Which Company Member Are You?

I will try and expand it to include more company members later but I hope you enjoy!

Which Rorschach Company Member Are You? Your Result: Scott McCormick I am sorry. You seemed like such a normal well balanced person when this whole thing started but somewhere along the line you proved that not everything that is normal on the outside is balanced on the inside. You should also work on learning your lines!
Grady Weatherford
Tim Getman
Rahaleh Nassri
Jenny McConnell Frederick
Randy Baker
Which Rorschach Company Member Are You? Make Your Own Quiz

Housekeeping

There are so many things to remind you about before you all take your 4 day weekends.

Keep voting for References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot and Gabriela over at DC Theatre Scene. References . . . has a slim edge in first place but Gabi has slipped to the middle of the pack. Make sure everyone you know who loves Rorschach is voting, we can win this one. Click HERE to vote.

Page to Stage at the Kennedy Center this weekend and while there are many plays getting a first read this long weekend, there are none so important as Randy Baker's Dream Sailors. Sunday at 5:30 pm in the Family Theatre. Click HERE for all the details.

Also this weekend the playwrights will get their assignments for Myth-Appropriation: The Brothers Grimm. Then rehearsals start in earnest Monday for a one night only event next Saturday at 8pm and 10pm at Casa. Tickets are just $10 and can be ordered on-line HERE or call 1-800-494-TIXS.

Hope you have been having fun with the How Rorschach Are You? on-line poll. Let me know how you are scoring in the comments area and if I can suggest ways to improve, let me know.

For tomorrow I am working on something special so check in before you head out. All the best, and I am out!

How Rorschach Are You?

Click here and take our new exciting on-line test to see How Rorschach are you?

You are 81% Rorschach!

I am impressed. You know who we are, you get where we are going and I would even say given a little time you might consider yourself one of the tribe. Not quite yet though.

How Rorschach are you?
Make a Quiz

Poll Dancing

Which Rorschach Season 8 show would you most likely bring a date to see?
	Kit Marlowe
	The Skin of Our Teeth
	Dream Sailors
	This Storm is What We Call Progress
pollcode.com free polls

Remember this Guy?

So it begins. The casting and auditioning are in full swing for Kit Marlowe, our first show of the 8th Season.

I sat in for a while last night and watched as director Jessie Gallogly put the boys through their paces. Lots of manliness going on up on stage I thought to myself at some imaginary point in space last night, as I watched the same scenes over and over again.

This is the interesting thing about watching auditions, that after seeing the same scene over and over again, some how you are able to see something new and surprising each time. Each actor will attack the material from a different direction. Just the slightest change in inflection and a sentence has meaning that you didn't even know existed. You may here the same line a dozen times and it may not occur to you that a scene is funny until one actor decides it is and you can be won over to their side and it shades the way you see the scene from now on.

We will be going through this at least 3 more times this Season, but Jessie has me feeling like we are off to a great start. Well done gentlemen!

1/2 Way to 1000

From time to time I like to share some of the arty pictures I take in the world with you my Marianne Faithful readers. It's a tower in Gettysberg by the way.

This is our 500th Entry here on the Rorschach Blog and as in the past I will list off some of my favorite entries of the past 100 or so, but first some house keeping.

We are ahead in the DC Theatre Scene's Peoples Choice Awards in both Best Play and Best Actress, but there are still 2 weeks to go before the polls close and we seem to have bottomed out at 22 or 23 votes. We need more. So figure out the best way to get more votes people, without cheating that is! VOTE HERE!

Tim Getman was interviewed by our friend Jane Horowitz forabout his past in Woolly Mammoth's upcoming production of The Unmentionables. Read what Tim has to say about missionaries and his parents from last Wednesday's BackStage Column in the Post. Scroll down to the part of the article where is says Culture Clash for the interview.

6 Best of the last 100 Entries

• 10 Reasons References is Cooler than Star Wars
• God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut
• References to Tennessee Williams . . .
• Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk
• Post Cards and Results
• Inspiration

See you again when we get to 600!

Business Day

There is a beginning to everything.

First off thank you to everyone who voted in the DC Theatre Scene's People's Choice Awards yesterday.

Lorraine Treanor at DC Theatre Scene sent me this email:

Our Back-Up Plan
In case of a tie, we'll have a wrestling match.
Would like to see you go up against Michael Kahn and Gabriella against Nancy Robinette. Now THAT's entertainment! Thanks for ratcheting up the excitement.
-Lorraine

Gabi and References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot have pulled ahead of all the nominated actresses and shows, but there is still more work to do. If you haven't voted vote, if you think it might be worth sending an email out to your friends to have them vote, please do so. This thing is in our grasp until someone else starts lobbying harder than we do. Vote HERE if you haven't already and read below if you need a refresher on the 411.

Two big new play events coming up in the following weeks. The first one is Rorschach's contribution to the Kennedy Center's Annual Page to Stage Event. Rorschach's Co-Artistic Director Randy Baker, will be having a preview of the first Episode of his new work Dream Sailors on Saturday, September 2nd at 5:30 p.m. in the Family Theater at that Big Theater on the Potomac.

Dream Sailors will play out over four episodes and will receive its World Premiere this Spring as part of Rorschach's Season 8.

The event is free and you can make a day of it or even a weekend as other theaters will be giving free readings of new works. This is a great event and fantastic way to see some of your favorite actors, directors and especially playwrights bring life to new words and works.

In the same vein of getting in on new works, how about seeing six of them in one night.

Rorschach proudly announces, our own new annual event. Myth-Appropriations will bring 6 playwrights, together with 6 directors and numerous actors and designers to bring six new plays to life in just six days.

The plan is that each year a different set of myths, fairy tales and sagas will be tapped for their dramatic potential and will be fully produced in just 6 days. This year the playwrights will tackle the works of The Brothers Grimm. Yes, all of those warm stories of sibling torture, children being eaten and matricide of your childhood will be brought to theatrical life in about the same amount of time that it takes a lot of shows to simply get through a first read and table work.

Here are some of the folks who will bring this thing to life:
WRITTEN BY Norman Allen, Randy Baker, Ally Currin, James Hesla, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Gwyddion Suilebhan
DIRECTED BY Jessi Burgess, Michael Dove, Dan pruksarnukul, Patrick Torres, Catherine Tripp, Andy Wassenich
DESIGNED BY David Ghatan, Robbie Hayes, Debra Kim Sivigny
FEATURING Evan Casey, Jenny Corbett, Nicola Daval, Christopher Dinolfo, Daniel Eichner, Dana Edwards, Heather Gaither, Maggie Glauber, Jeremy Goren, Michael Grew, Cesar Guadamuz, Lauren Krizner, Jason Linkins, John Michael MacDonald, Adrienne Nelson, Sasha Olinick, Helen Pafumi, Ghillian Porter, Betsy Rosen, Mark Ross, Jesse Terrill, Amanda Thickpenny, Wendy Wilmer, Simone Zvi
PRODUCED BY Randy Baker and Jenny McConnell Frederick

Participants are subject to change. But you know you want to be there.

Tickets are just $10 and there are only two shows. So if you want to book your seats early for this one night only event on September 8th at 8 and 10 p.m. I suggest you follow this link and do so now or call 1-800-494-TIXS.

Help Us Win Something for a Change!

I have never been one to try and interfere in elections. I was accused of voting irregularities when I ran student government elections in college. I was cleared of all charges and was given a half hearted apology by the man who did the accusing. That being said I think Rorschach has a shot at winning an on-line poll and I am not demanding your vote but we would appreciate it.

DC Theatre Scene (née DC Theatre Reviews) has created a sort of DC People's Choice Award. They asked all of their staff and critics to list their favorite plays, musicals, actors and actresses for the 2006-2007 Season. They then took the top three choices from each staff member and created an on-line poll to choose a people's choice.

Well Rorschach is up in two categories, thank you very much Ronnie Ruff, Best Play - References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot and Best Actress - Gabriella Fernandez-Coffey for References . . .

Now I am not telling you that have to vote for us, but since you are apparently interested in Rorschach enough to read this blog, I think you might take a minute to help us win something.

Here is what you do:
1. Visit DC Theatre Scenes home page by clicking HERE.
2. Scroll down until you see the on-line poll section.
3. Click in the bubbles next to References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot and Gabriella Fernandez-Coffey.
4.You need to click the vote box at the bottom of each category.

If you want to vote in the other categories feel free, but we need your votes in Best Play and Best Actress. I can't make you vote for us, but References . . . was such a special show and I know that we loved putting it up, we hope you loved it as well.

Finally Done with the Inspiration

Inspired Yet? Third in a Series of 4

More Inspiration: Rorschach Style

Inspiration: Rorschach Style

Finally The Post Writes about Something Important

Monica Hesse over at The Washington Post had an article yesterday regarding one of DC's most unique and lasting institutions, BLELVIS. In her article, King Blelvis: An Elvis Obsession Has His Life All Shook Up, she explores the life story of one of the men that make DC more than just a one business town.

Those of you unfamiliar with Blelvis, I can only say you have been missing out on one of those rare experiences in life. As Blelvis makes his rounds between 14th Street and Mount Pleasant, he sometimes drops by Casa and brings joy to the folks standing out front who are on a smoke break or baby sitting the show. My interactions with Blelvis have always been among my best memories of working for Rorschach. Name an Elvis song and he will sing it for you. Give him a word and he will free associate it to an Elvis tune. This isn't a simple parlor trick this is the man's passion. A passion that seems to have taken its toll according to the article.

There is a lot to think about in the article, Blelvis like all of us has a family and a past. He has given his life over to the pursuit of what some people might consider a sort of novelty act, but I think they are missing the point. Blelvis like any performer is trying to share what he has in his heart, whether the world has room to support a Black Elvis impersonator or not.

And what does Blevis ask in return? Some times it's a cigarette or a small cash gift to Blelvis's favorite nation, "do-nation". And it is always worth it. I never leave him without smiling. There was a while where Blelvis went away and when he returned I asked where have you been? His response, "Blemphis."

Even thought I don't claim to be Blelvis's friend we did have one serious talks, about how people just don't seem to get him the way they used to. One night last spring during the run of Dali he told me that he got chased off from in front of the Raven. The Raven for Christs Sake!People talk about how DC has no character, well why aren't they embracing the character it does have.

Blelvis has walked the streets of DC for over 20 years bringing joy to a lot of white middle class kids who have come into town for a good time. And because Blelvis has tapped into something we all enjoy, even if we don't admit it, the life and work of Mr. Elvis Aron Pressley, he has made that good time just that much sweeter.

Long live the king!

Side Man (or Woman)

There are so many projects that Rorschach family members engage in when they aren't in Rorschach shows.

Many of those projects are theater related, working for other theaters and the like, but many of them are film and even internet related.

One of our company members has some contacts in a certain civil liberties organization and when the call went out for some voice over work for some flash animation, Rorschach company members and alums answered the call.

See if you recognize the voices in this spot regarding Surveillance and Pizza.

And here is a little piece called the Adventures of Average Joe.

Finally here is a film project called The Chase starring Rorschach Company members Grady and Karl. Look towards the end for a guest appearance by Rorschach Board Member Ben Hill.

Dig Karl's hat people! Dig it!

My Knees Ache

God do my legs hurt!

Spent about 3 hours on the river in a tube with 3 lovely ladies yesterday afternoon. Now don't get me wrong I love the view of the river drifting by as much as anyone. I also believed that I took fairly standard precautions in terms of sun and bug protection. I was mistaken on at least one of those counts.

The tops of my knees and feet are bright red. If I wasn't at work today, there is no way I would be wearing pants. I have to sit very still or the throbbing begins again.

I had a great time on the river yesterday, I just wish I had been a little more careful about where I put sunscreen! I should have some more Rorschach News after the pain dies down.

Season Review: Collage

Did You Know Playwrights Have Blogs?

So once again I am going through the Google alerts I receive to find out who is trash talking Rorschach in the blog-o-sphere. Sometimes it isn't trash talk but instead people who are genuinely excited to be working with us. Jason Grote who some of you may remember is the playwright for next summer's Premiere of This Storm is What We Call Progress, has been kind enough to link this blog on his page for quite a while now.

The mention in his Wednesday's Post, A Big Hello to All You Fascists Out There in Internet Land!, examines who exactly is visiting his blog. This is a topic that we here at the Rorschach Blog take very seriously.

Once again someone doing a web search typed in Blessed Be the Ties That Bind, a hymn title which I referenced a year and a half ago when showing pictures of the various knots used to secure the actors of Fair Ladies . . . in their costumes. So there is a church group somewhere in America who keeps coming to the Rorschach Blog looking for song lyrics.

Read what Jason has to say about certain elements and his run in with the INS and folks trying to determine whether he is a self-hating Jew. And he also mentions the fact that Rorschach is doing his play next summer. Jason is a great writer and I recommend if you have a couple of extra minutes take a look at his blog, The Inauguration of the Jason Grote Dome.

Second, but no less important, Gwydion Suilebhan is excited to be writing for our upcoming Myth-Appropriation: Brothers Grimm event. Follow our link for more details but Gwydion does a pretty fantastic job of summing up the project on his blog, Things I Hate (and/or Love). His Wednesday Post, Things I Love #699 is a great way to see the excitement that is building about Rorschach's Next Big Thing.

I encourage all of you to read these guys blogs and get an even better peek behind the curtain into not just how Rorschach produces plays but where those plays come from in the first place.

5 Timers Revealed

I have compiled a list of folks who have worked for Rorschach over the years in various capacities. Whether, as an actor, director, designer, stage manager, assitant designer or other there have been a lot of folks to trod our boards.

Recently there has been some discussion about the 5 Timers Club and who is in it and who is not. I now know who is on that list.

I could start a fight by tellinig exactly how many shows everyone has worked on and if you all really are as anal as me you could take the time to do the math yourself, but all I did was count acting and design credits to determine who has been involved with 5 or more shows.

Here they are in alphabetic order:

Lindsay Allen
Randy Baker
Matt Frederick
Jenny Frederick
Tim Getman
Andrew Griffin
Eric Grims
Jason Linkins
Scott McCormick
Deb Sivigny
Matt Soule
Jason Stiles
Yasmin Tuazon
Grady Weatherford

There are many more folks who are in striking distance at the moment and I am sure they will join the rest very soon. Now just to make it clear, there are no smoking jackets! There is no secret handshake! And none of us know who really killed JFK!

Enjoy the heat!

Tuesday's Summer Scavenger Hunt

There are many days when there is no new news to report here on the blog.

In the past this has led to such features as the Rorschach Word Search, Arghs and Crafts, and the blog entry I wrote from the future In the Year 2056.

Today I take a different tack. I will list ten things that I would like someone to send me and see if any of them come to me:

1. A match book from Jaleo.
2. A program from God of Vengeance (my first show for Rorschach) Copy is acceptable.
3. A blue drink umbrella.
4. A needle and thread.
5. A pen with pink ink.
6. A map of downtown Paris in French.
7. A guide book to any of the Smithsonian Museums in a language other than English.
8. A hermit crab shell with the Batman Logo painted on it.
9. Three words that rhyme with Satchmo.
10. A photo of Big Foot.

If you want to just take a picture of the item and email it to me send it here. If you want to mail it send me an email and I will send you my mailing address. Good luck, there is no prize, I just want to understand the power of the internet better.

Hrmmmm

Today is a Monday in August. As many of you may have noticed this city empties out during the summer. This is particularly felt on Mondays and Fridays.

I never have trouble finding a bus seat on a Monday or a Friday.

I also notice that visits to this here blog tend to dwindle during the summer time as well. So the effort of posting on a Monday or a Friday seems particularly pointless. Yet I push through and find something of interest to post even on a muggy day like today where it feels like I am the only person in the world who has bothered to show up.

To those of you, who like I, save up all your vacation time on the off chance that you may be required to use it for a production or an audition, I say Happy Monday!

Season End Review: Designers and Such

I know sometimes it seems like I make it seem like all these shows need is a script, actors and an audience. But obviously that is a lie. There are so many other folks who make these shows possible. Some times they are the true stars of the production, whether it be sets, costumes, lights, props, stage management, dramaturgy, electrics, production management or direction these are the folks who make it more than just some folks talking on stage.

I could break down the designers into new and old, but somehow I know I would mess that up, so lets just thank them on a show by show basis:

Monster
DIRECTED BY: Randy Baker
DESIGNED BY: Debra Kim Sivigny (Set), David C. Ghatan (Lights), Erin Nugent (Costumes), William Burns (Sound), Andrew F. Griffin (Asst. Lighting Design)
STAGE MANAGED BY: Megan Reichelt, Jillian Levine-Sisson (Asst. Stage Manager) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Jessie Gallogly
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY: Grady Weatherford

Rough Magic
DIRECTED BY: Jenny McConnell Frederick
DESIGNED BY: Eric Grims (Set), Andrew Cissna (Lights), Frank Labovitz (Costumes), Matthew Frederick (Sound), Debra Kim Sivigny (Props), Andrew F. Griffin (Asst. Lighting Design)
DRAMATURGY: Rachel Miller
ASST DIRECTOR: Ryan Taylor
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY: Casey Kaleba
STAGE MANAGED BY: Megan Reichelt, Cecilia Cackley (Assistant SM)

References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot
DIRECTED BY: Shirley Serotsky
DESIGNED BY: Robbie Hayes (Set), Andrew F. Griffen (Lights), Pei Lee (Costumes), Matthew Nielson (Sound), Jean Ann Douglass (Props), Connor Dale (Asst. Lighting Design), Justin Titley (Asst. Set Design)
DRAMATURGY: Jacqueline E. Lawton
STAGE MANAGED BY: Cecilia Cackley and Ashley Hollingshead (Assistant SM)

birds
DIRECTED BY: Wendy McClellan
DESIGNED BY: Jacob S. Muehlhausen (Set), Deb Sullivan (Lights), Debra Kim Sivigny (Costumes), Matthew Nielson (Sound), Andrew F. Griffin (Asst. Lighting Design), Veronica Lancaster(Asst. Set Design)
STAGE MANAGED BY: Viv Woodland
ASST. STAGE MANAGERS: Alex Aaron and Jake Melville

Season End Review: New Faces Part II

Couple of things before I round out the New Faces of Rorschach Review.

The Rorschach Web site has been updated and now has information on all of Season 8. Including information on our rediculously cheap subscriptions. Follow this link and find out what $75 can get you. If you are a student or a senior you get a whole season for just $55. That is cheaper than some of the seats at Studio or Areana or Shakespeare for just one show. Check it out.

Rorschach now has a Myspace Page. Like every other 14 year old girl and hipster in the world we are adding friends left and right. So if you are into that kind of thing and I know many of you are because you are already friends on my own Myspace account, consider giving us an add. The place is still under development but check out the slide show and Tom Waits song I put up. I am so giddy it hurts some times.

Onward! References . . . was sort of our vet heavy show of the season, with only one new performer gracing our stage. But what a find she was! Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey. Look at that sexy woman above. She was a find and a half. Seriously it was good to have some fresh blood in a cast of war weary Rorschach vets.

Conversely, birds was one vet and a lot of new blood. Timmy Getman was surrounded by some fantastic performers in birds.

We were very lucky to get the dynamic duo of Brian Hemmingsen and Nanna Ingvarsson to join us for the summer. There are very few folks who bring as much talent and experience to a show as these two. I don't want to make them sound old, that is the tendancy when you are talking about people who you respect and admire, but they are pros and we are lucky to have had them in our sand box this year.

Joining them were Marissa Molnar and Jjana Valentiner. Not exactly rookies but they are just the kind of artists and performers we love to have up on our stage. Folks willing to take risks. Who are fierce in the way they perform and who know something about hard work and sacrafice.

I am going to be trying to do a show count for everyone who has performed in a Rorschach show very soon. But tomorrow a quick look at the designers and directors who made this year so special.

Season End Review: New Faces Part I

There are many times when people will say to me that Rorschach and many small theaters hire the same folks over and over again. It is hard to get your foot in the door because the company is like a closed shop.

I will be the first to admit that Rorschach does use a lot of great actors in their shows as often as they can. There is a joke in the company about the 5 Timers Club and getting a smoking jacket and a secret hand shake. (Just to remind you all this is a joke and there are no smoking jackets, so stop asking.)

Despite the fact that we use some of the same people over and over again we also are one of the only companies that makes it a point to bring in new talent on a regular basis. Today and tomorrow I will show you the number of new faces that have graced the Rorschach stage over the course of last season.

For instance the picture above from Monster none of those folks had ever been in a Rorschach show before. Out of a cast of 9 only 2 had ever been in a Rorschach show before. So Lily Balsen, Nicky Daval, Jeremy Goren, Tiernan Madorno, Ryan Nealy, Robert Rector, and Jon Reynolds all walked into Rorschach history last fall.

Then there was Rough Magic, where Jenny brought together a group of Rorschach regulars but she also found the right people for the right roles outside of the usual suspects.

New actors to Rorschach included Diana Cherkas, Danny Gavigan, Lee Liebeskind, Dustin Loomis, and Vasanth Santosham.

I think more than any other company in town Rorschach has found the right balance of Company vets and new talent to grace our stages. While other companies of our size (and I mean no disrespect when I say this) pad out their shows with Equity actors and force their regulars into roles that may not be the best fit for them, Rorschach is constantly bringing new faces to our audiences. We are lucky enough to have worked with folks who have found success on the larger DC stages after working with us and hopefully we can intice them back every now and then, but as with so many people I know Rorschach is one of, if not their first professional credit in DC. I hope that continues forever.

I will finish off the new actors tomorrow and then look at the new designers and directors who graced our lives on Friday.