Just began rehearsals for The Chosen yesterday, and thought you might be interested in meeting the cast.  Carter Hudson (pictured above) plays Reuven Malter – the young man who encounters the ‘foreign world’ of Hasidism in the story.  Carter is originally from Shreveport, Louisiana and spent some time in Dallas, Texas.  During the audition we were tickled to realized we had both studied with a sensational acting teacher, Gail Cronauer, in Dallas (for me this was right after I finished undergraduate studies).  Carter just finished the professional training program at SUNY Purchase in May.

John David Martin plays Danny Saunders, the young hasidic man, struggling with whether he can live his life within the confines of his tradition.  John grew up in Monterrey, California and spent several years in Seattle.  He did his graduate work at NYU, and also worked at the Empty Space up in Seattle, Washington Ensemble Theater and the Kirk Douglas Theater in LA.

David Margulies joins us as Reb Saunders, the imposing, and somewhat extraordinary Hasidic Rabbi.  If you were a fan of The Sopranos you likely caught David in a recurring role on that series (that’s where I first figured out how interesting he was).  You may also have seen him in Ghostbusters, NYPD Blue, Chicago Hope or Northern Exposure.  But he’s long been a dynamic presence in film, television and on the NY Stage.  He just finished a new play, Lil’s 90th at the Long Wharf in New Haven, CT.

In a somewhat serendipitous moment, as I researched the play I decided to watch a film called Arranged, about a young Orthodox Jewish woman who befriends a young conservative Muslim woman when they begin teaching in the same Brooklyn school.  John Rothman (above) played the Jewish girl’s father and I thought to myself, “Wow he would be perfect for David Malter (the more progressive, though still Orthodox scholar in the play).”  Then to my surprise, Rothman walked into the audition in NY and clearly felt a passionate connection to the story.  You might also have seen John in Synechdoche, NY, Enchanted, The Devil Wears Prada, or Sophie’s Choice.

Matthew Boston plays the older version of Reuven and narrates the story.  It is a tricky role that can go limp in the wrong hands.  Matt has worked at many of the best theaters in the country [Yale Rep, Huntington, ACT San Francisco, Center Stage Baltimore, Berkeley Rep), and I loved his immediacy, sense of humor and internal fire in the auditions.  [David Margulies also commented that he could play the famous playwright, Athol Fugard, if ever a film is made.]

The last few days we’ve spent delving into the text, and enjoying Q&A sessions with Rabbi Michael Cahana, from Congregation Beth Israel, and Rabbi Tzvi Fisher from Portland Kollel.

I was in NY week before last to cast The Chosen.  This was just before the big snows hit, and while I only saw a few flakes, it was cold as the dickens.  I’ve grown fond of The Belvedere Hotel, which is on W. 48th between 8th and 9th Avenues.  It’s close enough to the theater district, but just far enough off the beaten track to be quiet.  And most important:  they have good mattresses.  You’d be surprised how hard that is to find on our budget!

We saw many beautiful actors for each of the roles.  Harriett, our casting director, was nervous that she wouldn’t be in the room for the callbacks (as she and her husband had a long-planned trip to the Galapogos Islands scheduled), and so brought in more choices than she might ordinarily.

I saw Fela! the new musical created by legendary choreographer Bill T. Jones from the music and life of the African singer and political agitator.  As one might expect, the dancing was extraordinary, and the energy of the cast was awe inspiring (it’s basically non stop movement for two hours).  The music is energized and rousing, and at times it’s hard to wipe the smile off your face.  That said, I confess that I found it hard to connect to the story.  The African accents made it nearly impossible to understand the lyrics (they had subtitles projected on a screen at the rear of the stage), and thus trying to piece the story together was tough.  Even so – the audience in the room seemed to have a wonderful time. 

Also saw Richard Greenspan’s new piece The Myopia, produced by the Foundry Theater.  He is a brilliant performer, but I found the play baffling.  Ah well.

The most satisfying evening for me was Donald Margulies’ new play Time Stands Still at Manhattan Theatre Club (well actually at their Broadway theater the Friedman on 47th).  For a Broadway house the theater is remarkably intimate.  Margulies won the Pulitzer for Dinner with Friends, which I liked but didn’t love.  Time Stands Still was equally well crafted in naturalistic tones, but the stakes and politics were so keenly observed that I thought it made for a riveting evening.  Didn’t hurt to have Laura Linney, Eric Bogosian, Brian Darcy James and Alicia Silverstone in the cast.  They were all fantastic, and at times the tension seemed palpable.  A gorgeous new play.

Final preview for Snow Falling on Cedars this evening.  Sales have been so brisk that we’re already adding two performances.  Overheard a woman behind me last night during the Internment Camp scene, “Is this all real?  My god.”

{photo by Owen Carey. Hatsue (Olivia Oguma) and Ishmael (Vince Nappo) find solace in each other’s arms inside a hollowed out cedar tree when Hatsue discovers her family is to be shipped to an internment camp in Snow Falling on Cedars.}

One of the challenges has been finding a balance between the intimacy of some of the scenes, the poetry of the language and the energy to drive the thing forward.  Felt like the actors were finding more of their stride last evening and the story was hanging together.

{photo by Owen Carey. Officer Powell (Scott Coopwood) and his deputy (Casey McFeron) investigate a clue uncovered by newspaper reporter Ishmael (Vince Nappo) in Snow Falling on Cedars.}

Cynthia, our Marketing Director, just emailed:  we’re now 80% to our income goal a day before opening.  We’re usually happy if we get to 30% by opening night.  Fun times.

{photo by Owen Carey. Defense Lawyer Nels (Tobias Andersen) searches for a plausible story to explain Kabuo’s (Bruce Locke) innocence in Snow Falling on Cedars.}

Great article in Willamette Week yesterday interviewing Bruce Locke (right) who plays Kabuo.  Bruce’s family has been in Portland since 1890, and much of the discrimination the play exorcises touched earlier generations. 

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We finally left the rehearsal hall and moved onstage this week.  Lots of questions about how we keep the intimacy found in the rehearsal hall once we move into the theater.  (Vince Nappo and Olivia Oguma are seen above rehearsing their first scene inside the cedar tree.)

Jayne Taini brought in this beautiful picture of her parents in Seattle in the thirties that reminded us both of Mr. and Mrs. Chambers in the play.

The shop pulled the Christmas Carol set down, and started to load in the pieces of the Snow set.

Jayne underwent a pretty dramatic transformation from her lovely everyday self, to . . . .

Mrs. Chambers, Ishmael’s mother.

Vince tried on his 10-year old outfit.  Bill Bloodgood, our set designer, is in the background checking out the boat.

Alan Ariano plays three different characters, the second being Mr. Nitta, seen here in his ’strawberry picking gear’.

And Mia Tagano also plays multiple roles, with Mrs. Nitta modeled after the rice-picking women of Japan whose backs get stuck bent over from so many years of stooping in the fields.

Ishmael and Hatsue stay out of the rain by ducking into a hollow cedar tree in the woods.

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Yesterday afternoon I drove with half the cast of Snow Falling on Cedars to the marina near Sauvie Island to check out a boat or two.   Casi Pacilio, our resident sound supervisor, also happens to be a passionate boater, so managed to find an old fishing boat that was larger than the one used in the play, but would give us a sense of the mechanics.

This was another boat docked nearby that showed the mast (our boat’s mast was down for repair).

Chris, the owner of the boat, and our tour guide, used to go out on the boat with his grandfather and is in the process of refurbishing it.  He was able to show us around the motor room, and explain how one might get a dead battery in and out (and told a story or two about being stuck out at sea with no battery).  We were all fascinated by the mariner’s code:  if another boat is in trouble you are obligated ethically and legally to come to their aide.

William  (who plays Carl Heine, Jr. – the salmon fisherman) and Casey (who plays Abel, the deputy sherriff)  listened intently as Chris explained the layout of the engine room.  The boat’s anchor is powered by a pneumatic pump, that automatically lowers and raises the 100 foot chain.  Most boats operate with two batteries at a time (which is the case in the play).

We were surprised to realize that the cleats that you’d tie off on were about a foot in length, considerably larger than we’d been imagining in the rehearsal hall.

Bruce (Kabuo Miyamoto, the defendant) got a kick out of checking out the captain’s perch.  There is a bunk right behind you, in case you have a chance to drop your anchor and nap.  I was also fascinated by the navigation maps, that show the ’shipping lane’ which the play refers to on multiple occasions (the lane of water that larger vessels move through:  because of the fog the night of Carl’s death in the play, he fears he has drifted into the shipping lane and may be ‘waked’ by a larger boat).

I was surprised by how tall the mast and cross bar were on the boat.  In the play, Carl climbs up the mast to hang a lantern when his battery dies, so other ships will be able to spot him.  The mast on our boat rose 25′ above the deck, so if you climbed to the top and then slipped, you could do some serious damage to your head.

Scott Coopwood (who plays the Sheriff) tried to stay warm.

We all thought it kind of remarkable that we’d managed to schedule our boat trip on the one day of the year when you might see snow on a marina in Oregon.

I was impressed that they have a kitchen (galley) – complete with stove, microwave, and coffee pot.  The other Chris said that the two absolutely indispensable items on a fishing boat are coffee and cookies.  He shared with us pictures of his grandfather, the family’s boats, and other fishermen from the 40’s and 50’s.  Looked like they walked right out of the play.

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