Summertime

Surprise! Beth here, and I can already hear the cries for joy once you learn I will be staying at City Lights for the summer. It's not all good news, though; I'll only be here once a week. Don't worry, it's nothing personal. The three of us worked it out so at least one person is in the office every day. That's the same as it always is, but they couldn't have managed without me. That's right, I'm a life saver, people.

Here's something kinda not cool, though. This great theater company is in a little bit of a pickle. In times of economic distress, the arts are the first to suffer. Times are tough, and boy are we feeling it. So, if you have a few extra bucks to spare, be awesome and donate to City Lights. We could really use your help to not end this fiscal year in the red. Click here to donate. :)

RENT opens in about 3 weeks, and we're so excited! If you don't have your tickets yet, get them. Now. Right here. Do it.

It's not too hot today, thank goodness. And next year's intern applicants had their interviews today, which was quite exciting. That's all for now, will check in next week. Maybe. If you're good. 'Kay, bye!

Beth

New Intern! New Adventures!

It's Wednesday, June 23rd, while being deep in finals week at Foothill College I am also thus beginning a new adventure here at City Lights Theater Company. To introduce myself more formerly then probably needed, my named is Celestial Tranquility (seriously) and less then a year ago I moved back to the Bay Area from the island of Oahu, Hawaii..funny thing is tho I am originally from England O.o awkward. deciding to be done with my dabbling in this dress rehearsal that I had so safely created for myself and actually begin the show of my life (terrible metaphors ...I know) which has brought me here and now after loading myself with General Education requirements at Foothill College I managed a 2 year school schedule in 3 quarters and am happily moving in the right direction. From now on it is Theater Haven for me, as in there is nothing other then to live the life I have always dreamed of living.

Basically, I am finishing up my 2nd year of school at Foothill College majoring in Music and will be starting this fall 2010 at San Francisco State University majoring in Drama Performance!

City Lights is awesome ...of course... and I am thrilled to be learning some in depth behind the scenes business ...stuff...Also, I am honoured to be working on the Crew of RENT this summer (at CLTC) which will be opening the end of JULY! Check it OUT because it will be AH-mazing. Also, we just finished the run of Second Weekend in September which was beyond awesome and those who came and saw, THANK YOU! and those who didn't, THANK YOU still! and you should all come out and support us with RENT not to mention it is going to be a HOOT!!

Office Stats: FULL office today, spring...summer cleaning is in process with a few of us and the other half are still keeping our hands busy with what needs to be done. Which means I should probably get back to doing something a little more useful.

Peace OUT!

Melting, Auditions & Third weekend!

I spent about a minute and a half genuinely trying to come up with a clever title for this post. Then the heat overwhelmed me, and I stopped.
You guys. It is hot.
Summer is officially upon us, and so begins the ultimate struggle. The struggle to wear as little clothing as possible without braking the public indecency laws. I am in shorts, people. SHORTS, I TELL YOU.
Anyway. To business. Second Weekend in September (ironically) started the third weekend of its run yesterday! Only two more weekends left after this one!
[Breeze just entered the room *aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh*]
The show is looking really good, and I'm not going to lie, guys, it hurts my feelings that more of you aren't coming out to support City Lights. I hope this means that you are all planning to come in the next few weeks...?
Also, generals were on Saturday. I was here all day, and we saw a lot of talented people. A thank you email will be sent out next week, and that will have more information about callback notices. It was nice to see so many familiar faces!
I wish I had a fancy iphone contraption, so I could upload pics from backstage to this blog, or a twitter account. Maybe that'll be the next step. Who knows! :)
Alright. I really should go reset the stage for tonight's show. Or possibly melt into the stage never to be seen (but probably to be heard from) again.

Hey! Guys! A show is open!

People of the internet!
As Beth mentioned, this has been quite a week at City Light - Second Weekend in September had its first preview last night, the second preview is tonight, and the BIG FANCY GALA OPENING is tomorrow. As the stage manager, this week has been a tad hectic for me, but I think I've finally got the hang of multitasking (running lights and sound - it isn't really that complicated... but if you know me you know I tend to over think things.), so it's all good. We had a small but dedicated crowd last night -- it is nice to be reminded how funny shows are (I mean, obviously I know it is funny, but once you've heard it every day for a month you tend to forget how lovely and fresh the humor is)... so. I actually have to go run a sound and light check now, but it is my hope that you will come check out SWS (or, as it is sometime abbreviated - to my confusion initially, SWIS) as soon as possible. It's important for theaters to support new artists, and in order to do that we need people to SEE the new work. Come check us out.
Okay. I really have to go now.
For serious.
No really.
Bye.

Second Weekend in September

Yes, yes, we know we haven't updated the blog in almost a month. But come on, not THAT much has been going on. Spring Fling was definitely a big deal, but I can't really talk about it, seeing as I wasn't there. Shame on Marty and Gilly for not going into that more. But other than that, it's just been the usual between show doldrums; not too much to break apart the days, and therefore nothing really worth blogging about. Oh, sure, last week we were all busy stuffing envelopes and copying down addresses for the subscriber confirmation mail-out, but you don't want to hear about that. The only notable thing that happened was that the three of us misunderstood and put the order forms along with the receipts into the envelopes, and had to take them all out again, which took another 20 minutes or so to do. Anne felt sorry for us and let us get a piece of tasty from concessions for the extra work, which I think was very benevolent of her.

Marty hasn't been in for a bit, as he's been sick, but I will make him post something on here when he has a minute. And Gilly wasn't in yesterday either because she had a flat tire. They'll both be in later this week, don't you worry your pretty heads.

NEWS:
This weekend is the opening of Second Weekend in September, which is pretty exciting. Small cast of 3 people, very intimate, pretty intense from what I understand. Oh, and this is important, NOT FOR CHILDREN. We're talking full frontal nudity, plus simulated dude-on-dude sexy times. I'm sure several people will be very uncomfortable, but damn it what's theater supposed to do if not make someone uncomfortable?
Also opening at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills is The Crucible, that wacky farce full of quirky coincidences and crazy hijinks! ...Just kidding. Classic American drama by Arthur Miller, it details the events of the Salem witch trials of 1692, and stands as an allegory for the House Un-American Activities Committee and the McCarthy trials of the 1950's. Yeah, pretty spiffy. Martin and I are both in it, along with past City Lights interns Kim Johnson and Tim Goble. Definitely worth a look-see. Here's the link: http://www.foothill.edu/theatre/crucible/

Thanks guys, I hope you can check them out!

Spring Fling Madness

Two days from now is City Lights' 11th Annual Spring Fling, and boy howdy is there a lot to do. Amongst the prizes in the live and silent auctions are...

-Oakland A's Tickets
-Framed and signed A-Rod jersey
-Framed and signed Jim Plunkett jersey
-Signed Joe Montana Football
-4 on-the-glass Sharks tickets
-Dinner for 12 at Morocco's
-Handmade art quilt
-2 nights at the Fairmont (Fri/Sat) and Brunch
-and a WHOLE TON of certificates, and much more!

Now, that tacked on at the end usually means just a few more things, but I say "much more" because I really don't want to type it all out. It's a lot of stuff.

Just wanted to do a quick plug. There's gonna be stand-up comedy and food and music and booze. It's gonna be great. You should go, because I can't. It's my 21st birthday the same day and my parents are taking me out. You know how it is.

Also, what with the bittersweet close of Cyrano, we're now getting set up for Second Weekend in September, which I'm sure Gilly will be telling you all lots about because she's stage managing. Right Gilly? RIGHT, GILLY?!

Busy day, and I need to get back to work. Love you all!

~Beth

1..2...3...will you stop it, Britney?

Hello, hello *waves hands to quiet the throngs of adoring fans cheering her return*
That's right. It really is me. I'm back.
I say back, but technically I was never really gone - I just haven't posted here in 3 months. And for that I am deeply sorry.
Now, to catch up. The 2010-2011 (which seems to take longer to type than 2009-2010 for some reason) season has been announced, and it is looking really good! For those actors out there, you can also now get an audition slot for the generals for next season ( I know I've got mine!), or if you prefer to enjoy the shows from the audience, can buy a subscription. I, for one, am VERY excited.
In other news, all of our senior staff members are off in meetings for the day, so Beth and I are alone in the office, and we have been listening to music and comedy (hence the Britney reference in the title. I remember the good old days, when her songs were about rainbows and unicorns).
Poor Martin was here by himself yesterday, and Thursday is a busy day. I came in to HM the show last night (at which there was a 91 strong group of Notre Dame freshman), and he had been absolutely fabulous. Yay, Martin.
There's only three Cyrano performances left, and I will be House Managing the closing performance on Sunday. This show has been GREAT ( I confess to sneaking in to watch a few scenes last night), and I'll be sad to see it go! Make sure not to miss it, if you haven't seen it yet!
In even more other news, I am Stage Managing Second Weekend in September, which opens May 20th. We've just started rehearsals, and it's already looking fabulous. I LOVE the script, and (although I'm biased) I think it's going to be a great show. I'll keep you updated with rehearsal tidbits, if you're very good. *pats head*
I should probably go make sure the lobby is extra pretty for tonight. Until then, parting is such sweet sorrow.
Kisses!
- G

April Fools!

Actually, I don't have anything funny or clever planned for April 1st. Personally, I think the holiday is overrated. I could plan out something funny and all, but everyone and their sister is doing something crazy. It's hardly worth the effort. I mean, people will be expecting to be tricked. What's the point? It's like Valentines day, except with comedy instead of love.

Aaaaaaaanyhoo, you know what's not a joke? Cyrano. It is really good. This is definitely the best show I've seen this year, and I've seen some pretty great stuff so far. If you haven't seen this play before, I implore you to go out and see it. It might just change your life. Even if you have seen it before, go see it again. It's that good. Also, if you get tickets for this weekend and mention Facebook, you'll get $10 tickets. That's more than half-off. For a ticket to a theatrical performance that could potentially change your life, I'd say it's worth it. Seriously. Get out and see this show

In other news, though, it's a pretty tame day in the office. I mean, you'd think it'd be full of wacky hijinks, what with it being April Fools day and all. Not true. The only thing that appears to be in the holiday spirit is the ticket printer. Every few tickets it just decides to just put the name on. Nothing else. So either it is pulling some elaborate hoax on all of us, or the demonic possession is catching...

So, other than that, don't really got much to do. There is a bit more work to do, since Beth is out of town and all. Gotta mop the lobby. Speaking of which, office = way less fun sans Beth. Not that my other co-workers aren't fun. But still.

Hmm... Maybe I should stage a big fire or something. That aught to liven things up here...

Well, that's all from me! Just be sure to go see Cyrano. Consider it a dying wish of mine. Wait, you didn't know? Yeah, I totally have dysentery. I've only got a month to live, tops. So, would you please go see this show? If nothing else, do it for me?

Thank you all for this wonderful life. God bless. May the force be with you.
-Martin

Ain't it Lovely?

Spring is officially upon us, folks. And what, I hear you asking, are my plans for the first week of spring? Never you fear, I'll tell you. I have finals. And work. AWESOME. True, I only have one final left (Statistics at 7:30 in the morning, boo hiss), and I work at an awesome place with awesome people (in an office that has awesome heat retention) so, really, I have little to complain about. And on Friday I'm leaving for spring break, which will be all fun, but also means I'm working an extra day this week, in addition to the extra day I worked last week, to make up for it. So worth it.

You know what else is worth it? A kickin' segue?! No!... well yes, but also! The price of admission to see "Frank Langella's Cyrano"! Now, I don't usually go to the gala performances here (for shame!), but oh man I'm glad I went to this one. To be fair, I'm biased, because this is one of my favorite stories EVER IN THE WORLD. Romantic, sad, exciting, all that jazz. I saw a production of "Cyrano" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland about 3 or so years ago, and it changed my life, but I gotta say, I liked ours better. If nothing else then for the portrayal of the title character, who here is seen not only as a romantic swashbuckler, but as a human being with emotions and faults and layers. Beautifully done. Closes April 18th, this Sunday the 28th is talk-back. Fun times!

On the less exciting side, the office here needs, well, maintenance. Less clutter and a vacuum cleaner are called for. I can't keep my own room clean, let's see if I can help keep a desk clean.

On the bright side, there's a spiffy new logo painted on the wall in the lobby, looks pretty great!

Thanks to everyone who made this a great opening weekend, and tell your friends! If you haven't seen it yet, then what the heck are you waiting for?!

Oh yeah, one more thing. Our non-profit partner for this show is KidPower. To give you an idea of what they're all about, here's their mission statement: "To teach people of all ages and abilities how to use their own power to stay safe, act wisely, and believe in themselves." All these are themes in the show, especially that last one, so, ya know, it fits. Anyway, mention "KidPower" when you're ordering your tickets over the phone, or type it in as a promotion code if you're ordering online, and $5 from each ticket go straight to them. Pretty nifty, huh? Thanks again for the support!

Signing out,
Beth

Creeping like a Creepy Thing

Yes, I'm talking about "Cyrano" opening in a week. Holy crap when did that happen?! It will be nice when that gets going, and the phones will be ringing and it will be glorious. It's a little under a month of no shows, and that is plenty for me.

Did any of you guys see the HUGE PLUMES OF SMOKE coming from the San Jose Airport? Crazy times. Actually I think it was a recycling center. Anyway, fires kind of really suck, and I home no one got hurt.

Gilly is being a busy bee working on donation letters and whatnot. I wish she had a little pair of those antennae things with the bobbles on the end. Because that would be adorable.

Everyone and their mums is sick, which is pretty lame. Lisa, Kit, Anne, and me. Lani, Amanda, and Martin were, but they're not. But Lani isn't in today... hmmm... No good.

Okay, I'm going to go back to the very important busy work I was doing... because that's what I was doing. I swear, your honor.

SO RAINY

OH MAN IT IS SO RAINY THAT I'M WRITING IN ALL CAPS.
THAT MEANS THAT IT'S QUITE RAINY.
AS OPPOSED TO REGULARLY RAINY.
OH, AND IT'S WINDY TOO. DID I MENTION THAT? BECAUSE IT'S WINDY AS A TORNADO.
OKAY, I'M ABOUT DONE WITH THIS WHOLE GIMMICK.
MOSTLY, I DON'T HAVE MUCH TO SAY ABOUT TODAY, OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT IT'S RAINING LIKE CRAZY OUT THERE.

Oh yeah, Smoke is happening this weekend. Come out and see it, foo! And if you can't, make up for it by seeing Cyrano. Twice.
Just make sure you don't get caught in the RAIN! OMG!
But seriously, see the show.

Surprise Show

Until last week I didn't even know the line-up for this weekend, only that it was something called Smoke. Us interns are rotating the stage manager duties, so I've seen it once, and will be there again tonight. It's a fun little night of jazzy cabaret music, oh and did I mention it's a one-woman show? Because it is. Tickets are $20, students are $10, plus there's a promotion "Smokin'" that lowers the price to eight bucks. Cheaper than a movie! Come on down! :)

In other news, another pretty chill day. Closing of Dead Man Walking was lovely, I think I mentioned before. Wait, I couldn't have, as it was only this weekend. Crazy! It feels like quite a bit longer ago. If you missed it, shame on you. The last weekend was Almost entirely oversold, but I think we managed it somehow. I wouldn't actually know, as I was closing my own show.

Anyway, now we're about to switch gears to Frank Langella's Cyrano, directed by our own Kit Wilder. Don't expect your average Cyrano--from what Kit told me the other day, it's a little different. So, it should be fun! That opens on March 20th and closes April 18 (omygod that's the weekend before my 21st birthday :D), so keep that one on the back burner for now until we turn up the heat! Ugh, terrible pun, sorry about that.

3 down, 3 to go.

With the close of Dead Man Walking this last weekend, (which was awesome. If you didn't see it, you're just plain stupid.) we are now half way through our 09-10 season. Well, sort of half way. Close enough. It's pretty crazy to think that we've come this far. At least, it feels far to me. I just started working here right before Judas opened. So, yeah. Halfway there.
Once again, we are in a lull between shows. However, it's a whole lot less dull than the usual between-show break. We've got a spotlight series show, Smoke, that's playing this weekend. Each of us interns will be taking turns stage managing the show. I really don't know too much about the show other than it's a one woman show, but what I do know sounds interesting. We shall see. Oh, and if you want to come see it, tickets are only $20. Hey, you might even run into me there. Or Beth. Or Gilly. Or none of us. We may just be holed up in the booth being antisocial. At least, that's my game plan.
Well, that's it from me. I'm going to go back to trying to instate naptime as a routine thing. Wish me luck.
-Marty

Panda Express

Okay okay. Marty sent me a text on Tuesday telling me--no, COMMANDING me to write a blog post. He's got a fair point. As he said earlier this week, though, we've been pretty busy. I, too, am quite excited about the upcoming season, even though we're just about halfway through the one we're in now.

On Thursdays (such as today) I come to work pretty much straight from Foothill, picking up lunch on the way. Today I decided to relish the empty office where I get to play music loud before anyone gets here and we have to do real work. (Currently playing now: "High With a Little Help from my Friends" by the Beatles.) So things are chill for the time being.

I saw Dead Man Walking on the 7th of this month, so that would be a week and a half ago, and it's still settling in. It's awesome when a show resonates like that, and I think one reason this one does so much is simply the nature in which the story is told. The play takes a very personal approach into one woman's relationship with, let's face it, a pretty awful person, and how that plays into her understanding of the legal system and morals and even God. It's uncomfortable and eye-opening, something more theater needs to be in an age when all people want to do is to escape from their day to day routine rather than put it in perspective. (Damn, that sounded good. By the way, moving from "The Jeep Song" by the Dresden Dolls to "Sittin' on Top of the World" as performed by Jack White.)

Anyway, coming in on the last 4 performances, so get a move on, already!

Alright, going to finish lunch--oh, just for fun, this is what my fortune cookie says: "Today is a good day for being with a companion." Hmm... I'll leave it to you to decide what that means.

Peace!

Whaaaa?

No posts since January? For shame! What can I say, though? It's been busy over here at City Lights. Dead Man Walking has been going great and getting rave reviews. Therefore, ticket orders have been coming in by the bushel.

By.
The.
Bushel.

And I didn't even know ticket orders could come in the form of bushels! Oh the wondrous things I learn working here at City Lights... But seriously, if you want to make it to DMW, you've only got one last weekend. So get on that ASAP. And believe me, it's a show that you should, nay, a show you need make an effort to make it out to see. It is one of the best pieces of theatre I've seen in a while. Really. Get off your booty and out to see this show.
In other news, we are getting going on picking out our next season. I have been forbade from talking about the upcoming season AT ALL, but I can say that I'm genuinely excited for things to come. Of course, I don't know for sure what's coming up, but after seeing all our options, it's looking like a great group of shows.
Anyways, that's about it from me. Hopefully you'll all hear more from my fellow interns soon, but that remains to be seen... *cough* *cough*
Keep it real. Keep it awesome.
-Martin

Another Thursday

Got in a little early today with the intent of getting some things out of the way (like lunch, and the dumpster) before anyone else shows up. I recently found the iPod speakers that someone left by the intern desk, and the remote that goes with it to control the volume, so it's nice to have that when there's no one else here. A good chuck of my music isn't really appropriate for work (Stephen Lynch, for example), so an empty office is best for partying.... Just kidding.

Oh, fun times, my mom emailed me the link to the Mercury News review of Dead Man Walking, featured here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/theater-museums/ci_14271897?nclick_check=1
Not too shabby. Go Lisa! We love you!

With that said, tomorrow evening is our big benefit over at Notre Dame, tickets are still available, so get on that! =P

Another plug: my show at Bus Barn (Private Lives) opens tomorrow, but tonight is the preview, and they're having a special $12 ticket deal (which is FANTASTIC by the way). You should come see it. :) Here's a link for that.
http://www.busbarn.org/privatelives.html

Well I think I'm the only intern in today, and the time as come to check the messages. Woo! Let the day begin!

Naptime

Naptime should be part of any regular work day. I say this coming from five hours of sleep after working on an essay for my English class all last night. The sun wasn't quite up yet when I finally went to sleep. I also believe naptime should be happening right now, instead of me having to work. Really all day today would be a nice period of time to designate for napping. Maybe we should have a national holiday, sort of an opposite of labor day, where everyone stays in bed and lazes through the day. I guess that's kind of what labor day is anyways... Regardless, that would be an awesome thing. However, I'd want it to be when I want it to be, rather than a scheduled event. But, I will take what I can get.
Wait, this blog is about City Lights you say? Balderdash! I'm not through with my sleepless ramblings!... Actually, I'm just about done with rambling for now. I mean, I could go on if you'd like. Anyone? More ramblings? No?... That's okay... I guess...
Right. City Lights. We have a show that opened last weekend. The show is awesome, and tickets are selling fast! We had a bunch of packed houses, with quite a few standing ovations as I heard. I wouldn't know, I was taking time off to sleep.... Mmmmmm.... Sleeeeeep..........

One Week and Counting...

This weekend we had our fantasmical massive theater-wide two-day clean up, and I must say, the prop loft is nigh unrecognizable! Makes me wish I wasn't out of town so I could help out... oh well.

Well, just one week left until Dead Man Walking opens. Grab your tickets folks! The Saturday of closing weekend is already sold out, so don't ask for that one.
Also, the benefit dinner is on January 29th, and Sister Helen Prejean will be there as a speaker. Let me remind you that she is the lady who wrote the book, was portrayed by Susan Surandon in the movie, and will be portrayed by our very own Lisa Mallette at City Lights. She's awesome, go see it. Anyway, tickets for just the dinner are $175, the show is $100, and both together is $300. If any of you are thinking it sounds a bit rich, that's because this is a *benefit*, meaning the money goes to 3 non-profit organizations (Dead Man Walking: School Theatre Project, Notre Dame San Jose, and City Lights Theater Company). Plus it's a tax write-off, so that's nice. Here's the link: , and I hope all y'all tell your friends and parents and neighbors and pet dogs about it because it's for a good cause and it's a good show. Woo!

Yesterday I was in the office for not very long, since Lani and I went around Downtown San Jose dropping off postcards and taping up posters in windows to help get the word out. Let's hope that works. Everyone and their mums have posters around, but ours is prettier. =P

Okie doke, that's all I have to say for the moment, except to say I hope everyone had a lovely and safe holiday season (can't be said for at least one of my friends, who broke his clavicle in a snowboarding accident) and that you haven't given up on your New Year's resolutions yet. Mine is to eat breakfast every day. This morning it was toast with peanut butter. Mmmmm.

Dear Blog

I am going to give you a long post on Friday night. It will have pictures. (OOOh... AAAAh).
Sincerely,
Gilly

Back in Business.

Hey kids! Hope you all had wonderful Christmas (aka. Kids get presents! And there was something about some savior being born or something)/Hanukkah (aka. Jews get presents too! And also there was a siege at some point somewhere or something) /Kwanzaa (aka. African Americans get presents too? Does anyone actually celebrate this holiday? no? I thought so. You still get presents though!)/Solstice (aka. Hahaha, hippies.)/Boxing day (aka. Hahahaha, Canadians.)/New Years (aka. Lets pick an arbitrary date and all get wasted once a year. Kay? Kay.)/Whatever you may celebrate (aka. Really? Not even Christmas? You realize it's basically lost all religious intent. You're mostly just a big jerk for not getting people presents. Lighten up a bit. Seriously.)!
But now, it's time to get back to business, cause here at City Lights we have an awesome new show coming up! Dead Man Walking is opening in just a couple short weeks, and it's going to be something else. We are working with the awesome kids over at Notre Dame in what is the very first production of this show as a collaborative effort between a professional theater company and a high scool. Also, Sister Helen Prejean (who wrote the book) is coming and speaking at a special charity event that we are putting on. Basically, kind of a really big deal. Best get your tickets soon.
Also, Beth was going to write a bit of this talking about her crazy paper shredding ordeals, (she had to shred them by hand. Crazy.) but she's already off to the next great thing. Mainly a photo call for Private Lives, the upcoming show a Bus Barn that she's in. Also worth seeing!
Well, that's about it from me. Here's to 2010. May it be filled with awesome theatre. And pie. Pie is awesome.

-Martin

P.S. Completely unrelated: my kitty messed up my face. It looks pretty badass.