Moving on along...

                                       Titus Wolverton as Stanley and Juliet Howard-Welch as Stella
                                                            (Photo by Larry Coressel)

Well, it has been a couple of really busy weeks...

Not only has being in rehearsal for STREETCAR and the childrens show, CINDERELLA VARIATIONS,  kept me overly occupied, but moving from one house to another has kept me horribly unfocused on the blog...  That doesn't mean that the show hasn't been moving right along!

Much has happened since I last posted.  We are currently in our final week of regular work and runs.  We move into tech rehearsals this weekend.  So much development and growth has  occurred.  We have had a bevy of photographers in and out of rehearsals documenting our work.  My photographer, Larry Coressel, will soon be shooting a final dress and has been in to do some rehearsal shots, while X*ACT's photographer, Kathleen from www.shooootphotography.com has also been giving us some great rehearsal shots. 

This is how we looked two weeks ago:

                    Titus Wolverton as Stanley and Juliet Howard-Welch  as Stella                                                          (Photo by Larry Coressel)

Titus Wolverton as Stanley, Mike Frazier as Steve, Daniel Wilson as Mitch and Geoff Moss as Pablo                                                          (Photo by Larry Coressel)

                           Cassandra Engber as Blanche and Juliet Howard-Welch as  Stella                                                        (Photo by Larry Coressel)



And, this is how we looked just last week...(These photos are by Kathleen from www.shooootphotography.com)

Questions... Questions...

Actors have many ways of approaching roles.  I, myself, really delve into the emotion and purpose behind the character's actions and beliefs.  I research, I analyze, I live... I question everything...  

I approach each character (and show) like a parent with a newborn baby... wondering what they will do and be like when they 'grow up.'  Character work is my favorite aspect of rehearsal -  I have a catalogue of techniques I use with my rehearsals and this particular process is no different.  I have many things planned for future rehearsals... some will be successful, some will not, but hopefully all will fill the actor with more insight and allow a newer ideal of character to surface.

This is also how I approach mid-century literary works when I direct.  Every author and playwright has a style, a life issue, a story that they are trying to tell on the page.  It is the job of the director to interpret this and bring to life on the stage.  Every director will see a different focus as they craft the production. Williams' work is so rich with life and symbolism, that we could spend an entire 6 week rehearsal period on discussion, analysis and inquisition.  Learning the author's intention becomes a vocation that overrides all other thought or inquiry.  I have chosen to approach this show with a fresh view.  

We are trying to remove many of the preconceived ideas and character traits and look within to find something raw and honest.  My actors are approaching characters in many different ways.  I am thrilled to hear their questions and ideas and participate in the discussions and debates that ensue during each rehearsal.

I was so excited when my Blanche /Stella understudy, began e-mailing me with so many ideas, views and thoughts.   Many of them allowed me to review my own thoughts and look anew...  

This post is going to look at some of the 'musings' of Jennifer...

"I'm typing up my script sans stage notes from the verbose Williams, and came across a couple references I wanted to look up.  This is probably a duplicate for you, but I thought it was interesting and it's the kind of thing I do.  (I like to research eras, localities, etc for flavor)...
     
Blanche compares Stella's neighborhood to the "ghoul haunted woodland of Weir", which is apparently from a Poe poem I'd never read before.  It's possibly darker than The Raven, and weirder than his stories...  Interesting that's where she goes...   Side note- I'm reading this for the first time, and I've only seen parts of the movie once, so I'm trying to ignore Williams direction as much as possible while reading it so I can come at it completely fresh.  Also, I've noticed Stella spends a lot of Act I just getting away from both Stanley and Stella (stands on the porch forever, and she's been in the bathroom awhile...).  Is that new now that Blanche is there muddying the waters, or did she do that before, to get away from Stanley when he was getting too intense?"

Another e-mail pondered... 

"I just came across a bit of stage direction (I'm avoiding reading it as much as possible) that cracked me up...  "business used by Stella in tidying up the room may vary slightly: the example herein often holds true."
Ha!  Oh, Master Williams, how incredibly kind and generous of you!  The business may vary SLIGHTLY?  *sigh* ...  Shakespeare has really spoiled me in this way... Sometimes a character's exit isn't even marked in the script, and there's never a direction to the actor like "speaking with difficulty", "shrilly", or "airily"... and those are all on the page I happen to have open as I type this...   This is obviously going to be my biggest issue with performing Williams.  I've never done it before, so this is all new to me.  I've actually used Williams as an example when talking to new actors about how to deal with stage direction.  "At one end of the spectrum is Shakespeare, who gives you no help whatsoever in how to act or what to do, which is challenging at first but enormously freeing when you've gotten accustomed to it.  At the other is Tennessee Williams, whose stage direction is so specific that there seems to be no room for acting."  ... The language is rich, and the characters are powerful- but it is not his job to direct, it's yours.  If you want us to do what's written, I'll write it down in MY scripts, but I want YOU to tell me if you really want me to "Turn to Stella from corner of trunk" at that point in the script.  Rawr.   Onward.  Glad I got that off my chest.   To be continued..."


 And, finally...
 
"Hot, sticky evening... With Daniel out of town I'm being cheap and using the AC very little, and whew.  I can certainly use this stickiness for the show...   I've been in the city once, as I said at audition, but it was a daytrip with 4 or 5 other Airmen while we were stationed at Biloxi, and I don't feel I experienced much of the city at all.  The strongest memory I have is the smell of Bourbon street hitting us long before we got to it.  By the time we were there, I guess I was used to it, but..  I saw the city as a tourist, I didn't *experience* it at all. ...
 
I don't know a lot about that period, especially in the South... Info on New Orleans isn't terribly hard to find, but info on Mississippi during the period is scarce.  What was life like for the last generation to live in plantations before they got kicked out?  What was life like specifically for Stella and Blanche growing up?  An appearance of gentility to maintain in the reality of increasing poverty..  How did their parents support Belle Reve?  They'd lost the land attached to it, so they couldn't support the house and family with income from farming...   But they obviously raised the girls on a pedestal- Blanche fell off, Stanley knocked Stella off.  Was any of that ever real, or were they always just keeping up appearances?"

It is a pleasure to be challenged by this fabulous cast of actors.  I know that many more challenges await in the rehearsals to come...  

We are underway!

Rehearsals are underway!  

Character and scene work has begun for the principal characters and we pull in the full featured and principal cast on Monday for the first full readthrough.  Already we have made great headway into the text... the hard questions have been asked, some answers found...  we are ready to look head on into the next 7 weeks.

I will plan on making regular updates and insights on Tuesday / Wednesday, so be sure to watch for next week's post.  I will be looking at one actress's questions as she approaches her challenging role in the show.

I have cast the lined ensemble roles and had a single change to the cast, so take a look at the lineup! 

• WOMAN  - Tabitha Carroll
• EUNICE HUBBEL - Jennifer Sivers-Shrader
• STANLEY KOWALSKI - Titus Wolverton
• STELLA  KOWALSKI - Juliet Howard-Welch
• STEVE HUBBEL - Mike Frazier
• HAROLD MITCHELL ('Mitch')  - Daniel Wilson
• BLANCHE DuBOIS - Cassandra Engber
• PABLO GONZALES - Geoff Moss
• YOUNG COLLECTOR  - Josh Katawick
• UNDERSTUDIES  - Jennifer Wilson, Austin Smith
• DOCTOR - Austin Smith
• NURSE - Jennifer Sparks
• MEXICAN WOMAN - Diana Hart
• SAILOR / MAN - Brandon Saldivar

More Next week!

Stella... Primal, Passionate, and a star in Blanche's world...

Stella, Stella, Stella...  A role packed with intense passion and for many young ladies, a dream role.

My view?  Well, Stella is in her early to mid 20's, a passionate being, who is intensely dedicated to the people in her life.   Her accent is layered with the NOLA inflection.  She is the focus of both Stanley and Blanche's attentions.  A 'star' that both characters are drawn to...  Stella, like Blanche, is from Mississippi.  She left in her late teens, presumably to seek a little freedom from her sister and the confines of the aging ruin of a relic, Belle Reve.  She was likely attracted to the decadence of New Orleans, the freedom and primal 'heartbeat' that exists all through the city.  She is fundamentally, a primal character... seeking her survival, seeking a life away from the cobwebbed gentility of her childhood world.  


Extremely dedicated to her sister, extremely drawn to her husband, Stella becomes the 'prize' in the battle between Stanley and Stella.  Blanche expects the sisterly love and dedication of Stella... Stanley demands (and gets) it.  


The relationship between Stanley and Stella is intensely base and sexual.  When the two are together, passion will fill the room.  The chemistry will be electric and that little heartbeat, I spoke about above will completely overtake the senses.   They are drawn to each other, as a cat in heat is drawn to the local tomcat.  However, I do believe there is love between them, but there is also control.  Though, he comes from a family of tradition, he considers himself a 'new man', looking toward the changes the world is making after the end of World War II. 

Stella so wants to be a good wife and please her husband, but she is also a 'new woman'.  She fights the gentility of her upbringing, with her desperate need for independence.  But, still she 'belongs' to Stanley, knows it, and accepts it.  The more she accepts it, the more dependent she is on him for her base survival. 


Her love and dedication to Blanche is fueled by her memories of childhood... probably notable and cherished memories, as the two girls seemed to be a 'team' in a world dominated by expectations, society, and even the men of their family.  In my view, Blanche looked after Stella, cared for her, and loved her.  Probably the only honest love either have ever experienced in their lives.  

I do believe Stella is dealing with her own demons from her past (and the current issues of abuse from Stanley)  and as Blanche's  mind begins to deteriorate, she finds yet another to contend with.  As we leave the little house on Elysian Fields, we are led to believe that Stella will go on living, with little or no fallout from the tragic scene that just occurred.  But, really now... She just sent her sister off to be 'sectioned' for the rest of her life, with little hope of recovery... just the knowledge of 'promising' new techniques to help the insane...  hmmm...  How blind is Stella really?

Now for a few audition notes for Stella-- 

The actress cast should be able to sing, as I would like to have the character sing at different points .


She should be able to handle a lot of movement -- let's just say she will spend a great deal of time in Stanley's arms.


She should be quietly intense and powerful... facially strong in in emotion and packed (herself) with 'layer upon layer' of personality, life experience, and performance opinion... 


I have been asked several times what my perfect Stella would look like (and Blanche and Stanley and Mitch)... I hate to pre determine a cast physically in my mind, so that little tidbit of insight shall remain a mystery... for now.  


Now, for Tuesday / Wednesday...  Have not had a lot of questions regarding Mitch (only 3 or 4), but will be discussing him a bit in the next post.  And, then on to some general comments about auditions and my views on the show in general, so stay tuned!

Blanche DuBois... She always depended on the kindness of strangers...

I know I promised to focus on both Blanche and Stella in this post, but I think Blanche is such a complex character, that she deserves the focus today.  I will discuss Stella later in the week.

Blanche is one of those characters often played adequately, but rarely played honestly.  First and foremost, Blanche is human and shares many of the same issues, stresses, unhappiness, and challenges of women today.  Like Blanche, we are all struggling with issues from our past and as we try to start anew, we face so many challenges. We falter, we succeed, we stumble and sometimes we get right back up and continue on our path.  But for some women, getting up and moving on gets more difficult every time they have to do it, making it easier to fall into despair and depression.  Any other inherent emotional or personality issues will then be amplified.    

The most common question thus far has involved dialect.  Blanche should have a strong Mississippi  dialect.  As she spends time in New Orleans, some of the NOLA inflection will layer itself on top of that, as it is very easy to pick up and top off any other regional accent.  And, no... The Mississippi dialect is NOT the same as the NOLA dialect. 

I feel it is important that any actress playing Blanche must call upon what is deep within herself and bring forth many levels of emotional experience.  I do NOT want a copy of another artist's version of Blanche.  What I term as 'photocopy' acting is entirely unacceptable to me.  The actress who is cast as Blanche will be able to bring forth truth and honesty into her performance. I hope for an actress with experience in life, emotions, distress, unhappiness, despair, elation... a full spectrum of emotional experience.  Of course, she must be able to display a solid theatrical background and the trappings that go along with that (clear and truthful dialect, diction and articulation, projection, motivated movement, levels, subtext, organic growth and all the other elements that make up a solid and believable performance.)  I do not want her to be portrayed as any other Blanche I have seen - I do not want her stereotyped.  Every movement, every word, every thought... there are reasons for everything she does.  Not everything is done for selfish and narcissistic reasons.  Her past has led her to this point.  I do not see her as a solid manipulator.   As I told one potential cast member:

"When we meet her at the start of the play, she has indeed suffered and is broken, but trying to get back on her feet.  Trying to be strong through all of her suffering and doing it in the way she was taught a woman does it.  I want her to have made some sort of self realization before coming into the play, as though she is getting a new start,  I want her to be optimistic, yet fragile… I do want her to have a  little more conscious power, as though she senses where she is heading , and struggling to keep everything in control as best she can.  There is a level of despair in Blanche, that I want to clearly pull through, even when she is smiling and enjoying herself.  Though the rape is probably the major point of climax in the play, it is not the only underlying theme.  Mental illness, the struggle between past conventions vs. modern progression,  and abuse on all levels… these are some of the things we will discuss when rehearsals go into character and table work..."

 If you wish to call my approach ' method' then, by all means, do.  That is how I was trained in Drama School and that is the approach I use when I take on a role myself.  So many people today misunderstand the true meaning of 'method'...  and attack those who use it.  Stanisalvski's teachings are so very basic and necessary.  Most actors who shun this technique, actually do not realize that much of what they do as an actor, has roots in method teachings.  Because this play was written and developed during the height of popularity  of this 'new style of acting', we will definitely be utilizing it in this production.

As far as character development, we will spend a bit of time in tablework, discussing character issues.  I encourage anyone hoping to audition for this role to take a look at some of the analytical writings of STREETCAR and Blanche online.  Many clues to symbolism and character workings can be found in them; however, be prepared - we will be starting fresh with our own take on the story, our own ideas and new thoughts.  We will toss out all the old pre-conceived ideas and reevaluate for ourselves.  

 Something to think about - Who did Williams base his character of Blanche DuBois on?  He did base many of the characters he wrote on people in his life.  Perhaps his institutionalized sister... or even himself... 


Now, I leave you with photos of some recent Blanche DuBois... some professional productions, some not.  

 

Set, Production Meetings, and Stanley, oh my....

Have been so busy tying up other theatre projects (both enjoyable and tedious), but am now back on track for Streetcar.  Begin production meetings next week and am excited to get the set underway... My visions are far bigger than the budget will allow, but have the budget numbers now and am scaling down to my non-negotiable set elements.  Am really pleased with what may be appearing on stage!

So pleased to hear from more auditionees!  Love hearing everyone's ideas about characters, portrayal, approach... Will make auditions so much richer and give me so much to consider!  Speaking of auditions, I will be posting more reminders and details as the next weeks progress.  And, don't forget, if you would like to have your audition form pre-filled to save time on the night, then just message me through facebook, give me your e-mail address, and I will forward you a PDF as soon as I can!

Now, as most of my inquiries have been about one particular brutish character, I think we shall take a little look at him right now.  What to say about Stanley... most of the questions that have been posed, have to do with dialect and what I am looking for. What I have said to most of the queries regarding Stanley's dialect and character: 

"As for Stanley, Williams does not give us much in the way of a firm 'back story' for Stanley, it is something that (with guidance from the director) should be left up to actor interpretation. There are a number of clues in the script that can lead character development in a number of directions. Honestly, I prefer to see how an auditioning actor interprets a character, without a lot of early directorial input... So, I would like to see what you feel is the strongest direction to take the character.

But, the guidance I will give you may help you get started and give you some things to think about. First, It is not as simple as saying that his dialect should be taken in one direction or another. His accent will be layered with different regional and European dialects. For example, we know that Stanley was born in the US to Polish Immigrants... because of this, he grew up around the polish language and / or accent in the home. This will affect his current American regional accent. It is probable that his family immigrated into New York and lived there for a period of time, giving him a dialect suitable to that area. He likely moved to New Orleans in his late teens to find work, as New Orleans and the Gulf Coast was an area of growth and development during the 30's and 40's. So... We could surmise that Stanley left his parent's home to find work in the south. His regional dialect was already strongly developed, but the NOLA accent is a very strong one, quickly influencing any accent already developed."

I know, some of you have actually had this sent to you in an e-mail in response to questions...  More insight will come soon.  As for the subject of dialect, in general, a fan of an authentic dialect... one that has truly been studied is properly formed. Listen to the sounds, observe the mouth formations, and understand the sound and places of resonance... Also, it always helped me to have a little look at the history of the dialect or accent I was attempting.

Now, to get in the mood, have a little look of one of the lovely little gems that exist in the Quarter.

More in a day or so!