Of Boys, Bonds, and Greatness: A Rehearsal Room Story

photo credits: Megan Pagett

Boy My Greatness is happening in just a few days and we are so excited for it. These boy players are rehearsing at artswest for both of their performances to have a full house. Let's take a behind the scenes look at what this cast and crew have been up to, to get you all even more excited to see this heartfelt play.

Emile Stark who plays Hal talks about their favorite part of the show. They said it has been “being able to put a face to a character from a part of history that we know so little about. Because there is such limited information on Shakespeare’s boy players and their lives, much of this show is just an interpretation. This allows me and my cast members a lot of creative freedom in character choices and developing our own interpretations of our characters.” We all know Shakspere and his plays but we historically know very little about how they were performed and who performed them. Most of the time in theater history it is said that the plays written by Shakespere were written down by people watching the performances, a historical bootleg. This makes this play and these performers have to dig deeper into putting themselves into their characters, while fictional these are real depictions of people this cast and crew wants to do them justice. 

Another fun part Stark touched on was the fight choreography we will see in the show. They said this was one of their favorite rehearsal moments, learning the choreography done by former LFC member Nick Foster. They said “previous to this show, I had no experience with fight choreography. Nick made it very interesting, informative, and above all else, very amusing. It also helped our cast strengthen the trust that we have in each other, which is always good.” It is so important to build connections and fight choreography requires them to build those connections and trust each other. 

Amon Samblanet who portrays Harry touched on this in their interview they said the community has been their favorite part of the show process. They said “spending so much time with the cast and crew leads to a lot of fun moments and events outside of rehearsals.” The cast bonding outside of the rehearsals has been one thing that has helped this cast and crew become so close so they can portray a show like this one with so much heart. Shea Dooley the costumer talked about the cast bonding as well says “experiencing cast and crew bonding as this makes the process more fun, but also helps us all work together as a team!” Which is crucial for this emotional show. 

One of the hardest parts of the show process for every show is soft and hard off which is when the cast goes off book to a certain capacity during rehearsals. Letting go of your book is so hard to do and to trust that you know what you’re doing. But Sami LeGrant, the stage manager, says this has been her favorite part of the show. She said getting to see everyone get off book has been such a rewarding part of the process. 

One thing that this audience should anticipate for this show is the “diva off” that many cast and crew members discussed in their interview. Bella Campi who portrays the role of Samual talked about the “diva off”. They said “ ‘Diva Off’ as we call it, where Tom and Sam duke it out for love/hate. I’m a BIG fight choreography fan so any opportunity I can get to throw down in front of an audience is a good time.” has been their favorite part of the show's process. One thing is for sure, we are waiting in anticipation for this “diva off”. 

This show is an emotional experience, make sure to bring your tissues, that’s something Teigue Hardesty the lighting designer has loved about this show. He said “I loved being there to see the energy and tears that were brought to the first read through and getting to see how much the cast has built on it to the point they are now is incredible. I'm sure as actors they can feel it, but it's amazing to be able to view it and see how each of the characters have grown as well as the way each of the actors have stepped into their respective characters and brought their own unique takes.” To make an audience feel what the characters are feeling is an especially hard part of acting and portrays raw and true characters so hearing that they’ve brought this energy since day one is so special and makes so many of us in the company even more excited to see it. 

Levi Shafer who plays John touched on the emotional depth it has taken to play these characters. He said this was one of his favorite parts of the show process. He said “being able to play a pretty multi-dimensional character, and learning how to gender-play within performance - especially when John revisits his boy-player past through a Juliet monologue; it really opens up a vulnerable layer in the character.” That vulnerability is something that he has loved doing with this show process.

Claire Binau, the assistant stage manager, talked about the emotional range of this show. Saying one of her favorite parts of it has been “this show ends up carrying such guttural emotional weight that touches on identity and relationships in a way that I cannot say many other shows I've seen have.” LFC is truly lucky to be able to perform a show like this with this heart and story to it. We are one of the first theater companies in the midwest outside of New York City to perform this show which adds a lot more meaning to everything everyone is doing on and off the stage for these performances. 

Come watch Boy My Greatness at Artswest Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 2pm for $5 CASH ONLY tickets sold at the door!