Thursday, September 27, 2012

How to Tweet During this Show

Excuse me? I can Tweet during the show?
Yes, you totally can! On any night of the show, from any seat, you are granted permission to Tweet as fervently as you wish!

That means that you can have your phone switched on during the show– BUT. Don't be that person who makes a ruckus at the theatre by answering a phone call or having a text conversation with a friend from across the room.
You can Tweet, but do it nicely!

Here's how:

1. Please silence your phone. No one wants to hear any ding-dinging (or other odd noises) coming from your side of the theatre. Don't forget that this is not a movie theater! There are live, unpredictable actors onstage, and frankly, we can't stop them from stopping you from texting if they feel like it...
Switch the volume button on the iPhone (left hand upper side of the phone) off, and disable any alarms that might sound. Or, simply turn the volume all the way down on any phone to "silence all."

2. Use the Twitter app on your smartphone to send Tweets.  If you don't use a smartphone, you can still send Tweets via text message. See Twitter for more info about setting up text message Tweets.

3. Don't forget to include #DeFindYourself in all Tweets about the show. This will ensure that anyone can search #defindyourself and follow all of the chatter happening about the show! ***Note: if you don't see your Tweet when you search #DeFindYourself on Twitter, your privacy settings probably don't allow your Tweets to be seen publicly. If you want to change this, go to the gear icon at the top right hand corner of the Twitter page and click to find "Settings." From there, scroll down to "Tweet Privacy"and uncheck the box, "Protect my Tweets."

Are you excited? We are! We'll see you at the show!


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Behind-the-Scenes: Costumes!

Welcome to the final rehearsals of As You Like It! We are SO close to opening night (this Friday, September 28th)!

(psssst– did you see our banner go up in front of the Don Powell theatre? Woohoo!)
One of the most important design elements of this show is the costuming. Our designer, Angie Zanolini, really has her work cut out for her and the costumes look GREAT! 
So where does the costuming process begin? First, Angie collaborated with our assistant director, Amy Shine, to get an idea of the directorial vision of costumes for this piece. Inspirational images for costume design were assembled.
Rosalind inspiration
Touchstone inspiration
Celia 
Celia
Oliver
Oliver
Next, Angie went to work on pulling costumes from SDSU's costume storage. She then modified those costumes to ensure proper fit for the actors.
Rosalind (Katie Rich)

Touchstone (Erika Appel)
Celia (Chanel Lucia)
Oliver (Kay McNellen)
Then, with the approval of the directors, Angie added accessories and extra touches to make the costumes a perfect fit for the show!
Oliver and Celia (Kay and Chanel)
Touchstone (Erika)

Rosalind and Orlando (Katie and Aaron)
She also designed the makeup the actors will be wearing onstage. The actors have taped her designs to the mirror to help them apply their own makeup:
Do you spy a dramaturg in this photo?

Like all the hard work you see here? (I know this dramaturg (Jessica) does!) Come to the show to see more– we're thrilled to show everyone our work!



Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Preview


Thanks to Shelley Orr's marketing class, we have this awesome trailer for our show! Check it out and be sure to click "Share!"

#DeFindYourself

Join the conversation about our show on Twitter using #DeFindYourself!



... and, ACTION!

Our production of As You Like It is drawing nearer! We open this Friday, September 28th in the Experimental Theatre at SDSU. Have you not bought your tickets yet? What are you waiting for?! Get on it before tickets sell out!

In the meantime, the cast, technical crew, and designers had a long weekend of rehearsals spent incorporating all of the technical and design elements into the show. They were real champs!

Everyone is working hard at the tech table in Saturday's rehearsal
The actors move from cue to cue in rehearsal 
Everyone onstage in the opening scene
One of the most exciting technical aspects of the show is the film projection. Yes– there is video (and even some LIVE video!) in this production. Fun, right?


Close-up of the projection screen
Our film director, Aana Meyers, has been busy filming clips that will make up the first act of the show. Check out Angie Zanolini, our costume designer, giving Kay McNellen (Oliver) some special effects make-up as the film crew looks on...


In the next clip, Aaron Drake (Orlando) gets some, too.


You know what's coming... Brother duel from Act I of As You Like It!


Very cool, no?

These are just rough film clips. You'll see the finished product in our show, opening THIS weekend!

Next up in our backstage tour is a glimpse at costumes and makeup as we move into dress rehearsals. Stay tuned and remember to buy your tickets!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Behind the Scenes: Lighting

As anyone who has ever been in a nightclub can attest, lights play a huge part in setting the mood. Coincidentally, theatre lights are also usually a huge part of bringing a show to life. In the case of this show, our lighting designer, Heather Melville, has been hard at work making our stage space look like a vibrant nightclub. Check out some of the pictures she used to inspire her design:






From these inspirations, Heather created a lighting plot. This is like a map of where all of the lights in the theatre will be hung. It looks like this:


(If you look closely, you can see where all the lights are drawn onto the grid....)

Then, some handy lighting technicians took over the theatre for a day to hang all of the lights and make sure they were focused on the parts of the stage where the action will be:


Lots of hard work and ladders, right?

Finally, Heather's hard work is unveiled in rehearsal. It looks super-cool!





Come see us when the show opens next week (Sept. 28th) to get the full effect of Heather's awesome lighting design!

Also, in case you haven't already, join our Facebook event page and feel free to invite friends! 

(Still need to buy tickets? Do it here: http://theatre.sdsu.edu/index.php/season_of_plays/AsYouLikeIt)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

#FREE stuff?!?!

How to get free tickets to As You Like It (opening NEXT FRIDAY, September 28th!!!):


1. Find SDSU Theatre on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheatreSDSU
2. Follow SDSU Theatre for updates about shows and other School of Theatre events.
3. Re-Tweet this for a chance to win free tickets to As You Like It!






Just 10 more days until opening night... Are YOU ready?