Feature Story
The Play Is the Thing
From musicals to Macbeth, Nazareth's theatre students get professional-level experience putting on a show.
by Robin L. Flanigan
Shane Heidecker鈥檚 heel has fallen off.
Under ordinary circumstances, this might not be an emergency, but considering it鈥檚 an hour before showtime鈥攖he musical theatre major is playing three characters in this seventh and final performance of Shakespeare鈥檚 Macbeth at Nazareth College鈥攈e makes a mad dash to Allen Wright Shannon, M.F.A., assistant professor of scenic design.
鈥淕et me a hot glue gun,鈥 Shannon instructs Heidecker 鈥15, who, when he returns, lifts his left black boot for repair for the second time in three days.
鈥淚 have hot-glued whole costumes together鈥 in other shops, Shannon asserts as he investigates his handiwork a few moments later. 鈥淭here. It blends right in. The magic of theater.鈥
Putting together a performance from start to finish is a major collaborative undertaking. Nazareth does it four times a year, with 60 or so students鈥攖wo-thirds of them theatre arts majors鈥攑articipating in some form or another. Two of the four productions are musicals; the others pull from a broad spectrum of styles, including comedies, tragedies, and period pieces.
鈥淚鈥檓 positive audiences don鈥檛 have the foggiest notion how many hours we put in,鈥 says Matthew Ames, Ph.D., associate professor of theatre and director of Macbeth. 鈥淭hey often say things to the actors like, 鈥榃ow, how did you learn all those lines?鈥 That鈥檚 certainly a big job, especially if you鈥檙e playing Macbeth in a 2陆 -hour show, but it鈥檚 also just step one. There鈥檚 so much more to do after that.鈥
Rehearsals take up 15 hours a week鈥攆ive weekdays after classes鈥攆ollowed by 鈥渢ech week鈥 practices near showtime that add 10- to 12-hour weekend run-throughs. Besides the main director, the vision and responsibility for each production is shared by the technical director and, depending on the show, musical director; designers (sets, costumes, lights, and sound); costume shop manager; carpenter; stage manager; selection committee; actors; and other volunteers.
Nazareth emphasizes the Stanislovsky method, which 鈥渂asically takes any scene and boils it down to an objective tactic, to what the character wants,鈥 explains Matt Allen 鈥15, a musical theatre major who starred as Jeff in I Love You Because, a comedic, modern-day musical loosely based on Jane Austen鈥檚 Pride and Prejudice. 鈥淎ll Jeff wants to do is find this chick, get laid, and go about his day,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut he doesn鈥檛 say the right words, and he tries to be this really cool, smooth guy and he just isn鈥檛. It鈥檚 so much fun to figure out what a character wants.鈥
That goes for all characters, even the musical鈥檚 backup singers.
鈥淪tand closer and look at each other,鈥 advised Kerry Young, guest director for I Love You Because, during a rehearsal weeks before opening night. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun, but there鈥檚 an edginess and dryness to it. Find the cynicism.鈥
Young frequently works with multiple theater organizations in Rochester and is president of TheatreROCS, a networking consortium of local theater companies including Geva Theatre Center, Blackfriars Theatre, Downstairs Cabaret Theatre, and others. There are differences between directing professional and student performances; for the latter, Young offers more insight into her decisions so students understand why some choices, such as the best movements to serve a character鈥檚 motivations, are more effective than others. Nazareth also prepares students for the professional environment by running rehearsals, tech rehearsals, and performances within the Actor鈥檚 Equity Association work rules and guidelines. Students rehearse several more weeks than professionals, however, given the time they have to carve out for classes.
Yet Young is impressed with the competency level of her collegiate cast. 鈥淭he students are incredibly professional in their attitude,鈥 she says. 鈥淣azareth is doing a wonderful job of helping them understand what鈥檚 expected of them now and what will be expected of them in the real world someday, like being on time and being prepared for rehearsal.鈥
Young familiarized herself with the script before meeting with designers to discuss the color palette (mostly black and white), costumes (pops of color), and how to work economically with limited resources (the same futon serves as a bed and a couch in different scenes), among other things. Rehearsals lasted about six weeks. The first week was dedicated solely to working on the music, followed by a read-through and general blocking, a term used for an actor鈥檚 movement and positioning on stage. Then the layering begins: What is the character鈥檚 motivation? Where has the character been? Why is the character making a particular move?
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to make assumptions about what you can and can鈥檛 do because you know the script, but the audience is coming at it fresh every time,鈥 says Young. Consider this: If the script has one character asking for a cup of coffee, the character assigned to serve the coffee can鈥檛 grab the cup out of habit before hearing the request. 鈥淭here are so many layers. The closer we get to the performance, the more we get into the subtle aspects of finessing things. Is the scene moving too quickly? Is it being dragged out like taffy?鈥
At recent auditions for the play Circle Mirror Transformation and the musical The Secret Garden, about 50 students who鈥檇 been given access to the scripts a month before vied for spots that would eventually be filled by only half of them. If they go over 90 seconds on their monologue, they get cut off, and they have only 32 bars of a song to make a good and lasting impression.
鈥淲e have open auditions so they can learn from each other. A freshman can learn a lot from watching a senior work,鈥 says Lindsay Reading Korth, M.F.A., professor of theatre arts.
Students at the afternoon call-back had to learn a jig鈥攅ven if they weren鈥檛 auditioning for the musical鈥攋ust for the experience, adds Korth, who acknowledges auditions can be stressful.
鈥淭hey have to be so professional,鈥 she says. 鈥淵ou could be a wonderful actor, but if you cannot look right and behave correctly and be ready in an audition, you鈥檙e not going to get work. This is an enormous part of our training, and the pressure is hard. It鈥檚 really hard.鈥
Jessica Pappalardo 鈥16, who played Lady Macbeth and will play a teenager in Circle Mirror Transformation, describes that pressure: 鈥淭he hardest part about the business is auditioning. It鈥檚 a lot of self-sabotage. Right before auditioning for Lady Macbeth, I had to take a second before going on stage to tell myself I was meant to be there.鈥
Outsiders have taken notice of her talent, and she鈥檚 not the only one to be recognized recently. Pappalardo, Allen, Alexus Maxam 鈥17, and Amanda Popeilarz 鈥15, for example, have all been nominated for The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, and Emily Mullin 鈥17 was awarded a Certificate of Merit for Stage Management through the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Once work on a show gets underway, the design process alone takes about 12 weeks and commonly starts with the director providing an overall concept for the production, according to Yuanting Zhao, M.F.A., chair of the Theatre and Dance Department, professor and costume designer. 鈥淪ometimes we disagree, which is why we have so many production meetings ahead of time,鈥 she says.
The first thing everyone does is read the script repeatedly without judgment, just to get the story in their heads. Then they start looking at details. Zhao uses a highlighter and sticky notes to mark places that require a special wardrobe piece or costume change. If scene two takes place two days after scene one, for instance, characters need to be in different clothing.
When a play is written for more characters than there are available actors to play them, students take on multiple roles, requiring Zhao to know what each character should wear at all times and 鈥渢o make him or her look different without killing them backstage.鈥 She鈥檚 referring to backstage costume changes, which can be fast and frenzied. An actor playing several characters may be clean-shaven in one scene, sport a fake beard in another, and show up with a goatee and hooded cape in yet another.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tedious and frantic, but that鈥檚 what I have to do to put on a really good performance,鈥 musical theatre major Kit Prelewitz 鈥17, playing three roles in Macbeth, says of the costume swaps, which happen with assistance. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 nice knowing you have people to rely on for help.鈥
Meanwhile, Shannon is engaged in a significant amount of research.
鈥淚 need to understand the world of the play so I that I can create a place for it to happen,鈥 he says. That means for Macbeth, he not only read up on Scotland in general, but on the succession to the Scottish throne and the country鈥檚 geological landscape, including what sort of stones are found there. 鈥淚 tell all my classes: Actors have to know a lot, directors have to know more, and designers have to know everything. Everything will have an impact.鈥
What follows are deep discussions with other designers and the director about the quality of the actors鈥 movements. In Macbeth, some of the talk centered around the soles of shoes and the surface of the stage to make fight scenes as safe as possible. 鈥淛ust knowing that they had to move quickly, with sharp staccato movements, informed the choices I made,鈥 Shannon added, 鈥渟o I didn鈥檛 use any sealer; only flat paint that would have that little bit of tooth to make the floor easier to grab.鈥
Safety is a top priority with every aspect of a show. The authentic swords used in Macbeth were regularly inspected and filed down to keep blades blunt. Students who played the witches practiced movements in their gauzy costumes and oversized veils to make sure their feet didn鈥檛 get caught in any material, and wardrobe adjustments were made when necessary.
Before the final performance of Macbeth, most of the actors sit in front of brightly lit mirrors, putting final touches on their stage makeup. 鈥淚 got the 鈥榖e skeletal鈥 note, so my eyes are sunken and the bones are highlighted more,鈥 says acting major Francis Grunfeld 鈥15, explaining the deep mocha-tinted foundation that contrasts with the lighter powder on his cheekbones and the bridge of his nose.
And let鈥檚 not forget the drama that takes place off stage鈥攂efore the drama begins on stage.
鈥淪omething always goes wrong, and when it does, you fix it as fast as you can,鈥 says Shannon. 鈥淵ou just figure out a way.鈥
And hoping for a little divine intervention doesn鈥檛 hurt.
As Heidecker walks out the door with his heel newly affixed, Shannon calls out: 鈥淪ay a prayer!鈥
Robin L. Flanigan is a freelance writer in Rochester, New York.
Behind-the-Scenes
Rituals
It鈥檚 not unusual for performers to have pre-show rituals. On the music front, Leonard Cohen drinks whisky and chants in Latin, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin brushes his teeth, and Keith Richards eats a shepherd鈥檚 pie (and has to be the one to break the crust).
At Nazareth College, some affiliated with the Theatre and Dance Department share their own pre-show rituals: