Mountain Rehearsals - Week Five

Brian Chow and his erhu.

Say hello to the erhu (pronounced ar-hoo). The erhu is a traditional Chinese two-stringed instrument that I've included in the orchestrations for Mountain. It has been a welcome challenge getting to know the erhu and composing for its specific qualities. There were some limitations: no pizzicato, no double-stops (since the bow is placed between the two strings), and the combination of a very rich low range and a thinner high range.  The erhu also favors certain keys over others, so I did my best to keep the key signatures throughout the show within that realm.  I am still learning the instrument, and will probably learn more once we get it amped in our performance space and mixed in with mic'd actors. I can't say I've perfected the ability to write for erhu, but I have found the process of getting to know it very rewarding. The result is that I have woven a Chinese instrument into the fabric of the score, giving the music a connection to the culture from which the stories stem.

I would be amiss if I neglected to mention our erhu player, Mr. Brian Chow. Finding him was quite the feat. I Google- and Facebook-stalked, I mean... searched, for hours trying to find a Bay Area erhu player who would be open to being part of a theatrical piece. Last Fall, I found Brian, who at the time was studying erhu at the Conservatory of Music in Beijing. As luck would have it, Brian was returning to the States in January, just in time to start rehearsals for Mountain. I was beyond thrilled! Working with Brian has been such a treat, and he brings a level of professionalism and dedication to his art and performance that has been a great asset to our production as a whole. So, audiences will not just be taking in Grace Lin's re-imagining of traditional Chinese folk tales; they will also be able to experience the beautiful tones of a traditional Chinese instrument!

In other news, I made a few more script changes to tighten up the pacing this past weekend. These flexible and up-for-anything actors are rolling with the changes and making this magic happen! We're at the stage of running the show, working specific notes and smoothing out transitions to get us ready for TECH NEXT WEEK!!! Can't wait for you all to see this brand-new work!

Mountain Rehearsals - Week Four

This week, I made a very exciting discovery. It came out of the need to reformat some of my piano scores so our music director wouldn't have to deal with so many awkward page turns. That's right, I finally discovered the Page Break and System Break functions in Sibelius. It sounds small, but I was so delighted and surprised to discover that with the simple push of a button, I could put page breaks in less-busy measures to allow for easier page turns. I had thought the task would require endless re-spacing and shifting of bars, but nope! I'm happy to add another notch on my Sibelius-literacy belt.

A lion mask in progress.

In other perhaps more interesting news, the props for our show are being completed, and we are starting to see more of the visual aesthetic take shape. Our set, props and costumes are being built from scratch by some top-notch designers, and each piece we see elicits "oohs!" and "ahs!" from the cast and myself.

I also think I'm finally realizing that another show that I've written is being produced! Silly as it seems, it often takes a while for such moments to hit me as reality. Sometimes people will ask me "Aren't you so excited that your show is opening soon?" and I'll answer with a simple "Yes." And you can tell, folks are let down by the nonchalant affect in my response. But it's not because I'm faking it or because I'm emotionless. Internally, I am excited all the time about the opportunities I've been given. But in the midst of the creative work, the impact of that reality is often kept at bay. Well, this week, I'm feeling the impact. And yes, I'm excited that my third show will be opening soon!

Mountain Rehearsals - Week Three

Happy New Year! It is the Year of the Horse for those who may not know the Lunar New Year traditions. Usually, the Lunar New Year is just another day for me, but I think I'm more aware of the event because I have been working on Asian-themed shows this year (The Song of the Nightingale, Mulan Jr., and now Where the Mountain Meets the Moon). In preparation for writing Mountain, I did my best to research various aspects of Chinese culture. In discussions with Mina Morita and Oona Hatton (the director and dramaturg, respectively), we decided that just as Grace Lin had taken Chinese folklore and re-contextualized them to tell Minli's story, we would bring aspects of Chinese and other Asian cultures and re-contextualize them for our stage version.

Chinatown, San Francisco

This meant a variety of research in many forms. Web searches and YouTube videos were a great place to start - reading Wikipedia articles and watching footage of the Dragon and Lion dances. On one occasion, Mina and I walked through Chinatown, San Francisco in order to see if objects and musical instruments might inspire the sound and look of the show. I had the joy to sit in on a Chinese orchestra rehearsal in order to take cues on what Chinese instruments sounded like. Now there is an erhu, a two-stringed bowed instrument, included in our show. We also learned about Grace Lin and her artistic process as she wrote and illustrated Mountain. It seems she too dove into research of all kinds to create the book.

The fruit of our research labor is evident in our rehearsals. I believe we have an understanding of the world we're trying to create with Mountain. We know the boundaries of reality and fantasy as they apply to this show. We have a particular aesthetic and style in mind that borrows from Chinese and other Asian cultures. We aren't grasping at straws to make stylistic choices, because those discussions were had long before. I see more clearly now how doing good research will lead to good writing and good theatre. Even if the audience doesn't pick up on it, I think they will sense that something about this show feels firmly supported with a sturdy foundation.

Mountain Rehearsals - Week Two

It wouldn't be a Mountain rehearsal without our tufts of muddy rice!

We're hitting the end of Week Two of rehearsals, and tonight is our first stumble-thru of Act One! It definitely feels like the creative team and cast have found our groove as a group, and the past few rehearsals have not just been productive but fun! I also find myself in the long-awaited position of simply being the playwright/composer in the room, instead of running double duty. For my previous two productions I also worked as Music Director, which made sense since I knew the shows so well. However, for Mountain, it has been very liberating to be able hand Music Director duties to someone else's capable hands and focus solely on finessing the script & score.

What exactly do I do in rehearsals then? I check to see how the script and score play out in the room. Sometimes the script no longer works, or a moment of song/dialogue is no longer necessary, because of what we discover with the actors, set, costumes, sound & props. So I give a quick assent to cut or modify. I also answer questions about my original intent, usually to help bring clarification to a scene. If a rewrite is needed, I might start working on that while rehearsal continues (I recently made minor tweaks to six Act One musical numbers, and I'll see how those changes work at tonight's stumble-thru). I will also initiate discussion if I feel like what I see or hear in the room is going in a different direction than the writing. But mostly, I observe and I listen, and watch the skeleton of the show grow tendons, muscle and sinew, as if by magic.

Mountain Rehearsals - Week One

Rehearsals have officially begun for the world premiere of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. These early days are fascinating because what began as words and sheet music slowly starts to get its own skeleton as a performance piece. We are in a modest dance room in Oakland. We use some props that are just for rehearsal, and sometimes props that will make it to the actual production once they are painted and embellished. We try things, throwing ideas out and taking cues from each other. There is spike tape in a variety of colors outlining our imaginary set. We have looked at sketches and color swatches. We've listened to sound samples. There's a lot of waiting, discussion and thinking.

Minli's dining table in the rehearsalroom. Inside the bowl are two coins, one of which starts our protagonist on her journey.

Perhaps what fascinates me the most is that the final product will be built upon this skeleton, but only after much has been pruned and plucked away. To the audience's eyes, it will arrive as a complete package. But those of us in this dance room will know the sparser versions of the show that had to come before. The discarded drafts, the revised movements, the great ideas that ultimately had to be cut will still be with us. As well as the joy, the jokes, the shared memories that come from working together on this project. It's funny because from day one of rehearsals, the end is always in sight. But I already know that the end will come much too soon.

So I take to heart the lesson that Grace Lin teaches us through her novel. "Thankfulness."

I am thankful to be here in the midst of this creating, as it unfolds before me.