Behind the Scenes

Even before the first notes of the score for "The Wedding Singer" are performed in the Little Theatre, the set — bathed in hot pink, turquoise and golden hues — begins to transport theater-goers back to the '80s for the lively musical comedy on stage through Dec. 11.

Caption: Automation Programmer Raul Miranda explains the "12 axes of motion" and other automated aspects of "The Wedding Singer."

Stage Manager Kristin Neu, the highest-ranking student on the production staff for the musical comedy, talks about her work behind the scenes with the 70-member crew.

Costume crew member Jovan Green on her role on the production staff.

And, there's a mirror ball, of course.

“Because the piece is a real homage to the ’80s and a real valentine to the 1980s, after doing research … we decided to go with an MTV kind of approach,” said Director James R. Taulli, noting that MTV started broadcasting in 1981.

One of the ways to keep the scenery costs from overtaking the show’s fixed budget was to incorporate video and projections into the set design — a concept brought to life by Scenic Designer Joe Holbrook, who is completing his M.F.A. in theatre arts, and Projection Designer Matt Schleicher, a CSUF theatre arts alumnus (B.A. '96, M.F.A. '05), now a member of the Theatre and Dance Department staff.

The duo collaborated on the elaborate projections that are an integral part of the production, which breaks new ground for CSUF, in the use of rotating sets and sound, as well as projections.

“We have used all of this technology before, but never to the extent that we’ve used it in this show,” said Taulli, a CSUF graduate who earned his M.F.A. in theatre arts and is now associate dean of the College of the Arts.

The popular video “Take on Me” by the group Ah-Ha served as a jumping-off point for the show’s scenic design. “This famous video technology took something that looks like it had been sketched and goes from animated to real; it morphs into reality,” Taulli said. The production design team “found a program, Rotoscope, that actually does that, so based the show on that kind of transformation.”

Students, faculty and staff worked behind the scenes for weeks, first devising concepts, then creating video and other scenery in the vast workroom of the Scenic Lab, where physical sets were constructed for the production, which opened over the weekend.

“The students are really getting professional experience,” said “Taulli, adding that the technology used on Broadway may be more expensive, “but the principles remain the same. This is very much what’s happening in the professional world.”

Pushing the limits, moving beyond what’s been done before, is part of the appeal of stagecraft, including for faculty newcomers, like David Mickey, assistant professor of theatre and dance and the show's sound design supervisor, who lobbied for the use of 30 wireless microphones — more than ever attempted before in a CSUF production.

Though Taulli serves as the show’s director, he said “there has been so little that I really can take credit for,” reeling off the names of students and faculty members who form the backbone of the production — both behind and on the stage.

“My philosophy of directing is: best idea wins,” Taulii said. “I’m the filter of ideas. ...  It’s more often someone else’s idea than mine, and this has been a tremendous company to work with.”

His director’s note in the program is about the collaborative nature of the process. The applause tells cast and production staff they're in sync, after just three stagings of the show. “Audiences really have been responding tremendously to it,” said Taulli.

Tickets for “The Wedding Singer” are available from the Clayes Performing Arts Center box office at 657-278- 3371 or online.

Caption: In this scene from "The Wedding Singer," the CSUF Theatre and Dance production fuses live action with projection and other scenery to create the desired effect. Photo by Edwin Lockwood and more on Flickr

Nov. 18, 2011 | Updated Nov. 21, 2011