{Yes! This photo is of a scale model, taken by Scenic Designer Tony Cisek}
The first rehearsal for Sometimes a Great Notion was today, allowing cast and staff to get their first glimpse of the designs and ideas that will start to bring this great Oregon novel to life.
The rehearsal began with a Portland Center Stage tradition: all available staff joined the cast, designers and crew for a “meet and greet.”
A giant circle of chairs formed in the rehearsal hall, with actors, box office staff and scene shop staff mixed equitably with the department directors and designers. Around the room we went, each person in turn describing their home town and zodiac sign (except for one abstainer who “doesn’t do astrology.”)
There were surprising overlaps, in a room full of people who come from literally all over the country: a string of Tampa natives found common ground in the long journey back to family for Christmas. A hitherto hidden Michigan/Ohio rivalry cropped up, as the midwesterners showed some hometown pride. And the triple Libra in the crowd (Marketing Director Kathy Budas) eyeballed the triple Leo (box office rep and cast member Chris Murray).
It struck me how few people around the table (even the ones who had been staff members for a long time) were from Oregon originally. Tim True, a member of the cast, was a native Oregonian, as was Creon Thorne, PCS’ General Manager. But otherwise, as a species, we theater people are from all over the place, with many people describing a childhood that “moved around a lot.”
Speaking of moving around, the designers found themselves going in circles as they described their vision for the show, needing to stroll around the giant circle in order for the assembled group to each see their sketches and models.
Scenic Designer Tony Cisek showed off an astonishingly finished scenic model.
Adaptor/Director Aaron Posner let the cast know that a field trip to the set was in the works (it is currently almost completely constructed in the scene shop.)
Aaron took a moment to describe his experience of reading the novel for the first time when he returned home from college. He tells how, while reading the novel on the couch, he reached a pivotal moment in the novel (that I won’t spoil here) and found that he had unwittingly moved from sitting on the couch to standing, crouched, on its edge. Then when the devastating truth is revealed he found himself throwing the book across the room, where it bounced off the door and landed on the floor. He didn’t pick the book up again for 3 days.
He shared that this was a rare opportunity for him to produce a world premiere production in the absolutely perfect place for a show to premiere- better than Broadway, he said, better than Seattle Rep (who originally commissioned the piece), Portland Center Stage provides an opportunity for the novel to come home to its native soil while still being produced with the full breadth and scope that it deserved.
The lighting designer then shared his ideas about capturing the quality of Oregon light onstage, bringing the outdoors indoors and how to manifest a claustrophobic interior inside the grand scale of the oregon treescape.
Composer Jim Ragland then shared some of the research he has been doing into finding the right “voice” for the play, seeking out instruments and rhythms that feel unique to the region and to the play, in hopes of creating a sound that doesn’t speak “bluegrass” or “country” or “old time” or “new age” but rather one that speaks a musical vernacular specific to this particular story. He’s thinking about mountain dulcimer right now, and baritone guitar.
Costume designer Jeff Cone shared detailed sketches of each character, articulating a woodsman aesthetic that translates workday wear into the muted natural tones of an Oregon winter.
All seemed to share a desire to not create finished concepts too soon, leaving room for the various artistic voices of the production to speak to each other and develop a common language. All seem to desire a finished product that feels more grown than built.
Will they get there? Time will tell… but there is a palpable sense of excitement in the building as this project (ten years in the making) starts on its final, exhilarating journey to completion.
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