Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: Backstage buzz
Idiot heaven: opening night on Broadway
posted by Bert Reptile on Thu, Apr 29, 2010
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
Kristin Cato, Berkeley Rep’s bookkeeper, was part of the Theatre’s delegation to New York for the Broadway opening of American Idiot. You can see Kristin in the photo below (courtesy of Mina Morita), her head poking through almost dead center. The group includes, from left, Mary Susskind, Terence Keane, Sally Smith, Amy Potozkin, Kristin, Emika Abe, Maggi Yule, Tom Pearl, Andrew Susskind, Karen Racanelli, Christine Bond, and Susan Medak.
Below are Kristin's observations of this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Ah, the hum and beat of New York. Taxicab blurs and Times Square’s over-sized phantasmagoria of molten corporate psychedelia splatters across skyscraper. It’s the ‘hood where musical theatre still lives large. And it’s an ironically glamorous, frenetic, yet apt setting for American Idiot, a tale of an underbelly youth’s false start in the metropolis of his (broken) dreams. After all, the youth does belt out “One nation controlled by the media/Information age of hysteria” in the opening number.
Being a big fan of the show during its Berkeley run, I had been hankering for months to see the Broadway production, and had contemplated an overdue visit to the Big Apple. So naturally I was thrilled to win a ticket to opening-night festivities in a staff lottery. What a gift and opportunity! Thank you, lottery goddesses!
About a dozen of my fellow Berkeley Rep co-workers also flew in from the Bay Area. We met up at the legendary Sardi’s next door to the St. James Theatre for a pre-show reception, compliments of Board member Sally Smith. I gazed around at caricatures of the famous – past and present – plastering the walls of this dark-wooded restaurant. I easily spotted the hand-drawn faces of Sophia Loren, Tom Brokaw, Rosie O’Donnell, and Kermit the Frog. Many others looked vaguely familiar. I had seen them in something, somewhere. Little did I know, I would be partying with Rosie O’Donnell in a couple of hours, alongside Serena Williams, Michael J. Fox, a host of TV stars, and of course, Green Day and the American Idiot cast. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
It was time to head to the theatre!
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American Idiot opens on Broadway to rave reviews!
posted by Chad Jones on Thu, Apr 22, 2010
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
American Idiot nearly blew the lid off the St. James Theatre when it opened in New York Tuesday night. From Berkeley Rep to Broadway, and the reviews are amazing! Here are a few.
"Invigorating, moving, and thrilling! Performed with galvanizing intensity by a terrific cast, the emotional charge is as memorable as the music. A true rock opera!" — Charles Isherwood, New York Times
"A groundbreaking musical event! Told with a soaring theatricality that stretches the boundaries of what's possible on Broadway, American Idiot is a global knockout!" — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"It will electrify and overwhelm your senses! This adrenalized gut-punch of a musical holds you in its white-knuckle grasp." — David Cote, Time Out New York
"The first great musical of the 21st century!" — Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Times-Star
The cast recording was released Tuesday as well. Green Day appears on the album, and Billie Joe Armstrong sings alongside the actors you saw in Berkeley.
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Video message to the Broadway Idiots
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Apr 20, 2010
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre's Teen Council created a message to the cast, creative team, and crew of American Idiot, which opens tonight at the St. James Theatre.
To catch you up on all things American Idiot, here are a few good links:
Billboard's cover story, which includes a good video interview
And here's an MTV clip called From Punk Rock to Rock Opera (some of the shots are from Berkeley Rep rehearsals, and if you look sharp, you can catch a glimpse of Artistic Director Tony Taccone — in a red tie):
Watch MTV's half-hour documentary American Idiot on Broadway.
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The hum of the Idiot machine
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Apr 9, 2010
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
Now that Green Day's American Idiot is in previews on Broadway, all kinds of news is pouring out of the St. James Theatre.
To say that there's a lot of buzz surrounding the official opening on April 20 would be a severe understatement. Below you'll find links to a contest and some of the major stories about the show as well as a couple of videos.
Time is running out on MTV's contest to give 300 of Green Day's biggest fans a chance to win tickets to American Idiot on April 22. Visit the MTV site for details and to fill out an entry form. Your deadline is this Sunday, April 11.
Here's Green Day interviewed in New York magazine.
Here's a piece on the show from the New York Times.
And finally, if you have HBO, set your DVRs: Billie Joe Armstrong will be on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher at 10pm tonight (Friday, April 9) along with Alice Waters and Chris Rock.
And now for some videos.
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Girlfriend gets Goode
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Apr 6, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz
During the last few weeks, one of the great pleasures of being at Berkeley Rep is the catchy Matthew Sweet music pouring out of the rehearsal hall. Singing along to the strains of "Evangeline" or "I've Been Waiting" has been embraced as part of the daily routine here as the actors, musicians, and creative team build Girlfriend, Todd Almond's take on the Matthew Sweet album of the same name.
Watching director Les Waters work with actors Jason Hite and Ryder Bach has been fascinating. With only two actors in the show, a tremendous amount of attention is paid to every minute detail (yet another reason why it's so great this show is on the intimate Thrust Stage). Add in the wonderful work of choreographer Joe Goode, and you've got an even more fascinating creative process.
Girlfriend, which begins previews this Friday (April 9) and opens Wednesday, April 14, is like American Idiot in that it's a world-premiere rock musical based on a beloved album full of great songs. But that's really where the comparisons end. Girlfriend is small-scale and romantic and features a phenomenal, all-girl band. This is a musical, but it's not a traditional musical, and the choreography is a long way from high kicks and jazz hands.
Les says Joe is the perfect choreographer for Girlfriend because, "his style always uses movement in service of storytelling and character. This touching and genuine story about two teenage boys falling in love needs a light touch, and he knows how to combine dance and narrative in ways that no one else can. Having him in the rehearsal hall has been a delight."
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Can my Girlfriend borrow your car?
posted by Terence Keane on Mon, Apr 5, 2010
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
Guillermo’s 1975 Chevrolet
Our next show, Girlfriend, is a boy-meets-boy love story. The guys in the play — like many teenagers — spend most of their time just driving around. They go to the drive-in. They park out under the stars. They sing along to the radio while speeding down lonely roads. They "cruise the Butte."
So when it came time to take a publicity photo for the show, we knew we needed just one prop: a car. We wanted to create an iconic image of young love — a couple sitting in a convertible up on lovers' lane — and make people do a double take when they realized it was queer. Wait, is that two guys?
The director, Les Waters, agreed it was a great idea. But that brought me back to a little problem: where was I going to get a classic convertible to use for the picture? It's not like we have one lying around with the other props in our warehouse.
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Sneaking a peek at Girlfriend
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Mar 31, 2010
in At the theatre , Backstage buzz
In between rainstorms, you can tell it's spring here in the beautiful Bay Area. And in spring, as they say, a young man's fancy turns to love.
How perfect, then, that our next show is a rock musical romance. The buzz is building for the world premiere of Girlfriend, a new show wound around the pop-perfect songs of Matthew Sweet's legendary 1991 album.
Let us take you into the world of Girlfriend — set in Nebraska in 1993 — as two young men, just out of high school, realize that they're in love.
Director Les Waters and playwright Todd Almond invite you to check out their sweet and sexy Girlfriend in this video presentation.
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Girlfriend's Todd Almond in concert
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Mar 16, 2010
in Backstage buzz , Events
Though he's immersed in rehearsals for Girlfriend, Berkeley Rep's world-premiere stage adaptation of Matthew Sweet's classic album of the same name, playwright Todd Almond is going to give us a taste of his other artistic talents.
Todd is part of a dazzling lineup this Friday night, March 19, at San Francisco's Cafe du Nord. The show is Tingel Tangel's second-anniversary blow-out hosted by Joey Arrias and Veronica Klaus. In addition to Todd, you can also expect to see Holcombe Waller, the Winsome Griffles, Trauma Flinstone, Fauxnique, Harlem Shake, Allan Herrera & Terry T., Keith Hennessy, and Marga Gomez. Doors open at 8, and the show begins at 9. Tickets are $16 in advance and $20 at the door. Click here or here for info.
A composer, lyricist, and playwright, Todd has written a number of musicals and has released an album of original songs called Mexico City.
As a performer, Todd describes himself as "a singer/songwriter with a real theatrical inclination." That doesn't mean he wears outrageous costumes or tap dances on the piano. Rather, he sits at the piano to play and sing songs. "By theatrical, I mean the live-ness," Todd explains. "I love the storytelling and the humor of performance."
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Listening in on Les Waters
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Mar 12, 2010
in Backstage buzz
Richard Wolinsky, the host of the KPFA show Cover to Over Open Book, took the above photo of Mt. Fujii, and we share it with you (with his permission, of course) in honor of Richard's interview with Les Waters, Berkeley Rep's associate artistic director and the man at the helm of Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West, which happens to be set in Japan.
The show aired today and can be enjoyed at anytime thanks to KPFA's online archive.
Listen to the interview.
Les is a fascinating guy, and you'll hear about his youth in a small Lincolnshire town (the name is considered an English joke because it has a four-letter word buried in it — you'll have to listen to the interview to find out what that might be). He also talks about his early career at the Royal Court Theatre in London.
He delves into his most recent project, directing the world premiere of Naomi Iizuka's Strange Devices (running through April 11), and discusses his next project, the rock musical Girlfriend, now in rehearsal.
Les provides some marvelous insight into Strange Devices, offers his thoughts on the 2010/11 season, and talks about what it's like to direct on Broadway (or, as Les refers to it, "Disneyland").
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The agony and the ecstasy of Mike Daisey's Steve Jobs
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Mar 10, 2010
in Backstage buzz
Last week, when we announced the shows of our new season, we figured a few of the names would jump out at people. We knew people would be thrilled at the prospect of Rita Moreno's autobiographical one-woman show, and they were. We knew people would be tickled by the inclusion of Lemony Snicket's The Composer Is Dead. And they were.
We also figured that techies — especially in Silicon Valley — would take note of Mike Daisey's new work, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. Boy, did they ever.
Once the press release hit, the Internet, from CNET to the New York Times' blog and everything in between, lit up like a Jobs hotline. Some of the stories embellished the show's announcement with details that it would be heading to Broadway after its stop in Berkeley or that Mike would be playing the role of Apple co-founder Jobs.
All of this buzz prompted Mike to address the tech journalists on his website. In addition to pointing out the correct spelling of his name (not like the flower), Mike felt the need to point out that he is a monologuist, a person who performs monologues as himself, not as a character, in direct address to the audience. In Mike's case, that means he mostly sits behind a table, refers to his notes, and talks to the people before him as part of a smart, funny conversation.
The big clarification was in defining the scope of the show. Here's what Mike wrote: "I will not be playing the `role' of Steve Jobs. The monologue concerns Steve Jobs' rise and fall and rise, Apple, industrial design, and the human price we are willing to pay for our technology, woven together in a complex narrative."
Mike is definitely a guy you want to keep up with, so visit his site often. Today's post just happens to be a re-post about someone who tangled with Jobs over a software patent. Very interesting....
Above photo: Mike Daisey, monologuist, demonstrates his craft. Photo by Ursa Waz