Costume designs by Jess Goldstein

If I weren’t an actor, I’d be a costume designer. It’s like magic.I tried on my costume today. My character, for the first time, magically APPEARED before my eyes! (Insert applause here.) For an actor, that is a powerful image to draw upon. It’s my favorite part of the rehearsal process. Why? For one, such rich detail and craftsmanship go into costume design, the fabrics, the undergarments, the shoes, the colors. (Someone say “yes” to Lily’s Spencer coat!)

Secondly, “The Christmas Carol” centers around the theme of “giving, giving, giving!” That theme certainly extends to the exquisite authenticity and beauty of the garments worn on stage. There’s a lovely camaraderie amongst the McCarter Costume Shop Team. It’s a group of gorgeous women who care about the work that goes into making each character distinct and real. It’s not just about making someone look attractive on stage-although that takes skill, too!

I believe it takes a three dimensional understanding of why someone chooses to wear something. “What kind of woman would wear something like this?” Why do YOU wear the clothes you do? There’s a reason why they say the “devil wears prada.” It’s a psychological puzzle that the Costume Shop Team figures out for the ENTIRE show. The clothes worn further define for the me what my characters value, where they come from, what they think of themselves, what they believe. And from that spring many more choices for me to make when I create my interpretation of who these women might be.

We ALL work together to fully transport the audience out of their seats and into Charles Dickens’ wintry London world. If just for two hours…it’s magic! Seriously…it is.

See also:

• The Wardrobe Room
• Spotlight On: Costumes

Posted by Karen Pittman, who plays Lily and Belle in McCarter Theatre’s Production of A Christmas Carol.

The following post was written by a member of the Young Ensemble of A Christmas Carol, the team of 14 local actors between the ages of 6-13 who play all the childrens’ roles in McCarter’s annual production of A Christmas Carol:

Hey all, this is Peter again. We just made it through the second day of rehearsal and it went really well. I had a workshop with another young ensemble member and Mr. C., and it was cool working through it. The new Mr. Cratchit is really cool. We had a singing rehearsal with our musical director (and once again I realize that I seem to have lost all control of my voice). It was still cool, though. So that was the second day. Have fun reading. Good night and good luck.

Posted by a member of the Young Ensemble of McCarter’s annual production of A Christmas Carol.

First Rehearsal

The following post was written by a member of the Young Ensemble of A Christmas Carol, the team of 14 local actors between the ages of 6-13 who play all the childrens’ roles in McCarter’s annual production of A Christmas Carol:

Hey! This is Peter Cratchit talking (Hi, how you doing?). First rehearsal was yesterday and it totally rocked! Everybody in the adult cast was new, except Mrs. Dilber. And it turned out that everybody was really good. The people fit the roles like peeerrrfectly. And, come on, who can top the new Scrooge? I also like the Cratchit family. Mr. C. (or Daddy, as I like to call him) is a cool guy. It will be fun hanging out with him. Well that’s it. I am out of topics. So have fun. Keep reading!

Posted by a member of the Young Ensemble of McCarter’s annual production of A Christmas Carol.

First impressions and setting the right tone are everything. Yesterday, Stage Management eagerly awaited the arrival of our company of 37 actors for the first rehearsal of A Christmas Carol. As you can see in the photo, everything is strategically placed for rehearsal. Three days of load in by McCarter’s Prop and Costume Departments along with my Stage Management staff’s set up makes a welcoming and safe environment for the actors to start their journey into and through the world of Dickens.

The highlight of my day came early with the surprise arrival of David Thompson, our Adapter. Though McCarter Theatre commissioned David to write his adaption over 17 years ago, he endlessly amazes me—he has a fresh energy each and every year as if it was the first. And with practically an entirely new cast this season, everything feels refreshed this year.

Yesterday morning following the Actor Orientation Meeting, we did an “Adult” read through of the play. Since our Young Ensemble was still in school, our Adult Ensemble read the children’s roles at the read through—which can be amusing when a 22 year old actor is reading Tiny Tim! The Young Ensemble joined us in the afternoon, and Michael gave a wonderful presentation explaining his collaboration with Set Designer, Ming Cho Lee, and his personal journey with this production. The company capped off the day with what Michael calls a “Mash Up Dickens” in which the company reads through the script, inserting the original Dickens Staves into the appropriate points of the script. It is a great way to get inside the script and dig into Dickens’ original words.

Posted by Cheryl Mintz, Resident Stage Manager for McCarter Theatre and Supervising Stage Manager for A Christmas Carol.

The following post was written by a member of the Young Ensemble of A Christmas Carol, the team of 14 local actors between the ages of 6-13 who play all the childrens’ roles in McCarter’s annual production of A Christmas Carol:

I’m SOOO excited about this year’s “A Christmas Carol”—partly because it’s my first time in it, and partly because of all the new friends I’m making! I was worried that everyone who was in it last year would already be close and I might feel left out, because I was new. That sometimes happens, and I figured I would really have to work hard to get to know people. Well, as it turned out—no work necessary! Everyone was talking to me, asking me to come sit down. No joke, it was unbelievable how nice every single person was—and it didn’t seem fake, either! So of course I really wanted to be friends - how could I not? All these amazing, unique personalities that I could see already, because they were letting them show with nothing to hide. I couldn’t wait to start reading through the play - the director really got us all motivated! And when our first afternoon ended, we were hugging each other goodbye, as if we had known each other forever. I am not kidding—I was OVERWHELMED with friendliness. YOUNG ENSEMBLE—I love you guys. You are all, in one word, AWESOME!!!!!

Posted by a member of the Young Ensemble of McCarter’s annual production of A Christmas Carol.

This afternoon, McCarter hosted a reading of Steven Dietz’s new play, City of Ghosts. The piece was commissioned by McCarter and has gone through a number of incarnations, including a reading at Florida Stage last March. Emily and the McCarter staff were all excited to finally welcome the play back under our roof.

The entire affair was incredibly quick! Steven flew into town from Texas last night and stayed less than 24 hours. During this brief period, Steven and his four actors rehearsed and presented a reading of the latest draft of the play, after which Steven met with the theater’s artistic staff just in time to drive down to Philly and hop on a plane headed back down to the Lone Star state.

I was the Reading Coordinator for today’s event, and I couldn’t be happier with how well it turned out. There was a lot of prep work leading up to today, but it all really paid off. In preparation for the reading, I spent many hours calling actors, completing paperwork, copying the updated script, and drafting copies of the program and contact sheet (who knew there were so many ways to lay out such a seemingly simple item!). Early this morning I visited a number of local eateries to pick up breakfast munchies for our hospitality spread and spent a good ten minutes in Wawa comparing bananas before picking out the perfect bunch—only the best for our visiting playwright and actors!

It was such a pleasure to meet Steven Dietz—a distinct and exciting voice in the American theater, and an easy-going, kind person—as well as the four actors who took part in the reading. I also got to read stage directions, giving voice to the little performer inside of me (see the picture above).

See also:

• In the Thick of It
• A Reading of A Seagull in the Hamptons

Posted by Marisol Rosa-Shapiro, Directing/Producing Intern at McCarter Theatre.

This is Part IV (of IV) of McCarter Artistic Director Emily Mann’s interview with Playwright Edward Albee. Click here for Part I, here for Part II, and here for Part III. In the last installment, Mann had just read Albee’s revised ending for the play. The conversation continued:

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Emily Mann: So, can you talk a little bit about it physically, visually, because you had—unlike many playwrights—you had in your mind a very, very sharp image.

Edward Albee: I always do.

Mann: You always do. Can you talk about that?

Albee: I always, when I’m writing my plays, I see them-and I hear them-as performed pieces. I see them being performed on stage, I see them as plays. I don’t-this saves so much time—I don’t see them as some kind of amorphous reality.

Mann: Right.

Albee: I see them as being performed on a stage. So what I write is what will work on a stage. That won’t necessarily work for a novel; I don’t confuse the two. And since I hear it, I see it very visually.

(more…)

Photo by T. Charles Erickson

It is 3 a.m. on my 46^th birthday, November 3^rd, and I promised Adam Immerwahr I’d get this blog in before rehearsals started. So… I’d better hurry - they start the 6^th. I am amazed that this is my tenth year directing A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre. It feels like I just started. I was given the gift of re-mounting the “old” version in 1998 and the even greater gift of directing a new production in 2000. I suppose I can no longer call this current version, now in its eighth year, “new,” and yet I do. This year, the more accurate term might be: renewed.

We have taken the perhaps unusual step of rejuvenating nearly the entire cast of the show this year. Unusual because we have thrown the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” completely out the window. Because of a gorgeous, smart and faithful adaptation by Tommy Thompson, a phenomenal team of collaborators and the unparalleled administration and production departments that truly care about this annual holiday gift to its community, we have had eight years of terrific reviews and local support. So why change things? I became intrigued by what the alchemy of a drastic re-shaping might bring to this well-oiled machine. The unknown is as exciting as it is risky.

One of my proudest achievements during my annual immersions in Princeton is the fact that we have never rested on our laurels. No show has been exactly the same year after year. I remember the first six years had as many Marley door knockers and opening numbers because we kept thinking of ways to improve them. Nothing is ever truly finished, right? And we have always welcomed the refreshing combination of returning cast members and first-timers to our “Christmas Carol” family. Cheryl Mintz (the supervising stage manager) and her team support me in not allowing the following words in the rehearsal room, “This is how we did it last year” - a more important rule this year than ever.

(more…)

It’s not too late to win free tickets to see Faith Prince’s late-nite cabaret concert. This is a blog-only contest, and all you have to is be the first person to answer all the questions in the Tartuffe Quiz! We’ve had a few entries yet, but nobody has (yet) gotten all 10 questions correct. And Faith Prince is mad cool. I would totally enter (and win) the contest, if I were eligible. Dude, it’s Faith Prince! From Broadway. And the movies. And the first (and only?) Broadway show my big brother ever saw! And that CD that I drove my father nuts with cause I listened to it over and over and over again… THAT Faith Prince!

So the salient point here, the one sentence synopsis, if you will, is that Faith Prince rocks the casbah. If you don’t believe me, ask YouTube. And then go take the Tartuffe quiz.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

McCarter is thrilled to have award-winning playwright, rapper, actor and educator Will Power as our playwright-in-residence for the next year or so. Will has made a name for himself as a pioneer of Hip-Hop Theater, and he is now writing a McCarter-commissioned play about the unlikely friendship of Stephin Fetchit (Lincoln Perry) and Muhammed Ali (Cassius Clay). We’re really excited to have him with us for the entire year. Anyway, the blog-worthy news is that we’ve got two free events coming up with Will Power (on the Princeton University Campus), and hopefully you’ll be able to come to them, meet Will, and hear about what he’s doing.

An Evening of Excerpts

Join acclaimed playwright, rapper, and actor Will Power for a presentation of excerpts from his new play, Fetch Clay, Make Man, followed by a conversation about the piece. November 14, 7;30pm. Princeton University: East Pyne 010.

“Stephin Fetchit to Flava Flav: The Politics of Shuffling, Signifying, and Satire”

A conversation with film historian and cultural scholar Miriam Petty and award-winning playwright, rapper, and actor Will Power. November 15, 7:30pm. Princeton University: McCormick 106.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.