Getting a Cast
Walking down the cement stairs into the basement of the Lansing Fire Station No. 8 is like being let into the secret underworld of theater, getting to watch the things that no one else gets to see, starting with the auditions.
“Watch your step,” I’m told as I descend past the hose that seems to have overtaken the last step or two, sitting like a snake in the grass.
From the outside it still looks like your run-of-the-mill fire station, except for the large white sign that now says “Lansing Civic Players” but once inside it’s made clear that this building is no longer home to a fire station. A large black stage takes over a large portion of the basement, with two wooden tables in front of it and four wooden chairs, set up as if I had just walked into an American Idol audition. A few are gathered in the front row filling out slips before they audition, talking as if they’ve just come to coffee other than an audition for Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice.”
As I go to find a seat towards the back it’s made clear that the three people sitting in the front row know each other. There’s a familiarity to the conversation that they’re having and as others walk in it seems that the Lansing community theater group is a close knit one, where everyone knows just about everyone else. As the room begins to fill the voices are raised as people being to run into others that they know from past shows but as soon as it hits 7 o’clock it’s made clear that it’s time to get to work.
“Ok, we’re gonna have you come down and read and see how well you take direction,” said Mike Stewart, the director of this play, whose been doing theater for 36 years and has directed this play four times before.
First up is Tracey Dolinar, a man that looks like a taller version of Rob Reiner and has a velvet baritone voice that could melt butter. He’s stopped quickly by Mike and told to move around but his voice and stage presence is what makes me want to keep watching. I would willingly see a play where all he did was read the phone book with that voice. After Tracey finishes his monologue the rest of the actors begin to go in front of the four judges and do their monologue, with a few notable standouts, Daryl and Kris.
Daryl Thompson brings the room to a halt with his monologue, giving me chills. There was so much anger and passion in what he was saying throughout that he was given no direction by Mike and made it obvious that he was a serious contender for any of the male roles.
Then there’s Kris Vitols, a man that has a presence about him on stage that can’t be ignored. After Mike tells him to start moving around it’s made clear that the simplest of directions can make all the difference in how well a performance is.
As auditions continue the chatting that had gone on before becomes silent and all that can be heard from behind the wooden table is the birds chirping outside. Monologues continue, Mike gives more direction and then the challenge of the cold reads begins, where some shine, while a few seem to stumble over the old English that is Shakespeare. Different groups are tried out to see who works in which roles, who has chemistry and mainly who can take direction well and seems natural on the stage. Once a wide variety of actors have tried for the roles the first day of auditions is over, with people widely anticipating who will get a role in the play.
While the first day of auditions had some great male actors day two was when some of the women really shined, mainly because more than one showed up. Anna Hatcher was a notable standout. For someone that didn’t get much time to actually practice her monologue she makes it sound as if she had been practicing for days, the sounds of Shakespeare’s words rolling off her tongue. During the cold read she had the ability to find the humor in the lines, even in something as simple as a look or eyebrow raise, which is essential since this is in fact a comedy.
As the auditions continue throughout the evening there is only encouragement from all, including their competition. The hostile I’m-going-to-win environment that seems to be in so many movies about people auditioning for plays just isn’t there, with each actor hoping the best for the other. High-fives, big laughs and cheers soon become a regular noise accruing in the basement. Even this early on there is a family element to working with the Lansing Civic Players.
The night shortly comes to a close, with all the monologues complete and a wide variety of cold reads read through again, giving all of the new arrivals a chance to see how well they can tackle Shakespeare. After it’s all over only Mike and his panel of “judges” stay in the room, trying to figure out who will get the lucky phone call of being told that they landed a part in the “The Merchant of Venice.”
The Cold Read
After a few days the cast has been picked, the phones calls to the lucky have been made and for the first time the entire cast is together, back in the basement of Lansing Fire Station No. 8.
Looking around the table, filled with water bottles, highlighters and pens, it’s shown just how diverse the cast that has been picked is, ranging from college students to people that have been doing theater for a very long time. Yet they all have two very important things in common, their love for the theater, and confidence from Mike and his fellow colleagues that they would do well in these roles.
“[We wanted] people who were natural, not stiff, they mov[ed] well…I needed to see if they would take direction and you could tell they weren’t acting,” said director Mike Stewart. “Some [actors] I didn’t [have to] do anything at all [at auditions], they were perfect just the way they were since they had all those qualities.”
“Gotta get cozy,” said Justin Brewer, who has been cast as Lancelot, as he settles in his seat getting ready to go through the entire script for the essential cold read. And the cast should get cozy now since they will be spending a lot of time together over the next month and a half, with rehearsals five nights a week, lasting up to three hours each night.
After a quick round of introductions, in which each actor tells their name and the character that they will be playing, the group begins as soon as Mike tells them to get started.
Without missing a beat Kris Vitols, who was cast as Antonio, delivers the first line of the play, without any hesitation and Shakespeare’s words fill the room, with everyone following suit. As the reading continues there is a silent respect to others as they read, except when Stewart calls out script changes that need to be noted, with pens furiously moving across the pages. Even when one makes a mistake or a phone rings they keep going, trying their best to fit the two-hour time slot that Stewart has envisioned for the play.
“I hate vegetarian Shakespeare,” Steve Ledyard tells the group after finding out that Stewart has made some cuts to the play, including some of the characters that were in the original.
As the cold read continues it’s exciting to see how already many of the actors are trying to make the parts their own, by things as simple as the emphasis they put on each word or the tone of voice that they use during certain scenes. They all have the ability to deem when a line is funny, serious, and sad.
Many also have the ability to turn the “actor button” on quickly, and really show what they can do with this script, Joe Mull being a prime example. Off stage he seems to be one of the goofiest there, always joking with others, but the minute they being reading through the script he doesn’t miss a line, yet still has the ability to bring a laugh to the table of his fellow actors.
“Friendship over,” Mull tells Daryl Thompson, after his character Gratiano reveals that Lorenzo, Mull’s character, has given away a very important piece of jewelry that his wife gave him, only adding to the many snide comments made throughout the evening.
Even though this was only night one of the group being together it’s made clear why Stewart picked so many of them, since they all seem so natural already.
“You did wonderful tonight,” Stewart tells the group as everyone begins to pack up for the night.
But since he is the director he had to give some direction before they left telling the group to look for the jokes in the play and to try to figure out their characters now.
Rehearsal Part 1: Becoming the Character
“That was tough, wasn’t it?” director Mike Steward sarcastically asks the group in front of him as they run through the first, rather short, scene the first night of rehearsal.
The 45 minute rehearsal, a record according to Stewart, and many of rehearsals those first few weeks consisted of the scenes being done twice, once where Stewart would give direction throughout and the second with him rarely giving any, hoping his cast had taken what he had said and done it.
Many of those early directions were about where they would be on stage and how to move around, especially during some of the monologue scenes. “Move around the space” and to “move when the feeling moves you” became two constant phrases coming out of Stewart’s mouth, making sure that everyone was taking full advantage of the stage.
As important as it was to learn where to enter and exit the stage, and where to move during the scene, those early weeks were vital in trying to figure out how exactly the cast wanted their characters to be portrayed on the stage and who these characters were.
Some of the other actors, such as Justin Brewer, were trying a wide variety of things to make their character memorable that very first week. By trying a variety of ways to make his character seem funny, without coming off as annoying or too over the top. Brewer also became snippier each time during a scene with Jessica, played by Angela Wright, an important character trait to Lancelot.
While some characters have more time to show the audience who they are others don’t have that opportunity.
“You have one chance to show everybody this character,” Stewart told Tracey Dolinar. One of the two characters that Dolinar plays is the Prince of Morocco, a man that wants to marry Portia, played by Anna Hatcher, but only has one scene in the entire play, so it needs to be memorable and it is, with Dolinar playing him as the most pompous man to walk across the stage and acting as if he’s above all that is happening. Watching him try to pick a casket is a lot like watching a child pick which present he wants to open first at Christmas and even as early as the second go of the scene Dolinar has made it better, with help from Stewart’s simple instructions.
Others, such as Sarah Hauck and Daryl Thompson, seemed to know what they were doing with their characters, Nerissa and Gratiano, respectively, very early on and brought something to the character the minute they started reading their lines. Thompson had such an angry and passion filled monologue during auditions that it was impressive to see how well he transitioned to comedy, since Gratiano is one of the funnier characters, finding every joke imaginable in the script. Then there’s Hauck who has taken a character that some may have just dismissed as Portia’s maid and brought her to life, making her much more than she seemed to be when I read the play and someone that always grabs your attention.
During those first weeks of rehearsal it was also important to see how the chemistry between the couples was beginning to play out, with Jessica and Lorenzo, played by Angela Wright and Mark Polzin, respectively, being one of my favorites from the start. Even at the auditions I wanted Wright and Polzin to get paired together because they just had such natural chemistry, an obvious sign that they have done some plays together before, three in fact. There’s just something about natural chemistry between two people that can’t be ignored or forced, which seemed to happen with a few pairings during the audition process, which thankfully wasn’t the case with the pairings that were picked.
“This is just the beginning,” Stewart tells the group as a night of rehearsal ends and with that the show has really started to become it’s own.
Rehearsal Part 2: The Little Things Make all the Difference
“Line,” says Joe Mull, while still trying to stay in character as Lorenzo, with a sly smile that would melt any girls’ heart.
As Rita Deibler, the “line lady” if you will, starts to recite Mull’s next line, the light bulb goes off and he continues the rest of the line.
It’s now about a month into rehearsal, Stewart wanted everyone to be “off the books” by June 30th and many have taken that to heart. Although almost all are no longer using the script books they still ask for a few of their lines and some still occasionally look at their script books. But even with “line” being called ever so often the show runs much more smoothly than it did just a few weeks ago.
Now everyone knows where they need to be and when they need to enter, the blocking of the set has been done, with two chairs showing where they will enter on the stage once they’re in Potter Park Zoo, where the show will be performing. The mundane details have been done and now the directions given to the actors are more about the little things that really bring their characters to life and therefore take the play to a whole new level. These directions are going to be what can make or break a play, if the audience doesn’t like what’s happening with a character than they will stop paying attention, thankfully that isn’t the case for this group.
Since Stewart is now being pickier with his actors he seems to be expecting much more out of them than once before, such as when Kris Vitols does his big speech in the middle of the courtroom scene.
“It all sounds the same. I want more emotion,” Stewart tells Vitols.
And with that Vitols gives it another go, trying to make it less one-dimensional. This speech is probably the most important one for his character and it needs to be memorable.
While there are large moments such as this one that need to be big and attention grabbing the littlest things in these scenes are starting to make all the difference. Such as the facial expressions on Anna Hatcher’s and Sarah Hauck’s faces when Tim Lewis’s character, another one of Portia’s, played by Hatcher, suitors. The audience can still hear Lewis’s booming voice as he picks a casket but watching Hatcher and Hauck make it known which casket is the right one, since their faces light up when he doesn’t pick the correct casket.
Mull is another master of the facial expressions since he shows every emotion on his while speaking, whether it be talking to Antonio or seeing Portia for the first time. As well as Logan Emlet and Steve Ledyard, Salarino and Salanio or the two Sal’s, who both have some of their greatest moments when no words needs to be spoken, since what they are feeling, or what their character’s should be feeling, can be read all over their faces.
Not only are these prime facial expressions extremely important to add more to the character but you have to be able to believe what they’re saying with their tone, whether it be something that is sad or happy. Tod Humphrey, whose playing Shylock, has the venom that can automatically be associated with such a villain. Humphrey may be one of the nicest people off stage but the minute he begins he has a way about him that makes you want to dislike his character with just the tone of his voice and some of his violent outbursts.
Another small detail that has finally come together would be the props. There are now keys to be given to the suitors, the caskets which have the ability to make or break Portia’s future are no longer boxes wrapped in Christmas paper and there are scrolls, no longer imaginary pieces of paper for the actors to read off of. Lastly, Shylock’s knife is now an actual knife, or at least a plastic one, no longer a very sharp pencil.
As things come together it’s easy to see that the rhythm and flow is finally there, the awkward pauses and mishaps that had happened so many times before seem to finally be gone. Running through the whole play is something that I really want to watch and that in itself may be one of the most important details.
Dress Rehearsal:
“Where can I find the Shakespeare group?” I ask the guard as I enter the Potter Park Zoo.
“Go right and pass the ostriches, then you should see them by the restaurant,” he says.
Walking through the now empty zoo is strange but soon I am greeted by a sign with a “Merchant of Venice” headline and a listing of all the shows days and times.
After going past the ostrich and walking for what feels like a very long time in the hot summer weather I find the place that the Lansing Civic Players will call home now until the 31st.
Hidden behind the restaurant and tucked in between that and a cage of wild cats is an array of about a dozen picnic tables, with Stewart and a few others taking seats at them.
After I’ve found my seat towards the front a few minutes later the show begins, with the first lines booming across the stage, much like they did the first day at the read through.
The play continues and it’s a joy to see so many of the actors taking full advantage of interacting with the audience, whether it be Lancelot, Justin Brewer, jumping on the table in the middle of his conscious vs. the fiend debate or Salarino, Logan Emlet, walking around asking if anyone had heard about his dear friend Antonio’s merchant ships.
There’s something new to it tonight that wasn’t there before. I don’t know if it’s seeing it for the first time in their costumes or what, but there’s something that makes me want this play to not end. There are no more awkward pauses, no more asking for their lines, this is what it all comes down to and they seem to know that, bringing so much to the characters that a few months ago were nothing more than mere names on a piece of paper.
Watching them turn into their characters is something that not many get to see the process of, unless you’re the director, but watching it happen just makes me wish that I had any talent in that area.
From the auditions to this moment right now, where they are bowing at the end of the dress rehearsal, everything about the play has been transformed. The costumes, staying true to the Elizabethan era, are done, the set is no longer just a stage but it’s been brought to life, adding details that weren’t there before, and most importantly the characters have come full circle. Every character memorable in their own way, having at least one moment that makes them standout among the group of gifted actors.
This group has taken the words of Shakespeare and turned it into something enjoyable.
Showtimes: Potter Park Zoo
July 23 and 24-3pm
July 28 and 29-6:30pm
July 30 and 31-3pm
A great look into the back room of theatre