YMCA

Oners are all about timing. Hitting a mark, and another mark, and another, repeatedly. But when you add to that an intense emotional performance, required precisely on cue, it can get really tricky. This particular oner was an underfunded PSA, with a new director, looking to establish his voice. So we assembled a crew of resourceful collaborators, called in favours, and stretched every single dollar as far as it could go. Then we rehearsed the shit out of it, both for choreography and performance. There’s only one cut (the transition between one reality to the other), so we didn’t have any cheats to bail us out. But sometimes serendipity strikes. We got a couple of perfect takes of each “version.” The piece turned out great, won some awards, and launched that director’s career into the stratosphere. The juice was very much worth the squeeze, as it were.