The Castleton Diaries: Week 4- “Get that child off the stage!” and the Hiking Trip that Wasn’t

Not too much happened this week to be honest. Everyone is really starting to reach beiling point because the opening night is next Saturday, June 28^th. People are busy with rehearsals and recovering mentally from rehearsals. Sitzprobe and full staged runthroughs in the theater have begun for Madama Butterfly, the final staging rehearsals for Don Giovanni were completed at the local elementary, and orchestral rehearsals for the symphonic concerts have been going and going as they are allotted. 

The Orchestra Management Work Corner

            One thing that happened on Sunday was that my housemates and I were to go to Shennandoah National Park for a nature hike. That day, I decided to go shopping at Walmart for a few house necessities: shower mat, dustpin, water bottles, and air fresheners. When I got back, I found the house was empty except for me. Everyone was gone and I assumed that they left without me. So I drove out to the park, spent $15 on admittance, and drove up the mountain, enjoying the incredible views. Absolutely breathtaking. Too bad that when I finally got a message to one of them, it turned out they went to the pool at Meadows house across from the festival tent. So after taking some more pictures, I rushed back to Castleton, pissed that no one had informed of their change in plans. Luckily, they had never meant to leave me out of the trip had it happened. So we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, playing ball and barbequing. It was a much-needed break from all the hubbub.

Shenandoah National Park

            The rest of the week has been nonstop rehearsals. We finally started in the theater on Tuesday, after a few sitzprob with both show casts. I was very impressed with the design of the sets and backgrounds. I will be even more impressed once decisions of the background projections are finalized. Otherwise, everything is absolutely beautiful. There was one staging direction that went from beautiful to hilariously distracting of one person: Trouble. Of course, I mean the child actor who plays Butterfly’s child. In the scene where Butterfly and Suzuki set flowers on the floor, the way the scene is originally set is to have just the two of them. But the director wanted the child to join in setting out the flower petals. But she was too distracting, and Maestro Maazel would not have it. She was removed from that part of the scene so that it would just be a beautiful moment between to friends finding great joy in Pinkerton’s return.

A view of the pit

            This past Thursday, I made a trip out to Maryland. I was informed the day before that I would be driving two of the orchestra members to different shops in order to pick up their rental instruments for the remainder of the festival. Luckily the shops were only 20 minutes apart. L & L Music was in Gaithersburg, where my roommate Rupert got a rental horn. The cellist Stephanie had to go to Bethesda to get a cello at Potter Violins. Both store staff were great to talk to and very understanding of the time restraints and international issues for ID. They were also very impressed on our being part of Castleton. I would definitely recommend to those who need good shops to go to. And luckily, we had an enjoyable time in the car, discussing our favorite and least favorite music, the people we left behind at home, and how much we couldn’t get the festival music out of our heads. And after making a lunch break at Firehouse Subs, which was incrediblely delicious (better than Subway even), I made it back to drop them at the rehearsal in time. Good thing I get reimbursed for gas for errands in my personal car, because I probably used as much as gas that day as I had originally purchased that morning.

            Besides finally having a functioning printer/copy machine again, there isn’t much else going on. I will let you faithful readers know that the opening night of Madama Butterfly will be streamed online. So I hope that you will either come out to Castleton to view the operas and concerts, or watch the opera opening nights online. More info on that soon.

Until next time, this has been The Castleton Diaries.

The Castleton Diaries: Week 3- How DC Went, and the Day the Maestro Shocked Us All

It has been quite an exciting week to say the least. Saturday and Monday were spent in rehearsal for Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly with the two assistant conductors. If I wasn’t sitting in front of the orchestra making sure the rehearslas ended on time, I was making copies and scans. It turns out that the administration put the orchestra management staff in charge of getting scores out to the Conducting Fellows, the lucky conductors chosen to work with and learn from Maestro Maazel during the summer. So I spent the entire Sunday making copies of parts and scores. Luckily I have great friends who like to check in on me.

Tuesday, I was given the day off. I decided to make a venture out to Washington DC. I brought my bicycle with me and rode all around the National Mall. It was the first time I had been there since 2007. The day started pretty lousy, rain and dreary skies. But as the day progressed, the skies cleared and the sun was scorching. This was great because I had never realized how cyclist-friendly the DC area was. There were bike lanes in the center of the roads and everything was accessible by walking or biking. After riding past the Capital building, I went to the Botanical Gardens. I was amazed at how beautiful they were. All of the exotic plants were in one place. I think I must have snapped a good 20 pictures before I even got past the first half of the building.

US Botanical Gardens

Next stop for me was the National Mall. I rode past the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool, the Lincoln Memorial, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam memorials, the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial, and the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, which had been erected a few years prior. I always wanted to go back and really get a feel for everything. When I was in eighth grade, we were on a tight schedue and we didn’t get to enjoy everything the city had to offer. So I’m glad I got a chance to see everything again.

 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN (Madama Butterfly Reference)

After looking at the White House, or as much as you can see from the fence, I stopped for a while to rest at Barnes and Noble before continuing on. I decided to attend an event Castleton was holding in the city, a young professionals meet and greet with music at the 201 Bar. Suffice it to say, after cycling around the city for a good four to five hours, I didn’t have a suit. So I felt a bit awkward. Luckily, my associates from the festival didn’t mind, as long as I was polite and said good things to the people that came in. Of course I wouldn’t say anything less. So after some refreshment and song, I headed back to Castleton. When I got there, it turned out my boss had emailed me asking to be back at the office by 10pm to take care of copying the score to Madama Butterfly, cuting the sheets down, and then holepunching them into a binder. That was taken care of in almost no time at all, thank goodness.

The next was the day, the most gloriously awaited day, a day to which all other days would bow down in praise and …too much? Anyway, Wednesday was an important day because that was the first day Maestro Lorin Maazel made his first appearance. The orchestra staff had to be in by 8am to set everything up before he got there at 9am. At which time, he came down to the rehearsal hall to get an idea of what was going to happen today. Then he scrapped that ntirely and said that we would do two sitzprobe for the operas in one day. Madama Butterfly was to start at 10am. So you can imagine the absolute frenzy that ensued getting the hall set up for the orchestra, chorus, principals, covers, stage managers, conducting fellows, and a special space in the back of the hall just for Maestro to watch the conducting fellows. What followed was the first professional rehearsal I had ever experienced. The orchestra was spectacular, the chorus and principals sounded incredible, and all the conductors were outstanding. At the finale of each act, I had chills. Whenever Maestro asked for a change, it had an immediate impact of the tone of the music. I remember one point where he asked for the two female leads to hold out a decrescendo after the pause in the flower-picking scene, and it just went from musical to magical in an instant.

 

The Reflecting Pool as seen from the Lincoln Memorial

(When Maestro walked in that morning, I had some idea of what to expect. He had been in ill health for a while, a fact that recently led to his decision to step down as Music Director of the Munich Philharmonic. But when he came in, despite his slow movement, he still had that air about him that stated with pride, “I’m here to do what I’ve always done”. In his blue straw hat and tan jacket, he sat in the back of the rehearsal hall, still actively listening and stopping the conductors to give instructions to them and the singers. This was the day I stopped idolizing him as a powerhouse conductor, and started respecting him as an artist. This man, who I had been admiring since my days in middle school, was proudly working despite the odds and taking the music to a higher level.)

The afternoon was spent on Don Giovanni, which continued into the next day. So of course when my housemates and I watched Sherlock Holmes that Wednesday night, we all just lost it when Sherlock mentions to Watson that Don Giovanni is playing at the opera house. By the way, excellent movie, and we are planning to watch the sequel soon.

After the sitzprobe were done, the orchestra started rehearsing the concert repertoire. I missed most of this because I was in the prodution office attempting to make copies of parts for the concert at the Hylton Center, which includes arrangements of Broadway standards. I was so frustrated with trying to connect to the office printer and then print out multiple parts, I told to my boss that I was willing to stay late to get more work done. I just proclaimed that “I was willing to give up a night of sleep to get s**t done!” Then someone said, “Now that’s the Castleton spirit,”. So I did, even though my boss had preferred I didn’t because he thought it was cruel of me to do so. But I managed to work late into the night printing out scores for the conducting fellows to use that following day. I got through all the arias that were to be rehearsed, plus a few other things that I was constantly being asked for. I had luckily streamlined the process of finding out what music the conducting fellows already had via Google Docs, so I didn’t have to make 16 copies of every score. I made 16 copies of some scores, and 14 for most. I was of course worried that at some point the machine would run out of toner. And it did, at 3:30 am, a few pages into the third copy of Peter and the Wolf. I knew that I should have at least printed out the scores for The Giving Tree instead of The Empty Pot, since that one was to be rehearsed. But life is life, you roll with it. So after having kept myself awake with music and conversations with foreign friends via the internet, I quietly made my way back to the house, where I slept on the couch to avoid waking anyone up. I slept from 4 to 6:30, and still had the same high energy level from that night. So I made my way out for breakfast, told my boss what I did, and that we were not getting toner until Monday. He was both appreciative of the gesture and shocked that I actually went through with it. Actually everyone I told was pretty much in shock. Honestly, I just sat next to the printer and organized msuic as it came out. But the conducting fellows were very happy to get their scores, eventhough they wont see any others until Monday night.

 

The Jefferson Memorial

But even after making all those copies, some condutors didn’t even bother taking their scores after the day’s rehearsal, which was also phenomenal. The orchestra went through the arias that highlighted the concert series, as well as The Giving Tree, written by Maestro Maazel and narrated by his wife Dietelinde. I had never experienced Maazel the composer until that time. True I had heard faint snippets from his opera 1984, but I didn’t realize he had written anything else besides that. The Giving Tree, based on the book by Shel Silverstein, was very colorfully orchestrated. I loved hearing the violincello obbligato, you could feel all the emotion of the tree as she dealt with the aging of the boy. Mrs. Maazel is also a great narrator, although it will be Margaret Warner that will be narrating the works for that concert.

Afterwards, the orchestra was given the rest of the day off. So I got to go back to the house and take a nap before I started writing this. Much needed by the way. So what have I learned from all this? First, you have to realize that you can’t set impossible standards for last minute requests that involve staying til lord knows when. Second, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. What is important is how you deal with it. Third, office work is just inevitable at this job. Lastly, some men are willing to make great sacrifices to keep doing what they love.

So that’s all I can impart for now. Until next week, this has been The Castleton Diaries.

P.S., Best of luck to my younger brother Evan and his highschool baseball team as they fight for the NY state championship in Binghamton this weekend.

The Castleton Diaries: Week 2- Emus, Printers, and the European Invasion

Wednesday, June 4^th:

So much has occurred since I began my stay. Most of it was paperwork. I have more hours than I have ever thought it humanly possible in front of a computer and a copy machine/printer. I have probably hit a thousand pages of music within first five days, probably exceeding 2000 at some point. Honestly, I have lost count. But what I do know is that I have printed out thousands of pages of sheet music for Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly. This afternoon, we managed to do the setup for tomorrow’s first rehearsal. Finally, I could have a break from the long cycle of buttons on the computer screen: Scan, Choose printer, Scan, rotate, crop, scan, Choose printer, Scan, crop, rotate….etc. Waiting hours at the printer for collated, double sided parts to finish so I don’t get lost when organizing them. I started saying the mantra from Fight Club, “Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy…..”.

The majority of the musicians arrived today. I have the joy of sharing the house with some of them. One horn player who now shares the common room with my fellow interns and me is from NY. Finally, I am not alone! But surprisingly, three of my new housemates are from none other than the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London, England. Yes, the British are here! Living with us in the house are a horn player, cellist, and violinist. I’ve been spending the past day and a half showing them around and showing them some of our American customs. One of those customs is Cards Against Humanities. What an interesting game that was. Equal parts awkward and hilarious. But it did the job of bridging the gap and getting to know how crazy we all truly are. But honestly, these are some good people and I can’t wait to hear them in rehearsal. I just wish I were going to be playing with them. We also got to bond over a never-ending shower faucet. For at least an hour this morning, the water would not stop running from the shower. Luckily we got the plumbers to come while we were out for the day.

            Moving on from People and Things, I move on to Places. Specifically, I speak of the trails surrounding the property at Castleton. One leads to a small lake and tennis courts. Nothing too exciting. The paths were so steep that it was a thrill and and danger to go down, but a struggle to get back up. Boy did my calves feel sore after that. The other path was longer and quite exciting. I went through the woods and past many of the houses. Past the cows and deer, I rode on, fearing for my life as I sped downhill on many a winding and twisting roads. At the end of the path, I came across Maestro Maazel’s estate. It was huge, simple, but forboding. And there they were…Emus! There were at least four of them, sharing a plot of fenced off land. Strutting around like they owned the place. At this point, I was exhausted and running low on water, so I decided to head back. It was absolutely beautiful. I hope to do it again with a GoPro if I can acquire one.

            The most beautiful view experienced in my time here so far has not been during the day, but at night. In Castleton, there is no city afterglow that prevents one from seeing the eternal beauty of the night sky. Every star is visible, and the fireflies fill the air with a spectacular light show that can only be described as fantastic. It is the true side of paradise that I have seldomed seen before. Even as a Boy Scout, I never got to enjoy a night so peaceful and beautiful as the one following my bike ride. For once, I actually longed to sleep under that beautiful black sky, dotted with the ghosts of ancient stars. It was pure and absolute beauty in the plainest sense.

Near the End of Day

            With the majority of the preparations done, tomorrow’s rehearsal will actually be something to look forward to instead of being stuck at the printer all day. We will just have to see...

Friday, June 6^th: 

            What a busy couple of days it has been. The actual rehearsals have begun, though in sectionals. But the musicians are here and playing, and that is what I am excited about. I see them practicing in the morning around the cottages and silo. That’s what you have to do when you only have four practice barns. Anyway, I started my Thursday morning with the string sectional, led by the wonderful concertmaster Paç. He is so passionate when it comes to Puccini and Madama Butterfly. Unfortunately, that was all I got to see.

After lunch, I was assigned to drive out to Shenandoah University to pick up four percussion trap tables and a suspended cymbal stand from one of the percussion teachers. He was a delight to meet. The traffic heading back? Not so delightful. It took me an hour to get off I-81, and then an additional hour to get back to Castleton. Luckily everthing made it to its destination safe and sound.

That evening, I joined my fellow interns for a night at the movies and Chilli’s. Best tableside guac I ever had. Also, Maleficient was not as bad as I had originally thought. I actually enjoyed it. But I digress that the real point it that I am actually making some awesome friends and we are really getting along. Which is good, because I have to live and work with them for two months. But then again, who wouldn’t want to work with such amazing people and brilliant talents.

Speaking of brilliant talents, I began this Friday morning at the winds and brass sectional for Don Giovanni. Chills! It was so good. And these musicians have only had the music for a few days at the most. The assistant counductor Maestro Repicky was so insightful about the history and plot of the opera. He even relealed a few double entendres. Later that afternoon, Maestro Moore, assistant conductor for Madama Butterfly, led the winds and brass sectional. It was another spine chillingly wonderful rehearsal led by another incredibly insightful conductor. He even was singing along with the score, having quite the baritone vocal skills.

Entrance at Morning

After a long day, I did laundry and had some help cleaning up the house before the rest of the roommates came back from the wine tasting event out in Culpepper. We had another night of Cards Against Humanities, some of the players not understanding references, making it twice as hilarious. But we took a break to walk outside to enjoy the beautifully clear night sky and the dazzling firefly display. Plus, I managed to fall off the trampoline that happens to be on our property. Good Times.

But now that the evening has settled, I write these words down in anticipation of more things to come, especially since we have our first orchestra run through of Madama Butterfly tommorrow morning. I look forward to the inspiring sounds of a professional level orchestra. Let the magic begin.

Until next Saturday, this has been another edition of The Castleton Diaries. Now, here is a photo of a Zonkey!

The Castleton Diaries: Week 1: The Calm Before the Storm

This is the first of my weekly blogs detailing the ups and downs, the sights and sounds, and the lessons I have learned during my stay at the Castleton Opera Festival. First, I should give some background as to how I acquired this summer internship.  A few months ago, my curiosity about the Castleton Festival grew immensely.  I had heard about the festival in years past and had wanted to visit. However, I never got the chance. Then, I discovered that there were internships available for the summer. With help, I was able to send in my resume for consideration. After a wonderful Skype interview with the director, Nancy Gustafon, I was informed of my acceptance as an Orchestra Management intern for the summer of 2014.

 

Festival Tent

I arrived this past Monday, May 26^th, a bright and warm day. After getting my welcome packet and filling out some paperwork, I was taken on a brief tour. My first impression of the facilities and the landscape was that of shock and awe. The grounds cover 600 square acres, all of it beautiful. The hills, fields, and woods are something to behold. Plus, the wildlife is something else. Besides the usual cows and cats, there were llamas, a zebra, goats, and a zonkey (donkey and zebra hybrid). I heard that there are emus, but I have yet to see them.

I was assigned to live in a house on the property. It is called Bluebird Haven. Secluded by a long and downward driveway, the area around the house is expansive and hidden by trees. I later found out I was to share the house with up to 18 people, six people on each of the three floors. Since I arrived a day early and had already made reservations to stay the night in Culpeper, I simply went to unpack the clothes and supplies I brought for my stay. The next day, my father, who had accompanied me on the drive to Virginia, went home to NY via train and plane.  I was officially away from family for the first time in my life.

The first full day I was at Castleton, I spent my time unpacking more supplies, exploring the grounds, and waiting for the rest of my roommates and coworkers. I’m happy to say that everyone working here is incredibly kind and eager to do the best they can. Two of my fellow interns and housemates were eager to get to know me and I them. We all hit it off quickly, which is definitely something I am not useful. However, I was surprised that the first night at the house was just the three of us, plus the people upstairs, stage managers for Madama Butterfly. It turns out that most of the people planning to stay with us aren’t arriving until this coming Sunday, June 1^st.

Speaking of arrivals, that was what the first week was spent preparing for. Since the performers were not to arrive until Sunday, we all had to get to work preparing. My jobs so far have included copying practice parts and uploading them online for the musicians, calling universities and percussion shops looking for instruments to borrow or rent, and making sure we have all the right music. Rehearsals are supposed to begin next week. It seems so close, but so far away. Luckily, I have a great orchestra manager to work with and wonderful coworkers who make the officework less stressful. I am mentally preparing for the weeks of being on my feet all day for orchestra rehearsals with Maestro Maazel and the conducting fellows.

The downside of my time so far has been the limited Internet access. It is either in the offices or not at all. Plus, I have trouble making phone calls on my cellphone and need to use a landline for local calls only. Besides that, this is more of a blessing than a curse. Being away from the daily hustle and bustle of facebook and netflix is allowing me time to read and socialize. We get three meals a day, served at the community firehouse, all of them delicious. It’s nice to meet everyone and find things we have in common. It’s a nice way to get to know your coworkers before the oncoming storm of musicians that will be filling up the festival grounds. I have no doubt that everything will be ready by the time that happens.

P.s. Due to the limited bandwidth, I am unable to use youtube and will not be able to upload any videos of the festival at this time. I will try to include photos with each blog.

Coming Soon: Blogging from Castleton Opera Festival

If you don’t normally don’t read my blog, here is an update. I am spending this next week, plus June and July, working at the Castleton Opera Festival in Virginia as an Orchestra Management intern. I will be at rehearsals daily, which will be led by Lorin Maazel, former music director of the NY Philharmonic and current chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic. The music this summer will include Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni (of which he recorded the score for the 1979 Joseph Losey film), a staged reading of Don Juan in Hell by George Bernard Shaw, and plenty of concerts featuring Mozart, Prokofiev, Maazel’s own compositions for children, and plenty of others. Special guests include Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sir James Galway, Eric Silberger, Alisa Weilerstein, and more. Performances start June 28th.

Now that I’m done advertising, I’m here to inform you that I will be blogging about here and on my Tumblr page: <http://www.maestroweinstein.tumblr.com>. Be sure to read all about it starting this Saturday.

HOT January 7th: First Day of Staging

After an hour and a half of chorus music rehearsals, my fellow cast members spent the afternoon choreographing the overture for Dido. For me, this was the moment of realization. You aren't just a singer, you are an actor and a dancer, not for just one 3 minute scene, but for 2 hours. It also reminded me of how much work goes into staging. 

Choreography takes much more time then people might realize. You not only need to make the dance applicable for the chorus, but also that it works with the set, is viewable to the audience, and fits the timing of the music. Do we have enough people for this part? Where do we place you? How many steps should you take and will you start on this foot? As someone who spends most of his time sitting down to play notes on a page, it's interesting to not feel so restless in a chair and to actually move. 

Which brings me to a point I'm terrified about: I don't want to stand out during group numbers. We are suppose to become one entity. But I do fear that I can't move fast enough, or move fluidly. Despite these fears, I must move forward. If I do something wrong, I can always ask the choreographer or my castmate. I just need to stretch and practice. 

This is also the week we go off book. Even for me, it's not easy. I still have a few spots I'm unsure of. But once I get those down, I'm all set to start learning the music for L'Ivrogne. I'm very excited about getting to participate in both shows. 

Hofstra Opera Theater 2014- Dido and Aeneas/ L'Ivrogne Corrige

With a new year comes a new opera production for the Hofstra Opera Theater. This year, we are proud to present a double bill. The first opera will be Henry Purcell's only full opera Dido and Aeneas. The second half will be Christoph Willibald Glück's comic masterpiece L'Ivrogne Corrige, ou Le Mariage du Diable. Both operas will be presented during each of our three performance from January 31st- February 2nd at Hofstra University's JC Adams Playhouse. For tickets and times, refer to this link.

As with last year, I am happy to be blogging our process during the rehearsal period as well as exploring the history of the works on this blog as well as my youtube channel, which is in no way affiliated with Hofstra University. This is simply an exploration through the eyes and ears of one of the performers. I am fortunate enough to be a member of the chorus for both operas and look forward to sharing my experience.

Production Concepts and Synopsis:

Dido and Aeneas (1689) (Sung in English) - Dido, Queen of Carthage, has been mourning the loss of her husband for almost two decades. One day, the greek warrior Aeneas gets shipwrecked along with his crew. Dido allows the men to stay and offers anything they desire. Her handmaiden, Belinda, believes that a marriage with Aeneas will bring an end to Dido's depression and make her a stronger leader. The two fall in love, and Dido soon accepts Aeneas' marriage proposal. Meanwhile, the evil sorceress plans to ruin the lovers' lives by tricking Aeneas to return on his mission to found Rome and then sink his crew at sea. Following a day of hunting and romance between Dido and Aeneas, the people of Carthage seek shelter from a rainstorm. However, Aeneas left alone with the sorceress' elf, disguised as Mercury, who tells him to leave Carthage and return to finding Italy. The next day, Aeneas and his men prepare to leave. Aeneas says goodbye to Dido, who curses him for leaving her. He decides to stay and defy the gods, which still leaves Dido upset because he was still willing to leave. After Aeneas sails away, Dido commits suicide by using Aeneas' sword, followed by a funeral pyre constructed from items Aeneas left behind.

The production, directed by Isabel Milenski, will delve into the psychological aspects of why people are willing to give everything for love. The set, designed by Jian Jung, takes on a minimalist perspective. From above, long incandescent lightbulbs will rise and descend to create the emotional and physical atmosphere, along with two large white boxes that will serve as a bed, a pedestal, and ship, and finally, a coffin. The choreography will be a homage to the work of Martha Graham and Pina Bausch. The costumes are a mix of modern style and classical greek fashion, changing throughout the story as the characters move from depression to happiness and depression again.

L'ivrogne Corrige, or The Drunkard Reformed (1759-61) (Sung in French with English Dialogue)- Mathurin and his pal Lucas constantly neglect their work to drink. Mathurin decides to give Lucas his niece, Colette, to wed as a token of his friendship. However, Colette is in love with Cleon, a young actor. Together with her aunt Mathurine, Colette and Cleon devise a plan to get the drunken uncle to quit the bottle and consent to the marriage of the two lovers. They decide to dress as furies and trick Mathurin and Lucas into thinking they have drunk themselves to death. Cleon, in the role of Pluto, offers clemency to the two misguided men if Mathurin consents to Colette and Cleon's union and they give up alcohol. After the marriage contract is signed, the masks are removed and Mathurin becomes a changed man, while Lucas returns to the bottle in anger and confusion.

The action for this production will take place at several bars in 1960's France. The concept is to convey the light and dark sides of alcoholism. In addition to a new set and actors, this opera will incorporate set pieces and chorus members in costume from Dido to play Cleon's actor friends. Mathurin and Lucas will be mailmen, a profession where some can get away with being late. The set will be lopsided when the two men are drunk, and straighten out with their realization of soberness.