SAM BENDRIX brings a song to our art

After a weekend of previews and a (well-deserved) day off, the Time Stands Still company was back in rehearsal yesterday afternoon on the Mainstage, continuing to refine the production for evening preview performances headed towards Friday’s opening. But yesterday we also welcomed Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir—the first music rehearsal for that show, next up in the season, was underway in the rehearsal hall as Time Stands Still was rehearsing onstage. Music director Doug Levine and actor/singer Luke MacFarlane (best known for his role on ABC’s Brothers and Sisters, recently in the cast of the acclaimed New York revival of The Normal Heart) are clearly relishing the standards of the American songbook, as well as some lesser known but no less wonderful pieces, that playwright Keith Bunin has assembled into the “cabaret” performance of the character Sam Bendrix. Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir will play in the Hamburg Studio, which we’ll be transforming into the legendary nightclub of the title. 

Luke MacFarlane will be playing Sam in SAM BENDRIX AT THE BON SOIR by Keith Bunin.

I intended to stay for just a few minutes at the beginning of the rehearsal yesterday but I ended up sitting and listening for a couple of hours. I noticed that playwright Keith Bunin was smiling along with me as we enjoyed the easy rapport that was quickly established between Luke and Doug, who will be playing Sam’s band leader, and the clear promise of a charismatic performance as Sam by Luke–who is a great singer. You can hear that for yourself by listening here to a couple of the tracks he recorded with his band “Fellow Nameless”  – I especially like “Ahead of Me,” “Bone Dry,” “Take You Home,” and “The Wild.” (By the way, you can find a link to purchase Luke’s album while you’re there.) Of course, Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir is much different stylistically — it takes place in 1958 and Sam, backed by a three-piece ensemble, performs songs that were written more or less around the mid-20^th century: classics from the American songbook by such musical giants as Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and Oscar Hammerstein II, to name a few.

Buy your tickets to Sam Bendrix while you’re here to see Time Stands Still. Or before that at 412-431 (CITY) or online–before it sells out!

LONG STORY SHORT — Rehearsal Diary 10-1-8

Tracy Brigden — Artistic Director

SECOND DAY OF REHEARSAL

Music Director Doug Levine and actors Pearl Sun and Ben Evans

It’s really fun to rehearse a musical – mostly because if you’re like me – you like to listen to music – and when you rehearse a musical you get to listen to music all day.

 

Today we started with a second read-thru of the play with the actors stumbling (actually more often sailing) through the music that they just learned yesterday.  Every time we hear the whole piece we find another set of little tweaks in script and score to make the story clearer.  I am also able to start visualizing some clear images and ideas for some of the staging of the production as I listen to the actors and their interpretation of the text. 

 

It is a misconception that directors have all the movement of the actors planned out before they start rehearsal. I always have ideas for some moments – the start and end of scenes or important sections – but don’t have every piece of movement written down to dictate to the actors.  I prefer to find the physical life of the play along with the actors as we explore the text in rehearsal. 

 

So, having read the piece again, I turned the actors over to our wonderful Musical Director, Douglas Levine – who is to taking them through the score to keep learning and fine tuning the music as I write this.  Brendan, the second half of the writing team, is arriving in a few minutes from New York – he just called to say he was about a mile away – so I’m going to go and greet him.  More soon.