The past three months have been full of constant work here at MSF. Rather than a time where we are able to relax, our time between performance seasons is full of the foundational responsibilities needed for the Festival to produce the next season.
The hard work of our new COO, Richard Griffis, and our new Marketing Director, Laura Thomas, has been, over the past few months, contacting Foundation supporters, major individual donors, and business sponsors to thank them for their continued support of the MSF and to give them details about the amazing critical and audience reactions we received from Romeo & Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, and Driving Miss Daisy.
We’ve also been spreading the word about our ShortShakes Touring Production: Romeo & Juliet; which is now booked to play 30 different schools in southeast and south-central Michigan. The show has been wildly praised by students and teachers—and we’re looking to expand both the number of schools where we perform and the program itself by adding Macbeth to the 2012 touring season.
And, of course, there has been the pre-production phase for the 2011 season.
The most important aspect of the pre-production phase (that time between seasons when we aren’t yet having production meetings and haven’t yet decided on a lot of the conceptual aspects of the shows) is the hiring of the production staff.
These are the people—directors, designers, and stage management—who will put together all of the technical aspects of the shows—concepts, themes, designs—and have all of the foundations laid before rehearsals ever begin.
While their jobs aren’t as glamorous to the public as those of the actors, and they are seldom accorded the same level of acclaim; the work that these people do, often months before the shows are even cast, can often determine whether the shows will be audience-pleasing hits or … not. In early meetings, decisions will be made by the team concerning time periods, styles, and countries in which to set the plays. These decisions will be based on the ideas of the director and what he or she feels is best for the show. These ideas will be fleshed out by the designers and eventually brought to life by the actors. But these decisions are also influenced by more mundane factors such as time and space and budget.
The first order of business was hiring the other director for the season, Robert Kauzlaric, who will direct Moliere’s comedy, Tartuffe. Robert, a member of the award-winning Lifeline Theatre’s artistic ensemble, in addition to being their Casting Director and Marketing Director, has appeared as an actor in many productions racking up a non-Equity Jefferson Award for Best Supporting Actor (Around the World in 80 Days), more awards and nominations for acting and ensemble work; directed Treasure Island; adapted The Island of Dr. Moreau (Winning another Non-Equity Jeff Award: Best Production-Play and New Adaptation), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Jeff nomination: New Adaptation), and Neverwhere.
His adaptation of The Three Musketeers premiered at the 2010 Illinois Shakespeare Festival. But, above and beyond being an amazing actor, an amazing director, and an amazing literary adapter, Robert is also an absolutely brilliant overall theatre artist—making my decision for the director for Tartuffe a really easy one. He understands all the elements of production and knows how to work in a team—a necessity for a Festival director.
A production staff that works well together is important; in our MSF situation, imperative. Since our plays are done in rep, a different show every day, sometimes twice a day, we need designs for scenic and lights that can move simply and swiftly, that can work together onstage if necessary or be moved easily offstage if not. Our Scenic Designer and our Lighting Designer are not just designing three shows, they are designing three shows that must work together using the same essentials in order to accommodate our fierce schedule.
So, the second order of business was to make sure that a passionate design staff was in place. Returning to work with the Festival this year is the incredibly talented Jeromy Hopgood as our Technical Director (the person who’s in charge of making sure that all of the technical aspects of the productions—scenic, lighting, properties, sound, and costumes—all work together seamlessly and are ready to go by tech week) and our Scenic Designer.
We were also lucky to be able to get our 2010 Composer, Kate Hopgood, back for 2011. Her sound designs for Romeo & Juliet and Comedy of Errors were integral aspects of the productions, and her original music for Driving Miss Daisy functioned as almost another character in the show.
Our Lighting Designer, Brian Scruggs, is a MFS graduate of Detroit’s Hilberry Repertory Theatre and works all around the country: we’re lucky we fit into his busy schedule.
And we are delighted by how our costume staff has filled out. We have three designers this year, one for each show, and they are all working to their strengths: Melanie Schuessler (head of costume design at Eastern Michigan University) will be designing Tartuffe; Renae Skoog (Stock Manager and Wardrobe Supervisor at the University of Michigan who last designed for MSF on the luminous production of The Tempest in 2009) for The Winter’s Tale; and Lauren Montgomery (our Costume Assistant last season and Ensemble member at Magenta Giraffe) for Much Ado About Nothing.
And, of course, none of this would make a bit of difference if we weren’t able to compose a strong stage management team.
Stage Managers are usually the most misunderstood artists in theatre. In movies and on TV, we usually see some actor who “didn’t quite fit the role” offered the position of “stage manager” on a production. And then we see that person taking director notes or prompting the actors on their lines, or running errands. So those who don’t work in theatre tend to not really be sure what it is a Stage Manager does. In a nutshell, the Stage Manager is the person who leads a show from pre-production, through rehearsals, through technical rehearsals, and through production. During pre-production, the Stage Manager is involved in all of the design meetings, so they have an insider’s view as to what the themes and concepts are for the show. Then, during rehearsals, they are in charge of keeping blocking (movement) notes, of learning where the technical cues are, and of keeping the routine side of the rehearsals going: timing, scheduling, calling, etc, so that the director and actors can concentrate elsewhere. In technical rehearsals, the stage manager is in charge of keeping things moving, and, under the eye of the director, of integrating the work of the designers and actors into a cohesive whole. And then, once the show is open, the Stage Manager is the Boss. In charge. The one to whom everyone reports. From the time the show opens, the director is no longer allowed to give notes directly to actors, the designers are no longer to make changes, the actors are no longer allowed to alter their performances—they are all responsible to the Stage Manager.
At the end of the day, the Stage Manager is responsible to the Production alone. The Stage Manager’s job is to make sure that the show the audience is seeing is the one created through production process and that no individual is allowed to shanghai the show. When the show goes up, the most powerful person in the room is the Stage Manager. And that is why the Stage Manager is involved from concept through implementation through rehearsals; because their understanding of the director’s vision of the show will be the vision the audience is invited to see.
I know I got off into a bit of a tangent there, but I wanted to let you all know just how important the stage management staff is to a theatre company. Even more to a company that is doing three shows at once and juggling large and complex casts and designs. And to let you all know that we have a top-flight SM staff. Our Equity Stage Manager will be Stefanie Din, returning for her third season with the Festival. And her assistants will be Sara Robinson, returning for her second season, and Mercedes Coley, whom we are welcoming from Hilberry for her first season with the MSF. These three SMs will be holding the productions together from beginning to end—and we have every confidence in their abilities to do just that.
So, next time, I’ll prattle on a bit about the concepts for the shows—and what the process was like to finalize them. As a bit of a sneak peak, I’ll let you know that Tartuffe will be presented fully period, late 17th century, with all of the wigs, heeled shoes, corsets, frock coats, and panache you might ever want in a French Farce. Much Ado About Nothing will be presented in 1953: the men coming home (again) from war and the birth of a new societal era. And The Winter’s Tale will be set as a true (Grimm’s type) fairy tale—a pre-Raphaelite infusion of magic-story spinning and psychological drama.
We have just finished the casting process for the 2011 company (more on that later in this newsletter) and I look forward to sharing all of the work we have done in the off-season with them (rehearsals begin June 7th) and with you. First previews start on July 14th. See you all summer!
Janice L Blixt
Artistic Director
Michigan Shakespeare Festival