Stage Banter: The Arena Stage Blog

Hip Hop Solo Show: "Taking Over" plays this week!

posted by Jamie Gahlon

The time has come! This Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Arena and Georgetown University will present a workshop production of Danny Hoch’s Taking Over. Here’s a brief description of what he has in store for us: Taking Over is a hilarious and heartbreaking look at gentrification in the new millennium. Invading artists, hipsters, developers, real estate agents, co-conspirators and longtime community folk are explored through the eyes, ears and voice of one of the Hip-Hop generation’s leading actors and playwrights. For ticketing and show information check out Georgetown’s Program in Performing Arts website at http://performingarts.georgetown.edu/BOXOFFICE/ or call (202) 687-ARTS. Georgetown Students: $5, Senior Citizens & Patrons under 30: $10.   

Arena is really pumped to have Danny here in D.C., especially because we know there is a growing audience for his work, and the hip hop theater genre in general. The Hip Hop Theater Festival will make its return to D.C. sometime later this year. However, if you aren’t willing to wait for its arrival, the District has no shortage of opportunities to see great spoken word and storytelling outside of the festival circuit. For one, Speakeasy DC hosts a monthly open mic storytelling series in which all sorts of people take a stab at telling an original story from real-life experience on the night's theme. I went a few weeks ago when the theme was “Liar Liar, Pants on Fire!” and I had a great time listening to the comedy, tragedy, and ultimate honesty of those who decided to share their experiences. Check out the Speakeasy website for more information on upcoming shows.

Danny gets into town this afternoon, so he, Vijay the production stage manager, and I will be heading over to Georgetown to check out the costumes and tech elements they have set aside for our use throughout the workshop. Rehearsals officially start tomorrow. On Thursday we will do an afternoon tech before the first show goes up that same night. It’s going to be a whirlwind, but hopefully we can find a way to keep it controlled chaos! I hope to see you there!

Behind the Scenes Moms Part 2: Christmas Carol 1941

posted by Anne Harrison

When I told my son, C.J., that he had received an offer to join the cast of Christmas Carol 1941 (CC41), he stared at me in disbelief to be sure that he’d heard correctly and then became really excited. While I began clearing our schedule for the upcoming three months, C.J. was more interested in things from a twelve-year old’s perspective: “I hope I have a fun part in the show!”  “Can we ride Metro to rehearsals?”  “Awesome - now I can’t get my braces until January!” “When can I see the script?” C.J. has been performing in regional theater since first grade, but being offered a job at the venerable Arena Stage put his love of acting in a whole new perspective. C.J. portrays three characters; he’s a delivery boy, Young Strube, and a boy in the town.

Arena gave me permission to accompany C.J. throughout the theater, and it’s been a wonderful experience. Our first day began with a meet-and-greet, where some patrons of Arena Stage and the people involved with the show enjoyed snacks and had an opportunity to talk with one another in the lobby. We met one very gracious couple and learned of the work they are doing to improve conditions for people in South Africa. That’s when I began to realize that CC41 was going to provide C.J., who is homeschooled, with much more than just some additional acting experience; it’s a terrific opportunity to expand his view of the world. 

After the meet-and-greet, we were all ushered into the theater where Molly Smith, the director, introduced various people involved with the show. She explained the historical concepts behind CC41 and gave us her vision for the play. James Magruder, the playwright, told of some of the personal connections that he’s written into the show. In these days where so many people are interested in genealogy and capturing oral histories, it was touching to hear of how he had chosen to honor the good relationships he’s had with his relatives. The meet-and-greet ended with displays of a model stage set and costume sketches. C.J. was particularly captivated by the miniature model of the set, which includes moving elevators and a bi-level floor.

Behind the Scenes Moms Part 1: Christmas Carol 1941

posted by Laura Clement (her daughter Mollie plays Carolyn Schroen in Christmas Carol 1941)

When Mollie has a performance opportunity, I ask myself two questions: 1) Does Mollie want to do this? (More than we do?); and 2) Will it be a good learning experience? The answers were clear when the chance to participate in the development of Christmas Carol 1941 came up. Yes! Mollie wanted to work at Arena Stage! And Yes! To participate in a reading of a new script with a group of talented artists sounded like a sure bet for learning. But when we committed to a one-day reading last spring, we didn’t know that the play would be brought to life at Arena just months later, nor did we know that Mollie would be included in the actual production. We couldn’t have imagined just how much Mollie would love working at Arena, and what an incredible learning experience the process would be. 

The acting training that Mollie has received at Firebelly Productions under Kathi Gollwitzer gave her the tools she needed even before rehearsals began. What an incredible opportunity this is to take these tools out into the world and put them to use! She read the script several times to try to really understand what the playwright wants and invented the nooks and crannies of Carolyn’s character. She looked for the moment of discovery in each scene—when Carolyn discovers something that she didn’t know before. She studied the dialog in each scene and considered how her scene partners made her feel. Then she spent some time thinking about what she wanted the other characters to feel. She also considered Carolyn’s action—what keeps her moving forward. Some actions are physical movements, some are internal. Both involve scene partners. She’s figured out for each scene what Carolyn wants and what she is going to do to get it. (Oh and don’t forget memorizing the lines). All this before the first rehearsal!

The Giving Season at Arena Stage

by David Dower

As you all know, this is the time of year when almost every not-for-profit in the country sends out appeals for support. Arena Stage will be no exception, with ticket sales accounting for just over half of what it takes to provide our programming each season, and the year-end letters are winging their way to our patrons' mailboxes as I write this.

But I'm struck by the way the spirit of giving has entered our building in a new way this year. On their own initiative, and with very little fanfare, the casts of both The Women of Brewster Place and Christmas Carol 1941 sought—and got—permission to invite our audiences to donate to organizations involved in charity work related to the shows they are performing every night on stage.

The women of Brewster Place, who we all affectionately refer to as "the ladies" around here, last week collected donations for the Capital Area Food Bank. The stories and issues of Gloria Naylor's characters have touched them deeply, and still touch sold-out crowds each performance. So, at the end of the show, one of the cast members will step out and make an appeal to the audience. I've seen Terry Burrell do it twice now, and it's a show in itself! Meanwhile, the rest of the company heads for the exits and stands ready to greet the audience as they leave, and accept their donations. The beneficiaries were in the house tonight to collect their check. A whopping $8,551 was donated by our audiences last week alone! The outpouring of generosity will go a very long way this Thanksgiving weekend...

Blog Contest Winner: Vernon Stoltz

Congratulations! There were many of you who correctly answered the blog contest questions so we randomly chose Vernon Stoltz among the winning entries. Vernon wins a pair of tickets to Christmas Carol 1941.

Here are the questions and their answers:

1) There are three famous D.C. statues representing the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future in Christmas Carol 1941. Which statues are they?

Winged Victory, Freedom, Grief

2) Two Citizen Reviewers have logged their reports on The Women of Brewster Place. Name them.

Alexis Vaughn, Susan Williams

Were You in the House?

by David Dower

Were you in the Kreeger the other day for The Women of Brewster Place when a young guide dog was in the audience?

At the end of the first song, along with the applause, there came the unmistakable sound of a dog barking enthusiastically. Reports Marva Hicks, who plays Etta Mae in the show: "Every time people applauded it barked. It was probably pretty uncomfortable for the people around it, and it was a bit of a shock to all of us. But we kept going and it got to be pretty funny actually. We started to look forward to it.  Somewhere along the way the dog gave it up and stopped responding. We were so glad that people just went with it, rather than having to ask the patron to leave. And then, there he was again, at the curtain call, yelping right along with the rest of the audience.  We just started barking back from the stage. It was crazy. The audience fell out."

Now, it's not that we want to encourage you to bring your dog. In fact we won't let you in with your dog unless it is a service dog. But you have to love the fact that the show is so intense that it can inspire this sort of response from an animal so fully trained, and that the theater is so live and that the cast can just roll with it. A movie is never going to bark back at you during the credits!

Thank you, Brewster ladies, and anyone who was in the audience, for making this a wonderful story instead of an unpleasant one. And to the dog, we feel ya. The electricity generated by Marva and Tina Fabrique in "Sing Billie" has even the most sedate among us howling at stage well before the song even ends.

Hip Hop Theater & Danny Hoch’s Taking Over Arena

posted by Jamie Gahlon

From Thursday, Nov. 29 to Saturday, Dec. 1, Arena Stage and Georgetown University’s Program in Performing Arts will present a workshop production of Taking Over, a new solo show written and performed by Danny Hoch, and directed by Tony Taccone of Berkeley Repertory Theater. For show and ticketing information, check out the Georgetown Program in Performing Arts website.

I have the incredible opportunity of stepping outside of my normal Arena hats (Human Resources Associate/Executive Director Intern) to line produce for the workshop, and I couldn’t be more excited. I first heard about Danny Hoch and his work last year through research I conducted on Hip Hop Theater for a Political Theater class I was enrolled in at Georgetown. What is Hip Hop Theater, you ask?

For those of you who don’t know, Danny Hoch founded the first Hip Hop Theater Festival in 2000 and is considered one of the fathers and most formidable creators and contributors to the Hip Hop Theater genre. Hip Hop Theater uses theater as a medium for hip hop, combining intrinsically theatrical hip hop elements such as rap, singing, break dancing, spoken word, beat-boxing and spinning records with theater. The Hip Hop Theater movement really got off the ground in the ‘90s, emerging largely through trained theater artists who grew up in and were influenced by hip hop culture.

Sneak a peek at Christmas...

by David Dower

Thursday, November 15th is the next open dress rehearsal here at Arena Stage. This will also be the last one at our building until we return to the new and glorious Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in two and a half years. We'll continue this practice wherever we are (including the Crystal Forum in Crystal City and the Lincoln Theatre on U Street).

For those of you who haven't been to one of these events, they are free and no reservations are necessary. You will see a full performance of Christmas Carol 1941, a world premiere of James Magruder's adaptation of Dickens's A Christmas Carol that is set in Washington, D.C. after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At the dress rehearsal, you get the whole shebang: full lights, sound, costumes, dancing, singing, Marley's ghost and decorating of the Christmas tree. It'll shoot you straight into the holiday spirit!

Why do we do this? Theater is a live art form and, in the vein of a tree falling in the forest, it doesn't really happen unless people are there to see it. And this being a world premiere, this particular play has never had an audience. So, by attending the open dress rehearsal and taking on the role of the audience, you are helping us finish this exciting holiday event. 

For The Women of Brewster Place open dress rehearsal, people began lining up by 6:00 p.m. (Actually, we love you two who were in line at 5:30—you know who you are!!) Doors will open at 7:45 for an 8pm start time. This show has a running time of just about two hours, including intermission. So spread the word and come on down—we've got a role for you in our Christmas show: Audience!

Citizen Review: The Women of Brewster Place

posted by Jacqueline E. Lawton

[Editors' Note: We'll be featuring "Citizen Reviews" of our productions all season. We want to illuminate the experience of people who are not professional critics, creating a dialogue between the 'pros' and the 'regular joes.' We invite you to share your own reviews with us through the Comments feature at the end of this posting.]

Arena Stage states as part of their core purpose an intention “to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit.” With The Women of Brewster Place, their co-production with the Alliance Theatre, currently playing in the Kreeger Theater, I feel that they’ve accomplished this. It’s easy to tell the story of a disenfranchised group of people who go from poverty, misery and despair to fortune, fame and success. These stories are filled with hope, a sense of duty and purpose, and the overwhelming assurance that the American Dream is alive, well, and achievable for all. While this is a great feeling for an audience to return home with, it’s just misleading. Much like the novel by Gloria Naylor, Arena Stage’s production of The Women of Brewster Place resists this simple telling.

The African-American women presented in The Women of Brewster Place are fierce, vulnerable and passionate. With courage, good intentions and grace they meet racism, poverty and sexism head on, and much like it happens in real life, they don’t always succeed. Regardless, they find the strength within themselves to sing through and of their frustration, hopes, heartache, misery, disappointments, joys, pleasures and fears. They push through their setbacks and are united in their sense of humor, a strident belief in God, the power of the blues, and the strength of their community. These women are so beautifully funny, flawed, sad, witty, overlooked and forgotten.

Backstage Crew POV: The Women of Brewster Place

posted by Rachel Swan

Normally, I serve as Arena's Production Associate—I coordinate our visiting artists' travel and housing needs, facilitate their contracts, etc. Due to various factors, I'm helping out on the run crew of The Women of Brewster Place and I have to say it's amazing and I'm lucky to be able to help out! Largely, I'm stationed stage-right (when you're sitting in the house, looking at the stage, I'd be on the left) and work with the table that rolls on and off to the alcove far downstage (closest to the audience). The cast brings the table on and off stage, but I'm always there to hand off or catch it so they can make to their next entrance or costume change (there's a lot of costumes and tons of shoes!). It's while waiting for the table to be brought off stage that I get to view snippets of the show from a perspective that no one else has. For instance, during "Sing Billy," I get to watch Marva Hicks straight on as she and Tina Fabrique sing one of my favorite songs. The relationship between those two women is almost tangible, and it's just powerful; it reminds me of my dearest friends and how we've helped each other through rough times. Also, at the end of "Dumbass," I'm standing directly in front of the speaker that Cora Lee's children's voices comes through. I've finally stopped jumping when the first voice comes out!