A Pat on My Back

Well, Boney Kern closed on Saturday night. Gods, this was a great show to work on and watch. Everything about it (even the problems that had to be worked out) was a pleasure. And to make it all the sweeter, I got this little message from the director:

BTW, again nice work with Boney lights. Pretty show to watch. For just OTJ ["on the job"] training, I'm impressed with what you've picked up.

Now, I don't feel I can take all the credit because my pal Gregio was instrumental in bringing the light design to life. But, still, this kind of message makes a Theater Lackey's heart all warm and fuzzy, y'know?

Goodbye Boney Kern. I'm going to miss you. But now, armed with the surity of a job well done, I go on to the next two projects...

• Main Stage: Boy Gets Girl by Rebecca Gilman (April 18 - May 12)
  
• Project Stage: The Shoemaker and the Elves by Karen Boettcher-Tate and Larry Nestor (May)
  

Sound Editing

Oh Well, You Can't Please Everyone

That's right. You can't please everyone. Particularly not reviewers who resent travelling from the big city to the 'burbs. (Whoops, did I say that out loud?)

Anyway, Montgomery Theater's production of A Good Look at Boney Kern has been reviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer. And while I am sorry to say that it is not a flattering review, I am comforted by the prevailing wisdom that only good and spectacular reviews affect ticket sales by translating into a boost. Poor reviews generally prevent new patrons from trying out the theater but don't persuade the regulars against attending.

That's why I am not reluctant to post a link to the review in my blog. I am surprised that he thought so unkindly of the production, but at least I can agree with him on one comment: this production of Boney Kern does indeed feature "some powerfully fine - I would go so far as to say grand - acting."

As promised, here is a link to the review. It does contain a bit of a spoiler, so if you are planning on seeing the show, you may want to put off reading the review until after you have made up your own mind about it.

Half endearing, half unendurable
By Howard Shapiro, Inquirer Staff Writer

Boney Music

Up to this point, my posts about A Good Look at Boney Kern have only been concerned with the progress of the set construction and decoration, and the execution of the light design. As Project Supervisor, however, I was also responsible for the sound design and for coordinating the acquisition of props. So even though the show opened last week, I would like to discuss the sound design.

At Montgomery Theater, sound design for a non-musical production encompasses both music and sound effects. Yes, I just said that there is music in a non-musical production. At Montgomery Theater, I like to break down the music aspect of a production's sound design into three categories: House (or pre-show), Transition/Incidental, and Curtain Call. Transition music is, simply enough, music used as a bridge to transition from one scene to the next, or the transition from a non-show state (such as intermission) back into the performance. Incidental music, in my opinion, is music that plays to support the action on stage. It can triggered by an onstage activity, such as an actor "playing" a CD, or it can just exist to underscore a key dramatic point. In either case, incidental music often (but not always) leads into a scene change and so becomes the transition music as well.

Here is the playlist or "soundtrack" for our production of Boney Kern:

1. "The Homecoming" by Hagood Hardy *
   
2. "I Can See Clearly Now" by the Holly Cole Trio
3. "Prelude: The Last Line by Lizanne Knott **
4. "Make It Go Away" by Holly Cole
5. "Julia" by Shelly Berg
6. "Julia" by the Beatles ***
7. "Apocalyptic Love Song" by GrooveLily
8. "Nothing is Good Enough" by Aimee Mann (from Magnolia soundtrack)
   
9. "Julia" by Sally Harmon
10. "Fantasia" by Ketil Bjornstad & David Darling (from Epigraphs)
11. "Jennifer's Song" by Hagood Hardy * +
    
12. "Prayer for the Unrequited" by GrooveLily

* Song specified in Daly's script
** Pulled from the playlist
*** Modified to provide an instrumental intro
+ Modified (see below)

"The Homecoming" is the lead-in to Act I. "Apocalyptic Love Song" provides the transition from intermission into Act II. And "Prayer for the Unrequited" is our curtain call.

"Jennifer's Song" is one of those incidental pieces of music. The character of Julia "plays" it for Boney on her CD player. Once she starts it, it plays through the rest of the scene and then it becomes the transition music into the blackout and the next scene. This song had to be modified in two ways: first to strip out an intro that consisted of footsteps, and second to loop it so that we could ensure we had enough music for the whole scene and the set change during blackout.

Perhaps I'll post individual entries to explain how I used an application called Audacity to make the modifications to "Julia" and "Jennifer's Song".


UPDATE (02/23/2007): Updated the playlist with artist links.

The Shadow Haunts Me

In my previous post, I shared pics from the dress rehearsal ("A Good Look at Boney Kern") that took place this past Monday. But I have a few more photos from Sunday's tech rehearsal. I am only now getting around to posting them because I have been scrambling to fix the problem.

These photos illustrate the problem and mark the last attempt I made at a solution before leaving the theater on Sunday evening.

See that lovely line of shadow, the one that looks like a column painted directly on the wall, pefectly centered in the doorway? It's coming from the frontlighting for this section of the stage. One instrument hits the right side of the doorframe, and the other follows the door.

On Wednesday, before the preview, I went back to the theater and tried again to eliminate or at least greatly minimize that shadow. I succeeded ... somewhat. I severly diffused the front light, and then put up four cans in the backstage area. Two of the backstage cans match the front lighting color, and two have a soft lavendar to cool down the space (and also double as moonlight later in the show).

The issue? Man, do they make that hallway pop out. The only time the shadow is completely gone is (a) when there is no frontlight, or (b) when the hall lighting is so hot that the hallway wall seems to practically glow.

Oh, and after watching two performances with this "solution" I see another issue -- the central area of the stage is a bit too muted (er, dark). It is really noticable on entrances ... exits ... and some key scenes that take place there. It's just unbalanced, particularly since the actors look really good in the other areas of the stage.

So ... right after the opening night, I went to work again. Things done:

• Removed the heavy diffusion from the central front lighting, and replaced it with a lighter "frost" type of diffusion gel.
  
• Front lights are hotter now, so all the scenes had to be reprogrammed. Tried to find a balance between front light and hall light levels to minimize the hall shadow.
  
• Bled in some extra lighting for scene where Mrs. Hale "discusses" a situation with Boney. She kept walking out of the augmentation for the practical lighting ... so we're going to try to cheat some more and extend the augmented area ... slightly.

I hope the director can live with some shadow back there ... I am opting for the actors looking good, and hoping they can keep the audience's eyes off of that back wall.

We'll see tonight.

---

UPDATE (02/21/07): I forgot to post this note on Sunday, but I kind of relaxed that whole day as it was my first day "off" from theater work in a good long while.

Anyway .... After the Saturday performance, I asked TQ (the director) if he had any notes for me regarding the lights. He said, "The note is ... lights look good!" Woo Hoo! He further expanded his comment to say that there are no distractions, the actors and the set look good, and the lights support the drama of each moment. I may yet get the knack of this design thing.

---

Boney Kern | Dress Rehearsal

We had a dress rehearsal last night. We usually have final dress on the Tuesday before a Preview performance. But because everyone was anticipating a winter storm on Tuesday through Wednesday, the vote was cast to move rehearsal to Monday. That's a good thing, because now the cast has another full run-through under their collective belts going into the preview tomorrow.

The set still needs a few finishing touches. And I need to tweak the lighting a little more. But things are looking pretty good. Don't take my word for it ... see for yourself!

The Pre-Show Lighting



Nodding Off in the Evening



The View from the Other Side of the House

Now, go reserve your tickets!

A Good Look at Boney Kern

by Jonathan Daly – Directed by Tom Quinn

February 14 – March 10, 2007

For Tickets and Information:

215-723-9984 or

www.montgomerytheater.org/tickets.html

Boney Kerne: Window Wizardry

I hit my first problem on this lighting gig. Boney's nice little room has an outside window. Now, I need to light that window from "outside." That is, I need to show a little source lighting (sun or moon) at different times of the day. Greg and I planned on using four instruments, each one equipped with its own scroller. What we didn't count on was how tight it would get behind that window once the background masking was in place. Ooops.

Here is the window as seen from on set:

You can see the masking with its painted background through the window. Now, guess how much space I have to work with back there.

Not much.

Check the window masking from backstage

Now, back up a bit. See the tight fit?

Now, look up. Where, oh
where, to hang instruments?

I'm sure I'll figure something out. I have to!


This post's pics can be found in the gallery titled Window Wizardry

Boney Kerne: More Progress on the Set

Boney Kerne's room is starting to look pretty good. Check out the these pictures!

Checking out an area view



That's a mighty impressive door!

So, tell me. Do you think we're doing a good job of reproducing Mr. Clark Duncan's original set design from 1977?

These photos are from More Progress on Boney's Set

I Hate Jonathan Daly *

I have come to hate Jonathan Daly. I didn't think I could, but I do.

You see, I don't hate him as a person ... I don't even know him. But I hate how unbalanced he is in providing production details in his scripts. I am currently working on the Lighting and Sound designs for Montgomery Theater's production of "A Good Look at Boney Kerne." And the first time through the script, I marvelled at all the attention payed to the lighting. Now, the information is not necessarily there for lighting people to follow by rote. But it does help provide a sense of the scene ... especially for the actor.

That attention to detail is missing, however, when it comes to music.

Jonathan Daly, like other playwrights, has included music suggestions in the stage directions. For example: "Play 'The Homecoming.'" OK ... written and/or performed by whom, Jonny boy?! Perhaps he used specific songs that were popular and easy to find on the radio back in 1977. But I have no idea how to find them now!!

Anyway, the lighting is coming along. There is still quite a bit of work to do, but the top and front lighting is up, and the instruments even have color now.

From the album: Boney Kerne - Taking Shape

Next up is to hang fixtures to be used as specials (for spots and time transitions). However, I need to wait --four of the specials cannot be put into position until after the company artist paints some scenery on the masking just outside the window.

That's all for now. See ya next time...


* No playwrights or scripts were harmd in the making of this blog entry.

Meet Boney

Gregio and I stopped by Montgomery Theater on Wednesday night so that we could finalize the light design for Jonathan Daley's A Good Look at Boney Kerne. While we were there, we really did get a good look at Boney Kerne, or at least the man who will portray him: Marc Weil!


Boney Kerne, played by Marc Weil (L), speaks with the director, Tom Quinn.
Rehearsals start next week, but the tech crew is really on top of things already. More later...

A "Preliminary" Look at Boney Kerne

Montgomery Theater's first production of 2007 is Jonathan Daley's A Good Look at Boney Kerne. I'll be on hand as Project Supervisor, and lighting design on my plate once again. But this time around, I'll try to do a better job of capturing the process of bringing a show to opening night.

For starters, here are a few pics that show the rapid progress on the set. We'll call it -- ahem -- a preliminary look at Boney Kerne.

From audience right:


From the back of the house:


From audience left: