Almost, Maine is almost here!

It's a dark weekend at MET - that means we don't have any shows playing. Which also means it's time for a work call! On Saturday, we came in for several hours to get ready for our next mainstage show, Almost, Maine.

This is the Almost, Maine set, from designer Joann Lee.

After all set pieces and props have been cleared, the first task is to paint everything - the walls, floor, center column -everything, black. Reiner and Mak paint over the blue and white swirls from The Snow Queen.

Gené paints the wall.

Joann draws the skyline for Almost, Maine.

Pat McDonald and Joann cut out the skyline.

Tad broke something. Mark tries to help fix it. In the end, this piece of equipment was put back together with fast-drying epoxy and camouflage duct tape. It was a sight to behold.

Karen puts away costumes from our last show.

Rona puts away fabric pieces.

Julie is excited by all the progress in the costume shop!

Of course, we couldn't just have one thing happening at MET! During the work call, our next Fun Company show, Ma Lien and the Magic Paintbrush, had rehearsal. Ma Lien is a traditional Chinese folk tale, adapted for the stage by MET Associate Artistic Director Gené Fouché and directed by ensemble member Ali Lepelletier.

MET Wii Band: Crapdip

Our Wii Band sings "White Wedding." We have Gené Fouché on guitar, Lorrie Tripp on Drums, Carey Rausch on bass and Tad Janes on vocals.

Beach Retreat: Workshop

During workshops, we often play games. These games are almost always a lot of fun, but the point is to hone our skills and add tools to our toolboxes. In this game, only one person can make noise or move at a time, which teaches listening skills and makes us think about how we make choices: are we dominant, do we acquiesce, etc? The goal is to stop thinking about what we're personally doing and focus on completing the game as a group; to give ourselves over to the collaborative, creative process that is theatre.

Beach Retreat!

We're at our annual beach retreat! Each year we spend a week in Surfside Beach, SC working on MET stuff. We hold workshops, read plays, talk about the future of MET, go on fun excursions, eat, play games and generally bond. This year we're coming off a couple of really super busy months with our four holiday shows, so we've spent a lot of time just relaxing and recharging.

I had intended to do a blog post each day, but I've been too busy doing nothing(!), so here's a brief recap of our week:

At the beach we play a lot of games!

We also formed our own Wii band: Crapdip. Here we have Carey Rausch, Tad Janes, Peter Wray and Ken Poisson.

We've taken lots of walks on the beach.

And here's the leaping photo of the year! Gené makes it across the beach stream.

We went to Brookgreen Gardens, which is a delightful sculpture garden.

Tad and Gené at Brookgreen.

In addition to the many amazing sculptures, Brookgreen has amazing grounds - ponds, pools, huge trees, etc and lots of animals.

We got our nails done! We had to drag Ken there, but his first mani/pedi experience has inspired him to make the nail salon a weekly visit.

We read aloud some plays that are being considered for next season.

Ken and Sarah Shulman wear inexplicable heardgear.

Lorrie Tripp and Sarah Straw put a puzzle together. We've done about 10 puzzles this week!

For more photos, check out Karen's Facebook albums.

100th Post!

This is the 100th post on the MET Blog! We've been blogging for almost a year! This blog was started as a way to communicate more with our patrons and give people a sense of what MET is all about, besides producing plays. But it's become more than that. It's become a great way of documenting and recording our process, a living archive.

If you have comments about the blog, please email them to me at: sstraw@marylandensemble.org

Thanks for reading!

New MET Website!

We have a new look for our MET website! Same address (www.marylandensemble.org), different look.

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And now you can access the MET Blog from the new homepage, just click the Blog link on the left side of the page.

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In the photo, Gené and I are talking (on our fancy new phone in our fancy new conference room with our fancy new table!) with web guy Phil Graves. Gené designed the look of the site and Phil put everything together for us.

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As with any new technology, there are always bugs to work out - thank you for being patient as we make this transition. Let us know what you think about the new site! Email me at sstraw@marylandensemble.org

Reiner Prochaska talks about The Snow Queen

When--in the summer of 2008--Julie Herber first asked me to write a stage adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen, I had to admit that I had actually never read it. Having grown up in Germany, I was thoroughly familiar with the fairy tales the Brothers Grimm had woven from centuries of central European folklore--but reading Andersen's work was a new experience. The critics seemed to agree that Snow Queen was his best and most complex work. But why?

Snow Queen combines a range of compelling themes: good, evil, love, friendship, loyalty, religion, nature, compassion, and ambition. Adapting so complex a story for an audience of children--as well as for their parents and grandparents (since children rarely come to the theater by themselves)--seemed a daunting task. I wanted to write a play that was relevant to a twenty-first-century audience. After I re-read the text several times, two prevalent themes--dichotomies, rather--that seemed to me both modern and timeless emerged: Intellect versus Emotion and Civilization versus Nature.

Both themes have been represented in literature for as long as humans have recorded their experience through the written word. We find them in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Their timelessness intrigued me. Too often, the Snow Queen is a representation of evil and wickedness. I see her as a Force of Nature, rather than a Force of Evil. When Gerda asks Grandmother whether the Snow Queen can come inside, Kai responds, "Let her try! I'd put her on the stove and she'd melt!" If we can accept the Snow Queen as a representation of nature, could Kai's comment be a modern metaphor for human interference with our environment? So, I chose to write this play as a cautionary tale about the precarious balance between Man and Nature, but also about the power of love and loyalty in the face of adversity.

Because I am also directing this production, staging it for visual impact was a big consideration for me. Since so many of the scenes take place in the vast landscapes of Scandinavia, a traditional set seemed hardly appropriate. While as an actor I love the immediacy of the stage, as a filmmaker I'm thrilled by the excitement of moving pictures. But why not combine the two? I decided to use--instead of a stage set--two large screens onto which still and video images could be rear-projected. These images will serve as set interiors as well as interactive outdoor videos. A combination of stock video clips will create the illusion of the Snow Queen's sleigh flying over glaciers and mountains and above the clouds. This past Tuesday, I traveled to Shartlesville, Pennsylvania, to tape footage from a moving horse-drawn carriage driving through a snowy forest for a scene in which Gerda is captured by a band of robbers.

Below is a short "teaser" with images from the show. Check it out. And, come see the show. I think it will be exciting for children of all ages. See you at the MET!

- Reiner Prochaska

The MET Furniture Line

Since we moved into our new offices, ensemble member Mark Barnhart has been hard at work, building us our own furniture line! We call it the 'Maärk Collection':

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His first project was a bookshelf for the back hallway. Mark did the construction and staining in the scene shop, but brought the shelves into the classroom for assembly.

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Done! The shelves are completely full of books, plays and set models now.

Next Mark built some desks for our company office, they match the look of the book shelves above.
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Once the desks were done, and the A Doll's House set finished, Mark moved on to a large table for our conference room.
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It makes me nervous with all the sparks flying around!

The table was moved into the conference room yesterday, Reiner helped! First they set up the legs and base. Then they attached the table top.
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Our beautiful new conference table! We're very excited about having a dedicated space for meetings. No longer will the Board of Directors be squished into the Greene Room, or the Technology Committee be forced to meet in the lobby, with Ensemble School students working on scenes close by. Yay!
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Mark has also built a new fabulous work table and wood storage unit in the scene shop. Next time you're at the MET, ask for a tour of the Maärk Collection!

Crumpet the Elf a.k.a. Rona Mensah

Longtime Ensemble Member Rona Mensah will star in the one-person show, The Santaland Diaries, this holiday season. Who is Rona and how did she come by this amazing opportunity to memorize a 40 page monologue? Here, in her own words, is Rona's life story...the Reader's Digest version:

I came to Frederick to study at Hood College. While there, I participated in the Hood Theatre group. At the time, there were no Theatre Arts courses at Hood so I chose something equally creative: Interior Design and Retail Management.

Even though I was studying something different, I spent much of my free time working on the theatre productions and helping to build the sets, coordinating the properties and acting. Since I didn't stray too far from the campus, I was clueless to the number of theaters in Frederick's bustling arts scene.

After I graduated, I moved to Frederick and quickly learned there were a number of theatre groups in the area and saw a few productions. After about 2 years, I knew I wanted to get back into the theatre scene and wanted to hit the stage again.

I began working for Key 103 radio in Frederick and came into contact with an audition notice for Fredericktowne Players' production of Camelot. It was exactly the jolt I needed to return to the stage. I was lucky enough to get roles onstage with Fredericktowne Players, Other Voices, and Feste Productions theatre groups.

While performing in Feste's Skin of Our Teeth, I came in contact with Maryland Ensemble Theatre founder, Tad Janes who approached me about taking acting classes with The Ensemble School...MET's Educational arm. I started taking classes in Acting and Improvisation with the MET, and in the process grew to learn much more about Theatre Arts and the Ensemble Theatre model.

In 1997, we debuted our premier piece, an original work called "Finally Heard: Feminine Heroes of an Uncivil War". In the 10 years that I've been involved with the MET, we've created 5 original shows and have another one we are creating for the 2008-2009 season. The group has grown and continued to expand our boundaries by creating new original plays, and adapting classic plays with a new twist. It's such a great group to be involved with.

I really love living and working in Frederick. It's such an interesting and eclectic town. There's so much to explore in the arts, from music, to visual and performing arts, one could always be occupied with experiencing the arts in Frederick!

Fall for the MET 2008

Fall for the MET was last Saturday. For the first time, we held the event in the upstairs lobby, which was quite lovely:

We had a great silent auction! Ensemble member Lisa Burl was involved in several bidding wars. She lost the Joe Williams print, but won the night at Stone Manor.

Tad Janes talks with board members Katie Bowersox and Kara Norman

We had a little presentation honoring our outgoing board president, Shawn Pitts, who served as our president for 5 years. In appreciation we gave her (with help from event sponsor McGuire Fine Arts!) a beautiful sculpture

Then we had a little show - a preview of the rest of our 08/09 season.

Katye Williams, Sophie Arrick-Lewis and Gené Fouché show how an original MET play is put together.

Tad and Lisa read a scene from Almost, Maine

At the end of the evening, some unexpected entertainment arrived: Sophie's son, Ben (the banana) and friend.

It was a great evening - good food, good company, great entertainment, and we even made some money!

A Day in the Life: MET on a Wednesday

It's Wednesday at MET, and here's what we're up to:

It's 9:30am and Sarah Straw is at her desk! (I'd like to say my work area usually looks more organized, but when you're working on 5 million projects at a time, it's kinda hard to stay neat!)

It's 10am and Karen Paone, box office manager, is waiting for you to call!

Ensemble member and props mistress for A Doll's House Lorrie Tripp stops by later in the morning. Lorrie chats with me a bit about props for the show (I'm the stage manager) and then works on some items. I try to help with the ornery copier, but....

We end up breaking it! This piece just fell out as we were trying to fix a paper jam! Fortunately it snapped right back in and everything was fine.

At MET, we ensemble members share the responsibility for keeping our space clean. Everyone signs up for a month-long shift. Julie and I are the October cleaning crew. Above, Julie takes out the trash from the lobby.

In addition to teaching, performing, directing and doing MET's graphic design, Gené also does our accounting. Here she's getting ready to make a deposit.

A quick trip into the theatre finds A Doll's House lighting designer and Ensemble Member Karina Wright supervising her daughter, Diana. They spent most of the day hanging Karina's light plot.

Mark Barnhart was down in the scene shop, working on trim for the set. It was dusty.

After lunch, our friend and cast member from Company, Nick Mullinix stopped by!

MET intern and Ensemble School student Luke de Boinville sorts costume patterns.

Every Wednesday, from 2-6pm, Jenn Irons gives private voice lessons in MET's Greene Room. Here is Jenn, working with Lena Janes, daughter of Tad and Gené

The Ensemble School starts at 4:30 with Teen Improv, taught by Denny Grizzle, who you may remember as Bobby in Company and Joe in Killer Joe.

At 5:30 Julie teaches Teen Scene Study - we love our new classroom!

At 6pm we have a Doll's House production meeting. Tad, the director, sits down with all the designers, and the stage manager, and we talk over what is happening, what needs to happen and who is going to do it.

Milee was there during the production meeting, priming all the walls. Tad is going to pick out the paint on Thursday morning!

After the production meeting, sound designer Tom Majarov played several sambas for Tad to choose from. There was dancing. Costumer designer Sherry Shaner, and...

Tad!

At 7pm, after the production meeting we had a company meeting. MET ensemble members meet once a week, every week but during tech weeks, to talk about our company and get everyone on the same page. Tonight we talked about Fall for the MET - our annual fall event that is this Saturday, October 18th, and work call plans to get the Doll's House set finished.

Also at 7pm, Actors Anonymous was meeting, led by Comedy Pigs member James "Jiggy'McGarvey. AA is an opportunity for our Ensemble School students to use what they've learned in class in their own improv troupe. In the past, they're produced a couple of shows each season.

Normally the Comedy Pigs also rehearse on Wednesday nights, from 8-10pm. But tonight several Pigs were in tech for the Walkersville Dinner Mystery Train!

And at 7:30 it was time for A Doll's House rehearsal! During rehearsal, Sherry pulled actors into the costume shop for fittings.

Also during rehearsal, ensemble member Rona Mensah stopped by with some soap! And also some decorations for Fall for the MET.

And then finally, at 10:30pm, rehearsal is over and we're going home!

That's it, that's a day in the life of MET. If you come by on a Thursday, or a Saturday, it looks much the same - there's always a class, a rehearsal, a work call. There's always people stopping by to borrow things, return things or just say hi. There's always administrative work to do, ticket orders to fill and cleaning to be done. And sometimes we even have a show! : )