Behind the Scenes

J. Barry Lewis

Name:  J. Barry Lewis

City of Birth:  Georgetown, Kentucky

City of Residence:  Lake Worth, Florida

Artistic Medium:  Festival artistic coordinator and stage director

Credits and Awards
Three-time recipient of the Carbonell Award for directing
Recipient of the 2005 Remy Award for Leadership and Service to Arts in South Florida

How did you get into theatre?
My interest in theatre began with my studies in music, through years of studying the piano and participating in various choral groups in both church and school activities. The leap to  the stage always seemed a logical one for me. I completed my graduate work at Northwestern University, where I focused more on directing then performance.

How many seasons have you worked with Summer Shorts?
This will be my third year as the Festival Artistic Coordinator. Prior to that, I directed one play in the 2004 Festival.

What has been your experience working with Summer Shorts?
It has been both a pleasure and challenge putting together the annual festival – a pleasure working with the extraordinary artists who make up the company each year, and a challenge in putting together a artistic and critically sound line-up of plays.

Because Summer Shorts is a festival of one-act plays, it requires a lot of furniture choreography.  Who does all that moving and arranging between the plays?
Once preliminary rehearsals have been completed on the individual plays, I then work with the production stage manager, the props coordinator and the set designer to develop a preliminary “shift plot.” Working with the running crew (a five or six person crew made up of members of the intern company) we choreograph the placement of each furniture piece and each prop to maximize the shortest time and most efficient process needed to strike and set each new scene. The more complex the set requirements, the greater the difficulty in setting the movement. The key is always to be as organized and efficient, creating a smooth transition between scenes.

How do you make each move look both easy and entertaining?
Making it appear to the audience that the move is seamless requires a great deal of rehearsal. These rehearsals are ultimately coordinated by the production stage management team and are practiced for hours outside of the regularly scheduled rehearsal time spent with the actors. It can be a nightmare in the first attempt to get everything in the right space. I ask the crew to make a mental picture of each scene as they rehearse and to think of each move as sort of a “football play” working together as any well-oiled team does.

What design directives are needed to make each shift appear seamless?
Numerous discussions occur during the planning stages that take into consideration the overall look and feel of the set. Once this concept is finalized, the design necessarily dictates each set move. If the design is based upon a very realistic look (i.e. a complete living room, a full kitchen, or stadium bleachers, etc.) then the set change will require more bodies to complete and take additional time in which to move on stage such large items. If the set design is more suggestive rather then realistic, the set change can usually require far less time and physical movement. We work closely with each director in determining what needs each play requires and then work with the set designer to figure out a plan that will meet those needs.

What are the specific challenges of Summer Shorts?
Working with nine actors, seven directors, six interns and a team of designers, it is always a challenge to organize everyone’s schedule putting together a rehearsal schedule is like putting together a giant puzzle where all the pieces are same color.

What are the added challenges with the move to the Carnival Center?
This summer, for the first time, Summer Shorts will be performed “in-the-round.” The new Studio Theatre allows for flexible seating and the creative team decided to use the in-the-round set-up as a way of giving the festival a new look.

What is the best thing about working in South Florida theatre?
The artists that call South Florida their home. Working with such talented and creative individuals is a rare opportunity that I never grow tired of.

Upcoming productions:
12^th Annual Summer Shorts Festival, produced by City Theatre

June 7 to July 8 at Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami Call 305- 949-6722 or visit carnivalcenter.org/summershorts.

July 12-15 at Amaturo Theatre at Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.  Call 954-462-0222 or visit browardcenter.org/summershorts.