Or Else What Follows? - 7.23.12

Twelfth Night opens this Saturday!

Summer is our busiest time of the year here at ADK Shakes. There are things going on just about every day, which makes it a bit difficult to keep up with my posting on here. Here's a recap of our weekend:

On Friday, we toured down to Congress Park in beautiful Saratoga Springs. We set up by the War Memorial to perform selections from The Twelve Labors of Hercules, and we learned quickly that some feathered friends would play an important role in our performance. Long lines of ducks marched right through our makeshift stage, which was pretty hilarious. Patrick particularly enjoyed scattering them with the Nemean Lion's entrance. Perhaps my favorite part of the day, however, was even before we got to the park -- I was on the radio!! In case you missed out, I gave an interview about ADK Shakespeare's third summer season on The Eight O'Clock Hour on North Country Public Radio. But don't worry, you can listen to the broadcast right here!

Saturday brought beautiful weather and an adventure down to Albany to pick up our NYC contingent of actors who traveled via bus to the capital. Almost everyone has now arrived, and we had a delicious dinner at our rental house in Wevertown.

Sunday was all about workshops (as is today!), and we are hunkering down at the Schroon Lake Central School to work on sonnets, verse speaking, and spatial awareness with Leslie Reidel (of the University of Delaware and the Enchantment Theatre Company). We are so fortunate to have Leslie returning to do workshops again this season. If I can find some time, I'd love to write a more detailed post on the experience of doing these workshops. I've found them so valuable in my own work as an actor, and I see a monumental difference in the work of others as well. And I have to say, I love it!

The rest of the week is rising action until we open Twelfth Night on Saturday evening -- 7:30 p.m. at the Boathouse Theater. Our first rehearsal for this show is Thursday, followed by one of our final Hercules performances in Ticonderoga. We'll be performing at 4:00 p.m. as part of their Arts Week festivities! Friday will be our long intensive rehearsal day all driving towards our evening opening performance on Saturday. Sunday we cap the week off with our very first tour to Caroga Lake -- we will be at the outdoor amphitheater on Main Street at 2:30 p.m. I'm already super proud of this ensemble and the amazing show I know they are going to put on -- don't miss our opening weekend of mainstage performances!

Reserve your tickets now at adkshakes.ticketleap.com and view our full performance schedule right here.

A Herculean week!

I couldn't be more thankful. We had an especially fantastic performance of The Twelve Labors of Hercules this morning! An amazing audience of 70 people laughed, applauded, and enjoyed the show today. All the actors felt especially "on" and the energy was completely contagious. I love shows like this!

Today's show was a wonderful cherry on the cake of yesterday's Meet and Greet. We had a great time chatting with many members of the community, snacking on some delicious treats, and running for cover from the insane thunderstorm that hit in the middle of Hippolyta whooping Hercules's you-know-what. We rolled with the punches and really enjoyed lighting candles and gathering in the beautiful parlor at the Paradox House Gallery Retreat. It was an evening to remember! Here are some pictures from the selected scenes we performed:

Deinos, the man-eating mare of Diomedes

Hercules moves rivers and puts the ram in the ramalamadingdong

Eurystheus discourages Iolaus

This evening we are working on some Hydra repairs and probably running some Twelfth Night and Hamlet lines. The main stage company arrival has felt so far away all month, but they will all be joining us here on Saturday -- a few short days away. I can't believe it's here already! Before they arrive, I have a paper to write on Romeo and Juliet for class. It certainly is an interesting experience to have my head in the production zone as well as the critical scholar zone. We'll be studying Hamlet and Twelfth Night for class too, so I'm particularly looking forward to what my different mode of thinking will bring to the performances.

Friends, ye Romans, gather here

What an exciting morning! The Twelve Labors of Hercules performed for the first time this morning to an audience of 65 parents, grandparents, children and friends of the company. And they were absolutely spellbound!

Openings are a complete roller coaster of emotion. There is excitement and nerves. Who will come see it? Will I remember all my lines and cues? I don't feel ready for performance yet. What if I forget to set this prop? I'm nervous about this line that I never ever get right. And then the audience arrives. They are glowing with excitement, here early to make sure they get a good seat. They're fans from seeing Midsummer or Theseus last summer. They giggle in all the right places. They even talk to us during the show -- and afterwards! They come to tell us which of the monsters was their favorite. To grab up brochures so they can come to see another show. To say "Thank you for bringing this to our town. We're glad you're here." 


Thank you for welcoming us to your town. For being the most terrific opening audience I could ask for. For laughing and smiling. For listening, for imagining, for playing with us. We can't do it without you!

The cast of Hercules (L-R: Patrick Siler, Mitch Conway, Tara Bradway, Aaron White. Center: Rachel Ritacco

We hope to see you again very soon. Our next performance of Hercules is tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. the Indian Lake Theater in Indian Lake. You can reserve your tickets now at adkshakes.ticketleap.com. On Friday, we'll be traveling to Mid's Park in Lake Placid for a day at the park. Saturday, you can find us in Shepard Park in Lake George Village, and Sunday we'll be hanging out in Rogers Memorial Park in Bolton Landing. We hope to see you there!