Made In China: The Last Entry

Nicky Weinbach concludes his chronicle of the first production of Made In China, his original musical.

As this is my last entry for this current guest blog, I’m going to make this brief. I want to thank everyone who came to see Made in China. It was a fantastic run. We sold out closing night. The audience was great and so was the cast. I’m so happy with how it all turned out. Though there may have been the rare detractor, it seems that, overall, people really enjoyed this show. One thing that remained pretty consistent was people’s reaction to the music: they all loved it. That was probably the most important part of this show for me, too. My primary goal for Made in China was that people would leave the show humming its tunes, and that happened a lot. As this musical grows and larger productions of it are produced, I hope that more and more of the world will be introduced to the music of Made in China. Nothing would make me happier than the rest of the world humming the songs that I wrote.

Thanks for continuing to catch up with this blog, and I hope to see you all at future productions of Made in China. Until next time, this has been Nicky Weinbach.

P.S. Don’t forget to catch my brother Max’s musical, A Match Made in Hell, premiering in August!

Made In China: The Saga Continues

Nicky Weinbach continues to chronicle the journey of his new musical, Made in China, which is currently playing at Bindlestiff Studios.

Hey readers. I don’t really have to much to say this time around. I gave you my last entry on the day Made in China opened. We’re now two weeks into the run, and I feel great about how the production has been going so far. Our opening night was sold out, and we’ve been selling all of our other shows pretty well. The audiences definitely seem to be positively responding to the show, and most agree that the music to the play is beautiful. That’s really what my primary goal was – for people to like the music – and it seems like I’ve achieved that.

I’ve changed little bits of the play here and there from opening night until now. I guess it’s cool to have that kind of freedom as the playwright. You can keep improving upon the show even during its run. We’ve received some pretty awesome critic reviews in the process, too. I’ve noticed certain parts of the musical that I’d like to edit for future productions, but I won’t change too much this time around so as not to throw off any of the actors or orchestra members. I just want to keep making this thing bigger and better. When you’ve put so much work into something for so long, you don’t want to simply part ways with it after just one run. It’s a special kind of work. It’s not just a play. It’s a musical with a six-piece orchestra. It took me a lot of time to write out all the music for six different instruments and six different singers. I guess you can say that this isn’t an ordinary first show. It’s something that I hope will live on and get the bigger productions it deserves. I know that may seem a little conceited, but I know it’s a good piece of theater. I also know there are ways to improve it.

Overall, I’m happy with the way the show turned out. All the stresses and anxiety that I’ve incurred during the pre-production and rehearsal processes weren’t necessary. They were inevitable, and, sure, I certainly encountered a lot of huge road blocks along the way. But, you always gotta think in the back of your brain that things always have a way of working out. It’s never going to be exactly the way you envisioned it from the get go, but you’ll most likely be satisfied with the product in the end. The key is to remain motivated no matter how hard things can get. Never let cynicism conquer your drive. I hope I’m not sounding too preachy, but there were times in the months leading up to Made in China’s debut when I felt like I should have maybe given up. I felt depressed, and I felt like some higher power didn’t want me putting on this show. Those thoughts were futile. Just let your motivation help you out, and you’ll always get to where you need to be if you try.

I suppose I did have a lot to say after all. Please do come to see the show if you haven’t already. We have two more weekends left in the run, and tickets are on sale now at madeinchinamusical.wordpress.com/tickets. I’m sure you’ll have a great time, and, I can almost guarantee you’ll enjoy the music if nothing else.

I think this may be my last entry for this current Made in China guest blog. There is a possibility that I’ll provide you with one more after we close…actually, I will do that. Why not? Until then, I’ll leave you with a few press photos for the show (which can be viewed throughout this article) that I think are quite neat.

Thanks for reading!

Made In China: The Saga Continues

Well, guys, we’re finally here. The world premier of Made in China is tonight, and I’m very excited about it. Tickets for tonight are selling pretty well. We got some good write-ups in the SF Weekly and SF Chronicle (96 Hours), and I’m sure that helped with ticket sales.

We’ve been working our butts off this past week building a great set and a nice lighting design. Two nights ago, I got home from the theater at 4:30 AM, so we’ve definitely been spending most of our days and nights working on the show. My co-producers in this thing, DL Soares and Clint Winder, and DL’s girlfriend, Hannah, have been true champions this past week. They haven’t slept very much at all, especially Hannah and DL, but I think the sleep deprivation is about to pay off.

There’s a lot I could say right now, but I think the best thing, at this point, would be for you readers to just come to the show. It’ll be a lot of fun. You can buy tickets at the door starting at 7PM at Bindlestiff Studio (185 6^th St.) or purchase tickets online at http://madeinchinamusical.wordpress.com/tickets. I can’t wait to finally perform this musical. It’s been a long journey, and the greatest part of it is coming tonight! I’ll hope all of you will be coming tonight…or at least to one of the performances, if not multiple. Hope to see you all there!

By the way, if you’d like to read the SF Weekly and 96 Hours write-ups, please visithttp://www.voiceplaces.com/made-in-china-san-francisco-bay-area-3342251-e/ andhttp://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Made-in-China-at-Bindlestiff-Studio-4236818.php, respectively.

Thanks for reading!

Made In China: The Saga Continues

Nicholas Weinbach continues to chronicle his musical as it moves from concept to opening night.

Well, we’re just two weeks away from opening night, and the nerves are definitely with me. We’ve done so much work, but there’s still a lot to do in the next two weeks. Crunch time is certainly upon us. Since my last entry, we had a pretty successful rehearsal with the orchestra and singers. We got through all the songs in about an hour and a half, which was great considering previous orchestra rehearsals took the span of three hours and there were always a few songs we weren’t able to go over by the end of the rehearsal. I’d say the orchestra is in great shape.

The cast is trying its hardest to solidify and perfect all the choreography for this musical. That’s probably the most challenging aspect of this show, but we’re almost there. Things are really starting to look great. I feel like we’ve got a great show on our hands, but I know the next two weeks are going to be arduous for all of us. I can’t wait until we get to opening night and see how much our hard work has payed off. Some cast members are making great leaps for the success of this production. I think a couple are working harder than they ever have before. I want so much for them to be rewarded with a good show and a large embracing audience.

For me, worrying about all my lines, lyrics, and choreography is just one part of the whole picture, large as it may be. Being a producer is the other big puzzle piece and its tough work. It requires a lot of patience and planning, and, after having produced this show, I now have a deeper understanding of what producers do and how important their job is to the success of the show. I respect successful producers because they kind of orchestrate the whole thing. When you’re a producer for an independent production, it’s even more work. My hats off to producers…I wish this could be a toast, or something of the nature, because producers rarely get enough credit, or it seems as if people think they don’t really do anything when in fact they kind of do everything.

Two weeks away and I’m excited and anxious at once. I’ve never worked on something so hard for as long of a duration in my life. Made in China is truly my offspring, and it’s almost time to show it to the world. I want to be proud of it. I want it to succeed. I have a good feeling.

If you haven’t already done so, please buy your tickets to Made in China at madeinchinamusical.wordpress.com/tickets or here. I look forward to seeing you at the show!

One more entry for sure in two weeks, but, perhaps, that will be my last. Until then, get your tickets!

P.S. $5 off general admission promo code offered on our Facebook event page here.

Made In China: The Saga Continues

Nicky Weinbach brings his new musical ever closer to opening night.

We are currently in our last month of rehearsals for Made in China. With that said, tickets for Made in China are now on sale here and at madeinchinamusical.wordpress.com/tickets. Get your tickets now, and visit our Facebook page here for a promotional code to receive $5 off a general admission ticket for opening weekend. We also have a new poster design (below) from artist Andy McKeegan.

All business aside, the last couple of weeks have been a little tough, scheduling-wise what with the holidays and what not. But, we are headed in the right direction. We’ve accomplished a lot so far but still have a good amount of work to do. Tomorrow, we have our first sitzprobe (rehearsal with the singers and orchestra without blocking). I’m hoping the rehearsal moves pretty smoothly. The sitzprobe for the staged readings went pretty fast back in April, so this one should be pretty good, too.

I don’t have too much to say this time around. The cast is certainly working hard, and their effort is showing. The quality with which they sing at a stand still now needs to be applied to when they’re actually moving. It’s always a little trickier to sing your best when you’re performing choreography, which is why breathing as much as possible helps so much. The musical director for a production of Into the Woods in which I performed during my senior year of college told me once that Broadway singers breath a lot. They breath all the time because they’re moving a lot as opposed to opera singers who pretty much stand still the whole time. I suppose that’s when it’s more important to follow good technique. For musicals, you want to do your best to hit the notes well while still moving. Thus, breathing a lot helps a lot. Perhaps, this isn’t the best advice to reveal over the Internet, but it’s what works.

Anyway, I hope to see all you readers at one or more of the performances of Made in China. Buy your tickets now, and enjoy this really cool poster (again, below). Until next time!

Made In China: The Saga Continues

The last two weeks have been both fruitful and a little difficult due to actors either getting sick or going away to spend time with their families for the holidays. December is always pretty tough that way. Luckily, next week will be completely devoted to choreography rehearsals and working on music. We’ve got most of the major dialogue scenes blocked out, which is good. The show has really become a matter of choreography at this point, and there’s still a lot to be done. We have done a lot, too. Hopefully, by the end of the month, we’ll have only a select couple of songs that still need to be choreographed.

The actors are working hard on their singing. Some of it is pretty tough to nail, but they’re getting there. Some higher notes are a little tricky for a few, but I think, with a bit more practice and rehearsal, they’ll get it.

Tomorrow, we have another orchestra rehearsal. It’ll be the final one before our first sitzprobe – that’s when the actors and musicians all get together, and the actors sing without blocking to the accompaniment of the orchestra. It should be fun. It’s the first time the actors will really get a chance to hear the full orchestra playing ,and it really gives them a sense of what the whole sound of the show is like. I’m excited myself to hear everything played and sung together. For the staged readings of Made in China, I was able to hear all the parts sung and played together, but there have been some pretty significant changes to the score since then, so it’ll be nice to hear how the music has hopefully improved.

We are quickly approaching our opening date with just a little over a month and a half to go until the debut performance of Made in China. I’ve been very nervous, especially the past few days, just thinking about all the things that still need to be done. We still have a good amount of choreography to learn. We’ve definitely put in a lot of time so far into this production, but crunch time is certainly upon us. I just can’t wait until opening night, when we can finally perform this thing and please a crowd with a worthy show. By the next entry for this blog, I hope that we’ll have made some remarkable progress. Until then!

By the way, below is the new logo for Sir Windsorbach Productions, our theater company that is producing Made in China. Enjoy!

Made In China: The Saga Continues

Nicky Weinbach continues his push towards opening

Since my last entry, the Made in China cast and I have made quite a bit of progress with rehearsals. We’ve learned a good bit of new choreography from our choreographer, Alexandra Daily, and have blocked out a great portion of the play under the guidance of our director, Nick Dickson. Choreography is a hard thing to do with books in hand, so I’ve tried my best to prepare the actors musically such that they can easily memorize the music and lyrics on their own. It’s already hard enough to really get normal blocking going when actors aren’t yet off book, but attempting to do choreography with book in hand is pretty impossible. Luckily, the actors are inching their way closer and closer to memorizing a couple of songs each week, but it definitely is funny to hear them mumble the lyrics when they don’t know them completely well enough. At least, they’re pretty familiar with the music at this point. I meet with each cast member once every week to two weeks for about an hour and a half each session to work on the music. I don’t know if we’ll need to do that much longer, at least for a couple of the cast members. At this point, many of them might benefit the most from participating in group music rehearsals which we’ll start up next week. Overall, I think we’re in pretty good shape considering we still have two months to go before we open. I don’t want to get to confident because I know two months will pass pretty swiftly, but I have a pretty good feeling about all of this.

On the producer end of things, I’m pretty busy. I’m about to send out press releases for the show, tomorrow, I’m in the midst of setting up a Ticket Turtle account, and, every day, I’m having a discussion with someone else about how to approach building the set. We obviously want to take the most cost effective route, but, when you’re dealing with four to five doors, it’s pretty difficult. During Thanksgiving week, I took a trip down to Los Angeles (where I’m from), and I met up with a friend from college who’s quite the carpenter. He kind of sketched out the easiest way to have five doors onstage and still be able to change sets pretty quickly. It’s a little tricky designing a set when you have the placement of a pit orchestra involved, but my carpenter friend offered some great suggestions. He’s even going to help effectively design the set, which is also great. I’m looking forward to what he comes up with in the next couple of weeks.

By the way, check out the Word Press site for Made in China at http://madeinchinamusical.wordpress.com. This is not really a blog site for us but serves more as an actual website for the show. When you visit the website, you’ll be able to listen to music from the show, learn more about the play’s development, eventually purchase tickets (which go on sale Sunday, December 30, 2012), and just hang out, looking at pictures. Check it out when you get a chance.

Well, I think that’s about it for now. Everyone involved in this production is steadily pushing ahead, and I think we’re at a good place right now (I hope I’m not speaking too soon). Until next time!

Made In China: The Saga Continues

Nicky Weinbach continues his chronicle of bringing his new musical to the stage.

I don’t have much time to write something too in depth this week, but for this entry I would like to talk a little bit about reserving rehearsal space.

I must say that it can be pretty stressful being a producer. One of the most consistently nagging issues to deal with as a producer is having to constantly scout out rehearsal space. It makes me long for the rehearsals when we get into the actual theater space in which we’ll be performing Made in China. Thank goodness that’ll be in the beginning of December. Until then, I only have one more rehearsal for which I still need to book space. This topic must be getting pretty dull by now, so let’s talk about something else.

At our first pit orchestra rehearsal two weeks ago, about 75% of the music went pretty smoothly. The other 25% seemed rough, and I realized that some of the harshness had to do with the actual music I had written. Since that rehearsal two weeks ago, I’ve revised / simplified some of the music, so now it’s easier to listen to and to play. Sometimes, simple is better. I realized that for some of the orchestrations, there was just too much going on, thus taking away from the actual melody that the singer(s) sing(s).The idea of a pit orchestra is to provide support for the singer without overpowering him. A score for such an effect can be a little tricky and requires practice. It sucks to have to revise music this late in the game, but you gotta roll with the punches. If you hear something that sounds off, you gotta change it. We have another orchestra rehearsal tomorrow. Hopefully, things will sound a lot better with the recent revisions.

Actor rehearsals have started off pretty well. Our new director, Nick Dickson, and I seem to see eye-to-eye on an approach for this musical. He seems to understand a lot of the esoteric humor of the play in addition to the more silly, quirky, and slapsticky humor. I think he’s leading the actors in the right direction and realizes what needs to be done to accomplish our shared artistic vision for the show. Next Tuesday will be our first day learning choreography from our talented choreographer Alex Daily. That should be a lot of fun.

Anyway, sorry to have to cut this entry short. I should have a lot more to talk about for the next addition to the Made in China guest blog in two weeks. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.

Made In China: The Saga Continues

Nicholas Weinbach continues to chronicle his original musical’s progress towards its first production.

In my last addition to the Made in China guest blog, I talked about arriving at our first read-through with the cast. Well, a lot has changed since then. Due to scheduling conflicts, we’ve replaced our previous director with the very talented Nick Dickson in addition to changing up the cast a little bit. It can be very frustrating to lose multiple members of the team let alone one member, but you have to pick yourself up by the boot straps and push through. That’s definitely the job of a producer. You have to keep searching for talent until you’ve solidified a team that can fully commit to the production. We’ve done that and are excited to move forward.

Tomorrow, the pit orchestra will be having its first rehearsal together, headed by conductor Max Weinbach, my twin brother. Obviously, I’ll need to be at the rehearsal, too. I wrote the music and need to make sure everything sounds the way I intended. However, I’m very confident in brother’s ability to interpret my music appropriately. After all, he did conduct the orchestra for the staged readings / singings of Made in China, and that went very well. We even have more experienced musicians this time around. If I haven’t already mentioned before, the orchestra includes flute, two violins, cello, piano, and percussion. It’s a small ensemble so as not to overpower the relatively small cast, who will perform in a somewhat small space, but still big enough to provide a full and beautiful sound.

Actually, I had originally wrote the score with a harp included, but, when I was trying to find musicians for the staged readings, I had the most trouble finding a harpist who would work for minimal compensation. They’re not very cheap, and there aren’t many of them. In fact, every harpist I asked recommended one another, so I ended up contacting six or seven harpists who all knew each other. It’s a small circle. Lesson learned I suppose: when you’re starting out small, write parts for common instruments. Luckily, I was able to combine the harp and piano parts with moderate ease. Perhaps, a future production of Made in China will include harp. That would be cool and definitely play on the Harvey Schmidt (composer of The Fantasticks) influence.

I hope to have more news on the rehearsal process over the next few months. It’s definitely exciting, but thoughts about the whole production keep me up at night. I can’t stop thinking about this musical. When you’ve put so much work into something, you want it to do well. You want it to succeed. I hope the coming weeks will make me feel more confident about this production. For now, I’m just happy that everything is in motion. Until next time, I’ll see you at the movies. Nah, just kidding.

Made in China: An Original Musical by Nicholas Weinbach

Nicky Weinbach continues his chronicle of bringing an original musical to the stage for the first time.

In my last entry, I talked about how we were in the process of deciding on a final cast list for Made in China after having held the auditions a few days before. It was a very difficult choice to make because there was a lot of great talent that came to the auditions. We didn’t want to let anyone down. I’m sure that must be one of the harder parts of any director/casting director’s job: having to let someone great know that he or she has not been cast.

On the upside, I think we made a good decision on our cast (listed below this blog entry), and we’re really happy to start rehearsing with our actors. Our first read-through is tomorrow, and I’m very excited about it. The hard part is all the tedious things I needed to do during the past week to prepare for it. I didn’t just have to print out multiple scripts for everyone involved, I had to organize and print out all the music for every actor and musician and the full score for the conductor (my twin brother, Max). It would be too difficult for me to explain the tiresome process of going into Finale (the computer software on which I wrote out and arranged the complete score) and having to extract every part from each song of the score, but let’s just say it’s long and arduous, and I ended up having to print out almost 1700 pages of music and script two days ago. That’s a lot. After that, I had to go back into Finale and merge – here come the technical terms – every vocal part with its accompanying piano part into separate two-part scores of their own, then save those scores as MIDI files, and, finally, burn a CD of the appropriate MIDI music for each cast member in order that he or she easily practice his or her part at home. I know it all sounds complicated. It is.

On another note, a week ago, co-producer Clint Winder and I met up at the theater where we’re putting on this production (Bindlestiff Studio) to discuss and plan out how we’re going to set-up the actual theater space for the performances. This is also a little complicated because you have to think about where to put the pit orchestra. You want them to be out of the way and not overpower the actors’ voices, but you still want your audience to see and hear them because it’s a musical, and it’s comforting and exciting to know that there’s a real orchestra accompanying the show. When you see the orchestra there, the magic is heightened.

Anyway, I think we came to a pretty good understanding of how we’re going to set up the theater and a general idea of how we’ll want the set to look. I locked down a set designer a couple of days ago. He’s actually a friend and former roommate from college. I think he’s going to design something great but something that meets our modest budget.

Overall, I’m a little nervous about the days and weeks to come. I hope it all goes well. I’m losing sleep every night thinking about how much work needs to be done and how much work I’ve already done. With a little luck, my next entry will highlight some of the ups and downs (hopefully, mostly ups) of our first few rehearsals. Until next time.

Made in China Cast List

Max – Nicholas Weinbach
Amber – Marisa Gregory
Gary / Mr. O’Meckles – Henry Kelly
Harry / Date – Jan Gilbert
Larry / Mr. Cousins – William Douglas Lester
Mary – Katy Yost