Show #154 October 22, 2016

Tonight is dedicated to Roxanne and the cast of Romeo and Juliet!

Roxanne- Dead End Kids Breakout 
Girls In This Town- The Connection Let It Rock 
Dumb it Down- Nick Piunti Trust Your Instincts 
Let You Down- The Wake Ups Wanna Meet 
Don't Walk Away- Warm Soda Symbolic Dream 
^Girl- Beck Girl 
*Girl- The CRY! The CRY! 
*Girl- The Boyfriends Lost Treasures 
Unlikely Places- The Posies Solid States 
Spill- Nushu Nevermind Lullaby 
The Sound Of The Suburbs- The Members At The Chelsea Nightclub 
*Girl- Cupid's Carnival Everything Is Love 
*Girl- Anouk Girl 
*Girl- The Records Smashes, Crashes and Near Misses 
Mistakes- The Lash Outs State of Excess 
Searching for a Thrill- 391 415 Music 
From Blown Speakers- The New Pornographers Electric Version 
*Girl- Robots in Disguise Get RID! 
*Girl- The Scientists The Scientists 
*Girl- Stereophonics Language. Sex. Violence. Other? 
Telephone Operator- The Leftovers Eager to Please 
Clam Up- The Signals Person To Person 
Something's Missing- The Chords This Is What They Want 
Just Drifting- Penetration Resolution 
We Make Pop Music- Art Brut Top of the Pops 
Quite Some Time- Nightman Don't You Know 
>Girl- T. Rex Electric Warrior 
>Girl- Davy Jones Girl 
>Girl- Prix Historix 
When I Wake Up Tomorrow- Cheap Trick Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello 
Hard Feeelings- The Early Hours Lights, Guitars, Action! 
Is There Someone Out There?- Z-Cars This Is Z-Cars 7" EP 
I'm in Love with a Girl- Big Star Radio City

^Power Pop Peak:  #100 Billboard Hot 100 7/4/05

*SacroSet:  Girl Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1971, 1971, 1977
 
This past summer was all Romeo and Juliet, nearly all the time.  In case you think I'm exaggerating, this We Players production started rehearsals at the Petaluma Adobe on June 30th where we performed four shows a week from August 12 to September 25th. We then moved down to Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga October 1, rehearsed five days straight and did twelve shows over the following two weeks with strike on October 17.  During the entire time I don't think we ever had more than four days in row off- which is why there was so long between episodes of ALL KINDSA GIRLS.  
 

Petaluma Adobe

It was an amazing experience all around- like a summer camp for acting.  Ava the director would start work on each scene by asking us several specific questions about our character and then challenge us to dig deeper.  One of my three roles, Potpan a Capulet servant, came out of a series of improvs which allowed me to build the character from scratch.  Unlike my other roles, Potpan doesn't have any lines, yet I felt closer to him than I did to the others.  It was very rewarding and I learned a lot. 

We Players produce "site specific" plays, meaning each show is set during the time of its location.  For Petaluma, this meant 1840's California.

Petaluma Costumes

Villa Montalvo, on the other hand, was built in 1912 by a former mayor of San Francisco named James Phelan who was one of California's first elected senators.

Villa Montalvo

Cowboys no more, the move to Saratoga required completely different costumes.

Montalvo Costumes

Beyond what we were wearing, the change in venue had a major impact on the show- every member of the cast felt it.  For example, in Petaluma I thought Juliet's suitor Paris was a total douche yet in Montalvo he seemed tragic- it really bothered me when he was killed.  I can't say exactly why I felt this way.  I asked Steve, the actor playing Paris about it and while he also noticed the change, it wasn't something he was consciously striving for.  It's an important lesson- as an actor you do your homework but you always have to be open to your surroundings.  A great example of this is the final Sunday matinee when after eight rainless months in a multi-year drought, it POURED.  (We never complain about rain in California but it couldn't wait ONE more day?  COME ON!!!)  We had 140 tickets sold and I was expecting 10 or 11 people to show yet about 75 brave souls said "rain be damned."  It was very inspiring and I'm proud to say we gave them a great show despite having to change a lot of the blocking on the fly to keep everyone from being rained on three hours straight.

Rainy Sunday Matinee

One of the cool things about the Montalvo run is that we got to stay in the artist residences on the property.  My roommate Claire and I were in The William H. Donner Foundation Studio 31.  Every residence is unique, designed by a team of architects and contemporary artists.  Ours was built specifically for writers, while other studios are for musicians, visual artists and dancers.

Studio 31

A long time ago I threw in the towel on looking cool while I sleep, opting instead for a sleep mask and earplugs.  It's a good thing too because the rising sun hit that frontward facing window in Studio 31 full-on.  (Over the two week's I noticed Clair's bed inching

across the floor like a reverse sun-dial as she tried to avoid the morning glare.)  There are hiking paths all over the property and one of my off days I spent three hours exploring them.  Lookout Point offers an amazing view of the entire valley, though the camera in my phone didn't do it justice so you'll just have to trust me on this.

It was hard on my family being away so long, especially Jaime, so I am also grateful to them for my We Players experience. 

Click the link below to stream this show, or to download, right click and "Save Link As:"
ALL KINDSA GIRLS SHOW #154