Lake Park Theatre’s fall play goes full retro with 1930s-style black-and-white stage magic

Lake Park High School Theatre will present its fall play, “Seven Keys to Baldpate,” on Oct. 28-30. Performances will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday to Friday at the East Campus Dice auditorium, 600 S. Medinah Road in Roselle.

This good, old-fashioned, comedy-mystery-farce adapted by George M. Cohan from a novel by Earl Derr Biggers, will come alive on stage in full black-and-white. The entire stage production, from set design and props to costumes and character makeup, will give the illusion of watching a classic 1930s-era film.

This production concept was hatched by Lake Park alumnus Clarissa Consoli, herself a former Lake Park theater performer and in her fourth year as costume designer.

“I came across someone vlogging about their production of a play in which the entire production was made to be in black and white. The execution of the show was incredible from the clips shown in the video, and it inspired me to one day put on a play like it,” Consoli said. “I didn’t necessarily expect it to be this year. I threw the idea out to everyone. Somehow or another, it just stuck and we had a few discussions to gauge how possible it would be, reasoned that it was, and just ran with it.

“I’m quite shocked at how quickly everyone actually took to the idea,” Consoli said. “It’s been a ‘trust-the-process’ kind of show, but now that we are seeing it all come together, I think everyone, students included, is excited.”

Putting together a monochromatic show is not as easy as it might sound. The biggest challenge according to Consoli was getting enough fully gray-scale costumes.

“You can’t rely simply on only black and white. In an old movie like ‘Casablanca,’ you see shadows and multiple shades of gray and therefore need to emulate that effect. Undertones and overtones are tricky; you don’t want too warm of a gray, otherwise it looks yellow or green against the other grays. The same goes for cool tones; the outfits can end up looking blue.

According to Consoli, you don’t want anyone to look “flat,” and stage lights have that effect on actors, even in a standard, fully colored show.

“We needed good texture. Neutral grays were the sweet spot, so we had to line everyone up in costume to ensure nothing stood out too much,” Consoli said. “In a show like this, there are bound to be imperfections, but it has been so rewarding to see each piece on stage looking cohesive. It’s like someone put a filter in front of the stage!”

The entire set is painted in tones of white and gray, and creative ways to recolor set furniture without completely taking a piece out of rotation for future shows was needed.

Removable contact paper has been adhered to pieces that are not going to be fully “sacrificed” for this show. Elements such as the fire in the fireplace are treated with lighting effects to give a cool, blue cast rather than a warm, orange feel.

Technical director Ethan Goldspiel explains, “This script lends itself nicely to creating this seemingly old movie world, set in a cold night of winter. It is a little puzzling, bizarre, and funny all at the same time. Like an old classic movie, once you start watching it, you are completely drawn in with the fine work of the student actors on stage.”

The application of specialty face makeup and the use of gray gloves carries the monochromatic effect down to the smallest detail for all the stage characters.

“The makeup for this show has also taken a lot of preparation, as I have been trial and error-ing on my own face,” Consoli said. “We also have the students learning about how to do this specialty style of makeup in a workshop setting, with some costume students in attendance so that they can be backstage helping those who need it.”

Consoli’s almost 20 years of experience performing on stage and her undergraduate studies in musical theater have prepared her well for this endeavor.

With the support of show director Erik Uppling, Goldspiel, production assistants, and the buy-in of all the students in the cast and crew, the team effort to produce this unique stage play is surely one for the ages.

Tickets for the show may be purchased at the door, cash preferred. General admission is $5 for ages 13 or older. Senior citizens and Lake Park students with an ID are admitted free.