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Posted on Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 5:42 a.m.

Purple Rose Theatre takes a stroll through "Our Town"

By Jenn McKee

When you think of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” you think of the slow pace of life in small-town America at the start of the 20th century.

And actor Will Young, who’s playing the Stage Manager in the Purple Rose Theatre’s upcoming production of “Town,” has lately been affected by this nostalgia.

“Right now, at this moment, it’s really getting to me, because before I came over here to the theater this morning, I spent an hour of my time on the telephone with my cell phone server,” said Young. “And I thought, … in Grover’s Corners, I don’t need my cell phone.”

He's right, of course. Yet “Town” — which focuses primarily on 2 neighboring families, and the love that evolves between 1 family’s daughter and the other family’s son — also has a dark, starkly haunting side that many forget.

“The other night, I’m lying in bed, and I was dreaming about the play, and I bolted up at 3 in the morning and thought, oh, my God, Mr. and Mrs. Webb lose both of their children,” said director Guy Sanville. “It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment. And I was like, ‘How do you survive something like that?’”

The possibility of the Rose producing “Town” came up last year when Sanville was in New York to see Rose executive director Jeff Daniels perform in “God of Carnage.” Daniels’ wife and mother-in-law had just gone to see the successful Barrow Street Theatre production of “Town,” so Daniels asked Sanville to think about how the Rose might do it.

041810_OURTOWN.jpg

Stacie Hadgikosti plays Emily Webb in the Purple Rose production of "Our Town."

courtesy of the Purple Rose Theatre Co.

The primary difficulty of producing the show at the professional level — and the reason why “Town” is nearly always produced by community theater groups or universities — is the prohibitive cost of employing “Town”’s large cast. Sanville, though, hatched a way to do “Town” with 17 actors — still a lot (the Rose’s 2nd biggest cast ever), but financially doable, and the number is high enough to appear to populate Grover’s Corners.

“It’s a small stage,” Sanville said. “When you get 12 people out there, it looks like ‘Ben Hur.’ So we’ve got that going for us.”

Young pulls the town’s strings as the Stage Manager — a role the actor admits he’s always had an affinity for, though he’s still working out his ideas about the character.

“I’m not sure at this point … what the stage manager means,” said Young. “He’s clearly running the show. He’s bringing everything together. But he’s also … godlike, in the sense that he’s omnipotent — he can manipulate time and space; he’s omniscient — he knows everything about this town, and all of its people, and … as a stage manager of the play, he’s doing some light cueing and things like that.”

While it’s been challenging for Young to pin down the Stage Manager’s exact role in the play, the emotions raised by “Town” have been anything but elusive throughout the Rose’s rehearsal process — for Young, Sanville, and the entire cast.

PREVIEW

“Our Town,”

  • Who: Purple Rose Theatre Co.; Guy Sanville, director.
  • What: Thornton Wilder's classic, a cornerstone of American theater.
  • Where: 137 Park Street in Chelsea.
  • When: Wednesday-Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 2 p.m., April 15-May 29. (Preview performances April 15-22.)
  • How much: $25-$38 (preview tickets cost $20-$25). For tickets or information, 734-433-7673 or the Purple Rose web site.

“(The play) is a different thing when you’ve buried loved ones, when you’ve had children, when you’ve lived through some of these things,” said Sanville. “And there are great plays that everybody wants to sink their teeth into. I told the cast the same thing I told them when we did ‘Streetcar (Named Desire).’ This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The odds are overwhelming that you’ll never get another chance to do this play at this level. You just won’t.”

“Town” is innovative in many ways, including the simple theatricality that is its core; actions are mimed, with only the barest of a bare bones set. The device makes the show appear deceptively simple to audiences.

And while Sanville and his cast puzzle out some of the script's challenges, his only guiding vision for the show involves seeing “Town” as a ghost story, where the characters just appear from nowhere and suddenly occupy a previously empty space.

“One of the great things about the play is that it celebrates every day,” said Sanville. “It celebrates those common everyday things. Whether it’s making breakfast for your children, getting your children up in the morning, or … staring out the window at the moon, walking across the street — these everyday, ordinary things that make up a life. And it says, not only do these things matter, but they should be celebrated.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

Comments

andrea anderson

Wed, Apr 14, 2010 : 9:59 p.m.

I too have had it with Guy Sanville and his remarks. I have stopped supporting the Purple Rose with my contribution and attendance. I just got tired of how they think that they are the superior one!!!!Not true! I have seen some good things there but also some terrible things - it is time for Mr. Sanville to keep quiet or he personally will be the downfall of the Purple Rose.

A2lover

Mon, Apr 12, 2010 : 4:26 p.m.

I'm surprised at Guy Sanville's comment - "The other night, Im lying in bed, and I was dreaming about the play, and I bolted up at 3 in the morning and thought, oh, my God, Mr. and Mrs. Webb lose both of their children, said director Guy Sanville. It hadnt occurred to me until that moment". Had he not read the play? And I found this comment to the actors rather pretentious - "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The odds are overwhelming that youll never get another chance to do this play at this level. You just wont. What level would that be? A small theatre in Chelsea, Michigan, as opposed to one of the numerous, large prestigious theaters around the country who put on OUR TOWN, or even off-broadway in New York? I was disappointed at Mr. Sanville's unfortunate remarks. I've had respect for the Purple Rose in the past but now - not quite so much.