The Boulevard Theatre opens the 2013-2014 Theatre Season with the Midwest premier of Kim Rosenstick's Tigers Be Still. Still sort of fusing together a review of the show for print. Here are some scattered thoughts about the production that won't make it into the print review.
Tyburski On The Phone
I'd heard that film actress Holly Hunter doesn't like to shoot scenes where she's on the phone unless there's actually someone on the other end talking to her. She feels that it's too difficult to convincingly be on the phone with someone else if there isn't someone else actually talking to her. And for the most part I agree with her. I've seen hundreds of live stage shows and it's a very, very rare occasion when someone's on the phone in character onstage and it actually seems convincing that there might be someone on the other end. It always feels fake. Almost, anyway. Shannon Tyburski does a really good job of seeming like she's on the phone with her mother onstage. This is kind of important to the production considering her mother is in the same house with her whenever she calls . . . and there's a history between her character and her mother's character that makes for a really interesting dynamic between her and . . . this character who we never actually see onstage. Really happy yburski pulled that off.
The Lovecats, Top Gun and Bette Middler
There are A LOT of scene changes in this one. Director Mark Bucher does a really lousy job of maintaining the flow from one scene to the next. Part of this lies in the fact that there are simply so many scene changes and some of it has to do with the fact that the space in question is so very, very small and part of it has to do with the fact that the production has such a very, very low budget . . . but Bucher's been working under these conditions for years and he's experienced enough to know that theatre is just as much about what isn't going on. It isn't just about what you're seeing, it's what you're not seeing. It isn't just what you're hearing, it's what you're not hearing. It isn't just what's going on during the scenes, but also what's going on between them, And if the scene changes are awkward, then the scenes themselves feel a little bit choppy. And it's not that they're poorly executed or anything. They're actually quite efficient. . . it's just that there are so very, very many of them that they really need to be acknowledged . . . don't pretend like they're not happening. Have the actors move around the furniture in character between scenes to add characterization. Have fun with it. Let the music fade-in and have the characters settle-themselves into the new environment for the next scene. There are ways to do that without sacrificing the fluidity or pacing of the production. Actually, come to think of it, I think I'd even seen Boulevard do the types of scene changes I'm talking about here in previous productions.
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Jaime Jastrab does a pretty good job with the music design, though. During one scene change, he throws-in The Cure's The Lovecats. Love that song. It's in my phone so I was able to listen to it on the walk back to the bus stop.
That song was included in the mix with a few others for scene changes, but there are songs specifically mentioned in the script for specific moments. An interesting side note: $75 per performance of a standard production of the play is required for use of the songs "Danger Zone," “Take My Breath Away,” and “The Rose.” (One of the characters loves the movie Top Gun, which will explains the first two. The third is kind of a sad and tender moment with Bette Middler, a bottle of whiskey and a cell phone.)
Promo Video
Boulevard did a couple of interesting little promo teasers for the show on Youtube. And it's a really, really weird experience delving into them before seeing the show.
The videos in question have actors speaking lines from the play directly into the camera. Okay . . . so The Boulevard is an intimate space as it is, but here we've got characters speaking lines that they will be speaking to each other onstage . . . directly to you from the comfort of your own web browser. So when you see these lines spoken in the context of the play, it's got this weird kind of emotional echo effect . . . because the first time you ever hear this person say these words, they said them to you. Intended or not, it's weird promotion that adds a whole different emotional level to some of the material.
Here are a couple of samples of what I'm talking about with Shannon Tyburski:
and Brooke Wegner:
The Boulevard Theatre's production of Tigers Be Still runs through August 18th at the Boulevard Theatre on 414-744-5757. A comprehensive review of the show runs in the next print edition of the Shepherd-Express.
