Parker Nelson

What’s In My Rehearsal Bag – Parker’s Version

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This is Tips of the Trade, and today I’m going to talk about What’s In My Rehearsal Bag. Our season is in full swing, which means we have rehearsals happening for a couple shows at once! To give a little insight into what might be expected of actors arriving at rehearsals, I am going to share a list of some of the most important things I bring to every rehearsal. 

  1. My script

Every show looks different, but usually there is a script or some sort of collection of lines or music that I always bring with me. Even once I’m memorized, I make sure to have my script with me just in case something changes in rehearsal or I have down time to study my lines. 

  1. A pencil

Sometimes, I have a very generous stage manager or director who happens to have extra pencils, but it is always my responsibility to bring my own pencil, and maybe a highlighter, to keep track of my lines and blocking during rehearsal.

  1. Water

As an actor, my body is my instrument, so I need to keep it running smoothly. The best way to do this is to always have a water bottle with me. If I’m singing, I need water to keep my voice feeling fresh. If I’m dancing, I need water to keep me hydrated while I move my body. If I’m acting, I need water to be able to clearly project without hurting my voice. 

  1. A snack

I believe it is always a good idea to have a snack with me. Especially during evening rehearsals, snacks are very helpful to keep my energy up and help me focus on what we’re doing. 

  1. A book or screen-free, quiet activity

Sometimes, I find myself at a rehearsal where a lot of people have to learn a lot of things and I’m not actively rehearsing anything for a little bit. It’s a good idea for me to have a book or a quiet activity to keep me engaged without distracting the other actors. (Although, a lot of times I find myself watching other people rehearsing because I can always learn something new). 

  1. A hair tie or something to fidget with

I sometimes find myself getting overwhelmed in rehearsal or overstimulated by my hair in particular. It is helpful for me to have a hair tie so I can put up my hair or just hold it in my hand to keep me focused. This can look different for other actors, but it’s my little helpful tip!

These are just a few things I almost always show up to rehearsal with, what might you bring in your rehearsal bag? If you want some rehearsal experience, we’ve just added a new audition date for our Flip the Script production: November 19 at Arlington Mill Recreation Center. Learn more from our auditions page!

Photos by Cindy Kane Photography.

learn more about auditions

Parker’s Performance Playbook – On Puppets

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Welcome back to Parker’s Performance Playbook! As we look toward the opening of The Lion King Jr. here at Encore, we’re going to dive into the history of puppets on stage. Let’s dive right in!

In the original Broadway production of The Lion King, there were over 200 individual puppets used throughout the show. It was a fantastical feat, and it has been performed over 10,000 times since it opened in 1997. Julie Taymor, who directed the show, chose to represent the animals in two ways: puppet representations of the animals or actors in full costume and makeup inspired by their animals. For example, the herds of animals during “The Circle of Life” are puppets of all sizes, some operated by one actor, others requiring many hands to bring the puppet to life. On the other end of the spectrum, characters like Mufasa or Simba are expressed through a headpiece worn by the actors, so that the character is more fully embodied by the actors themselves. These are two different kinds of storytelling, and The Lion King brings them together to tell its sweeping story. 

Copyright Larry McClemons

No other Broadway production has used puppets to the same scale that The Lion King does, but it is important to recognize the other uses of puppetry on Broadway and the things that make each show unique. 

A character many of us know and love is Sven from Frozen! In the stage production of Frozen, he is a puppet worn and operated by one actor, which allows him to move and interact with all the other characters in the show. It is a very difficult role to play because of the physical demands of wearing the puppet, and it has a very different effect than his fellow puppet, Olaf. As opposed to the actor for Sven, who is hidden inside the puppet for the whole show, the actor playing Olaf is visible and costumed to match the puppet. The differences between the two puppets help to visualize the differences between a magical talking snowman and a normal, non-magical reindeer. 

One other example of puppetry on Broadway is War Horse. The onstage adaptation of the novel of the same name featured a life-sized puppet of the central character, Joey. The puppet requires three actors to live and breathe on stage, one to operate the head and two actors for the legs. Breathing is arguably the most important aspect of using a puppet because, without it, a puppet is just an object being used on stage. When a puppet is given breath, it is given life and becomes a character rather than a prop. 

A show that never made it to Broadway, but must be included in the discussion of puppets on stage is James and the Giant Peach. The main group of characters are bugs that, through a magic spell, have become human sized and can talk! But before the magic is cast, these characters find James and interact with him in their original bug forms as puppets! Spider, Ladybug, Grasshopper, Centipede, and Earthworm are larger than life puppets, bringing personality and charm to the humble bugs. Because this show only requires 5 smaller puppets, it can be done in theaters of many sizes and budgets. It has been performed at schools, community theaters, and professional theaters! 

Gabe MacPhail (“James Henry Trotter”)

We’ve seen that puppets are special and beautiful additions to theatre, whether bringing magical characters to our world or allowing animals to talk. These were just a few examples of puppets being used on stage, and we never know when a new exciting example will be added to the history of puppets on Broadway. You can be a part of creating new stories with puppets, too. Mr. Benji and I made a video about telling a story with shadow puppets, so go check that out if you are interested in giving it a try!

Lastly, be sure you don’t miss the puppets and masks of our upcoming production of The Lion King Jr! Tickets available now for the show and pre show experiences. 

Buy tickets today

Our 2024/2025 Season of Courage

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What does it mean to be courageous? Do you have to climb a mountain? Or stand up to a bully? Is it possible that we can find courage in just being ourselves? This season, Encore is exploring the theme of courage through a variety of mainstage shows, from The Lion King Jr to Flip the Script to Footloose and everything in between. All of the characters we will meet this season are courageous in their own way, so you’ll have to come out and see how they show it!

But what about our everyday lives? How can we be courageous at school and at home? In theatre, we use the phrase “yes, and” to express the openness we try to bring to the stage, but that approach takes courage! It means we are available to help those around us, always looking for ways we can support them. Courage is being yourself. When you bring your full self to whatever you are doing (group projects, chores at home, rehearsals), everyone around you benefits. We need each other’s unique perspective in order to be successful in whatever we do.

Here at Encore, we get to find our courage on stage or behind the curtain, and don’t forget about the classroom! We all belong and are needed to be a community of artists inspiring each other to develop creativity, empathy, and confidence. 

Enroll in fall camps and classes today

This fall, join us on your days off school to courageously take the stage with our community of young performers, enrollment open now!

Photos by Cindy Kane Photography and Encore Staff

Parker’s Performance Playbook – What is Dramaturgy?

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Welcome to our new series, “Parker’s Performance Playbook” which is all about theatre dramaturgy! If you’ve never seen that word before or you don’t know what it means, read on! I’m here to talk all about it.

So, what is dramaturgy? Dramaturgy is an exploration of the world of the play. It is the study of the context of a show, learning what the world looks like outside of what is directly mentioned in the script, helping the directors and actors understand what is going on around the characters in the play. 

If a play is set in the 1920’s, the dramaturgy would include research about the jazz music being created in that time period and the kind of clothes people wore, even what kind of food the characters might have eaten! What could the dramaturgy include for a show set in 2024? Is the main character in the play more likely to have seen Inside Out 2 or Despicable Me 4? Are there trends they might be following, like stylish clothes or TikTok dances? 

Sometimes a play is all about a historical event. In that case, the dramaturgy is very important because it helps the cast create as accurate a picture as possible of a real moment in history. Our Flip the Script play, The Day Nothing Happened, is about a real event when Stratford Junior High School desegregated, right here in Arlington. It was important that the people who wrote and performed the play knew the slang and fashion from 1959 so that the characters they portrayed really seemed like they belonged in that moment in history.

Other times, a play is set in a fictional place, but it is the dramaturg’s job to find out what the customs and norms of this fictional land might be. If snowmen talk, does that mean reindeer do, too? Is magic accepted or do people fear it?

In the upcoming weeks, you can look forward to more of Parker’s Performance Playbook as I dive into some interesting details around our upcoming mainstage show, The Lion King! Tickets for the show and pre show experiences are available now. 

Encore’s production of Disney’s The Lion King Jr

Presenting November 8-24, 2024 at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre

Buy Tickets

Performance photos by Cindy Kane Photography.

About the Author: Parker Nelson

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