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Braving the Storm

6/30/2017

"In the eye of the hurricane there is quiet..."

***Celebrating our penultimate weekend of shows with a throwback to the excitement of opening! Enjoy this post by acting apprentice Emily Garst as she shares her opening night reflections.***

1776 Opening Weekend: Braving the Storm
By Emily Garst

It's impossible to accurately describe what an opening weekend feels like. After weeks of rigorous rehearsals - and subsequently weeks of expectation - you are finally in front of an audience. You cannot predict what kind of audience will be in attendance, nor how they receive the performance. The chance of missing a cue or mangling a line is left up to the fates. The time to call "hold" and run that song one more time is long past.
However, amidst all the panic and anxious excitement, there is also a unique sense of calm. It's as if we members of the entire cast and crew find ourselves in the eye of a storm. This tempest consists of keeping the author's and director's vision close by, supporting your voice, and responding accordingly to the choices made around you. The whirlwind is having animated whispered conversations in the green room before hushing yourself abruptly mid-sentence and perking your head up to listen for the scene's progress as you await your cue. The deluge is keeping the energy alive after 2.5 hours of congressional debate.
Even so, none of us feel a deep sense of dread. We've made it this far. We are a force with which to be reckoned. Just as our Founding Fathers who came before us, we "brave the storm in a skiff made of paper." This script brought us all together for a common purpose. And in our journey to revive a tale of America's birth, we have supported each other the entire way. There are bonds forged within this cast that are stronger than many I have experienced in my brief time on this earth - and that makes them all the more precious. I am endlessly grateful to everyone who has been part of this process, and I cannot wait to return to this incredible production for the next three weekends.

***Tickets are going fast! Don't miss your chance to see this wonderful, unique production!***

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Our Unique Staging

6/27/2017

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Vintage postcard of the Declaration Committee.

The St. Croix Festival Theatre production of the musical 1776: America’s Prize Winning Musical is truly unlike any you will ever see again, and not only because of all the new faces in our summer company and our intimate staging in the Franklin Square Black Box. The production is cutting edge as Co-Artistic Director Seth Kaltwasser employs two major theatrical conventions currently popular on Broadway and around the country: non-traditional casting and actors doubling as musical accompaniment.
So, what is non-traditional casting? The most famous example is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton, with tells the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, reimagined with actors of color - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and, of course, Alexander Hamilton are all portrayed by non-white actors. A truly innovative masterpiece, theatres around the country have embraced non-traditional casting as a way to re-experience the familiar through a new lens, and bring to the stage traditionally underrepresented persons.
For Co-Artistic Director Seth Kaltwasser, the choice to do 1776 with a female cast was timely. “I’d just recently fallen in love with the score [of 1776] and was curious about the possibility of reimagining the show to fit inside a black box venue. It seemed an odd fit, at first, for Festival Theatre’s summer season, as the applicants for our intern and apprentice company are college-aged performers, and our casting pool is always filled with an abundance of talented young women we’d like to cast. Unfortunately, very few musicals feature a large quantity of roles for young women. With this in mind, and because we were choosing our 2017 season in a year when America had its first female presidential nominee of a major party, Jackie and I felt there was a great opportunity to tackle this project now, and in doing so, hopefully expand the conversations that 1776 will inevitably inspire.”
As for the decision to double actors as accompaniment, it was a matter of economy. “We’re a black box, there is no place to hide a pit orchestra. I’ve learned that, as a director, you can’t fight your venue; you have to embrace the unique qualities of your space. So, in staging a big musical in a small space, you start to think about boiling the music down to its most essential qualities. Also, it’s a goal of ours to always engage our interns and apprentices at a very high level. With actor doubling, we wheedled a cast of 27 characters down to 14 performers. From that economic perspective, the next question was obvious: what if the actors also played the music? It felt like an exciting challenge.”
To meet the unique challenges of this concept, Seth and Co-Artistic Director Jaclyn Johnson had to secure a summer company up to the task. They would need to be especially strong musicians, singers, and actors to meet the demands of this artistic undertaking.
When I first heard our production was with an all-female cast I thought, ‘what a cool
opportunity to tackle a role I would NEVER been able to play otherwise,” says apprentice Marjorie Gast. Gast portrays Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, plays violin, and is a piano accompanist for a number of songs. “One of my favorite parts about our show is to watch the rotation of piano players circle in and out behind the piano - because all of the musicians have their own sense of musicality, each accompanist has a different flavor she brings to the show which I find to be truly charming.”
The rehearsal process brought about many surprises and discoveries.
“As a woman in 2017 portraying a male historical figure, it was interesting to see what made no difference versus what made a HUGE difference,” says apprentice Erika Kuhn, who portrays several members of Congress. “As a modern woman, taking action and fighting for what you believe in is not a stretch. However, there are several little moments in the show that draw attention to the gender bend purely because a woman speaking those words trips up a social expectation where a man's voice would've been the norm.”
As activist Marie Wilson says, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” Diverse representation is important. And it means a lot to the young women in the cast.
"I love the idea of claiming the words of our Founding Fathers for ourselves,” says apprentice Emily Garst, who portrays Abigail Adams and Andrew McNair. “With an all-female cast, we explore the birth of our nation with fresh eyes.”
"I would definitely do this sort of thing again!” says Laila Sahir, who plays Thompson and piano accompaniment on a number of songs. “Reimagining a piece of theatre is incredibly empowering. It shows that there isn't a ‘right’ way to create and that innovation is important and necessary for continued growth and vitality in the arts. There's no one 'right' way to tell a story."

Dickenson, Hancock and Rutledge waiting to make an entrance.

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Tech Week by Laila Sahir

6/14/2017

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Laila Sahir- 1776 cast member and Marketing Intern

This is it. Tech week for 1776 is upon us. I can hardly believe that we've been in this process for three full weeks already.
Tech week is one of my favorite parts of the rehearsal process even though it can also be the most intense period of time. New technical elements are constantly being added, but the same amount of focus is required every day as during an actual performance. All of the moving pieces can sometimes be frustrating and cause tensions to run high.
And yet, tech week is also the time when I start to feel like the show truly comes to life. After spending countless hours with the ensemble reading the script, practicing in music rehearsals, and memorizing lines and blocking, now is the time when we are able to shift our focus from all of the intellectual work that we've done to being in the present moment with each other. The addition of lights, costumes, and props allows us to fully embody our characters and to truly live in the world of the Founding Fathers that we are portraying.
It is a truly incredible experience to be backstage with such amazing women and to feel all of our energy and focus being directed toward a common goal. I am constantly amazed by all of the incredible work done by my colleagues in the cast and production team; every day they inspire me to come to rehearsal as my best self, knowing that they will be there to help me when I need it in the same way that I am there to support all of them.
Above all, this is why I love tech week: the ensemble transforms from individuals focused on their individual pieces of the puzzle to a community of people working together to tell a story. I can't wait to share our story with everyone!

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Braving the Storm

Our Unique Staging

Tech Week by Laila Sahir

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