In Rehearsal with "Sylvia"

posted by Joe Marchese

The sign on the door off the theatre lobby reads “SYLVIA: Rehearsal in Progress – Quiet Please.” But inside, things are anything but quiet. At any given moment, there’s yapping, barking, singing – and much laughter. How could there not be? Veteran comedienne and actress Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live, Minsky’s) leads our stellar cast, channeling her inner canine as Sylvia. She’s joined by multiple Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines (Contact, Gypsy) and his real-life wife, the deliciously dry Kathleen McNenny (George Street’s Human Events, Sight Unseen) as Greg and Kate, the married New York couple “adopted” by Sylvia. Versatile comic pro Stephen DeRosa (Into the Woods, The Man Who Came to Dinner) rounds out the four-person company, playing a variety of roles. With this cast, hilarity is expected. But by the conclusion of Sylvia, audiences won’t only have laughed non-stop, but they might even have learned a little about themselves, too.

In A.R. Gurney’s play, Greg and Kate’s life is changed in ways they never anticipated when Greg finds (or is found by?) the stray dog named Sylvia at a New York City park. Since its 1995 New York debut, theatergoers worldwide have embraced Gurney’s play, identifying with his semi-autobiographical work. But the story of Sylvia also rings true for the dog-friendly ensemble under the direction of Artistic Director, David Saint. Key to any rehearsal process is exploration of a play’s themes and text, and Sylvia’s is no exception. Many discussions of our four-legged friends occur daily, and we even had a guest appearance one afternoon by Boyd and Kathleen’s dog, the adorable Cinders. Perhaps to inspire Sylvia in a pivotal scene, Cinders was generous enough to show off some of her tricks!

Dratch has drawn particular inspiration from her beloved friend Muffin. Rachel told the GSP Blog that she met Muffin at age twelve when the stray dog ran onto her front lawn and approached her, much in the way Greg claims Sylvia found him in Gurney’s play! Rachel immediately connected with Muffin, a collie/husky. For around three days, Muffin followed her around. In those pre-Internet days, the Dratch family put up signs looking for her owner, and when nobody appeared, they subsequently brought her to the pound. Pound policy was that if Muffin’s owners hadn’t emerged within ten days, the Dratches could adopt her. Rachel noted that her father wasn’t a “dog person,” so prospects didn’t look likely. But Rachel visited Muffin over the ten-day period, and at its conclusion, her dad had been convinced. The answer to “Can we keep her?” was a resounding “Yes!” and Muffin became a permanent “member of the family,” loved by all…including her dad.

Rachel’s performance captures the sometimes-frenetic animal physicality of Sylvia whether she is being called upon to roll over, catch, or even get caught in a leash. Rachel is careful to avoid, in her own words, becoming too “person-y” in her portrayal. As a result, she has frequently recalled Muffin’s mannerisms and behaviors in creating Sylvia for George Street audiences. Like Sylvia, described in the play as having a certain “hybrid vigor,” Rachel says that Muffin was a bit more rugged than her name would indicate. But the name stuck anyway! Each rehearsal is definitely a workout for the tireless Ms. Dratch.

Rachel revealed in rehearsal, though, that Sylvia isn’t exactly her first canine role – she once starred as Snoopy in a theatre camp production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown! (Yes, Rachel sings, too, and recently starred at Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre in the Broadway-bound production of Minsky’s!)

Playwright Thornton Wilder is believed to have said, “The best thing about animals is that they don’t talk much.” Well, with all due respect to the late and estimable Mr. Wilder, he was wrong! We hope you come see Sylvia – all-talking, all-dog, all played marvelously by Rachel Dratch, Boyd Gaines, Kathleen McNenny and Stephen DeRosa. We begin previews in less than two weeks, on Tuesday, March 30. See you at the theatre!

JOE MARCHESE is the Assistant Director of Sylvia.

In Tech: Doubt

So I got to sit in on technical rehearsals this weekend which began the day after Thanksgiving. Each show has two technical rehearsals which typically rehearse for 10 hours out of a 12 hour day (leaving time for a two hour meal break). Tomorrow we will have a dress rehearsal before beginning previews on Tuesday. (Buy your tickets now!)
Tech is when all the elements finally come together after weeks of design meetings and rehearsals. It's a tedious period, stopping often to adjust things like the revolve, or the bass in the sound, the timing of scene shifts and lighting cues, etc. Each scene shifts with movement of the revolve (see photos below), music elegantly composed by Scott Killian, and lighting by Daniel Kotlowitz. Scenic Designer Hugh Landwehr leaves no stone...or brick rather..unturned and his set holds many unique surprises when lit.

Here's a look at some of the process.

In the scene shop, the bench is texturized, and painted.

The deck and revolve floor is made from homosote, cut and texturized and painted as well.

A look at the finished product:

The Model

Now on Stage

When the cue is given for scenes to shift, the Assistant Stage Manager, Erin Ciallella enters a number on the counter that tells the revolve to move to a particular position.















Kudos to the production staff and crew for such hard work this weekend!

posted by Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Doubt begins rehearsals!

First read-through of Doubt just finished. The four actors sat at a table and read through the play, the stage manager read stage directions, and the GSP staff and Doubt creative team sat back and listened. And responded—with laughter, gasps, and at the end, much applause.

Before the read-through began, the staff had the opportunity to meet the actors, designers, and director, take a first look at a model of the set, and nosh (there were some particularly fantastic fudgy brownies). Three of the four actors are GSP newcomers. The fourth, Meghan Andrews, revealed that, sixteen years ago, when she was only a child, she appeared at the Playhouse. This revelation led Properties Master Jay Duckworth, who was here at the time, but hadn’t recognized Andrews, to shout, “Oh my God! I had hair then!”

What you get at the first read-through is a group of actors feeling their way through new and complicated material. They’ve read the play, they’ve probably done some research, but most of their questions are unanswered; many of the questions haven’t even been formulated.

But what the first read-through lacks in polish, it makes up for rawness and freshness—intelligent actors hearing themselves together, sensing the relationships, for the first time, which makes for a very exciting experience. It’s not usually an all-out performance—the actors aren’t asked to be emoting at performance-level—so I’ll refrain from discussing the performers in detail. But every compact, intense, and funny scene, was filled with the chemistry the actors brought. Let me just say, this show has been very well-cast, and I look forward to seeing them perform this material many more times.

Doubt centers not only on the titular concept, but also more tangibly, on the question of a man’s guilt. It was hard not to leave the reading discussing the ‘did he/didn’t he’ debate. In the Broadway production, the only actor who knew the answer to this was Brian F. O’Byrne, who played Father Flynn, the party in question. Our Father Flynn, Dylan Chalfy, will have to decide with director Anders Cato what exactly his character has done. While the audience can (and probably should) be in doubt, the actor has to make a choice. As productions crop up across the nation (and ­­Doubt­, having concluded its national tour, is now being performed at regional theaters around the country), the possibilities will become endless.

When I saw Doubt on Broadway, I admired it, although I didn’t get the hype. It’s short, and I left feeling less than full. As a parable, it paints in quick, broad strokes, and I left wanting more. Seeing it again, I had to reevaluate. The play is written with a sparseness that forces the audience to fill in the gaps. One of the most complicated characters appears for a single scene. Many meaty arguments occur onstage, but one can imagine just as much drama occurring in between the scenes.

Good comedies can make you feel light, refreshed. Good musicals can fill your head and your whole body with song in a way that is both overwhelming and invigorating. But great dramas leave you feeling out of breath, dazed, tingly—like you just saw a ghost, and sat with it for a couple of hours while it told you shocking tales. That’s what I felt walking out of today’s read-through. With Anders Cato (a gifted, on-the-rise talent who directed GSP’s Souvenir and I Am My Own Wife) at the helm, it’s surely just going to get better.

posted by Jeremy Stoller, Literary Apprentice

Master Class and so much more

So Sunday Night was the invited dress rehearsal before our first preview and what a night it was! It’s the first time the cast has an opportunity to perform for someone more than the director and tech staff. The goal is to run the entire show, with intermission with sound, lighting, and scenic shift cues. Staff members attending included marketing and front of house personnel, the production staff (taking notes of course),and a few select friends. We always knew we had terrific actors in the production, several of whom appeared in the Broadway revival in 1997, but watching Jack Klugman and Paul Dooley on stage together is like a master class in comedy that you can’t get anywheree else. While Neil Simon has written some of the funniest lines ever to appear on stage, Klugman and Dooley find some of the greatest comedic moments in silence. Dancing to a TV commerical or sipping tea, a frustrated look at a wall socket, or lock on the door, everything gets a laugh.

But why give it all away? See for yourself, but hurry, tickets are selling fast. Next time, I’ll post some photos of the production and give you a report from previews!

-- Scott Goldman, Executive Assistant

Six Degrees Of...GSP?

Well, two weeks of rehearsal have flown by, and we're about to start Week Three of The Sunshine Boys. Each morning begins much the same as the last -- a relaxed but intense scene, for sure. One cluster of actors will be running lines, some will be grabbing the morning coffee, others may be comparing notes on last night's television, while the stage management team is setting up for the day's work. But those are about the only ordinary things about rehearsal and its participants.

John Guare famously wrote of Six Degrees of Separation...this, in turn, became a game in which players traced Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. The phenomenal cast assembled by David Saint and the GSP team for The Sunshine Boys makes it possible for us to trace six or fewer degrees of separation from the luminaries of American show business history.

The cast collectively boasts well over 150 years of showbiz experience in the worlds of stage, screen and television. Our two "sunshine boys", Jack Klugman and Paul Dooley, are the recipients of recognition from the Emmys, the Tonys, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the National Board of Review, and even the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sunshine veterans Klugman, Peggy Crosby & Ebony Jo-Ann return from the acclaimed 1997 National Actors Theatre production which played Broadway and a national tour. Yet these talents, joined by Dooley , Paul Stolarsky and an alumn of the GSP touring company Joe O'Brien, amaze day in and day out as they bring a fresh eye to this all-new production. Not a day goes by in which these actors, under our "fearless leader" David Saint's direction, don't discover something new and surprising in their characterization and interpretation.

They bring with them the experience of counting many all-time favorites as friends and colleagues, regaling us daily over lunch with stories of everyone from golden greats (Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall) to Golden Girls (Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan), Paul Lynde to Paul Scofield, E.G. Marshall to Garry Marshall -- and everyone in between. The rehearsal hall's walls echo with reminisces of the stars of yesterday and today: Judy Garland, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ethel Merman, Tony Randall, Burt Reynolds, Robin Williams, Larry David.

The Sunshine Boys celebrates a rich legacy of American comedy, and stars Klugman and Dooley truly embody that legacy. So there aren't many degrees separating you, the audience member, from any of the men and women mentioned above. And by the way, you can reach Kevin Bacon, too!

GSP Patron ---> Jack Klugman ---> Neil Simon (worked with Jack on The Odd Couple and The Sunshine Boys) ---> Kevin Bacon (worked with Neil Simon on an early film role, Only When I Laugh).

Or:

GSP Patron ---> Paul Dooley ---> Michael McKean (co-starred with Paul as part of Christopher Guest's "rep company" in modern comedy classics such as A Mighty Wind and Waiting For Guffman) ---> Kevin Bacon (appeared with McKean in Planes, Trains & Automobiles)!

Can you reach Kevin in fewer degrees from one of our illustrious cast members? Let me know, c/o this blog! In the meantime, it's back to rehearsal for what I'm sure will be the perfect show to celebrate ten years of David Saint's artistic leadership of George Street Playhouse. On with the show!

-- Joe Marchese, Assistant Director, THE SUNSHINE BOYS