Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Here are some outtakes from an e-mail interview with Marianne McLaughlin on Sunday, the director of The Spitfire Grill (at the Civic’s Studio Theatre, March 19-April 11). A fuller preview of the show appears in tomorrow's Inlander, pp. 19-20.
Synopsis at the musical's official site is here.
INLANDER: If
you had to choose, would you say that this musical is more about Percy’s or
Hannah’s redemption? The ex-con or the crusty matriarch?
McLAUGHLIN: The
bond that Percy and Hannah form as the show progresses, even if they are not
aware of it, roots itself in a need for redemption, but also the realization
that they must face their demons and then finally forgive themselves.
What particular song has been most complicated to stage,
both vocally and in terms of choreography and blocking?
“Shoot the Moon,” while not vocally the most difficult, had
the cumbersome detail of large mailbags and a wheelbarrow to deal with in the
small space representing the seating area of the grill in the Studio Theatre.
Troy Nickerson [the Civic’s resident director] did assist on some of the
large-group numbers, but this particular one had to be my own work in progress,
as I was never satisfied with it and constantly making changes, finally coming
to the decision that less is more.---
Which tunes will the audience be humming on the way out?
“Colors of Paradise” always seems to stay with me after it’s
been sung.
When Percy moves into her new, Spartan room at Hannah’s,
it’s like her old prison cell. Any special lighting effects at this point?
The bedroom at the end of the dark hall is indicated as we
see it through Percy’s imagination. Because this is the Studio Theatre and
because the only time her room is indicated is in her first song, “A Ring
Around the Moon,” the choice was made not to include it in the set design. In
this case, it is the job of the actor [Manuela Peters] — with the aid of some
dark, shadowy lighting — to suspend the audience’s belief and take them there.
Is “A Ring Around the Moon” Percy’s optimistic song of liberation?
When the townspeople gather at the grill, how are you
staging the overlapping songs?
I wanted to communicate to the audience that this was
another morning at the grill — everyone’s regular meeting place, seeing the
people who they have known all their lives — the caveat being, on this
particular morning, the arrival of Percy Talbot. So while the staging is
stylized in many ways, I wanted it to be relaxed and natural. The overlapping
and difficulty of this number [reflects] the growing agitation and curiosity
over Percy’s arrival.
Tags: The Spitfire Grill , Spokane Civic Theatre , Marianne McLaughlin , StageThrust , Image