Berkeley Rep Blog
Category archive: Backstage buzz
Holiday centerpiece salutes "21 Guns"
posted by Chad Jones on Tue, Dec 22, 2009
in Backstage buzz , School of Theatre
There's an annual holiday tradition around here, and, perhaps not surprisingly, it involves creativity.
In the weeks leading up to the Berkeley Rep staff holiday party, each department is charged with creating one of the festive centerpieces that adorn the tables. Some departments take this charge very seriously and begin thinking about it months before. Others are more inspired by the creative push of a deadline and throw something together before heading into the party.
The one rule is that the design must have something to do with a Berkeley Rep show, past or present.
An impartial panel of judges at the party (their identities are known only to Company Manager Megan
Wygant) covertly assesses the creations and a prize is awarded to the winner.
Now that this year's party is behind us, we can share with you the winning entry. Designed by School of Theatre administrator Emika Abe and fellow Lizz Guzman and constructed by the SoT staff, the centerpiece paid homage to the Green Day song "21 Guns" featured in American Idiot. A Christmas tree shape is decorated with toy guns and pictures of guns (21 in all, very clever) and topped with a plush heart grenade. There's also an accompanying note to the big man in red. Taking its cue from Johnny's letters in the show, the missive reads: "Santa, take a f@#*ing shower."
Members of the SoT design team each won a $50 Whole Foods gift card for their efforts.
And speaking of "21 Guns," the fantastic version Green Day recorded with the American Idiot cast is available for download at all the usual outlets including iTunes and Amazon.
Happy Holidays from all of us at Berkeley Rep!
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Show poster models needed!
posted by Cheshire Isaacs on Fri, Dec 18, 2009
in Backstage buzz
Want to be featured in a Berkeley Rep poster? We’re searching for two volunteer models, one male, one female, to pose for a non-explicit nude photo that will be the poster image for Berkeley Rep’s upcoming world premiere of Naomi Iizuka’s “Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West.”
The two models would be posed tightly together in a position that would suggest sexual intimacy. The photo, which would be taken from a side view, would require models to be fully nude, but no faces, genitalia, or nipples would be shown. The ideal models would be Asian or Asian-American, but since the photo will be monochrome, models with comparable skin tones would be fine. Models must be over 18 and should look 20s, have smooth (not overly hairy) skin, and have petite-to-medium and/or toned builds (but not overly muscular). If you have elaborate tattoos, they should not be visible from at least one side.
Models should be available for a photo shoot during the week of December 21. You will be compensated with for premium tickets to the show (value: $244) and photo credit where appropriate (if desired).
Please send your contact info and your availability during the week of December 21, as well as a full-body photo (clothed is fine as long as we can get a sense of your suitability for the poster image). All submitted information will remain strictly confidential and erased when the project is complete. Please submit your materials to Berkeley Rep’s art director, Cheshire Isaacs, at cheshire AT berkeleyrep DOT org. Cheshire is available to answer questions by email or phone at 510 647-2915. A draft of the poster image is available for your consideration.
A note: actors are completely welcome to volunteer as our models, but it should be clear that this is in no way an audition for Berkeley Rep, and being featured in the poster does not constitute being featured in a Berkeley Rep production.
Please share and/or re-post this request. Thanks so much for your consideration. We hope to hear from you!
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Baby, it's cold outside (but not inside...anymore)
posted by Christopher Dawe on Fri, Dec 18, 2009
in Backstage buzz
During Tiny Kushner, our first show in the Thrust Stage after we entirely replaced the HVAC unit on the roof of the building, we had several audience complaints about the wintry temperature in certain parts of the theatre.
We were working at a fast and furious pace to get our settings in line with what our audience expects and deserves, when our crack team of internet monitors picked up on a blog that mentioned our theatre's name, somewhat in vain. A San Francisco artist came to the show and had a memorable experience, to say the least, which he mentioned his on his blog, a tale of a few cities.
He suggested a new design for our burgeoning gift shop:
Here's the front...
and here's the back...
After writing a note assuring him that we had indeed fixed the issues he was referring to, he graced us with an even better shirt idea, IMHO.
You'll have to visit his blog to see that design.
We always appreciate the feedback our audience members provide for us — especially in such creative ways as this.
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Hello, Kitty! Celebrating two decades in the costume shop
posted by Chad Jones on Mon, Dec 14, 2009
in Backstage buzz , Costume shop
When she left her native Bay Area in the early ’80s, Kitty Muntzel was an artist and a teacher, with students ranging in age from Kindergarten to the golden years. She landed in St. Paul, and while touring the Minnesota Opera, she heard the costume shop was looking for stitchers to help build costumes for Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
“I thought I’d give it a try,” Kitty recalls. “As an artist, I had learned to sew working on fiber sculptures, and I had experience in taking something flat and making it three-dimensional.”
Kitty quickly discovered a love for sewing, and after a year under the apprenticeship of Gail Bakkom at Minnesota Opera, Kitty began working in costume shops around the country, from the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis to San Francisco Opera to the Folger Theatre in Washington, DC. With each new experience, her skills grew, as did her title.
In the summer of 1989, Kitty came home to the Bay Area when she became a draper at Berkeley Rep.
Now celebrating her 20th anniversary with the Theatre, Kitty can most often be found in the downstairs costume shop adjacent to the Thrust Stage. On a recent morning visit, Kitty was working amid dress forms displaying some favorite costumes she helped to construct over the last two decades.
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American Idiot cast recording of "21 Guns" with Green Day now streaming!
posted by Chad Jones on Thu, Dec 3, 2009
in Backstage buzz
Just after American Idiot cast members took their final bows on the stage of the Roda Theatre, the work continued. A few days following the final performance on Nov. 15, the cast assembled at Green Day's Jingletown recording studio. With Green Day producing, playing, and singing, they recorded a newly orchestrated (by Tom Kitt) version of "21 Guns."
That track — which sounds absolutely incredible — is streaming on Green Day's website.
Here's Billie Joe Armstrong from the press release talking about the recording (shipped to radio Dec. 4 and available for purchase and download on Dec. 22):
"We wanted to record ’21 Guns’ because it represents a pivotal moment in the show when the lead character, sung by John Gallagher, Jr., realizes he needs to get his stuff together,” says Armstrong, who collaborated on the story for American Idiot with Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening). “After the show wrapped, we headed straight to Oakland with the cast to record, and they sung the hell out of it. I couldn’t be happier. It’s great to have something out there for people to hear who didn’t get to see the show.”
It’s been a big week for Green Day and “21 Guns.” The song received two Grammy nominations on Dec. 2: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Rock Song.
Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown was also nominated for Best Rock Album. The 52nd annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast on CBS Jan. 31, 2010.
Above photo: The cast of American Idiot. Photo by Kevin Berne
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Gratitude
posted by Chad Jones on Thu, Nov 26, 2009
in Backstage buzz
The other night before a performance of Tony Kushner’s Tiny Kushner, Assistant House Manager Octavia Driscoll was making her usual speech about turning cell phones off, pointing out exits, etc. When she got to the part where she thanked audience members for spending their time and money in support of the work at Berkeley Rep she was, according to Stage Manager Kimberly Mark Webb’s nightly report, “interrupted by cries of `You’re welcome!’ and sustained applause.”
In this season of gratitude, that kind of response points out one of the things we’re most grateful for at Berkeley Rep: an engaged, supportive audience that is willing and able to join us for an incredible artistic ride.
There’s so much to be grateful for at the Theatre this fall. Here’s just a sampling…
- The incredible excitement generated by the highly successful world premiere of American Idiot.
- The extraordinary local and national press Berkeley Rep has received.
- The successful transfer of two Berkeley Rep shows, Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking and Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), to Broadway.
- A sold-out house for the one-night-only benefit performance of Tectonic Theater Project’s The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later.
Other members of the Berkeley Rep community wanted to add their thanks as well.
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I like the island Manhattan
posted by Lynn Eve Komaromi on Tue, Nov 24, 2009
in Backstage buzz , Our shows
Every time I walk the streets of New York, I can hear Rita Moreno’s pronouncement from West Side Story in my head. Indeed, I’ll take Manhattan too – I love this city that never sleeps.
Last week, I headed to New York for the Broadway debut of In the Next Room or the vibrator play,a work by Sarah Ruhl which was commissioned by Berkeley Rep and had its world premiere here last February. Sarah is one of the country’s foremost playwrights, so it wasn’t surprising that a number of New York theatres came knocking on Berkeley Rep’s doors last winter to have a look at Sarah’s newest work. It was Lincoln Center Theater that won the opportunity to mount the production at the Lyceum Theatre, directed once again by our own Les Waters.
I couldn’t miss Les' Broadway debut and the opportunity to see the further development of the play. Tony Taccone and Susie Medak were there too, along with several of the Theatre’s board members and donors who have supported our new play development program. This was a chance to see the fruits of our investment in new plays and to celebrate another entry in the canon of great American theatre.
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Meet the Reptiles
posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Nov 11, 2009
in Backstage buzz
Every year the challenge is put forth, and every year, that challenge is clobbered.
The mission is this: photographer Kevin Berne spends a day at Berkeley Rep shooting the entire staff of Berkeley Rep, one department at a time. The challenge is for each department to come up with an idea, a gimmick, a clever way of demonstrating the overwhelming coolness of their particular nook and/or cranny of the Theatre.
This year, as you'll see from the parade of photos below, the ideas range from the obvious to the obscure and everything in between. Perhaps not surprisingly, creativity is in abundant supply around here. Many thanks to Pauline Luppert of the marketing and communications department for compiling Kevin's as-always superb photos. (Note: Pauline was absent on photo day, but she is represented in the marketing photo — see if you can figure out how.)
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Game on!
posted by Megan Wygant on Wed, Nov 4, 2009
in Backstage buzz
(Ooohhh...deviousness is sweet...)
Without question, this is, hands down, my new favorite job responsibility.
Late last week Carmel Dean, American Idiot's musical director, stopped by my desk with a funny look on her face, and a question. "When Steven comes back next week, where is he staying?"
What we call the American Idiot "creatives" — director Michael Mayer, music orchestrator, arranger, and supervisor Tom Kitt, and choreographer Steven Hoggett, among others — are returning to Berkeley for the final two weeks of the show's run so that they can prepare it for the next stage of its development. And Carmel, well, she had a debt to settle.
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Blown away
posted by Chad Jones on Fri, Oct 30, 2009
in Backstage buzz
From Facilities Director Christopher Dawe:
One recent rainy Tuesday afternoon, we lost power on our block of Addison Street.
The outage forced us to cancel American Idiot that night because we were
advised by the PG&E street crew that we wouldn’t have power again until
midnight — or later.
Before that, we hadn’t canceled a show since 2006 when Rita Moreno became ill during her run in The Glass Menagerie. And before that, we hadn't canceled since 1999. And that was due to power failure, too.
When the power came back on after the most recent outage (well after midnight), we did our usual check on our equipment. We found this blown 200-Amp fuse on our chiller unit (the place we make cold air for our air conditioning). We got lucky because the fuse did the job it is supposed to do, which is to be the weakest link to break down (also inexpensive to repair).
We get to play with big toys here at Berkeley Rep, and this is just one glorious instance of the stuff we get to fix when things go wrong.