By Larry Claflin Jr.
Staff writer
May 08, 2008 06:02 am Invariably, following a North Shore Music Theatre production, someone will approach Scott Volesky, the Beverly theater's technical director, and ask him where the musical will play next. Volesky stock answer is something like this: "Nowhere; you can only see it here." "We are producing this show rather than presenting it. We don't do touring shows; we produce our own musicals," Volesky said last week as he oversaw a busy staff of carpenters, painters and properties artisans all working on NSMT's first musical of the 2008 season, "The Producers," which opens Tuesday night and runs until June 3. The Tony Award-winning musical-comedy, based on Mel Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, tells the story of a washed-up Broadway producer and his timid accountant who hatch a get-rich-quick scheme to produce a sure-fire flop. "The Producers" had long runs on Broadway and in Las Vegas on traditional, proscenium stages, where the audience faces the actors and vice-versa. This is just the second time it's been produced in a theater-in-the-round setting, on a circular stage, where the audience surrounds the cast on all sides. NSMT puts on seven fully produced musicals a year and sets and props for each one must be custom built to accommodate the theater-in-the-round design, according to Lars Nelson, production manager. For example, couches must have low backs and doors must be transparent Plexiglas so the audience — who surrounds the stage 360 degrees — will have unobstructed views. "We build 90 percent of what you see on stage in our own shop, and we have very talented artists that create all this stuff," Volesky said. "We're here for the audience and if everyone can't see the show, we're not doing our jobs — they're not getting the experience that they paid to come see. Nearby in the properties department, Megan Simmons, assistant properties master, drilled holes in the wood frame of a couch to be placed in the office of the play's main character, Max Bialystock. As Simmons worked, her supervisor, Kelly Leight, looked on. "Anything that goes on our stage, we have to build or modify," said Leight, NSMT's props master. "There are very few things that we can just go out and buy and call it done." According to Leight, properties artisans must possess several skills — sewing, upholstering, welding, texture dying and sculpting. "It's one of those catch-all type of things," she said. "The more you know, the better." In the theater's paint shop, manager Kim Nelson works to further the theater-in-the-round concept, too, as she has since she started at NSMT 13 years ago as an intern. For "The Producers," Kim Nelson and her small staff must paint more than 20 pieces, and all sides have to be covered. With a standard stage, props can be painted on three sides because there is no audience behind, but a circular stage poses more of a challenge for Kim Nelson and her crew, she said. "Things have to be painted inside, outside, underneath — there's no cheating," she said. "And they have to match." So far, the paint shop has used more than 40 gallons of paint for "The Producers" — more than any play in the theater's history, said Kim Nelson. The floor of the stage, which is a 32-foot circle, is covered with 12 gallons of paint and four coats of wax, to protect it against wear and tear from constant tap-dancing. "It's a very big show," said Nelson. "It's a very glittery, flashy show." "The Producers" will provide another first for the NSMT staff — animatronics — when Volesky and Leight collaborate, using DMX technology, to bring to life a line of five dancing pigeons, which will be controlled through the lighting board. Although the sets for NSMT's "The Producers" are created on-site, the costumes are not. In this rare case, the theater is renting a costume package — a Tony Award-winning design by William Ivey Long from the Las Vegas run of the play. "Costumes in our theater actually become our backdrop," said Lars Nelson. "It's worth it to get a package of this quality, that showcase the actors on stage and showcase their talents to the utmost degree."
If you go What: "The Producers" When: May 13-June 3 Where: North Shore Music Theatre, 62 Dunham Road, Beverly Cost: $32-79, discounted prices for NSMT subscribers Info: 978-232-7200; www.nsmt.org
People in "The Producers" 22 cast members 10 orchestra musicians 75 people behind the scenes to build and run the production
2008 Musical Schedule "The Producers," May 13-June 1 "Contact," June 10-29 "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," Aug. 12-31 "The Wiz in Concert," Sept. 5-7 "Show Boat," Sept. 23-Oct.12 "42nd Street," Oct. 28-Nov. 3 "Disney High School Musical 2," Dec. 18-Jan. 11, 2009
BOX Ivans takes over at NSMT Barry Ivans, who has worked with North Shore Music Theatre for more than 12 years, directing more than 25 titles, has been hired by the theater as its artistic director and executive producer, taking over for Jon Kimbell, who is leaving after 25 years in the same role. "It is wonderful to be back at NSMT in this new position after having worked here for many years," Ivans wrote in an e-mail recently. "My experience as both a director and a choreographer of numerous musicals both in the United States and abroad ... has taught me many things. I have spent my entire career doing double duty as a director and choreographer and that experience has more than prepared me for my dual role ... running the state's second-largest performing arts organization. It is an honor to represent North Shore Music Theatre in our community and in our industry." Kimbell will remain with the theater through the end of the year as artistic director emeritus, concentrating on new titles and fundraising. The theater will fete Kimbell on May 31, at the finale of "The Producers," with "Celebrating John Kimbell." The event will feature an open air reception at 5:30 p.m., with food compliments of Chianti Tuscan Restaurant in Beverly, and a video retrospective at 8 p.m. The cost is $75 for the receptions. Contact NSMT's box office for information.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.