ABOUT ROUNDABOUT


PEEKING THROUGH THE CURTAIN: STORIES FROM THE ARCHIVES Kiss Me, Kate is a musical that uses the dramatic device of the play-within-the-play. Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of the Shrew, which is embedded in this romantic comedy, was staged at Roundabout in 1972 at a time when the company regularly staged works by Shakespeare.


Plays within plays have been seen a few times lately in Roundabout’s productions. Most recently, Theresa Rebeck’s Bernhardt/Hamlet had Sarah Bernhardt working with her fellow players to stage Hamlet. Later in the show, some of those same players would perform Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (a play that Roundabout has staged twice in our 53-year history: first in 1997 and again in 2012).


In 2015, Roundabout staged a production of Noises Off, which follows a theatre troupe working on a staged production of a play called Nothing On. The audience watches the actors playing actors during rehearsals and then watches them once the show “opens.” All of these are wonderful examples of metatheatre that can be discovered through our production archives.•


(L-R Clockwise) Playbill from the 1972 Roundabout production of The Taming of the Shrew; Frank Langella in the 1997 Roundabout production of Cyrano de Bergerac; Production images of Roundabout's productions of Bernhardt/Hamlet (2019) and Noises Off (2015)


For more information on the Roundabout Archives, visit https://archive.roundabouttheatre.org or contact Tiffany Nixon, Roundabout Archivist, at archives@roundabouttheatre.org


STAFF SPOTLIGHT: INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA PEZZELLO, MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE


Ted Sod: Tell us about yourself. Where were you born and educated? How and when did you become the Management Associate? Christina Pezzello: I was born in Brooklyn and grew up in New Jersey. I went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and received a business degree. Although I wasn’t in the theatre department, I was part of student-run theatre and worked on all aspects of the productions. It was during that time I decided I wanted to pursue a career in theatre management. I was part of the first apprentice class at Roundabout. After my management apprenticeship was over, I got a job as Assistant to the Managing Director. In 2014, I moved over to General Management.


TS: Describe your job at RTC. What are your responsibilities? CP: I work with Roundabout’s General Managers getting our shows from the script to stage, working primarily with Sydney Beers on the productions at Studio 54. This entails contracting everyone associated with the production, sorting out various logistics before rehearsals begin, and working with the artists to make sure they have all the resources they need.


TS: What is the best part of your job? What is the hardest part? CP: I love standing in the back of the theatre, watching the audience watch what we've been working on for months, especially for the first


time. It’s exhilarating and feels like the first drop of a roller coaster. You just hold your breath and wait to see how an audience responds. It’s a great moment for reflection and for learning. We are letting the world in, and it guides how the remaining rehearsal time is spent. The hardest part is working through a situation in which we have little or no control. There are several times throughout a production when a problem presents itself and, at first glance, seems impossible. It takes some creative problem-solving to find a solution. An example of that is travel for artists. If we are flying someone in from out of town, we work on their travel plans for weeks or even months ahead of time. We can plan as detailed and accurately as possible, but if that day comes and a snow storm is on the horizon, all that planning is re-evaluated, and the results are up to chance.


TS: Why do you choose to work at Roundabout? CP: I’ve always admired the breadth of the work Roundabout does. You can see a reimagined classic on one stage, walk a few blocks away, and experience a brand-new play by an emerging playwright all in the same day. That variety is also reflected in the work I get to do. One day I’ll be writing contracts for a show that is happening several months away, and the next day I’ll be at the theatre in tech rehearsals for a show that is about to have its first preview. The days are sometimes unpredictable, but it keeps me on my toes!•


Learn more at roundabouttheatre.org. Find us on: KISS ME, KATE UPSTAGE GUIDE 23


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