Hot Minutes- Mini- Interview with cast member Katie Soper!

Weekly Walkthrough come with Henry as he takes you on an adventure into what is happening behind the scenes of our production of Into The Woods.

Pratima's Ponderings

Hello blog readers, theater enthusiasts, parents, friends, fellow students and casual bystanders (a little nudge to the fall play- Plans).  

Welcome to the first edition of Pratima’s Ponderings. I was ecstatic to see that I would be writing for the blog this season. (Mostly because my dad is an avid reader of the blog, and if he can read about what I’m doing in rehearsal on here, it saves me a phone call!)

But in all honesty I have wanted to write for the blog since this spring. Once in a while, someone comes around that is so inspiringly talented at something that you can’t help but notice them. My blogging inspiration is Hung Hoang (’13), who wrote the remarkable Thursday Think Tanks for the Spring One-Acts. He made this whole blogging thing seem so effortless.

Emphasis on seem.

But then again, maybe it’s not so hard to write about something that I love so much? Berkshire School Theater.

The routine and vigor of rehearsal has become a comfort to me. Into The Woods is my seventh play here because I just keep coming back for more. I love so many things about Berkshire Theater, but my favorite aspect of every production is the undeniable camaraderie that develops almost immediately at the auditions. This very connection is often the reason that everyone in each cast is able to reach the pinnacle of their Berkshire Theater experience. Needless to say building up this network of joy, love and trust, as cliché as it may sound, is the most important thing we do here. And this cast has already started to cultivate this special bond with such fervor that makes me even more excited for this show than any other show I have ever done here. Everyone in the cast works so hard at rehearsals that we cannot help but respect and care about each other. That sounds like the kind of nurturing environment that yields success stories to me!

Which is exactly what we intend to bring you come February with this production.

Until next week, this is Pratima, and these have been my ponderings. 

Team Blog

Hello Blog Readers!

Our names are Henry, Pratima, and Rebecca and we will be your bloggers for the next several months! The entire cast and crew is extremely excited for our winter production of Into the Woods and we are thrilled to give you a look behind the scenes of the show and help you get to know this awesome cast and crew.

Henry, a sophomore playing the role of Rapunzel’s Prince. Henry will be making “Weekly Walkthrough” videos to show you what the rehearsal process looks like for a show as complicated and challenging as Into the Woods.

Rebecca, a senior theater captain playing Cinderella’s Stepmother. Rebecca will be sharing weekly interviews with the cast and crew to help you get to know all the people involved in the production.

And finally Pratima, also a senior theater captain playing the role of Jack’s Mother. Pratima will be posting a weekly entry called Pratima’s Ponderings sharing her thoughts and personal process while working on this production.

So keep checking in for new content! If there’s anything you want to see or hear about on the blog, comment below and let us know.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

-The Blog Crew

Into the Woods music rehearsal

Watch the cast of Into the Woods practice their musical parts for the upcoming play.

It's official! Into The Woods is the Berkshire Theater winter musical

We are very excited to announce Into the Woods as Berkshire Theater's winter musical. It is a funny play with lots of twists and turns. The play features many familiar fairy tales and mashes them into a wonderful musical adventure. You will recognize a lot of familiar faces such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and many more. We are now having a lot of music rehearsals because the music in this show is quite complicated. To learn it well, we are front loading music rehearsals with Dr. Wu and Dr. Davis. 
The audition process for this play had a huge turnout from the Berkshire student body. Auditions featured individual monologues and music solos. Then, everyone sang as an ensemble and we worked on individual song.  As we go into break, we are learning lines and songs. Excitement is building in the theater as we work on this challenging play. Keep up with the blog for all the latest updates, info, and progress.

Into The Woods cast list:

  Max Miller
Noah Faison
Kennedy Alvarez
Andrea Cass
Jordan Greco
Pratima Singh
Christiena Auguste
Alyssa Cass
Rebecca Rovezzi
Katie Soper
Annie Love
Greta Dorsey
Henry Thomas
Hayden Graham
Catherine Xu
Merit Glover
Jeffrey Erazo

Stage Manage: Jake Diamond
Assistant Stage Manager: Anna Kravtova
Assistant Stage Manager: Carrie Babigan

Plans strike with Chrtistiena Auguste

Fun at the Plans strike. Afterward, everyone went to the cast party and had a great time.

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland

Second Performance!

This Friday, November 1^st, we held our second performance of Plans. The cast and crew couldn’t wait to put out hard work into action for the second night in a row.

Opening night is always slightly nerve-wracking, performing in front of an audience for the first time. However, being the second night, we were able to get all the jitters out of our systems, and put our best feet forward! Friday evenings are the most popular show times, so the crowd is always packed. Knowing this, we were so excited to perform for hundreds students, teachers, parents, and friends.

We felt Plans turned out to be quite a success! Thank you everyone for coming out to support the cast and crew.

Light, Stage, and Cardboard Houses

Light, stage, and cardboard houses?

The opening performance for Plans was last night! As the audience flowed through the doors they were mystified by the actors who were already on stage. The audience got to experience an average day in the life of the three neighbors. The exciting buzz is flowing around campus. From puppets, to pianos, to cat fights Plans has it all. It is sure to stir up a mixture of all emotions happy and sad. All are highly encouraged to come out tonight or tomorrow night and watch the original work of the Berkshire Theatre department. 7:30 show time and doors open at 7:15. Don't be stuck in your normal routine experience something new and come see it!
PS when the lights come on intermission has started!

Wednesday Walkthrough: Backstage

Follow senior Christiena Auguste backstage before dress rehearsal. Get your behind the scenes look peak at the Plans cast and crew getting ready to perform before an audience. The first performance is tonight at 7:30 in Allen Theater

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Mountain Day

Mountain Day!

As we were all very tired going into the start of the week, we had all anticipated a little bit of time off to recharge our batteries. It was perfect time for the school to declare that Monday a MOUNAIN DAY!

On Mountain Days, Berkshire students are all encouraged to take a hike on our beautiful mountain. This allows everyone to relax and explore the amazing mountain we are all lucky to have right in our backyard! As a theater group, we thought, “What better way to spend our Mountain Day than take a team hike?” We all gathered in front of Berkshire Hall at 10:45 and set up for our hike to Black Rock. It was such an amazing time to admire the beautiful place we live in from a birds-eye view. This Mountain Day was exactly what we needed- now we cannot wait for October 31^st!

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Tech Rehearsal

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Tech Rehearsal

As we begin to finalize the play, we have what is called, Tech Rehearsal. It basically consists of running the play, beginning to end, as the stage managers stop us when needed to write light and sound cues.

The Tech Rehearsal is not only beneficial to us as actors running the play, but it primarily helps the stage managers handling the necessary backstage work. The rehearsal takes a very long period of time because of the many of times we take a pause throughout the show. These pauses could be taken for various reasons. Just to name a few: light or sound cue clarification, forgotten or missed line, improper blocking, or simply just working a line in a different way.

Doing the Tech Rehearsal always makes the play seem so much more official. For the first time, we get to perform the show under the lights with the added sound effects and background music. Then, as we are corrected by Mr. Howard and the stage managers, we feel as if the show it being polished up. It can be a very exhausting rehearsal, but it sure is worth it!

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Light Hang

Light Hang!

From 12-6pm on Sunday, October 20^th the official light hang was held. Our amazing stage managers, Merit Glover, Jake Diamond, and Lucia Liencres, along with our directors, Mr. Howard and Dom Sayler, spent all day in Allen Theater working incredibly hard. They spent many hours hanging and adjusting lights to shine various points on stage.

I was lucky enough to stop by late that afternoon to get a glimpse of what was going on. When I arrived, I saw Jake standing by the set as Mr. Howard was giving commands for needed adjustments. Dom and Merit adjusted various lights as Lucia programmed commands into a console. I was so impressed with how well everyone was working together, and how great the lighting had looked. The interior of the sets had a mesmerizing glowing effect while the rest of the stage had dark, peaceful lighting. Seeing these cool effects really brought the set to life!

After the stage managers had finished their work, I got to speak with them about their experience of the light hang.  Merit said “[she] enjoyed getting really high up on the ladders to hang lights” while Jake had fun “seeing the mood of the show with the newly lit stage.” With it being Lucia’s first light hang, she shared that “it was a lot of work and took a lot of time, but it was super fun. 

By Amy Rowland

Christiena's weekly wednesday walkthrough

Follow Senior Christiena Auguste on this week's walkthrough

Max's Minerview

This week Max sits down with two of the theatre captains Rebecca and Pratima. They talk about what its like being a leader in the theatre, what they are most excited about for about "Plans" and about PROSTUMES. If you have never heard of this word watch the video it will inform you on so very interesting life changing information.

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: The Final Line Run

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: The Final Line Run

Lines are the building blocks of every theater production. If these building blocks were not properly put together, the outcome would be sloppy and incomplete. It is therefore crucial that everyone knows their lines in order to make the finalized play set and stone. To ensure each member of the cast knows their lines, we have what is called, The Line Run.

Approximately two-thirds through the fall theater season, the line run is held. During most line runs, the cast will sit in a circle and recite the play, without scripts. However, for this play, we did our line run a bit differently. Instead of all sitting and reciting the play, we got up on stage and did the play. Not only did this ensure that the cast knew all their lines, but it demonstrated that we all knew our blocking (where/when to move around stage).

One would probably think this process would be harder because we must know both our lines AND our blocking. However, many members of the cast found this easier! After rehearsing the scenes everyday leading up to the line run, moving about the stage did not feel difficult; rather, it came natural because we were using the script and blocking that we created and recited enough times to develop the appropriate muscle memory.

The Line Run was a very successful event! The cast and crew were very content knowing everyone had been able to fully master their line memorizations. 

Theater Insider With Amy Rowland: "Yes"

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: “Yes!”

The word “Yes!” is one of the most simple, yet powerful words, and it is the motto we use in every single rehearsal. As we complete our daily warm-up, we all circle up, a member of the cast says, “What do we say?” and we all respond, “Yes!”  

When we, the cast, build the scenes, it is crucial that we try as many variations as possible. We’ll try playing the scenes using different actions, emotions, or tones to discover new possibilities.

Now you’re probably wondering: “How does the word ‘Yes!’ relate to all this?”

This is how… When we’re trying new variations, there will always be some that are fantastic, while there will always be some that are flat-out awful. However, we will never know how good or bad something is until we try it. If our theater director, Mr. Howard were to give us an idea to try, we must approach this idea with “Yes!” The idea may seem absurd; sometimes it may seem way too ridiculous to work in a scene, which may be the case. But in others, it might be exactly what we were looking for.

All in all, “Yes!” allows us to think outside of the box, and discover new possibilities to produce an amazing show. 

Christiena's Wednesday Walk-through: Puppets, Puppets, Puppets!!!!!!!

Watch this week's edition of Christiena's Wednesday Walk- Through, as she takes us through her experience of learning how to work with puppets. How are puppets relevant to the show, you ask? Well, you'll just have to come and see!

Max's Monday Morning Minerview

In this monday morning minerview Max interviews two new cast members in their first production at Berkshire School, Amir and Katie. They answer why they enjoy this theatre program and what their favorite parts are. They also say which character they would like to fight the most. Interesting answers await. Find out by watching the video below.

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Tech Crews

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Tech Crews

Have you ever wondered what went behind all the whosits and whatnots of Berkshire theater productions? How the costumes got designed? Where the posters came from? Who wrote the cast biographies in the lobby?

Well here is your answer: it’s the tech crews that make all this happen! But first, let me give you a bit of information on these “tech crews.” The tech crews were designed to allow each member of the cast to do one of the needed tasks in producing the show.

These tasks include: acquiring the necessary props, designing costumes, publicizing the show, writing the cast bios, taking head shots of each member of the cast and crew, and (of course) the blog!

Instead of taking for granted the fact that someone else magically does these tasks, we get to do them ourselves. It gives us a great opportunity to work on theater for not just what happens on stage, but what happens behind the scenes of creating a spectacular show. 

Each crew is has its own “team” with about 2-4 people. This crew of people works on their specific duties leading up to opening night of the show. Often these crew meet several times to ensure everything is complete. For example, the props crew might meet several times to create and revise the needed prop lists. They’ll go over this list with the rest of the cast to see if anyone has any of the needed items. If there are still items needed, the members of the props crew would have to hunt down the items to make sure we have them in time for the show. These tech crews are often stressful, but they are very rewarding. It’s an amazing feeling being able to step back at the completed work knowing your efforts were part of making the show a success. 

Christiena's Weekly Wednesday Walkthrough

Get an insider's view of the improv process with senior Christiena Auguste

Max's Monday Morning Minerview

This is Max's first Monday morning Minerview. This week it is with the one and only Lucia Liencres. She is one of the assistant stage managers on the show. We discussed what being an assistant stage manager is like and how she is enjoying the process.

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Warm-ups

At 3:20 each day after school, all members of the theater production gather in Allen Theater for rehearsal. Before we begin, we take about 10 minutes to relax and get ourselves focused on theater. This is what we call “warm-ups.”

We take warming-up in two stages: In the first, we take time to physically warm up, similarly to how one warms up for sports. We loosen up our hands, legs, neck, shoulders, etc. This allows us to move about flexibly and relieve any tension.

The second stage consists of warming up our minds. We close our eyes, take several deep breaths, and think of something from our day that has been bothering us; something aggravating that would not benefit us in rehearsal. We take a deep breath and leap into the air, as we reach up and “release” our burden we chose to let go. Then, we repeat this process- however, this time, we think of something that WOULD benefit us in rehearsal. We all take a deep breath, jump into the air, and metaphorically grab whatever it is we need, whether it being confidence, patience, or concentration. We take a moment to reflect on what we need, as take a moment to find some joy. Not only do we find joy, but it helps to put aside any negativity from the day, and replacing it with good vibes.  

Warming-up truly sets a good tone for rehearsal, and an overall better day. 

Cristiena's Weekly Wednesday Walkthrough

Follow Christiena Auguste on a tour of the workshop where the sets are made

Ready Set Improv

Ready Set Improv

This play is unlike any other Berkshire has ever put on. Right now the cast is up against the challenge of improvising scenes, and developing the storyline of the play. For example when we first got the scrip one of the character’s storylines was that he wanted to be an artist when he grew up but his dad wanted him to go to college because his sister was “the one artist in the family”. Now the cast and Mr. Howard have decided to make the same character have a new storyline. Denis is now a successful businessman, but wanted to be a professional baseball player when he was younger.

The progression of the script is a very time consuming but rewarding task. Especially for the actors because on show night the audience will not know what parts were in the original script but the performers will. Mr. Howard is the improvisation teacher at Berkshire School so this is right in his wheelhouse. Be sure to ask the cast after the show if your favorite part was in the original script. 

Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Line Read Through

Theater Insider: Line Read Through

One of the very special traditions we all enjoy to kick off the theater season is the first official rehearsal, a.k.a the “Read Through.” As the cast list comes up, each member of the cast and crew receives their script, and we all begin the first rehearsal.

Now, first, let me explain a little bit what this “Read Through” is.

It is exactly what it sounds like. In short, we basically “read through” the entire script. We all sit in a circle on the stage and read aloud the lines as our characters. This allows each member of the cast to get a feel for how their lines are said. This often leads to visions as to how the play could be performed on stage, or picturing possible quirks to help form our characters.

And, last but not least, there is my personal favorite part of line run… Cake! To initiate our script read through, we all get to devour the delicious milk and cake waiting for us in the center of the circle. What better way to start the fall play season? 

Christiena's Weekly Walk Through

Get a close look at rehearsal with senior Christiena Auguste

Back At Berkshire with a new Fall Play

Plans is an original heartfelt comedy created and written by Mr. Howard's past students at Berkshire Country Day. The play is still in production and the cast is improvising and constantly changing the script. This process is very interesting because we are still changing the script and will be for a few more weeks. On performance nights some of the scenes will be slightly improv. The production follows the lives of three middle age neighbors whose sixteen-year-old selves come back and give them grief because their lives are not the way the sixteen year olds had imagined. The neighbors live in a world where past memories and experiences shape their behaviors. There is another level of comedic commentary from an untraditional Greek chorus full of geeks. There are many realistic sad and funny moments that are a lot like ones that you might have with your friends and parents. This is unlike any play that Berkshire has ever put on, and is the don’t miss play of the year. So stay posted for the dates and times of the show and keep up to date with its progress by following the theater blog.

Strike and Cast Party!

After a weekend full of excitement, it was time to say goodbye to the Spring One-Acts. Yesterday, the cast and crew took down the set of the play. The stage, Green Room, and shop were cleaned, giving us all a sense of emptiness. Just a couple of days ago, the stage and Green Room bustled with actors and stage managers. Everything seemed quiet….too quiet.

The silence didn’t last long because we headed over to Ms. Norris’ house for our cast party. She kindly hosted the cast party at her house, which was beautifully situated near a lake. After a short dip in the lake, we went back indoors where we played ‘Hot seat,” a game in which we reminisced our past accomplishments and thanked others for their service. It was very emotional, but we were glad to put a closure on the experience. After Hot Seat, we celebrated with pizza and cake. For the remainder of the evening, we laughed and talked until it was time to go back to school.

I would like to thank everyone that came to our performance. We hope you had a great time! I would also like to thank everyone who participated in the Spring One-Acts. I am very honored to have been part of this wonderful cast. A special thanks to Liz, Thomas, Craig, and Hung for leading us in the right direction. Your exemplary character will remain with us at Berkshire as you embark on your college adventures. We will miss you! 

by Jeff Erazo, '15

Closing Night!

After lunch on Saturday, the cast of the Spring One Acts scurried to the Green Room to get ready for the two o'clock matinee. It was going to be a long day, so all of us had to mentally prepare ourselves for two shows. Once the first show was over, the cast celebrated in the Green Room, but soon got ready for the second show. 

After a very emotional warm up, we performed our second show with both confidence and a bit of fear, for overconfidence is not a good thing. We all agreed that it was important not to let our awesome matinee performance get to our heads, since we still had obstacles to overcome. 

As the clock stuck 7:30pm, the final performance began. The crowds roared with laughter as actors from all three plays stepped on stage and performed. At the end of our show, we were showered with compliments friends and family who had a great time. Afterwards, we went to McDonald’s, some of us still in our costumes, for a mini celebration! Of course, the McDonald’s employees were not expecting a bunch of theater kids at their restaurant at 11pm, but we were pretty glad to slurp on McFlurries after a long day!

by Jeff Erazo, '15