Another Opening of Another Snow.

We open tonight:)! We open in a blizzard:(

This is what we get for doing theatre by a church, the almighty is smoting our show because we parked in the Deacon's parking spot.

For really reals people, it's not that big of a frakin'(BSG BABY) deal. We the show is gonna happen tonight, the worse thing that could happen is we get stuck in the theatre and drink ourselves silly from the bar.

The roads will be fine! If this turn into an excuse for folks to ditch the show, I'm gonna e-mail you a snarky e-mail listing all the reasons why I hate you. Who ever "you" are.

The show was a great success last night. We did it. It wasn't crap, and no one died. I count that as a success!

I think we got over some of our "nerves" for our small audience last night. It was nice to play to a fresh set of eyes.

Jason and Michelle De Long came to see the run through and gave us a great notes session. Wonderful ideas, I hope we can fit them in tonight. I agree with Barrett " We got plenty of time..we open tomorrow night!"

We have a great show, I hope Mike Morgan doesn't scare you from Sam Shepard.

LOVE AND TOAST!!!
-jh

We open weather or not...

Disregard most of Jon's post...

We will open tomorrow night regardless of the weather!

Love and toast...

www.truewestokc.com

We open Tomorrow!

Weather permitting.....we open tomorrow night!
The show is great! Everyone is brilliant!
Come see the show!!!

-jh

The Truth, West.

We had three rehearsals now we have two. We open this sucker in 2 days. Like any other theatrical endevor we wish we had another week.

We decided that Lee and Austin's last name is either "West", "Sam" or "The 5 Million Dollar Man"-cause Lee Austin IS The 5 Million Dollar Man.

We need an audience. We don't need an audience. There are the few odds and ends that need tying up, but if we can just dot all those annoying t's we should be in great shape. We want to play and have that energy of an audience. It seems we really pull it together with fresh eyes watching the show.

Don't you see True West Fans...WE NEED YOU NOW. The show isn't just about the props or the lights, but two guys having fun with a room full of people..minus the jello.

Can't wait to see you.

-jh

That ripping sound behind my head is a crotch......

OPENING NIGHT IS ONE WEEK AWAY!

The set is looking great, the costumes are coming together and the fun is being had.

Last night marked our third full run with our fully assembled Cast AND Crew.
This was kinda' a mini performance for the crew so that they kinda' get a feel for the hell that is in store for them. Austin and Lee become a little messy through the show. Not to mention the repairs to the set we will more than likely have to do daily. It's like a battle field out there.....

I hear we are selling this show very well...only two nights left that hasn't either sold out or going to be sold out soon...I'm pissed cause I grew what little hair I had out for this thing and I look like a Chia experiment gone terribly wrong. Not everyone can have Barrett hair.

All and all I feel like we are in a great place! No more fear from this side of the fence.

On a fun note.
Barrett keeps ripping either his ass or his crotch out of his pant nightly. I think he gnaws on them before he starts. THE REAL FUNNY is that Shawn (el director) want him to go commando during the performance. Jon Haque says: that's a true story.......

Typewriters are fun to break

Ahhh. Last night was interesting. Jon and I realized we really do have some serious problems with lines and the sequence of our lines, which always makes for an entertaining rehearsal. Also, I finally got to beat the shit out of a typewriter. That was fun. Still not sure about shrapnel flying into the audience. We may have to do a tarp like Gallagher used to have for the front row at his concerts.

We did have a few more "a-ha" moments, I think, which is fun. Shawn still hasn't recast either of us (to our knowledge), so I suppose he's still feeling semi-ok about things. This is a tough show. We could have 2 more months of rehearsal and still not get every drop out of this script. But we're making choices and trying to flesh them out. As long as we commit one way or another, we feel like we're doing the words justice. The worst thing would be to just kind of float along through it.

Anyway, buy your tickets! First weekend is looking like it's filling up already.

www.truewestokc.com

Love and toast,

BD

Set-Building,Fried Pork Fat, and the top of the roller coaster....

With a little less than two weeks left the TRUE WEST cast and crew are working their bums off to provide a great theatre experience...without anyone losing an eye.

Friday night was the horror of a full run off book. I t went well! A lot of it Sheppard didn't write...but one would get the since that an actual show was happening.
After the show we went to the Lobby bar and drank and cried and Brent showed up. After the crying had started, but I'm sure he didn't help ;)

Saturday-between 3 guys 10 bags of pork rinds we eaten in a 10 hour period. I'm glad we are getting a sponsor to cover the rest of our addiction.

Speaking of sponsors...Barrett tells us that are really cool local brewer-COOP ALE- will be sponsoring some beer for the cast and crew AND an opening night party! For a show in a shack-we are getting some hella' great perk (i.e. press, sponsors, etc.)

The set looks great thanks to the talents of Brent, Leyva, and Barrett. I helped where I could and Shawn made sure I wasn't eating glue or air-gunning my hand to the set.

Last night we ran act one-We left the plateau ladies and germs. It was great, comfortable and sexy. Ok, 2 outta three and you can pick which ones. We are in a really good place..for ACT I.

ACT II will prove to be the bear, but we are devoting the next 2 night to her alone. I think if we can keep the focus in the rehearsal we will knock out ACT II.

We will be drinking green beer before and during the rehearsal to loosen us up a tad, here’s to luck!

"crunch time..."

So,
Last night was a sobering experience...especially for me.
Cynthia Heimel -“When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.”

I am the first to run into this burning building, however for the first time in a long time I feel scarily self conscience about my abilities on stage. Maybe it was last night, and the stress of the day gig that fed this fear, or other peripheral slings-no the less...I do feel my peers on stage excelling past me, and it is sobering.

Don't get me wrong, the environment is a playful one where you can be a theatre-jock ( a hybrid title that I think Barrett would love to have screen printed on a letter jacket) or an artsy douche ( I already have the hand bag) or anything in between. There is a mild amount of criticism in our space and feel that it is good. That isn't the reason, I think it may be...stage fright? This makes it hard to focus.
I felt like I was a dungeon master of a drinking game-every time Haque says "line" -drink.

Whatever it is, it seems to have been a one night kinda' thing. Whoever said this stuff is easy-they suck and you should kick'em.

I do think last night was a very important rehearsal, it marks a point where we should be and a point where we are not. The great news is we have time to meet this point and keep climbing higher. Chances of this show being decent to awesome: 80% and we have 2 and half weeks to make it better.

Again, this is just me...not reflective of anybody else.

Good News-
Tickets are selling well! over half full.
We have found 4 (count'em) 4 folks to tech the show
and props were hauled in by Mama Caprise, complete in Alaska wear.

For the record....

I said it was cool to blog not to bitch about it!!!

So as you can tell the cast is chummy. Like a bullet in a guy-we're close.

No really, all is well-we have been strugleing with lines..as par usual. Good thing we are not switching casts!!

We found some backstage help and this weekend marks the big load-in for set. Tonight is another PAINFUL run of ACT II. Lines really frustrate me....the flow is all funked if we drop or call a line, which you kinda' need it for this show.

Barrett-no lie-I think-got pissy with me last night when I pushed him in a scene. He literally chased me down with a paint roller handle threatening to "fuck me up".
I would call that some good Shepard!

Til next I blog...

Breakthroughs

Let me preface this by saying that I was never the guy that stood up through this whole creative process and said "Hey let's have a blog! People will read it and get interested in the show!" That was mostly Jon. Why isn't Jon updating this blog? You can ask him when you come see the show. 

Ahem.

So we worked on the boys' scenes in Act I Monday night. There were a few things that had just not been working all that well, and for some reason, we pretty much had a few "eureka" moments, when it all made sense. That was nice. Act I is feeling better each time and we're more familiar with it, so it's fun to play with. We are working Act II tonight and Jon and I are pretty much guaranteed to not know all of our lines. It's no coincidence that Act II seems to be the more chatty of the two acts. We will get them at some point, I'm sure. Tonight will be rough though.

We're also working on hopefully getting some support from a local business to sponsor an opening night party and I can assure you, faithful readers, that you will enjoy this company and their sponsorship of our event!

Oh, yeah, go buy your tickets! Some nights are getting close to selling out already... www.truewestokc.com

Love and toast,

BD

See any igloos?

Worked the final scene of the show last night. First time off book for all of us, so we struggled a little with that, but in spite of the lines not completely being there, it went pretty well. The final scene has quite a bit packed into it, and by the end of the night it had really started to find a direction, which was cool. Of course, that may have been the Old Milwaukee and pork rinds intoxicating me into thinking we were starting to do some good stuff...

Still a shitload of stuff to figure out, from props, set, costume, etc. but I think we're in pretty good shape. I'm really excited about this production and hope everyone turns out to support us...speaking of which...

BUY YOUR TICKETS! www.truewestokc.com

Love and toast,

BD

We might even let you hit the ball a few times...

So last night Jon and I worked some more Act I stuff, and I think it went better than the night before. Each time we run these scenes, things kind of accidentally happen, some work and some don't. Once we really know the lines and are pretty solid with the script, I'm sure more stuff will emerge.

However, we also worked the Saul scenes. Saul is played by one of the city's most talented actors, Craig Pruitt. We ran the scene once, and then Shawn had us try something that involved Saul being gay and Lee trying to "flirt" with Saul. It was actually a lot of fun, and a few things were revealed that all of us will find helpful. Not that Saul is going to be a gay character, but the exercise helped us each recognize some objectives and some paths to our objectives, I think. Plus Craig was funny as hell.

Tonight, the mom scene, also known as the complete destruction of the set once Jon and I choreograph our fight. Just know that at the end of this show, Jon and I will be completely exhausted and ready for you, our dear audience, to take us out for alcoholic beverages...

Buy your tickets, people! www.truewestokc.com

Love and toast, 
BD

27....

Giggles and even more giggles.
Yes, B-rat spit in my mouth. No, it wasn't hot. Yes, it tased like beer-which I found really funny.

I really want to get the damn book out of my hand...GRRRRR. I feel like we make progress and then step back, then forward..CHA-CHA. I blame the book.

Gas was had, but only by me...I really need to change my eating habits.(have you seen the blog pics? I look like a float when I'm on the kitchen island)

I love how Abby ate a salad while the three guys were eating the offical True West meal-Pork Rines. However, when the brownies got there......let's just say Abby was sitting next to pan.

Is it me or does it feel like this frustration with the material will only make a messy breakthrough later in the process....?

I look forward to tonight's rehearsal, I think it will be.."interesting".

We open when?

Well, last night we got to work Act I. And by work, I mean that Jon and I stumbled through it a few times while Shawn decided it would be a good time to actually start giving us new things to think about. We're at the point in rehearsals where we should be starting to play and try some new things, so that's good. I just usually need a little more time to completely change what I've gotten used to doing, so last night was weird for me. It'll be fine, though. I still think we're going in a good direction.

Tonight we get to work with Craig in the Saul scenes. Craig is a frigging brilliant actor, so it's always good to share the stage with him. He certainly keeps us on our toes. He also makes us laugh our asses off. We're all supposed to be off book for these scenes tonight, we'll see how that works out for us...

Last night was also the first of those times when we occasionally get the giggles in a scene. I was delivering some lines very close to Jon's face, when I apparently spit, just a little, into his mouth. Although I'm sure he secretly loved it, he proceeded to start cracking up. The next time we ran the scene, of course, that's all I could think about and we had to stop and start a few times to get back on track. It was kind of a mess last night, looking back on it. Typical Monday night rehearsal I guess. We'll have fun tonight I'm sure...

Buy your tickets, people! www.truewestokc.com

Love and toast,
BD

27 days...give or take

This is gonna be a short post WESTIES. Friday's Rehearsal happened. The end.

j/k

It seemed as though everyone was tired,Thursday's rehearsal must have taken it outta us.
Not that it was bad, just not as "razor edeged" as the night before. Craig and Abby took so many damn pics you would have thunk the press core was covering rehearsal. I think I saw Barrett's hair put on sunglasses-as we all know his hair hates the paprazi. My hair apparently stayed inside. Again, Craig turns up the creepy every time we run scenes and Caprise is always throwing us new mother interps to keep us on our toes. I FIGGIN LOVE IT!!

We painted, Barrett bitched, the set looks like Fiestaware...it will change I swear.

Love and toast,
-jh