Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
Rehearsal
September 2, 2008
This house got a basement
The set is built, hung, and painted. It is gorgeous—I can’t wait for you to see it. The cast starts working on it Thursday afternoon, spending one day getting used to the space, and then we’re in technical rehearsals starting Friday, integrating lights, sound, costumes, and props.
What follows is my condensation of the design concepts presented at first rehearsal, with images of the set model by Scenic Designer John Culbert, and renderings by Costume Designer Jacqueline Firkins. Caveat: this description is based on notes I took way back on August 12th. Staging ideas have undoubtedly developed, changed, been scrapped and rethought since then.
The anchor of the set design is the central location of the basement, a sunken cement square that can also function as, for instance, the kitchen in the Channukah Party scene. In order to accommodate the band and still have floorspace for all the staging the show requires, the design includes a wide balcony space, on which the Radio ladies and the Moon will also do the bulk of their work. The stairs upstage center will be Stuart’s primary domain, evoking his characteristic sense of being trapped in a state of transition, unsure of where and how to land.
Set model by John Culbert
Notice the image covering the rest of the floor. This is a photograph of the early-evening Louisiana sky, taken through the trees. The disorienting up-is-down effect and the high contrast of the light blue sky and dark green foliage create an abstracted theatrical space in which a variety of locations can be evoked through simple furniture and creative staging. While initially, as you can sort of see in the photo, the design called for a photo-realistic painting, the gesture has since simplified into a more painterly, abstract pattern, which will be covered with a high gloss. The center ceiling panel contains some surprises that I won’t spoil here. The bottom face of it will be covered with the same painted image as the floor.
The costume design incorporates gestures from two different worlds. The first is, of course, the standard historical realism of 1963. This is mostly what you see in the photo.
Costume renderings by Jacqueline Firkins
But take note of two images: the man in the far right-center of the photo, and the woman in the gown in the middle, surrounded by reference photos. The man on the right is the Dryer, and he, along with the Washing Machine, is being dressed in a vocabulary reminiscent of early-century work clothes, with a few theatricalizing surprises thrown in (spellcheck doesn’t recognize “theatricalizing”, but if it’s not a word, it should be). In the center we have the Moon, in elegant evening attire that sets her apart from the other characters, both “real” (Caroline, Dottie, Noah, etc.) and anthropomorphized (Bus, Dryer, etc.). This dress connects the Moon somewhat with the similarly-stylish Radio, whom you can see sitting in the center of the balcony in the set model (by the way, in case you didn’t notice, the figures in the model are built from copies of Jacqueline’s renderings—the woman just upstage of the basement square with the headdress? That’s the Washing Machine).
Charlie Newell: “One of the biggest design challenges inherent in the show is this question about the Washer and Dryer. If you put an actual washer and dryer on stage, does that make it easier for the audience to understand, or not? Because then you’ve got the actors on stage singing and you’re asking, who the hell are those people standing next to the washer and dryer? And most of the time the actor is saying ‘I’M A WASHING MACHINE.’ So that’s kind of a clue. We’re in two worlds: 1963 and the world of ‘What is human about these other characters?‘“
Jacqueline Firkins: “These are people, they have human qualities, and they have sensibilities. So we want them in clothes, we don’t want to say this is not a human, this is not a soul.”
September 2, 2008
My daily task is done
Hi, I’m Harriet Nzinga Plumpp. I am the Washing Machine and the Moon in Caroline, or Change.
Well, let’s see….where to begin. First off, I want to say how happy I am to be back on my feet in rehearsals. My son is 11 months old and I have not done a show since my first trimester with him in the Winter/Spring of ‘07. Our cast is full of parents so I feel a great sense of support—Yay to that! It’s an even bigger delight to be in rehearsals at Court Theatre. Caroline, or Change is my third musical at Court (I had the pleasure of working on Man of La Mancha and Raisin). It is great to be back.
Just yesterday I was conversing with Melanie Brezill, who plays Emmie in the show. We were discussing how valuable the rehearsal process with Charlie Newell is for us as actors. At Court, the musical is treated first and foremost like a play. This theatre definitely strives to present a strong, focused point of view. Many of us have been in this business for many years and have experienced a rehearsal processthat does not allow time to explore and to ask questions about who you are as your character.It should be natural…second nature. For me as an audience member, it’s much more enjoyable to follow an actor’s journey when every breath, every gesture andthought has intent behind it. Oooweee, don’t get me wrong, this is not an easy feat—but, it’s a great thing to strive for. In rehearsal, Charliegives us this time to explore. Which is, as Charlie says, “fantastic!”. So, hopefully, by the time you see the show our instincts are settling in. You can feel our anguish, our joy, anticipation etc… This takes a lot of energy, focus, and patience from everyone and can be exhausting.
We did our first run-thru of the show two days ago and I was exhausted afterward, in a good way;-) Because I am playing the Washing Machine and the Moon I need to figure out how to separate the two vocally, mentally, and physically. This past weekend it dawned on me that whatever energy Caroline (E. Faye)has I must feed off of it for the Washing Machine to work. The W.M. is truly a part of Caroline. Once that clicked, I was able to start taking the W.M. and the Moon on their own separate journeys.
I’m off to rehearsal now, so I look forward to seeing you in the house. Enjoy the show! I have a great feeling that you will.
Peace, Harriet Nzinga Plumpp
August 28, 2008
We’re scientific people
Rob Lindley, actor playing Stuart Gellman:
“My father is a clarinet” says Noah about my character Stuart Gellman, based on Tony Kushner’s own father, Bill, who was a concert clarinetist. Stuart is often in a practice room playing the clarinet and brings his clarinet with him to the family Channukah party. The clarinet is one of the ways my character expresses himself.
I wish you could all be in the rehearsal hall right now. All of the actors are on a 20-minute break and musical director Doug Peck and our clarinet player Adam DeGroot are going through the music for the big Channukah Party in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE. The music is just thrilling!
I played the saxophone all through school, so when I was cast as a woodwind player I thought, “perfect - maybe I can play some of Stuart’s clarinet licks.” I soon discovered that it wasn’t going to be nearly as easy as I thought! But I have been meeting with Adam (for my clarinet lessons) so that we can perform the long clarinet solos (every thing from traditional Jewish Klezmer music to a Mozart concerto) as a unit. I am planning on videotaping Adam playing so that I can do my best to replicate the fingering of the solos and know when Adam is going to take a breath so that we can truly be in sync. Think of Glenn Close lip syncing to Kiri Te Kanawa in “Meeting Venus” - or something like that.
This is definitely one of those special shows that makes me feel like I’m sitting on a big secret that I can’t wait for other people to see. The rehearsals are breathtaking. I can hardly wait to see what the actual performances will be like.
August 26, 2008
Gonna pass me a law
August 21, 2008
Nothing ever happens underground
Charlie Newell, addressing the cast of Caroline, Or Change at First Rehearsal:
‘Welcome, everyone! The start of the season is always a peculiarly exciting time, and this year is my 15th at Court Theatre. It feels to me like it really took us 15 years to get to this room with this cast doing this show. Everything happens in its time. I can’t imagine a more appropriate show to open our season.
’Caroline, Or Change is the largest single production that Court Theatre has ever attempted. We tried to do it in the past, we tried to figure out when and how, and only now have the stars aligned to make it possible. Don’t do Hamlet unless you know who’s gonna play Hamlet. With Miss E. Faye Butler we have our Caroline. The first time I ever worked with E. Faye I put her on roller skates and threw ping-pong balls at her. (E. Faye: “I thought you were insane. But I did it.”) When E. Faye and I worked together on Little Foxes we found that her character turned out to be the heart and soul of that entire production.
‘When we knew we were ready to do Caroline, we got an email from Tony Kushner, saying, essentially, “I’m so glad it’s finally happening in Chicago and I’m especially glad it’s gonna be at Court Theatre. Can I do anything to help?” Now, I mostly deal with dead playwrights. And we talk all the time, but not like this. I called Tony and he gave me incredibly helpful advice, insights, thoughts about how the piece developed, what’s happened to it—it’s been all over the world. He’s seen many other productions besides the original Broadway that George Wolfe directed. I have not seen any productions of this piece. Actors and musicians will hear from Tony throughout rehearsal, as I took detailed notes during that conversation. For today’s chat I want to share the following: Tony wrote this story out with no caps, no punctuation, single spaced; 12 scenes with an epilogue, and he handed it to Jeanine Tesori. She went away and she composed the first draft. Tony characterized his relationship with Jeanine as “psychotic admiration.” She took his autobiographical story, this incredible text that he wrote out, and she created this completely sung-through story with music. Doug and I are only beginning to understand the level and depth of the leitmotifs—there are phrases/ideas/themes/melodies/gestures/words that are established and then return in different ways by multiple people throughout the piece—variations on variations, and the density and complexity, as Tony said, is like Wagner. It’s the complexity of opera.
‘He doesn’t want to talk about what it means, but I’m gonna take a stab at it.
‘So, change. One of the ways we define ourselves as human beings is through an understanding that change is constant. We are constantly in a place of change. Kushner, through his own sense of loss, his own politics, grapples with a very complicated idea about how we humans handle/manage//respond to change. Most difficult is change you can’t control yourself. I’m a director, so I’m a control freak. So I often say, “I love change! Let’s try something different! We already did that, we’re gonna do something new!” But then I encounter change I can’t control; change I have to manage in all my ridiculous stupid humble doubt. And this piece taps into that in so many complicated ways. Don’t make any mistake—it ain’t just about Caroline’s managing of change. It’s about all of the people in this world. Everybody is dealing with change in profound ways. Everybody is dealing with profound loss. Loss is the kind of change you can’t control. Clearly Kushner & Tesori were interested in creating a musical which, at the eleventh hour everybody doesn’t end happy. It doesn’t end like a fairy tale. It’s a very mature, human story that carries you all the way to the end through music. And we’re taking a risk because people want musicals to do something else.
‘I’m a visual guy, so I look at the score—and it’s dense. On any given page there’s four things going on at once, just in the vocal lines. And that density is what excites me.
‘I want to be clear, even as much of this story is catalyzed out of loss, just listen to the music. It’s an incredible affirmation of human capacity—a celebration (I use that word carefully) of life as we deal with these complicated issues. That spirit infuses the piece from the top, a celebration of life even as these human beings are managing change.
‘We have a lot of work to do. We’re gonna have a hell of a good time. We have an open rehearsal policy, so there will be people around, observing. And if you come to watch, I’m gonna ask your opinion. Because we’re always pushing to the next place, making it better, clearer, and more complicated.’
