Bad ass “Or,” director Shana Wride

Q:… Hometown?
A: San Diego. I did grow up in Campo and Lakeside!

Q: What was the last show (or current one) that people may have seen you in or your work in?
A: As an actor, “Private Lives” (critics circle award) as a Director, “Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins” at Diversionary.

Q: What did you think when you first read “Or,”?
A: “What a fun and original script, I can’t wait to get started!”

Q: What research have done for your design, direction or character for “Or,” that you have been inspired by?
A: I have read several books on the main characters and one book on the style of Restoration Comedy. I have also watched four movies and BBC documentaries about the period as well as endless nerdy Google searches.

Q: What do you think people will love MOST about “Or,”?
A: It is joyous and doesn’t take itself too seriously, ever.

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Hi everybody, I miss you.

Ladies, this blog is not updated. You are no longer a homeless theatre company. You’ve opened and closed Drink Me in residency at the La Jolla Playhouse, and you’re running Dog Act in the new space in Rolando. What a lot you all have going on! But I’m not informed well enough to do the update.

I happen to know, because I am still an author of this blog, that Amy has begun but not finished a post called “Farewell, Esther.” If she’s anything like me, she wanted to say something, maybe because I started this blog, and then I went and moved to New England, and it seemed like somebody ought to say something. But if she’s anything like me, she wasn’t quite sure what to say, because maybe there is so much to say, and getting past the post title sounds like an awful lot of work.

I’m in Boston now, or just outside of Boston. I can’t tell you a whole lot about the Boston theatre scene because I’m not in it. I’m at home with the kids. I’m learning to quilt, and still practicing my juggling. I do ceramics on Saturdays. The fall leaves are AMAZING.

I was waiting to post here again until I had something really relevant to MOXIE or to the issues we’ve talked about on this blog. I would discover a woman-and-child friendly theatre company in the Boston area, or would see a really challenging show, or meet a kick ass female playwright.  But none of that has happened yet, and it’s been a couple of months, so I decided not to wait anymore. I’m proud of all the developments in the MOXIE world, as I hear about them from a distance, and I’m very proud to be a MOXIE emeritus.

I’m doing a blog project for the month of November that I’d like to invite the MOXIE babes and friends to visit or participate in. I’ve decided to go ahead and give over to my hermit impulse — for a finite period of time — so I’m going off the internet for a year. And I’m doing a one-month blog marathon as a transition ritual, and also to explore some ways that I might be able to write about the experience.

Stop by sometime, okay? Anytime in November, I’ll be there. And debate with me, because I miss that.

Go MOXIE!!!

Playing the Part: Part I

 I’ve long been yearning to try and capture some of the magic that is the “process” of theatre, especially as it exists at MOXIE.  Today I begin documenting the creation of a character I’m playing in MOXIE’s next production The Butcher of Baraboo. 

The First Rehearsal -

A  few days before our first rehearsal I had a nightmare.  In my dream I was cast to play Sevenly (the character I am playing in MOXIE’s production of The Butcher of Baraboo) but at a different theatre.  This “other” theatre was going o be producing the play before MOXIE did.  I had to travel to wherever this theatre was and when I got there and started the first rehearsal we began working on some very modern and wordless  movement piece, which apparently was how the play began and I had overlooked it in the first few pages.  All the other actors seemed aware and prepared for this part of the play, except me.  They all knew how to move and had great ideas. I was unprepared but too ashamed to admit it and so I was making stuff up on the fly and the director wasn’t impressed. I think my nightmare was my way of processing those jitters an actor has before they have  taken that risk that you do at a first rehearsal, when you reveal you have already begun to make choices and you hope the director isn’t second guessing having cast you.

Here is Sevenly in the production at Second Stage in NYC. Ali Marsh. Yeah it’s that woman from that 70′s show playing Valerie the butcher… Debra Jo Rupp, and Michael Countryman.

Our first rehearsal was this past Saturday.  As usual I walked to the theatre and thought about the play on the way there.  I thought about the amazing cast (Linda Libby, Deanna Driscoll, Wendy Waddell and Don Evans) and was honest with myself that I felt a little intimidated I am to be playing with some of the women who are considered to be the funniest actresses on stage in San Diego.  I feel excited to be working with Chelsea Whitmore for the first time, and with Delicia Turner Sonnenberg again (they’re co-directing).  We started our first rehearsal by sharing a secret of our own since this play revolves around secrets.  I wish I could share some of those secrets with you..everyone had a juicy one…but I can’t tell.  Then we looked at a presentation of the set design which Amy Chini and Esther Emery are co-designing.  Jennifer Brawn Gittings spoke about costumes and our Technical Director Dustin Long assured us he would make sure we were all safe on the set…then we read and oh how we read. The play is funny. Sometimes we had to just stop and get the laughs out in order to continue.  We were half in character and half ourselves just enjoying the writing.  This is my favorite way to explore a new play!

My Character:  I play Sevenly a 30 year old Mormon woman from Provo, Utah who moves to Baraboo Wisconsin. Sevenly is the mother of 6 children. She is married to a man 20 years her senior, who she loves. Sevenly is very kind and likable.  She is a perfect party guest…well that depends on the party I guess. Sevenly has a secret that she fears may land her straight in hell.  In my research to learn more about my character I discovered the following about her hometown:

Population: 117,592
Third Largest City in Utah
The MOST conservative city in the United States with over 100,000 people!
88% Mormon
88% White
Home to the largest LDS Missionary Training Center
Home to Brigham Young University
Home to the entire Osmond Family

We finished off the day asking questions about things that we weren’t sure about in the story.  We made decisions about timelines and back story and then we called it a day. I stood outside afterward and picked the directors brains for a few more minutes which was productive.  I was assured that my character isn’t stupid and that through the course of the play we see her get stronger. We discussed how heavily her secret ways on her.  I walked home feeling electrified.

Name that MOXIE – Jo Anne and Amy

Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you… Jo Anne Glover, MOXIE Theatre Managing Director and one of the four founders of the company, who comments on this blog as kidglove and is the guest author of the very next post. 

And, Amy Chini, MOXIE resident scenic designer and wizard of props, who comments and posts on this blog as chinimachinee, although she has very recently been fully occupied wearing two hats for our upcoming The Butcher of Baraboo, handling the props AND scenery design.

The winner’s ribbon this time goes to Missy, who got it on the first round due to an expert assessment of the environment behind the photo subject. Don’t go into forensics, Missy.  We’d miss you.

Thanks for playing!

Name those MOXIE’s: Round Two

Same two MOXIEs. Same order. How’s this for a spiritual resemblance?

Final answers! First name and location in the continental United States. If you’re really stumped, read the comments on the last post for clues.

Name These MOXIE’s – Two for One

Or name the photos. 

I call the pair of them “Small Women Plotting World Takeover”

In comments, list your caption, and/or your picks for who we’re looking at. They’re not the same person, although I think they kind of look like it. First names are okay. I have another round for when and where.

Have fun!

About that MOXIE – No more delay!

Ladies and gents, I have a new computer, and the delete key works, and the space bar works, so I’m able to sit at the computer again without reaching for the nearest hammer.  (Whether for my head or the dysfunctional keyboard, I’m not sure.)  So…I’m back.

And today, I’m here to tell you about Dustin Long.

This is Dustin.

He’s our TD. That stands for Technical Director. TD’s are legendary for being grumpy, and I should know, since I’m married to one, but Dustin breaks that particular mold. He’s very, very funny. 

And he collects shoes.  

I’m not making that up. The subject arose during a production meeting for The Sugar Syndrome, and he admits to having a closet full.  Maybe that bit of delicious self-care is the way he avoids the stereotypical grumpies.

When not collecting shoes, Dustin works full time for his family’s cabinet shop, Equity Cabinets. For MOXIE, he is nothing less than an alchemist. He takes a set model and some drawings and a fixed (small) amount of money, and he makes it all into a set.

He might start by making a 3 D computer model like this one.

Then he tells us how much it is going to cost, suggests cuts or adjustments to get the project within budget, and finally builds it. All of it. He hires any crew that he needs (and we can afford) to get the build done on time, and then leads the MOXIE team in assembling it all on site in a few very long, thrilling days just before we open.

And then we all start taking notes.  That means Dustin has to keep working, making small adjustments right up until opening.

Most people who do what TD’s do will tell you that nobody really knows what all they do.  Honestly, I know that’s true.  But I also know that we appreciate it.

Thanks for being a MOXIE, Dustin!

This MOXIE has it going on

Date this photo! Or maybe you’d like to caption it. How about… “Smarter than you, and not at all sorry.” 

We’re looking for the name of this MOXIE, year the photo was taken, and for extra credit, the location in the continental United States. Put your picks in the comments.

About that MOXIE – JBG

Here’s the beauty queen herself claiming the senior photo below:

OK, it’s me.  In 1987. (Good call JT! I graduated in ’88, but senior pics are taken in the fall.)  In a very small town (Noelle) in Northern California (Jo and D) called Morgan Hill.  The furry blue wrap was the photographer’s (Chelsea) indeed, but I do now own a cropped blue furry jacket that is the same color.  Maybe I’ll wear it to the next staff meeting.

I gave up on that failed come-hither glance long ago, but here’s what I find really funny about this photo: everyone is always asking Missy and me if we’re sisters.  Judging from her photo and mine, I doubt anyone would have asked the same back in the late ’80′s…

At Labyrinth rehearsal the other day someone asked me if I knew the whereabouts of “gee-bee.” And I realized that when I introduced our designer, JBG, I should have enunciated a little more clearly.  JBG stands for Jennifer Brawn Gittings. (She’s also okay with being called Jen, or Jennifer, and her husband calls her Jenny. Sometimes I use all three in one conversation just in case.)

Her MOXIE title is Design Ambassador, which we often MOXIE up into Design Badassador. A company with less insouciance might call her a resident designer. She does the costumes for more than half of our shows, and lends her eye as advisor to the rest.  

Here’s what she looks like now, with husband Chris at this year’s San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Awards, where she picked up the prize for her design of Scrooge in Rouge at Diversionary Theatre. 

Great outfit, Jen. All it needs is a fuzzy blue wrap!

Date This Photo

Here’s a MOXIE highlighting those baby blues in her senior year portrait. How jealous were you of that blue fuzzy thing? And who killed it?

Put the year you think this photo was taken in the comments. Extra points for the name of the MOXIE, and extra, extra points for where in America you think it was taken.

Good luck!