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Ordway Blog: Stay connected here with what is happening at Ordway and take a look at what is going on behind the scenes.
Construction Update
Thu, Jul 15, 2010 11:44 AM by Ryan Jones
The Ordway is under construction this summer as the 5th street stage door entrance and loading dock are undergoing extensive renovations. The Ordway’s Stage Door entrance is getting an update thanks to the $7.5 million bonding project that was awarded to the Ordway by the State of Minnesota in 2006. The renovation process began June 14, 2010 with demolition to the Stage Door’s existing stairs. The new Stage Door entrance will include the addition of an accessible ramp using reclaimed brick from the original loading dock, as well as upgrades to the existing doors, which will include mechanized access and the installation of new security cameras. The new loading dock will allow trailers to back up directly to the building, creating an energy efficient seal. This will allow for more efficient loading in and out of show equipment and increased efficiency for heating, ventilating and air conditioning functions. The loading dock and stage door entrance, scheduled to be completed by August 30, 2010, will continue to serve as a private entrance for artists and staff of the Ordway and Arts Partners
Photos by Peter Van Johnson
Posted in Construction, Behind the Scenes
Q & A with dre.dance founder Andrew Palermo
Wed, May 19, 2010 2:25 PM by Ryan Jones
In 2004, Taye Diggs and Andrew Palermo founded dre.dance, a New York based contemporary dance company. Andrew and Taye were friends for many years before they created their company and have worked together on a wide range of projects for over twenty years. Aside from working with dre.dance, Andrew has choreographed multiple shows and has appeared both on and off Broadway. The following is a question and answer with Andrew about his experiences and inspirations for dre.dance. On Thursday May 20th, dre.dance performs their production beyond.words at the Ordway. Hear more from Andrew Palermo before the show at the Ordway Extra, starting at 6:30pm.
How did the idea of forming a dance company come about?
As I was rounding out my time performing in the original company of Wicked in New York, I was beginning to work more and more as a choreographer. I knew I wanted to go into choreography full time, so I approached Taye with the idea of presenting an evening of work together.
Taye and I had been friends since high school and taught many masterclasses together over the years. We share a commonality and respect each other’s work, so it seemed like a good idea to lean on each other, as it were, with our first full evening of dance.
We went to Dancers Responding to Aids and offered to co-produce the show with and for them, benefiting their wonderful organization. They were excited at the idea, having only one request; that we were more than just ‘Taye and Andrew’. Hence, dre.dance was formed.
What is the meaning of dre.dance?
It’s a combo of our nicknames; ‘Drew’ and ‘Taye’.
What do you look for in the dancers you hire for dre.dance?
We really require a lot from our dancers.
First, they must be technically very strong.
Second, they must be extremely athletic. We don’t separate what the boys and girls do. They all throw each other, and themselves around.
Third, they must be able to tell a story. That doesn’t mean that they are always in ‘narrative’ mode. It means that, even through the simplest movement, or lack thereof, they must have something going on inside.
Fourth, they must ‘get’ our style.
Lastly, they must be collaborative and have a passion for performing the work. dre.dance is a family. We need each other to succeed. So, if one person isn’t pulling their weight, or is not jibing with the rest, we all feel it. It has to be a group effort.
What dance movement styles inspire your choreography?
Taye and I really just let it all filter through us. We don’t narrow our choices based on what piece we’re working on. That said, we pull from almost everything: classical technique, jazz, hip hop, theatrical choreography, pedestrian movement, gesture. You name it, we use it.
What comes first, the music choice or the choreography?
It depends on the piece. We’ve worked in every order. Sometimes the idea is first. Sometimes, the music. Sometimes, the choreography.
What event made you decide to start on this journey in creating beyond.words?
This piece was inspired by a CNN feature about a woman with ‘severe autism’, Amanda Baggs. Ms. Baggs makes videos that shed a light on ‘a day in the life’ for her. The video that really exploded and struck a chord with me is entitled ‘In My Language’. The crux of the message of this video is, ‘just because I (Amanda) speak a different language than you (neuro-typical people), it doesn’t mean that it’s not valid, and maybe you should learn to speak MY language, and not the other way around’ (paraphrased). This message blew me away and led us on our way to create the work.
What are the major lessons you learned while creating this dance piece?
I’ve been thrust into this wonderful community of people affected by the autism spectrum. It’s been a beautiful lesson in how to work with people with special needs while not attempting to strip away who they are at their core. I’ve now taught dozens of classes with people on the spectrum as well as workshops for parents and caregivers to utilize movement therapy. None of this would have happened without ‘beyond.words’.
I think, most importantly, I’ve learned to judge people less. We all have our idiosyncracies, passions, habits; things that make us ‘different’. If someone behaves differently than I do, that doesn’t make it wrong, or them dysfunctional, but simply different than me.
What do you want people to take away from “beyond.words”?
That the only way to understand someone, and potentially make their experience in this world a more realized one, is to approach them with openness and love. Trying to cure someone is definitely not the only way.
Are you creating any new works for dre.dance right now?
We just premiered ‘dre.diohead’, and evening of dance to music by the iconic band, Radiohead, in NYC two weeks ago! And now, we’re presenting it at the Ordway’s wonderful school performances this Tuesday and Wednesday.
We’re also just starting to germinate on the next piece. Keep your eyes out!
Where do you see dre.dance in ten years?
Hopefully all over the world!
www.dredance.com
www.facebook.com/pages/dredance/18881769562
www.youtube.com/dredancetube
www.myspace.com/dredancenyc
Posted in dre.dance, Dance, Behind the Scenes
Q&A with Estelle Parsons, star of August: Osage County
Thu, Mar 11, 2010 4:37 PM by Ryan Jones
The Ordway is extremely excited to have August: Osage County here from March 16- 21. For those of you not familiar with the show it has won multiple Tony Awards as well as a Pulitzer Prize and stars the Academy Award winning actress Estelle Parsons as Violet Weston the pill popping, unsettled matriarch of the family. When Violet’s alcoholic husband goes missing her whole extended family reunites for a completely shocking and oddly funny reunion that makes anyone’s family seem completely normal in comparison. Estelle Parsons is probably best known for her hilarious role as Roseanne Conner’s mom, Beverly Harris on the sitcom Roseanne but Estelle is a well known theater actress too. Making her Broadway debut in 1956, Estelle calls theater her passion and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2004. In the Q&A below Estelle discussed this dynamic role and a few other things about her iconic career as an actress.
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Q: After appearing in the show for almost a year on Broadway, why were you so eager to go on the road with August: Osage County?
A: I haven’t had much opportunity to tour, because I was always bringing up kids. I went on the road for three months with Miss Margarida’s Way, but most of the time when I got an offer to go on the road or go to London, I couldn’t go. But I’ve always loved the idea of touring: I have this old dream of being in vaudeville.
And there are all kinds of different audiences out there. I learned that from doing summer stock. Audiences are always a learning opportunity.
Q: Actors always say that each audience has a certain personality. Do you find that affects your performance?
A: Absolutely, particularly with this play, where the audience is so dynamic and so vocal in every way – moaning, groaning, laughing, crying. The audience is really the third essential part. They’re not just sitting on their hands listening. They’re incredible and they’re always different, and as we go from city to city, I’m sure they’re going to be very different in different places.
Q: How did you wind up doing the role on Broadway?
A: Rondi Reed [who originated the role of Mattie Fae Aiken, Violet’s sister] and Laurie Metcalf, both of whom belong to Steppenwolf, are friends. I’ve worked with both of them at Steppenwolf, and with Laurie on Roseanne. We were out one night, and they said, “Deanna’s leaving. You should play that part.” I had seen the play a couple of weeks before, and I said, “What are you talking about?” And they said, “Ever since we read this play, we thought you would be perfect for the part.” And of course I’m still wondering why they thought that. Anyway, after a few days, I called Rondi and told her I was interested. She said, “Okay, I’ll put it in motion.” And she did. I went to meet the director, and they hired me.
Q: Did you audition?
A: I did. I always prefer to audition, because very often when you’re saying the words out loud, you really can tell whether you want to do a play or not. The audition was the dining room scene, which is really, really tough. So I thought, “Let me work on this for awhile, and see if this is something I really want to be up there doing.” The more I worked on it, the more I loved it. And then when I auditioned, it just came alive, like whoosh. I thought it was wonderful.
Q: You’ve said that you didn’t go into the play with the intention of making the role your own. Could you elaborate?
A: The play was a very big hit, Tracy Letts won the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award, and Deanna and Rondi also won Tonys. Quite aside from the prizes, I think that if something is a hit, then the hit should be maintained. The play wasn’t broken, so I didn’t see the need to go in there and fix it. I thought my job was to replace what was there, to do what is there. I had seen Deanna do the role, and I’ve spent my whole adult life looking very seriously and concentratedly at actors. So I just felt I was her doing the role. People laugh at me when I say that, because I’m nothing like her. But I don’t usually try to put my personal stamp on things. I try to play the play the way it’s written.
Q: What do you think of Violet? Do you like her?
A: I think she’s a wonderful person who went astray. I have sympathy for her. Do I like her as a person? It’s hard to know what’s underneath all that. I think she is basically a colder person than I am, and it’s been very exciting to work on that. But I do love her. I think she was a very smart, sensitive woman who was deeply abused as a child, and consequently bears the scars. Who knows what would happen to people if they didn’t have the background they have.
Q: Deanna Dunagan said that one of the reasons she left the Broadway production and took time off before doing the play in London, was because she was exhausted. Does the role affect you physically and/or emotionally?
A: It’s a very vigorous role, but I’m used to doing musicals and I’m used to doing very vigorous stuff. I wouldn’t say I’m exhausted by it. But I do think that it takes up your whole life.
Q: Everyone marvels at how you go up and down those stairs. How do you stay in shape?
A: I’ve been very physically active all my life. Dance lessons, yoga, running, hiking. I would have loved to have been a skier or a tennis player if I weren’t an actor. I run or swim or go to the gym every day, and also do yoga. I started doing weights when I got into my 60s, and have had a lot of trainers. When you get older, your strength dissipates very quickly. It probably starts in your 60s, but when you get into your 70s, if you don’t walk a mile for a couple of weeks, pretty soon it’s hard work to walk a mile. So I’ve always kept up with it, not because I thought it would be particularly helpful in my work – though I do think actors should be extraordinarily self-aware physically – I just can’t help myself. My husband is like that too. That’s our lifestyle, which came in handy when I started this show.
Q: How did the role come about in Bonnie and Clyde?
A: In 1966, I was doing the Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, MA. I had seen Arthur Penn’s movies, and I wanted to work for him. I managed to get an interview with him for The Skin of Our Teeth, which he was directing that summer in Stockbridge, and he hired me. And working with him, I suddenly knew that I was in the right profession. I was [almost] 40 by that time, so I’d been in it a long time. But I always used to think, “Am I in the right profession? Maybe I should have kept on at law school, or maybe I should try something else.” But working for Arthur Penn, I realized that I was in the right place and I should be doing what I do, and how wonderful it is when I can have that kind of experience on the stage.
And then he asked me to do Bonnie and Clyde. I was just about to move to San Francisco and join a rep company, which I’d always wanted to do. And the day after he asked me to read the script, I got a phone call telling me that the funding for the rep company had fallen through. So we weren’t going. I called Arthur and I read the script, and I thought, “Why is he offering this to me?” I’m really not too interested in movies. But the more I read it, I realized it was an incredible part. And I really was excited to work with Arthur again.
Q: Did the Academy Award affect your career?
A: It did in that I could have had a lot of movie success, which I wasn’t really interested in. Looking back on it, I think that’s kind of too bad. Sam Cohn was my agent, and we were getting all these really good offers. But they conflicted with work I was doing onstage, things that really interested me. I did a few movies, but I did them when I was on vacation from a theater job. My life just wasn’t about movies: I don’t think I ever chose a movie job over a theater job. I started in cabaret. I did Jerry Herman’s first revue in a club, and two revues of Julius Monk’s Upstairs at the Downstairs. And I had my own nightclub act. Like I said, I love vaudeville. I’ve always been interested in that kind of pure entertaining. I love to entertain people. I love to hear them laugh. I love the silences, when they don’t know what’s going on – though I must say that the silences in this play kind of scare me sometimes. I think, “My God, they’re so quiet, and they’re watching every move I make.”
Q: Well, you are – she is – very frightening.
A: That’s true. She’s a great, great character. I don’t fool myself that it’s me. I know it’s me and the character. But if you don’t have a great, sound, wonderful character that reaches audiences, you can’t do it on your own.
Q: Millions of people know you from Roseanne. It was taped in front of an audience. Was the experience similar to doing a play?
A: No. The audience was there, but they were manipulated – laugh now, applaud now. So it’s not like a theater audience. It’s a completely different experience. You don’t have that long with a script. A good play is so dense that it takes you three or four weeks to figure out what you’re talking about. That’s never true in films and TV, which is cool because you’ve got to get up and do them, and there’s a certain fun in that – but not enough to make me want to do it instead of theater. It’s hard work in the theater. Eight shows a week of anything is hard work, and you give your life to it.
Q: Your character on Roseanne was allowed to develop over time, which must have been interesting.
A: Rosie seemed to love my work. She was always laughing at me. I think she was thinking up all kinds of crazy things to do to that poor mother. She was a lot of fun. We had a great time on that show.
Posted in August: Osage County, Behind the Scenes
Beauty and the Beast on Twin Cities Live
Fri, Dec 18, 2009 11:03 AM by Ryan Jones
For the past seven weeks, KSTP-TV’s Twin Cities Live has followed the creative process of putting together Ordway’s production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast with weekly broadcast segments. Watch the videos below to see the show evolve from designing the sets to the final production.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast runs now through Jan 3. Tickets >>
Posted in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Behind the Scenes, Musicals
Welcome to Ordway's new blog
Mon, Nov 30, 2009 5:16 PM by Kate Scarrella
Welcome to the Ordway’s first official blog post. I am extremely excited to be a part of this blog and hope you enjoy reading it as much as we will enjoy writing it. As writers we plan on sharing all types of stories like; the exciting events that are happening at the theaters, interviews and posts from our various cast members and any additional news we feel will bring JOY to you, our readers. If there is something specific you want to share with us or think we should write about please let us know.
When I was brainstorming what to write about in the first blog post I kept thinking about all the fond memories I have of the Ordway growing up and how this theater helped me to fall in love with the arts. I will never forget seeing Phantom of the Opera for the first time here in 1992. Not only did I love the show (I have seen Phantom at least 10 times) but the theater itself made the experience much more enjoyable for me and that is why I continue to come back to make more memories at the Ordway.
In 2010 the Ordway will be celebrating 25 years and in honor of the event we would love to hear from you about your favorite Ordway memories or stories. Do you remember the first production you saw at the Ordway? What has been your favorite show you have seen in at the theater? I would like to share one of the Ordway’s favorite memories with you. After 25 years of use the Ordway decided to re-do the stage this summer. Check out the video below to see how it all went down.
Posted in Behind the Scenes, Announcements
This blog is a group effort by Ordway staff, actors, artists, musicians, dancers and all those involved in the creative process of performances, programs and events at the Ordway to provide a behind the scenes look at what happens onstage, backstage and in support of the work presented at the Ordway. We also hope to discuss pertinent topics in our industry.
The purpose of this blog is to engage with you in the blogosphere. We wish to let you know that our posts do not go through any official editorial process for spelling, grammar or fact checking, therefore errors may occur – please be kind! Every blog post is open for public comment, questions or suggestions and the Ordway chooses not to pre-screen these responses. That being said, we do reserve the right to remove any offensive, illegal, or inappropriate content at the Ordway's sole discretion.
As part of our new branding initiative surrounding the joy provided by performing arts, by posting a comment, question or suggestion you provide the Ordway with the right to use your submission for marketing and promotional purposes. (I know, I know, I promise to not make future posts as boring as this one!)
Phew! I'm done talking "legal jargon." Thanks for stopping by and reading our blog!
