Blog 2
Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote!
The December rehearsals were bitty but very productive and both Steven and I were very happy with the progress made.
Casting has changed.
All for the good in the end and we have managed to use it to our extreme advantage which is a relief on all counts.
Having fought long and hard to find a Tamino to balance out Pamina – we lost Pamina. Circumstances beyond our control and so I had to seriously rethink the whole situation. Did I now spend ages trying to find a new Pamina that would balance the Tamino we had found – No.
The dynamic of the cast ahs changed now and so we have two new and fresh recruits who are going to take on the roles. I have decided – with Seven’s ‘okay’, that they will be younger than Papageno and Papagena. They will take on the roles of ‘silly’ young things, this helps the ‘love at first sight’ element of their relationship very nicely.
It has also enabled Will Taylor and I to come up with a much more coherent plot line that we are all very happy with – it makes sense of things that did not quite make sense before.
So this is how it goes…..
The Queen of the Nights father first owned the land that the café was built on – prime real estate in Paris in the 1930’s, but he knew that his daughter was a ‘bad egg’ and so left the deeds of the of the property in trust to his granddaughter, skipping a generation. In the meantime the trust is held by his son in law – Sarastro – to maintain the property and the business until Pamina comes of age at 18.The deeds to the property have become the valuable item that the Queen of the Night is after, why she sends Pamina to Sarastro to steal them (the orb/light).
Throughout the performance, we are shown that Saratstro does not believe in fate/destiny, but that we all make our own luck etc – his coin that he flips throughout is a double sided coin and it shows us and the audience that he is in control, he manipulates his establishment so that he is always ‘the winner’.
At some point in the performance we see him hand this double sided coin over to Pamina, telling her that she has to make her own decisions in life and not be controlled by her mother.
At the end, Pamina has found what she wants in life – Tamino – and she turns her back on the property and her inheritance, to make a new life with Tamino. The stage is left empty with only the Queen of the Night and Saratsro on stage. Pamina, as she leaves, tells them that they have to sort it ut between them and that maybe, considering their life styles, the decision should be made on the toss of a coin.
She hands the double sided coin back to Sarastro, knowing that he will win the toss.
The last ‘shot’ is him flicking the coin in to the air
The lights fade to a spot light on the coin and we see his hand snatch the coin from the air
Blackout.
Will and I had a most productive night sorting this out and are very happy with the structure. It helps a lot of things.
Papageno becomes the slightly jaded chaperone who leads the immature Tamino through his trials, helping him to grow as a man through the piece, a man that is worthy of Sarastro’s daughter. This is symbolised by his clothing which, at the beginning, is rather too big for him. An ill fitting suit that looks like he has borrowed it off his dad. By the end his suit has become the perfect fit, he has grown in to a man, learning to ‘fit his own skin’.
He script is being finalised before the January rehearsal and so you will all have it by then.
There have been developments on the staging front too.
I have found someone to erect the staircase and check it over.
We have the set design and someone to print it for us
I have met with the choreographer and she will be attending some of the January weekend
Please keep checking the google docs for information as well as here.
There are now a couple of additional rehearsals.
January 28th and 29th will be just blocking, making sure that we know all the blocking and inserting our new cast members.
The following weekend, the 4th and 5th February, Steven will be coming down to do just music rehearsals. He is going to send me a list of who he wants and so I need to know epople’s availability. If you can tell me what you CAN do, any time during the weekend, days and evenings, I can out it together so that all time is used effectively.
Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote!
The December rehearsals were bitty but very productive and both Steven and I were very happy with the progress made.
Casting has changed.
All for the good in the end and we have managed to use it to our extreme advantage which is a relief on all counts.
Having fought long and hard to find a Tamino to balance out Pamina – we lost Pamina. Circumstances beyond our control and so I had to seriously rethink the whole situation. Did I now spend ages trying to find a new Pamina that would balance the Tamino we had found – No.
The dynamic of the cast ahs changed now and so we have two new and fresh recruits who are going to take on the roles. I have decided – with Seven’s ‘okay’, that they will be younger than Papageno and Papagena. They will take on the roles of ‘silly’ young things, this helps the ‘love at first sight’ element of their relationship very nicely.
It has also enabled Will Taylor and I to come up with a much more coherent plot line that we are all very happy with – it makes sense of things that did not quite make sense before.
So this is how it goes…..
The Queen of the Nights father first owned the land that the café was built on – prime real estate in Paris in the 1930’s, but he knew that his daughter was a ‘bad egg’ and so left the deeds of the of the property in trust to his granddaughter, skipping a generation. In the meantime the trust is held by his son in law – Sarastro – to maintain the property and the business until Pamina comes of age at 18.The deeds to the property have become the valuable item that the Queen of the Night is after, why she sends Pamina to Sarastro to steal them (the orb/light).
Throughout the performance, we are shown that Saratstro does not believe in fate/destiny, but that we all make our own luck etc – his coin that he flips throughout is a double sided coin and it shows us and the audience that he is in control, he manipulates his establishment so that he is always ‘the winner’.
At some point in the performance we see him hand this double sided coin over to Pamina, telling her that she has to make her own decisions in life and not be controlled by her mother.
At the end, Pamina has found what she wants in life – Tamino – and she turns her back on the property and her inheritance, to make a new life with Tamino. The stage is left empty with only the Queen of the Night and Saratsro on stage. Pamina, as she leaves, tells them that they have to sort it ut between them and that maybe, considering their life styles, the decision should be made on the toss of a coin.
She hands the double sided coin back to Sarastro, knowing that he will win the toss.
The last ‘shot’ is him flicking the coin in to the air
The lights fade to a spot light on the coin and we see his hand snatch the coin from the air
Blackout.
Will and I had a most productive night sorting this out and are very happy with the structure. It helps a lot of things.
Papageno becomes the slightly jaded chaperone who leads the immature Tamino through his trials, helping him to grow as a man through the piece, a man that is worthy of Sarastro’s daughter. This is symbolised by his clothing which, at the beginning, is rather too big for him. An ill fitting suit that looks like he has borrowed it off his dad. By the end his suit has become the perfect fit, he has grown in to a man, learning to ‘fit his own skin’.
He script is being finalised before the January rehearsal and so you will all have it by then.
There have been developments on the staging front too.
I have found someone to erect the staircase and check it over.
We have the set design and someone to print it for us
I have met with the choreographer and she will be attending some of the January weekend
Please keep checking the google docs for information as well as here.
There are now a couple of additional rehearsals.
January 28th and 29th will be just blocking, making sure that we know all the blocking and inserting our new cast members.
The following weekend, the 4th and 5th February, Steven will be coming down to do just music rehearsals. He is going to send me a list of who he wants and so I need to know epople’s availability. If you can tell me what you CAN do, any time during the weekend, days and evenings, I can out it together so that all time is used effectively.
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