Writer's Block Behind the Curtains - Character Creation

The Director, Dave Joseph, started planning the character roles before auditions even started.  He thought about what type of personality was needed to bring each part to life.  It’s usually an intense process, and this was no different.  Then came auditions and so many people came that were so good that it threw that whole thought process out the window, which is a director’s best, worst nightmare.  

In the end, Dave says it came down to the chemistry and stage presence with one another that helped him decide.  He’ll let you as the audience be the judge of that chemistry, but I can guarantee that the whole cast is hilarious together.  

The development for each actor to ‘become’ their character began at the start of rehearsals.  It was easier for some in this show than others.  Here’s what some of the cast had to say on it.

Travis Narry found a little of himself in his character, Conrad Baker.  Some of his actions and sarcastic comments as Conrad are really what and how Travis would say something, which makes the character that much more believable.  He describes his character as being in the wrong place at the wrong time, which leads to some unfortunate misunderstandings.

Madge Torkelson (Amy Ellefson) describes her character as being “blindly devoted to her man and his conspiracies.  She’s big hearted and practical.  She cares deeply about the people in her life unless they reject or hurt her.  Then, watch out because she'll shoot you where ya ain't got vital organs or give away yer man cave.”  Now, she hasn’t admitted to any similarities to her character so I guess you’ll just have to see the show to find out if she was able to ‘get into character.’

Eric Armstrong took longer to ‘become’ Bernie Lebowitz since Eric and Bernie are pretty much opposites.  He’s excited by the challenge to re-invent himself as Bernie in this play and has experimented with each scene during rehearsals.  Eric admits to only one commonality between them-that they both like to read, but Eric suspects that they have somewhat different tastes in literature.  

Then, there’s also Summer Breeze played by Jessica Kowach.  She describes Summer as a super happy, Irish hippie, tree hugging, flower child that just wants everyone to love everyone else.  Jessica is a wannabe hippie and definitely fills the happy part of that description so these two have had a connection from the start.

In the end, whether these actors are similar or different than their counterpart characters, they’ve worked tirelessly these past couple months to bring this show to life.  Soon, you’ll get to see just how ‘in character’ they can be so make sure you get your tickets now and join us this weekend for the show.

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