Trevor Braun and Samuel Douglas backstage at "The Play That Goes Wrong" (Photo: Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)
Broadway.com went backstage at The Play That Goes Wrong to see (and photograph!) the prep work that goes into creating onstage calamity. Turns out, a lot has to go right before it can go wrong. Take a peek behind the scenes at New World Stages, where the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society gear up for a performance
Chris French, who plays Jonathan, mans a makeshift sound effect booth backstage for parts of the show. “Sometimes I teach classes with high schoolers and I describe it as my little medieval torture chamber because it's kind of what it looks like.” (Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)“Whenever I forget to do something like put my costume in the right place, the wardrobe team writes ‘SHAME,’” says Kolby Kindle, who plays Trevor. “Yeah, we like to really bully each other here.” (Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)Evan Alexander Smith dons Chris Bean's signature mustache with company manager Jolie Gabler’s pooch Reggie on his lap. “We don't have mics and sometimes it really feels like you're screaming over the audience. For me it's mostly about getting my breath going,” he says of the show’s vocal demands. (Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)Joanie Anderson plays stage manager Annie, which allows her to directly engage with the audience. “We invite them into the chaos and the unsettledness of what the show is. I enjoy playing with them.” (Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)Liana Hunt gets her wig secured to play Sandra in The Play That Goes Wrong. However, Hunt anticipates that it won’t stay in place for long. “I literally get rag-dolled out of the window and then slammed into the wall three times and then my neck's flopping. I come back looking a little tousled.” (Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)Chris Lanceley, who plays Robert in The Play That Goes Wrong, is currently leading the cast's fantasy football team. (Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)
