Feature Friday: Looking Forward to NRT 2014

In yesterday's blog, we celebrated "Throwback Thursday" by taking a look back at the success of our 2013 season. It was great to relive the laughs, cries, and memories of last year's shows, but it also made us excited for all of the wonderful art that awaits us in this year's season. Though the Nebraska Repertory Theatre loves looking back at all we've done in previous seasons, we are still always looking forward: to new shows, new company members, and new opportunities to share our art. That being said, today we wish to show you what we are most looking forward to in this year's season.

Management

The NRT Management Team has been hard at work the past few weeks putting together special opportunities for audience and community members to get to know the Rep and come see our shows. We've been busy attending events like Jazz in June, Lincoln Community Garden Performance Series, and Hear Lincoln Concert Series to promote the Rep and give passersby chances at discount tickets. Though some of these events have passed, many of them will continue throughout the summer, so you still have the opportunity to plan attending!

The Management Team is also in the process of planning some special nights right here in Temple Building. Currently, we are scheduling artists to be part of "Fine Art Fridays,"planning a special night for our Osher Lifelong Learner Institute (OLLI) members, and brainstorming for opening night receptions. There's something for everyone to look forward to!

You can find more information about management and special Rep events on our "Events and Promotions" page here on the blog.

Technical

Whether it is in the scene shop, electrics room, or costume shop, our designers and technicians are hard at work and quickly "transforming" our spaces into the worlds of the play. The carpenters are starting to stand up scenery, paint, and put all of the pieces together in Howell Theatre. Electricians have begun hanging and focusing lighting plots in the Studio Theatre, and the costumers and stitchers in the costume shop are quickly bringing beautiful renderings to life. Once you see the photos of progress below, you'll understand why we're so excited and looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Acting and Directing

Today marks the end of the first week of rehearsals for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and Circle Mirror Transformation. All of the actors, directors, and stage managers are settled in and well on their way to putting up a great show. They've made it through their first read and are in the swing of rehearsal, both inside and out of the Temple Building. Word has it that earlier this week, some management team members saw the cast of Circle Mirror Transformation playing a trust theatre game out on the grounds surrounding Temple. Things are definitely getting interesting in rehearsals!

Rehearsals for Unnecessary Farce start next week, and everyone is looking forward to start the creative process for our third and final show of the summer. We can't wait until opening nights!


There's a lot to look forward to this summer at the Nebraska Repertory Theatre, both for our company members and audience members! We can't wait to have you follow us as we transform this summer.

Welcome to NRT 2014: A Summer of Transformation

Hello, and welcome to "Nebraska Repertory Theatre: Behind the Curtain," the blog that gives readers an inside view of all things Nebraska Rep 2014. Throughout the summer, check in with us to hear about our transforming season; it's sure to be one that won't disappoint! 

Though our management has been in the offices since last week, we welcome our crews into the shops today. In addition to the crews, we also welcome our first blogger of the season, Virginia Smith!

Virginia Smith is the Artistic Director of the Nebraska Rep and is also the director of Circle Mirror Transformation. You'll be hearing from her every Monday to learn how the productions are unfolding and transforming week by week:

I will be blogging every Monday this season with news from the rehearsal halls and the dressing rooms. Since none of the shows are in rehearsal yet, it may seem that nothing much is going on....wrong! All the designs are in and being built, props are being gathered, light plots are being hung, all without the guest directors having met the actors!
So, being one of the directors, I'm nervous. Have I planned expansively enough to express the play that the actors and I will discover in the rehearsal process? How much should I prepare? Shall I calculate every move, or let all of it emerge organically from the actors.

I'm not sleeping that well and think about the play day and night. But I know the actors, some of whom I've met only briefly, are much more nervous. Will I be a tyrant? Will I hate everything they've been thinking about the character? It's always a nervous moment when we meet for the first rehearsal and actually see what we've all been thinking about in the first read through.

Because I cast all the shows, every first read through is a very anxious time for me, because that is when I first hear and see the whole casts together. "Together" before this has only occurred in my brain, and now, everyone looks to see if they agree. My fervent prayer is that the guest director agrees with my vision. Yikes!

Doug and Alan are reading the play over and over, creating what they envision, and making notes to share with the actors. I am reading the script over and over and trying not to do the same "normal" preparation, which generally makes me a little less nervous at the first rehearsal. The play I'm directing has much more improvisation, and I believe that it should come from my cast as they interact in the rehearsal process. Some of our best work in the theatre comes from just jumping off the cliff. But that doesn't happen without stress.

Right now, the actors are getting ready to spend an enormous amount of time away from home and families, memorizing, absorbing, creating, sweating (it is summer in Nebraska after all) and ultimately becoming agents in the world of these plays. They might be even more nervous than I am, and I'm feeling like the earth is moving under my feet.

Follow us daily here on the blog, and keep up-to-date on updates through our social media accounts. Check out the sidebar to find links and feeds that keep you connected with NRT's 

transforming summer!