Portland Center Stage

Anna Karenina Moves Onstage

Posted by Chris Coleman | 01 April 2012 | Comments (2)

We finally moved onstage yesterday (Thursday, March 29), and though I wish we had a few more days in the rehearsal hall, it's always exciting and energizing to actually start playing with the set, costumes, lights, etc.  After watching our designer run-through on Tuesday, our Associate Artistic Director Rose Riordan suggested that the show needed a more "epic" opening.  Set Designer Skip Mercier concurred, so Adapter Kevin Mckeon and I conspired on Tuesday evening to create something new with the cast on Wednesday morning.

Annie Wrightson (on the left) is our lighting designer.  You last saw Annie's wonderful work on Oklahoma! in the fall. It was interesting to debate ideas with her and Skip about the kind of visual  "vocabulary" this show requires.  We move so rapidly to so many different locations throughout the play, so the lights and sound have to play a major role in helping to transport the audience to the next locale. Jeremy Eisen is on the right, and is our stage manager on this beast.

There are 89 costume changes in act one alone, and Annie shared that there are also 100 diffrent light cues in act one.  Oy. Above you see some of the actors rehearsing the ice skating scene.

Trying to store all of the furniture and props backstage while also keeping the set's wonderful archways open and expansive has proven to be a challenge.  In the picture above you see Set Designer Skip Mercier, on the right, confabbing with Fred, our technical director, and Tim, our deck manager, about how to hang masking in the upstage area.

 

Gretchen Corbett (on the left) and Michael Mendelsohn (on the right) play several different roles in the play. Above you see them dressed as Mother and Father Scherbatsky.

Late in act one we visit Levin's country estate. Here you see James Farmer, who plays Levin, consulting with our Production Assistant Kelsey Day Lutz about the scything.

 

Above you see Stiva, played by  R. Ward Duffy, who visits the estate to share some critical news with his old friend Levin. And to sell some real estate in order to replenish his bank account.

 

Anna (Katy Selverstone) and her son, Seriozha (Matthew Snyder) get ready to visit the races.

 

Above you see the cast of Anna Karenina rehearsing the horse race scene. An event at the horse race provides the climactic moments of the first act.

And in Act Two, Count Vronsky (played by Michael Sharon) and Anna (played by Katy Selverstone) spend time together in a small village in Italy.