BWW Blog: Derek Vandi on Rehearsals for Last Act Theater's THE HAPPY COUPLE

Austin's Last Act Theater Company continues their 2012-2013 Season with THE HAPPY COUPLE by Texan playwright James Venhaus.

The entire rehearsal process has been documented by cast member Derek Vandi via his blog on the Last Act Theater Company website which he has allowed us to post below. BroadwayWorld extends its gratitude to Mr. Vandi and the Last Act Theater Company for sharing this content with us.

MORE INFORMATION REGARDING "THE HAPPY COUPLE"

To celebrate their anniversary, Michael and Mary Elizabeth visit the first home they ever lived in together. But the visit takes an unexpected turn when they discover a group of squatters living in the house. Last Act Theatre Company is proud to present this moving story about what happens when circumstances force people to face the reality of their situations. See what truths bubble to the surface when two different worlds collide!

THE HAPPY COUPLE, directed by Karen Alvarado, stars Austin favorites Suzanne Balling and Scot Friedman as the titular Happy Couple, and Rob Novak, Derek Vandi, and Lindsay McKenna as the squatters. This stellar cast and James Venhaus' award-winning script are sure to take you on an emotional roller coaster ride.

THE HAPPY COUPLE plays The White House Ranch at 3410 E. Pennsylvania Ave, Austin TX May 8th thru May 25th. Performances are Wednesdays thru Saturdays at 8pm. Tickets are $12.

Please note that this is a site specific show, so seating is limited. It is suggested to order tickets in advance at www.lastacttheater.com.

This show includes strong language and simulated smoking. Not recommended for children.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

THE HAPPY COUPLE: WEEK ONE

Last Act Theatre Company officially started rehearsals for "The Happy Couple" on Monday, April 1st at the Hancock Recreation Center on 41st Street. Things started off with some character improv that allowed each actor to establish living backstory for their character and to understand the other characters in the show. Each actor was encouraged to incorporate a line from the script into the improvised scenes to link their character's past to its present. This allowed the actors to go past the printed page and truly start thinking and living like their characters.

The show's costumer, Emily, showed up to pick out costumes for the next day's publicity photoshoot. After costumes, the gang blocked two poignant and character-defining scenes from Act 2.

Rehearsal moved to Space on Manchaca Road for Wednesday night. The entire cast was present, as were the director, Karen Alvarado; assistant director, Eric Daugherty; and stage manager, Sara Billeaux. It was one big, happy family.

While being careful not to touch the black fiberglass sound insulation on the walls, the cast and crew worked through several scenes from Act 1 and took publicity photos (coming soon...). The music of practicing bands was still able to make its way into the rehearsal space, but it didn't stop Karen from establishing the future layout of the stage and its exits. Actors were already entering the world of their characters on the second night of rehearsal.

Each actor had their own paparazzi moment when they took publicity photos in the costumes selected the previous night. It had to be the earliest dress rehearsal in the history of theater!

With this kind of preparation, the show is going to be top-notch come opening night on May 8th.

Thursday night found most of "The Happy Couple" gang at the George Washington Carver museum downtown. More character improv laid out Billy's crushing, neglected childhood and Eddie's loving, guitar-crazy upbringing. Derek Vandi and Lindsay McKenna did their best "I Love Lucy" impressions while rehearsing a humorous, high-stakes, panic-ridden scene.

Billy's emotional highs and lows and Angel's show-closing scene were the focus of Friday night's rehearsal. Karen and Lindsay raised some important questions about Angel's motivation for the way she treats Billy. Derek has his work cut out for him in bringing Billy to the heights of manic anger and to the depths of remorse and sadness. "The Happy Couple" will certainly be an emotionally dynamic show.

Please stay tuned for more developments next week...

Week One Photo: Stars Suzanne Balling and Lindsay McKenna (center) pose for publicity photos.

SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2013

THE HAPPY COUPLE: WEEK TWO

The second week of "The Happy Couple" rehearsals started with the blocking of Michael and Mary Elizabeth's first scene and their big, relationship-altering fight scene on Sunday, April 7th. The fighting theme continued with the blocking of Angel and Mary Elizabeth's throwdown scene (minus the stage combat choreography) and a run-through of a poignant makeover scene between the two polar-opposite ladies.

Tuesday night's rehearsal saw the full cast and directing crew together for the first time in a few days. Despite the heavy, emotional material being practiced, everybody had a great time laughing at "The Honeymooners"-inspired jokes. Karen focused on getting Derek to "release the Kraken" as Billy in an explosive argument scene and he certainly did! His fellow actors were genuinely scared by his stage rage.

Those present at Thursday's rehearsal got the chance to see a good old-fashioned catfight, arranged by Eric and slapped out between Suzanne and Lindsay. Karen, like everyone else there, found the very convincing battle royale to be a real hoot-and-a-half. On the way out of the rehearsal venue, Suzanne "bugged out" and took some close-up pictures of a beetle that fascinated her. What a silly goose.

Props Manager Mindy Griffin was kind enough to grant LATCo the use of her house for Friday night. Rob, Lindsay, Suzanne and Derek rehearsed the last two unblocked scenes of the show. After reaching such an important milestone, some of the gang went to The Tigress Pub to celebrate a week of incredible progress and profound character discoveries over drinks.

LATCO had a big day on Saturday. Michael Meigs from Austin Live Theatre came in to interview members of the cast and crew, composer Mario Silva played his score for the show and the writer of "The Happy Couple," James Venhaus, took time out of his busy production schedule to answer questions from the cast.

All three gentleman were nothing but approachable, professional and generous with their time and knowledge. Those unfamiliar with Michael Meigs and Austin Live Theatre can learn more about them at: http://austinlivetheatre.com/?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=54. To find out more about James Venhaus and his body of work, go to: http://www.jamesvenhaus.net/.

Despite the interviews, the musical performance and the Q&A session, the gang got through its first rehearsal run of the entire show!

Monday will find the cast off-book. Please stay tuned to learn more about that next step on the road to opening night of Last Act Theatre Company's production of "The Happy Couple."

Week Two Photo: The Squatters. From left: Derek Vandi as Billy, Rob Novak as Eddie, and Lindsay McKenna as Angel. Photo by Eric Daugherty.

MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2013

THE HAPPY COUPLE: WEEK THREE

LATCo's third week of rehearsals for The Happy Couple started off rocking and rolling at the Texas Music Museum. Rob, Lindsay, Scot and Suzanne ran through Act 1 without the safety net of their precious, precious scripts. Eric took on the challenge of being as Billy-like as possible in Derek's absence. The cast still has a lot of line memorization to do, but nothing teaches an actor what to memorize better than being on stage with empty hands. Luckily, everyone in The Happy Couple is good at improvisation, so rehearsal still went smoothly.

Tuesday, the entire gang got together to run the second act at the Daugherty Arts Center and make it just as strong as the first act. The actors got even stronger as they made it through another night off book.

Emily came in to show off her sweet thrift store costume finds and see the cast put on a fashion show for her and Karen on Thursday. The final costumes are almost completely sewn up now. Following that, the cast split up and went to different rooms in the DAC to drill monologues and specific scenes. It was an incredibly good use of time and the show progressed by leaps and bounds.

The cast got some valuable time in the eventual show space Friday at The White House Ranch. Karen illuminated everyone present by lugging in the generator that powers the lights. Eric filmed character-revealing sequences for publicity materials and recorded the cast saying key lines for use in the video, along with Mario's score for the show. The whole night was captured on digital film by shutterbug Jim Mckay. Look for his behind-the-scenes photos on LATCo's facebook page soon: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Last-Act-Theatre-Company/160685483994341

On Saturday, the gang ran through the entire show for the second time ever in front of lighting designer Patrick Anthony and frequent LATCo collaborator Ben McLemore. Patrick shared his unique vision for the illumination of the set and cast of "The Happy Couple." The set-up will be as original as the play itself. Ben put his directing hat on and shared his suggestions for heightening the drama and humor of various scenes and gave each actor warm praise for their moments of brilliance. Karen made the entire experience even sweeter by bringing Clif bars for everyone.

Week Four starts tonight. Please watch this space for developments and revelations...

Week Three Photo: The "Happy" gang records some soundbites for the show's trailer.

MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013

THE HAPPY COUPLE: WEEK FOUR

Karen threw the cast a curveball for Monday's rehearsal: a speed-run of the lines from Act 1 scenes 1 and 2. When it came time to speed-run the blocking, with dialogue, the emotion of each line took over and slowed the movement down to an organic, natural pace. Karen urged her actors to delve deep to determine the motivations for certain actions each character takes and offered suggestions to make specific emotions and thoughts clearer to the audience and more physically expressible for the actor.

Tuesday night brought with it a packed Green Room at the Daugherty Arts Center. The cast and crew, including props manager Mindy Griffin and costume designer Emily Madden, welcomed playwright Johnny Meyer, director Isaac Gomez and light board operator Stephanie Forney for a rehearsal run of the entire show. Oddly enough, an offstage fight which the audience will only hear derailed the cast, which didn't have the lines completely down. However, the cast rolled over that speed bump and drove on to a solid, powerful ending of a performance which was well-received by the knowledgeable panel of theatre lovers.

The gang focused on running the lines and blocking of that tricky offstage fight, and the dialogue and action of Act 2, Scene 1 on Thursday. What once were tricky, difficult-to-remember lines became more top-of-mind after the cast drilled them over and over again. Tragically, the dynamic of the cast and crew was forever altered for the worse by the revelation that Karen and Suzanne think Derek looks similar to Judd Nelson of "The Breakfast Club" fame. Some words cut deep, ladies...

Only "Suzanne and the Squatters" (Suzanne, Lindsay, Rob and Derek) were called to rehearsal on Saturday morning, to work over their common scenes from Act 2. The lines and choices were stronger than ever, but Karen managed to find several areas in which emotions could be heightened and relationships could be deepened. In just two short hours, the entire second act was completely transformed.

For Week 5 updates, tune in next week. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

Week Four Photo: The cast of The Happy Couple. Back (from left): Scot Friedman, Rob Novak, Derek Vandi. Front (from left): Lindsay McKenna and Suzanne Balling. Photo by Jim McKay.

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