Thanks for visiting this photo-documentary blog, an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at North Central College’s 2011 student-directed stage production of The Wedding Singer.
Produced by Chad Comello, this project was intended to show the arduous work of making musical theater and to better understand how a musical evolves from the first rehearsal to the final bow. Throughout the 10-week production, I attended rehearsals and interviewed cast and crew members, updating this blog regularly with photos and dispatches from rehearsals—all the while trying to capture the intimate and revealing backstage moments the audience rarely gets to see.
The posts are in chronological order to better represent the passage of time, so just keep scrolling to start from the beginning and go from there. If you have questions about this project or would like permission to use the photos, send me an email. Thanks for visiting!
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Day 1
First day of rehearsal. 52 days until opening night.
Sunday evening in Pfeiffer 25, a small rehearsal room with a piano and wooden chairs. The cast files in around 7 p.m. and get their scripts and other paperwork from the directing team. After introductions and scheduling business, the work begins: a read-through of the script sans the music, where the actors get to read with each other for the first time and try out their new characters. They don’t worry so much about the delivery as much as getting a first run at the words.
After a break, and after all the actors have been measured for costumes, they take a crack at a few songs – fixing spots here and there – and get to hear all the voices together for the first time.
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It’s not all serious work… 
Max DeTogne 
Martin leading music rehearsal 
At center, Harrison Ashley 
Lauren Smith and Kathryn Lepine 
At right, co-director Kaylee Oost 
Music director Taylor Martin 
Cast members at the first read-through The view from Day 1.
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Music director Taylor Martin’s score and small booklet he uses for rehearsal notes. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Music director Taylor Martin during musical rehearsal. Martin will lead the cast through learning all of the songs, adding his own stylistic touch to the final product. He will eventually put together the pit orchestra and conduct them for the final performances. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Day 2
First day of dance rehearsal. 49 days until opening night.
Rehearsal takes place in Heininger auditorium, a small dance studio on campus. Martin works on the vocals for “It’s Your Wedding Day” and “Pop!” with the entire chorus and then just the women. After a short break, choreographer Tommy Rivera takes over rehearsal, teaching the moves to “It’s Your Wedding Day."
The process is arduous: it takes about an hour and a half to teach what amounts to roughly three minutes of dancing. Lots of stopping and starting, spot checks and corrections from Rivera and the other directors. After the hour and a half of nearly nonstop dancing, they dance the entire number all the way through twice before calling it a night.
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Many things happen at one time during any given rehearsal. When not dancing, actors will go over their script or learn lyrics or practice dance moves. The music director, meanwhile, will talk through notes with the accompanist while the other directors meet with the choreographer to plan the rehearsal. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Learning a dance routine is hard work. Here, Emma van Ommeren and David Musselman follow the direction of choreographer Tommy Rivera (in stripes) on the moves for “It’s Your Wedding Day." (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Kaylee Oost and Heather Motz 
Rivera conferences with the directors 
At front, Kara Jones 
Maggie Wieczorek 
Rivera’s choreography rehearsal notes 
The directors’ ever-vigilant gaze 
Emilia Benassi 
Daryn Harrell looks on during rehearsal 
Rivera demonstrates a move 
Martin works with the women First dance rehearsal.
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Meet: Co-Directors Kaylee Oost and Aileen Rak
Kaylee Oost (left) and Aileen Rak (right) are the co-directors of this year’s senior musical. They sat down for a quick interview about how they got the job and what it’s like working together.
How does the selection process for becoming a student director work?
Aileen Rak: Well, it’s required for senior musical theater majors. But because Tommy [Rivera, the choreographer] and I are the only musical theater majors in our class, it’s our objective to find other people who would be willing to be involved in the process. Luckily we had lots of friends in theater, so it was really easy to say, ‘Hey, do you want to do this?’
Kaylee Oost: If we choose that we’re going to be a part of the project for our senior LEV (Leadership, Ethics, and Values class requirement), we decide kind of what role we want to play. For example, I wanted personally to be a director rather than a different role, so we submit that list to Brian [Lynch, NCC fine arts director and overseer of the senior directing team] and then he looks it over, discuss it with us and puts in his own suggestions.
When did the process start for choosing the musical itself?
Rak: Facebook messages started our sophomore year, actually. Curtis [Stelter, the stage manager] was the one who talked to me first and was like, ‘Hey, I really want to be a part of this thing. Let’s get as many people as we can a part of it.’ But things really trickled out until Brian had contacted me and said, ‘Hey, we need to start this process.’ That was in winter of 2009.
Oost: We got together our group, finalized our positions – kind of – and started talking about selection process.
Rak: We had one meeting with everybody to look through what we all wanted to do. We all came in with our top three musicals we all thought would be really great. Narrowed it down to a couple and Wedding Singer was one of them.
Oost: I remember distinctly we were on the fence about it and then Taylor [Martin, the musical director] listened to the music on the computer.
Rak: We were like, ‘Uh, not sure…’ because it was really cheesy. But then we’re like, ‘Well, that’s the point. It’s cheesy 80s.’ Then when we were in the meeting with Brian; Brian pulled it up, looked at the cast requirements, looked on YouTube and played a bunch of videos for us, and after that we were sold.
You’re co-directors. Describe that relationship.
Rak: This is the best relationship – aside from being engaged – that I’ve ever had. Kaylee and I are two peas in a pod, for sure. She is way more knowledgeable about the technical part of theater that I am clueless about, so it’s really nice to have someone with that aspect whereas I’m the more performing aspect. It’s really, really nice to collaborate when we talk and say, ‘Let’s try this.’ And Kaylee can say, ‘Well this won’t work because of A, B, and C.’ We work off each other really nicely. We have great communication, which I love. I think that’s the biggest part.
Oost: Yeah. And I feel that that way, for the most part, throughout the whole group we’re not afraid to hurt each other’s feelings. We’ve been through four years of this stuff. We’ve spent a lot of time together realizing what doesn’t work.
Rak: Kaylee said the other day: “This is a learning experience, not just for the cast but for us.”
Both together: It’s a class. [They laugh.]
Rak: (to Kaylee) We finish each other’s sentences!
Oost: We were just discussing this with blocking. She kind of doodled in class and pictured it in her head and it was funny because I told her Tommy was explaining the blocking to me and I was like, ‘That’s exactly what I had in my head.’ And our directing style, we can tell, is going to be fairly similar because we’re more organic and less structured than other directors.
Rak: But I think the one thing that really shows we [the directing team] are not tooting our own horn is that we all have confidence, not cockiness. We all have confidence in our positions and we know what we can and can’t bring.
Oost: [But] I’m excited to see how we change.
Rak: Yeah.
Oost: Is that bad?
Rak: No! I’m excited. It’s exciting!
Oost: I realize that we’re still in the honeymoon stage right now: (to Aileen) ‘Oh, my God, you’re so great! This is the best ever!’ And then it’s going to be Week 8 and we’ll be like, ‘Oh, my God, is the show done yet? I’m so tired of Tommy and this move [she apes a dance move].’ You clearly see relationships change and the only thing is I really don’t see ours changing personally. Professionally I think we’re going to grow a lot.
Final question. Quick answer: favorite song in the show?
Oost: “Let Me Come Home.”
Rak: “Saturday Night in the City.”
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Garrett Lutz (front), Bryan Renaud (back), and Max DeTogne (legs) wait patiently as the others learn a dance routine they are not a part of. Being part of an ensemble show often means waiting around for your turn to perform. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Kathryn Lepine (second from right) enjoys a light moment during a dance routine. Lepine plays Julia, the female lead. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Music director Taylor Martin pumps up the singers. “I feel like a cheerleader,” he said after the song. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Emma van Ommeren during her feature 
Lauren Smith and Mychall Cornejo 
At right, Bryan Renaud during a scene 
Kathryn Lepine and chorus 
Rivera adds instruction for “Someday” 
Sal Alatriste during vocal warm-ups 
At center, Kathryn Lepine 
At center, Emma van Ommeren 
Directors Oost and Rak before rehearsal First blocking rehearsal.
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Day 3
First production meeting and blocking rehearsal. 49 days until opening curtain.
An hour before the actors arrive for rehearsal, Marissa Backlin (production manager) and Mason Luebbing (production manager for the department) hold the first production meeting for the show. Here 25 or so students learn their roles for the backstage work it takes to put a show together. Light crew, sound design, fly crew (people who handle the moving curtains, lights, and scenery), props, and hair & makeup all have responsibilities up to and during the show.
Some of the student workers are actors who didn’t get cast in the show, while others are technical theater majors who will get hands-on experience in a field they want to pursue professionally. Though most won’t see their faces during the show, their work – in the theater shop during the term building sets, learning different hair and makeup techniques – will be instrumental in making the show a success.
Meanwhile, the actors receive blocking direction for scenes 1 through 4. Blocking, a term for where they are at any given time on stage during a song or scene, finally makes it start to feel like a real show.
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Mac Willaert, the show’s piano accompanist, takes a break during a rehearsal. The job of the accompanist is often bipolar. He could be called on to play near continuously for a full vocal rehearsal or play a section of music over and over again for the dancer’s sake. But when he’s not needed – often for undetermined amounts of time – the job can get a little dull. Willaert will provide piano accompaniment for rehearsals all the way until the week before opening night, when finally the pit orchestra takes over the music. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Brian Warren during “It’s Your Wedding Day.” (Photo: Chad Comello)
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Often the directors and actors have to rush from class immediately to rehearsal, so a quick stop at the campus grill for dinner-to-go is all they will have to eat that night. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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An important skill to have as an actor, dancer, or performer is adaptability. Here, Max DeTogne, Bryan Renaud, and Garrett Lutz discuss changing a vocal line in “It’s Your Wedding Day” with Taylor Martin, the music director. The singers, after a few runs through the song, wanted to add harmonies not written in the score. Martin checked the libretto and discussed it with the directors, then gave the OK. The men added the harmonies into the final two run-throughs of the song that night. (Photo: Chad Comello)
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The view from the piano. (Photo: Chad Comello)