Part II in Pictures

Part II of Nicholas Nickleby had its first post-Opening performance yesterday afternoon, so it seems now would be a great time to post pictures from that half of the show.

Before we get into Part II, however, director Tom Quaintance sent me this first photo. He received it on Opening Night from Chinatown screenwriter, Robert Towne. It's nice to have so many people rooting for the success of this show!

Onto the production photos (all taken by Jon Gardiner).

Jeffrey Blair Cornell & Scott Ripley as The Cheerybles

The Crummles Company

Dede Corvinus & David Adamson

Lenore Field & David McClutchey in front, surrounded by cast,

all part of  The Crummles Company

Jimmy Kieffer as Hawk and Marianne Miller as Kate Nickleby

David McClutchey & company

Dede Corvinus as Mrs. Crummles

Kahlil Gonzalez-Garcia, Julie Fishell and Derrick Ledbetter

Jeffrey Blair Cornell, Justin Adams and Scott Ripley

Nicholas meets The Cherrybles

Jason Powers as Smike and Justin Adams as Nicholas Nickleby

Scott Ripley as Squeers and The Crummles Company

Justin Adams and Derrick Ledbetter

Ray Dooley, Weston Blakesley & Scott Ripley

Composer and Sound Designer Sarah Pickett provides all the show's sound effects & music from her nest above the stage. 

Sleepless Nights, Endless Day & No Place I'd Rather Be!

For the first time since I started working on this blog, this post is totally from my point of view as a member of the administrative staff. It had always been my opinion that the more interesting stuff goes on in the shops, the rehearsal hall and on the stage, but after this week's Opening Day, it dawned on me that a very important aspect of this entire process has been absent from this blog – the extraordinary team of 13 that make up the PlayMakers Administrative staff: from box office, to house management, to company management to marketing & development, every single person rolled up their sleeves this weekend to pull off the biggest day in PlayMakers history.

While you know that we ran both parts of the play on Saturday, what you may not know is that we turned our lobby into a bistro, complete with tables chairs, candles and the whole nine yards, so that patrons who chose to do so, could enjoy a boxed dinner without ever leaving the building. For those who wanted something more substantial than a sandwich, we turned our rehearsal hall into a beautiful dining room, complete with chandeliers, red silk table cloths and gold-rimmed china, and offered a catered holiday dinner. The set-up for these dinners was handled by the PRC admin staff, led by Assistant Development Director Shane Hudson and Company Manager Jeff Stanley, Production Manager Michael Rolleri, technical graduate students, and work study students. Shane and Jeff actually coordinated all the day's events, and not to be outdone by the costume designers, created their own giant chart! It was up to them to coordinate not only these dinners but all the behind-the-scenes events.

   

Our lobby turned bistro.

Our rehearsal hall turned restaurant.

The patrons weren't the only ones in need of a meal on Saturday. The cast, crew and staff didn't have time to leave the building either. Shane & Jeff arranged for two rooms to be set-up – one for a cast and crew dinner and one for staff hospitality. These two rooms were run by Information Systems Specialist Carli Webb and myself. Carli, along with cast member (and Director of Education & Outreach) Jeff Meanza, spent Friday morning stuffing 35 chicken breasts for the cast dinner. She and I spent most of the day Saturday running between the kitchen (cooking the rest of the cast dinner) and the class rooms where these events were taking place. All around us were students and admin staffers setting-up tables, moving chairs, arranging flowers, helping caterers, plating food trays – absolutely constant activity. 

Carli Webb & the cast dinner.

The cast refueling between shows.

Did I mention that in addition to all of this, there were our standard donor receptions in the Paul Green Gallery for not one, but all three intermissions? And as always the evening was topped off with our traditional Gala in the lobby. So not only did all these dinners have to be set-up, most of  them had to be broken down during Act I (approx. 1 hour) of Part II, so the Gala could be set-up during Acts II & III. All in all it was roughly a fourteen hour day for the administrative staff – nothing to new to folks actually working on the show, of course. As the Gala got underway and we could all breathe a sigh of relief, (before washing more dishes) all were still smiling through the exhaustion. That was the moment when I realized "This is Why I Work Here." When Carli actually said it out loud, there was resounding agreement. We know it on  the days when total cooperation by all is a must; when it's do-or-die; when everything is at stake; when our minds are as tired as our feet; we know that this really is a once in a lifetime experience and we're all extremely lucky to be part of it. It's a feeling of wow – look what we did in one day. What a truly gratifying experience!

Our Box Office staff managed to stay chipper all night! Assistant Manager Scott Cowart, Rob Fox and work study student D.J. Rogers.

Shane Hudson takes one last turn with a mop before calling it a night!

If you've got what it takes to Spend a Day at the Theatre, you've got one more opportunity. Saturday, December 19 both parts I & II will be performed back-to-back and we'll be transforming our lobby into a bistro again! I highly recommend it. It's quite a sense of accomplishment to make it to the finish line and the show, by all accounts is fantastic!

—Andrea Akin, Editor 

Nicholas Nickleby Page to Stage

The Countdown to Opening Begins with Previews

Tonight is our first preview for Part II and it would probably be helpful for those not familiar, to explain exactly what a preview is. How is it different from Opening?  How is it different from other performances? Previews are a time-honored tradition, practiced in most professional theatres from Broadway to Pittsburgh to Chapel Hill.   Preview performances are works in progress, the final stage of the rehearsal process. They give a company the opportunity to “test-drive” a production in front of a live audience, while still being able to rehearse the production during the day. Directors, designers and actors are honing the performance to a fine point during the day, and “trying it out” it on the evening audiences. Broadway productions can have anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks of previews before the official Opening.  PlayMakers traditionally runs 3 preview performances and then the big Opening Night. Nicholas Nickleby, like all of our rep shows to date, has a slightly altered preview schedule to allow for two shows opening on the same day. Part I had its technical rehearsals(“tech”) two weekends ago, then previewed Wednesday-Friday. There were no performances this past Saturday and Sunday, to allow time in the theatre for Part II to tech. Today Part II will get its first run in front of a live audience!

Unlike previews, Opening Night is the “finished product”. The rehearsal process can run almost up until curtain time on Opening Night, but once it’s open – it’s done! Once a show is officially opened, the directors and designers move on and leave the show in the capable hands of the actors and stage managers. No more changes are made. The lights are set. The staging is complete. No more costume additions. No more new direction of any kind. The hardest part of the process – rehearsal – is over and the production is, at last, ready for its run. As actors get more and more comfortable in their roles and live with them longer, the show’s energy might change a bit and every performance is slightly different based on the audience, how the actors respond to them, etc. – which is what makes live theatre so extraordinary.

Most theatres take Opening Night as an opportunity to celebrate the company’s achievements. A PlayMakers Opening Night is always a festive event filled with subscribers, single ticket buyers and invited guests. This is our opportunity to thank our generous supporters and invite our peers to share in our excitement. The performance is followed by a Gala reception with great food and wine provided by a variety of local businesses.  For Nicholas Nickleby, the food will be provided by Durham Catering Company and the wine by La Residence.  Both Preview performances and Opening Nights are open to the public. If you would like to join us for any of these performances, check out our website for more information. Tickets are still available for all remaining performances, but our Opening Day double header is selling quickly, and typically sells out, so Hurry!

Nicholas Nickleby Begins!

Previews for Part I began last night and continue through tomorrow. Part II previews next week and then Opening on the 21st!

You can join us and spend a day at the theatre on November 21st. We're even serving dinner, if you make your reservations by Friday, November 13. See both parts of the show, eat dinner in between and join us for our Gala reception afterwards!

For now, check out these great production photos by Jon Gardiner. These are from dress rehearsal for Part I. We'll have pics from Part II next week. And check back tomorrow for another post from blog favorite, Rachel Pollock!

The Company

Justin Adams as Nicholas Nickleby

Justin Adams as Nicholas Nickleby; Julie Fishell as Mrs. Nickleby; 

Marianne Miller as Kate Nickleby

Weston Blakesley as Newman Noggs; Ray Dooley as Ralph Nickleby; 

Jeffrey Meanza as Mantalini

Joy Jones as Mrs. Mantalini; Jeffrey Meanza as Mantalini

Derrick Ledbetter, Kahlil Gonzalez-Garcia, John Brummer & Flor De Liz Perez as Milliners; Lenore Field as Miss Knagg (center)

Dede Corvinus as Mrs. Squeers; Matthew Murphy as Snawley; 

Jeffrey Meanza as Young Wackford

Scott Ripley as Squeers

Jason Powers as Smike; Justin Adams as Nicholas Nickleby

Marianne Miller as Kate Nickleby; Lenore Field as Miss Knagg

Allison Altman as Fanny Squeers; Alice Whitley as Tilda; Justin Adams as Nicholas Nickleby

L to R: Matthew Miller, Flor De Liz Perez; Sarah Berk; James E. Brinkley, Derrick Ledbetter, David McClutchey,  Kahlil Gonzalez-Garcia & Prince T. Bowie (in back) as the Dotheboys

Jeffrey Blair Cornell as Crummles; Alice Whitley as Percy Crummles; Jason Powers as  Smike; Matthew Murphy as Master Crummles & Justin Adams as Nicholas Nickleby

Justin Adams as Nicholas Nickleby

Allison Altman as Fanny Squeers; Scott Ripley as Squeers; Jeffrey Meanza as Young Wackford

The cast of Nicholas Nickleby as the Crummles Company

Dreaming of Nickleby

A few days before Tech (Halloween to be exact), stage manager Sarah Smiley sent me a blog post describing how Nicholas Nickleby was affecting her dreams. I absolutely love it and have to share it with you below. One of the characters in this dream you've already met - Sarah's dog Tug. After attending only part of the third day of Tech on Sunday, I wonder what her dreams are like now. 

Check back in the coming days for more info about Tech, including photos, but now... onto Sarah's dreams...

Eight a.m. Five minutes, please. Have to get up and walk the dog. Five…minutes… please. No…have to get up and walk the dog. Five…Week four and I fall asleep in North Yorkshire and I’m waking up in London.  Where is that letter from Fanny to Ralph…isn’t it letter #8 or maybe #9 or #10? I thought I put it on the prop table… or maybe I mailed it? Or maybe, it’s in someone’s coat pocket…they can’t do this scene without the letter…Am I looking for Noggs’ copy of the letter, or the one Allison brings onstage or is it Ralph’s? He reads one, too. Ray needs a letter, too!! Which letter ends up in his coat pocket? Who presets his coat…I have to find his dresser…Ralph. Ralph Nickleby. I will learn that name by heart. Ralph’s office is cold as fresh coal…Ralph’s office is the angular platform, it moves up and downstage with the effortless push of a button. Who is pushing the button? Stand by Button Pusher…Button Pusher…GO! Button Pusher, I hear a noise...it’s not the platform making that noise, is it? Do we need to stop?  I form an “h” with my mouth, intending to finish the familiar stage manager’s refrain I’ve begun, “Hold…please!” No sound moves my tongue but I hear the whisper of a biting wind. I hear the falling snow and see a young, lost lad with a spoon. I listen harder, wonder where I am and keep looking at the boy, trying to pick up my cue…is it coming from backstage? No, it sounds like the melodic honking of geese making their way south, flying over Devon? Geese in Devon? Why am I in Devon…how did I get to Devon? No…it sounds like…like…Line? “I’ve never done...” “I’ve never done anything like this before!”  I shout from the top of my lungs, standing center stage and staring out at the house…it’s empty…all around, it’s empty. I must be having one of those anxiety dreams...I’m not an actor, I think, I think to myself in the dream-theatre. But backstage, and I can hear it clearly, I hear a humming, many voices becoming one…one story, two parts, two directors, two rooms and one cast. All in London, damn ‘em.  Eight o’nine a.m.  and the geese are humming…wait a minute, geese don’t hum, they honk…as I begin to walk toward upstage center, trying to find the prop I misplaced, the humming begins to sound like a truck backing up but I know there are no trucks in Victorian London. What about geese? I turn towards stage right and I reach out to pick up a piece of paper that I think is the missing letter! I still have time to finish the preset…rehearsal doesn’t start until one o’clock! Who calls? Who calls so loud??? Instead, my hand slaps the alarm clock and then I’m staring with blurry eyes at the ceiling.  It was a dream. I have to get up and walk the dog. It’s week four and it’s time to get up and go to the theatre. I have to prepare for rehearsal.

I shake the ague from my consciousness and try to focus on the sunlight that slices though my window. It reminds me of the afternoon sun in the rehearsal hall, the way it warms the floor and creeps from here to there as we move through the day. I’ve been dreaming about what I do. Sometimes, I am afforded an epiphany about the process. But, as my dream-self remarked, I’ve never done anything like this before. 25 years in theatre and never have I been so awed and humbled by a process or the people who are making it happen. There are many props to preset and much paperwork to update and meetings to attend and people to talk to and furniture to move and there is coffee to make. Lots of coffee. 25 actors drink a lot of coffee. I need a cup of coffee…I roll out of bed and dress, call the dog and we go outside and take in the morning breeze. It’s October, and the geese are flying south for the winter.

–Sarah Smiley, Stage Manager

Just for Fun Friday

It's a quiet Friday morning, so I thought I would post some "just for fun" pictures from around the building. An abbreviated tour, if you will...

First up... co-director Tom Quaintance in the wee hours, three weeks into rehearsal. This was taken from a Skype conversation he was having with friends back home. Tom actually sent this to me; I did not invade his privacy for the sake of the blog! (This time.)

Here is the first thing I see everyday - the "yellow brick road" - a path through backstage that is painted yellow. It helps guest artists find their way around this maze of a building. 

This is what the Nickleby set looks like so far, from backstage. Very little work goes on in the morning because most of the crew is either teaching or attending classes.

This is the stairwell that leads from the dressing rooms down to the stage. This season, some of the bigger sports fans in the building hung this inspirational sign a la football field houses. 

The hallway leading to my office... On the other side of this wall lies the costume shop and here are some examples of projects that are routinely displayed. These particular dresses are from the "Period Pattern" projects by several costume graduate students. 

Just around the corner, is our rehearsal hall. Stage manager Sarah Smiley preps for today's rehearsal. 

Stage Manager Chuck Bayang tries to keep it light.

A rare moment (and only a moment) of down-time for the Stage Mangers as they prepare for today's rehearsal.  I think Chuck and Sarah are the two busiest people in this building. It's their job to corral 2 rehearsal rooms, 2 directors, and 25 actors while trying to schedule rehearsals around costume fittings,  PR events, classes, production meetings, union rules, the flu, and dozens of other obstacles.  Then of course, they have to manage rehearsals! They are often the first ones in the building and always the last ones to leave. I am in awe of these two and the fact that they can still stand up.

And last but not least - Tug! This is Sarah Smiley's bulldog. He has become an important member of the PlayMakers family over the last 3 years and can often be seen carefully watching over rehearsals. His office is directly across the hall from mine and "Tug days" are always good days here. He even has his own couch in the rehearsal hall!