We cannot move forward unless we see where we came from:
2013 saw the forming of our company and we rehearsed 50+ times and performed 10 shows at a variety of locations and under varied circumstances. We lost some valuable members and gained new valuable members, lost a rehearsal/performance home, and are in the works to gain a new one. Many people gave up their homes for our rehearsals and/or get-togethers and all sacrificed their time. We started playing short form games and ended performing three styles of long form games. It was a great first year for the Sid Homan inspired and Norma Homan driven improv company and I want to thank you all for your time, dedication, and creative spirit.
Below are some ideas I would like to share with you. Please use this blog to respond, ask questions, and to make suggestions. If, for some reason, you are having problems registering to get on the blog, let me know. This is a much easier way to discuss than emails are, so please take advantage of this blog - it's yours!
Moving forward, we are going to change the structure of how we rehearse, I will suggest some ideas on how we perform our shows, and am opening the discussion of group get-togethers (field trips, movie nights, etc.). A lot of these ideas and/or suggestions came from you folks, so thank you for sharing them with me. I think we are at a spot where we can take our performances to the next level and I believe this because of how the company evolved last year.
Performance Ideas
Now that we're performing both long and short form, I'd like us to continue delving deeper into long form by spending as much time as possible on the Harold long form. It is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it and can really take us and the audiences to some amazing places. To me, performing the Harold in a show is my #1 goal for 2014.
In addition, we'll try new games, work on old ones that need tinkering, and I'm hoping we can finally start working on the musical aspect of improv, meaning we perform an improvisational musical. I can support musical improv, but don't have the knowledge or talent to run it, so I need someone to step up to take the lead on this (if this is a direction we want to take). If you have musical knowledge and can play an instrument or 3, and can research on how to format music into improv (please, do the research), let me know and I will set aside rehearsal time for it.
We will also begin performing non-improv bits/skits into shows. I didn't want to do this last year because I wanted us to focus on learning improv before we went anywhere else. I think we can start incorporating some of our other talents. These bits may include 10-30 second wipes between games (2-4 per show) that could be dance routines, fake boxing matches in slow motion, fake commercials, fake songs/raps, etc. I'm open to stand up/dramatic monologues, but they would have to be well rehearsed and tight bits 10-30 seconds long (no more). I'd prefer these bits to be created and rehearsed in the informal rehearsals so that we focus on improv during the formal/performance rehearsals. Videos are another avenue we could venture into as we could make short videos that the audience could watch before the show, during intermission, and/or during the show between games. I'm wide open to all of this now, but will tell you that quality of these non-improv bits is vital. Remember our audience.
Non-Rehearsal Get-Togethers:
Don't be afraid to send out an email to the group for karaoke nights, movies, hiking/camping, art walk, bbq, dungeon and dragons - basically anything. I know we're all busy, but I think once a month or something like that it would be fun to get together outside of improv. This will help bond and form trust within the group as well as just being fun. If you can make it, great, if not, no worries. These would not be mandatory, but they would be fundatory.
Rehearsal Structure
I am proposing the below rehearsal structure changes because we are a year-round performance group and I can't expect everyone to make all the rehearsals. That's just silly. So, the informal once a week rehearsal format is when we're not rehearsing for a show and we're experimenting and just having fun at rehearsals. These are non-mandatory rehearsals, but I do encourage you to make as many of them as possible. The formal/performance rehearsals will be a 6 week series of once a week rehearsals in which the 6th week is the performance. These 5 rehearsals are mandatory, but you are allowed one unexpected absence and, if you tell me before the 6 week series begins that you have a scheduling conflict due to work, travel, or other life events, then that is fine, too.
The non-mandatory weekly rehearsals we could use to cover the basics of improv, new games, old games, and an open idea-exchanging dialogue between everyone to just have fun. If you miss an informal rehearsal or a series of them, no worries, they're simply informal. The informal rehearsals will be year round and the only thing I request is to keep an open dialogue (via email/text) when you can/can't make the informal rehearsals. I only ask this because it is good for the person hosting (or opening/closing the venue) to know who is coming.
Formal/performance rehearsals will be set up in a series of 6 one a week rehearsals with the last week being the performance. During this 6 week set, you are allowed one unexpected absence, if you have more than one unexpected absence, you will not be able to perform in the show. When the 6 week rehearsal structure is set in place, the players will inform the director what rehearsals they can or cannot make. We all have lives and work and travel and all that good stuff, so as long as you let the director know before the 6 week set begins, it's all good. Once the rehearsal period begins, you are allowed one unexpected absence. Emergencies do arise and that is what the unexpected absence is set up for.
Formal/performance rehearsals will be 2 hours and 15 minutes long. The first 15 minutes will be free time to chat, catch up, get water, use the facilities, etc and then we will begin. I urge everyone to make it on time because you've all seen how fast rehearsals go. After the first 15 minutes, the doors will be closed and no one will be admitted to the rehearsal (unless previously discussed).
The 6 week structure: Weeks 1 & 2 we will get our improv basics back in shape by doing a lot of warm-ups and exercises that support the basics. We will also try new games that we want to try out for possible inclusion in the show. Week 3 we will use the warm ups and exercises that specifically support the games we are playing and narrow down the games we want to play in the show. Weeks 4 & 5 will be show rehearsals where we perform a show during rehearsal. Week 6 will be the show where we will rock the audience!
We will not use rehearsal time to choose who plays in what games. You will email the director after week 3 what games you want to play and the director will set the show line up. Changes, of course, may be made. This gives us more rehearsal and play time and less administrative time.
I am curious to hear your feedback on these proposals - please respond to the blog and let's get a conversation going. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please feel free to call me or use the blog response.
Sounds like you have some great ideas Jeff. I am interested in incorporating music into our improv work. One idea I would like to try is to compliment the improv performances with improvisational percussion music for emphasis, emotional build up, comedy etc.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply, Alycin! In our last show of the year, Brandy brought her keyboard and we used it during a game we played "Oscar Winning Moments". Jennii Tran played the keyboard during the dramatic moments and Emily controlled the stage lights for quite an overall effect. We could certainly employ the keyboard and other sound effects (provided by the players not in the game, as well) to enhance the experience.
DeleteI think long forms games should have a max of 6 actors. Too many characters in a game already deemed as "long form" has been a problem.
ReplyDeleteCan we vote on when these once weekly rehearsals happen?
When setting up the rehearsal times, I will certainly (like we did last year) take a vote on rehearsal times. Rehearsal times have two variants that we have to consider: our schedules and the availability of a rehearsal space that can accommodate our needs.
DeleteHere's my long reply to your long form suggestion: Typically, long forms run 15-30 minutes, sometimes longer, but rarely shorter (unless you combine two long forms). Limiting the number of people for Goon River is a good idea because it is a storytelling form and it takes up a lot of time. 6 seems like a good number for GR, I agree.
The other long forms that we've played, 6 degrees and La Ronde, seem like the number could go up to 8 without too much worry about time (especially since 6 degrees is a time-based long form that we choose the time) and I don't think we've done a La Ronde that has lasted more than 15 minutes or so. I've seen Harold's performed by 2 people and I've seen it performed by 12 people. Odds are, we probably will want around, like you suggested, 6 performers, give or take one or two people either side.
My concern with long form is more about quality than quantity, so we won't just assume everyone in the company is going to perform a long form, we'll work that out as we go. But, I think your instinct is right to trim the number. We could actually rehearse in smaller groups to see how they turn out.
I'll always be down to do music and beatbox. Yay to dance, I can find some dance improv games over the christmas break!
ReplyDeleteGreat you're down for music! And, we'll definitely continue to rehearse "Kick It" and other rap games to utilize your beatbox skillz!
DeleteThe improve dance games sound interesting. I have a couple of ideas. One would be to create choreographed dances that anywhere from 3-8 performers would do for about 10-30 seconds between a few games (that are not improvised). During one show, if we do 3 of them, they could all somehow be connected (perhaps each one is a different dance from a different decade with supporting music or they could all be dances that mimic animals or professions, etc.). The other idea is to, at some point in the show, have a dance off. This could be done by having a record player on the stage (I have one we could use) and either during or after a game someone turns it on, puts a record on, and we all start dancing. Then someone stops the record player and we either continue the game or we start the next game.
Hey guys! I'm really super excited to be coming back! I am mos def down for some musical improv but am a little afraid about long form lol. Of course you know I'm down to hang with all these peeps on the regular and I'm gonna make you guys be my friend! haha j/k you'll totally wanna be my friend... I hope. See you guy's soon I'm FL bound tonight! :)
ReplyDeleteit's kazi by the way lol.
DeleteOnce you get the format of long form down, you'll rock it! Glad you're coming back - "Kick It" hasn't been the same without you!
DeleteHey Y'all!!! i don't know if the rehearsal schedule was up for debate, but I feel like some of the rehearsal practices are a little too strict. I would propose for rehearsals a required number of rehearsals to be attended (6, I guess) before the performance with only the rehearsal prior to the performance (or the 2 prior) required.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think that after the 15 min grace period, people should be allowed into rehearsal, but people late should have less performance time or less priority in choosing which game they can perform in. Let me know your thoughts. :)
Thank you for responding, Taryn! You brought up some great points and here's my long winded response. Please let me know what you think.
DeleteI like your suggestion about still allowing people into rehearsal who are more than 15 minutes late because things happen sometimes. When it becomes habitual or more than one person are routinely late, then it can really slow things down during the rehearsal and we won't all be on the same page.
I really don't want to spend energy remembering or tallying the amount of times people are late or on time and then using that information at a later date - the less amount of secretarial work I have to do, the better!
Perhaps we could create a 'late' slush fund can or jar and every time you're late you put a buck in the jar or can (or something of that nature). We can use the late slush fund for get togethers. How do you feel about that?
As far as the rehearsal schedule goes, if you tell me ahead of time that you're going to miss - not an issue, you don't have to come to all 6. It's the last second cancelations and no-shows that concern me because it's really hard to structure rehearsals without knowing who will or will not be there.
I am open to suggestions and I hate that I have to use the word 'required' when referring to improv rehearsal. That is why I created the informal and formal structure. It's comparable if you're in a band and you rehearse twice a week or if you're in a play and the requirements are typically more stringent.
Making only the 1 or 2 rehearsals before a show required seems like it would work. But I want to use the last 2 rehearsals before a show an actual show during rehearsal (like dress rehearsals) so we can know what we're doing, feel comfortable with it, and present a smooth product on stage. Most of our shows we have charged $10 - let's make the audience feel as if they got a great deal.
If a person ONLY shows up to the last one or two rehearsals before a show, they wouldn't have been to the rehearsals where we play new games, work on exercises that support improv, etc.
Perhaps we can use only one rehearsal before the show as the dress rehearsal and that would give us more time to have regular rehearsals.
What do you think?