Various Things We Have All Been Up To...Random

Happy Holloween Everyone! It is Holloween Night and I have been sitting at home watching X Factor which is London's version of American Idol but much better. All the students went to a Halloween Party being given by one of the Rose Bruford students. We will post the photos in the next blog. Since the last blog we all have been doing various things, so this blog is an account of some of what we have been up to....It will cover some classes, trips students have taken, plays we have seen, and various other activities. Enjoy!





















End of Vanities









We miss Jo....we all plan on getting together soon!









Here are the Rose Bruford students that I teach attending Vanities and took part in the post performance discussion

Ben and Linsay in the booth

Ben and Sam putting gel away at strike.

Henry the Hoover.

My Class on Small Town America at Rose Bruford

I teach the first year students of the American Theatre Arts course a class on small town America. For the past three weeks they had to act and direct in scenes that were performed every Friday. I managed to attend two Fridays and Sam and Lindsay attended the last Friday. Some of the scenes that were done were from the following plays: Bent, Raisin in the Sun, Doubt, Hello from Bertha by Tennessee Williams, The Crucible, A Lie of the Mind, Butterfly Kiss, and The Colored Museum just to name a few. We have discussed and performed scenes from The Crucible and Our Town in my class. This week we are reading God's Country by Steven Dietz about white supremist groups in the USA.

Tom, Mahala, and Vanessa

Elle and Matt

Vanessa, Hannah, Iggy, ???, and Danielle

Bryony and Hannah

Cassie and Laura

Esti and Billy

Rohan

Bryony, Becca, Hannah, Laura

Celebrating the completion of the directing scenes. Hannah, Sam, Matt.

Charlie, Hannah, and Bryony

Elle and Billy



Plays We Have Attended

La Cage aux Folles was a play a few of us attended as mentioned in a previous blog. Below John Borrowman is signing autographs at the stage door after the show. He can be seen in Torchwood for those of you who follow that series on TV.

I was fortunate to attend the opening night premiere of the ballet, Sleeping Beauty, at the Royal Opera House performed by the Royal Ballet. It was an excellent performance and has received great reviews. The lead dance is an American named Sarah Lamb.

Last Wednesday night we went to the Old Vic which is run by Kevin Spacey to see Inherit the Wind which co-starred Kevin Spacey. It was a wonderful production and Spacey was very good. Some students stayed after the show to see if he would show up in the bar on the bottom floor of the Old Vic which he usually does; however, he did not show up.

We also had the opportunity to attend a play entitled The Author by Tim Crouch that he was commissioned to write for the Royal Court Theatre. As par the course for the Royal Court it was a pretty edgy play that took place in the audience and in which the playwright was in the cast of four. We got to speak to some of the actors after the performance.

Lindsay with Tim Crouch, the playwright

Steve and Adrian, one of the actors, who picked Steve out of the audience to be part of the show.

Adrian's autograph that Andy got for Steve....ask Steve to see the front of the card!!!


A Few Sights Around London

The Art in London class went to the National Gallery last week with Lucy Wilkenson the professor.

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The National Gallery

The view from Trafalga Square

Taryn, Sam, and Lindsay having lunch outside the National Gallery

Andy and Taryn....

Musicians in Covent Garden

Gina Figliulo at the Cabinet War Rooms. Gina visited her brother, Matt last week and the week before Matt's sister Jackie came over for a visit. Steve' parents also visited Steve and came to see Vanities and then took Steve to Ireland for the weekend. Krista's parents also came and visited and attended the show Friday and Saturday. She and her parents attended some plays, went to the tower of London and other sites.

Matt observing one of the war rooms....

Matt and Gina went to Abbey Road

and left some graffiti

Kensington Palace


Princess Di's dresses

Palace Gardens

Royal Albert Hall


Stonehenge

Matt, Gina, Taryn, and Rachel took a day trip out to Stonehenge. First to photo's are Rachel's...Great colors!

Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick Castle, York, and Oxford

Rachel and Taryn went to Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cotswolds, York, and then went to Oxford with Andy.

Cotswolds with rainbow

Oxford - Turf Tavern

roast pig in the tavern

Andy after being in the tavern!

Oxford-Christ Church

Rachel....

Staircase used in Harry Potter

Great Hall that inspired the Great Hall in Harry Potter


Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's Birthplace

Warwick Castle

York...one of the great medevil cities

Taryn doing an ancient Roman dance

Rachel TRYING to do an ancient Roman dance!

Random Shots....

Me attempting to eat a long hot dog in the movie theatre....it wasn't very good either....

Andy in the classroom with his favorite cup.

Sam before....

Sam after...

Krista and Lindsay discover a new way to defrost the freezer.

Steve attempting to look like me but failing miserably....

The End.

Review of Vanities

Review of Vanities

"Fabulous Not to be Missed"by Grant Smythson on 17/10/09
It just goes to show that a small venue can be home to a fabulous production. Such is the case for "Vanities" showing for one more night [Saturday, October 17, 2009] at Tara Studio.

The acting is superb and the interplay among the three characters is spot-on. All three actresses deliver strong and delightful performances.

The directing, innovative staging, and overall ambience is well-incorporated, making for a balanced, entertaining, and professional production. If one has the opportunity, one should try to catch the final performance

Event Venues & Times
finished

Tara Arts 356 Garratt Lane, London, SW18 4ES

The "get in" into TARA STUDIO

A week ago Monday we moved into Tara Studio. We loaded in (or we had a "get in" as the British would say) the set and lights. With the help of Matt, Steve, Andy, Bob, and Dave, Ben, Lindsay, Sam and Krista and I were able to put all the furniture together, paint, hang lights, and set up the space. Thanks to all of you. Ben's lighting design was fantastic and Lindsay did a terrific job stage managing. Sam, Krista and Jo were excellent in their roles. See the photos in the next blog that I posted at the same time I did this one.




Tara Studio, Earlsfield

















Front window of Tara.

















Putting the vanities, tables, and benches together
















Krista put a vanity together all by herself. Impressive!

Sam giving Matt directions. Wrong directions but giving him directions!

Lindsay starting the embroidery...

Steve did an excellent job painting. His summer employment came in handy. Bob giving him a helping hand.

Andy thinks he is Picasso. Poor Elvis!

David is impressed with Andy's artwork. I wonder if Lucy, the Art in London professor would approve? I the Tate Modern ready for this new artist??

Continue on and see the Production Photos in the blog posted before this one!

Production Photos of Vanities

Ben, Sam, Krista, Lindsay, and Jo
The Cast and Crew of Vanities

Well, we closed Vanities tonight at Tara Arts after a successful run this week. The cast and crew did a fantastic job on the show and the audiences loved it! We had a great discussion after Friday evenings show with the audience which was mostly made up of my students from Rose Bruford College in Sidcup. After beginning rehearsals September 8th and working very hard, it is nice to have the show finished so we can begin to see more shows and sites in London. All the hard work paid off. I would also like to thank Jo McCarthy who played the role of Kathy. Jo is a 2007 graduate of Rose Bruford American Theatre Arts Program. She spent a year studying in Texas as part of the program and had the opportunity to study playwriting with Jack Hefner, the playwright of Vanities. We will miss working with her! Enjoy the photos of the production.

Sam, Krista, and Jo and the Tiger!


Peter Snell (Gary) and Jo


















Tom Conry (Ted) and Sam

Pre-Show:

Act One:

Act Two:

Act Three:

Cheers to a job well-done!!!!

Bath, End of the Drill Hall, and The Comedy Store

We it has been over a week since the last blog, and there is a lot to cover in this one. First of all, a week ago Friday we had our final day trip to Bath. Bath is the site of the ancient Roman Baths. Again we had good weather and a beautiful view of the countryside during the long bus ride. After going through the Roman Baths, we had a good portion of the day to explore the town of Bath.

Last Sunday was our last rehearsal in The Drill Hall. We usually had Room 3 which was a perfect size for rehearsing Vanities. On Sundays we rehearsed in Room 7 which was a lot smaller, in the basement and had a moldy smell to it, but we all survived....see pictures below. We moved into Tara Studio on Monday and with the help of all of the guys on the trip we put together the furniture, hung lights, and painted some of the set. We appreciated all the help. Rehearsals have been going well and we are ready to open on Tuesday!!!! I will post another blog tomorrow with production photos....in the meantime if you go to my Facebook page you can see the production photos posted there.

After Sunday's rehearsal, some of us went to The Comedy Store to see the improv group, The Comedy Store Players who are the original group who did Who's Line is it Anyway? Three of the originals, Paul Merton, Neil Malarkey, and Richard Vranch performed that night along with Andy Smart and Lee Simpson. The Comedy Store is celebrating their 30th year!!! We met Anna Ebbesen and her boyfriend Jared at The Comedy Store. Jared surprised Anna with a trip to London. Anna was in London with us the year we performed The Diviners and was the music director for the cabaret revue we also did that year. A fun time was had by all and we will be definately going back for more improv shows.

Some of the baths.

Taryn and Sam using the audio guide which was a fantastic way of touring the baths.

Matt trying to figure out how to use the device!!!! He eventually got it.

Andy engrossed!

Lindsay learning about who all the statues are.

Julius Caesar

A view of the bath from above.

A model of what the baths looked like. Only 1/4 of the area has be dug up and exposed.

Parts of the facade of the roof,

Snakes are in the beard. A Medusa figure.

Steve viewing a waterfall of the hot springs water.

Bob, Andy, Taryn, and Matt posing in front of the bath.

To jump in or not to jump in? That is the question!

Ben posing with his new outfit!

A bath....

Steve, Matt, Taryn, Rachel, and Ben sitting in one of the meeting places in the baths.

Andy and Matt pick up another strange friend!!!!

Bob enjoying the experience.

The Abbey in Bath

The main altar and stained glass window.

Fanned ceiling.

Close up of the window.

Pig sculpture outside the Abbey.

A park near the Avon River. Notice the red bushes....all sculpted.

One of the sculptures in the park.

Avon River

River basin and one of two bridges with stores on either side of it. The other is in Florence, Italy.

Close-up of the bridge.

The Drill Hall

The Drill Hall is near the Goodge Street tube station. It has several rehearsal spaces and a 50 seat theatre.

Sam, Lindsay, Jo, and Krista in Room 7

Last day at Drill Hall.

Being silly or artistic????

The girls posing with the boy with ginger hair (as Jo described him) who worked the desk at Drill Hall. They kept thinking he looked like Ron from Harry Potter films.

Sam's last pose outside Drill Hall before we went to The Comedy Store. We would also go for pizza at our favorite, cheap pizza place down the street.

The Comedy Store

Logo on the stage.

Anna Ebbesen and I at The Comedy Store.

We waited in line beginning a 6 pm for an 8 pm show. Best to get there early and save a seat. Then go to the bar for food and drink before the show starts. Great time for conversation and reading about the history of the Comedy Store, the performers, and comedians who performed there like Robin Williams and Mike Myers.

Lindsay, Sam, and Krista in line!

Anna, Lindsay, Krista, Sam, and Jared waiting to buy a ticket. Old photo of Robin Williams in the background.

At the end of the night I went home and rode in an empty underground car....strange!

The next blog will feature pictures of us moving into Tara and productions shots of Vanities.