They arrive at the theater in athleisure, in streetwear, sometimes in style. They come on foot, by subway, or by car service. Then they have an hour or two to change. Literally, of course, via hair, makeup and costumes. Mentally, too, as they ease into character, assuming a new accent, a new gait, a new circumstance, a new attitude. We asked a half-dozen shows to share moments of becoming — transitions from everyday life to storytelling. Here’s what we saw.
‘Fallen Angels’
Photographed by Amir Hamja at the Todd Haimes Theater.
Kelli O’Hara likes a rush of blood before she gets going. Rose Byrne prefers the rush of exhaustion.
The two actresses have parallel routines for clearing their minds each day as they prepare to perform Noël Coward’s century-old sex comedy “Fallen Angels.”
O’Hara, searching for what she calls “emptiness,” stands on her head.
“I do it for the endorphins and the different chemical reaction I get from elevating my legs over my heart,” she said. “Without being too stupid about it, I think it has to do with starting from zero so that you can get back to a loose place.”
