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Stepping Behind the Scenes of The 39 Steps*

24 Wednesday Feb 2016

Posted by woodzickwrites in Theatre

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acting, comedy, Hitchcock, The 39 Steps, Theater, Theatre, Whidbey, Whidbey Island, Whidbey Island Center for the Arts

As many of you know, I’ve been working on The 39 Steps. Playing Clown #2 in this production has been one of the most rewarding acting experiences of my life. Seriously. 

The reason I’m able to transition so seamlessly between my nineteen characters is because of crew member Evan Ray. I jokingly refer to him as “my handler.” Honestly, there aren’t adjectives adequate enough to express how wonderful he is, but I’ll try: Evan is one of the sharpest, most intelligent humans I have ever met. His meticulous organizational skills are mind-bending, he is always at the ready with a bottle of water and a fan so that I don’t keel over and he has the magical ability to keep himself and me calm throughout the backstage frenzy. He is as much a part of building my characters as my acting craft. 

Please enjoy this post he’s written about his process behind the scenes.

-Katie

Guest post by Evan Ray:

*Can you find the Alfred Hitchcock references hidden in this essay?





“How far is Winnipeg from Montreal?,” Hannay exclaims from his box in the audience. As Mr. Memory sorts through his extensive intracranial filing cabinet, I head toward the stage right clothing hooks. That was my cue to prepare Katie’s next costume change, the second of over twenty (it’s hard to count!) that will occur throughout the show. There are many instances like this one in the backstage orchestration of The 39 Steps, components of our own behind the scenes blocking that has formed both consciously and unconsciously in rehearsal and run. The play requests a high degree of organization from its stage crew and we make it our goal to bring that to the table (wings and booth?) in return. In a review of paper tech at the start of tech weekend, our stage manager, Kathy Stanley, produced a prompt book that likely contained more lighting, sound, and backstage cues than actual dialogue. My own script is full of graphs and charts reminding me how to position costumes for the most efficient quick-changes and notes about finally remembering not to leave the loops on that one dress over the hanger.

In spite of all our planning, an equivalent amount of creative problem-solving and quick thinking is necessary in a play notorious for rapid-fire action. If an actor is exiting the stage with a torn curtain—or a chair in three pieces, as the case may be—it is the backstage crew’s job to figure out what to do about it in that moment, especially if the prop will be needed later in the performance. For me, this synthesis of careful coordination and quick improvisation is one of the things that makes being backstage for The 39 Steps both an intense and intensely rewarding and enjoyable experience.

The clock reads 6:01 as I enter the mainstage door. I make brief stops at the sign-in sheet and green room and then start on the pre-show checklist. This consists of making sure the right props are onstage for the top of the show and the correct footlight is in place and “where did those biscuits go?” and the battery for the lamp is plugged in and “really, what happened to the shortbread?” and all of the money is in the right pockets and “seriously, who would have taken something from the prop table?!?.” Phew!

Compere jacket #2, British police cape, sideburns on a headband, three stuffed sheep—this is the eclectic inventory of items I pile onto my arm before heading to stage left to do final checks on the coat hooks and prop tables. “Fifteen to places.” We look over the stage one last time. Everyone makes sure the lamp works, independently of one another. No wonder the battery goes so fast. “Ten to places.” Water bottles are filled. “Five to places.” Are the safety lights on? “Actors in places and….

Here we go!” During the performance, it stays as busy backstage as it was before the show. My notes to myself, verbatim, often look something like the following: “Assist change to milkman SR (stage right), then hightail it to SL (stage left) with trench coat and bring compere jacket #1, dropping off clown hat along the way. Make sure sunglasses are in right pocket. Prepare coat with cape, take milkman costume quietly from Tristan, and assist Katie’s change to salesman SL. Then get to dressing room pronto for Bristol’s change to Pamela.” Yes, indeed, there’s certainly plenty to do and the pedometer in my phone doesn’t rest often.

Collaboration is key; this is especially evident in the middle of the show. A play itself is a giant feat of collaboration and the backstage crew is a smaller collaboration within the larger. Sometimes one action will involve many members of the crew, such as the shadow screen plane scene in Act I. Other things fall into a natural sequence; after a while you begin to notice patterns, walking past the same person in the hallway carrying the same things after that one scene.

Once the intermission checklist has been completed (tea is poured, chairs are placed, rope on the banner is properly set, etc.), it’s time for Act II. “Actors in places!”  We sometimes refer to Act I as “the busy act” (it is, after all, the act where I run from “flying” a plane to trigger the fog machine and then immediately open the mid-traveler), but there are still many things to be done in the second half. Sheep must be herded positioned, flannel nightshirts must be wrestled with, and then there is what seems to and may be a matter of seconds to strike and reset the stage for the final scenes.

Curtains close, lights go up—it’s time to pre-set for the next show. This means lots of sweeping (if you’ve come to see The 39 Steps already, you’ll probably know why), tracking down errant opera glasses, or trying to attain some semblance of order in that one chaotic stash of costumes that always accrues on stage left. The post-show checklist is as important as the pre-show one, as this is the time where that one pair of sunglasses can be located before it has had time to disappear into the woodwork, seemingly of its own accord, and make you spend fifteen minutes looking for it the next day. That’s right sunglasses, you know who you are. After double-checking everything for a third time, we head out.

Kazoos, kilts, and knives—where else can you find such diversity of prop and costume? This medley is representative of the play itself, with a storyline that winds through territories from spellbinding thriller to screwball comedy to romance to a puddle on the dark Scottish moors. And now, when you catch one of the last three opportunities to attend this show (available at tickets.wicaonline.com or 360.221.8268!) and see all of the incredible onstage feats of acting, you can imagine the glorious frenzy occurring behind the scenes as well.

Becky’s New Car Takes the Audience for a Wild Ride!

14 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by woodzickwrites in Theatre

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

acting, comedy, Whidbey, WICA, women

The cast and crew of Becky’s New Car. Photo credit Jim Carroll.

Suzanne Kelman is amazing.  She is one of those women I keep my eye on because secretly I want to be her when I grow up.  She brings this amazingness to the stage in Whidbey Island Center for the Arts production of Becky’s New Car, directed by Deana Duncan, which opened this Friday.

You may have heard the term “triple threat” associated with a certain actor or actress.  This phrase refers to a performer who can sing, dance and act well.  Suzanne is more of a quintuple threat and beyond, because she is also a screenwriter, choreographer–her list of artistic accomplishments is impressive and seemingly limitless.

Because of her diverse artistic background, Suzanne is able to approach the title character of Becky with a unique sense of awareness.  In this play where interaction with the audience is key, she is both ringmaster and curator of the evening.  And she is damn good it at it.  She gives us the gift of a Becky who is kind, lovable, quick-witted, hard-working, and not quite sure in which direction she would like her life to go.

In my opinion, the most enjoyable and excellent aspect of this production is the characters.  Each actor brings amazing depth and heart to his or her role.  Phil Jordan breathes life into Walter, the eccentric millionaire who any woman would consider cozying up to. Tom Harris embodies the role of Joe, the dependable husband with a dry sense of humor.  Newcomer Jeff Riggs is endearing as the perpetual free-loader son, Chris, studying for his graduate degree in psychology.  Athena Michaelides is stunning as Walter’s fashion-plate daughter, Kenni.  Eric Mullholland is hilarious as Becky’s co-worker, Steve, who is dealing with both grief and gorp.

And Patricia Duff is absolutely fabulous and stunning as Ginger, the granddaughter of a lumber barron who has recently lost most of her fortune.  It is worth the price of the ticket merely to see how well she wears and moves in her sparkling dress and high heels.

Becky’s New Car was originally commissioned by Charles Staadecker for his wife Benita’s 60th birthday in 2006.  Since its premiere at ACT Theatre in Seattle, the Staadecker’s have attended all of the opening nights of the more than two dozen productions around the country.

“People think commissioning a play is incredibly expensive,” Staadecker says. “It was a choice. You can choose to take a cruise. You can choose to buy a car. You can choose to go on a safari. You can choose to go two weeks to Paris. We took the same amount of money and choose to invest in art.”

It is well worth your while to spend a night at the theatre enjoying their investment.

Tickets are available by calling the WICA box office at 360.221.8268.  Tell them Ginger sent you.

Patricia Duff as Ginger. Photo credit Tyler Raymond.

50 Years of Farewell to Marilyn

05 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by woodzickwrites in Entertainment

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Tags

comedy, women

 

I first saw Marylin Monroe in the movie Some Like It Hot.  When I was bored, I would go over to my neighbor’s house.  She was a Mary Kay lady in her 50s who knitted a lot and also watched old movie musicals.  I was enthralled.  I fell in love with Gene Kelly, Fred and Ginger, and, Marilyn.

I remember reading Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates during my college years.  The novel is a fictionalized biography.  It is both dark and comic.

This past year, I watched the television series SMASH (created by Hedgebrook alumna Theresa Rebeck).  I will remain forever enthralled with Marilyn as an icon.  She holds a place in my pantheon of sheros: Gilda Radner, Lucille Ball, Mae West, Nora Ephron, Julie Taymor, Kristen Wiig, Amy Phoeler and Tina Fey (among others).

This post is short and sweet.  Just a little nod, a remembrance, for an eternally beautiful entertainer.  I will close with one of my favorite Marilyn quotations:

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”

 

Get Smart Grandma

14 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by woodzickwrites in Family

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

comedy, Nick at Nite, women

My maternal grandmother was named Joyce Wickstrom.  In retrospect, she was the family member with whom I most identify.

There is this picture of her that I discovered once in a shoebox: she’s wearing a snug-fitting leopard print cocktail dress, sunglasses and smoking a cigarette.  Her hair is meticulously styled, and she isn’t exactly smiling at the camera, instead, it’s a look that says: “Oh, you again?”  Oh so Mad Men-esque.

This wasn’t the woman I met growing up.  Grandma Joyce, in my memory, was the quintessential “cool” grandma.  Every time I visited her house, she would have watched children’s programming and gone to the store to get me the most popular snacks for kids (gushers, fruit roll-ups, sugary cereal). Sometimes we would bake fantastic cakes (like a shredded coconut Easter bunny cake with black licorice whiskers.)

And every evening, at her house in Milwaukee, we would snuggle in her bed and watch Nick at Nite.  Classic comedies like Get Smart, I Dream of Jeanie, Bewitched and I Love Lucy. Looking back, that may very well be where my love of comedy first started.

Joyce passed away when I was seven or eight. She was the last of my four grandparents to pass.  I was too young to really understand that she was gone.  I was more worried about what would happen to her two cats.  Consequently, all my memories of her are warm and pleasant ones.

Every morning, she would sit at the marble vanity in her bathroom, spraying her hair with Aqua Net until it was coiffed to perfection.  I imagine her in heaven, clad in leopard print, sauntering up to St. Peter at the pearly gates, raising one make-uped eyebrow and walking on in to join the party.

I promise to maintain this blog, I promise to maintain this blog, I promise to maintain this blog…

28 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by woodzickwrites in Musings

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Tags

comedy, Hedgebrook, Mel Brooks, vokatiebulary

This would be my fourth or fifth earnest attempt to initiate and maintain a blog.  I have a feeling it will actually take this time.  Perhaps because I have started it to out-Klout Kelsye.  Perhaps because I am now working at Hedgebrook and it seems really silly to be working at an organization who empowers women writers and not write.  Perhaps because it’s just about damn time.

My mother has always called me a writer.  Other people identify me as such but I have eschewed the title for ridiculous reasons.  Oh, but I’m an actress.  Oh, but I’m a director.  Oh, but I’ve always just been a good student…

Finally, I am embracing the title.  Yes.  I AM a writer.  You caught me red-handed.  Good for you.  Do you want a fricking cookie?!

I am not necessarily a linear thinker.  (I will expand on the “vokatiebulary” term “katie story” at a later date. It involves a runner about cacti).  I assure you, though, that this blog will be entertaining, neurotic, verbose, insightful, have pretty pictures and be comprised 42% of pixie dust.

Thanks for reading.

(p.s. It’s Mel Brooks’ birthday today, which explains the picture from Blazing Saddles.  They did not have blogs back in the old west, but perhaps they exchanged stories about farting around the campfire.  Which is similar enough to blogging.  So there.)

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