Contents include: Q & A: Amy Stoller; Q & A: Andrea Kovich; Events/Announcements.https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdanewsletter/1013/thumbnail.jp

Kovich, Andrea

Stoller, Amy

Stoller, Jeremy

Webster, L. E.

English

Sound Ideas

University of Puget SoundSound IdeasLMDA Newsletter LMDA Archive11-2017LMDA New & Noteworthy, volume 3, no. 2Amy StollerJeremy StollerAndrea KovichL. E. WebsterFollow this and additional works at: https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdanewsletterThis Book is brought to you for free and open access by the LMDA Archive at Sound Ideas. It has been accepted for inclusion in LMDA Newsletter byan authorized administrator of Sound Ideas. For more information, please contact soundideas@pugetsound.edu.Recommended CitationStoller, Amy; Stoller, Jeremy; Kovich, Andrea; and Webster, L. E., "LMDA New & Noteworthy, volume 3, no. 2" (2017). LMDANewsletter. 10.https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdanewsletter/10November 2017Vol. 3, No. 2This month, we share profiles of two dramaturgs - one who combines dramaturgyand dialect design; another who is exploring new work and social justice.Q+A | AMY STOLLERDramaturg / Dialect Designer Tell us about some projects you're working on at themoment.I’m prepping an upcoming production of StanleyHoughton’s Hindle Wakes. It’s set in a mill-town in1910s Lancashire. In England it’s a classic, frequentlyrevived on stage; it’s also been filmed there, for bigand small screens, at least five times. Here in the USit’s almost unknown; it closed on Broadway in 1912after 32 performances, and didn’t do appreciably better10 years later, despite being retitled.Do your dialect coaching and production dramaturgy work inform each other?My dramaturgy evolved naturally from my dialect work. I don’t think I can give actors thebest help with pronunciation unless I also understand what their characters are talkingSubscribe Past Issues Translateabout. So I do lots of research to be sure I’m as fully informed as possible about anythingthat might affect text interpretation, and I share it so the company can be fully informed,too! In the beginning, I created a fairly brief Glossary to share with the cast and director. Itgrew into a Glossary-and-Text-Notes. Next came Addenda, for items requiring moreexplanation. Now it’s usually the Glossary and Text Notes plus The Big Book (usually atwo-to-three-inch binder stuffed with information), one or more YouTube playlists, andsometimes books I’ve purchased to share with the cast. (Those go back home with meonce we move into the theatre.) These days I try to save paper by making unusually longdocuments available only in Dropbox, and also making a slideshow presentation of manyof the photographs I’ve found, set to period music (using music mentioned in the text, ifany). I’ll show this to the cast and director on Day One or Two, then export it as a video tothe Dropbox. Of course the Dropbox contains many audio and video resources for theaccent and dialect, together with my dialect breakdown.I sometimes do dramaturgy without dialect design, but I never do production dialect designwithout dramaturgy. I scale the historical-contextual research to a minimum if there’s adramaturg of record on board, of course. That lets me enjoy playing well with them. Do you have a wishlist for the way the industry approaches dialect work? Any big thingsyou wish would evolve over the next few years?I wish more producers and directors understood that:- Any time you have an actor who doesn’t naturally speak the way their character does,and who doesn’t have a history of performing in that speech pattern, it makes sense to hirea dialect designer. Even more so if the actor has no track record of performing in accentsother than their own!- The design part of the job is similar to costume design: researching and selecting from arange of authentic speech patterns, and/or devising new speech patterns, to create acommunity or family sound for a full cast of characters, or individual speech identities forone or more characters in a production. Then comes tailoring the speech pattern(s) to theneeds of the production and the abilities of the performers. But the coaching part is morelike choreography for the mouth. Speech is physical work, and new accents requirebuilding new muscle memory. This takes time to develop, and time to master. So it’s moreefficient to hire your dialect designer when you hire the rest of your design team, and tofactor dialect time into the rehearsal schedule from the get-go. For many shows, in myperfect world, I’d start working with the cast a month before rehearsals begin. Equity rulesprohibit that, not without reason, but it would be nice.- I can’t imagine producing a musical and and hiring the choreographer shortly beforeopening, or hiring a chorus who’ve never sung and danced before. But you’d be surprisedhow often I’ve been asked to come in to “fix” the dialect work on a production that’s startingtech—a few times the day before opening!—and which may have been cast without regardto the actors’ abilities in this area. If you bring your dialect designer on board for auditions,or at least well before rehearsals begin, you’re working for instead of against the successof this aspect of your show.Interview by Jeremy Stoller Q+A | ANDREAKOVICHA Seattle-based freelance dramaturg, AndreaKovich discusses her current project - a newmusical - and her upcoming work, whichcombines theater and social justice.  What was your first interaction withdramaturgy?I'd say my first really memorable interactionwith dramaturgy was at a public lecture givenby Seattle Opera about Puccini’s La Bohème.The lecturer -who later became the company’sResident Dramaturg - was so animated and passionate about the opera. It made me think,“That’s how I want to feel about my work. I want to love what I do so much that I getexcited just talking about it.” Right now you are on a team developing Howl's Moving Castle, A New Musical atBook-It. Where are you in the process now?I've just finished creating an actors' packet and we’re about to start rehearsals. By the timethis interview [is posted], I’ll be working on the program materials, a blog article, and apreliminary lobby design. Then we open December 2nd! This script is still in development. How has this shaped your pre-rehearsal process?Usually I have historical background to research, but with a fantasy that’s set in anotherworld, my research process has been different. The author’s background [has been] veryimportant. What has it been like working with a musical?The last time I worked on a new musical, I was brought into the process after about a yearand a half of development. This one we’re trying to develop and produce in about 6months. Which, for a musical, is quite fast. It’s been a challenging process, also veryexciting! And what has it been like working with an adaptation?Most Book-It productions are world premieres created by in-house or local adapters inBook-It’s trademark style. The style is very literary— the narrative text is preserved, so it’ssort of Brechtian in that you never forget you are watching a book.  Because of this style,the source material is incredibly important and there’s a lot to analyze. Basically, we aredistilling a 400-page book into a theatrical 2-hour version. Why this play now?Ah yes, the essential question! The popular 2004 anime movie is significantly different fromthe book. The movie is fantastic in its own right, but there’s more to explore in the book interms of character development and themes.  I think we are especially in need of some magic [right now]. Adults need to remember whatit was like to be a child. Children need spaces where they can just be children- can  enjoythe wonder of seeing a book come to life. Underneath all the magic, this is a tale about ayoung woman learning to reject the storyline written for her by others- and discovering hervery real inner power. And, why this play here? At Book-It? In Seattle, Washington?This show probably couldn’t have been created anywhere else. The team includes Book-It’s Co-Artistic Director Myra Platt and Seattle-based musician/ songwriter Justin Huertas,starring the amazing Sara Porkalob—It’s really a homegrown effort.   I can’t wait to see this show. What’s next for you?I'm super excited about an upcoming project I’m working on with Sound Theatre Company.I’m co-curating a reading series focusing on playwrights who have disabilities.  We’re alsodiscussing a potential summer production of a play by a disabled playwright.  With theseprojects, I really hope to stimulate conversations about the representation of people withdisabilities in theatre and promote the work of playwrights with disabilities. The theatrescene in Seattle is trying to be more inclusive. However, this effort has not yet extended toinclude the disability community. We talk about achieving a greater diversity ofrepresentation onstage, but the work we're doing is still very ablest. It’d be great to hearpeople say, “Let’s do something about that!” And then actually do something. Tickets to“Howl’s Moving Castle, a New Musical” can be purchased at book-it.org. Interview by L.E. Webster events / announcements LMDA raised its entire $3,000 goal for its Fall Fund Drive, for website improvements.Thank you to all who contributed!  REGIONAL - METRO BAY AREAGoing on now thru December 10: Metro Bay Area LMDA Partnership with GoldenThread Productions, ReOrient 2017 Festival of Short Plays. At Potrero Stage, SanFrancisco.Think you know the Middle East? Think again. This biennial festival will turn San Franciscointo a mecca for innovative, spirited, and thought-provoking theatre from and about theMiddle East, welcoming artists who challenge the dominant depictions of the Middle Eastand audiences who seek unconventional and provocative programming. This year,Regional VP Nakissa Etemad is curating a partnership between LMDA & Golden Thread toprovide local dramaturgs to work on publications, new play development, and research forthe festival, and participate in a dramaturgy panel at the ReOrient Forum on Thanksgivingweekend. If you would like to get involved in ReOrient, please contact Nakissa at:metrobayarea@lmda.org. For more info and tickets, visithttp://www.goldenthread.org/2017-season/reorient2017/And look out for our dramaturgs’ postings throughout November on the Golden Thread andLMDA websites!Want to keep up with the conversation about the latest in dramaturgical activity?Follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@LMDAmericas), andSubscribe to our listservThis email was sent to <<Email Address>> why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences LMDA · PO Box 604074 · Bayside, NY 11360 · USA 

LMDA New & Noteworthy, November 2017

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LMDA New & Noteworthy, November 2017

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