Summer Camp: Part Deux

The Summer camps are officially over, and let me tell you, the pre-teen camp, with seventeen kids ages eight through twelve, was a whole different animal. If the Teen camp was roadrunner, starting off at an amiable pace and picking up speed every day, peaking with an explosive performance on Friday, the kids camp was a crazed wolverine fresh out of the cage, with way more energy than seems natural to most interns, like yours truly. That said, it was a very likeable crazed wolverine.



The teen summer camp's lunch time supervision( if you could call it that), consisted of chilling in the park, talking about stuff like favorite movies and shows. PRE-teen summer camp lunchtimes were something like this:

ME: "Alright, everybody, stay on that side of the counter and I'll hand you your lunch."
KIDS: "I want to get it myself!"
ME: "No, I'll hand it to you. Okay, who has the green cooler."
KIDS: "Mine! That's mine!" "Look, I can jump over the counter!"
ME: "No, don't do thattt.... Okaaaay. Just, get back on the other side."

Later, as I'm doing one of my head counts, something I did once about every 2 minutes.

KIDS: "Hey, can I go over there?"\

ME : "No, you have to stay in the park."
KIDS: "Johnny's over there."
ME: "What?! Johnny, get back here!"
KIDS: "When are the other kids gonna get back from IN'n'Out?"
ME: "When Vanessa brings them back."
KIDS: "I wanna get In'n'Out." "I have to go to the bathroom!"

Yes, the constant energy of the campers never ceased to impress me. One of the most interesting tasks presented itself in the form of helping the kids get cleaned up after they finished painting their own set; trying to clean their hands off outside with a garden hose and a spay nozel. One girl approached me, rubbing her cup of blue paint all over her hands and up her arms like it was soap.

"Hi. I kept on putting paint on me, that way it won't dry and it comes off easier."
".... I don't think it works like that."

But despite all the crazy, often high-stress level situations the campers got into, it was a lot of fun helping the Actors' Gang teachers with the camp. And it was never boring. My favorite part of the week came when I got to assist our Poduction Coordinator, Francois Pierre, as he taught the kids about stage lighting. With every new design he threw on the wall with a gobo'd spotlight, with every new color or effect he created with different gels, the kids would go crazy.

"WHOA!!! DO THAT AGAIN!"
"NEAT! That was SO Cool!"

And it really was cool. The kids loved the camp, and I could tell when I watched their performance on Friday, along with all their parents and some grandparents, that they had really gotten a lot out of it.

Prize of Hope Video

Here's a video that Simon Anthony created to show in conjunction with the awards ceremony when we were given the Prize of Hope.




And here is some streaming video from the Awards Ceremony

Summer Camp Part 1

Hi again. It's Alex, here at the Actors' Gang, and as of today we are halfway into our first week of Summer Camp. This week is strictly teens, while two weeks from now we have another theatre camp for pre-teens.

I got here on monday at 9 a.m, quite a switch from working mostly nights for the past couple weeks on 1984. After barely seeing Vanessa for three weeks, it was great to see her again. She's in charge/ the mastermind behind the two Summer Camps. Plus, I was glad to be working at the theatre in Culver City again.

Vj and Justin are teaching the morning sessions and I got the chance to sit in on a little bit of that. Right away the teens got acquainted with the Commedia Del Arte characters that the Gang trains with every Sunday in workshop. It was a welcome reminder to me too, having already forgotten a lot of what I'd learned about Commedia after my USC finals this spring. After that the campers selected a character they were going to portray over the course of the week (Harlequino, Columbina, Brighella... etc.), they went on to pick what they wanted for costumes and makeup.

Watching the camp, and seeing the campers really start to grow as actors has been great, and it's definitely been a learning experience for me, too. The whole thing's giving me the acting bug again.

I take my lunch break at the same time as the campers, too, and have found out they're all really cool kids. Topics of discussion range from favorite movies to what shows they've done to what they're learning to which famous celebrities we've randomly seen around the city. Plus, I've been putting a good word in for USC (despite my afformentioned History of World Theatre amnesia, it's an amazing school). Gotta show them the light before the Bruins here get to 'em first.

The Prize of Hope.

Hi everyone! It's the intern again.

Happy to say that 1984 closed strong at the Redcat, with many sold-out shows the last weekend and a remarkable guest speaker: Gore Vidal. Gore was surprisingly hilarious and predictibly brilliant as he lectured on the destruction of our constitution and the decay of our nation under the current administration. He closed with a morbid tale about Benjamin Franklin: When our Constitutionion was first drafted, he recounted, Franklin stated that throughout history, Republics such as the one defined under our Constitution failed within a short time due to the corruption of the people.

... (Silence for about five seconds. One thousand one. One thousand two... Then, FINALLY, thunderous applause.) It was a disurbing tale from a brilliant man.

After our final show on Sunday, Mia took over and we had a surprisingly quick strike of the set. I said auf wiedersehen to my parnter in crime Annetta, and to Erica, agreeing that we would all reunite one day for corn on the cob and sour kraut.

But while I was away, apparently, some prestigious things have been happening at the Actors' Gang. In June we garnered The Prize of Hope, from Denmark’s Institute for Popular Theatre! The Prize of Hope is awarded to a person or theater "who has worked for human hope in a daring, loving, vulgar, serious, poetic manner with sparkling energy" and is given to "those who encourage people to use their own eyes, ears and voice." YEAH! Vanessa, Justin, and Actors' Gang founding members Cynthia Ettinger and Tim Robbins flew up to Blue Lake, California to accept the prestigous award (pictured above) on June 21st.

It's also a very unique award, as the Institute created the mask specificallly to be an embodiment of what they felt the Gang represents.

I think it looks a little like Voltron. Or a Tic-Tic from 10,000 B.C., not that I'm admitting I saw that movie.

In other news our annual Summer Camp began on monday, this one for teens, and it's going great. More on that later...

1984 @ Redcat! Down With Big Brother!

Hi everybody! It's the intern again, reporting to say we're finished with our first successful week of 1984 @ the Redcat Theatre. Only 2 more weeks left, so get you're tickets while you can.

Working on this show has been quite the experience. The first day in the space a rag-tag team of actors and myself were able to erect the entire set in only a few hours (under Mia's careful tutelage). We were like Gremlins, but opposite. That's right, Snilmergs.

And the theater, located right under the Disney Concert Hall, is an incredible space. The lobby ain't half bad either, complete with a bar which usually has one or two actors hunched over it before each show. JK. While I'm working backstage with the lovely Annetta (a designer with the Gang hailing from Germany, who's also crewing the show) Intern numero dos, or uno, depending on which one of us you ask, anyway his name is Will, is in the back of the house running the sound for the show. I don't want to spoil the magic of theatre for you too much, so I'll just say that the show is a terrific ensemble piece with just the right amount of technical magic and spectacle (provided in part by yours truly).

Another perk to the show is that if you catch it on the right night, you'll get to experience a talk-back from the actors and possibly a guest speaker. Probably the most insightful was
John Dean, a man who was White House Counsel to the Nixon administration during Watergate, and author of the 2004 book, Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush. Looking for a chance to passionately talk politics with a friend of the opposite party? Chances are this show could spark it. But whether you're a political enthusiast or just want to see a play involving brainwashing, a futuristic dystopia, sex, violence, and all-in-all a profound examination of what it means to be human, this is the one for you. Check it out!

The Internship- 1st week.

(06/13/08)

So this is my first entry as the new intern here at the Actor’s Gang, and I’m pleased to say it’s been one exciting first week. I arrived for my first day on Tuesday to find the theater filled with people working on all sorts of things. I met with my boss, Vanessa, who showed me to my desk upstairs, in one of the funkiest offices I’ve ever seen. I quickly met all the regulars here, including Greg, Mia, and Joel, and knew right away this was gonna be a fun place to work. Later on as I was working on the mailing, advertising 1984 and KLUB I looked over and saw Kristen Chenowith getting made up in one of the dressing room chairs. Whaaaaa? Apparently she was shooting in the theater for some show that’s going to be shown in New York. Pretty good start to a first day. Just as we were finishing up with the mailing I got another job offer:

“So, would you be interested at all in crewing 1984 at the Redcat these next couple we-.”

“-YES.”

Next thing you know I’m heading over to the National Wushu headquarters to be on book for the actors as they rehearse 1984 in this expansive black box-esque space. Oh, and I met the director, Tim Robbins, or Tim, as I like to call him when I’m bragging to my roommate about my new internship. The rest of the week has been about the same: Working the first half of the day at the Actor’s Gang in Culver City, then going to help with rehearsal of 1984 for the second half. I also met Erica, a fellow Nebraskan now currently living in LA, who's stage manager on the show. We reminisced about corn and Husker football. It was great. But what was really great was getting to see a group of actors rehearse for a show they’ve already toured for so long, so that the play has become almost second nature to them.

Next week I'll be helping Mia on Monday as we move the 1984 set into the Redcat theatre, and will be crewing the show for the next three weeks. I'm excited to see what the set looks like and what I'll be doing backstage.

Well, gotta go. I'm heading over to the Wushu headquarters for another rehearsal, then tonight we have an all-company meeting and barbecue. I can't wait to meet some more actors in the company and pig out on Mia's burgers and grilled corn on the cob.

Oh, and I'm sure it will be informative, too. :)

Until next time,

-Alex

Klüb Returns!

The cast of Klüb are in final rehearsals to prepare for the re-opening on Thursday. One of the things I'm excited about is seeing Donna Jo Thorndale stepping into the role of Madame Verona. If you saw her in Carnage, you know what a brilliantly funny actress she is. She also bakes a mean lemon scone, but that's another story.

In the meantime, I'm down at Redcat taking part in the preparations to open 1984 tonight. Yes, we have two shows opening in one week (and a board meeting on Thursday!). The show is looking really good here at Redcat; it's such a great space, and the people who work here are really cool.

Here's a video preview of Klüb. Come check it out. Thursdays at 8pm and Saturdays at 10:30pm are Pay What You Can!