BroadwayWorld.com welcomes Clybourne Park to the Broadway neighborhood by offering readers an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek as the play gets ready for performances. Through this unprecedented access to the fascinating creative process of technical rehearsals, students from Fordham University will keep BroadwayWorld.com readers in the loop through daily updates and photography. Log on to follow along as this Pulitzer Prize-winning play moves into its new Broadway home and literally gets built from the ground up.
I wasn't sure what to expect as I rounded 48th street towards the Walter Kerr. This time was different from every other trip I had taken here. This time I was going to be privy to the inner workings of a show and not just another benighted spectator of the final product. I was slightly nervous and I welcomed the cold day, as I concentrated on the nippiness of the air rather than the grandeur of the theater that lay ahead. This was going to be my first time backstage in a Broadway house.
The greeting was amicable. The mindset of Broadway as a great intangible quickly faded with the help of handshakes and smiling faces. We were welcomed here not just by the friendliness, but also by the instantly recognizable process that was currently under way in the grand proscenium. The crew was busy. Lights were being hung from impressive heights. Large set pieces were being brought in and situated. The crew was relentless in their work. I recalled hanging a light from an eight foot ladder in my University's studio theater. How different could it be from a harness at the deadly heights of the balconies of the
Walter Kerr? Different enough to be impressive, but accessible enough for the lines to be drawn from our own practice to the ongoing construction.
We sat in the balcony for awhile. Coming up with questions and unsatisfied, we went down to the ground floor to get a closer look. The set drafts illuminated the ongoing process for us further. The would-have-been wall turned out to be trimming and the floating fireplace gained a purpose. We were taken by the explanation of the way the set had transformed over time. The show had found its first home at
Playwrights Horizons, a modest proscenium stage. After that it had transferred to Los Angeles where it found itself on a thrust stage. We were intrigued by the changes that were necessary. How does one cope with the disappearance of a wall that had housed the fireplace and bookshelves? How does this affect the actor's blocking and direction?
It was the highest level of theater construction I have been privileged to watch and I found myself asking some of the most basic staging questions imaginable. These questions were encouraged. Broadway was opening its doors to us and letting us see that we aren't as off track as we occasionally feel in the confines of our dorm room walls. The theater was right there before us, completely tangible and completely possible.
By Andrew Watkins, Fordham University Class of 2015, pursuing a B.A. in Directing.
Photo Credit:
Ben Cohen/Givenik.com
