ActorQuest - Kristin Huffman Goes Inside 'Company' 2

In November, Kristin Huffman made her Broadway debut as Sarah (flute, piccolo and sax) in John Doyle's production of Company.  The actress, with a new series of tales that go inside the making of Company from an actor's perspective, starting at the Cincinnati Playhouse and on to New York, continues her stories about a 15-year career that has led her to the door of the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. 

This is the SECOND story in my series of "Company" stories.   If you haven't read number one, go back and read it first and come back to this one!

Scene Two: EXPLOSION - February 2, 2007

I didn't burn anything down yesterday so that was a positive but I am still getting dirty looks from the cleaning and maintenance staff at the hotel.  Michael, the maintenance man - we are on a first name basis now - actually sighed when I asked about my toilet now spewing water.  I guess he figures that since burning the place down didn't work, now I am trying to flood it.

While my room still smells like an old bonfire, that is nothing compared to the smell of exploding brains.  I may have used up every cell in my head and it's still early in the rehearsal process! Also still wishing for a camcorder with camera crew because I am not sure I can describe this experience, but I will try!

You had to see it to believe it. 
 
Here's the picture. Imagine a cast of actors who have been together a day and a half and who have only really played a few tunes from the show with their instruments and the music director.  Imagine that most of those actors believed that they would get a few more days to go over this music with their instruments and the music director before they had to face The Director Deity and get this puppy on its feet.  Now imagine the shock on the faces of those actors when they discover that after just a day and a half, they are asked to play and sing from memory the music as The Director gives stage directions. Those faces would be paralyzed with fear.

You had to see it to believe it.

The Director Deity likes to work very fast.. He doesn't call it blocking because he doesn't want us to be locked into anything.  He explained that the feeling of being "blocked" is a negative way to think about the experience.  So instead we explore. We try things. We play. It's all great, except we are trying to do it off book!  It is almost impossible to play the flute, walk around, and hold music at the same time. The damn trumpet players can play with one hand and hold the music with the other. Not so the violins, cellos, bass players, French horns, oboe players and flutists!  I can't begin to tell you how much respect I have for my fellow COMPANY cast mates at this point. We actually got through it and it sounded good. There were some blooper notes and I will admit that many of us put our music on the floor and played while looking down as long as possible.  I can now claim the ability to see notes on a page from about five feet away.  The problem is that once one has to move to a different area of the stage one has to rely on short term visual memory.  During a brief stopping point in the rehearsal, the funniest thing I have seen in a long while is a flutist scrambling over to her starting point to retrieve the music she put on the floor and moving it to her new spot on the floor so she can read it.  OH wait…that was me!  And come to think of it, it really wasn't all that funny at the time.

You had to see it to believe it.

I can't explain how it happened but everyone made it work. Perhaps the presence of the Director Deity had something to do with it. Just maybe he bequeathed to us the power to do things we never thought possible.  He explains his ideas. He talks things out. He tells us where to start and then…..we just kind of …..go.  We play. We sing. We act. Miraculously, we move around. 

Sometimes we alternate doing one of those things every other measure using short term memory and visual cues and our ear training to stay within the chord.  What we are doing is impossible.   But somehow, we are doing it.  

You had to see it to believe it.

Like a potter molding clay into a bowl, The Director shaped a beautiful song out of our fumbling and mumbling. You begin to think of your instrument as part of your character's persona. Saying things with it that your character would never say out loud. Then you blend in and you disappear into the scene, but you are really still there.  Somehow you remember your vocal line but before you can congratulate yourself you have a flute line to play and you have totally forgotten what key you are in. At one point I just sat on a box that is part of the set and smiled stupidly because I couldn't remember what  I was supposed to sing or play. I'd even forgotten what song we were working on.   Everyone else was having such moments but they came at different times so that there was always someone who knew where we were. That gives new luster to the word "company".

You had to see it to believe it.

As if the singing and playing and moving were not enough, The Director is peppering us with character ideas. Not so much giving them as exploring a certain set of circumstances.  I don't even know why I am trying to write about this except that I am hoping to be able to repeat it tomorrow.  It is the scariest and weirdest and most amazing thing I have ever done on stage.  If I hadn't seen it myself, I still wouldn't believe it

Postscript: After the show opened in Cincinnati, during a quiet moment in the musical, a man could be heard asking his wife: "Are they singing or is that fake too?"  Instead of being insulted, I realized it was a wonderful compliment. He could not believe that this 14 member cast could act, sing, and become the orchestra as well. Sometimes I still can't believe it!

Photos by Fred Rose: 1) Rob Cunningham, 2) Amy Justman, 3) Bruce Sabboth, Kristin Huffman and Heather Laws, 4) John Doyle, 5) Elizabeth Stanley