Every production presented by the Tyrone Community Players has a great many components. Ingredients that, when mixed together, create a batter with the ability to \”cook-up\” an outstanding stage experience.
That is, if we don’t add too much of one thing and not enough of another. If our pans are greased well enough and our oven is working. If each person reading the \”recipe\” interprets it in the same way and goes about their individual preparation in cooperation with all the other ingredients.
Technical theater, the gears of a production that create the “look\” of a show, is a delicate balance. Each area hinges on the other, and if one falls short it can severely compromise the success of the final product.
Very much like my Grandmother’s cinnamon upside-down cake recipe if I forget to add the baking soda!
The first ingredient to be blended into TCP’s production of Pippin was the directorial team. It is almost always the first thing to be set in place, and will always be the ingredient that will add the color, texture and ultimate flavor to any theatrical experience. Therefore, it is very important that TCP find the correct first ingredient for each individual presentation.
Matching a director to a show is not an easy task. Each script has different intent, different needs, a different set of requirements.
Pippin is a very imaginative script, using quite a bit of imagery and design to tell the story. It therefore needed a director who could bring that imagination alive for the audience to share and participate in.
Cindy Bennett, a veteran director and designer, was chosen by TCP’s production committee, the artistic arm of TCP, to lead the Pippin charge. It then became her responsibility to assemble a team who could share her vision of the musical, design the ultimate appearance of the show, select a cast who would be able to bring that vision to life, and guide them on their way, creating an atmosphere where their talent and artistic ability would make Pippin a living, breathing entity.
Not an easy job!
Cindy’s first choice to stand beside her in this challenge was Darcy Wilson, Pippin’s musical director. Darcy’s theater and music experience, as well as her gentle demeanor, flexibility, and creative ability, made her a perfect ingredient in the Pippin batter. Pippin uses a wide variety of musical styles to tell the story, everything from soft-rock to calypso to gospel, and it was imperative that the musical director be able to lead the cast through all the pitfalls and challenges of syncopation and rhythms.
Darcy did just that!
Choreography is an integral part of the Pippin experience, used as a tool of story telling rather than an aside to the plot. Cindy asked Brian Williamson, a local dancer and instructor, to join the team.
Brian’s innovative style and teaching experience were just what was needed to bring the Fosse-type movements necessary in Pippin, to life.
With the addition of two organizational experts as stage managers, John Coltabaugh and Kathy Fink, to keep the creative juices from running amuck, the Pippin directorial team is in place.
The first ingredient in our recipe has been measured and poured into the bowl, ready to be whipped with the next component required to create a delectable, theater confection.
As I look at my recipe for a theater success, I see that the next ingredient is design.
