Saturday, March 21, 2009

My Show Opened Thursday...

...to a full house and a roaring applause.  The audiences have packed the small pub theatre to its capacity the past two nights (we opened on Thursday and will play for 7 performances.)

I was a little wary of the response come opening night, not because of any doubt in my cast - they're doing a fantastic job, but because of the typical fare for this theatre (dramas and intellectual comedies) and because the German audience is used to Brechtian theatre where everything is very intellectual and "stagy" (in my opinion, any way!)  We do have some English first language speakers as patrons, but about half our audience is made up of Germans who speak English to varying degrees.  Hence, another concern, would the English second language speakers be able to follow this fast-moving farce that looks at the work of an Old-English playwright?

The response has been overwhelmingly positive!  Apparently, the zany show with the wacky props and outlandish humor is exactly what audiences were looking for at the end of this unusually cold HH winter!  Waahoo!  Some responses have been, from a German man who came to see the show because his friend was in it (I'll write it in English for you!): I didn't understand everything that was said, but that was not a problem at all because it moved so quickly that I understood the next joke that came only a few moments later!  And from a British regular to this pub theatre, at intermission: do we have the energy for another act of this much laughter?  I think my dry cleaning bill has just gone up!  The same patron, after the show: well, I think they did a simply lovely job, and I hope you'll direct more here for the Rover!

I'm excited to see what reviewers think.  I'm not certain when the reviewers are coming, but maybe that's better because then I won't be constantly concerned with the performances that night!  I, sadly, don't have photos of the show yet, but this afternoon before this evening's show we're going to have our photo call, so as soon as I get those shots back from the photographer, I'll post some of them on here so you guys can see a glimpse of what we've been up to lately!

Sidonie is doing well.  Her new classes this semester are more difficult, but the challenge is a good one!  She's continuing to enjoy her voice lessons, and we can both notice a marked change in her vocal freedom and clarity - I'm so proud of the work she's doing!  She has also had a lot of positive feedback from professors in all areas, acting, dance and voice, so that's very encouraging.

On the job front for me, I went to an audition for a musical (in German) at one of the smaller professional theatres here, and had a great time!  It was a Fosse style dance audition, which I loved!  The singing audition went very well (I sang one song in English which got a lot of laughs, and one in German, and both were very well received.)  Unfortunately, I didn't get a callback because the directors let me know that while they really enjoyed my work, my American accent is still too strong for their needs.  At least I know now that I need to continue working on my accent.  Sidonie and I are trying to work out a way in our budget and schedule to take some German classes in the evenings so we can not only work on our accents but accelerate our learning of the language as well!  We'll keep you posted on how that goes!

I'm having some great feedback from my English teaching courses!  One company that I'm teaching for said, when I asked if there was any particular subject that they wanted me to cover that I hadn't touched on yet, that they were all quite pleased with my work and were very satisfied with what they were learning. (Praise is not a common German response to these types of questions!)  I also mentioned in my upper-level week-long intensive class this week that I had just finished directing a show in English and gave them flyers in case they wanted to come.  One of my students came last night, and brought his girlfriend!  They said they really enjoyed the show, and thought it was hilarious!

In other funny news, I was riding the train to work yesterday when I heard a couple speaking English.  I got out two flyers for the show and said: I heard you guys speaking English and just wanted to invite you to an English language play!  They took the flyers and said they might be interested in coming.  I didn't know if they would actually show or not, but I figured it couldn't hurt asking.  Not only did they show, but they ended up sitting in the very front row!   They too said they really enjoyed the show.

Well, I'd better get going because I have to decide on a list of photos for the photo call today as well as vacuum and get some groceries before the show tonight.  Love to you all!