ElenaP: Behind the Scenes

Home stretch!

We’re just one week away from opening the show, which means a few things:

1) I will spend most of today wandering around my apartment, muttering, “This time next week! This time next week!” This will upset the cat.

2) Somewhere in Iowa City, Tim Budd is lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out how to make one of his acting moments even smoother than it already is.

3) None of my friends will answer my calls, for fear that I’ll entreat them to “run lines” with me…AGAIN (thanks Ryan, Courtenay and David!)

4) It’s time for press interviews galore! My fellow castmember Jim Kropa will be on the “Culture Crawl Show” (FM88.3) this Friday at 10:20AM; Herr Direktor Ron will appear on the world famous Dottie Ray show (AM800) at 8:45 on Friday, and both Ron and I will tackle the Stephen Grace show (AM800) at 9:00AM on Monday. Tune in, whydoncha.

5) The next few days will be spent undergoing the harrowing process we all know and love called TECH. Starting on Easter Sunday, the cast, crew and designers will slowly weave the lights, set, props and costumes into the mix of the play we’ve been rehearsing. This means a lot of stopping and starting and, usually, quite a bit of laughing, too. In tech, acting rehearsals essentially come to a close. We actors really must hand the show over to its tech requirements for a few days, focusing not on our personal thespian journeys so much as hitting the right marks at the right time in the right outfits. After all, what good are actors if you can’t see or hear them? By Tuesday, however, we’ll be running the show at full steam: lights, sound, acting-- the whole nine. Just in time for opening weekend.

6) And speaking of opening weekend, let me invite you Riverdogs (and also any Rivercats, Riverferrets, Riverhawkeyes, and Riverpolarbears in the blog-o-sphere) to our opening weekend. If you’ve never seen a show on opening night, it’s usually a pretty special evening, charged up with a fresh, palpable buzz. I think the whole run is going to be pretty cool, but the first night is always extra special. Not to mention, you can tell all your friends you saw the show first! So make your reservations for March 27th to catch the opening night fever.

6) I should really be studying my script rather than blogging right now. Because this time next week…

ElenaP: Behind the Scenes

Ah, costume fittings. In my ten years of working in theatre, I’ve done approximately nine kabillion shows, and each experience of getting clothed for each production has been unique. I’ve had fittings in bar bathrooms and restaurant kitchens and in the living rooms of people’s houses (while the designers kids sat there, watching TV as I stood in my slip). One period show required me to stand completely still for what felt like three hours, in a corset and pumps, while a team of seamstresses literally sewed me into my dress. I locked my knees and passed out halfway through.

But never in said nine kabillion years did I have the costume experience that I just had for 3A.

Thanks to a real costume coup, 3A designer Lindsey Robinson won’t have to build or hunt through the stock to find Annie’s contemporary, business-woman-on-the-go costumes. All of her costumes are coming straight from one of Iowa City’s coolest boutiques—TEXTILES! On Wednesday, I got to walk into a store I love and shop for my character.

Lindsey simply pulled shirts, skirts and dresses right off the racks and, in the comfort of their cute dressing room, I tried on these (designer) dresses, and then twirled around in the three-way mirror so Lindsey could decide whether or not she liked them. It was so cool! Kind of like one of those movie montages where the awkward wallflower gets taken under the wing of some fashion-forward best friend and then gets a sassy new wardrobe that turns her into a super-diva. Cue the upbeat montage music!

What makes this partnership with Textiles an even bigger deal is the fact that Annie’s costume requirements are kind of complex. Not only must they give off the impression of a successful, somewhat style-conscious TV fundraiser, they must also be theatrically functional. The show spans a week in Annie’s life, but is written without “blackouts” or scene changes. If those were in the script, I could run offstage and put on a new outfit, but no dice. So, all the costume changes must happen onstage, and, due to the fluid nature of the script, they must happen very quickly. This means I’ll probably be “underdressed”—wearing entire outfits underneath each other, dropping layers as the show progresses. Thus, in addition to being chic, the costumes must lie flat and not make me look like the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Woman. Tall order, huh? Makes me glad I’m not a costume designer.

Lindsey hasn’t totally decided what outfits are going to work yet, but the pieces she’s selected so far are pretty dang cool. They’ll also, in their progression, support the emotional journey of this character, as she moves from heartbreak to hysteria to an entirely new page in her personal and emotional life. Who knew a few yards of fabric could do so much work.

More to come (of course!)

ElenaP

p.s. I also had a great time chatting with Riverside’s board at their meeting this week, and, as I told them, Annie’s mix of songs (for which I solicited suggestions in last week’s blog) looks sadly thin so far, with only TWO songs. So, unless more people submit ideas for Annie’s character “mixtape,” I’m going to be sitting in the dressing room, listening to Ron’s suggestion (Peter Frampton!) on repeat before every show. This could affect my performance in frightening ways, people. So don’t be shy! Submit a song that makes you feel like Spring, that makes you feel thoughtful, or that makes you feel like a 30-something PBS fundraiser. Annie (and maybe even Peter Frampton) will really appreciate it!

ElenaP: Behind the Scenes

Last night, we finished blocking the play! We now have a rough sketch of each character's movements from curtain up to curtain down, a sketch that we'll now spend the next two weeks coloring, polishing, and filling in.

It's funny, but the first week on stage always feels like fumbling in the dark for a lightswitch. In many respects, the components we now have are the same things you'll soon be watching from those cushy red Riverside seats. You'll see the same people, uttering (essentially) the same lines, in (essentially) the same order. But its not a play yet, you know?

My fellow actors and I are still wandering, still searching-- finding the speed of the funnier lines, the tonality of the weightier ones, all the while aquainting ourselves with the rhythm of each reaction in our bodies. In short, blocking rehearsals are a lot of fun (we've laughed A LOT this past week as we've gotten to know both the play and each other) but the whole show still feels nebulous. We can feel the frame and structure of the wall surrounding us, but have yet to locate the smaller, integral switchplate that will illuminate the room in which we stand.

What's got my attention more than anything this week is another common byproduct of the first rehearsal week: seven days into the process, the character I'm playing is still a little under-lit, too. There are already moments where I think I can see Annie as plain as day: staring out the window on page 6, laughing at a story on page 40, threatening to punch someone on page 18. But there are moments in between where I'm not 100% sure how to play her. When Annie says "I don't know what I want to know anymore" is she feeling sarcastic or scared? When she admits that she doesn't know how to waltz, is she embarrassed? When she tells her lover that she never went to her Senior Prom, might she be lying just to get out of telling a racy story?

While some might find these uncertainties unsettling, I find them delicious! I love the detective work of theatre-- the slow, multi-pronged process of discovering a person who only exists on paper. There's lots of ways an actor can bring a character to life for herself. I read once that, Kate Winslet never feels in-character until she finds the right bra. Johnny Depp blasted a different kind of discordant music in each ear to feel more like Hunter S. Thomspon. And, of course, there's Spencer Tracy's more laissez faire approach: "just say your lines and don't bump into the furniture."

Me? I like to make mix CD's-- compilations of songs that my character (even if she exists in an era before recorded music) might enjoy listening to, or might respond to, or might find resonance in. I listen to these mixes before rehearsals or during warm-ups, or at random points in the process when I need to get in the mood.

And since this blog is all about inviting you Riverdogs into our rehearsal process, I thought YOU might want to give me a hand...

What songs might you associate with a girl like Annie? I'd describe her as a savvy 30-something PBS employee who is a little too passionate for her own good. She's an idealist, but also a little sarcastic, having just been dumped. When the play opens, she can feel both her faith--and her sanity-- slipping away. So what would you suggest? The Dixie Chicks? Mahler? Gloria Gaynor? The theme from Rocky? I'm totally open to your suggestions, folks. Character building can be collaborative! Post your songs suggestions in the comments link below, or email them to me at elena-passarello@uiowa.edu. I'll post the playlist next week. And who knows-- if I'm feeling industrious, maybe I'll make a few mixtape copies to distribute among the most faithful "ElenaP Behind the Scenes" readers.

More soon,

ElenaP

ElenaP: Behind the Scenes

Hello, Riverdogs! Hope all is well in your igloos! Here’s what’s been on my mind this week.

Some may describe it as kismet, others fate; a few characters in Apartment 3A might go so far as to call it a “miracle.” I prefer to call it CONTROLLING THE WORLD WITH MY MIND. No matter which word you use, a certain thing happens to the universe of an actor about the time her rehearsals commence.

When you’re about to enter the “world” of a particular play, weirdly congruous things start happening in the real world. Maybe a song that’s mentioned in the stage directions will be on the radio when you turn on your car, or maybe the classic movie channel will decide to air a weekend of flicks all set in the same time period as the script you’re diving into. In this particular case, shortly before rehearsals started, I was going about my Sunday-in-Winter ritual:

1) Dig out the Sunday Times from its landing spot in the snowy yard.

2) Remove paper from wet and/or frozen bag.

3) Arrange sections in order of interest to me-- Arts and Leisure, Magazine,
Books, Travel, Style, Week-in-Review.

4) Line the cat box with the rest.

There, above the fold of what is my front page, was the headline: IS PBS STILL NECESSARY?

I couldn’t believe it! Annie, my character, is a fundraiser for PBS. She considers herself one of the few remaining true believers in the power of public television, even though, at the top of the show, her faith in the network (and every other aspect of her life) is slipping. Freaky, huh?

This article goes on to report that every year of his presidency, the Bush administration has threatened to cut PBS’s government subsidy by half, thus forcing PBS to petition like crazy, and putting the livelihoods of their affiliates (and thus, their employees, like Annie) in jeopardy every twelve months. The article adds that, as if that fiscal pressure weren’t enough, PBS now has 400 cable channels to compete with, as seen in Apartment 3A, where Dal, the super (played by Riverside veteran Jason Grubbe), refuses to click over to Annie’s Public TV station due to his obsession with the Disney Channel.

Well, PBS might not be necessary anymore, but weird moments like this are, at least for me. The play takes place in a Midwestern town during Lent, and so I now have an immediate sense memory that Annie can use—trudging through the late-winter slush in my pajamas and snow boots, opening a newspaper in my empty apartment and feeling Annie’s lonely, private outrage upon realizing that something she believes in is once again in peril. I can feel her anger as she reads that even the more widely-viewed PBS programs get less of the Nielsen share than “Friday Night Smackdown.” Grrrr. Well, bad news for PBS, good news for my process!

But enough “An Actor Prepares” mumbo-jumbo. I’ll write more in a few days about how we’ve spent the first few rehearsals (five words: sex scene in a church). For today, the only preparing this actor is going to do is choosing an outfit for tonight’s Walking the Wire opening. I hope to see all of you there.

ElenaP

ElenaP: Behind the Scenes

Hello Riverdogs!

The Riverside crew has asked me to post a weekly blog as the rest of the Apartment 3A team and I investigate, rehearse, and prepare Jeff Daniels’ smart and sweet script for its March 27th opening.

I’m really excited to get started on this piece, which is chock full of emotional layers and iced with really, really funny jokes. I’m equally excited to work at Riverside, a theatre that I consider to be one of the crown jewels of Iowa City! So check back here every week for inside info, musing, ramblings, and a running tally of the myriad occasions in which I fall on my butt (I’ve never been known as a graceful actress, and there’s a scene in 3A with some serious acrobatics).

Back in the fall, Ron and Jody let me know that I was cast in the role of Annie. In the months between the audition and the first read-thru, I’ve bided my time doing two things:

1) Reading through the script--throughout which Annie talks incessantly, shrieking, HOW IN HEAVENS NAME AM I GONNA REMEMEBR ALL THESE LINES!, then calming myself down with a gin-and-tonic.

2) Explaining to friends and family that, yes, this play was written by that Jeff Daniels (or, as my stepfather insists on referring to him, “Dumber”).

Jeff Daniels the “theatre person” has always been a bit of a buzz word in my house. My boyfriend, David, is an actor-turned playwright, like Daniels, and a “Michigander,” like Daniels. All of Daniels’ plays have seen their debut at his Purple Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea, Michigan. David’s parents have seen quite a few of these productions. They’ve decided that Daniels should become their son’s best bud, despite the fact that Daniels and he have decidedly different aesthetics.

They say things like, “Oh, David, you should call up Jeff Daniels and ask him to put on that play you wrote about the murderous 18th century vampires” or “we went to see a Jeff Daniels play that was just like that one you wrote about the West Virginia trailer park! Only this one was set in the city and everybody worked for Public Broadcasting.” These statements are even funnier if you imagine them spoken in very thick accents.

“Dumber” though he may be, Daniels’ plays have received increasing amounts of positive attention, and not just from David’s folks. 3A played off-Broadway last year, and Escanaba in da Moonlight was made into a feature film. And there’s just something so cool about a man who could easily spend his free time lounging in Beverly Hills, collecting residual checks from The Squid and the Whale, Terms of Endearment and, yes, Dumb and Dumber, but who instead chooses to make art in his little Midwestern hometown. Sounds like Daniels might fit right in among the Riverdogs, huh?

When Ron and Jody gave me this script, I read Annie’s first monologue out loud and was immediately struck by this very funny and very emotionally real woman that Daniels created. Before reading any further, I put the script down, turned to R and J and said, “please tell me everything turns out okay for this woman.” She was that evocative. In Annie, Daniels has created a character I found myself instantly caring about, which is no small feat. I hope that, in a few weeks, you all will have the exact same experience when you meet her.

I’ll write more once we start rehearsals next week. Until then, stay warm!

ElenaP

Doubt

Consider the silent “b” in the word “doubt.” It is a little speck of dirt left over from the past--a quiet reminder that words have histories. The word shares a root sense with a cartload of words based on the notion of “doubleness.” “Doubt” describes the action of wavering between two alternatives. As the history suggests, this movement between two poles is a dynamic condition, not a static one. Contrarily, words such as “sure” or “certain” rise from roots that suggest stasis—something like “safe from cares” in the first case and “already decided” in the second. In this light, “doubt” might be seen as precondition for action or change, while “surety” suggests a hiding place from which one dare not move.

Shanley’s play Doubt is set in a Roman Catholic church and school in 1964. The plot treats the prospect that an adolescent boy has been abused by a priest. “Been there. Done that,” you say. Perhaps not. Shanley didn’t win the 2005 Pulitzer Prize by rehashing headline news. Here he seems almost disinterested in exposing failings of the Church or in flaying the priest. True to his title, he invites questions not pat answers: How does one make a moral choice in an uncertain situation? How many of the comforts of security can be risked in pursuit of an uncertain good?

Setting the play in 1964 is a canny choice since this was a hinge year in our contemporary history—a year in which the many comforts of the post-war and “Camelot” eras began to give way to the changes and uncertainties we usually associate with “The Sixties.” Civil Rights workers die. Race riots erupt. Viet Nam blows up. The Beatles go on TV. Bob Dylan sings, “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” As we recall the difficult but generative uncertainty of that time, we might recall, too, the wisdom of Voltaire: “Doubt is painful. Certainty is ridiculous.”

-Bruce Wheaton
Director, Doubt

Doubt at Riverside Theatre runs January 25 - February 17. Tickets are $24 and are available at the Riverside Theatre box office at (319) 338-7672 or online at https://amber.he.net/~riverdog/buyticketsnow.php.