Last Wednesday members of the cast of A Seagull in the Hamptons sat down for a post-show discussion.  They discussed such topics as the differences that arise when modernizing a play from Chekhov’s time, the sources of the emotional energy they use in order to embody their characters, the research in the original Chekhov they did (or didn’t do), and what it is like to perform on a stage covered with 18 tons of sand.  The actors agreed to allow us to film the discussion (thanks, actors, you rock!), so you can use the embedded player below to watch clips from this discussion in case you weren’t able to attend.  Enjoy!

Posted by Elizabeth Edwards, Literary Intern at McCarter Theatre.

Photo by T. Charles Erickson

A piece of intriguing behind-the-scenes trivia about the soundscape of A Seagull in the Hamptons has recently been brought to my attention by Production Stage Manager Cheryl Mintz. Apparently, a never-used original composition, first written for the 1993 McCarter production of Miss Julie, has been rediscovered and is making its debut as an incidental sound cue in A Seagull in the Hamptons after fifteen years in the vaults. I thought this might be of interest to our blog readers, so based on Cheryl’s initial account of the story I conducted interviews with composer Baikida Carroll and sound designer Karin Graybash to find out more. Here is what I gleaned:

As mentioned in a previous blog post, Baikida and Emily have a long working relationship, which began while developing the musical Betsey Brown with Ntozake Shange and Joseph Papp at the Public Theater in the 1980’s. Since then, Baikida and Emily have worked together on numerous productions, and have developed a highly streamlined system for their collaborative process, which Baikida was kind enough to describe to me.

Based on conversations with Emily about a given play and the different themes that might be needed for the production, Baikida will compose three to five completely different pieces as possibilities for each theme. Emily listens to them all and decides which ones she wants, and Baikida then arranges the chosen themes, sometimes providing multiple possible orchestrations. For instance, for the opening number of Miss Julie, Baikida originally had the song recorded in an arrangement for solo cello. But over the course of rehearsals he and Emily decided to instead use a version of the same theme played by a string quartet, and so the solo cello version was set aside, and never used in production.

Never, that is, until now.

(more…)

Howard Barker

So I rediscovered this quote by Howard Barker the other day (from his play, The Bite of the Night). It really hit me (as it did when I first read it several years ago) because it is so beautifully written and so true. As we start preparing for next year’s season, I thought I’d share it with our blog readers.

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FIRST PROLOGUE

Macluby: They brought a woman from the street
And made her sit in the stalls
By threats
By bribes
By flattery
Obliging her to share a little of her life with actors

But I don’t understand art

Sit still, they said

But I don’t want to see sad things

Sit still, they said

And she listened to everything
Understanding some things
But not others
Laughing rarely, and always without knowing why
Sometimes suffering disgust
Sometimes thoroughly amazed And in the light again she said

If that’s art I think it is hard work
It was beyond me
So much of it is beyond my actual life

But something troubled her
Something gnawed her peace
And she came a second time, armoured with friends

Sit still, she said

And again, she listened to everything
This time understanding different things
This time untroubled that some things
Could not be understood
Laughing rarely but now without shame
Sometimes suffering disgust
Sometimes thoroughly amazed
And in the light again said

That is art, it is hard work

And one friend said, too hard for me
And the other said if you will
I will come again

Because I found it hard I felt honoured.

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Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

So finally all of the “Live at the Library” videos from A Seagull in the Hamptons are in one place—check out the player below to watch all 6 video excerpts of the event with star Maria Tucci and director/adapter Emily Mann.

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

Emily Mann, McCarter’s Artistic Director and Playwright in Residence, recently sat down with Princeton News Network’s Todd Reichart to discuss her work as adaptor/director of A Seagull in the Hamptons. The video is embedded below. Enjoy!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

Dear Blog Readers,

Thanks so much for faithfully reading the blog this season.  Since the beginning of the season, the blog has received 45,984 page views in approximately 15,303 individual visits.  It is lovely to write for such a loyal readership.

I regret to say that this week marks the beginning of a summer leave I am taking from McCarter in order to pursue some professional development opportunities.  I will miss being the embedded blogger here at McCarter, but will return to my post in mid-August.

Until then, you can expect a significantly reduced blog summer schedule.  I have written a few posts that will go up over the coming weeks, and please keep checking the blog for updates from my colleagues over the course of the summer; we’ll be back to our 5-posts-a-week schedule by the end of August!

Enjoy your summer!!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

The house. Photo by Rich Tepper

One of the most striking set-pieces in A Seagull in the Hamptons is the scale model of a Hamptons beach house, which appears in the distance in Acts 1 and 2. I have to say that I’m totally in love with this piece, and if nobody knows what to do with it after the show is done, I think I could find a place for it in my new house when I move this summer (hint hint). In all seriousness, there is talk of auctioning this house off, and somehow I don’t think I’ll be able to afford it. I’ll keep you posted on the auction details.

The model. Photo by Rich Tepper

Eugene Lee—the set designer for A Seagull in the Hamptons—designed the house, starting with a model. You can see him talking about his model on YouTube. He gave the model to our Production Staff, along with an elevation of what the finished piece should look like by the end. The elevation showed the scale, which was between 1/5 and 1/6 of the size that the actual house would be in real life. It would probably be a two-three bedroom house, it really isn’t that long, only about 40 feet wide.

The elevation. By Eugene Lee.

Inside of it, there are four different light sources (for each of the rooms on the front facade), and the porch has itty bitty little adorable porch lights that also light up.

The research.

Eugene has a great relationship with McCarter’s Production Staff, and often gives them a lot of leeway and opportunities to elaborate on his work. They did research into what a typical house in the Hamptons might look like, pulling up photos from realtors’ websites, and began to play with trims and details.

Halfway through construction. Photo by Rich Tepper

One of McCarter’s carpenters, Jill, spent the better part of three weeks building the entire house by hand. She began by framing it (like you would a full-sized house), and then slowly cut out the rest of the pieces and added them in. Most of the pieces are glued on, including each of the individual shingles, which are all hand cut and hand-glued. Steve created the windows (which are a layer of scrim in front of a layer of muslin in front of a layer of a diffusion lighting gel), and Carrie (the charge scenic artist) did a lot of the painting. Staff members in the Properties department created scale models of Adirondack chairs and urns for the plants on the porch. It was a real team effort.

The set. Photo by Rich Tepper

In the end, the house weighs about 100 lbs, and is carried on and offstage by two stage carpenters. It is scaled so that it can just barely fit through the stage left exit. It is a complete scale architectural replica of a Hamptons house from three sides (and above). Pretty awesome, huh? Keep checking the blog for details about any potential auction that might happen!!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre. Photo: Stark Sands, Matthew Maher, Brian Murray and Laura Heisler in “A Seagull in the Hamptons.”

Theresa and George Hudak pause for a photo outside the shops while waiting for their tour to begin.

As a longtime McCarter patron and supporter (and recently a staff member!), I have been fortunate on several occasions to attend the annual backstage tours for donors. Ever since being on the backstage tour last year, I watch Fezziwig’s office and Marley’s entrance with a different eye, and I know where Scrooge goes (into the trap room) at the end of the first act. In 2004, I was thrilled to walk on the Berlind stage where Fräulein Else danced through the grass; I marveled at how “Secret in the Wings” transformed the Berlind Theatre in 2005 without benefit of trap rooms, etc. as we imagined fairy tales coming to life.

So I admit that, at first, I was very disappointed to learn that this year’s “backstage tour” was actually going to be a tour of the prop, costume, set shops across Rt. 1 on Alexander Road. “What were they thinking when they planned this?” I thought to myself. How could a tour of rooms of props used in previous shows be of any interest to me?

Boy, was I wrong! The costume shop, headed by Cindy Abel Thom, was in the midst of assembling all the contemporary outfits necessary for the 10 actors in “A Seagull in the Hamptons,” which might seem like a simple shopping spree that many of us would love, but in actuality is a lot more demanding! We also saw one of the elaborate gowns created for “Tartuffe” from scratch by the “draper.” Quite a different undertaking than when I used to sew from McCall’s and Butterick patterns in high school.

Technical Director Christopher Nelson explains the set for A Seagull in the Hamptons.

Meeting Michele Sammarco, head of the prop shop for 11 years, and following the process of creating 100+ “emeralds” for Edward Albee’s “Me, Myself & I,” was eye-opening, too. How they tested material, how they assembled all the pieces, what they were trying to achieve so those of us in the audience thought we were seeing emeralds! I am not a creative person, so I don’t have that kind of imagination. I saw an early rehearsal, so I saw the first rough ride of the panthers, but hearing of their creative journey was quite fascinating, and I imagine those big cats traveling the corridors on their journey to the Berlind.

But, I must say, I was just in awe of Chris Nelson’s (technical director for 10 years) demonstration of the creation of the Hampton’s beach–real sand and all, house and living room–being transported right into Princeton.

To those of you who will be fortunate enough to attend “A Seagull in the Hamptons,” make sure you do not leave the theatre during intermission! If you do, you’ll miss quite a transformation.

McCarter is so lucky to have these professionals in Princeton, and those of us who are donors and patrons are so lucky to have them at McCarter! And now I say, “I know what they were thinking!” Thank you for sharing your expertise with us.

Posted by Debra L. Lemeshow, Volunteer Coordinator, Audience Services Staff and Donor for McCarter Theatre Center.

A week or two ago, intrepid literary intern Elizabeth Edwards interviewed set designer Eugene Lee about his work on A Seagull in the Hamptons. In the YouTube player below, you can find a set of 5 clips from that interview, on a variety of topics (his design for A Seagull in the Hamptons, working at McCarter Theatre, working with Emily Mann, working on “Saturday Night Live,” and the model for A Seagull for the Hamptons). Enjoy, and post a comment to tell us what you think!

Posted by Adam Immerwahr, Producing Associate at McCarter Theatre.

Emily Mann

Dear Friends and Patrons,

It is with both disappointment and excitement that I share with you the latest news from McCarter Theatre. As many of you already know, Governor Corzine’s proposed budget reduces state cultural dollars by nearly 30%. Due to the impact of this significant cut on McCarter, along with a tightening economic outlook for our institutional funders, we have had to make reductions in expenses in the coming season. Regrettably, this situation has forced us to postpone our previously announced production of the ambitious new musical, Take Flight. We have invited the creative team (Richard Maltby, Jr., David Shire, and John Weidman) to continue developing their ebullient musical at McCarter with the goal of a production in an upcoming season.

BD Wong in Herringbone Photo by Joan Marcus

Yet great opportunities often arise from challenges, and I am simply delighted to announce that virtuoso performer BD Wong will open our 2008-2009 season in a breathtaking performance of Herringbone. Written by Tom Cone, Skip Kennon and Ellen Fitzhugh, Herringbone is a chilling and charming musical ghost story in which an 8-year-old tap dancer becomes possessed by the vengeful spirit of a jaded song-and-dance man. As BD’s extraordinary performance (playing all eleven roles in this one-man musical) illuminates the story of an exploited child star, he dazzles and beguiles with his astonishing talent and effervescent personality. BD’s artistry, brilliance and electrifying charisma are perfectly suited to this funny, haunting and wonderful Southern Gothic tuner, which demands nothing less than a tour de force performance. BD gives it.

BD Wong is the only actor ever to receive all five major New York Theater awards (including a Tony Award) for a single role, in M. Butterfly. More recently, he has starred in the acclaimed Broadway revivals of Pacific Overtures and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Audiences will also recognize him as a recurring star in the TV shows Law and Order: SVU (as Dr. George Huang) and Oz (as Father Ray Makuda). Herringbone will be directed by Roger Rees, who began his career as an actor at the Royal Shakespeare Company before winning both the Tony and Olivier Awards for his performance in Nicholas Nickleby. Roger has directed for HBO, The Roundabout Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons and Williamstown Theatre Festival, where he served as artistic director from 2005-2007.

This production of Herringbone will be a singular event, and an extraordinary way to inaugurate our ambitious and exciting season. I look forward to seeing you at the theater.

All Best,
Emily

p.s. I hope you are as concerned as we are about the crisis in New Jersey State Arts Funding, and I urge you to visit www.artpridenj.com to send an “Action Alert” to your elected officials.

Posted by Emily Mann, Artistic Director and Playwright-in-Residence at McCarter Theatre.