Glorious! -- Days 10-15: The Sets & Costumes Come to Life

While the actors and director are hard at work in the rehearsal hall, there's a flurry of activity throughout the the theatre as production staff focus their considerable talents on bringing the beautiful set and costume designs to glorious life.

Brian Perchaluk's elegant and simple design called for an actual proscenium (that framed opening you see in a more traditional, concert hall-style theatre) to be built on PTE's more untraditional thrust-style stage. Yards and yards of gauzy fabric became curtains, and red curtains from a PTE production of My Fair Lady more than 10 years ago were repurposed (theatre people never throw anything out!).

Florence Foster Jenkins was famous for, among other things, creating her own outlandish costumes, so costume designer Tamara Kucheran had some big shoes to fill. In addition to a shepardess costume that will have the audience chortling, the very talented wardrobe staff have recreated the actual cream satin dress that Florence wore for her final concert - complete with angel wings. It's been very entertaining to see the wings journey back and forth from the shop (where the framework and mechanics are created) to the wardrobe department, where the gauzy "feathers" are applied. Several times a day, they flutter through the main office, on a seemingly never-ending loop towards perfection.

Although it sometimes seems like chaos, every detail and timeline is controlled so that by the time the actors start rehearsing on stage, everything is ready for them -- although there are always details that are perfected right through to opening night.

GLORIOUS! -- Days 7-10: Building Characters & Sets

As the show starts to come together through the blocking, attention is turned to building the characters. The director works with the actors to ensure that there is meaning and honesty to the way that lines are delivered and the characters interact with each other.

In a comedy, especially with a character who is as bigger-than-life as Mrs. Foster Jenkins, it's easy to over-do the laughs and make the characters seem more like caricatures. It's essential to find the emotional bottom to a funny play -- it actually makes it even funnier. And the people in the play need to be real people, or you just don't care about them. Florence was more than a figure of ridicule. People loved her because of her enthusiasm and obvious joy in sharing her "gifts". In fact, this play is a bit of a love story, as her new accompanist, Cosme, learns to let go of his own world-weary cynicism and actually come to love his eccentric employer. The audience needs to be able to do the same, and that requires a lighter touch.

Meanwhile, with Where the Blood Mixes ending on the weekend, work can begin on the set in the theatre. The first step is to install the circular riser, and turn it over the talented team of scenic painters, who will be creating a beautiful inlayed wood floor out of several layers of paint. A lot of this work is done over the weekend, so that the rest of the set can be installed before the cast is scheduled to move from the rehearsal hall to the theatre.

Elsewhere, over a hundred yards of curtains are sewn up, and a pair of angel wings are taking shape from welded steel and gauzy fabric "feathers". In fact, the wardrobe staff has increased for this show by four sewers plus a "buyer" just for wardrobe. It's quite the undertaking!

GLORIOUS! -- Days 3-5: Blocking

You know you're on to something when the rest of the cast cracks up as Shelley Thompson, playing Florence Foster Jenkins, strives for that high C and misses it by a mile. Shelley's amazing at singing badly, especially since she's quite an accomplished singer in real life. That was made quite clear, as she had to run through an aria several times singing properly, so that she could go through it again and sing it badly in a believable way. Believe it or not, you actually have to KNOW a song before you can butcher it convincingly!

In the early days of rehearsal, it's all about beginning to attach the dialogue to movement around the set. The actors are still "on book" (or carrying their scripts) for a day or two, but after that, it's (mostly) committed to memory, and the focus is on inhabiting the space.

The rehearsal hall floor has been taped out by the Stage Manager, so that the edges of the stage area, the position of the set pieces, and the outline of the "revolve" are all visible to the actors. The Props Department has brought out rehearsal furniture, all very lovely but not necessarily what will be used on stage, so that the actors can learn to move around the final set, even before they get there.

Even at this early stage, you can see how funny, and how touching, this show will be when all the preparation is done -- only 23 days from now!

GLORIOUS! Rehearsals - Day 1: Meet & Greet

The tradition of the Meet & Greet is a great kick-off to the frenzied three weeks or so that lead up to the opening of a new show.

All the cast, crew, staff and artistic team gather in the rehearsal hall to chat and munch goodies provide by Stage Management (kudos to Michelle Lagassé and her Assistant Stage Manager Leslie Sidley for a great array of treats this time!). Artistic Director Bob Metcalfe, also the director of this show, always has everyone introduce themselves and answer the question of day, which he poses with great glee. This time, it was "What do you wish you were NOT so cynical about?" This play is all about losing cynicism and finding joy. The answers were as varied as the people in the circle, ranging from politics to weather to infomercials to, rather inexplicably, green peas.

Set Designer Brian Perchaluk, who joined the team literally at the last minute because of unforseen circumstances, talked about the beautiful and intricate set he designed in about an eighth of the amount of time he usually is given (more about the set design another day).

Bob showed everyone the gorgeous costume design sketches from Tamara Kutcheran, who will be arriving in Winnipeg over the weekend.

Lighting Designer Scott Henderson assured us all that "there will be lights". And then the cast, director and stage managers retired to the tables in the middle of the room to begin the process of bringing a play to life on the stage -- the read-throughs. It's amazing just how much of the essence of the play comes through from actors just sitting around the table and reading their parts with emotion and conviction. It's definitely a sample of the delights to come as the play evolves towards opening night!

Lawrence & Holloman: Scene Work (or Now We're Getting Somewhere!)

Now that the framework is in place it is time to going through the scenes and start filling them out. At the beginning the actors are still on-book (actors are still holding scripts), so dealing with props, blocking and really trying to make a connection with the other actor is difficult at this point. The actors will have entire pages off book and be really into the scene, then will have to either call line or quickly find their place in the script and move on. I know when I’m acting it’s frustrating to be on-book because you get all this energy, then all of a sudden you have to call "line” and it brings you out of the character. Once you get the line you then have to jump back in and sometimes rebuild the energy that is lost. Matthew Edison and Michael Spencer-Davis impressed me with how easily they seemed to jump back into the scene. One moment it would be Michael or Matthew calling line then with the next breath they were Lawrence and Holloman again.

This part of the rehearsal process involves very detailed work on each scene. We are going through the scenes using the “stop and start” method, in which the actors will rehearse the scene and then the director will stop the scene at a particular point to give notes or changes or tweaks to improve the scene. The actors will make the changes asked for and try the section of the script again to see if the changes work. Sometimes the tweaks are to change intentions in the dialogue; sometimes there are changes to blocking. All these changes are in an effort to make the story clearer. Bob’s favourite line while directing is “This is not a how but a what,”, meaning that he’s telling the actors what he wants but letting them come up with how to do it. Matthew has promised Bob a t-shirt with the slogan on it so that all he has to do is point to the t-shirt to give the note.

It is at this time that particular points of physical action are rehearsed, such as falling over a bench. It was my great “privilege” to serve as a human bench that the actor rolled over, so that he could find out what way he needed to roll in order to avoid injury. After the actor felt comfortable with the roll he graduated to rolling over the bench, so whenever I see that bit of stage business I can smile and think, “I helped make that safe. Yay!”

Before the actors are entirely comfortable with the dialogue, there are funny little slips. I have to admit when one of the actors states with complete conviction that “backbone is the debt of this country,” or yells “EMOTIONAL PAINKILLERS, WHO CARES!”, I laughed pretty hard. It may be a “you had to be there” kind of funny but I still crack a smile thinking about some of those line slips, mostly because the actors are so committed to the character and the scene that the lines come across as completely sincere even though sometimes it’s nonsensical.

After we have gone through the scenes we start running the play. Scott Henderson (Lighting Designer), Brian Perchaluk (Set/Costume Designer), Greg Lowe (Composer), stop by to see runs of the play because we are all getting prepared to move out of the rehearsal hall and into the theatre where the technical aspects will be added into the show. (It’s Wednesday and we open next Thursday...)

Lawrence & Holloman: Blocking (or How Did I End Up Here?)

When watching any play the movement of characters on stage may seem organic and natural to the moment but where the actors are on stage, when they move, and where they end up is actually very carefully choreographed. Blocking, or choreographing the movement on stage, is the next step in the rehearsal process. The script has been read through, each scene carefully analyzed, characters and character relationships have been discussed, the story is now clear in everyone’s heads, so now it is time to start “putting the show on its feet”.


Blocking, in the words of Director Robert Metcalfe, is “Another way to tell the story. Even if you don’t understand the language, by watching the blocking you should be able to understand the shifts in relationships between the characters. Even if there are only two people in chairs, their body language should tell you something.”


Like the analysis that was done with the text on the first couple of days, now we are doing a different sort of analysis. When a play is very dialogue driven, it’s easy to get stuck into a sort of “talking heads” sort of blocking, but movement is what brings the play alive and solidifies the story. It is a slow and very detailed process but finding the right blocking is so important that it’s worth the time.


For this particular play, the process of blocking starts off with Michael and Matthew going through the scenes in a rough way, seeing if there are any movements that feel organic or natural to them. Then Bob tweaks, tailors, or suggests movement that will serve the moment and move the story forward; “painting broad strokes” as to the physical action of the play. Bob is also keeping in mind certain stage pictures that he wants to leave the audience with. It is a very collaborative process and fascinating to watch.

Lawrence & Holloman: Meet the Players

"Lawrence" played by Matthew Edison. Lawrence is a perennial optimist, high on life, and -- as it turns out -- on himself. He can find a positive spin on anything that happens to him (and I mean ANYTHING), but after a while you start to wonder: is he just a positive person, or is he actually simply oblivious?

"Holloman" played by Michael Spencer-Davis. Holloman is the ultimate "glass is half-empty" guy. Seemingly powerless in the face of the bigger-than-life juggernaut that is Lawrence (he can't seem to convince Lawrence that he ISN'T a gay discount-shoe clerk who lives with his mother), he actually is holding more cards than he might appear.

Director Robert Metcalfe is responsible for making the these two opposite poles come together to give life to the story, and for making sure that the very black humour shines at every moment, so that laughter bubbles up at the most unexpected moments.

Lawrence & Holloman: Early Days -- Meet & Greet, Read-Throughs & Table Work

The first day of rehearsal starts off with something called a "meet & greet". This is a chance for all of the people involved in the play, including all the administrative and production staff at PTE, to meet and, yes, you guessed it, greet one another. For some, it is a greeting from familiar faces, for others (like me) it is twenty names and faces to try to memorize in five minutes. There is coffee, tea and some lovely little oranges to snack on. When the official time begins we are all rounded up into a circle by Robert Metcalfe, the Artistic Director of PTE and the director of this show, and asked to say our names, what we’re doing on the show and, in honour of the theme of Lawrence and Holloman, to say one thing that we’re pessimistic about. It’s amazing how much you can learn about someone just by hearing that person’s pessimistic view of something; whether it’s about the economy, transit, or whether your children will do the chores they’re asked!

After many laughs, Brian Perchaluk, Costume and Set Designer, gives a brief design presentation, Lighting Designer, Scott Henderson promises “There will be lights”, and Greg Lowe, sound design and composer follows suit with “There will be sound.” After the Design presentation, there is a brief break and then it is on to the first read-through.

The room now has only nine people in it: the two actors, the director, stage management, some production staff interested in hearing the first read, and, of course, me. This is, for me, one of the most thrilling parts of the early rehearsal period. Up until now the play has existed for me as conceptual designs and text on paper but now I get a taste of what it will become, as, for the first time, I get to hear the actors read through the script in its entirety. Without giving too much away about the script, I just have to say, Matthew Edison who plays the optimistic "Lawrence" and Michael Spencer-Davis who plays the pessimistic "Holloman", are cast perfectly. My sides hurt from laughing and I am excited to see how these two characters develop in the very capable hands of the actors and director.

Much of the first two days of rehearsal (10am – 6pm rehearsal days for now), is spent sitting around a table. The script is read scene by scene with a discussion after each. There is so much going on in this script that it’s important to remind ourselves where we are in each scene. It is always fascinating to hear the different takes people have on the same text. For example, a discussion about what a particular phrase written in all-capitals meant in a particular section went on for about 10 minutes. (Not all punctuation was discussed in that much detail, or else we would probably still be there!) The “table work” aspect of the rehearsal process is so important in making sure that everyone is staring on the same page before we start putting it on its feet.