NW will be putting on a production of Defying Gravity, written by Jane Anderson, this spring, and it will be directed by Drew Schmidt. It is an emotional show about a very real event: the Challenger Explosion. The cast, crew and production staff have been working hard to bring this show to life.
Annabell Christensen, the show’s stage manager, touched on the process of the show. She talked about her role of running design meetings, keeping everyone on track, writing down transitions, finding decoy props and much more. She also leads warmups, and on that she says, “I think one of the hardest parts of having a small cast is that you can’t do certain warmups because there could be only one person called to a rehearsal. So, I’ve had to be creative and innovative and learn how to do different warmups.” Christensen has loved the process so far, as well as the chance to work alongside other theater artists.
Christensen also mentioned the emotional aspect of the show. “This show is very heavy and very hard. It has a lot to do about grief, and I think anybody who’s lost someone before, you can feel that grief in the air,” she said. “As someone who’s been through grief, I think that’s one of the hardest parts emotionally, having to go into the rehearsal process and feel that emotion day in and day out. But it’s also a beautiful thing, so you get to learn more about yourself in the process of it and help take care of your actors because they’re the ones feeling that emotion.”
A huge part of this show is the artistic element of projections, designed by Melissa Thompson. Charlee Olson, playing the Teacher, says, “A lot of the show is based upon what you will see not on the stage, so it’s interesting to work without them. I’m staring at nothing for a lot of it, and gesturing towards nothing, but when it comes to fruition, it’s going to be incredible.” This will be Thompson’s 3rd projection design. She says, “There’s a lot to do for it because what’s being projected is going to change depending on the location of each scene, and there’s a lot of different locations, and there’s also photos that the characters take on stage that are going to be shown through projections.”
Thompson’s design will be accomplished by hanging numerous paintings from the ceiling and projecting the images onto them. She has spent plenty of time scrolling through thousands of images to find the perfect ones for each scene while also doing some real life photography as well. The scene she’s most excited to create is the beach scene. “I think it will be fun to communicate that through projections and see how that’ll work with the sound and the lighting to really make you feel like you’re there,” said Thompson.
Anna Frangenberg, the sound designer, is adding to the show by attempting to compose some piano music. She clarifies by saying, “I have two categories of sound right now. I have my sparse piano, and I also want to throw in some string drones, like a bass or a cello. I would love to have drones or tremolos in there because we’ve got some tense parts, and I’m very excited to see how that will add.” She’s also been working hard at finding a bunch of other sound effects to help picture location, action that’s not physically on the stage, and more. She emphasized that while there will be a lot of sound, she doesn’t want it super noticeable, but rather subtle instead. “It’s not anything super big and grandiose because this show isn’t about big and grandiose things,” Frangenberg says. “It’s about personal relationships and connection and distance and disconnection.”
Another unique aspect of this show is that one of the theatre professors, Prof. Molly Wiebe Faber, is acting in this show. She plays Elizabeth. When speaking to Olson, she talked about how different acting with her professor is, especially since Olson plays the mother and Wiebe Faber plays a 5-year-old at times. She asked, “How do I treat this woman that I have so much respect for, as a child?” However, she noted that Wiebe Faber is such a good actress that Olson now feels comfortable around her.
Wiebe Faber mentioned the importance of maintaining professionalism within the department. She says, “It means warming up with my fellow actors and all the things that I would do in a setting where they’re not my students. There is certainly a teaching element in that. I have a process that I’ve worked on for longer than they have. So, I want to make sure that’s something they have the opportunity to see, just to show them what it’s like to work with somebody who’s done it a lot.”
Simon Maggert, playing Ed, said, “It’s fascinating to see how good she actually is because she’s put in probably thousands of hours into these techniques and we get to see what that precision is.” MacKenzie Russel, playing Donna, adds that it’s been fun to see her outside the classroom, playing and acting as a child.
The actors also added they have enjoyed the creative liberties Drew has allowed them to have, and have also enjoyed walking through this process alongside one another. They were quite close already coming into the show, which has added to the process in many different ways.
Other theatre artists working on this show include Emily Espinoza as dramaturg, Ethan Koerner as costume designer, Lorelai Gerard as assistant stage manager, Rae Outland as assistant projections, Ruthie Zimmerman as scenic and props designer, Timothy Giacobbe as lighting designer, Dana Sorenson as Betty, Mackenna Thurman as Monet, Micah De Young as C.B., Rebecca De Haan as Elizabeth’s understudy, and the rest of the Theatre Production Ensemble.
The show performs Feb. 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21 at 7:30pm and Feb. 14 at 2pm. Russel is excited to see all the technical aspects come together as well as seeing people’s reactions to the show, as it’s based on a real event. To the audience who will come see this show in a few weeks, Christensen says, “I hope they come out changed. I hope they come out looking at the world differently.”
