BWW Exclusive Blog: CLYBOURNE PARK Behind the Scenes: Day 5 (Part 2)

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.

As I arrive, things in the Walter Kerr Theatre seem fairly at ease. The team is joking and bantering across the house, and the actors mill about comfortably. But, work is happening fervently all around me. Between acts, the play travels 50 years in a 15 minute intermission, and the crew is busy dressing the not-quite-dry set. Will the sanding (and the noise that comes with it) be done in time for the run? And the milling actors are not shy with their questions for playwright Bruce Norris, or director Pam MacKinnon. They discuss how the play has evolved from its initial run at Playwrights Horizons, and what that means for their characters and relationships. MacKinnon herself is in constant motion, buzzing from table to table to go over notes with each designer- when will the plexiglass be in place? Which lamp can best endure 8 performances a week and still look period appropriate? Wherever she goes, questions, comments, and brainstorming follow. Norris teases her and she replies, "that's my job, directing is all about talking". She's not lying. Even as the rehearsal begins, she and Norris sit, heads together, whispering over details.

While I am pulled entirely into the world of the play, caught up in the lightning-quick dialogue and intensely realistic style of the production (so real to this Chicago girl that I forget I'm in a velvet chair and not at home), the director and playwright remain separate as only the architects of the whole thing can. They are sculpting a sharper image with every note, every suggestion. That's what today is all about- editing. What's the clearest way for an actor to show us he's ignoring his cell phone? How do they maneuver around the furniture, avoid traffic jams, in the new set? Often, the same three or four-minute segment is repeated over and over again, until it doesn't just work- it works perfectly. Every element is being tweaked and refined to create the most clear, cohesive expression of Norris's Pulitzer-winning play. And they're so close. As I leave for the day, I'm buzzing with their energy, their excitement over their soon up-coming opening. Their drive and enthusiasm are infectious, and, impressive that spirits are still so high after a week of intense and incredible work. I can't wait to see it all together.

By Jenni Meador, Fordham University Class of 2013, pursuing a B.A. in Theatre and Visual Arts, with a concentration in Directing and Performance.

Photo Credit: Ben Cohen/Givenik.com