from places unknown

another adventure with 11:11 has come to a close....and i have more pictures! the final show of the season was this saturday at 8 pm--and it played to a sold-out house! once again, working with 11:11 was a fantastic experience...everyone should get a season pass to next year and come visit the factory!

blood wedding

last week, i opened Lorca's "Blood Wedding" in the Fuller Building, 808 Commonwealth Avenue as part of the BU S.T.A.M.P 2010 festival. it was an incredibly fun project with a fantastic cast/production team. the group made their own translation and transformed the space in an incredible way!



the space used to be an automotive shop. currently, it is random stuff storage and a parking deck. the challenge of taking that huge, dirty (and i mean YEARS of automotive grease and dirt) space and making it into the surreal world of Lorca's play was a HUGE one, but in my opinion wildly successful! getting power to the space was the biggest hurdle, but the actual finding and placing of the right fixtures for the aethestic and the lighting needs was one of the most creative and fun projects I have worked on this year.

perhaps my favorite part of the show is the entrance of Moon in Act III. i found a frosted globe and created a glowing mini moon that the actress carries around with her. the movement that she has found with the prop is so beautiful and the image of the moon rising in the dark forest is really exciting!

also, creating sense of intimacy throughout the play was a fun challenge for such a deep space (100+ feet). The group did a fantastic job with the scenic elements and it was a joy to create tight little spaces for the various scenes, especially in Act I.

some fun opera photos

lovely lovely opera photos! (courtesy of my fabulous assistant, who took them!)





i have been really lucky to have an assistant and lots of friends who take wonderful pictures--otherwise i would be out of luck when it came down to getting good pictures of my shows. it is really hard to take one's own pictures bc if you have time you want to be using it to work.

diventare goes to the Kennedy Center

diventare went to the kennedy center! AND, they even made us the poster!! ;)

(we were all pretty excited about that!)

We got to perform at the Terrace Theatre, which is a wonderful space with an extensive rep plot--it even had scrollers for us! The show fit very nicely on the stage, and I think it was the right size space for diventare to live in. I especially liked the modifications that the scenic designer made to the placement of the jetty and the aquarium set pieces--it all looked fabulous!

in all seriousness, the KC-ACTF experience in DC was fabulous in every way. The staff at the Kennedy Center were great; the load-in/tech/strike process was smooth; the show looked good and ran well. Plus, we got a fantastic audience reception. I am very glad that diventare ended on such a high note! I couldn't be more pleased with the entire process. plus, my sister joined us for the weekend--extra fun!

day one of opera tech

hello from opera tech! i am happy at how comfortable i feel in this process. (not physical comfort sadly, since sitting on that board is NOT fun :) )
yes, there are lots of things that still need to be focused and yes, we have a ton of notes. BUT, when i am looking at the stage , i know what i need to do. and its so much fun. (that's good, right?!)

the thing i am happiest about is the fact that all of my "homework" paid off. the colors work, the angles work, i have all the pieces i need and everything looks considered and fitting with the show. i am also very comfortable with my cue list and managed to rough in most of the big looks for the whole show, so a lot of the work that is left is polishing the basic compositions and of course adding in all the little cues for the action/blocking/shifts. the BEST thing about the show so far? DEFINITELY the drop/scrim. it is SO gorgeous..posting pictures as soon as i take them!

things i learned so far:
1) you can fake anything: water effects, angle, sunlight through trees...you name it!
2) you don't need tons of different angles to do a convincing sunset
3) a little goes a long way
4) parked dimmers are your friend (thanks Mark!)

t-minus 1 day!

so, this post is more giddy and excited....but i decided to write it anyways because it's part of the experience. in one day, i will be focusing my 450 unit opera plot. it's scary because there are so many lights and im terrified that i have made a mistake somewhere. but, it's exciting because all of those sections and math and work and rehearsal hours will finally start to pay off. i can't wait to see the full stage lit with the drop and all the trees/cabin/glade/pump.

it's also exciting because this will be the largest show that i have ever designed. AND my parents are coming to see it (the first time they have seen something since my senior year of college). im finalizing my cue list, and trying to precue things in my head so that when i finally sit down with com i can write cues like a madwoman. :) so---wish me luck!

real live theatre

happy baseball season everyone! THIS is theatre.