Prodigal 2011 – The Wrap Up

Prodigal ended its 2011 run last night just after 630pm.  Nothing signals the end of a season as definitively as the crew rushing in to disassemble the set; pulling down curtain rails that took four days to get right, wheeling out the water feature, putting the scaff pipes back into position, carrying out the free-standing

Prodigal 2011 – Opening Night

And at some point, you have to open.  You race, you rush, you determine that everything is going to come to this arbitrary point, and it does. How was Prodigal 2011 opening night?  It was tremendous.  Joyful, beautifully performed and flawless.  The miracle that occurred on opening night for Once We Lived Here occurred again.

Prodigal 2011 – Preview

The final ingredient was added tonight – the audience, of course.  You work your show for so long, refining acting choices, choosing the costumes, brainstorming a set and all racing towards creating the production.  But the last element, the one you have no control over, are those people that fill the 110 seats in your

Prodigal 2011 – Day 19

Sometimes with press it never rains but it pours.  The Age and Herald Sun profiles both ran today – great articles, great pics, and great ticket sales across the day.  The first four shows are completely sold out, with only a few tickets left for the final four.  And Ed got the cover of the

Prodigal 2011 – Day 18

Highlights from Bump In – The curtain rails finally up after Jo and Fabian worked on them from 6am-8pm. The Master showing Aleksa and James the manly art of roof building. The door that Dave and Pommy banged together for us and delivered. The water feature – it’s quite fun to lie in and very

Prodigal 2011 – Midsumma Carnival

The Carnival couldn’t have bought better weather this year.  All of Melbourne gay pride was spread out over two levels of hillside for their day of the year.  Matt and I popped along to do sound check, which I’d generously let the actors sleep through.  I thought it might be amusing to sing “Brand New

Prodigal 2011 – Day 17

Final day of floor rehearsals.  Hot, hot day in the room.  Even the aircon couldn’t banish the mugginess.  We worked through the show, jumping sections and working little areas – a lot of musical clean up this morning – some especially moving work from Peter in the “Lullaby”, Harry’s grief and pain etched on his

Prodigal 2011 – Day 16

We had a temporary stopover at the Malthouse rehearsal room this morning, due to a double booking.  Being in the massive Hoopla room, with the rain still pouring down outside, it felt a little bit like a holiday.  Especially as we were working beats (pun not intended) rather than whole scenes.  I was focusing on

Prodigal 2011 – Day 15

And then you have the days when you get the privilege of watching wonderful actors bring your show to life.  The run this afternoon was joyous – everything made sense, had emotional weight, was funny and interesting – all six of those people were real people.  It’s hard to put into words how wonderful it

Prodigal 2011 – Day 14

Breathing life into a show isn’t a smooth process.  It doesn’t occur in a straight line of Good – Better – Best.  Generally you talk around a table, so your mind and voice are engaged first.  Then you introduce the space, and the body within in, script in hand.  You find and finesse at every