Final notes from the director of "Boleros for the Disenchanted"

With the show now ready to share with the public, we bring you this final blog entry from Antonio Sonera, the director of "Boleros for the Disenchanted", which previews tonight, opens tomorrow and runs through March 3.

So, we have finished the last night of regular rehearsal. It is now time for preview and then opening night. It has been a long journey which began on December 27, 2011. Here we are some 40 days later and with 165 hours of rehearsal under our belts, and a couple of pre-previews. It is an amazing thing, the creation of a play … a production as it were. It probably takes some 2000 man hours to get a production off the ground. It takes so many people to make it work, and each part is critical. There is a road map to the journey which is the script. My job is to try and stay true to the playwrights intention and to tell the story as best as I can.

It is a process, analyzing the script, meeting with designers, casting actors, first read, table work, rehearsals, exercises, digging, pushing, clawing, celebrating, making discovery after discovery. It is the process of creating truth on stage. Then we enter tech, adding the lights, sound, costumes, props, and set. The world begins to develop and take on new life from that of the rehearsal room … we are on stage now. There is an urgency to the work. It is all becoming very real. There is a deadline approaching. Things become fast and furious and ferocious. I give pages upon pages of notes, actors are exhausted, crew is exhausted, and all are feeling the ache of growing pangs.

Then the first audience arrives. It is a group of Latina networkers, and movers and shakers.  We tell them it is a rehearsal, which it is, but it is really more than that. It is the test to see if the work we have done in the room, the work we have put on stage, is the right work. The lights dim, then the first scene lights go up. The audience watched intently. There is a laugh. Then a gasp. Then more laughs. This goes on for the first hours, and an applause that causes great relief for all involved in the production. I get cornered in the lobby by eight Latina women who tell me their own woes of the men in their life who gave them a speech like the one Manuelo gives in the play. Then it is act two. It is quiet, then laughs, then sighs, then quiet, then tears, and then applause. Another sigh of relief. We have a talk back, they use words like …  “real” “heartbreaking” “beautiful” “raw” “funny” “loving” and “life”. They give comments about what was confusing, and how it felt, and that the acting was “superb”. This of course is music to my ears. They loved the coquis, as I knew they would. But my favorite comment was from a young woman who said …“it made me want to call my parents.”

We have another pre-preview on Saturday which also goes well, and many of the same comments. I have learned what I thought all along, it is a good play. Now, how to we grow even further and make it a great play. Sunday we work on transitions and tightening up the times. Cleaning up the little messes, fixing staging, trying little moments. Then we play. I ask Luisa and Ted to read the scene of the young lovers and ask Kylie and Logan to read the scene of the lovers 40 years later. It is fun, but meaningful. To have the experience, to see if they discover something by watching their older or younger selves do their scene. It is quite enjoyable for the rest of the cast and the designers. I keep the day light and playful; we all deserved it after the weekend.

We take Monday off and come back to rehearse on Tuesday. We run the show. There are of course minor problems. I have 15 pages of notes for the actors. They are picky, and detailed, and probably disrupt what the actors are working toward, but they are worth trying. I ask them to try. I push them to deepen, and challenge them to stand at the edge of the cliff and jump and soar! They all leave, quietly, small goodbyes. I can tell they are thinking about their notes, maybe feeling challenged or frustrated.

Which brings us to Wednesday night. We did another run through. There were a couple of technical problems and a costume delay, but other than that…it was beautiful. The actors did their work, they tried all of their notes and landed each not just successfully but masterfully. It was poetry in motion. After the run, I gave some very minor notes, many praises, and many thanks to my whole crew and cast. I asked my assistant director Verónika Nuñez to say a few words. She talked about the importance of the process to her, but even more than that the importance of this theatre to the Latino people who come here. She talked about how proud she was of the production and how much it meant to her that these actors would give so much of themselves to make this story, a story of Latinos come to life. With tears in her eyes you could see her heartfelt gratitude. The cast and crew applauded her. I said my final words about work, and being ferocious with Mr. Rivera’s words. I asked them to give themselves permission to jump and soar, each and every night, to remember that it is about the work, to keep it honest, and passionate. To enjoy each other and the play, and to trust it.  Gave them a few words about preview and opening, and talked about the opening night ritual (which I won’t reveal in this blog … some things are sacred) and that I looked forward to seeing them all tomorrow.

So, here we are. It is tomorrow. Preview. I hope you all have enjoyed this blog, those of you who have followed it. I hope you enjoy Boleros for the Disenchanted. See you at the theatre.