And now... the Screenplay

l-r: Robin Gilbert, Taylor Gordon, Nathan Kosla, Rebecca Whittington Ross, and Christian Serrano in "Arnie's Ballet" from FUNDING THE ARTS.

I guess it did pay off to go back to the screenplay of FUNDING THE ARTS last Spring and rewrite it as an exercise before I tackled the stage play, because it's now one of 25 Semi-Finalists in the Free Screenplay Competition -- out of a field of 3264 entries. (They'll announce the winner on February 15th.) But I'm amazed at how different the two works are turning out to be due to the differences in the two forms -- stage and film. While the cast of the screenplay is growing larger all the time, the play's cast has shrunk considerably. Scenes that were cut entirely in the play (i.e. the cocktail party) remain in the film (which, of course, features more gun fights, car chases, explosions, and special effects).  While the play is becoming more and more dance-oriented, the film does not currently use dance as much (although it certainly could, and I'd love to see much more of the screenplay realized in animation -- animation that is way beyond what can be done with one little computer here.  So Disney and Pixar, if you're out there looking for projects... please give me a call!) -- Felice Lesser  

What's Next?

Photos of "Arnie's Ballet" by Gerry Goodstein:

 

l-r: Robin Gilbert, Rebecca Whittington Ross, and Taylor Gordon in air, with Christian Serrano and Nathan Kosla on floor  

l-r: Taylor Gordon, Robin Gilbert, and Rebecca Whittington Ross

I learned from our LPAC 101 Residency that I want to add a lot more dance to this show, perhaps even think about choreographing the entire work.  For dance and movement are just as effective in making people laugh as words are, as I saw with “Arnie’s Ballet.”  I also learned to keep alert to those moments of serendipitous and fortuitous accidents.  We had worked for months on overhauling Act I, Scene 1.  But it wasn't until the very last rehearsal, when I was watching from the house, and Rebecca and Taylor were just lying still on their backs on the floor dressed in their tutus for the very first time, that I got a sense of the comic possibilities that could yet be mined from those two characters in just that one episode. Asking them (at the 11th hour) to then roll in those tutus made for a few deliciously funny jokes. It’s amazing and thrilling when moments like that occur. So now I’ll take some time to digest it all, rewrite the script yet again, and continue working on the best ways to get more dance into the show, and the show onto the stage.  --Felice Lesser

LPAC Open Rehearsal

Here are some of Gerry Goodstein's photos from the Open Rehearsal at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, December 2, 2011.

Rebecca Whittington Ross & Taylor Gordon in "Arnie's Ballet"

 

Nathan Kosla, Christian Serrano & Robin Gilbert in "Arnie's Ballet"

l-r: Taylor Gordon, Christian Serrano (in air), Nathan Kosla in "Act One, Scene 1"

 

l-r: Mark Peters, Taylor Gordon, Christian Serrano, Rebecca Whittington Ross & Robin Gilbert in "Act One, Scene 1"

 l-r:  Robin Gilbert, Debra Zalkind, Nathan Kosla in "Zelda & Brooke on the Freeway"

The Morning After

l-r:  Taylor Gordon, Rebecca Whittington Ross, and Debra Zalkind in the dressing room

l-r:  Nathan Kosla, Robin Gilbert, Christian Serrano

Warm up onstage:  Mark Peters, Nathan Kosla, Christian Serrano, Taylor Gordon, Rebecca Whittington Ross

Toni Foy, LPAC's Artist Liaison/Assistant House Manager, against the LPAC doors.

What a great experience our LPAC Residency has been! To have been in a place where the arts are cherished and nurtured, with a fine staff making everything perfect for us was sheer pleasure! The latest chapter culminated in an "Open Rehearsal" last night, in which we premiered the brand new "Arnie's Ballet," a new monologue for Natasha (which will open the second act), and a completely restructured "Act One, Scene 1." I presented a history of the project and gave a demonstration of the Life Forms animations used in the work. We also performed "Zelda and Brooke on the Freeway" (with live dialogue this time, instead of the pre-recorded dialogue we used previously), and Debra and Mark took their turns with monologues from multiple characters (i.e. Mark as Edgar and Boris, Debra as Natasha and Zelda).  In looking at what we've got now I think that the addition of much more dance and movement was the right decision, and the next step will be to continue on this track, giving dance a more prominent place throughout. --Felice Lesser

Countdown to Our Open Rehearsal at LPAC

Steve Hitt (Director of LaGuardia Performing Arts Center), and Handan Ozbilgin (Director of LPAC LAB Program)

l-r  Taylor Gordon, Mark Peters, Christian Serrano, Rebecca Whittington Ross, and Robin Gilbert in "Act One, Scene 1"

Debra Zalkind (guerilla fighter), Mark Peters, and Robin Gilbert in "Act One, Scene 1"

Robin Gilbert and Christian Serrano in "Act One, Scene 1"

Christian Serrano and Rebecca Whittington Ross in "Arnie's Ballet"

Debra Zalkind in "Zelda's Monologue"

Robin Gilbert & Christian Serrano with Debra Zalkind (guerilla fighter) in background in "Act One, Scene 1"