Benton Heights Previews

This post is from Kjerstin Lysne -- dancer and second year Open Dream Ensemble member.


"Dream Machines" took to the road for the first time yesterday. We met up at 5:00 am, piled into two big vans, and transported the cast, the directors, and the set/lighting designer along with our set, props, and costumes to Monroe, NC, where we performed two shows for two packed houses of kids from Benton Heights Elementary School. Much thanks to the Principal and teachers for their warm hospitality, and to the students for being a great audience. It was a pleasure to share what we have been working so hard toward for the past 4 weeks with such a grateful group.

Blue Skies and an Old Friend

This post is from flutist-performer, Peter Shanahan.



We're in the final stages of our rehearsal process for Dream Machines right now. The finishing touches are all falling into place, and we've been adding in many of our "real" props and set pieces to replace our rehearsal versions. I was still very shocked when I walked into rehearsal this morning and saw, for the first time, our beautiful "sky" backdrop. It's giving so much new meaning to the show! The backdrop is about ten feet tall, with white clouds on a striking blue background. The vibrant colors of props and costumes for the show just pop out so strongly against the vivid blue and white. Kudos to Travis McHale, our wonderful designer for his work on this and the many other wonderful pieces of our show. I've known Travis since we started college together, and I've never been more impressed by his work! Our props and set pieces are terrific. It's so nice to be collaborating again with such a talented person that I've had the pleasure of knowing for nearly ten years!

Lively and Buff

This post is from the lovely, and very buff, Rose. (Pictured in the green and grey during rehearsal this afternoon).

Week 3 has blown through and my thigh muscles are so sore! It was a goal of mine to start bicycling to work everyday, and wowee, is it ever a work out! Winston-Salem has some lovely, rolling, hilly streets... It sure is making me appreciate the outdoors AND the convenience of cars. I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment building, so it gets interesting when I carry that bicycle up and down 2 flights of stairs each day. Who needs to weight lift when you can do stairs while carrying a bicycle?!

Anyway, the show has been getting a lot of fine tuning this week, and it feels like each day, we as a cast, grow closer and closer... how could you not when spending 7 hours a day, 6 days a week with these amazing people? I love the fact that our love for performance art drives us to make this show an astounding experience! Also, our cast's (and directors') wonderful sense of humor helps keep us all in high spirits (if a little zany). I really can't believe that we have one more week before we move on to Peril on the Red Planet. I will miss working with our directors Matt and Isaac once they skidaddle off back to NYC at the end of this month to do more amazing things! As for now... no rest for the weary; we still have rehearsal tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 am! I may rise, but the "shine" will take some coffee and I suppose another hilly bike ride.

~Rose

Dia Keeps Pace

The following post is from Dia Dearstyne. This is Dia's first season with Open Dream Ensemble and she is getting her feet wet with dancing, singing, acting and even playing her trumpet! Dia is a college graduate of the UNCSA School of Dance.


Dream Machines is up and running...and so are we! You've gotta be quick on your feet to keep up with the energy in this show. Who would have guessed working so hard would be so much fun?!
I just got home after another eventful rehearsal day and I'm beat. Time to refuel for tomorrow with some yummy food and a good book.
Until next time!
Dia

Creativity = Endless Possibilities

The following post is from Brian Sutow. Brian just completed his BFA in Acting from the UNCSA and comes to Open Dream Ensemble with a little prior experience with us; he was one of the writers of Peril on the Red Planet which will begin rehearsal in August. He plays the role of Wilbur Wright in Dream Machines.

I have just finished my first two weeks of
rehearsing with Open Dream, and what a
wonderful whirlwind of work it has been.
The ensemble is made up of fun, supportive and creative people,
and I can’t wait to start touring with them.  Every day is filled
with a lot of laughter and a lot of hard work.  I think our show
is going to be really fantastic, as we were able to get it staged in
just ten days, and now we have two more whole
weeks to work on making it even better.

Ever since we started working on the show, I have been
feeling like a little kid again.  Our directors, Matt Cowart
and Isaac Klein, have created a world of incredible creativity.
This is a world where two umbrellas can become a bicycle.
It reminds me of being a kid and letting an empty ketchup bottle
become a telephone, a paper towel roll become a telescope,
and a refrigerator box become a time traveling spaceship.
These every day objects, matched with a little creativity, were
how I found my love for acting in the first place.

One of the things that is so special about live theater, is
that we can all use our imaginations together.  In film
and television, company’s spend millions of dollars
making sure everything looks real, but in the theater
everyone can easily understand that a mixing bowl can
become a warrior’s helmet, a coat rack can become a horse,
two flashlights can become a truck’s headlights, etc.

I hope that when kids see this show they not only come
away from it with an understanding of how the Wrights
dreamt big and made their dreams of flying come true,
but that it also reminds them that with a
little creativity, the possibilities are endless.

Staged!!!!

This post is from Kjerstin Lysne. Kjerstin is a second-year member with Open Dream Ensemble and trained at the UNCSA School of Dance as a Modern Dancer.

We did it! We've staged "Dream Machines"! This thing that only existed in the form of some words on some pieces of paper just 10 days ago is now a living, breathing piece of art...or it will be with a lot of practice. At the moment, we probably look more like an infant learning to walk than a masterpiece, but we will get there. In the meantime, I'll be looking over my blocking notes, rehearsing my song, and marking the dances...

Peter Catches his Breath

This post is from Peter Shanahan. Peter is a second-year cast member of Open Dream Ensemble and graduated from UNCSA with a degree in Flute Performance.

We're getting one of our first moments of breath right now. So far, the rehearsal process has been a whirlwind! I can't even believe how much the group has done in a week. I'm really inspired to be working with these folks; a few of us are outside now, while the directors rehearse a scene with the actors playing Wilbur, Katherine, and Orville Wright. It's beautiful sitting out here with friends old and new. One of us, James, has a guitar out and he's giving us a sort of soundtrack on a gorgeous day. Mollye and James are on the curb, Rose and Kjerstin are are sitting on the grass, and Dia and I are on
a bench. The optimism is so high! Six months from now, we'll have the most amazing stories about Season Five. We're going to go to places big and small, beautiful in every way. The goodness of this work drives us all and makes the intense work so easy.

Ragtime

This post is from cast member and composer James Stewart. James has returned for his third year as a member of Open Dream and his fourth season as a composer for the ensemble. James Stewart and Joshua Morgan collaborated on the music for Dream Machines. Some of it is influenced by ragtime, hence the research below. Dream Machines is set in 1903 as Wilbur and Orville Wright unravel the mystery of flight.

Ragtime was developed primarily in the saloons of the southeast during the 1890's.

At the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 a ragtime fraternity was formed, bringing the music out of the bars and into the concert halls.
Scott Joplin, famous for "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer", led a small orchestra that played during the fair. Joplin had been playing ragtime music professionally since 1882 when he was only 14 years old!

In 1897,"Mississippi Rag" by composer, Tom Turpin, marked the first rag that was published and widely available. At the time of the Wright Brother's flight experiments, ragtime was well established as an American musical art form.

Thus, this style of music is influencing the development of our music for Dream Machines.

Rose's Read

The following is from Rose Shields. Rose, a college graduate of the UNCSA School of Dance, has returned for her third year as a member of the Open Dream cast.

Well, it’s been 1 week and we have already staged about half of the Dream Machines show. Wow! I feel like I’ve been swept up into a journey, or quest perhaps, to help bring a historical event back to life, and am finding myself smack dab in the middle of the plot! -- You know, when the characters are realizing the magnitude of how much has happened, how far they have come, and how far they have left to go –
Now as I take a step back from the action to reflect on what we 8 performers and 2 directors have done so far, I see the whirlwind of productivity being propelled forward by everyone’s ceaseless energy and excitement to turn a fabulous story into a living, breathing play. It’s really rather remarkable.

Intern(al) Musings

This post is from our summer intern, John Dillon. John graduated from the UNCSA School of Drama with his High School diploma this spring and heads to UNC Greensboro in the fall.


Wow! Rehearsals are going wonderfully for me. When I found out I would be interning for the Open Dream Ensemble I really didn’t know what I was getting myself in to and boy was I surprised. I am working a lot and getting wonderful experience, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Even though this is only the fifth day, I am already seeing how much I need to apply time management, organization, and other tools to help me work. I truly feel that this internship will be of great use to me in the future when I delve deeper in to the professional theatre world.

Posts and Ning

Today was the fourth day of rehearsal. The cast, directors, and intern continue to work with great enthusiasm and diligence. It is truly impressive how much has been accomplished.

We now have a ning site that includes some footage from yesterday's rehearsal (thanks, John, for posting that). It can be viewed at http://opendreamrehearsal.ning.com/

In the coming days, all of the cast members and our intern will be posting on this blog. Throughout the season they will contribute their voices, thoughts, and insights.

Tomorrow will bring the first post by our intern, John Dillon.

So, visit us on Ning and check in to hear from the Open Dreamers soon!

Getting Started

Today was the first day of rehearsal for this season and quite an impressive rehearsal it was!

The cast was spectacularly prepared and ready to jump in. And the directors were running things smoothly and efficiently. Even our summer intern, John Dillon, was pitching in and adjusting to multi-directional multitasking.

A very good start to what we hope will be a very good season!

Getting Set

This week has been full of final preparations as we ready ourselves for the start of Open Dream Ensemble's fifth season!

We've prepped the rehearsal space, moved various things out of storage (thanks Rose, Peter, James and John!) and had part of our new set transported down from New York by our directors, Matt Cowart and Isaac Klein.

And, a number of our open dates have been spoken for this past week... it feels like we will have a fun, interesting, and rewarding season with lots of opportunities for great outreach!

Our new cast and directors come together for the first time on Monday morning. And while a successful season is always part luck, if the luck comes for us, the work that has gone into preparing for the season should guarantee a spectacular, memorable and FUN year for us!