Conducive to Magic

Posted by Still Life actor, Halley Feiffer -

It is hard to believe we have less than one week left of "Still Life." This makes me want to cry. I am crying, in fact; don't tell anyone, please.

Last night's performance was very exciting, in a surprising way. We were all aware -- including the audience, I think -- that it was our last Tuesday performance; the air in the room had a certain electricity, the feeling of "This is one of the the last times we will be doing this!"

I don't remember feeling this way in other shows I have done. Often I feel: "Oh good, it's almost over!" or "I can't believe this is ending; what the heck will I do with my life?!", and these two feelings are so overwhelming that I have little time to think, "Oh, it is the last Tuesday we will be performing this show; how strange and sort of magical."

There is something about Still Life that is conducive to magic. From the first day of rehearsal, there was a certain buzz in the air. We were all here because we loved the play, I think; and that is a rarity. It has been such an immense gift to get to work on a play that I love in the way I love this play. I feel, now, the way I felt during the first read-through, or watching the first run-though: "I can't believe I get to be a part of this! I can't believe we are all here, working on this piece we love so much, and I can't believe it's this good!" What an unusual, thrilling feeling.

Thank you, MCC, for this experience. I don't think any of us will forget this magic any time soon.

"Still Life" Opening Night Party

Click here to check out photos of fancy folks and listen to DJ Randyhate's amazing playlist from the opening night soirée for Still Life. (Above: DJ Randyhate catches a glimpse of Still Life actor Kelly McAndrew and Kristina Valada-Viars. Photo by Sung An.)

Week Four

Posted by Still Life actor Ian Kahn--

We’re now in the fourth week of rehearsals for Still Life… I always find this period to be an interesting one, and in some ways, the most fun and fruitful part of the rehearsal process. We've got the whole show blocked, and we're doing full runs of the play in the afternoons. It is the time where we can all start to get an idea of the piece as a whole, and where each of our characters fit into it. Can be tricky, too, though. You can get your hands around a scene or a moment, and you feel like you’ve really "got it", and then the next time through it just seems to slip away. Reconnect with your partner, look to your director, and get back on that horse. That's the advice I was given and I try to keep in mind.

I am feeling really fortunate to be working with this company of actors, this director, playwright, stage management, and MCC. We are up here swinging with everything we’ve got. Here's hoping we knock it out of the park like Derek Jeter. Or at least a double off the wall.

Editor’s note: Ian has had many roles you may recognize him from – including major roles on ABC's The Unusuals and Dawson’s Creek and – although he’s now a married man – a number of rolls in the hay with some top-shelf leading ladies, including Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw – Check it out ...

From "Red Dog" to "Still Life"

Posted by Still Life actor Matthew Rauch--

Working with Alexander Dinelaris on his play, Red Dog Howls, was similar in many ways to my experience with Still Life so far. We have an amazing friendship, and I have been privileged to participate in the early stages of Alex's process on several pieces - to read early drafts, to talk through arcs and themes and structure with him. It's exciting to work closely with a writer whose voice I admire, and who speaks to his audience with such honesty and without a hint of irony. I find his use of muscular emotion to be tremendously refreshing. His words just seem to fit me, and when we are grooving, it's really really fun. Of course, Alex explores painful and profound themes in his plays, and with Red Dog Howls, we were dealing with some extremely delicate issues of collective shame and discovered identity. It was a difficult and rewarding process - incredibly emotional and cathartic. I consider myself very lucky to have been in that play, and of course this one, too. It's thrilling and a great honor to be a part of my friend's journey as a writer, and to be his companion on this path.

Photo (L-R): Darcie Siciliano, Alexander Dinelaris, Kathleen Chalfant, Matthew Rauch at the LA premiere of Dinelaris' Red Dog Howls.

Photos from "Still Life" First Rehearsal

Actors Adriane Lenox and Ian Kahn.

MCC Artistic Director Bernard Telsey with
Scenic Designer David Korins.

Actors Frederick Weller and Dominic Chianese with
MCC Associate Artistic Director Will Cantler.

Rehearsal, Technically Speaking

Posted by January LaVoy, actor--

Whew! We've just completed the first 40-some-odd hours of Coraline tech rehearsals (with a few more to come). It's left me feeling simultaneously exhausted and compelled to blog a bit about the experience. 

I've been doing theatre for some time now, and have been fortunate enough to act in a number of new plays.  But I've never felt the type of creative energy and commitment that I feel from our Coraline tech and design crew. Each day of tech rehearsal has brought new delights - incredible and intricate set dressing, unbelievably gorgeous and inventive props, mind-blowingly beautiful lighting effects, fabulous and innovative costume designs... I could go on and on!  But I won't, because you simply must see it for yourself! 

I also wanted to send out some mighty props (not the stage kind) to the folks who are helping us put it all together backstage - our wardrobe crew, dressers, deck carpenters, ASM, PA's, et al... There is a huge group of people putting this show together, and they are doing it with amazing generosity and good humor. I'm so grateful to everyone involved.  Every night this week, as I fell into bed, thoroughly exhausted, I thought about how lucky I feel to be a part of this show, at this moment in my life.

Onward, now, to our first public performance tomorrow night...

'Coraline' Podcast

MCC Theater's brand new podcast, with a series of interviews with the artistic staff of Coraline, kicked off last week. The first episode is available now.

Our Coraline series will air weekly through April 30. Guests will include Stephin Merritt, Jayne Houdyshell, David Greenspan and more. Check out a new episode each Thursday!

Click here to subscribe through iTunes.
Click here to download episodes to your desktop.

Miscast 09 Photos

Click here to view photos from Miscast 09 on Broadwayworld.com

Creating a Monster

Posted by Scott Parkinson, actor -

The Third Story is a loving and zany homage to the movies. In one of the play’s subplots, a storyline that turns out to be the first draft of a “lady-scientist-meets-Queen-of-the-Mob” screenplay written by our leading characters, we meet Zygote. There is one short stage direction that acts as our introduction to him: he is an “ageless” being, “eerily beautiful” and “frightening”. Beyond that description we glean from the script that he is a botched laboratory experiment grown from a test tube, dependent for survival (or so he thinks) on a secret formula that helped him age thirty years in three hours, that he was designed to last only a decade, that he is angry about the circumstances of his “birth” and his creator’s inability to show him true love and care, and that he possesses a distinctive anatomy that includes seven nipples and a “very original intestinal tract”...(more)

Opening Night Photos

Click here to view photos from the opening night party 

for The Third Story on Broadway.com. 

Slap Happy

Posted by Sarah Rafferty, actor—

I must admit, I leap out of bed every day in anticipation of being slapped around by Charles Busch in "The Third Story." Seeing this photo in the New Yorker made my day. The cat is finally out of the bag. Charles Busch is a brute and a bruiser.  I'm afraid, though, that this fabulous photographer must have Photoshopped my flying prosthetic tooth out of the shot.  (And to think, neither Charles nor I could get an audition for "The Wrestler"!) 

First Rehearsal Photos

Click here to view photos from the first rehearsal of
The Third Story on Broadway.com.