Process

Rehearsal in progress.jpg
Photo: Craig VanderSchaegen from the photo essay "Rehearsal in Progress."

It doesn't get made unless someone makes it—and that magical, unpredictable country we explore inside a rehearsal room is where all the hard, wonderful, essential stuff happens (whether you're a dancer, puppeteer, Shakespearean actor or young playwright). In what we may be the most important issue, we explore all the different how's that make the what that gets up on stages around Minnesota.

Why community theater, or: Why my couch has been onstage more than I have

by Julianna Skluzacek • Dec. 21

Greater Minnesota | Process

What happened to the glamorous life in the theater she was promised? Community theater has other rewards. It better!

A war zone

by Four Humors Theater • Dec. 22

Audience | Process

Four soldiers of the theater are pinned down by enemy fire in an unnamed country in an unnamed war. One of them won’t make it home.

Raw honesty

by Trú Rúts Endeavors • Dec. 22

Innovation | Process

Shá Cage and e.g. bailey discuss how artistic expression rises from community in a highly personal way.

The standard rehearsal

by Alan M. Berks • Nov. 3

Process | Tradition

After thousands of years of performance, most rehearsals share a surprising amount of consistency. Why? Is this good or bad? (Part 1 of 3.)

Harrumph

by Joseph Scrimshaw • Dec. 30

Process

When expectations become rules, theater folk start to look pretty stupid. Joe Scrimshaw asks you to stop sighing disapprovingly.

Basic instinct

by Karen Sherman • Dec. 30

Process

Dances develop over two years or more. Karen Sherman shows us the delicate process that created her most recent show, copperhead.

Rehearsal in progress

by Craig VanDerSchaegen • Dec. 30

Process

Killer Joe, The Caretaker, Twelfth Night, Sindibad, and The Horse, the Bird, the Monkey, and the Dancer.

The conventional unconventional

by Alan M. Berks • Dec. 30

Process | Vision

If everyone's input is equally valuable, how many alternative theater artists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Silhouettes

by Sonya Berlovitz • Dec. 30

Process | Production

Rehearsal is a place to experiment and fail—even for experienced costume designers. So, yes, you need to wear that plastic bag today.

Inside outside

by Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater • Dec. 30

Greater Minnesota | Process

Inside the process exactly as it happened of reworking Rooms of Disquiet at the Tofte Lake Center.

Inside outside (the photos)

by V. Paul Virtucio • Dec. 30

Greater Minnesota | Process

Photos from the rehearsal process.

Dumb as planned

by Chris Carlson • Dec. 30

Process

The question is “How do you rehearse improv?” The answer: Bananas. Seriously. Improvisers make it art to not know what they’re doing.

A rehearsal proposal

by Alan M. Berks • Dec. 30

Process | Vision

Specialization bad. Company good. An argument for a return to a kind of ensemble theater, regardless of the type of work you like to do.

Another actor prepares

by John Middleton • Dec. 30

Process

A comprehensive, sequential warm-up from breath to yoga to centering—um, does anyone else feel a little numb right now?

Eleven tips for rehearsal

by Sarah Gioia • Dec. 30

Process

Directing on a shoestring budget often requires greater organizational skills than seems fair. Here are eleven ways to handle it.

I ♥ difficult actors

by Matt Sciple • Dec. 30

Process

Have you met Anita Coddle or Ivanna Feelit? Though they may seem difficult, they keep theater lively.

Los Angeles, take six

by Matthew Foster • Dec. 30

Process | Vision

People don’t rehearse only for art. They rehearse for a night out.

360 degrees

by Steve Antenucci • Mar. 5

Management | Process

Theatre in the Round's Steve Antenucci describes how to grudge, kick and scream your way to a season.

Young and new

by Richard Hitchler • Mar. 22

Process | Vision

What if your theater is so peculiar or so particular that you need to make the scripts before you can make the season?

Building a better bucket brigade

by Leah Cooper • May. 23

Innovation | Process

And see, it’s that maniacal way you pull on your hair and squeal that requires us to keep the rehearsal schedule secret from you.

Rehearsal diary of a madman

by Zach Curtis • Jun. 11

Process

Summer stock theater is a blur of frenzied blocking, memorizing, forgetting, tripping, building up, tearing down, and drinking. Peek inside the craziness.

The center

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Jul. 12

Process

How did the Guthrie's cash machine "A Christmas Carol" happen? Where did the Playwrights Center come from? Barbara Field was in the middle of it.

Anti-anxiety of influence

by John Middleton • Jan. 27

Criticism | Process

Minnesota Style is the sum total of the people who live here. Regular contributor John Middleton explores how we learn the style we call our own.

Minnesota filmmakers, live on stage

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Feb. 14

Process | Production

Bill Corbett, Patrick Coyle, Ali Selim, and Rob Perez have each seen their visions come alive on the big screen. Enjoy their discussion in this video.

Ready? On set? Look out!

by Terry Hempleman • Feb. 15

Process

Some local talent supplement their theater salaries with film work; some like the chance to play with stars. A local mainstay runs through the pros and cons.

Reel live: The photographs

by Craig VanDerSchaegen • Feb. 24

Process

Cameras, zombies, and make-up artists-O my! Enjoy this photo essay of actors and crew on three local film sets.

Transformation

by Leah Cooper • Apr. 19

Process | Social Service | Vision

Far from big budget shows and scrambles for development opportunities, Leah Cooper experiences the kind of theater that still lives up to her childhood ideals.

Collaboration song

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Nov. 3

Process | Production

Think you know what sound designers do? Watch this video interview to learn the real scoop from Victor Zupanc, one of the country's best.

How to work with a composer

by Candace Bilyk • May. 22

Process

Think your play should have original music in it but don't know how to work with a composer? Composer Candace Bilyk has some simple advice for you.

Heaven and relationships

by Morgan Thorson • May. 27

Process

Four great local dance-makers contemplate their mercurial and exhilarating, ever-shifting relationship to sound and movement.

The curse of professional actor training programs

by John Middleton • Nov. 30

Process | Training

John Middleton offers hard-won acting advice that you won't learn at professional training programs.

How to make your script impossible to understand

by Max Bunny Sparber • Dec. 2

Process

Bunny Sparber offers five suggestions for people who don't want their play to be understood.

Four artistic types, and why they may not get along

by Max Bunny Sparber • Dec. 7

Management | Process

Max "Bunny" Sparber lists four approaches to the creation of a performance, and why these approaches may conflict with each other.

Local playwrights tackle WikiLeaks

by MinnesotaPlaylist • Dec. 16

Process | Vision

How would playwrights respond to WikiLeaks? We ask ten.

On dialogue

by Max Bunny Sparber • Dec. 30

Process

Max "Bunny" Sparber looks at the various uses of stage dialogue.

Conflict!

by John Middleton • Jan. 7

Process | Training

John Middleton offers his second article on acting, this one dealing with conflict.

Theater and chaos

by Max Bunny Sparber • Jan. 10

Criticism | Process

Max "Bunny" Sparber looks as examples of performance in which every production is going to be as new for the performers as it is for the audience.

On submitting scripts

by Kevin Lawler • Feb. 3

Process | Production

What you need to know before you submit a script to a theater or conference.

Creating improv

by Mike Fotis • Feb. 10

Innovation | Management | Process

It's not easy creating structures for improvisational comedy. Mike Fotis discusses how he does it.

Researching the performance

by Jennifer Ilse • Feb. 17

Process

In creating a new play about vision, Off-Leash Area spent two years doing research. Cocreator Jennifer Ilse discusses why this is important.

On adapting books to the stage

by John Heimbuch • Feb. 24

Process

Tip and tricks for adapting literature to the stage.

Writer’s block: A play in one act

by Matt McGeachy • Mar. 25

Process

Matt McGeachy waxes eloquently on the two P's of writer's block.

Choreographer and critic

by Camille LeFevre • Apr. 18

Process

Laurie Van Wieren and Camille LeFevre discuss aspects of their parallel development as choreographer and critic in the Twin Cities.

What this dancer eats

by Penelope Freeh • May. 2

Process

Think dancers don't eat? Professional dancer & choreographer Penelope Freeh reveals the truth.

Productivity: find what works for you

by Aric McKeown • May. 13

Process

Having a hard time getting things done? Maybe you're not wasting time properly.

Teaching as performance art

by Michele Campbell • Jun. 20

Process | Training

On the path from teacher to performance artist our author learns they're not so different.

What acting isn't

by Sam L Landman • Jun. 30

Process

A cavalcade of Minnesota actors reveal what acting is all about by describing what it isn't

Worst of 2010-2011: Lack of thoughtfulness

by Nathan Keepers • Sep. 15

Criticism | Process

"So often shows are either out of breath or holding their breath."

Short on pig

by Levi Weinhagen • Oct. 12

Criticism | Process

A well done production hindered by adaptation choices.

Winter Comes to Town

by Marya Hornbacher • Oct. 19

Process

Playwright Winter Miller dances in a coffee shop, inverts self twice, and speaks to the matter of grace

Box scores 9/4 through 9/6

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Nov. 9

Process

Two shows work minor kinks out of the system on opening weekend.

"I can own my own home"

by Levi Weinhagen • Nov. 13

Process | Vision

Craig Johnson and the life and work of one Twin Cities theater artist

Box scores 11/8 through 11/20

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Nov. 20

Process

Through our one-of-a-kind box scores, you can follow the progression of the Jungle's "I Am My Own Wife," night by night, up and down. Amazing.

Box scores 11/22 through 12/4

by Minnesota Playlist readers • Dec. 4

Process

Bradley Greenwald pitches a perfect game of "I Am My Own Wife" on December 3, 2011. Check it out. How many times have you had a perfect show?

Playwright thinking about actors

by Alan M. Berks • Feb. 16

Process

A playwright reflects on his love for actors and what makes the best ones so trustworthy with scripts.

Lighting designer thinking about playwrights

by Mike Wangen • Apr. 13

Process | Production

Throwing Light on the Playwright’s Words

Actor turned writer asks how did I get here?

by Larry Pontius • Apr. 29

Process | Training

An actor turned writer tries to figure out how he got there and what it means

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