Where is the one place you can find bags full of love, a shoe that falls out of the sky, people literally falling in love, and the northern lights? The small, mythical town of Almost, Maine.
Sunday concluded the run of Theatre Fairfield’s production of John Cariani’s romantic comedy “Almost, Maine,” which opened last Wednesday in the Wien Experimental Theatre.
“Often people don’t realize how much work really goes into a play,” said Alexandra Burke ’11, an actor in “Almost, Maine” who has been involved in nearly all of Theatre Fairfield’s productions since her freshman year. “Every night we rehearsed the play intensely.”
One of the early stages involved putting together a theatrical production is the actual decision making process through which a play is selected. Lynne Porter, associate professor of Visual and Performing Arts here at Fairfield, explained that many factors contribute to the decision of which plays Theatre Fairfield will perform.
“We want to find pieces that serve the student body,” said Porter. “We don’t look at theater as merely entertainment, but want to make a point of producing shows that are topical and wrestle with contemporary issues that affect all of us.”
Once the plays and production staff are chosen and the season has begun, another part of the process can begin—auditions. Auditions typically take place over one or two days and are immediately followed by callbacks.
“[Callbacks help] the director decide which part—if any—best suit that actor as well as which combination of actors is most effective,” said Mariah Sage, assistant professor of Visual and Performing Arts. “By having all of the actors there at the callback, the director can keep switching up parts until he or she finds her ideal cast.”
After auditions and callbacks are over, an official cast list is released and two month rehearsal period can formally begin.
Although the rehearsal process is different for every show, it typically begins with designer presentations, such as costume sketches, and a read-through of the entire show, also called “table-work.” Since “Almost, Maine” is comprised of many different scenes in which the actors play several different characters, each actor would work on his or her particular scene with just his or her scene partner and the director. As rehearsals progressed, the actors would begin to bring their scenes together in full run-throughs and also bring in rehearsal props, scenery, costumes and more.
Scenery and costume construction begin immediately after auditions end. The technical director and costume designer sometimes hold power tool labs and sewing labs to teach basic skills to potential crew members.
“Through Theatre Fairfield, I’ve had the opportunity to be both on stage and behind the stage,” said Lauren Sippin, ’13 who was on props crew for “Almost, Maine.” “I worked on run crew for ‘Machinal,’ but this was my first time on props crew and it was interesting to learn about how important props are for the show to run smoothly.”
As opening night gets closer, actors are required to be “off-book,” or have all their lines memorized, and begin running the entire show. If the performances are to be in the Wien Black Box Theatre of the Quick Center, as was “Almost, Maine,” the cast and crew begin preparing the space by bringing in the set, props, and more. This is called “load in.”
The last weekend before opening night is called “tech weekend,” during which the cast and crew are working on finalizing the show from 8:00 a.m. to midnight.
“Tech weekend is important because it is the only time the crew has to learn their part of the show. The actors have had a month and a half to rehearse, but crew only gets two days to learn everything! …By the end of the weekend we had a show!” said Sarah Iannarone, assistant stage manager of “Almost, Maine.”
Finally, opening night arrives and the cast and crew are able to showcase everything they have been working so hard on for so long.
“Opening night for any show is one of the most thrilling experiences one can get,” said Josh Matteo, an actor in “Almost, Maine.” “That moment before the show begins is an adrenaline rush like no other, a mix of nerves and excitement that only theater can give.”
After all of the performances are done, the cast and crew immediately begin taking the set apart and begin bringing costumes, makeup and everything else back to the PepsiCo Theatre; this is called “strike” and usually takes from four to five hours.
After all the hard work, the cast and crew members said the end result was certainly worth it.
“Many different people put in so much effort and compassion into this production, and seeing it on stage for those six days of performances was really worth it,” Maffeo said.
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