This fall McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton is presenting a production of Tennessee Williams’ Baby Doll. Originally written as a screenplay and released as a film in 1956, Pierre Laville and Emily Mann have adapted Baby Doll for the stage. Although Baby Doll made its world premiere at the National Theater in London in 2000, this production is the American premiere. And Emily Mann has directed it. McCarter’s production has a great cast, including Dylan McDermott, Susannah Hoffman, Robert Joy, and Patricia Conolly. McCarter is also proud to debut a new actor: Thelma (the chicken) who plays Fussy the Hen. The play tells the story of the title character, Baby Doll (played by Susannah Hoffman), who was married off at a young age to Archie Lee Meighan (played by Robert Joy), an older man who is barely holding together his household and his cotton gin business. A mysterious fire at the nearby Syndicate Cotton Gin brings Silva Vacarro (played by Dylan McDermott) to the Meighan home looking to extract revenge of one kind or another. Baby Doll opened on September 18 and runs through October 11. The New York Times reviewed Baby Doll and even ran a clip from the production footage I shot.
Over the last month or so, I worked with Tom Miller at McCarter to produce a series of videos from the behind-the-scenes trailer, to videos documenting the process for casting the role of Fussy the Hen, to an audience testimonial video. Here are the videos we produced:
Baby Doll Behind-the-Scenes Trailer
Baby Doll Behind the Scenes Trailer – McCarter Theatre Center from Dave Tavani on Vimeo.
Chicken Audition Video
Baby Doll Chicken Auditions – McCarter Theatre Center from Dave Tavani on Vimeo.
Chicken Costuming Video
Baby Doll Chicken Costuming – McCarter Theatre Center from Dave Tavani on Vimeo.
Chicken Rehearsal Video
Baby Doll Chicken Rehearsals – McCarter Theatre Center from Dave Tavani on Vimeo.
Audience Testimonial Video
Baby Doll Testimonial – McCarter Theatre Center from Dave Tavani on Vimeo.
Between Two Knees Video – McCarter Theatre Center 
A Christmas Carol Returns to McCarter Theatre Center 
A Comedy of Tenors – Bristol Riverside Theatre