First and foremost, we had our fabulous Rooftop Fundraiser Extravaganza last Thursday! It went swimmingly! (And yes, that may be a pun about the presence of a hot tub on this particular rooftop)

Photography by Shannon O'Neil

Look at my beautiful cast and crew! And my beautiful roof! This is indeed the roof of the very building where Vincent’s Yellow will be happening, in the background there you have Millennium Park, and you can even see part of the Art Institute of Chicago (where Vincent’s paintings are). Because there are no photos elsewhere on the site of these two lovely ladies, I’d like to point out that on the far right is my wondrous choreographer, Katie Eberhardy, and on the left that beautiful blond, bespectacled woman in a blue dress is my co-director, co-producer, co-We’re-Going-To-Make-This-Happen, Amy Buckler. The only person missing is my lovely Stage Manager/Assistant-to-Everything, Shannon O’Neil, who was taking the photos that night.

There she is! Isn’t she perrty? She came all the way out from New York for the month of July just to help me. Also, to enjoy Chicago in the summer, which is certainly worthy of her time.

Photography by Shannon O'Neil

We also maybe had a little fun playing with my Van Gogh doll. His ear comes off!

Photography by Shannon O'Neil

See? I’m holding it! And look at me and my lovely family: awww…

Shannon has also been going around Chicago lately taking photos of the Van Gogh doll in different locations, and so far this one has turned out to be my favorite:

Photography by Shannon O'Neil

Isn’t this photo profound? There’s something really fascinating about representation here: self-representation, others seeing your self-representation, the other’s representation of you, and all of this in a photo, that creates another imaging of two images… This photo really expresses to me a lot about Vincent’s Yellow, how in questioning this icon, and this human, we question ourselves. Who is Vincent looking at? What are we really seeing? How would he look at us looking at him? That’s all I can think while looking at this photograph.

The other thing accomplished this past week was that we painted the space! Not only was this important to set the right tone for the performance (it must be a space that feels old, from another time), but suddenly I found myself with paint on my hands, and thinking of Vincent. It took about 35 man hours to finish the apartment off, luckily I had help. Also luckily, my co-director Amy spent the last year in a scenic paint shop. I won’t show you the finished product, but here were some of the early stages.

Photography by Shannon O'Neil

Hi Amy!

Photography by Shannon O'Neil

Hi apartment!

Okay, that’s all for this week, running off to do many more things (like get less bruised from dance rehearsal, or make some canvas stretchers, or finish off my map of the current locations of Vincent’s paintings)…

much love!

Yes, yes, it is super duper exciting. And amazingly, it was the first space I looked at, and I just couldn’t find anything wrong with it. It is perfect.

Let’s first take a look at the location: it’s in the Loop.

The Loop is basically the heart of Chicago, in case you don’t know. All train lines connect from all directions and circle around the center of Chicago. The space is an apartment in a beautiful building inside the Loop, which means easy access for all visitors. It also means it’s blocks from The Art Institute of Chicago, where Vincent’s paintings are held in this city, which means frequent field trips with my cast during the rehearsal process, and that cross-promotions (which I absolutely plan on organizing) will be as easy as possible. YAY!

So, if you were paying attention, you perhaps noticed I said “an apartment”. I am indeed utilizing a living space for this show. Why, you ask? Because I want intimacy, and therefore a smaller space for a smaller audience, and let’s face it: it is always wonderful to have your rehearsal space be your performance space. With an apartment, I get the space for months, can schedule rehearsals whenever it’s convenient for the people involved, oh and yes, I get to keep all of the box office. No need to split it with the building. And I’m not paying for a sound system or lighting plot that I won’t be needing for this show. (It will be all live music and oil lamps)

And did I mention this particular apartment building is made up of converted dance studios? Which means the walls are thick, the floors are safe for bare feet, and basically it’s perfect for Yellow! Also, since it’s full of live/work spaces, the management approved my doing performances there (which not every building would be okay with).

Oh, yeah, and there’s this incredible rooftop garden with a jacuzzi, a small pool, a full bar, and I can rent it out for nothing more than a security deposit. Rooftop jacuzzi fundraiser party? Inevitable.

And the floor plan is Open Space. Perfect.

Pinning down rehearsal and performance space for a show is kinda the biggest step, it is one big fat leap and overall just incredibly important. And it also means that there’s no denying it now: the show will happen. In fact, I just signed the Leaseholder Change Agreement. Just now. And will fax it in shortly.

eeek!

I’ve also started conducting interviews with actors over the past week, which has been very exciting and intriguing. I’m doing interviews first because this show is my baby and I need the right people. I need the right hearts and the right minds.

After three years of researching and writing, I am so fucking excited!

See you next week…

PS My business cards look amazing. I wish I could give one to you right now.

I’ve always thought my play about Vincent and I would be a perfect summer show: it’s uplifting, it will be beautiful (and about beauty), and lastly, I’d love to be able to step outside with my audience during the show, letting the fresh air into our lungs and gazing at the stars in wonder — imagining and, indeed, conceiving what it was that Vincent saw in them. I want to look at real stars and speak his words, if possible. And since I’m putting it up in Chicago, that means it’s got to be the summer.

So then, this past July when I started this website, I had already started my quotes project and so I became aware of the anniversary of Vincent’s death (July 29th)  and it happened to be the day of my first entry. I think it was around then that I realized I wanted my show to also open on July 29th. Then a series of ideas flooded my brain: my birthday is August 31st, so if the show closed that day it’d have a nice five weekend run, which is plenty of time for the word to spread and to have reviewers come and actually review it. (For those of you not in the theater business, most shows by young theater makers only run for about a week, which in a way, is like shooting yourself in the foot. A great start, but you can’t really get enough attention. And besides, since I’ve been working on this for over two years and moved to Chicago to make it happen, and have in every other way put all my eggs in this one very yellow basket, why not go all the way?)

So then it became TRUTH: Vincent’s Yellow will be running in Chicago July 29th – August 31st 2010! (yes, I know the closing is a Tuesday, it’ll be a special evening followed by a birthday party for me)

2010 is also nice because then it’s been 120 years since Vincent’s death. It’s not quite as cool the centennial of his death, 1990 (note the millions of projects and retrospectives that were dated for that year… okay not millions but you get the idea), but it’s pretty awesome from where I’m sitting. The show starts with his end, and ends with my beginning. Sounds perfect to me. (Did I mention I will be turning 25 years old?)

So this past week I’ve been working a lot on the play, and I plan on typing up all the last revisions to finish off my first full draft today (super exciting! and I met my self-imposed deadline!). Which means, this evening, I will have ONE document that is my play. This is very amazing, because the building blocks are scenes I have been writing entirely separate from one another over the past two years.

So now where has the plan taken me? I have arrived at the fact that I have an enormous show to put up and a lot of work to do in the next six months. If the show opens at the end of July, I want to start rehearsing at the end of May, which means I need to do auditions in April, which means the script MUST be done by then. But that part is easier. What’s more complicated is that, as a friend called to my attention this morning,  I need to get a creative team together asap and I need to start hunting for my perfect performance space.

I am very excited, slightly overwhelmed, and most importantly, I am inviting you, yes you, where ever you are right now, to my show. It wouldn’t be the same without you.

Now, I don’t normally think one theatrical experience is worth flying to a city to see, whether it’s my work, or anyone else’s, but I have been fighting and will continue to fight to make this show the absolute pinnacle of everything I believe in, to make it a theatrical experience that cannot be had, seen, tasted or felt anywhere else, to make it the most perfectly tuned expression of everything Vincent has taught me, to make it a gift that you will take home with you in your heart, in your gut, and in your mind. I am aiming to give you everything, personally, from my hands to yours.

Plus, Chicago is awfully beautiful in the summer! :)

Image courtesy of chicagophotos.blogspot.com

So I’ve planted the idea in your head: come to Chicago in August for Beauty. Roll it around in your mouth, fiddle with it between your fingertips. I’ll be returning to this in later entries.

In the meantime, it’s time for me to get back to work! But I will leave you with a little Vincent before I go.

Vincent often imagined himself as a worker similar to a farmer, a sower or a reaper, as yet another common man who slaved outdoors all day. The farmer’s work was taxing, but very important. So Vincent worked with the same unwavering strength and determination.

His admiration also drove him to paint them.

Image courtesy of vangoghletters.org

First and foremost, when I’ll be able to pay more for models, and female models too, I’ll make further progress; I feel it and I know it. And I’ll probably also succeed in being able to do portraits. But that depends on working hard; not a day without a line, as Gavarni used to say. (January 1881 to Theo)

Not a day without a line, my friends. Until next week.