"Faking It" by Hana Sellers

For today's post, we asked Woolly's Technical Director Hana Sellers to tell us a little about what was going on downstairs in the shop. Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis opens November 12, (Club Woolly night is November 17th), so the shop is in full swing getting everything ready. Over here to the right you'll see a picture of the model built by set designer, Dan Conway. The set model is an integral part of the process and helps the set designer and Technical Director communicate more clearly about the look and feel of the set. Most set models are done in 1/4 inch scale and often in black and white. This one is unique because it's larger, (1/2 inch scale) and in full color. Looking at it up close is just like looking into a child's dollhouse. It's a pretty amazing work of art in and of itself....but enough about the tiny wonder. Here's Technical Director, Hana Sellers talking about how they're going to make the "real" version of this and about why you might not want her to visit you at home:

"Tudor timbers, brickwork, wainscoting, and wallpaper, are all elements of a realistic interior. The set for Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis has all of these elements and more. At Woolly realism is fake. We work with some offbeat materials to build our fake “real” house. Our Tudor timbers look like 6 x 6 beams, but they are actually steel skeletons with a veneer board cover. Our brickwork is made from split thicknesses of Homosote. I have to admit, I do not even know how Homosote is used in the real world (I think it might be some sort of insulation). Our wainscoting is milled in the scene shop by our dedicated carpentry staff. And our wallpaper is fabric wrapped around theatrical flats.

It takes a good deal of research to make our fake set look real. I spend weeks pouring over books, the internet, and the architectural elements in my world to work out the details. I visit my friends and linger over the details of their stairways or the slope of their roof. My kid finds me measuring the windowsills at our house. I draft details over and over until they look as authentic as possible. And then I head out for the store to see how we can construct them.

At Woolly, though, there is always more than just realism. There’s “Woolly Magic”, the special effects work that we turn our attention to once our house is completed. The magic can be the hardest work that we do, but it is also the stuff that makes us smile!"

We're going to stop Hana here so she doesn't spoil the Woolly Magic for you in this show...you'll just have to check out that part for yourself.

Getting Your Woolly On

A message from Artistic Director, Howard Shalwitz on the Club Woolly Kick-Off Happy Hour:



"There was a special electricity in the air at Woolly Mammoth last Friday as artists and audience members met and mingled at the first Club Woolly Happy Hour. This exclusive pre-show event was the Kick-Off for a year’s worth of fantastic Club Woolly events. GET YOUR WAR ON creator David Rees arrived in town Friday afternoon and headed straight to the theatre. Along with the show’s director, Shawn Sides, and the five performers of Rude Mechanicals, they all stopped in for a beer before the show started. Club Woolly members and their guests had the unique opportunity to share some one on one time with these remarkable artists. After the performance, David and Shawn joined me for a terrific onstage discussion, talking about how David first started creating his now-legendary comic strip, how the Rude Mechs got involved. Since this was David’s first time seeing the production, it was fascinating to hear his reactions about how the show translated from the page to the stage. (Fortunately he loved the show!) I could not be more thrilled with the start of the Club Woolly program. It’s going to provide some unprecedented opportunities for its members as well as enriching experiences for Woolly’s artists."

Woolly decor featured at the National Building Museum

Woolly's cutting-edge nature isn't limited to the new and challenging art on its stage. I was proud to see that the National Building Museum's cool exhibit on sustainable living "The Green House" featured the same countertops used on the Woolly box-office. From a distance they may look like stone, but next time you pick up your ticket or buy a candy at our concessions, look closely -- the countertops are really made of recycled aluminum shavings and clear resin. Who knew mammoths came in green?

New York, the Club Woolly Way

No, your favorite theatre hasn't moved! At the last Woolly Gala I won a trip for four to New York to see theatre, eat good food, and attend a taping of The Daily Show. On Sept 21 my girlfriend, two friends and I set off for a weekend of food, drink, drama, and Jon Stewart.

We stayed in the cool retro-modern Hotel QT, at Times Square in the middle of the Theatre District. Our Daily Show tickets were that evening. It was fascinating to see how the show is put together and the warm-up comic was pretty funny. Stewart himself also talks to the audience before the show and explains things as the taping goes along. We all were surprised how small the set is -- things really do look bigger on TV.

Over the next two days we saw several more plays. We'd arrived for the New York Musical Theatre Festival, where 30-odd budding musicals perform rough stagings in small theaters. Highlights included Smoking Bloomberg, a show about a dry cleaner angry at the city's mayor for the smoking ban's effect on her buisness.

We also saw two fully staged plays. The silly energetic Altar Boyz is a satire about a Christian boy band (with one Jewish member), lighter than helium but great for kicking off a fun Friday night. Playwright's Horizons has a fantastic production of Bruce Norris's The Pain and the Itch, a brutal yet hilarious play about a Thanksgiving dinner gone horribly wrong into disease, infidelity and death. Gee, doesn't that sound like the kind of play we need at Woolly?

With a grueling entertainment schedule we needed frequent eating and drinking to replenish our chi. As part of our auction package we enjoyed the tasting menu at Cité, with champagne and three wine courses paired with the food. Cité mixes good cooking and attention to detail with a relaxed attitude and generous pours.

The tasting menus, vegetarian and omnivore, at Devi on 8th Street, offer a parade of beautiful distinctive dishes (Mongolian Cauliflower, yum). Bond 45, just up the block from Hotel QT, is a warm, lively Italian restaurant meant for big groups with what may be the best antipasto selection in the city (roasted cipollini, yum).

Finally, a shout out to Little Branch, an old-school bar in the West Village where the cocktails are exotic and exacting. Fresh ingredients complement fine recipes. The perfectionism extends to the ice, made of filtered water in different sizes to match different drinks: a single slow-to-melt block in an Old Fashioned, tiny crisp pellets piled high in a Queen's Park Swizzle. Intoxicating yet refreshing. Get there early - like all the best bars, it's small.

I'm looking forward to my next Club Woolly Adventure!