Danny and the Deep Blue Sea Blog

Well this has been interesting and very exciting to see this show come together. I am sure the audience will be thrilled with what I have been able to see come together with Kyle, Michelle, and Eric's expertise all combined into one show. Who knew??? LOL Of course thier are a lot of hoops to jump through yet but hey that's why we work out right? Sure glad Eric put me in good hands with Emily, Ben and Jessica. Who could ask for a better team? Think I'll just sit back and relax :-) (ok or not)

Question:

What should pop on the characters during scene one? I had originally thought that the costumes would blend into the scenery, let the characters melt, and that all the things that stand out (slip, heels, head-band) would be hidden during the first scene and come out during the dance. However, after seeing the pictures, (and the superman t-shirt), I'm worried about the look I planned for scene 1.

Thoughts? Comments?

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Jeez it's quiet around here. Are you busy or something?

Well, in the meantime, and maybe to jump start some posting or commenting, here are pictures from the press release photo shoot I took last week. Some good ones, and seeing photos refreshes my excitement to see Kyle and Michelle on stage.

So post. Or I'll make you sound like a jerk in the press release.

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Tonight we danced. We danced the waltz, the tango, and swing. Or I should say, we learned some steps and I wrote them down in my notebook. That's kind of the same as dancing, isn't it?

I'm really excited to see where we go from here. We're finding ways to express a complex relationship within the confines of a small mattress, and ways to fill the space of a large empty room. We're putting together a dance that will be violent, romantic and forgiving. We're learning to listen to these characters. I'm particularly excited that we continue to add new perspectives:

Sam Miller is doing a fabulous job as stage manager and props wrangler.
Talashia Keim Yoder is being super generous in teaching us some basic dance steps.
Emily Swora has some super cool thoughts for costumes, from what I've heard.
I can't wait to see what Ben Jacobs comes up with for our set design.
Or what Erin Bontrager comes up for Kyle's cheek, or what Jessica Brubaker does for our lights.

Now if we could just find a way to balance out the hitting and kissing a bit more fairly, I'd be thrilled...

Yesterday, after leaving work due to getting back from Chicago at almost 7 in the morning, I failed to be able to fall asleep. (Something I am still paying for.) I got up and started going through my list of things to do (cut Fear/Falling signs for the poster photo shoot, buy a new flash, write press releases and radio spots, call WVPE, boring boring boring) when I got to this item, which excited me so much that I immediately did it.

Took from a couple of different things to come up with this.

Note: Has not been:
1) Edited
2) Mastered
3) If you like four chords then MAN this is for you. Honestly, if I had more time or sleep I would have added a glockenspiel.

But, hopefully enjoyable nonetheless.

NOTE: If this does not stream for your below, you can listen to it here.

So Eric has been giving Kyle and I a hard time about not blogging. Problem is, when I'm an actor I'm not sure exactly what to blog about - particularly in the beginning. It seems like everything is one big question, one big experiential question, and I can't really write about anything. I can't see the big picture. I'm just doing and being present. How do you write about that?

What I can say is that this piece has been one of my favorites for a long time. The characters are so human, so complicated just like real humans. Roberta does things that make me want to say, "Hey! Don't do that! You're just making it harder for yourself, hurting yourself, doing and saying some really dumb things! You're not showing your best side here. Stop doing that."

One of my biggest challenges with this piece will be (has been) (is) letting Roberta show her mean side for real - not trying to undercut or soften those moments because I want the audience to love her immediately. And also not to make her into some caricature of a "tough" girl, but to allow the nuances to come through.

I'm also super excited to see what Emily brings me to wear. I've heard something about tan, open-toed heels and tango-inspired something. Emily, can you post pictures?

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...Those words stand for that deeper intuative understanding of how things unfold, and acceptance. For instance, I say, "summoned now to deal / with your invincible defeat." That is: everybody has this experience at some point in their life where things are not going to turn out as they wished. Nevertheless, you have to make choices and you live your life, but with the understanding that your life is unfolding according to patterns and directions that you yourself did not necessarily determine. So when you can rest on that understanding, there's a certain amount of repose.

Leonard Cohen commenting on his song "A Thousand Kisses Deep".

While the song (and historically the apache dance) seems to tell a prostitution story, and this play is clearly not that, I do think the thematic links are strong. These characters are from that same world of abuse and brokenness - and the issues are the same. This is a play about moving beyond the painful events that have unfolded in each character's life according to patterns and directions rather than decisions.

Danny talks about taking control for the first time in his life. Leonard talks about finding the repose of recognizing what cannot be controlled. They are two sides of the same thing. In order to take control, Danny and Roberta have to release the pain of the past. They must alow themselves to love and be loved (the latter being much harder than the former). Finding that repose allows them to move forward, making decisions with some form of acceptance and understanding. A Thousand Kisses Deep.

The title pages for this script say several interesting things. First, the title and subtitle:

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea: an Apache Dance

Then a dedication by the author:

This play is dedicated to everyone in the Bronx who punched me or kissed me, and to everyone whom I punched or kissed.

A note on the characters:

About both characters: They are violent and battered, inarticulate and yearning to speak, dangerous and vulnerable.

And a definition:

An Apache Dance is a violent dance for two people, originated by the Parisian apaches. Parisian apaches are gangsters or ruffians.

I started doing my research, and found several descriptions of the dance, based on a waltz and developed by Parisian street gangs to reinact a famous bar fight. At the same time, I was listening to Leonard Cohen sing "Take this Waltz", "A Thousand Kisses Deep" and "I'm Your Man" - beautiful love songs filled with a sense of powerful romance emerging from pain.

That's when I really fell in love with the script.

I don't know how much Leonard Cohen will make it into the final production, but the Apache Dance is sure to be represented in some way. For me this script is driven by the imense love and forgiveness that Danny and Roberta find for each other through all their brokenness. What better than a good waltz to bring that out...

If anyone has more information on the Parisian apaches or their dance, please do post and tell us about it.

Over the last several weeks I've been dregging up all the New World history I can find, and compiling a list of all our shows for the last 8 years. I came on board in the summer of 2001 to assistant direct The House of Yes by Wendy MacLeod, and soon found myself lighting Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, as performed and directed by Tom Kelley and Diana Phillips.

I'm excited to be bringing back such a great script, this time with Michelle Milne and Kyle Dean Reinford bringing Roberta and Danny to the stage. Rehearsals started on Monday, with great energy and enthusiasm from both. They've already found things in the script that I hadn't imagined.

It's going to be a fun whirl-wind of a process. Stay with us.