When the average person goes to see a live theatre performance they don't think much about what goes on in order to produce what they are watching. That's normal and it’s the whole point. If you as an audience member have time to think too much about lighting, design or rehearsal hours then the performers and the crewmembers probably aren't doing too well.
Despite our ability to suspend disbelief while being engrossed in a great performance, there are a lot of factors at work to make what we see great. Longwood University's upcoming production of “The Real Inspector Hound” is no exception. There are many different roles to play and we aren’t just talking about the characters on stage.
The Leading Man
If you have seen any productions at Longwood University in the past two years or so, then Jimmy Mello has probably been featured. He is playing the titular character in this production and he is cool, calm and collected about the performance. Stage fright is not Mello’s “thing,” as he explains.
“For me there is always a slight kind of nervous rush right before I enter for the first time and as soon as I enter and I’m there that feeling just subsides entirely.”
Mello was featured in Longwood’s last production, “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” as of course, the dead man. This role actually involved a lot more talking than one would expect. But it called on Mello to be completely and utterly still for large amounts of time. He admits that this was a challenge for him but nothing he couldn't handle.
The Stage Manager
Stage managing is arguably the most difficult job in the theatre world. While the director blocks scenes and makes creative choices, it falls on the stage manager to make sure that the lights come up, and the props are there or an actor hasn't locked themselves in their dressing room. The stage manager works tirelessly without even taking a bow. West Livingston must perform all these duties and while he talks about the process he seems to be more proud than anything else. If being the behind the scenes puppet master of this murder mystery is stressing him out you wouldn't be able to tell.
“The process for me started back in May really. Learning the script typing it up getting everything ready to go. So now that we are kind of in the meat of everything it’s all coming together. I’m really excited to see since we are going into tech tomorrow so now everything is coming into play,” said Livingston.
The pay off for all this hard work is a feeling of total accomplishment. When the actors are taking their final bows and the show has gone off without a hitch, Livingston will surely breathe a deep sigh of relief.
The Techie
“Techies do it in the dark!” Ok this is not quite the case for Lyle Stanford, master electrician, and his crew. However they do have to do it way up in the air, hanging lights, that is. It’s Stanford’s job to design and implement a lighting plan for the show. This is no small feat and it does involve less experienced lighting crewmembers to question Stanford’s sanity.
“One of my crew members was entirely convinced that she was going to die while working on my crew because we are up in the air and stuff. She has improved a lot now like she’s not afraid. For a while she was just like ‘Lyle am I gonna die?’ I was like ‘No you're not gonna die,’ it was pretty entertaining because I hear that all the time,” said Stanford.
For someone who gets asked about their chances of survival fairly frequently like Stanford, he seems none too concerned. Stanford and his crew finished their work a week early, a phrase rarely heard in the theatre world.
The New Kid
Theatre is clicky. It has to be, because as part of a production you get real familiar with each other real quick. There are backstage quick changes, wardrobe malfunctions, late nights and flubbed lines. All this leads to a family-like atmosphere, which may be a little intimidating if you're the new kid on the block. Ironically, freshman Garrett Reese plays Simon Gascoyne, a man who is new to the neighborhood in the world of “The Real Inspector Hound” as well. Unlike his experienced co-actor, Reese says that fear is a very big part of his performances.
“I get scared, nervous, terrified, all of the above. I don’t know, I feel like if you're not then something is wrong. When I go out there I am terrified until the moment I set foot on the stage and then I forget that I have an audience in front of me and then I go into my zone.”
Reese is nervous, yes, but he also comes off as nothing short of pumped to be doing this show with these people. During the process he admitted to one anxiety fueled rehearsal in which he was sure his bad breath was bowling over the actors, only added to the rough life as the new kid.
You can see the cast and crew in all their roles November 5 to the 15. Performances for “The Real Inspector Hound” run Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m..
