BWW Interviews: Director Malinda Beckham Talks Theatre Southwest's THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

Broadwayworld.com talks to Malinda Beckham, director of Theatre Southwest's production of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. The timeless romantic comedy chronicles the love life of Philadelphia socialite, Tracy Lord. Lord must choose between her debonaire ex-husband, her dapper fiancé, or a dashing reporter. I truly pity her.

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Malinda, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is such a classic, iconic play. What has been your approach as a director? Is the production ornate and embellished or focused on clean lines and simplicity? Or both?

When I read the play I knew I would try to accomplish a feeling of ornateness and opulence. I wanted to present a place that would lend to the overall feeling of grandeur. It is part of the appeal of the play, I believe. The grand life and strife of the rich.

What have you done to achieve that?

To accomplish this, I have stretched the stage as far as possible. I created hard entrances and exits where we generally use curtains. I have also pushed the limits on two staircases that stretch the upstage areas past our normal boundaries. Additionally, I've captured the audience entrance to the theatre and turned it into a courtyard. Finally, I introduced gold into the set scheme along with wall sconces and chandeliers.

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY has elements of real-life figure Hope Montgomery Scott's story. Can you tell me a little bit about that and the play's history?

We knew of course that the play was loosely based on real-life figure Hope Montgomery Scott's story, but we did not dig deeply into that element. We let the script do the work this time, opting for the development of character based on the interpretation of the actors and director. I believe in staying true to the script but I also felt that we had all we needed within those pages.

What sort of comedic tone have you gone with? How have you brought out the natural humor in the play?

I think you hit the nail on the head with "natural humor." I approached the play with just that same idea. The play has a very natural humor vein running through it and I did not want to over pump it. There are also serious moments in the play made lighter (not "fun of" but lighter) by two characters that add the "comedy." In the end, it's a story with many different elements - drama, humor, and outright comedy - and I wanted to make sure we played all of them.

For a portion of the audience, the play is synonymous with its identically-named partner film, which is considered one of the greatest films of all time. The play was also written specifically for Katharine Hepburn, considered by many to be one of the greatest actresses of all time. Is that something you've had to consider when you're working on the play?

Yes and no. I was aware that the play and movie will have a place in the memory of many and I wanted to do favor to that without recreating what has already been done. I was careful not to copy the movie or require the actors to mimic characters from the movie. We totally embraced this as a fresh approach to a classic play that stayed true to the heart of the script and honored those that have gone before us! We didn't try to bring the actors from the past to life but we did try to provide the attitudes of those characters as given to us by the playwright, Philip Barry.

Period pieces can be difficult to pull off. Did you find that true for this production?

Period pieces are really difficult to accomplish on a budget. We have to give consideration to the set, the costumes, and the acting style, in order to stay honest in our presentation to the audience. When I first read the play, the set became clear to me in my mind's eye. And I started to see the characters in costume before reading the costume plot. We have twelve actors in the cast and ten of them have at least three costume changes. It's a big show and we have a small stage but we found a way to make it all fit.

What are the challenges of the piece and directing the piece?

The biggest challenge I would say was the set and costuming. There is an "air" that has to accompany this piece in order to honor it fully. The actors shared the overall vision of the direction early on and embraced their characters, their scene partners, and the material. Blocking twelve people on our stage was a challenge and we suffered a partially flooded theatre the second day of tech week due to the severe weather that came through Houston.

How are you dealing with that?

Costuming was both a challenge and a pleasure as I took on the responsibility myself. I used all of my resources, including existing pieces, theatre stock pieces, and pieces found at the Goodwill and other area resale shops. I have found the Goodwill and resale shops to be a blessing to costuming! As far as the blocking, I've used the stage to its fullest, using areas that normally go unlit and blocked the actors to work in those spaces. As far as the flooding, luckily we were working in the theatre when it occurred, and our tech team jumped into action, sweeping water into buckets and using a shop vac. The actors provided unused costume pieces from the dressing rooms for use in preventing more water from entering the stage area. We called rehearsal for the night and continued the clean-up. The next day, all of the actors arrived early and eager to work.

As a director, what have you learned from this piece?

I have learned that people have expectations for classic plays that aren't present in modern or newer theatre. I actually like the opportunity to breath a bit of fresh air into a classic play but keep the structure and integrity of the overall piece. When a beloved play is then made into a beloved movie, the expectations are higher even. I only hope that this classic will feel as modern as it did when it first took the stage at the Shubert Theatre.

Theatre Southwest's production of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY runs now through June 20 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, June 7 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $17 and $15 for seniors and students (with ID). For tickets visit, theatresouthwest.org/emailreservations.php, email tickets@theatresouthwest.org, or call (713)-661-9505. Theatre Southwest is located at 8944A Clarkcrest.

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