Backstage magic
A glimpse 
behind the 
scenes at 
Hartford Stage 
offers insight into 
the challenges of 
producing Gee’s Bend
By Mark Jahne 

Photos by Brian Ambrose

Brilliant actors make for a 
brilliant play. If they put on 
a mediocre or poor performance, nothing can save the show. 
But brilliant actors don’t always equal a successful production. 
It takes a lot of people and effort behind the scenes to inspire 
audience members to rise 
to their feet and cheer.

Hartford Magazine was afforded an opportunity to spend some time behind the scenes in the weeks leading up to the recent presentation of Gee’s Bend at Hartford Stage. The show is based on a true story about the women of Gee’s Bend, a geographically isolated area set on a river in southwest Alabama. Over the course of decades, these women – descendants of emancipated slaves – sang hauntingly beautiful gospel melodies as they created magnificent handmade quilts that paved their way to economic freedom.

By the time audience members settled into 
their seats to watch the play, all of its elements – costumes, makeup, props, sets, lighting, music 
and more – had been woven into a seamless, 
cohesive whole.

As with all productions at Hartford Stage, the timeline for Gee’s Bend began with a “meet and greet” at the theater’s off-site rehearsal studios at 942 Main Street. The actors and director introduced themselves and they, in turn, were introduced to everyone else who would be working behind the scenes to help make the play a success. Those 40 or so folks included lighting, set and costume designers, box office staff, marketing professionals, even college interns. Then the team began the task of putting the play together.

Acting can be a fun and fulfilling profession, but it’s also hard work. Typical rehearsals are six hours long, and they begin a month before opening night. During the final week, or “tech week” as it is called, rehearsals run from noon until midnight.

One recent afternoon saw director Hana Sharif working for nearly two hours, one-on-one, with actress Tamela Aldridge, who played Nella, while Miche Braden, who played Alice and Asia, worked on her stage presence with a movement consultant.

Teagle Bougere, the lone male actor, worked alone on the rehearsal studio “stage,” doing vocal exercises, rehearsing his lines, moving around the set, and changing his facial expressions and oral inflection – all with the goal of finding the ideal way to portray his character, Macon.

Meanwhile, the technical crew was busy constructing the set at a facility in Hartford’s South Meadows. The greatest challenge for Gee’s Bend was the need to build and install a river that in places was more than three feet deep, and covered 52 linear feet.

That’s a lot of water – more than nine tons – 
and crew members had to make sure that the stage floor could handle the weight. All plays are run on a budget, and they didn’t want to spend additional money reinforcing the floor.

The river plays a key role in the overall theme of the play. It was used for a scene about a Southern-style “baptism” by immersion, in which the actress was completely submerged. Including the immersion pool, the river held approximately 2,200 gallons of water. It took four hours to fill it to its full depth, and an additional 26 to 28 hours to heat the water to a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Building the river was no easy feat. Its construction had to take into account the need to retain the outward pressure of the water so that the river wouldn’t burst at its seams. The basin was built from 2-by-6 and 2-by-10 dimensional lumber with -inch plywood cladding. It was supported on a series of 4-by-4 and 2-by-10 trestles to disperse the load of water across the maximum footprint available, which also brought the load down to a more manageable weight per square foot. Half an inch of polystyrene foam lined the interior of the basin and the bottom of the river section, with a pond liner on top of that.

Lighting the show was the next step.

Aaron Hochheiser, master electrician with Hartford Stage, explained that the lighting director has conversations with the whole design team and the director before deciding how to light a show. Professionals then create a “light plot,” which indicates the use of color and exactly where the lights will hang. The lights have to fit around the scenery and provide the proper illumination to designated areas on stage, and technicians must be able to access the lights without damaging the set.

For Gee’s Bend, Hochheiser was given the challenging job of transforming the lighting director’s vision for the river into reality. Plans called for lighting the inside of the river, which was easier said than done. He said most LED submersible lighting fixtures are large and expensive. Large wouldn’t work, because in some areas, the water would only be four inches deep. The river also needed a dimming feature, adding to the challenge.

“The other big part is making it safe for the actors,” he said.

The actors needed to be able to enter and leave the river without stepping on the lights and/or risking electrocution. Hochheiser and his colleagues networked with other theatrical lighting professionals and came up with a solution: LED submersible rope lights. He was thrilled that they were able to brainstorm a dependable solution to a complicated problem.

The day before tech week begins, the lighting director and electricians spend eight to 10 hours focusing lights for the show, one at a time. Changes may need to be made during tech week if the director, stage manager or lighting director is not completely satisfied with the overall look.

Hochheiser knew that as even the show 
progressed through its run, the crew might need to add or move lights. The lighting effects are all entered into a computer run from the control booth, with each light cue called by the stage 
manager.

Light cues and sound cues are as much a part of the script as the words. So are a number of other elements, like blocking – where the actors stand or sit, and when they move from one spot on stage to another. Weeks are spent perfecting all of these movements.

Props, like costumes, have to be of the right style and period. In addition to the replica quilts hanging overhead, the stage contained 1960s suitcases, old chairs, a steamer truck and old books. The props changed as the scene changed – and as the storyline moved through the three distinct eras in the life of its main character, Sadie, played by Kimberly Hébert Gregory.

More complicated was the installation of a working water fountain. In the middle era of the play, Sadie watches Martin Luther King drink from it during a visit to a nearby town, even though it is labeled “for whites only.” She wanted to do the same and, despite the warnings of serious recriminations, she eventually did so.

One of the key backstage people is the stage manager. John Scutchins, who lives in New York, filled that role for Gee’s Bend. Once a show begins, he calls all the shots and bears the responsibility for its success or failure.

This was his second show with Hartford Stage, and he had high praise for the theater. “The preparation that they do here is extensive and intended to present the highest quality that they can,” he said.

The stage manager’s basic responsibility is to make sure everyone does his or her job.

“What really goes on behind the scenes is communication,” he said. “We get all the design information from the designers” of the set, lighting and costumes, and begin to work with that, he said. Fitting times for the actors are scheduled with the costumers, and the floor of the rehearsal studio is taped to show the location of the various props and structures that will be on the main stage.

A major focus was the river. A bridge was designed to move in and out of the river, depending upon the scene. As for the water, Scutchins said, “we have to keep it at a certain temperature and it’s got to be kept clean.”

Following Sadie’s immersion in the river, arrangements had to be made to get her off stage, completely dried and changed into new clothes in approximately one minute. A small “hot box” room was built just off stage, and two dressing assistants were there each night to help her towel off and change costumes at lightning speed. Velcro and hooks were used as fasteners to facilitate the process. Buttons and zippers simply take too long.

“Everything is quick-rigged so it goes on and off quickly,” said costume shop manager Aimee Miranda Perez.

Designers are hired by the theater to design the costumes and provide sketches of the clothing. Perez and her colleagues then look to see if they have any of the clothing in stock. If not, they either create or rent what they need, working within a budget. “We save all the costumes that we make. We also rent from other theaters,” Perez said.

They had to come up with three completely different sets of clothing that made sense for the three time frames of Gee’s Bend: 1939, 1965 and 2002. They “built” everything for the first two 
periods, aiming for the look of original period 
costumes.

Costumes not only have to look right, they have to fit right. The first step is to take measurements and create mock-ups from cheap fabric. “Different actors have different bodies, and some are easier to fit than others,” Perez said. They also had to select specific fabrics for the clothing worn in the baptism scene to ensure that it could be safely thrown in a dryer and used night after night.

The actors’ ease of movement was another consideration. Glow tape – small dots or strips of reflective tape – was applied as needed to help the actors find their way safely on and off stage in low light. It has to be installed in such a way that they can see it, but the audience can’t.

Scutchins decided to have a “transition light,” rather than total blackouts, between scenes.

Another part of his job is to “think out all the angles” before the play begins, to ensure everything works as planned, and prevent a disaster from occurring in front of the audience. There are no “do-overs” in live theater. As the show progresses, the stage manager must maintain a sharp focus. He needs to be ready to act quickly and decisively if something goes wrong.

During the actual performance, “my job is to call the show” and all of its cues, and to keep up the pace, he said. He was assisted by light and sound operators, who provided computer-controlled effects. This show, which ran from Jan. 14 to Feb. 14, was a fast-paced 90 minutes.

The folks at Hartford Stage were particularly delighted that the director of Gee’s Bend was Hana Sharif, the theater’s artistic producer and Aetna New Voices Fellow for the 2009-2010 season. Now in its fifth year, the fellowship provides an artistic home where artists of color can develop their work and strengthen their involvement in the ongoing life of the Greater Hartford community.

Gee’s Bend was the first opportunity for Sharif – a local director, producer and playwright – to make her directorial debut at Hartford Stage, but given its success, indications are that it won’t be her last. HM

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