Editor\u2019s note: As director of marketing and public relations for PSF since its inception, I\u2019ve seen most of Jim Helsinger\u2019s work for the Festival. I couldn\u2019t resist the opportunity to ask him a few questions during a break from rehearsals for\u00a0The Foreigner<\/em>.<\/p>\n LH: One of the things I\u2019ve always loved about your work\u2014both as an actor and as a director\u2014is how you take your time. During last season\u2019s\u00a0Lend Me a Tenor\u00a0<\/em>the seemingly languid pace of some of the scenes, like waiting for the Tenor to arrive, made the frenetic pace of others even more hysterical. Some of that is built in to the script, but other elements seem more like the director\u2019s choice. Without divulging all your secrets: What do you look for when you\u2019re directing a comedy and how do you do it?<\/p>\n JH: One of the things we do in any production is work to create full moments and confidence on stage. The relationship of the actor and audience is important to me, whether it\u2019s Shakespeare and I\u2019m talking directly to you [the audience] or another production. I\u2019m never in a rush to get Shakespeare over with; I enjoy performing and directing it.<\/p>\n I once received an award for \u201cLongest Time on Stage with Fewest Number of Lines,\u201d a gag award we used to do at Orlando [Shakespeare Theater, where he is artistic director.]<\/p>\n The Longest Pause award I would have to give to Carl Wallnau. [People who saw Carl in\u00a0Tenor<\/em>\u00a0know exactly what Jim is referencing.]<\/p>\n In\u00a0The Foreigner,\u00a0<\/em>there are two places in the script where something that happens to Charlie [\u201cThe Foreigner\u201d of the title], will be different every performance. That\u2019s fun!<\/p>\n LH: The comic duo of Carl Wallnau, who played the Cleveland Opera House manager in\u00a0Tenor<\/em>\u00a0last year, and Jacob Dresch, who played his assistant, are returning in\u00a0The Foreigner<\/em>. Can you share some of your creative process with them?<\/p>\n JH: Carl and Jacob have amazing on-stage chemistry. They\u2019re both very alive. When they\u2019re together, they feed off each other very well. Carl\u2019s characters are always trying to get everything in control and Jacob\u2019s are always losing control. They played so well in\u00a0Tenor,\u00a0<\/em>Patrick [Mulcahy, PSF producing artistic director] and I wanted to bring them back.<\/p>\n LH: The basic premise is hilarious to begin with. There\u2019s a pathologically shy Englishman [Charlie, played by Dresch] who takes a holiday to a rural fishing lodge with his friend Froggy [Wallnau], but is afraid to talk to anyone. So Froggy tells all the other guests that Charlie can\u2019t speak English. Now that rehearsals are underway, have you discovered anything that surprised you?<\/p>\n JH: We\u2019ve got a great cast. It\u2019s always fun when you\u2019ve got a real-life couple, Zack [Robidas] and Marnie [Schulenburg], playing a couple on stage, even when it doesn\u2019t mirror the play. [Zack\u2019s character is a villain in\u00a0The Foreigner<\/em>, in contrast with his title role in\u00a0Henry V.<\/em>]<\/p>\n The play is set in 1983, which is now nostalgic for us\u2014but we were at the height of the spy war and there was fear of foreigners, which is still rampant. Charlie is a little bit, but not too foreign.<\/p>\n Everybody is playing somebody they\u2019re not. Except Froggy. Froggy is exactly what he seems throughout the play. Charlie is in a slump, convinced he\u2019s boring. When people think he can\u2019t understand English because they know he can\u2019t repeat what they tell him and he won\u2019t give advice, \u2018listening\u2019 helps him become a new person\u2014or get in touch with parts of himself he didn\u2019t know were there.<\/p>\n All the characters in the play are people who change\u2014or our perception of them changes.<\/p>\n LH: You\u2019ve been with PSF since it\u2019s second season in 1993 when you played Malvolio in Twelfth Night the first time. Can you share some of your thoughts about the company with our readers?<\/p>\n JH: Father Jerry\u2019s vision had professionalism at the very start. My first year, I was surrounded by Equity actors. Through the years, there has been great loyalty to people. Twenty years ago, I wasn\u2019t married and didn\u2019t have kids. There has been a great effort to bring couples together in the season and to accommodate their kids. [Jim is married to DSU alum Suzanne O\u2019Donnell.]<\/p>\n There\u2019s a great dedication to mission here\u2014and there was from the very beginning. The size of the shows, the technical possibilities, the number of shows has increased, but the mission is the foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jim Helsinger: Director of The Foreigner is No Stranger to PSF Editor\u2019s note: As director of marketing and public relations for PSF since its inception, I\u2019ve seen most of Jim Helsinger\u2019s work for the Festival. I couldn\u2019t resist the opportunity to ask him a few questions during a break from rehearsals for\u00a0The Foreigner. LH: One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n