A Peek Behind the Curtain - Part 2

 “Into The Woods”

by Stephen Sondheim

Produced by Circle Ensemble Theatre and Co-sponsored by the Morton Theatre Corporation

July 12th and 13th at 7:30 pm and July 13th at 2 pm

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Part 2 - And the Plot Unfolds

There are very few occupations not involving hallucinogens that seem as much like an episode of Romper Room as watching actors prepare for their time on the stage.  Like Romper Room, there’s sharing.  There are games.  There are memory exercises.  All that’s missing is nap time.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s the most productive episode of children’s television ever.  They are working toward a goal. They’re just having some fun along the way.  Preparing for a show is a lot like construction work, but only if the construction workers were seven smallish men with beards and they were all humming and wittily bantering and generally enjoying their twelve hour sweatshop-length workdays.  My point is that these show people work hard.  They work hard in an effort to make it look like they’re hardly working.  It’s a strange thing to watch.

           
What has surprised this theatrical novice the most is that they all both take it completely seriously and manage to have fun with it every step of the way.  Some high school guidance counselor once told me that the key to figuring out what you ought to do for a living is to take the money and geography and what stupid outfit you might have to wear out of the equation and simply figure out what makes you happy.  I think he’d just eaten a copy of What Color Is Your Parachute?  Well, the actors, director, producer and other folks affiliated with The Circle Theatre Ensemble’s production of “Into the Woods” are having fun while learning their  lines. 

           
The rehearsals have just barely begun.  It’s a more complicated process than I’d imagined.  If the play was just one guy standing in one spot on one stage and saying nothing, rehearsals would be easy.  The play would suck, but it would make everything easier.  This is a truly ensemble cast in a truly ensemble play.  There are so many moving parts.  Everyone is moving, singing, carrying props, falling down, appearing from various off-stage places and interacting.  Again, I can’t help thinking of a really well organized Romper Room…with a moral, for adults, some of whom are portraying children, but all of whom take their roles seriously. 

In case you couldn’t guess, I’m still searching for the perfect analogy for how a play works.  I haven’t found it yet, but I’m not giving up.  I was toying around with an oral surgeon and his armed squadron of dental hygienists if they were all, themselves, on laughing gas, while performing a root canal on twenty patients  simultaneously to a choreographed dance number, all the while communicating musically.  Clearly, I still haven’t found the right analogy.  I’m going to keep trying, but if anyone has any suggestions, post them on The Patch and I’ll throw them in the next blog.    

Every job has its own bonding rituals.  Executives perform trust falls and climb mountains on corporate retreats.  Waiters get tanked after their shifts.  Jell-O-makers like to get naked and wrestle in their product, for quality assurance purposes only.  The actors and director of “Into the Woods” all gather in a big circle.  I don’t think this practice is limited to ensembles with the word “circle” in their name, but it does add another layer of correctness to the ritual.  They form a large circle (it’s a large group) before they rehearse and then they get silly.  For real, there are organized memory games that they perform each time before they rehearse.  In a sort of less-taunting Monkey In The Middle ritual, one person goes into the middle of the circle and is, in effect, “It”.  That person then says either “J-Lo 1-2-3!!”  (for Jennifer Lopez) or “Bunny 1-2-3” or “Dead Armadillo 1-2-3” or "Bibbity-bibbity-bop”, while looking right at one of the people in the circle.  And, though I haven’t entirely cracked this code, I think the rules say that if the person in the middle says the word “bop” before the person he or she glared at on the rim of the circle, then the middle person is allowed to move into the circle and is replaced by the person on the outside who didn’t out-bop the other, and thus the cycle of “It” continues.  They seem to vary the number and speed of "bibbities”, in an attempt to throw off the circle people.  I’m still not sure how Jennifer Lopez fits into it.  I’ll do more research into this strange behavior.  Maybe I’ll wear a safari hat and say things like “Crikey”. 

These folks are consummate professionals.  Don’t let my comparing them to the cast of Romper Room or dwarf slaves make you think that this isn’t a grouping of impressive artists who know what they’re doing.  They pay their people (some they call Equity—I still don’t know what that means, but it sounds fair).  They take what they do seriously, though I guess the seven dwarves did, too.     

I’ve heard the Circlistas describe “Into the Woods” in various ways:

--It’s a morality tale that goes all the way around

--It’s a fractured fairy tale where the first part is Sondheim and Lapine’s interpretation of the action and the second part is the consequences of those actions

No matter your philosophical take on it, it’s a bunch of familiar stories told in a unique way with catchy music.  You will find yourself singing some of these songs at a later date, possibly in random, inappropriate places.  Once you get a song stuck in your head, it’s hard to get rid of it, but that’s probably the mark of a good song. 

OK, the cast and crew are now set.  Like I’ve said, it’s a big group, so I don’t think I can do much more than just list them (role-actor/crew member):

Narrator (the "Storyteller")---Lisa Mende

Cinderella is double cast---Chelsea Dunham and Suzanne Zoller

Jack---Duncan Sligh

Jack’s Mother---Cindy Nason

The Baker---Drew Doss

The Baker’s Wife---Kathleen Hogan

Cinderella’s Stepmother---Joy Ovington

Florinda (a Stepsister) is also double-cast---Chelsea Dunham and Suzanne Zoller

Lucinda (the other Stepsister)---Kira Walsh

Cinderella’s Father---Jeff Marshall

Little Red Ridinghood---Sara Chamberlain

The Witch---Lynn Halverson

Cinderella’s Mother---Gretchen Evans

Mysterious Man---Jeff Marshall

The Wolf---Scott Baston

Cinderella's Granny---Debbie Willingham

Rapunzel---Ashley Ware

Cinderella’s Prince---Aaron Strand

Rapunzel’s Prince---Joseph Strickland

Steward---Thaddaeus J. Abbott

Giant---Vicky Moody

Snow White (also Assistant to the Producer)---Jenna Lancaster

Sleeping Beauty---Emily Andosca

Understudies---Amy Levin, Julianne Whitehead, and Lauren Townsend

PRODUCTION CREW:

Producer---Scotty Gannon

Director---Joelle Ré Arp-Dunham

Musical Director---Teresa C. Ruiz

Stage Manager---Richy Dunham

Set and Lighting Designer---Rich Dunham

Costume Designer---Terri Armacost

Prop Designer---Vicky Moody

Sound Designer---Michael Gavrielides

           
See, I told you it was a big show.  As you can see, some people pull double duty, understudying other roles, and everyone involved is most likely doing five other things than what you’d think from his or her title. 

One thing that Circle members and Musical Director Teresa Ruiz still need for this show is a few musicians.  Unfortunately, there are no bands in Athens.  If only we were closer to the Okefenokee Swamp we might know some bearded guys with mouth harps and jug bands.  However, if you happen to know of any talented musicians who are up for a fun challenge and want to expand into the theatrical world, contact Circle Ensemble, Teresa, or post here on The Patch and we’ll pass your information along. 

There’s so much that goes into these productions.  It’s a collaborative experience, just like Romper Room.