We have audiences!!

We have opened! The Bluest Water has begun and I have been very pleased with the audience response. We have had a chance to retool things and I am really excited to share the piece. I think it is a solid event and I have so much confidence in the design, the cast, and the crew and I am so proud to greet audiences at the end of the night.


It has been wonderful to have audiences return and a big part of this is our "front of house" set up. We are so much more organized this year and this is due in large part to my beautiful girlfriend Ashley who has taken on our box office this year. Every day she records our online tickets sales, takes our messages, and then handles meeting the audiences as they arrive at our doors.


This year we are also trying to raise funds beyond ticket sales as we move through the summer. Ash has created a beautiful donation jar in hopes that patrons will help support us further. We have also reorganized the lobby this year to direct people to ticket sales, into the theatre, and on to the stage.

We have also set up a merchandise table to sell our t-shirts and tote bags. We have also placed our Burg article from last year, along with pictures from last year by the merch table.



This year we have also formally organized a meet and greet of the actors with audiences members at the end of the performance. Last year this happened informally for a lot who survived or had memories of the storm and wanted to share their experience with the actors. So this year we are have organized this opportunity.


I am excited to continue to welcome audiences to share in our work. I have no doubt the show will continue to grow and expand. Please join us if you haven't.

Geoffrey Kershner
Artistic Director

Hello folks, its your friendly lighting designer here. I haven’t hollered at you in a minute so I want to start by saying how grateful I am to come home to see my family and my Endstation Family. I want to send a thank you out to Krista, Drew, JD, Brian, Fails and our wonderful team of interns for helping me remount the Bluest Water.

It has been a bit of a challenge to remember exactly what we did last year. I kept pretty good paperwork as far as where lights hung, and what circuits I used. We were also able to recall the show file from the light board so we didn’t have to re-write cues. However I couldn’t remember some of the more complex elements, such as how the scrollers and strobes were addressed or how many DMX universes we used, and whether we used a opto/iso splitter. For those who didn’t follow that last sentence; we use an Ethernet like cable which allows the computerized light board to talk to the dimmers and any “intelligent” lighting fixtures like strobes, scrollers, and moving lights. After a few confusing hours, I figured out what our DMX configuration was. Then it was just a matter of getting all the lights and equipment to work. I had a connector explode in my hand (see picture)

Also this is why we re-rigged the overhead pipes this summer!

Also I have had to wrestle with the dimmers. We have had nightly thunderstorms some of which knocked out the power and confused the dimmer racks. The light board has also been a bit glitchy this year. This is one of the drawbacks to a windows based lighting system… it is unnecessarily complex and tends to crash at inopportune times.
For those who haven’t seen the new and improved Bluest Water, we have re-worked the storm sequence, and added a few ensemble moments. Geoff also wanted some of the flashback scenes to intertwine more with the present day scenes. We had previously created clear differences between how the 1969 scenes and the 2009 scenes looked. We retooled the visual language of the show this time to create a new look for these liminal moments. I also redesigned the custom mountain projections that we use in the last scene. These are based on a picture that I took from the AT on top of Blackrock Mountain looking over the Shenandoah Valley.


I recently attended a reading for My Brother’s Knife… and I will say that I am super excited to get started on it. I think it will be an intense project to work on. Stay tuned!

-Resident Lighting Designer Dan Gallagher

I wrote this play...

It’s all about who you know. Who likes you. That sort of thing. I know this dude Geoff. In fact he’s a good friend who has a theater company with a bunch of other real fine theater folks. One summer ago he cast me in this play where I played a crazy guy. That was cool and made me feel a little crazy myself. When I was working on the crazy play, I started writing this new play, because what I want written on my urn is this: “This is Joshua Mikel. A writer.” Probably something a little more flowery than that, but that’s a fine placeholder.

I had a big idea while I was doing this crazy play and writing this other one, and I gathered some of my new and old friends together, and we read through the first couple of pages of this new play in Charlottesville, VA in the summer of 2007. It was pretty funny, but that was about the extent of it. My good friend Geoff came down to teach in Tallahassee where I have been living since I graduated. That makes anxious sometimes, living in my Alma Mater town, and so I got to finishing up this play I wrote, and Geoff directed a staged reading. It had four characters. It was funny, but that was about the extent of it.

 I worked on it a little longer. Geoff told me he would like to put it up at his theater company. He was my good friend. I felt maybe I talked a lot about writing plays, and maybe I weaseled myself in, but I had gotten myself into it this time. I wrote a couple more drafts of the play, but not a whole lot was happening. I started drinking more coffee and staring at my computer longer, but wasn’t getting a whole lot of writing done. Geoff left Tallahassee, and we kept talking about it, but with Geoff gone, I got to doing other things. Geoff would call me from time to time. “Josh, I need a draft.” He would write me e-mails. “Josh, how’s the draft coming along?” And then, “Josh, I’m going to be in town around the holidays.” Something stupid took hold of me. Geoff, we should do another reading of a new draft of the play while you’re around.

 And so I stared at my computer and drank more coffee and dreamt up excuses I could tell Geoff about coffee and my computer. About three days before folks were supposed to gather in Tallahassee for the reading, I started working on a draft. I made some changes. Don’t know what they were. Walter and Sergio were driving up. My friend Guerrin was coming over to read too. I made some salsa and vegetarian chili so Geoff would be less angry about how the play wasn’t awesome yet. He gets irritable when he doesn’t eat. He gets irritable when things aren't awesome. We had the reading. Jason, this other playwright I know who also knows Geoff  showed up. He gave me some good notes. The long and short: It was funny, but that’s about the extent of it.

 They left. I went back to coffee and computer. Coffee. Computer. Coffee computer. I got more calls from Geoff. “Where’s the draft. Give me the draft. Send me the draft you idiot. People are waiting on the draft. You’re going to have loser written on your urn. No, scratch that. No urn. You’re going to be deep deep with the fishes if I don’t get a draft.” Those sorts of things. I sent him a few drafts with line edits. I had a month remaining before I went up to Amherst, at which upon arrival he would pound me into the pavement with his hulking fist. I left him a message to buy myself some time. “Geoff, let’s try and get a conversation in. Let’s get one good draft together before I come up to visit.” Well, that didn’t happen.

 (Author note- a bit of artistic liberty has been taken with Geoff’s charcter and direct quotations, but not much.)

I was leaving for Amherst. I’ll get some writing done when I get there before our two o’clock read through. I bought some coffee. I took my computer. I blew a tire. I got lost around Greensboro. I arrived around midnight on the 31^st. I roomed with Drew and Krista. They were real nice to me, maybe because they felt sorry for me knowing what Geoff was going to do to me. I kind of went to sleep.

I met with Geoff the next morning. He didn’t beat me up. He was surprisingly optimistic. We had a good talk. The talk we had been meaning to have. We had a read through. I met the cast. I knew the cast- some of them, Walter and Sergio. Amazing dudes. And then I met Kirin and Melissa the stage manager. Also amazing. All these folks were going to be working on my play. All these folks were waiting for me to get a good play written. I was ready to write.

 The play as it stood was at around ninety pages. Geoff and I made some discoveries when we had our talk. For a week I pounded away at the drafts, and we had readings.  I would get notes and go back to working. Well, more or less. I wasn’t working all the time. We partied a few times. I went to the gym a few times. I walked around. Sweetbriar Campus is beautiful. I would wake up early, and write the next draft before our two o’clock reading. It started slimming down. Sixty eight pages. At the end of the first week: It was funny but…

 And then that weekend I had a real revelation, and Geoff had a real revelation, and this play that I didn’t think was ever going to be much better than what it was got so much better. And I think back to a time at Florida State when Geoff directed my play Quentin G. “These characters don’t have wants, Josh. I don’t understand why they’re doing this, Josh. Make them have wants, or I will beat you up. Bad.” All right, Geoff. Chill the crap out, dude. I’ll make some changes. And I would go home and edit and add a few lines like, “I want you to love me.” And “I feel angry about this.” That way their wants were especially clear. I wasn’t making those kinds of changes this time around. This time we were making huge huge changes.

Good actors and a good director make me look like a better writer. It’s as simple as that. I have a hard time hiding my Cheshire grin when I see Geoff, Walt, Sergio, and Kirin working through a reading. I am a common crook. Sergio does a funny ad lib, I add it in. Geoff directs a funny little bit. Noted. Added. I sat in on a tech meeting. Drew, Krista, Bryce and Dan are about the most capable team of technical folks one could have working on a play. I have hit the mother load. The ideas the cast and crew generate to make the play better end up in the draft. It almost feels nasty. Almost.

 It’s amazing what the workshop process can do to a play. And all joking aside, this has been such an amazing experience. Endstation has given me the most incredible opportunity, and brought together such an amazingly talented group of individuals to help me fully realize the potential of this play. I am so honored to know that Geoff saw something in the piece and decided to go for it before he even knew it could make it this far, or maybe he did. After all he is a bad ass.  

I leave today, but I come back to see the play in July. And I feel good, because we did good work while I was here. We had a reading yesterday, and I think it went pretty well. It’s a different play. Completely different. And it’s not just funny.

Thanks Endstation. Take care,

+joshua   

Ready, Set, Go!!!

So here we are.....we have just completed tech week for the Bluest Water. Tech week for those who do not know is the week in which all the various elements of what makes a show a show are merged together to create a masterpiece. Some tech weeks go very smoothly.....others....well sometimes no so smoothly. However it is a perfect time to work out all the "bugs" from a show, and have a chance to tweak and get things just right before the very first audience member sets foot through the theatre doors on opening night.

This week was definitely an interesting one, as we survived some hiccups here and there. We dealt with interesting cues, storms, our light board crashing several times, a leaky roof, and yes.....even golf ball size hail. The designers were all on pins and needles as they wanted to be able to watch their work in progress so that they could adjust and fix as needed, only it was tough when we were not able to get a smooth run of the show in.


However everyone kept their cool as we jumped the hurdles, and things finally started looking up this evening at our final dress rehearsal. We got through the show, and everything began to come together! It was pretty neat to watch the beautiful symphony of actors, light design, set design, sound design, and all the other elements meld and work in harmony.


At one point as I was sitting in my "perch" watching a scene, I started to get excited and a bit nervous to think we are going to have a live audience sitting in the seats just below where I will be calling the show from in less than twenty-four hours!! There is something special about an opening night, and even though we are mounting this show for the second time, this opening night will have it's own special feeling to it as well. There is a special energy among the cast and crew as everyone gets ready to begin. We whisper amongst ourselves and wonder who might be out in the audience, the actors get into character, and the production team check and re-check to make sure all our tech elements are in order.

Geoff reminded the cast tonight, that we cannot forget the true essence of what this particular story is about. This play is special for a lot of people who survived Hurricane Camille in the local area; and it we never want to lose sight of this as we are finishing final preparations for the show. I am excited that we will soon share this piece with the patrons, and even for those who saw any of the performances last year, they will be in for a treat as there will be some fresh things for them to see.

I hope that you have reserved your tickets as you will not want to miss this one, or any of the other shows that will be performing as part of the 09 BRSTF. If you will be at opening night, we look forward to seeing you, if you will be a different performances, we look forward to seeing you, and if you have yet to buy your tickets, well.. we hope to see you too!

Even the endstation baby and friend are ready!

Cheers,

Maria Hayden
Company Manager

IN AWE.

Tonight, I was taken back by this thing we do. I had two rehearsals. One, Midsummer, that is just getting on its feet, and the other, about to open this Friday. As actors, theatre technicians, directors, designers we create this amazing world that an audience then gets to step into and become an essential part of. There are moments for me, where I stand in absolute awe of the theatre. Tonight, pardon the sap, being one of those times. In both rehearsals I had the chance to just sit back and watch my fellow company members.

During Midsummer I saw a group of actors who have been sitting around a table, reading words, figuring out the meaning of this story, get up onto their feet and bring life and breath to the opening scene. The characters seemed to create themselves and it was so exciting to simply be in the room. And at the end, I think we all wished that we could have kept on going into the night. I did.

And yet, there was another rehearsal to run to… Bluest Water, where I experienced the opposite end of the spectrum. A group of actors who have lived in the world of this play for a year now. We know these people we are playing. I sat back stage watching quick changes, and actors creeping lightly and quietly down to dressing rooms, preparing for entrances, focused and sat again in awe of my fellow company. And our tech crew in the audience working just as hard to create this show.

So tonight. I am re-awed. That's right re-awed at this process. And at this season and company. We have such cool shows being created. And such awesome humans working around the clock. And that's great.

Sigh. Good night peeps.

-Natalie Caruncho

actor

Getting These Dummies On Their Feet

Today was the first day we finally got "My Brother's Knife: A Madison Heights Odyssey" "on its feet." Excusing the back to back quotations, getting a show "on its feet" is always an eye-opening and head-pounding experience. Adding in the blocking--actors' own personal movements (walks, gestures, etc.) and actors' movements around the space--can change and clarify lines and relationships and can help emphasize subtext. On the flip side, it can have actors feeling like they were never meant to go into this business, directors feeling like said actors were never meant to go into business, and designers wondering why they chose to go into theatre instead of something more business-like.

Thankfully, our first blocking rehearsal did not go that poorly.


Sergio and Walter were in blocking rehearsal for two hours before I got there (insert split-screen images of the two of them sweating and obviously engaged in some hard labor, and me, lounging like a goddess by a pool with an attractive cabana boy) and they jumped right into blocking the show from the beginning. Of course, since this is an original production with corrections and tweaks still being made to the text, they still had to read through a few things before throwing them up on their feet.


The set for MBK is going to be very intimate, with the audience facing each other in a tennis court-esque set up, which, as I informed Geoff, is a good metaphor for the show (please, no, hold the applause, my intellectual prowess amazes you, I know!). The main portion of the stage belongs to my character's house, with platforms to play a bridge scene on, a car area, and a bathroom area. However, all of this fits into maybe 20 square feet. Additionally, the set is still in a sketchy place, meaning things can be moved around and relocated, changed, or stricken altogether. Geoff ended up moving the car area from a more centered position:


to a more audience-oriented corner:


We're hoping to work all of the major on-its-feet problems with the script before Josh Mikel leaves us at the end of the this week, and additionally, this show goes up in, like, four weeks. Four weeks? Holy moly, Geoff--do we have an off-book date?

Kirin McCrory
Frightened Actor

Summer Camp: A Typical Day

Dear Mom and Dad,

Thanks for being for being so nice and sending me that SWEET care package for my birthday! I don’t think any other son could be more lucky. Double Choco Chip Brownies?! Mom how did you know?! And just like you said in your note Dad, I made sure to share with my cabin mates. (Boy did they like your baking, Mom! Wally had TWO pieces!) These first two weeks at Camp Endstation have been VERY busy and though I couldn’t possibly tell you EVERYTHING I’ve been doing, I thought it would be nice to take just one typical day- to give you an idea of the kinda crazy stuff that goes on around here!

Thursday, June 4th, 2009:
7:50am
Alarm goes off. I slap it and go back to sleep.
8:00am
Alarm goes off. I slap it off and go back to sleep.
8:29am
Alarm does NOT go off. I wake up, realize I've got a BIG day and I’m running late, and scramble into the shower.

8:40am
Natalie tells me that our director Geoff is going to pick us up at 9:00am to take us to the local NPR station WVTF where they are going to interview us about the Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival. Because of time, I decide to go with the “short shower” protocol (don’t worry Mom SSP includes washing behind my ears.)

9:00am
Geoff, Natalie, and I drive into Roanoke, Virginia. We listen to WVTF on our way there. (Diane Rehm sounds more and more each day like the Crypt Keeper's wife.) Natalie tells us how she’s going to be going ALL over the country for a whole year when she goes on tour with the play “In the Heights” (including Costa Mesa, CA!) She’s VERY excited and kinda nervous too. Geoff says she'll do great. I agree. I’m so happy for her.

11:30am
We arrive at the radio station and I have to go the bathroom real bad. The guy who interviews us shows us around the station but all I could think was “Neat newsroom, pal. But where do you keep your potty!” Finally we walk by the restroom and I excuse myself. Oh sweet relief! When I get to the sound booth the interviewer asks us all kinda questions. Like how do we like Virginia, where are we from, what do we think of performing Shakespeare, and how do we like acting here for the summer. I felt like I was in school and we were having a pop quiz! Geoff and Natalie tell him lots of stuff that sounds real smart and interesting. But when he asks me all I could say was that I like acting and that Virginia is pretty but it sure does drive my allergies crazy. These seemed to be the wrong answers because the radio guy just stared at me. I then had to go to the bathroom again.

12:30pm
On our way back to camp Geoff asks us if we’re hungry and Natalie and I say “Heck yes!” So we stop at this neat Indian restaurant. It was delicious! I must have eaten ten puri breads the size of my head!

2:45pm
We get back to Sweet Briar College just in time to rehearse “My Brother’s Knife” the brand new play my friend Josh Mikel wrote. It’s pretty good, but because it’s a new play we’re always changing it. On account that when we read it sometimes some stuff needs to be clearer or we need to “raise the steaks” of the play (whatever that means!) I play this guy who’s thinking about killing himself but when my suicide attempt is stopped by a local police officer events unfold and long buried secrets resurface that threaten to tear apart a small Virginian town. It’s a really neat play.

6:00pm
Pretty much right after “My Brother’s Knife” I go into rehearsal for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” This night we do “table work” on the scene where the “mechanicals” meet to rehearse the play-with-in-the-play “Pyramus and Thysby” and then my character get’s turned into a donkey. It was SO much fun pretending to be a donkey. Tommy, who plays Peter Quince, says I’m so good at playing a donkey he can’t tell the difference between me and the real thing!

9:00pm
I finally get home and boy am I tired! I brush my teeth and wash my sinuses out with the nose cannon Mikey and I got for my drippy-drop nose. I want to go to bed but I hear lots of laughing upstairs in the common room so I go up there and everyone in Cabin 5 is watching funny Youtube videos. So I grab a chair and we watch GI Joe PSA’s, The Count Censored, and Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent (I love her!) until we’re all sore from sighing, laughing, and crying so hard.

12:00am
I have one final double choco brownie, say my prayers, and crawl into bed with EZ next to me. I lay in bed and think about all the day’s events for a really long time. I think about all the fun I’ve had and the work we all accomplished and all the stuff we still need to get done. But most of all I think about how much I miss you and how much I wish you were here. I also know I'm gonna miss not being under the same roof with so many wonderful people. I then kiss EZ goodnight and I go to sleep. And I dream.

With all my Double Choco love, your son,
-Sergio.
PS.
Send more baked goods!