It was on a cold and foggy night in early December that I started the task of following “Witness for the Prosecution,” an Albany Civic Theater’s production that opens Friday, Feb. 16.

The courtroom drama by Agatha Christie has always been one of my favorites. Each twist and turn of the plot leaves me on the edge of my seat — even though I know how it ends.

But, there is more to a production then what is seen on opening night.

There is a world behind the curtain that is shaped not only by the actors chosen, but in the designing of the set, in the way the lights are used and in the vision of the director and assistants.

Each piece of the production must be carefully shaped so that come opening day, the journey taken by the audience is complete.

Over the course of the next three weeks, the Democrat-Herald will publish a three-part series that will show a behind-the-scenes look at “Witness for the Prosecution.”

Part one: The beginning

On day two of auditions, I wandered into Albany Civic Theater. As I unloaded my equipment, camera and audio recorder included, I stopped immediately at the voices coming from the stage.

Already casting hopefuls were using their best English accents and blocking the scene as they interacted with their counterparts.

For me, it was like watching a vision of what the opening performance would look like. But for any experienced actor and director, auditions like this are not out of the ordinary.

“One of the major things is how do they read, can they act?” Director Jackie Tasker said. “Once I get down to where I’m trying to make a decision on a character, I start looking, number one, on how they interact with each other, as well as as looks.”

One example on how looks affects who can be cast is in the case of Leonard Vole, the young man accused of murder. Tasker couldn’t cast an older man when the character is supposed to be young.

But mostly, casting centers around how the actors present on stage.

“I feel very strongly that people put everything they have into their auditions,” she said. “If they start goofing around on stage and breaking character, that’s a good sign to me that they aren’t serious. When I put them in different roles, I want to see if they change, give me a different feel and sound.”

Unfortunately, directors cannot always have the person they want for a role.

Not everyone coming into auditions looks to be a lead character. Many of ACT’s veteran actors work full-time, professional jobs and have to accommodate rehearsal time, while other actors have limited experience or are returning to the stage after a long hiatus.

Whatever their reasons, actors have a choice on what roles they take, and that sometimes leaves the director with a difficult casting decision.

“That happened for Sir Wilfred, which is one of the leads,” Tasker said. “One of the new guys that came — it was him. He has the accent, he was wonderful on stage, he had a lot of experience.”

She called the man, Ted Gray, the next day to see if he really meant that he wanted a non-lead (he was just coming back to the stage after four or five years). Gray did prefer a non-lead role, so Tasker cast him as the judge instead.

“You know sometimes you just have to let it go and work with what you have,” Tasker said. “Fortunately, I had so many good actors in the men that I could do that.”

The audition process and finding out who was casted isn’t easy for the actors either.

Around 11 p.m. after the last night of auditions, the cast list is posted. Until then, many of the Albany Civic Theater regulars go to Riley’s, a downtown Albany billiard hall and restaurant, to hang out, talk about the auditions and wait for the announcement to come.

“There is usually some kind of quirky thing that happens at auditions,” said Kay Roth, who was cast as the Woman Juror. “It’s kind of nice to calm the nerves with everyone else.”

But even calming the nerves doesn’t change how an actor chooses to find out his or her fate.

Some people prefer to go in groups, while others will leave and learn about the cast list via telephone call, in privacy.

No matter the outcome, the posting of the list is but the start of a three-month ride to opening night.

Next week — Part two, taking the stage: While the cast readies the final presentation of the play, the crew of “Witness for the Prosecution” works on set plans and last-minute details.

Story by Heather Crabtree, heather.crabtree@lee.net.