Interview: Valerie Rachelle of COME FROM AWAY at STAGES HOUSTON

Come From Away is the season opener for Stages Houston. The musical celebrates the kindness of the people of Gander, Newfoundland, to passengers from a rerouted flight following September 11, 2001. The production opens September 18 and runs through October 18 on the Sterling Stage at the Gordy. Valerie Rachelle, Associate Artistic Director for Stages, serves as Director-Choreographer.

Brett Cullum: First up, tell me a little bit about you. What is your role for Stages and in this production?

Valerie Rachelle: I am the Associate Artistic Director for Stages, but for this production, I am the Director-Choreographer.

Brett Cullum: Which is a big bill for a musical.

Valerie Rachelle: It is. I'm happy to do both things. I was a dancer in my younger days, then started choreographing professionally in my early 20s, and later started directing. So, I have a basis in both.

Brett Cullum: You really come from this world of movement, and that has to color your direction to some degree because of your education in that. And this is your directorial debut at Stages?

Valerie Rachelle: Well, I actually directed and choreographed Spamilton.

Brett Cullum: Did you do that in conjunction with Derek Charles Livingston? I saw you both credited as co-directors. 

Valerie Rachelle: I had a previous contract when I took the job to go direct in Oregon, and so when the director-choreographer who was slated to do the show had to drop out about 10 days before rehearsal started.  And I was like, "Okay, yeah, I can take Spamilton on, but I have to leave when we're in tech."

Brett Cullum: Okay, so that's what happened.

Valerie Rachelle: I choreographed the show, and then Derek took over in tech for me when I left.

Brett Cullum: Is there pressure? You're new, and you're trying to establish what your work is going to look like. Do you feel that with Come From Away?

Valerie Rachelle: I don't. I've been chasing this show for years, and was so excited when the rights were finally available, because I had been wanting to direct and choreograph this show for a very long time. And so I actually feel very excited and happy to bring the work to an intimate space like this as well. So, I'm not that nervous, I'm just excited.

Brett Cullum: Come From Away doesn't have conventional Broadway-style choreography, so what does that mean to this show? What are you focusing on regarding movement?

Valerie Rachelle: In the three-quarter thrust as we have, that extreme thrust, it's a very different kind of blocking choreography than a normal proscenium stage would have, so you have to think more in the round. And really, this one is about storytelling, character, and focus. That's where the staging will be. It's really around clarity of story, and around really finding basically where to look, because there are so many characters that each of these actors is playing that we just need this clarity of character and clarity of storytelling inside the movement.

Brett Culum: This show deals with 9/11, and we're coming up on 25 years of that. What do you hope that it says to people today?

Valerie Rachelle: Really, I think what the show is about is it's not about what happened on 9/11, it's about what happened on 9/12. It's about what happened when people stepped up in a horrific time and gave with generosity and love to get people not only survival needs, but supportive emotional needs as well. And how generous the human spirit is.

Brett Cullum: It's an amazing story, and it's interesting that so many people are producing this show today.

Valerie Rachelle: Absolutely. The rights just became available last year. So that is another reason why everyone's doing the shows, because all of a sudden they're like, time for you to do the show, and so we all snatched up the rights as soon as we could. It's a beautiful story, it's beautifully written, it's really well done in how they were able to take 12 actors and make an entire town of folks, as well as 7,000 passengers. Just the amount of clarity and storytelling and heart they put into the writing, I think that is part of the reason why it's so exciting to do.

Brett Cullum: Now, you mentioned 12 actors playing tons of different characters, because this is a whole town and a whole bunch of plane passengers, too. Tell me about the cast.

Valerie Rachelle: Oh my gosh, it's a wonderful cast. Because I'm new to Houston, I'm sure that people know more of these people than I do. The cast is really, really lovely. There are no leads in the show. Everyone plays multiple roles, and that's an ensemble piece, so it's hard to highlight one or two people. It's about everybody in the cast. Even in how they break the cast down, they call it in the script Track 1, Track 2, Track 3, so that way you can understand that this isn't about one individual character, it's about the town, it's about all the passengers. It's really interesting working with a cast where you actually have to remind them, oh, you're about to become this person, so make sure that you change your motion or your movement towards that character.

Brett Cullum: What's the average? How many characters is each one playing?

Valerie Rachelle: I think the least amount of characters that someone plays is 5. And I think the most that someone plays is 11 or 12, I'd have to count.

Some of it is one-off. Some of it's like, now you're an air traffic controller, and everyone's speaking at the same time. Now you're a staff member in the town, so it's these little one-liners where you become support to the story, so you don't have time to become a full character, but you have to choose a different accent or choose a different way of speaking.

Brett Cullum: What do you think is going to make this production uniquely Stages?

Valerie Rachelle: The intimacy. The fact that we are right there with you, so close, living and breathing, and sweating and crying, and singing in your face in such a glorious, personal way. This story's so about humanity that I think it's going to really translate in the Sterling theater.

Brett Cullum: You've recently arrived in Houston. What are you learning about Houston theater that's different from other places?

Valerie Rachelle: I pop around the country and freelance direct, and being here in Houston, what's so lovely is that this city is actually really supportive of its theater, unlike Los Angeles, where I lived for a very long time, where film and television and other forms of entertainment were sort of in first place, so to speak. There's a little more dedication to supporting theater here, which I love. And also, the community here feels like everybody knows everybody, and everybody works at nine different theaters, and it's just a really lovely theater community that's very supportive of the craft.

Brett Cullum: If somebody comes to this without knowing anything about it, what are you hoping they walk out of the theater feeling?

Valerie Rachelle: What I want audiences to walk out and do is I want them to literally walk out of the theater and hug someone they love. Or call their mom. Or hold a hand. Or merge in traffic—let someone merge in traffic. I just want the generosity of spirit when they walk out. This show, you don't even have to think about it. You're going to sit in that audience, and your heart is going to… I'm going to get emotional just thinking about it. I cry every time I hear the music in such a good way. It is not about sadness. This show is about human kindness and healing. So I want them to walk out of the theater feeling pure joy and generosity.

Brett Cullum: What do you think this show says about the mission of Stages?

Valerie Rachelle: The writing on the wall is so great in this place: that we sit in the dark to love each other in the light, and that is exactly what Come From Away is about. Showing all these people coming from all different countries, speaking all different languages, and just coming together. It didn't matter what your political views were; it didn't matter. Everyone was there in an emergency and needed to be taken care of, and generosity was shown to everyone. And I think that's what Stages' motto is. It's right there on their mission statement: people make theater, and this show is about people.

Brett Cullum: You chose this one for the beginning of the season. Why put it up front?

Valerie Rachelle: I think because it was the 25th anniversary in September, it's the right time of year to remember and to do it. And it does kind of open our season with something about generosity and joy, which I think is actually about the human condition. And so I think that's a lovely way to start this season with all the other shows that we have lined up.

Brett Cullum: What are you hoping longtime fans of the show will see that's new?