A Gasp of Fresh Air

Korbel finished with 2 weekends of sold out houses, and turned out to be the highest money making show ever hosted at the theatre... WOO HOO! The cast was full of amazingly talented people who were all too kind and giving for their own good. A completely spectacular experience.

Next was a youth group from southern humboldt named Recycled Youth who put on a great show and pulled some great audiences.

In between shows we had some cabarets. One aimed at an older audience which tyler, kate and i performed the song "let's duet" for and were an absolute hit... I just played the guitar, they did all the work. I designed the lights for the next cabaret aimed at the pg/pg13 audience, and tyler sang a great song which was definitely the highlight of the evening.

I finally had a chance to get out of the town and get to a local swimming hole. We hiked 2 hours up the mad river and made it to two GIANT rocks (check out the pictures) which in between them formed an amazing swimming hole. We then hiked another 10 min up river to an old dam that had been completely blown up (picture of tyler and I as we are standing in the middle of it all). It was really eerie because of all the concrete boulders and ominous dam walls that are still left over. There was also a ton of metal shards and beams that were sticking out of all the rocks and ground that made swimming extra thrilling/dangerous for Tyler and I. It felt really good to get out into the beautiful nature that is here in northern California.

The next show to come in was the show The Forgotten King put on by my brother's ex-girl friend Anna Svensson. The show was amazing and Anna's performance was more spectacular than ever. It was a show aimed for 3-year-olds, but entertained even the oldest of audience members.

The most recent completed task was the organization of the Dell'Arte Pageant. This includes a huge parade through Blue Lake and a show int he middle of the street in front of Dell'Arte. There were people on stilts and a giant samba band, all followed by a show of physical giant puppetry (sun and moon ensemble of San Fransisco) over the theme of Pandora's Box. It all went well and finished with a finale of a 100 rocket balloons shooting into the air... pretty rockin'.

Now I am just starting to wrap up my stay here. This week we have the folklife festival which features all local Humboldt bands. It shouldn't be too much work. Overall this entire experience has been extremely rewarding and fun. I will make sure to write another entry after I get back and have started with my post-California activities.

hope all is well,
Cheers!

PS: the little girl in the picture is Cora. She is the one who named me Snort.

The Thrill of This Work...

is that it is constantly changing.

The past couple of weeks have been insane. It all started with the Prize Of Hope given to Tim Robbins and the Actors Gang, and is now wrapping up in the mayhem of our first big-scale production of the summer.

The Prize oh Hope was a blast. We had about 14 people from Denmark (where the prize was originated) here in order to give out the prize and be part of the ceremony (120 total. Tickets were about 150$ each). They were the drunkest the quickest and were the loudest the fastest... sounds like my family... They sang a song for Tim and The AG and made the night a bit more festive than it usually would have been... and better yet they actually can pronounce my name!

We had an incredible amount of volunteers in order to handle the serving of food, security, and the selling of alcohol. Everyone did 150% of their work and the whole night ran like a fine-tuned machine. There was one point when a couple of drunk guys slipped in without paying to give their movie to Tim Robbins thinking it was their "big chance" to become stars... but security took care of that in the blink of an eye.

The best part about the night for me was wearing a name tag that said Dell'Arte Staff Assistant T.D. It felt good to be finally in a position of some power at a professional space.

To see the live stream and speeches go to Dell'Arte's Website and here is a link to an article that sums up a lot about the event: http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=29042

Korbel opened last night to a crowd of 250 (almost sold-out) in our backstage amphitheater and it went AMAZING. The crowd was responsive and the actors were definitely on their game... I even backed a van into a fence at the opening of the show because I was so excited.

We finished the lights Wednesday night and they were decent for the show the next day... luckily none of that heat is on me because I didnt DESIGN the show. Although I did hang every single instrument and set up every lighting position ALL BY MYSELF. A ridiculous amount of work if you look at it in the pictures. Although, I found my SODAK rigging seminar already useful in putting up those trusses and hanging the GIANT scenery pieces ( i was the official "will this work?" answerer for those couple of days.





Outside of work I am finding how anxious I am to finally be designing with light again. In the past few years I have only designed a couple of little things and it is starting to drive me nuts... this hunger for designing is really starting to show me where I find a really good fulfillment in theatre. Aside from this hunger I am learning to use Vectorworks (an Computer Aided Drafting program) and Lightwright (a lighting design spreadsheet program)... all in all: I am dying to finally get started on becoming a educated designer.

My thirst for this world is quite shocking to me. No matter how much I want to hate it (because of people just not DOING THINGS and my brother and I just having to do them ourselves) I find myself just falling deeper and deeper in love with the theatrical world, and especially with the light that illuminates it.

All the Best,
Snort
(I was nicknamed Snort by a 2 year old girl, Cora, who couldnt pronounce Søren... cutest thing in the world probably.)

Workin' For a Higher Cause

(Picture 1-Set of Korbel)(Picture 2- Henry, a local, getting into the props)(Picture 3-View from my porch)

Well now that I have finally settled down I thought I would take sometime to go through some of the things I have been working on...

My main project is the production of Korbel. It involves a set of GIANT set pieces, including a very large nurse scantily clothed. The carpenters: Goatt and Jermey did amazing jobs putting all these pieces together but when it came to lifting EVERYONE had to help. It even included a trip to the roof with my brother and helping him repel off the roof of Dell'Arte by a grappling hook. By night I am in rehearsal with this show and am working with some pretty spectacular actors. My part is very functional, as in, I am on stage practically the whole time and the show slightly depends on myself and two other guys to keep it moving. I am sure I will post more pictures once everything is done and there are some people in costume up there.

My second biggest project right now is lighting. This includes hanging, striking, cleaning and overall anything that might have to do with lighting. I teched the graduation (with Spike, the current Lighting Designer) of the students here and that was pretty eventful... it included a very semi-formal beginning where the audience sang pomp and circumstance, and it even included a Gypsy band breaking through the wall to wish the professional development students good bye. It wasnt your common graduation. Up next is the Arcata ballet in the Carlo theatre and then Prize of Hope. Prize of Hope is an award ceremony started by denmark and was given to Dell'Arte and now they are in charge of the American POH. This year it is being given to Tim Robbins (shawshank redemption) and the Actors Gang... pretty exciting. The ceremony is on the 21st but already we are kicking it into high gear in order to host Mr. Robbins.

That is about it work-wise that is happening around here. My nights are filled with Rehearsal, Sword-Fighting, dinner at Tyler and Kate's (the fishbowl), 6 feet under, and people watching on my porch.

Blue Lake is an endlessly interesting place. You have stray cats and dogs everywhere (including under the amphitheater stage) that are always friendly and wanting to be petted. Additionally you have the guy who walks around with 3 donkeys and is dressed like something right out of a movie that sells pictures of himself and his animals. I also had the privilege of seeing The Rubberneckers live (a blue lake local band that i love!) and watched them get steadily more and more drunk throughout the show but somehow just get better musically: it was magic.

Thats all for now, but there will be much more to come.

All the best,
ø

F'riggin California

Over the past week I have spent 9 hours in a car, 4 on a plane, and 8 on a bus. My back is sore, my feet are antsy, and I am ready to work.

The rigging seminar was very enjoyable. I got to work with Bill Sapsis of Sapsis Rigging and learned more than necessary in the areas of theatrical rigging systems. The week was full of good company, theatre tech bickering, and Chris Garcia's wonderful hospitality. As soon as I had left and went back, I left again... this time for a period quite a bit longer than 3 days.

With a brief stop in Minneapolis and a visit to close friends, I eventually jumped on the plane to take me off on this summer's real adventure: Dell'Arte.

I flew out to san fran and stayed with one of my brother's friends Adrian. I crashed on his couch, woke up, and had a great breakfast cooked by Adrian and his brother. As quickly as I had come I was off again. I lugged my way onto the greyhound with my two bags and sat down for the 8 hours of pure greyhound goodness. The trip was gorgeous heading up into northern California and ended with a crowd of people doing whip-it's in the back seat... I was glad the trip was over.

Tyler (my brother) and Kate (his fiance) picked me up at the Arcata greyhound station and drove me to blue lake last night. I am temporarily staying in a very nice apartment used for guest artists until some of the students move out of their places and I can take over their space. I got up this morning completely oblivious of what to do or where to go, a feeling I am afraid I will have to get used to for awhile.

I am excited to get started on the first show here, "Korbel": about a near by logging tow, and cant wait to meet all the exciting people that infest this community. Every step taken now is a great inch towards a summer of complete joy in this amazing small town where artists come to thrive in the splendor of the theatre.

I will find time to write sometime as soon as I get kicked off into the first projects...

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer, mine is only beginning.

Cheers!

The End and the Settling Into Motion

So I finished my first year of college with a good GPA and a very immense feeling of success here at Augusta College. I have learned far too much this year academically, but above anything else, I believe I will come out of here with a potent understanding of people. I truly feel like I shouldn't embellish anymore about this last school year besides two facts: I had a peachy experience at Augie, and that I am more than ready to move on.

To begin closing this chapter of what is turning out to be a pretty farcical life, I have decided the best next step is to keep moving. My summer will begin with three days at the Olsen Asylum and then be followed by my last five days in the hospitable Sioux Falls before I head off to my summer job at Dell'Arte International.

With my five days in Sioux Falls I will be attending a theatrical rigging seminar given by Bill Sapsis at The Washington Pavilion. This will be an amazing educational experience, seeing that these seminars usually cost a person about a thousand dollars and I am getting it for free thanks to the Augustana Theatre Department. Additionally it will provide me with a good five days to say adios to some people and professors who have taught me too much to even recollect.

From there I head out to little ol' Blue Lake California to an internship as the assistant technical director for Dell'Arte's summer productions. This is yet another marvelous experience. I am nervous as well as electrified about doing this, and am thrilled to get away and work by myself for the first time in my life. I have been thrust into the professional world of an art that I only grow in appreciation for everyday, I couldn't be more privileged.

I truly intend for this summer to be a catapulting force in my life's direction as I head away from California to yet another new school (University of Iowa) and a new chapter in my life. My life's road increasingly seems more and more erratic and opaque... I am choosing to accept this as a blessing rather than a curse, and am settled on seeing its outcomes as challenges as opposed to problems.

I'll make sure to send a notice when I can conjured the time to write a new post, but for now, I wish you all the best.

Cheers!
Søren