Ellen and Duff did a radio interview in Brighton.
Ellen in front of the pavilion built by George IV as his seaside residence. Notice that Ellen's wearing makeup!
The Brighton Pier in the evening.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Photos from Brighton
Ellen and Duff did a radio interview in Brighton.
Ellen in front of the pavilion built by George IV as his seaside residence. Notice that Ellen's wearing makeup!
The Brighton Pier in the evening.
Photos from Berlin
The interior of the theatre in Berlin. We didn't use the second balcony.
The cast on stage in Berlin.
Ellen's soliloquy in Berlin.
Photos from Seattle
Marg and Jessica joined us on the hotel rooftop patio in Seattle.
Ken's flight to Germany was eight hours late because flights had to go around the volcano in Iceland.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Brighton
If there is something better than perfect, our trip here from Berlin was it. We are flying on separate flights throughout this trip. My standby ticket on British Airways got me upgraded to club class. Not a big deal on a flight of less than 2 hours, but more comfortable. When Ellen arrived with the company on British Midlands, the equipment case that had been lost since Seattle was waiting for them. It seems that it had spent some time in Washington DC. Ellen was especially glad to see it since it contained her boots and hard hat.
We were driven to Brighton and checked in to the Old Ship Hotel, said to be the oldest in Brighton. Any hint of luxury stops at the lobby. The hotel is right across a very busy street from the beach (pebbles, not sand) and just down the block from the famous Brighton Pier. Fish and chips abound. San Franciscans would love it here. The fog rolls in and what was promised to be a warm, sunny day turns cold and breezy.
After listening to the concise English spoken in Berlin, the accent here sounds quite shrill (this doesn't apply to you, Sue. You have a sexy, dusky voice) Actually, since we are in England, they don't have an accent, we do.
Yesterday was to have been Ellen's first day off since we left Vancouver, but she volunteered to do a radio interview about the play in the afternoon. It went very well.
Opening night tonight. The work load is wearing on the cast and a couple of them are complaining of sore throats. Wish us well.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Berlin (cont.)
A sign at the bar in our hotel:
Happy Hour 6:00 PM -8:00 Pm
Soft drinks and beer 50 % off
Alcohol regular price
Happy Hour 6:00 PM -8:00 Pm
Soft drinks and beer 50 % off
Alcohol regular price
Berlin
In her monologue that opens ''Best Before'' Ellen says that she started flagging in order to get out from in front of the computer. That hasn't changed. So, unless indicated otherwise, you can blame Ken for the spelling and grammer here.
Ellen has discovered that the hardest part of being a star is not dodging the papparazzi and autograph seekers. It is finding time to eat and sleep. The Friday night cast party in our room broke up at 4:00AM and Ellen had to be at the theatre at 2:00 Saturday afternoon for the matinee.
Bob, one of the 5 cast members didn't make the trip, so a new cast member was added here. Due to the nature of the play, where the cast members tell their own stories, that meant a major rewrite and a lot more rehearsals here in Berlin. No days off for Ellen and very little sight-seeing. My own tourist activities have been hampered by bad timing and long lines at the museums when I did try to go. So we had to be satisfied with walks around the area. We are in the heart of Berlin, an area just east of the Brandenburg Gate.
Berlin is a Beautiful city, grand by any definition. The broad avenues and large squares add emphasis to the architecture, both old and new. The traffic is quite controlled and the sidewalks in the business districts crowded. Most major streets have bike paths delineated on the sidewalks, but it doesn't seem to cause problems. This is a flat city, and would be great for biking if we had the time.
''Best Before'' has been playing to full houses of appreciative audiences and they get most of the jokes. They are using supertitles for the stock lines (German for the English spoken lines and visa-versa) but much of the dialogue is spontaneous between the players, so some might be missed by those who don't understand English well. The new cast member adds a German comentary to try to keep everyone up to speed.
We are hoping to fly out to London tomorrow for the next run in Brighton, but the news reports are that the volcano in Iceland may shut down London airports tomorrow. Since the play doesn't begin it's run until the end of the week, this is not a crisis. but it could be a major inconvience. My own flight here was delayed, leaving me in Houston for 13 hours and causing me to get to Berlin a day late. I did get to visit with Gabriel for about 15 minutes in Houston when he was between flights.
Sory there are no pictures. I wasn't in the habit of taking the camera with me, and now I'm having trouble getting the pictures that I did take out of the camera.
Ellen has discovered that the hardest part of being a star is not dodging the papparazzi and autograph seekers. It is finding time to eat and sleep. The Friday night cast party in our room broke up at 4:00AM and Ellen had to be at the theatre at 2:00 Saturday afternoon for the matinee.
Bob, one of the 5 cast members didn't make the trip, so a new cast member was added here. Due to the nature of the play, where the cast members tell their own stories, that meant a major rewrite and a lot more rehearsals here in Berlin. No days off for Ellen and very little sight-seeing. My own tourist activities have been hampered by bad timing and long lines at the museums when I did try to go. So we had to be satisfied with walks around the area. We are in the heart of Berlin, an area just east of the Brandenburg Gate.
Berlin is a Beautiful city, grand by any definition. The broad avenues and large squares add emphasis to the architecture, both old and new. The traffic is quite controlled and the sidewalks in the business districts crowded. Most major streets have bike paths delineated on the sidewalks, but it doesn't seem to cause problems. This is a flat city, and would be great for biking if we had the time.
''Best Before'' has been playing to full houses of appreciative audiences and they get most of the jokes. They are using supertitles for the stock lines (German for the English spoken lines and visa-versa) but much of the dialogue is spontaneous between the players, so some might be missed by those who don't understand English well. The new cast member adds a German comentary to try to keep everyone up to speed.
We are hoping to fly out to London tomorrow for the next run in Brighton, but the news reports are that the volcano in Iceland may shut down London airports tomorrow. Since the play doesn't begin it's run until the end of the week, this is not a crisis. but it could be a major inconvience. My own flight here was delayed, leaving me in Houston for 13 hours and causing me to get to Berlin a day late. I did get to visit with Gabriel for about 15 minutes in Houston when he was between flights.
Sory there are no pictures. I wasn't in the habit of taking the camera with me, and now I'm having trouble getting the pictures that I did take out of the camera.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Seattle
The cast in SeattleEllen drumming at the Experience Music Project,
the rock & roll museum.
The Play has been playing to full houses of very enthusiastic audiences. Despite a few technical difficulties, it has been very well received. Audience answers to the questions posed during the play have been quite close to those in Vancouver, although one night they voted to legalize heroin, a first for the show. Interestingly, that was one of the most subdued audiences.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
We Leave Tomorrow
One day last winter Ellen was working at her traffic control job near Granville Island in Vancouver. Several theatre companies are based there. She was approached by a group of people who identified themselves as members of a theatre production company. They asked if they could film her while she worked. After a while they gave her their cards and asked her to contact them about a production they were working on. By the time she got home, they had already called her and asked for a call back. They said that her calm demeanor while she worked impressed them.
The company’s name is Rimini Prottokol and they are based in Berlin. They are well known enough to have been commissioned to produce a play for the PuSh festival here. They use professionals, rather than actors in their productions. What impressed them the most about this area was the number of flaggers at the many construction sites in the city (apparently not common in Germany) and the video gaming industry, which is very big here. The result is an interactive play named “Best Before” and Ellen is in it.
The play ran here from January 29 to February 6, just a week before the Olympics began. The real surprise came when they began talking about touring. Here are the tour dates:
Week of City
May 3 Seattle
May 10 Berlin
May 17 Brighton, UK
June 14 Toronto
June 21 Cork, Ireland
June 28 London, UK
July 5 Mexico City
Fall dates still being finalized include Geneva, Torino, Leipzig, and Paris. The company is still working on other engagements. If you have a local theatre festival, you could try to lobby them to bring “Best Before” to your city.
You can google “Ellen Schultz Best Before” for reviews or go to the Rimini Prottokol web site to see pictures.
The company’s name is Rimini Prottokol and they are based in Berlin. They are well known enough to have been commissioned to produce a play for the PuSh festival here. They use professionals, rather than actors in their productions. What impressed them the most about this area was the number of flaggers at the many construction sites in the city (apparently not common in Germany) and the video gaming industry, which is very big here. The result is an interactive play named “Best Before” and Ellen is in it.
The play ran here from January 29 to February 6, just a week before the Olympics began. The real surprise came when they began talking about touring. Here are the tour dates:
Week of City
May 3 Seattle
May 10 Berlin
May 17 Brighton, UK
June 14 Toronto
June 21 Cork, Ireland
June 28 London, UK
July 5 Mexico City
Fall dates still being finalized include Geneva, Torino, Leipzig, and Paris. The company is still working on other engagements. If you have a local theatre festival, you could try to lobby them to bring “Best Before” to your city.
You can google “Ellen Schultz Best Before” for reviews or go to the Rimini Prottokol web site to see pictures.
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