FINALLY....... the shows....

WE ROCKED THE FIRST TWO SHOWS!!!!!!

I wish i could use a bigger font to say those lines, but heck, i guess it is not possible!!!!
After a whole afternoon of running around for extension wires, masking tape, buying frames for jennie's eyeglasses, doing some last minute ppt work and a whole lot of collaterals, six o clock finally came. Shooshaa by then had become a tiny,tense mouse hiding somewhere in the sound booth, backstage people were just hoping things would go alright, KK and TMK were doing some last minute run-throughs ....well lets just say there was a heavy blanket of tension hanging in the air!!
Our saturday show, despite the little glitches with sound and light cues, was awesome- it was actually a fund raiser or the rotary club of madras, and we saw a large number of people, rotarians or otherwise!!! After a point, the hall was so full that we had to bring in plastic chairs, however ugly they might have looked, served a purpose!
I stand by what I said, the show was awesome, especially for a person who has sat through the script readings when jennie and faye hadn't even materialised to when TMK and Andrea are actually on stage performing the part where George admits among many other things that he misses his previous wife!!!! One could definitely see a bit of fear in all of them - how are we going to be received?? I think these guys pulled off a great show!!!
We were certainly better prepared for Sunday.... everything was done well ahead of time, we had a lot of old evamites coming back either to help us, or as audience!By six forty five, Sivagami was just packed!!!!!! It was extrmely heartening for us to see the audi that way!! After our huddle, we went over all the instructions that we had to keep in mind- our post-show analysis on saturday night had showed us a lot more things that could have been done to avoid the glitches!! The regular evam-audience was there waiting with bated breadth to see how this spell would go- I would, in retrospect and otherwise, say it went "awsum" !!!! The show started, and there was much more ease on sunday than there was on saturday, everyone was better versed with the cues, Andrea and TMK pulled off a great one when Andrea dropped a bottle of water (and the phone) in one of the scenes! Kunni was just awesome- especially in the second half - indeed being the "life" of the play....
Well here we are now... back to database calling, SMS campaigns and ticketing - getting geared up for the weekend - catch one of the three shows this time, people!!!

For you print-crazy people;-) catch our review at

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/01/24/stories/2006012400060100.htm


thats all folks!!!!


- anushaaaaa

Actors Speak......... part two

I would like to start this off by first saying "hail kuniyammey"

Kuniyammey a.k.a. Karuna Amarnath - Chapter two's Faye ..... dressed in pajamas, donning a sleepy look kindly agreed to say a few words to sensationalize the blog a bit......I have been threatened the loss of life or body parts if I dont quote Kuni to the very T!! So, here goes.....

(The following points are exactly what she said in the order that she uttered them....)

1. " Jennie sounds staid and boring.... I BRING ALL THE LIFE!!!!!"

2. " We went to the psychiatrist...... WE ALL NEEDED HELP!!!"

3. On being asked whether this experience has changed her life in any way - "I have attained Nirvana"

4. to Andrea " I HAVE ALL THE FUNNY LINES"

I have done what you asked me to, so kuni, even if you get a kick out of watching a corpse floating around in Sivagami Pethachi....... spare me!!!!!!!!!!!!"

- Anushaaaaaa

Actors Speak..........part one

(it was an oddly silent morning in the evam office! I had just met KK and had humbly asked him for an “interview” of sorts, when Our Man asked me to call him on his mobile…. Not just that, he said, “call me on my mobile right now and I will talk to you for five minutes!” I found that phenomenon rather strange and interesting as I was standing just three feet away from him, and made a mental note that this is probably the stage one may reach if they are repeatedly woken up for rehearsals! Five minutes later, I could hear him warn Andrea that a beast was waiting for her at the evam office waiting to torment her with questions!! Five more minutes later, Andrea walked into office very hesitantly, ready to make a beeline for the door if some ghoul was to attack her! Having woken up half an hour earlier than I normally would have and having to reach bleddy Stella Maris College in forty minutes, I sort of wanted to make the most of my morning! Before Andrea sat down, I pounced on her and told her that she would have to answer my questions!!!!)

Now, why did I write the above epic within brackets? Ahhhh ……. So that the following five lines will be put in context!!

I asked Andrea for the kind of “background” work that she had to do in order to get under the skin of Jennie Malone….. the heroine of our play. She said that she had visited a psychiatrist who actually gave her a very deep insight into how people undergoing therapy would behave; respond to different things, and how they would actually view life itself! She also spoke to a friend who was recently divorced, understood what course her life took after the divorce – what actually ARE post-divorce blues???

Andrea also had to modulate her voice a lot to sound thirty- something, as opposed to the Corie of Barefoot in the Park!

According to her, Jennie is like a miniature “Kannagi” – they don’t make women like her, she says! “She is so bloody goody-goody….. but Kartik Kumar is in love with her character”, she hastens to add, rolling her eyes!!!! After a while, she says that it I also the question of perspective, you could either scorn at Jennie for being the way she is or think of the annoying qualities in her as qualities in any woman, just heightened to extreme degrees!!! Quite the extreme, I must say !!!

- Anushaaaaa

CHAPTER TWO....... finally!!!!!

SHOWS ON 21,22,28 and 29 OF JANUARY AT 7 p.m.
@ SIVAGAMI PETHACHI AUDITORIUM

MATINEE SHOW ON 29 JAN AT 2 p.m. @ Rs.100 ONLY

TICKETS Rs. 500, 300, 100*

*SPECIAL OFFER FOR STUDENTS - BUY ONE AND GET ONE FREE !!!

FOR BOOKINGS CALL 98402-22363

HOME DELIVERY CALL 52245224

WEEK (x-1)..........

The past week has been packed back-to-back with rehearsals, ticket design and delivery, press revies etc etc !! One of the mot significant things that happened in the past week is TICKETS ARE OUT!!!!! Tickets are available at Landmark, Odessey, Satyam Cinemas!
One other very important thing that happened were the press meets! Journalists from The Hindu,ET Madras Plus, Mylapore Times came to got a sneak peek of the play where the actors performed two scenes from the play for them! They also got to speak to the actors about their experience so far, what have they done to actually fit into the shoes of the characters they are playing, and how the production has been coming along so far. More importantly, they chatted with us all about evam itself, how it has emerged in Chennai, how we have established ourselves in Chennai, how meaningfully we have been catering to our audience's tastes! KK and Shooshhaaa noted some important points about the kind of audiences we have, and how we structure our plays around the different moods through the year, for instance, performing a feel-good play keeping with the generally contented mood of Jan and Feb!! Watch out for play reviews in Mylapore Times, ET Madras Plus, the Hindu et al ...AND KEEP CHECKING THE BLOG THROUGH THE NEXT WEEK FOR HOT,NEW UPDATES !!!!!!!

- Anushaaaaa

Weekend promos!!!!!!

Like hawks, we swooped over those innocent customers of Odyssey and Landmark, only to descend upon them with the ultra cool "chapter two" bookmark.... well excuse me for being so dramatic but I have just finished lunch, I’m like "yawn", and I am in desperate need of something to pep me up.....
Ok, now where were we??.... Ah yes!!!! Odyssey and Landmark! After the mega fiasco that happened on Saturday, what with the printing guy not delivering us the chapter two bookmarks which were absolutely essential for the promos, and Password a.k.a. Vj saravanan going berserk and kinda doing the erupting-lava act at the printing office (unfortunately, I wasn't witness to that as I was stuck at some seminar where they served stale Marie biscuits..Hmmpphhhh) and finally, the promos which were to happen on Saturday actually getting cancelled ............Sunday blossomed into this beautiful day…. Ok I myself am feeling puky now!!! Sunday promos just went brilliantly!! Sunday being the day when most people visit bookshops, spend the afternoon browsing through books and music that they have been waiting to look at the whole week but haven’t found time; Odyssey and Landmark were full, 2 p.m. onwards. People from all age groups traipsed in…….. most of them reacting quite positively to us! But, I reached the apex of amusement when this old man jabbed his finger at the bookmark saying, “Kartik, Kartik ….. Of Kanda Naal Mudal!!!!!” ……. Ok, KK! You have a senior citizens fan club as well... The list is getting loonnnggg!!!!


- Anushaaaa

Full Steam Ahead

Database emails have been sent, danglers now flank every corner of ....err.. Landmark and Odessey, Posters have been put up..... and yes, rehearsals for "chapter two" are going on full steam ahead!!!! I walked into yet another meeting and found the stage-design for chapter two ready and up on the computer! Karuna, our very own "Faye", had her rehearsal with Andrea(Jennie Malone of evam's chapter two) postponed...by a few hours..... but they kicked off even prior to our Directors' arrival!
Post KK and Shoosha's arrival, dialogues were re-worked and re-done giving both the actors a brand new perspective on the characters they play, the movement, the demeanor, everything!! Interesting to note as a sheepishly passive observor, was the little dance KK resorts to doing each time he is deep in thought!
And with this, we start phase three( or should i say "chapter three" ........ ok..however corny that was, it was still worth it, i couldn't resist) of our operation i.e. watch out for evam promos.. coming up very soon !!!!
ok ok.... i shall next want to comment on the latest addition to our ofice the whiteboard. But that calls for a seperate update altogether!


- Anushaaaaa

Wassup 2006

For evamites , New Year's began with a bang ! In fact, they religiously started the partying on the night of 31st December itself, in keeping with the ritual. A show of "Python Hysssteria" was staged in the Accord Metropolitan Hotel where evamites thoroughly enjoyed putting up a fabulous show. I guess Python does remain one of our favourites, and one of the favourites of our audience too.
The last week of December had each one of us on our toes - the office was abuzz with excitement - this was not just about our Python show for New Year's ! Coming up next, is our freshly brewed production "Chapter two" - also by Neil Simon !!!!! And hey, do not think of this as one more of Simon's play - critics all over the world claim this to be the best of all his works. What is interesting is also that it is based on his true life experience !
"Chapter two" is no longer just a raw script for evamites anymore owing to the number of thorough readings that have already been done. Characters have been dissected in all possible ways and feedback on the play/characters has been received !! The poster/bookmark/ticket design have been conceived! Walk into the evam office now, and you would see each one of us in our committees, noses screwed up and eyebrows raised in concentration !!Rehearsals are in full swing !!! This month, the atmosphere is gonna be almost "festive" in the evam office - guys, pardon me for saying that - 2 weeks down the line , i know that "festive" is not quite the word i would be using to describe it , but hey, enjoy it as it comes .

Thats all folks !!!!!
( for now, at least)


- Anushaaaaaa