Melbourne Theatre

Two down, eight to go!

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Earlier this week we bumped the show into the theatre, rigged the lights, set up the set (doesn’t sound right, but I’m sure it is), had a tech run, a dress rehearsal and then we opened! Phew! Somehow in amongst those crazy few days we ran around doing last-minute publicity, including a great radio interview on SYN FM (click here to listen), made a few props and did a hell of a lot of painting and gaffing. There were tears and frustrations, but we made it. Our opening night – a night Carly and I had been thinking of for many many months. And what an opening it was. To say that our opening was flawless would be a lie – some things don’t go entirely to plan. But our audience was so supportive. They laughed, they cried, they cheered, and most importantly, they made us feel that it was all worthwhile and I couldn’t have been happier.

Yesterday was Valentine’s day. Before the show, our extremely talented sound designer Lore Burns set the mood by playing her original compositions on the piano, and with champagne and chocolates in hand, our audience entered the theatre for a night of fun and laughs. It was sweet to see people on their date night – we all felt the love in the room!

Our first review came out this morning. Alex Paige from Stage Whispers had this to say “Rob Gaetano as Tony is engaging while self-deprecating. Chloe Reid as Ruth gives us a cool exterior with a nice spark of genuine warmth beneath, which gradually emerges as the play progresses. Kirk Alexander as Don is full of bluster, passion and infectious energy. And a special mention must be made of Carrie Moczynski, whose genuine, touching and multi-layered Edie was a standout.” Click here to read more of this fantastic review!

Bonnie Moir from Storybottle who filmed our fantastic trailer, took these photos at our final dress rehearsal. Thanks again Bonnie for all your support – you’ve been amazing!

Tony  Edie  Tony and Don  Ruth and Tony  Ruth  Don and Edie  ChloeReid_Ruth  Tony and Ruth

There are eight more shows to go and tickets are selling fast. If you haven’t booked yet, I encourage you to do so soon. Just follow the link at www.marcupproductions.com.

Hope to see you at the theatre!

Rob

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In the mood for love

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With two weeks to go till opening night and ticket sales moving along nicely, I decided to step back and have a think about the play and what initially inspired me to put it on.

It all began in July 2011…

I was frantically searching for a monologue to perform as part of my graduating showcase at drama school. After scouring libraries and reading countless number of plays I came across a monologue written by a British writer Chris Chibnall. I had never heard of him but I soon found out that after writing this play he went on to carve out his career writing for Doctor Who and Torchwood. The character speaking the monologue was Tony and without giving too much away, it was touching, humorous, weird and interesting. I was so amazed that I had found this monologue and yet knew nothing about the play it came from, Kiss Me Like You Mean It. What I loved most about the monologue was that I felt  the character was speaking my thoughts – that  I was Tony. And nearly two years later, after reading and rehearsing the play over and over, I still see  much of Tony in myself.

It wasn’t just about Tony; I  loved the other characters too. Ruth, Edie and Don are  people we can relate to. Tony and Ruth resonate strongly with me. They’re in their late twenties, stuck in a rut, trying desperately to escape their circumstances and both want to love and be loved. How many of us feel that way? And Don and Edie, the elderly couple who live upstairs, fight and love like any ordinary couple who’ve been married for over 40 years.

While this play is about love it’s also about making the most out of every opportunity that life presents you.

As Don says to Tony, “You lot, you think you can get everything if you’ve got a credit card and a remote control. Anything trickier than that and you start getting panicked. So you miss your pivotal moments…the time to grasp life by the collar and say you’re flamin’ coming with me!”

This really resonated with me, grasping life by the collar, or as I prefer, grabbing life by the balls! This is why I had to put this play on. This is what I hope our audience will take away.

So for those of you  planning to  see the show I encourage you to book your tickets sooner rather than later. Follow the link on our homepage www.marcupproductions.com.

For those who adore love as much as I do, we’re offering a special package on Valentines Day, which includes bubbles, chocolates and some pre-show music to get you in the mood for love.

See you at the show!

Rob x

Chloe Reid and Rob Gaetano as Ruth and Tony

Chloe Reid and Rob Gaetano as Ruth and Tony

Fear and loving in Manchester

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As I’ve said numerous times before, Kiss Me Like You Mean It is about love, but I’ve neglected to mention that it is also about something else that is just as strong. Fear.

Yesterday in rehearsal Chloe and I made really powerful discoveries around these two feelings. Kate (our director) had us play the scene with an atmosphere of love hanging over us, then again with an atmosphere of fear. It wasn’t until we combined these two, the overpowering love and the seeping in of fear that the magic started to happen, and the reality of our characters became apparent.

We discovered what it means for our characters to be deeply in love, and also deeply afraid. Its scary, almost terrifying to fall in love, to give yourself over to love. I know for me, this hit hard. I haven’t been in love with someone for a very long time, but I remember so strongly that the most recent time I felt a tingling of this love for someone, it was laced with such fear of them not loving me back that it was almost paralysing. I guess for some people, relationships with their partners, at whatever stage they are in, can be a constant tug-o-war between love and fear.

As an actor, it’s really exciting when you make these discoveries and the more I evolve as an actor the more I realise that so much of my work comes from who I am as a person. Rather than trying to layer an idea of a character on top of my work, I simply have to look inside and be true to what I’m feeling. Me, it’s that simple.

What’s not simple however, is the accent. You know how much I hate actors entering from the audience, but what I hate just as much is bad accents. The Manchurian accent is hard. However, we’re no longer afraid of the accent and in letting go of that fear, we’re allowing ourselves to play more and more and the accents are coming along. Don’t fear the accent, love the accent…

In other exciting news, last night we hit our target for our Pozible campaign, so thank you so much to everyone that has donated! I’ve been really overwhelmed by the people who have come forward and donated, not because of the incentives or because I’ve vowed never to speak to you again if you fail to donate, but simply because you love us, and that means the world to me. Really it does. Last week a friend who I don’t see nearly as much as I’d like to, made a very generous contribution and it brought me to tears, but it also made me think “Yes, I can do this, people do believe in me”. So thank you.

If you’re keen to get involved and help us out you still can! Our campaign closes in 18 days and even though we’ve reached our target, it would be amazing if we exceeded it and it would make things so much easier for us as we head into January. So keep the donations coming – http://www.pozible.com/kissme

The next time you hear from us, the jolly fat man would have been and gone, and the party hat from New Year Eve will be in the recycling bin. So until then, Carly and I wish you a joyous fun filled festive season, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2013!

Rob

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