they could have been, but overall it was pretty good.  If we are to continue with the show and present the next installment, then the performance times will be at a cooler time of the day and closer to evening.  We will refine out interludes between scenes so there is not dead space on the stage and we will need to fill-in with other planned scenes,  music, or other form of entertainment.  A later performance time will allow the audience to sit closer to the stage, which will help. 

The sound in the Amphitheatre is pretty good and the performers did a bang-up job of conveying their art.  I was backstage for much of it, so I was unable to properly analyze how it was conveyed to the audience.

Here's some thoughts from the composer/director;

Folks, just wanted to thank you all for all your hard work and tell you all how well you did yesterday. Sorry we didn't have a few more folks to enjoy the experience - their loss, but for me, it was a total delight to sit back in that little green room (grove), and listen to you all.

Thanks again and best,

Mike


Documenting the Performance with Video;

The video camera battery died somewhere into the performance, but thankfully it captured the entire performance and died just as we were exiting the stage.  I do know that I need to look at putting microphones in place, for the video cameras, and I have shotgun mics for that purpose.  Of course, the issue is feedback from the PA if those mics are to be used for vocal support, but just for the video that would not be an issue.

Summary;

All in all, I think we are on our way to developing a nice performance time slot after the parade.  I do think that by making the performance later in the day, it will be easier on the performers, allow more time to prepare  the presentation, and allow the parade goers to have more time to recover from a morning out in the sun.  I do not think we have to worry too much about competing forces with the carnival because the folks who come by to see us are more inclined toward this type of entertainment.  If we plan out event to coincide with folks leaving our show and going over to see the fireworks, then I think we will have hit on a good workable formula.

This being the first attempt to present on the Forth of July weekend, I think we all did an admirable job that everybody should be proud of.  Thank you all.  AG