William Harding speaks out

Posted on May 2, 2012 by eric

After spending three years as a market researcher in the greater Seattle area, I am amazed to see the difference in living standards between the Ballard area and Burien.  Both have similar access to beautiful landscapes and waterfronts.  Both areas have equal zoning for commercial and residential districts.  Both are very difficult to access by car.

Demographically, they are twins.  Yet somehow Ballard is a destination for homeowners while Burien remains unmentioned in Seattle’s entertainment columns.   Even in a struggling economy Ballard continues to thrive while Burien residents struggle with unemployment and stagnated property values.

I have had the privilege of studying the consumer habits of households all over Washington and have found that talent goes wherever the best neighborhoods are.  People who choose to live in Ballard do so because of the live jazz shows, the privately owned theaters, the Saturday markets and local events.  Ballard is a destination and Burien is getting left out.

This is unacceptable.  Burien has a vibrant culture and the people there have an entrepreneurial mind geared towards making great things.   The Burien Little Theatre is an example. Committed to producing quality shows that engage and involve the entire Puget Sound region, talent comes from all over Washington to participate in their performances.  This local theatre provides a platform for aspiring young performers to grow their skills and expand into other theaters in the region.  For sixty dollars, the people of Burien can enjoy an entire year of inspired young talent right in their own neighborhood.

Burien is a wonderful community with a downtown area that should attract people from all over King county.   This will only happen if the municipal government of Burien begins to act to protect, not relocate, organizations that will foster cultural growth.  I am speaking to you as a researcher with quantifiable data regarding two communities that are otherwise equal:  Make sure that your local bureaucrats support the arts!

Culture is an investment.  It will attract talent and business, raise property values and stimulate growth in any community that chooses to support it.  There is no reason that Burien should not be the most beautiful and prosperous region of all of Seattle.  Contact your local government (http://burienwa.gov/index.aspx?NID=75 – look below photo to email to full council) today and tell them that you want to invest your tax dollars in the future of your community and, if you have time, go check out the Burien Little Theatre.

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A patron named Mike

Posted on April 29, 2012 by eric

On Saturday night I was at the door while the audience was leaving “reasons to be pretty.”  That is my usual post.  An audience member, who introduced himself as Mike asked me if I wrote the script.  (Neil LaButte was the writer, but I was flattered.)

Mike was between 25 and 30.  He had brought his significant other with him and she obviously liked the show.  Mike told me he had tried to go to plays before but could never make it through a performance.  He had always gotten bored and left.  “reasons to be pretty,” however, got him to stay all the way through.  He found these characters talked like he did and acted like he did.

He said he could not stop himself from laughing because if he had not done what he saw on the stage, he knew someone who had done it.  Mike said he had never been to BLT before, but he was already planning on coming back.

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The “reasons to be pretty” drinking game

Posted on April 29, 2012 by eric

The cast has offered a drinking game for the audience of “reasons to be pretty.”  Every time you hear the “f-bomb” take a drink.  Then see who is standing at the end of the show.

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Addition to “The Who’s Tommy” Photos

Posted on April 26, 2012 by eric

Additions to “The Who’s Tommy” photos, can you spot the new ones?

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Early photos from “reasons to be pretty”

Posted on April 25, 2012 by eric

Early photos from “reasons to be pretty.”

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The Fish Green Room

Posted on April 24, 2012 by eric

“reasons to be pretty” has two “lesser” stars.  Two goldfish.  The script only calls for one goldfish, but we got two.  The second is a stunt double, just in case we come in one day and find one of the little guys belly up and the show about to begin.  We rotate the two fish so they both get stage time.  (We want to be fair to them.)

The two fish are part of what we call props.  (Props are all of the things on stage that actors refer to or touch.  Where props end and stage dressing or set pieces begin is a very blurry line.  But, overall, if the script references the item or the actor touches or carries it, and it can be carried, it is a prop.  (If it can’t be carried it is a set piece.)

As to our little fish friends, they are props.  There is a line in the script where Steph threatens to flush the fish down the drain.  To be sure we would not let that happen, but that is what the script says.

While on stage, the fish are in a small fishbowl.  But while in the green room, the fish wait in a much larger tank.  The bigger tank has more oxygen and the two fish get to wait together.

If you have possible names for the two fish, please leave them in the comment area.

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So why splatter?

Posted on April 24, 2012 by eric

Attached are a couple of pictures of Nathan splattering the floor for “reasons to be pretty.”  So, why splatter?  This is a painting technique that you will see used a lot in theater.  The walls and the floors are painted the colors you want, then you splatter them with contrasting colors.  Why?  If done properly it will hide a world of sins.  It will hide nail holes, unevenness, and bends.  How?

Splatter is of two kinds.  Some is to lighten or darken the color of the wall or stage.  The former is typically a light color and the latter is darker.  Some splatters are to hide flaws.  Splatter used to hide flaws are contrasting colors.  Sometimes surprisingly bright colors.  Contrasting colors keeps your eyes from focusing directly on the walls or floor.  That gives the walls and floors a three-D effect.  And also hides flaws.

You could really see this in “The Who’s Tommy” floor.  It was painted to look like a pinball game.  Until we splattered the floor it looked flat and boring.  You could see every flaw on our 10-year old platforms.  Once splatter the floor looked like you could almost play pinball on it and the floor seemed even, though it was not.

In “reasons to be pretty” splatter is used to create a wood floor without painting all of the wood grain and boards.  It is also used to create the concrete floor look in the mall and the restaurant.  Easy and quick, yet very effective.

Splatter on the walls really hid the unevenness and holes in the old flats.  These flats have seen countless shows and yet with a new coat of paint with some multi-color splatter they rise to the occasion and another new world is created.

If you want to see this magic work, feel free to volunteer to help BLT paint.  It is more fun than it is work.  Really.

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“reasons to be pretty” Director’s Notes

Posted on April 22, 2012 by eric

What happens when you find out that what you thought was your identity doesn’t exist?

Neil LaBute is a remarkable playwright who has found a way to take everyday language and create a rhythm to convey the profound internal struggles with which we can all identify.  reasons to be pretty is one of a trilogy of plays written by LaBute about society’s obsession with body image.  What is fascinating to me about this play is that, while the action and plot center around physical beauty, the subtext is all about the characters’ individual struggle between the misanthropic manner in which they identify themselves vs. coming to terms with their own, often less than pretty, natures.

This play becomes less and less about the physical and more and more about the process of growth forced upon us through the loss of identity.  At some point we all find ourselves, in the gap between teenager and responsible adult, as we toil to find our proper place in this world.  We have shed the peer-pressured influence of high school and college, but haven’t yet found our niche in the adult world.  In that limbo, oftentimes we realize that who we thought we were doesn’t always match up with the life we want.  reasons to be pretty is about that journey.  Each of these characters struggles to find themselves. They begin to realize that the vain, shallow things they had clung to as part of their identities no longer serves them.  And in the search to find themselves again, to redefine their identities, they are forced, as we all are, to look deep into the framework of their psyches to figure out who they are. And, more importantly, who they want to be.

The course of putting this show together has paralleled that theme in many ways.  The challenge of discovering these characters, the bittersweet rhythm of the language, the journey to find the identity of this story has not been easy.  But just like in life, through honest evaluation, self-exploration and active listening, the result was well worth the painstaking process.   I hope you enjoy this show as much as I have.

Zachariah Robinson, director

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Allan Loucks is interviewed

Posted on April 22, 2012 by eric

One of BLT’s designers, Allan Loucks, a composer who writes original scores for many of BLT’s shows was recently interviewed by Eyes For Games magazine.  Check it out!  http://www.efgmagazine.com/interview/0/allan-loucks-music-composition-is-a-craft-and-takes-practice.html

You can see why we love his work.  Say, “Hi,” to him in the comment section.

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First review of “reasons to be pretty.”

Posted on April 21, 2012 by eric

Here is the early review of “reasons to be pretty.”  http://www.highlinetimes.com/2012/04/20/news/review-love-means-having-say-you%E2%80%99re-sorry-burien-  This not NOT a show to miss!

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