tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47671710871278477662024-03-05T18:23:43.437-07:00The Dark Streets of the Cardboard Cityoleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-69658643787603790522014-08-17T20:29:00.000-06:002014-08-17T20:29:18.145-06:00The Drowned Lego
UPDATE: A new, final version of this project can be found HERE. It's a little bigger, a little more accurate, and really, just better all around. I highly recommend that you go check it out rather than stay here with this version, which now exists essentially as an archival curiosity.
Now that The Drowned Man has come to an
end (or, if you're reading this in the first day oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-91297486425625398732014-07-27T17:53:00.000-06:002014-07-27T17:54:07.911-06:00 A spin-off!If you're here looking for anything relating to The Drowned Man or, in the future, any other similar things, I'd like to direct you here:
Shutters Open
I've written so much on the subject that it seems kind of strange to keep it all here, mixed in with old ramblings and the occasional bit of news, all decorated with a theme that doesn't really have any connection to it. So I'm spinning oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-40549657093285011132014-07-20T10:14:00.000-06:002014-07-20T10:26:24.431-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 32Show #32
Saturday, July 5: 9 pm
Here we are, at the final normal performance of The Drowned Man.
With only the finale remaining afterward, this would be my last
chance to see the show in a pure form. Having been run through the
emotional wringer at the early show, I stepped through the red
shutters in a state of complete uncertainty. Had the earlier
experience primed me for some sort of oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-21367590374170812982014-07-18T19:05:00.000-06:002014-07-18T19:05:00.150-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 31Show #31
Saturday, July 5: 5 pm
The endgame was well underway. This Saturday double marked the final
night of The Drowned Man. Not technically, of course – there was
still the finale itself. But with rumors of extended endings and cast
swapping, not to mention the hordes of emotional fans that would be descending on the site, there was no
telling what it would be like. This was the final oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-11023702678677060062014-07-17T22:27:00.000-06:002014-07-17T22:27:17.938-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 30. Show #30
Friday, July 4: 9 pm
I was really unsure how to start this show off. Still reeling from
the massive metaphorical faceplant at the end of my previous show, I was kind of
worried that the weekend shows, with their slightly different crowds,
might just not work for me this time around. Could it be that the best days were
behind me? Were my final shows doomed to disappoint? As I oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-80574253090791606682014-07-16T22:23:00.000-06:002014-07-16T22:23:07.411-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 29Show #29
Friday, July 4: 5 pm
At this point, I was feeling pretty good about what I'd seen. In
addition to reunions with some old favorites (Emily's Alice! Sonya's
Faye!), I'd managed to hit three of the new loops I most wanted to
see. Of the remaining two, I was starting to believe that I would
never have the chance to see Marla Phelan's Wendy – she's a swing,
after all, and I imagine noneoleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-14013327470321812972014-07-15T22:10:00.000-06:002014-07-15T22:10:32.403-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 28Show #28
Thursday, July 3: 7 pm
I got to start this show off by hitting another of my top priorities:
Lily Ockwell's Romola, the only Romola (barring Katie Lusby's
long-defunct version) that I had never followed. Thanks again to the
magic of earlier-starting weekday shows, I found her in the Horse and
Stars, chatting quietly with the Barman (Daniel Whiley). As soon as
I walked in, oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-48003878057977333812014-07-14T18:23:00.000-06:002014-07-14T18:23:46.238-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 27Show #27
Wednesday, July 2: 7 pm
I did a little better in the lift lottery with this show, owing to
the fact that I didn't need to stop by the box office. I managed to
make it into the second lift, manned by Luna (Kathryn McGarr), who
patted my shoulder and gave me a “lovely to see you again” on my
way in. I got off on the first floor and zipped across the arcade
over to the studio oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-9010890907619941662014-07-13T12:14:00.000-06:002014-07-13T12:14:32.651-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 26Show #26
Tuesday, July 1: 7 pm
And thus, the final countdown begins. This show marked the beginning
of the final week of The Drowned Man, a week that promised to be a
bit different from what had come before. Gone were the varying
audience levels of my March and May trips – every show was sold
out. No longer could I follow whatever whim took my fancy, secure in
the knowledge that if I missedoleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-77180401254750249062014-06-29T22:19:00.000-06:002014-07-03T03:11:24.748-06:00The Drowned Lego: Top Floor
The Top Floor - 3,334 Pieces
1. Scarecrow Funeral
2. Miguel's Domain
3. Murder Dune
4. Dust Witch's Chapel
5. Potion/Moonshine Room
6. Scarecrow Room
7. Miguel 1:1 Room
8. Chicken Cage Room
9. Locker Room
10. Dust Witch 1:1 Room
11. Restrooms
1. Scarecrow Funeral
This is one of the areas that I think I
got very close to accurate, since there are a couple of official
oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-68536330812249344972014-06-29T22:16:00.000-06:002014-07-03T03:11:20.726-06:00The Drowned Lego: First Floor
First Floor - 11,693 pieces
1. Chapel Side Room
2. Chapel
3. Chapel Bath Room
4. Car and Motel Exterior
5. Studio Gates
6. Gatekeeper's Office
7. Secretary's Office
8. Executive Boardroom
9. Chess/Script Room
10. Doctor's Exam Room
11. Doctor's Office
12. Doctor's 1:1 Room
13. Wig Room
14. Seamstress's 1:1 Room
15. Studio 5
16. Seamstress's Workroom
17. Cinema
18. oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-18957132787353896342014-06-29T22:01:00.000-06:002014-07-03T03:11:07.031-06:00The Drowned Lego: Basement
Basement: 7,557 pieces
1. Red String Room
2. Reception
3. PA's Office
4. Masonic Temple
5. Temple Anteroom
6. Back Room with Shrine
7. Foley Storage Room (aka DEMON ROOM!)
8. Foley Room
9. Hallway
10. Alice 1:1 Room
11. Wooden Moon Room
12. Sunflower Room
13. Stanford 1:1 Room
14. Stanford's Domain
15. Reel-to-Reel Room and Office
16. Photo Room
17. Horses!
18. Pitch Black oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-13026269162725492992014-06-29T21:54:00.002-06:002014-07-03T03:11:15.593-06:00The Drowned Lego: Ground Floor
Ground Floor - 10,858 Pieces
1. Initial Queue Area
2. Coat Check
3. Final Queue Area
4. Entrance Maze
5. Lifts and Holding Areas
6. Studio Exec Entrance
7. Studio Exec Prologue Room
8. PA 1:1 Room
9. Studio 4
10. Scales Room
11. Ornate Bedroom
12. Conrad's Dressing Room
13. Main Dressing Room
14. Studio 3
15. Mirror Maze
16. Opium Den
oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-4504577017645361492014-06-08T20:00:00.001-06:002014-06-08T20:00:27.433-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 25Show #25
Sunday, May 18: 5 pm
Once again, my adventures came to an end with one final Sunday show
before I headed back home. This time was a little different, though
– for the first time, I finished a batch of shows with the next
round already booked. There wasn't even a possibility that it would
wind up truly being my last show. I think this was a good thing,
overall. It took some oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-81162636135315218062014-06-05T20:41:00.001-06:002014-06-05T20:43:27.825-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 24Show #24
Saturday, May 17: 9 pm
I'd like to start
out this write-up by telling you a little bit about my friend Virna.
Virna has been to see The Drowned Man rather a lot of times. So much
so that she gets recognized. In fact, some of the more
interactive characters (the execs, in other words) seem to enjoy calling her
out on it – none more so than Kathryn McGarr's Luna. Virna has thus oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-47995443907011009042014-06-03T23:12:00.001-06:002014-06-03T23:12:59.106-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 23Show #23
Saturday, May 17: 5 pm
This show was the
only one during the trip at which I was not expecting to meet up with
anyone I knew, so I spent my queue time chatting with strangers.
Among them was a man who was bringing his parents to the show for the
very first time – so I decided that, despite being first in the
queue, I'd let them go into the dark maze ahead of me, just so they
could oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-71838196379620183092014-05-31T11:50:00.001-06:002014-05-31T12:03:49.026-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 22Show #22
Friday, May 16: 9 pm
After a brief queue
interlude, I was right back inside. A quick cast board perusal made
my path clear – I was going to go check out Greig Cooke's Fool. I
had been very impressed by what I had seen of Greig thus far, but
William is not one of my favorite characters – really, I tend to
shy away from all of the leads at Punchdrunk shows. I just find side
oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-3183836027258021772014-05-28T21:44:00.000-06:002014-05-28T21:52:09.276-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 21Show #21
Friday, May 16: 5 pm
One of the side
effects of my late flight on Thursday was that I didn't have a chance
to run down to the National Theatre and pick up my tickets for the
rest of the weekend, so I (unusually) had to hit the box office
before each show. This led to moments like the one before this
show, where I walked up to the box office and barely got an “O-”
out before the nice oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-73176223383953965032014-05-26T10:42:00.000-06:002014-05-26T10:42:38.030-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 20Show #20
Thursday, May 15: 7 pm
I never intended to
return to Temple Studios so soon. I figured I'd make my way back
sometime toward the end of June, roughly bisecting the time between
my March trip and what I presumed would be the end of the run in
September. When the actual closing date of July 6 was announced,
however, I had to do some emergency rescheduling, and booked this
trip to, oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-42113708147460950142014-04-07T21:59:00.000-06:002014-05-12T20:32:36.989-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 19Show #19
Sunday, March 9: 5 pm
Here we are, at the end of another run
of shows. Just like last time (show 13), I had a dream show in mind
– a plan for the entire show, three loops – if, that is, the cast
board gods felt fit to smile upon me. Last time, I got one of my
three. Would I do any better this time? Here's what I was hoping
for, in descending order of likelihood:
Ira Siobhan's oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-89429714933806915872014-03-31T18:53:00.001-06:002014-05-12T22:04:59.266-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 18Show #18
Saturday, March 8: 9 pm
After a quick burrito stop with Ben,
Kate, and Hannah following the early show, it was back to the queue
for the late. Actually, that's not entirely true. In point of fact,
we instead headed for the essentially queue-less Studio entrance,
because this time, we were going in with Studio Exec tickets.
Here's where I run into a bit of a
snag: Studio Exec oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-64749187890981254852014-03-26T17:58:00.000-06:002014-03-26T17:58:28.406-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 17Show 17
Saturday, March 8: 5 pm
This was always going to be a
troublesome show. I normally like to go in knowing who I'm going to
hit right out of the lift, then let the mood strike me after that.
But this time, due to the quirks of the scheduling, there were two
performer/character combos I wanted very much to follow that would
only happen at this show. I was, essentially, booked. One of oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-17621095993413088822014-03-22T14:05:00.001-06:002014-03-22T14:05:37.641-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 16Show #16
Friday, March 7: 9 pm
One decision I made before arriving in
London was that the first time I saw James Traherne's name on the
cast board next to the name “Mr. Stanford,” I would track him
down straight out of the lift (unless I had a really good reason not
to. Because no decision is ever truly final at Temple Studios). Of
course, I do belong firmly to the camp that believes there isoleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-14287499853225502672014-03-19T21:46:00.002-06:002014-03-19T21:46:35.373-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 15Show #15
Friday, March 7: 5 pm
After spending some time with the
glorious new cast board at the front of the queue, I decided to start
this show with another of the new class of 2014, Lucia Chocarro as
the PA. Despite the number of shows I've seen, there are still
several characters that I'm never quite sure about how to catch out
of the first lift - I have a rough idea, but can't quite zero oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4767171087127847766.post-61720214861187606582014-03-15T17:24:00.000-06:002014-03-15T17:24:20.244-06:00My Time at Temple Studios, Part 14Show #14
Thursday, March 6: 7 pm
I was a little nervous for my return to
The Drowned Man. Although I had only been away for just over two
months, things had changed dramatically inside, with the departure of
so many beloved performers and the arrival of many new ones. While
perusing other people's show reports since the arrival of the new
cast, I'd managed to draw up a list of more than oleswerdlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11342007895609255783noreply@blogger.com0