Exploring “The Phantom Tollbooth” With Director Erin McNally

When it comes to choosing plays for the Junior Players, Director Erin McNally is naturally drawn to “the timeless stories from my youth.” She’s drawn to plays that will challenge and embolden her actors—in this case, students in grades 5 through 8 who are advanced students in the Youth Conservatory. And she’s all about teaching essential lessons that come from the works they perform.

All of this led McNally to this year’s Junior Players production of The Phantom Tollbooth by Susan Nanus, based on the book by Norton Juster. The Phantom Tollbooth runs March 9-17 in the Nicholas Studio. Tickets are on sale now.

The Phantom Tollbooth takes you on an adventure with Milo, who is transported to the strange Land of Wisdom when a tollbooth mysteriously appears in the bedroom. In this contemporary take on the children’s classic, one kid’s quest to rescue the Princesses of Rhyme and Reason leads to a wondrous adventure with endless possibilities—and lessons learned along the way.

We caught up with McNally and explored the play choice, the challenges that come with 15 actors playing 36 roles and what she hopes the Junior Players take away from the experience.

Tell us why you chose The Phantom Tollbooth.

Erin McNally: “Coming off the serious emotional depth of last year’s The Little Prince, I knew I wanted to do a show with more joy and celebration. I also wanted to inspire this particular group of actors to make strong, confident character choices. … I love how The Phantom Tollbooth cherishes the gift of time and honors the power of wisdom. And goodness knows that we could all use a reminder that when we feel disconnected, and life is without rhyme or reason, our salvation can be as simple as engaging our minds and actively participating in the world around us.”

What is it about this play that challenges your actors?

EM: “Despite all the quirky characters and silly humor—with so many puns—this play is deceptively challenging for these actors. First, the play is full of delicious and often absurd language. So, we took time to decipher the text so that they fully understood each beat. There was a lot of “ohhhhh… that’s why that’s funny!” and “I get it now!” from the actors. And then we had to get creative and bring all of these fantastic destinations to life. We worked to make each location specific and clear. What makes Dictionopolis different than Digitopolis? How do these residents carry themselves, what do they value?

As the director, I decided my jumping off place for actors and designers would be that each location is inspired by a different genre of music. It was amazing how quickly it sparked ideas! Dictionopolis (the land of words) is all classical music while Digitopolis (the land of numbers) is pure techo and electronic. These actors have worked hard to remain honest to the text while making large physical and vocal choices. Add to all this, our set consists of only 3 stair units, yet there are 16 different location shifts! So actors have to play Tetris with these pieces, in character, and often timed to music.

And this leads us to the biggest challenge of them all… the fact there are 36 roles and only 15 of them!”

That’s the perfect segue to our next question. How do you make 15 actors playing 36 roles work?

EM: “It remains our biggest challenge, but one that we commit ourselves to every day. It started with my taking time to copiously figure out the casting possibilities: “If someone is the Whether Man, can they also be a Lethargian?” “Does the Dodecahedron have time to help with that set shift?” As I mentioned earlier, a lot of time is spent encouraging these young actors to use all the tools they have learned in class to walk, talk, think, and move specifically like each character they play. Some actors are playing five different characters! So, it takes each actor’s creativity, courage, and trust in the process. And I am, of course, constantly encouraging them to trust their choices, listen in character, and play objectives, not mood.”

Was there anything that helped them in this process?

EM: “The big thing that helped them dive in were the vision boards they each did for their main character(s). They then presented their boards to the cast and we all got to ask them questions. It’s my favorite day because it’s the first step to them truly making and owning their own choices, based on the text. You’d be amazed at how deeply and creatively these young people think!”

What do you hope your students get from performing in this play?

EM: “With this play, my wish for these students is two-fold. The first is what I always tell my actors on day one: that as they take their final bow on closing day, they know they did work they can be proud of. The work is cumulative and happens every rehearsal. They know it means learning their lines early and word-perfectly. They know it means doing their homework to creatively interpret the text and then adapting, writing down and learning the choices we make together in rehearsal. It’s being specific and brave, while being helpful and encouraging. It’s telling the story. That’s the work. And there’s nothing better than knowing you have collectively created something beautiful from that kind of work.

“My other wish is that they learn the essential lessons that Milo learns at the end of the play:

• Have the courage to TRY. Because as Princess Reason says: ‘What you cando is often a matter of what you will do.’”
• Don’t be afraid to make glorious mistakes. Because as Princess Reason says ‘You must never feel badly about making mistakes, as long as you take the trouble to learn from them.’”
• And most importantly: believe you can do more than you think is possible. Because as the Mathemagician says, ‘Many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.’”

McNally added there is a key collaborative effort that goes beyond the rehearsal room, one that extends the lessons about teamwork, camaraderie and handling challenges put forth.

“I couldn’t talk about this unique challenge without mentioning all of the extra work being done by our incredible costume designer, Sean Castro, and SCR’s amazing costume shop, helmed by maestro Amy Hutto,” she said. “How lucky my students are to learn the collaborative nature of theatre from a production and design team who truly values them and the work they are doing.”