Sondheim in September - Blog

Long Time No Blog

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:21:25 +0700

Hi everyone! It's been an incredible week. Thought things would slow down but still lots of things happening. Little hiccups in the first night are being addressed, week 2 and 3 are both rehearsing, and I at least, spent a day catching up on sleep.

On the main page is the OUTtv story and a link to the buzz page where people say nice things about us. Douglas Hicton has been interviewing some of the singers and putting them up on his YouTube channel. There's plenty to check out.

I've just had the thrill of hearing Jay Turvey sing for the first time in almost 15 years. Found out there are various Les Miserable connections. Paula Wolfson was with Jay in the original Canadian production at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, a block away from where we are rehearsing. Also in that cast was Todd Noel, who Dale Miller performed with in the production last year at 1000 Islands Playhouse. And Warren was offered the lead in the Arts Club productionbut had other commitments. I can't help it, I love these 6 degrees of separation.

Ok, we're winding up rehearsing and I'm going to head off to try and get some sleep. Hope I see you tomorrow!

Till Next Time
MK

It's Only A Day Away

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:06:14 +0700

So here it is, almost upon us. After months of planning and waiting, everything is going to finally come together.

Early Monday morning, the lighting crew will load in and set up the lights. The sound crew will then calibrate the room. Then Peter will choreograph the cast to within an inch of their lives. Then we'll run the whole concert for the first time. Then the cast goes for dinner and the piano tuner comes in to ensure the piano is in top form. Then the audience arrives and magic happens.

You won't want to miss it. If you haven't bought tickets yet, you can do it on this website up until Monday afternoon or with cash at the door.

We still have great behind the scenes stuff on the way. I've written a personal blog entry on my home blog about my experiences. I'll be twittering throughout the day on Monday if you want to follow along at #sondheim. Douglas Hicton did a great video incorporating the goings on Tuesday (Warning: it's 9 minutes long.) Jon Kaplan wrote a preview piece for the most recent edition of Now . (It's the last of the three stories.) Peter's been working on a video that will capture the whole Sondheim in September experience and we'll post it when it's ready.

So please keep checking back. I hope to meet many of you on Monday – don't be shy about saying hi.

Cheers,
MK

I AM OVERWHELMED!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:37:30 +0700

I am overwhelmed by the incredible response to “Sondheim In September”!

As we are getting closer to our first concert date of September 21st, we are inundated with the practical tasks of executing this ambitious project. As Warren and I have been coordinating this endeavor since February, (thanks very much to his efforts here in Toronto), we have assembled for this production, an incredible team of individuals. With well over 100 artists participating, the performers, our musical directors, and our creative team have far exceeded my expectations. Beyond my love for Sondheim’s material, I am humbled by the extraordinary time and effort these individuals are putting forth for this very worth cause.

Amongst them, I am happy to report that Joe Foley at “Christie Lites” has generously agreed to provide us with our lighting for all three concerts. Financially this is a boon for us, and will allow us to allocate additional proceeds from our ticket sales to go towards The Actor’s Fund, rather than to productions costs...so Thank-You Christie Lites! If you’re in need, you can check them out online at www.christielites.com.

Ticket sales couldn’t be stronger. We are very close to selling out the first performance, and the later weeks are filling up fast. I am very much looking forward to this week as we’re leading up to the September 21st performance. There is much to do! Not only will we be treated to hearing the repertoire sung and explored for the first time by this tremendous cast, but as I’m blocking and staging, we’ll get to imagine the first inklings of the work on it’s feet, which is always exciting.

If you’re just visiting this site, or if you’re a part of our cast, or if you’re here to pick up seats for this tremendous occasion, thank you for stopping by and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Cordially,
Peter Huck
Producer/Director
"Sondheim in September"

The YouTube Phenomenon!

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:53:53 +0700

Hey everyone. Well, we are a week away from the 1st show and we are firing on all cylinders. Peter is in town, the venue is prepped, the equipment is ordered and the artists are panicking. If you haven't yet bought your tickets, DO IT NOW because we are selling faster than we could ever have hoped.

So just to keep you all laughing, here is a little video that I am sure will haunt me forever. It's out there and there's no going back. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzeU1ajOhnM

See you all in a week and thanks for your support

Warren

On Musical Direction

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:48:45 +0700

In Sondheim & Co., Paul Gemignani , Sondheim's long-time musical director, had this to say about the art of musical direction:

“The musical director of a show does far more than conduct the orchestra. One of the musical director's functions is to make sure the actors retain their characterizations night after night. You must develop a fairly close relationship with the people on the stage because ultimately you are the one who's in charge once the curtain goes up, regardless of whether the stage manager is c calling cues or keeping the show running from the back.

“You must keep the pace going with the actors. It's almost as though you're a performer and it's very important that you feel that you are part of the performance so that you can maintain a keen level of concentration. I may not look at the show every minute, but I listen to it all the time because the actors will do it differently every night and the only way to keep it cohesive is to feel their rhythms. A song might be in one tempo one night and a little faster or a little slower the next. Each scene has its own rhythm and if the rhythm should be down one night you may be able to help them pick it up a little bit, to get their energy up if they're tired.”

For Sondheim in September, we have a different musical director for each night and as well as having to take care of all of the above, the format of the series presents a whole different set of challenges. By definition the rehearsal opportunities will be limited and it demands a very special kind of musician to be able to tune in to over 30 different performers and 20 different numbers in quick succession. To make all the numbers work as intended. To make all the performers feel confident. To keep them all on track. To keep the music moving forward and not let the energy of one song bleed into the next. And as if that wasn't enough, we are talking about Sondheim here. The purely physical demands of playing two solid hours of Sondheim with NO BREAK - sobering. I think like all the performers in the series it was, to a certain extent, the sheer madness of this idea that made our stable of MDs agree to the challenge.

We have gathered probably the three best MDs in the city for this kind of thing. Having auditioned, or performed, with all of them I can honestly say that it wasn't until we had ALL THREE signed up that I knew we had a shot at something great.

When you audition, professionally, for a large role and you don't have your own pianist with you, there are a few seconds after you step into the room and have greeted everyone at the main table. You turn to your accompanist - whom you have probably never met - and you have just enough time to explain any unusual ideas and check starting tempo and then you're on and this 3 minute performance could secure you years of employment or keep you from ever working for that director again! Its in this fraction of time that you know - without ever really knowing how you know - whether your accompanist is going to be a friend or an enemy. Whether they will allow you to forget the music and perform your heart out, or spend the entire audition grinding your teeth and wanting to scream to the panel how much better you would be as the lead in their show if only they hired decent musicians. It's just a very particular skill. A combination of abilities. Reading on sight, Listening carefully, Being open to what the performer is doing and understanding the style and demands of the piece. Being sympathetic, musical, talented and experienced all at once. So rare to find all of these qualities in one person never mind three.

If I am going on about this it is only because I am constantly amazed by how this actually works. I have been singing in the theatre for over twenty years and I still can't quite understand what a musician does to make the difference between 'playing the notes' and 'creating a performance'. Somewhere in the space between you and them it happens and its quite magical when it does. Those of you odd enough to have chosen this as a career will know of what I speak and if the rest of you reading this would like to get an idea of how this happens then come and see Sondheim in September. We have three masters of the art!

Thank you all three of you and for the rest please book soon as we are (happily) filling up fast.

Cheers

WK

Sondheim Fun Facts

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:20:04 +0700

Some interesting facts about Stephen Sondheim:

He was president of the Dramatists Guild from 1973 to 1981.
He co-wrote with Anthony Perkins a murder-mystery film, The Last of Sheila, in 1973.
He creates his own puzzles and games.
A murder game he created was the inspiration for Anthony Shaffer's Sleuth.
Oscar Hammerstein II was his mentor and surrogate father.
He planned to major in mathematics in college.
He auditioned for The $64,000 Question when he was starting out.
He did crossword puzzles for New York magazine for 18 months in the late 60s.
Most of the episode titles from Desperate Housewives reference his work in some way.

Sondheim On Songwriting

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:22:56 +0700

One of the books I have in my personal library is Sondheim & Co., 1989 edition , written by Craig Zadan. It's an extraordinary look at the work of Sondheim through interviews with many of the people involved in his works throughout the years, and with the man himself. Sadly, it only encompasses up to Into The Woods, with just a passing mention of the workshop of Assassins. It's out of print now but I highly recommend getting it either from the library or a used bookstore.

Since Sondheim is known for his lyrics, I thought I'd give you a bit on his thoughts of lyric writing. From page 231:

"Obviously, all the principles of writing apply to lyrics. Grace, affinity for words, a feeling for the weight of the words, resonances, and tone. The basic differences between lyric writing and all other forms are two principles which dictate what you have to do as a lyric writer.

First, lyrics exist in time - as opposed to poetry. You can read a poem at your own speed but on the stage, as the lyrics come at you, you hear them only once...The music is a relentless engine and keeps the lyrics going.

Second, lyrics go with music and music is very rich, in my opinion the richest form of art.It's also abstract and does very strange things to your emotions. So not only do you have that going but you also have lights, costumes, scenery, characters, performers. There's a great deal to hear and get. Lyrics therefore have to be underwritten. They have to be very simple in essence. That doesn't mean you can't do convoluted lyrics, but essentially the thought is what counts and you have to stretch out enough so that the listener has a fair chance to get it. Many lyrics suffer from being much too packed.

I've always thought of lyric writing as a craft rather than an art. It's so small."

Until next time,
MK

The First Time I Heard BEING ALIVE

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:52:46 +0700

Being Alive, from Company, is one of the most famous of Sondheim's early songs. Company was a landmark musical as it featured a series of vignettes rather than a linear plot. Dean Jones was the first person to sing it, although he only made it to open night of Company’s premiere in 1970, after which the role was taken over by Larry Kert. Company was revived on Broadway in 2007 and that show's lead, Raúl Esparza, performed the song at the Tony Awards that year: You can see his version here.
Being Alive comes at the end of the show and serves as a summary for the journey the lead character, Bobby, takes through the play and it has a soaring quality that marks it as memorable. Originally a song called Marry Me A Little was in that slot but it was felt during the out-of-town tryouts that it didn't truly capture Bobby's journey, so a new song was written. Marry Me A Little now appears at the end of the first act in the most recent revivals.

So where were you the first time you heard it? For me, I was working as an usher at The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres in Toronto in December 1989. Side by Side by Sondheim (produced by Marlene Smith) was the show used to re-open the Winter Garden after it had been hidden away for 60 years. Side by Side had originated with a group of English performers in 1976 who wanted to perform the songs in concert. The show went on to great acclaim, first on the West End and then Broadway and it's been revived many times since, most recently in Toronto by CanStage in 2004.

The Winter Garden production featured three powerhouse singers: Kathy Michael McGlynn, who had played Grizabella in the Canadian production of Cats; Karen K. Edissi, fresh off her triumph as Miss Adelaide in the Stratford Festival production of Guys and Dolls; and Davis Gaines, who had recently wowed Toronto in Damn Yankees and would force this production to close early as he went to Broadway to take over the role of The Phantom.

It's been 20 years and I still remember the passion in Davis' voice. The song seems to bring out the best of its singers. Years later, I was at a concert version of Company by Reprise Concerts at the Jane Mallet theatre (1998, I believe, with Charlotte Moore as Amy) and I had the pleasure of hearing David Rogers sing it. So the person taking on the song next month has a lot to live up to.

Till Next Time
MK

Hi I am MK

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:13:54 +0700

Hi there!
I'm MK Piatkowski, Artistic Director of one big umbrella. I'm a blogger, Facebook addict (it's always good to acknowledge these things), Twitter newbie, and information sponge, I'm a swing dancer, karaoke queen, frequent theatregoer, writer, and artistic supporter, I'm also Sondheim in September's Assistant Director and internet marketing guru.

I blame Warren Kimmel.

See, Warren's a charmer. He oozes authenticity and good humour. He's earnest. He sings like an angel. And when he's wearing his glasses he's got that whole sexy intellectual thing going on. So when he said he had a project he wanted me to be a part of, how could I possibly resist?

So here I am. Things are still being firmed up but what I've seen so far is pretty exciting. And what we've got planned for this blog is exciting too. Behind the scenes peeks, interviews with Peter and Warren, rehearsal updates and interesting facts about Sondheim, his shows and the performers participating, as well as anything else that strikes us at the time.
With that in mind, I'd like to draw your attention to a wonderful article in the Toronto Star about Thom Allison. I had the pleasure of seeing him earlier this year in Dreamgirls at The Grand Theatre in London. He's fantastic. He's a fellow blogger. And he's one of the wonderful talents who will be performing for your pleasure. (Here I must put in the standard caveat that all is subject to change. Broadway could come calling, for instance.)

As the internet guru, you'll be seeing a lot of me around cyberspace in the next little while. Don't be shy about starting up a conversation. I want to make these shows a one-of-a-kind experience for you.

Until next time,
MK

Putting it Together!

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:26:03 +0700

Well here we are two months away from our first concert and no one has lost their mind, spontaneously exploded or tried to have me deported. Toronto is truly a wonderful town! I have only been here just shy of a year and somehow all the people I have contacted have been foolish gracious enough to agree to be part of this rollercoaster ride.

This is the first of hopefully many blog posts on the site and a few of us will be adding posts from time to time. Please feel free to comment and let us know what you are all thinking.

As of today, we have a fabulous venue, three of the best musical directors in the city and a cast I can’t quite believe myself. You can check them all out on this site. We have had some real interest from the press already and everything is looking good. This all seems too good to be true and I am quietly waiting for our first crisis to roll into view. Actually the truth is that this first post is really just to do two things

To send out a huge thank you to everyone who has said YES so far and is committed to making this a real event to remember
To let all of our website and blog visitors know that our booking lines are open, there is no going back now and to get your whites whiter and your colours brighter, we urge you all to book NOW and avoid disappointment

Cheers for now
Warren K