A diverse and lively group of Broadway performers gathered on Tues., Oct. 20 to kick off the American Theatre Wing's (ATW) "Working in the Theatre" fall seminars.
Held at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, the free three days of panels focused on professionals in the fields of performance, direction, writing, choreography, design, production, and marketing, providing a forum to share their experiences, fears, and ideas. Each panel was introduced by Isabelle Stevenson, ATW chairwoman of the board, who invited ATW's special guests to "join the 25-year roster of past participants who've provided a rare opportunity to explore the realities of working in the theatre."
Richard Benjamin ("Power Plays") set the tone for these informative, but relaxed and humorous presentations, at the first panel on "Performance." After watching his colleagues count to ten for their sound check, Benjamin got the first of many laughs by commenting, "Actors are such an obedient group, you do everything you're told!"
Moderator Theodore Chapin, president of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, also quipped, "These seminars are among actors' favorites because a director or orchestra isn't telling them what to do!"
Also on hand for the discussion were Billy Crudup ("Oedipus"), James Naughton ("Chicago"), Paula Prentiss ("Power Plays"), Roger Rees ("The Uneasy Chair") and Dana Reeve ("More To Love, A Big Fat Comedy"). The questions followed a timeline for a life in the theatre, from school background and the need for training, to what makes a "generous" director, what is involved in actors' directing, the necessary evil that is auditioning, surviving nerves, rejection, and the pros and cons of criticism.
Rees was asked to discuss the difference between the English and American approaches to training. While not finding a major training difference, Rees self-deprecatingly joked, "As you can see from my performances, I haven't had any... You can only be good if you've been bad and raucous and know what feels uncomfortable." Crudup felt school had provided him with "a place to fail in big bold ways." Benjamin added about critics, "It's easy to write the nasty; it's hard to write an informed review. I hope Vincent Van Gogh knows somewhere that his shows are sold out now."
Dana Reeve's discussion of auditioning was especially moving because she cited her husband Christopher's accident. "After the accident, my life was too "real' so I wanted to be more creative," said Reeve. "I was set free and now auditions are all fun. Nothing could be worse, so now I look forward to having the chance to audition."
Benjamin, also a director, explained, "It's great here in New York. Actors can't wait to audition for you. In some other places actors say, "I don't audition.'... Actors are expected to expose themselves; they need to be protected. [Director Milos] Forman would say on the set, "We all have to be stupid here; we'll never know unless we try.'"
Prentiss talked about going back to classes to return to the stage and also shared, along with husband Benjamin, what it was like to be a replacement cast member in a show, and how to develop trust.
Naughton not only entertained the audience with many stories about his career, but also spoke about his son Greg's experiences forming New York's Blue Light Theatre Company. Naughton perhaps summed up the rewards and magic of the theatre best by answering when he knew he had made it. "I was working a rainy matinee, I didn't really want to be there and then I was on stage with a group of women in underwear circling me with fans and I thought, "Somebody's gotta do this job...I am here!' "
‹Amelia David
The Playwright, Director, Choreographer Seminar
Do protests staged outside a theatre affect what goes on inside? Do they influence the play itself? Such were the provocative questions posed by broadcast critic Pia Lindstrom.
ATW's "Playwright/Director/ Choreographer Seminar," featured playwrights Christopher Durang and Michael Chepiga, directors Garry Hynes and Joe Mantello, and choreographer Graciela Daniele.
Lindstrom, co-chair with George White of the O'Neill Memorial Theatre Center, used the opening queries to target the controversy surrounding Terrence McNally's "Corpus Christi"aiming her questions to Joe Mantello, the play's director.
"We tried hard...to keep our focus on the play itself and not respond in any way to the controversies," said Mantello, who had agreed with McNally that the play was their only responsibility.
The play, which takes place in contemporary Texas but parallels the Gospel story, suggests that Jesus was gay‹a thesis that caused outrage, protests, and even bomb threats directed against the show's producers at the Manhattan Theater Club.
"It's sort of a no-win situation and we did our best to block it out. It was a fairly normal rehearsal process, except for the bomb dogs and the metal detectors," Mantello added.
"I've been in rehearsal now for about six weeks," said Michael Chepiga (Getting and Spending), "and I can't imagine adding to that the stress of metal detectors and dogs!"
Others had also experienced censorship and threats.
Christopher Durang said that his satirical one-act, "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You," received bomb threats, not initially, but later in Florida. "I don't think my play is anti-Catholic," he insisted, "but critical of the dogma of the Church."
Argentinian-born Daniele added, "When I was little, it was the time of Peron. It was the police state-stopping the artists from doing what they wanted to do. Now I'm so lucky to be an American citizen, and I'm shocked with what is going on. It does remind me of the dictatorship."
Turning to other issues, Garry Hynes, director of "Beauty Queen of Leenane," talked about her own Druid Theatre in Galway, which she co-founded in 1975‹and the rarity of women directors, there and elsewhere.
"When I was nominated for the Tony, I couldn't believe that no woman had ever been nominated!" she said. "Why not more? I don't know the answers."
When asked to explain the Irish gift for language, she replied that the two languages had co-existed in the country for centuries, with the Irish speech enriching the English.
The panelists also explored relationships between playwrights and directors, questioned what makes a playwright, and speculated on whether playwriting could be taught.
"What does a playwright say to the director on the first reading?" Stevenson asked the panelists.
"The playwright/director meeting is never quite confrontational," Mantello said, "but very fluid, a feeling-out process. You can tell if you go on a blind date if it's working or not. It's chemistry."
Durang said, "I like the director who is free and easy during rehearsal," and Hynes added, "It's human relationships, like anything else. You are two people thrown together in an intense process."
"We keep hearing the word "trust' in these seminars. I guess that's what you're saying," said Stevenson.
"I'm sure it's different each time," Chepiga added, "but once you've made a mutual commitment, I think it becomes important to see that you are working on the same play and have the same vision."
(Chepiga, who is both a practicing lawyer and a playwright, said that the two roles made him feel schizophrenic at times‹"the actors want to talk about Wall Street, and the lawyers want to talk about theatre.")
When Stevenson asked the two moderators what constituted a good play, White quickly replied, "The ability to tell a story," and Lindstrom added, "It has to touch me, be something I can connect to."
As to whether playwriting or directing can be taught, Durang (who has taught playwriting at Juilliard for four years) said, " don't think any of the arts can be taught, but I do think it's valuable to get feedback...It's a mentoring sort of thing, and that's what I found useful as a student."
Chepiga countered, "I think the best teacher is the audience, and it takes a number of performances before the audience."
"The directors learn more from failures than successes. With the successes, you just think, "Thank God!" said Hynes.
"It's like life," Daniele summarized. "I can give information. There are certain formulas. But until you live, you do not know. Knowledge comes from just going out there and doing it."
‹Irene Backalenick
PRODUCTION TIPS FROM THE PROS
Attendees at the "Production" seminar on Thurs., Oct. 22 followed a Broadway play from its inception to opening night and beyond. Topics included: the difference between Broadway and not-for-profit budgeting, how readings develop into financed productions, the expectations placed on a commercial versus a non-profit project and how each member of the panel juggles working on multiple shows that compete with each other.
The show they followed, "Side Man" by Warren Leight, was first produced by the six-year-old non-profit Weissberger Theater Group, followed by a limited run at the subscription-based Roundabout, and now has an open-ended commercial run at the Golden Theatre with Christian Slater replacing Robert Sella who originated the central role. The pros attending the panel were Jay Harris (producer), Peter Manning (producer), Roy Gabay (general manager), Gary Springer (press representative), Drew Hodges (advertising), Nancy Richards (marketing), and moderator ATW president, Roy A. Somlyo.
Members spoke from the point of view of their particular jobs. Manning brought his expertise having been with "Side Man" since its first reading at Vassar. Harris had the experience of dealing with both his non-profit investors who didn't expect a return, and now with commercial investors who do. Gabay delved into stricter union rules and house staff requirements they faced moving the show and industry standards in setting prices.
Richards talked about her job developing audiences by focusing on concierges, direct mail discounts, and packages. Springer shared how he generates press interest and how the addition of Slater gave them more free plugs because of the media's interest. Harris was quick to point out, "If you create too much focus on the show requiring a star, it will have no life in touring or regional theatres." Hodges offered an in-depth look at how "advertising creates the personality of the show before it opens." He pointed out the differences in the campaigns for all three productions and how he used his background designing Blue Note Jazz album covers to develop a look for this "memory play about music."
A DESIGN FOR LIVING
The Thursday afternoon "Design" seminar was a presentation of the 1998 ATW Design Awards, with some of the winners discussing theatre design and its challenges. Back Stage announced the winners in the Oct. 23 issue. Fifty-three designers were nominated for 41 productions (a stipulation is that they all be from the U.S) and unlike the Tonys, there is a small honorarium awarded. The moderators were lighting designer Beverly Emmons, and theatre critic and Professor Tish Dace who reminded the audience, "These are for Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway. This isn't about glitz or how much money the project had. It's about the designs."
Another difference between these awards and the Tonys is their more "notorious" and flexible categories, like "Noteworthy Effects," won this year for the fourth time by Julie Taymor for "The Lion King." Taymor's costume associate, Mary Peterson, was able to describe how Taymor works and a high point of the day was a visit from the actress who plays Simba's mother, modeling her costume. Of special interest was the carved character headpiece, which was designed to still show the entire face and the "humanity" of the actor. It is made out of an amazingly light carbon graphite, which is painted to have the heaviness of wood, but only weighs seven ounces.
Don Holder, who designed the lighting for "The Lion King," was also a winner, along with Jules Fisher for "Ragtime." Award winner for "Ragtime" 's Scenic Design, Eugene Lee charmed the crowd with his set models from the show and his design tales from his work regionally and on Broadway. "The biggest challenge a designer has is in getting the job," Lee said.
One particularly crowd-pleasing story was about "Showboat." "A scene required a scene change," said Lee. "We had a back drop of cotton fields that cast members tore down. The critics thought it had so much meaning, but it was really just solving the problem of the scene change."
Problem solving also holds a great fascination for this year's surprise special award winner, designer, and Yale professor Ming Cho Lee. His award for "Outstanding Service to Theatrical Design" was presented for Lee's yearly portfolio stage-design review luncheon weekend he makes available to 600 design school students. Fondly known in the community as "The Clambake," young designers are given feedback and support from established directors and designers. In thanking ATW, Lee expressed that he was greatly honored, but that his motives were selfish because the weekend helps him keep his own perspective fresh. Lee reminded the audience, "Have something to say: you're allowed to do that in the U.S. You wouldn't be able to do that in China."
‹Amelia David