And we'll wave at you every so often so you can remember where we're sitting.
Try not to suck.
love,
Leta
Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
17 April 2014
How to let your friends know that you're coming to see their show
Gayle and I will be there to applaud for you guys on Friday. We'll sit in the front row so that you don't miss us.
And we'll wave at you every so often so you can remember where we're sitting.
And we'll wave at you every so often so you can remember where we're sitting.
11 February 2014
Scheduling
Whenever Mary Ann would ask me to direct for the children's theater, I'd always ask for the June slot because that's when my theater year is usually least active. Looks like I'm not the only person who thinks that way. From a New York Times ArtsBeat piece on Linda Lavin agreeing to be in Nicky Silver's new play Too Much Sun:
Whether Ms. Lavin would like the play was only one potential hitch. There was also the question of whether she would be busy filming episodes of the sitcom “Sean Saves the World.” Mr. Silver took a gamble on that.
“When I was talking with Vineyard about doing the play,” Mr. Silver said, “I asked for the last slot in the season, because that would be hiatus time. It’s hard to cast plays in New York with TV going on, but that last slot is always your friend.”
25 November 2013
Useful skills
Me: So Malinda was telling us that she had to go online to figure out how to tie a noose.* And I told her that I figured that out one night when I was backstage with some rope and some free time.
David: Huh. Well. I guess I'll sleep better tonight knowing that you don't have any rope in this room.
Me: Oh, that's okay. I can use always use the tie to your bathrobe. Or the drawstring from my pajama bottoms.
David: .....
*For the gifts from the cast to the director and staff of The Pillowman at Silver Spring Stage. They gave each of us an adorable stuff hedgehog with a noose around its neck.
15 September 2013
A note on the text
“Were there many changes?”
“The play was very much what it was when it was first sent to him. All those scenes were there, the same flow of the play. But he would tweak the beats, and he'd shape the sequences within the scenes.”
“How interested was he in the actors being faithful to his dialogue?”
“Oh, it's not even a question. I think everyone in the room understands that the language the playwright uses is not just the broad ideas. That there can be as much meaning in the syntax, or in the rhythms the playwright has written, as in the broader meanings of the theme. There was never any kind of 'we’ll improvise something here.'”
“The play was very much what it was when it was first sent to him. All those scenes were there, the same flow of the play. But he would tweak the beats, and he'd shape the sequences within the scenes.”
“How interested was he in the actors being faithful to his dialogue?”
“Oh, it's not even a question. I think everyone in the room understands that the language the playwright uses is not just the broad ideas. That there can be as much meaning in the syntax, or in the rhythms the playwright has written, as in the broader meanings of the theme. There was never any kind of 'we’ll improvise something here.'”
On rare occasions Margulies would solicit advice from the actors.
“Did he accept your suggestions?” “He definitely responded to, but it was not like anyone ever went in and said, 'Listen, Donald, this is what I want to say here.'”
Arye Gross talking about creating the role of Ira in "Brooklyn Boy" for Donald Margulies.
And PS:
“How was working with Dan Sullivan? How did he work with you on your character?”
“You’d just start going through the text, and he’d say 'Why don't you come in from this area over here?' He'd never tell you exactly what to do, but just a couple of broad strokes. And then as rehearsals progressed -- I think after two weeks -- we did a run through of the play. And Dan maybe gave each of us two or three notes. And you'd think ‘I'm doing so much, he only has these comments?’ And you start to wonder, well, maybe he doesn’t like me, he doesn't think I'm good enough that it's worth commenting on. But what you realize throughout the process is that his direction is -- he sculpts. You can do the whole play, and the only note will be 'You know, these two lines that you have, you're putting a little pause in between. Pull those right together.' And when I put these two lines together, boy, you find that one little adjustment is having a subtle shift on some kind of undertone in the scene. Or he'll give a little physical note that suddenly propels you into an entirely deeper meaning.” Dan’s style with the physical staging is similar, Gross explains. “For the most part, there's not a lot of work on staging, unless there's a problem. And then he's making a visual composition, a balance of where the audience’s eye will go, and who they should be looking at in a scene. I think Dan is a masterful director.”
“You’d just start going through the text, and he’d say 'Why don't you come in from this area over here?' He'd never tell you exactly what to do, but just a couple of broad strokes. And then as rehearsals progressed -- I think after two weeks -- we did a run through of the play. And Dan maybe gave each of us two or three notes. And you'd think ‘I'm doing so much, he only has these comments?’ And you start to wonder, well, maybe he doesn’t like me, he doesn't think I'm good enough that it's worth commenting on. But what you realize throughout the process is that his direction is -- he sculpts. You can do the whole play, and the only note will be 'You know, these two lines that you have, you're putting a little pause in between. Pull those right together.' And when I put these two lines together, boy, you find that one little adjustment is having a subtle shift on some kind of undertone in the scene. Or he'll give a little physical note that suddenly propels you into an entirely deeper meaning.” Dan’s style with the physical staging is similar, Gross explains. “For the most part, there's not a lot of work on staging, unless there's a problem. And then he's making a visual composition, a balance of where the audience’s eye will go, and who they should be looking at in a scene. I think Dan is a masterful director.”
11 September 2013
Check and check
Only in community theater --
My "to do" list for today includes the following:
1. Scrounge empty cigarette packs. Preferably of non-girly cigarettes. (Check!)
2. Fall down. (Check!)
Now back to the real world...
My "to do" list for today includes the following:
1. Scrounge empty cigarette packs. Preferably of non-girly cigarettes. (Check!)
2. Fall down. (Check!)
Now back to the real world...
18 November 2012
The Parable of my Talents
I am a woman of a few talents. I can sing some, so I sang in the choir as a teenager and I'm warm and pleasant and very good at saying "Good morning!" while handing people things and "Thank you!" while accepting their money, so I've been an usher for the past several years.
Knowing of mypeculiar obsession with interest in theater, I am sometimes approached to direct the Christmas pageant or some variation on it, but I usually get out of that one because Christmas pageant-type anythings usually have enough people in them to set off my conflict alarm.*
There were a couple of talents of mine that the church had left buried in the ground until recently: I like to read and I like to talk, so certainly I like to read out loud. The church name for the person who reads out loud is a "lector."** So, in addition to ushering, I am now a lector, which makes me very happy.
Here's how it works: Late in the week Steve, who coordinates the lectors, sends a reminder that one is scheduled to read on the coming Sunday. The reminder includes what one is scheduled to read, with the first lector reading from the Old Testament and the second lector reading from the New. Beth, the church secretary sends a preview copy of the bulletin and the "Synthesis," which provides context and commentary on the readings and the gospel. Speaking as someone whose favorite part of the rehearsal process is tablework, I'm really glad to get those. Makes the reading much less cold.
On the Sundays when I lector (when I lect?) I start the service seated with the Acolytes behind the choir on the Epistle side. Before church I check that what I am reading has been flagged at the beginning and end of the reading and that my reading is continuous rather than, say, verses 1-3, 9-15, and 18-22. The person reading Old Testament lesson goes up to the Large And Very Authoritative Looking Bible on the lectern, which also being rather large and authoritative, nearly completely masks the bible, but that's fine as it also masks the Post-It flags. Anyway, the Old Testament reader, climbs up on the little step-stool (so as to be seen by the congregation over the Large and Authoritative Lectern), turns on the mic and the light, and says "A reading from ________."
We are asked not to bring our bulletins with us to the lectern because it should be clear that we are reading directly from the Bible.***
For some reason most things that have to do with theater do not make me nervous but microphones do. Maybe it's because I can hear myself talking or maybe it's because everyone should have some odd thing that makes one nervous, but reading a long paragraph in church with the words in front of me to an audience that is mostly paying attention makes me more nervous than anything else I do "on stage." I think if I'd been told to project to the back of the house and there was no mic I wouldn't be as nervous, but not's not the deal.
And because I am an actor I try to balance how I read. I want to treat it like a cold reading at an audition and really embody the characters. But this is not about me. So I don't. On the other hand, people pay more attention if one doesn't, uhm, drone.
So I do add a little color to my voice here and there and I slightly set of quotes from narrative. Today, for instance, I read the story of the conception of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:4-20, for those following along at home) and -- to make this a visual -- you can could say that I read it thus:
Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?" After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord.
Rather than, say,
Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her,
"Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord.
At the end of the reading, the button is "The Word of the Lord" to which the congregation responds "Thanks be to G-d." ****
After the Old Testament reader is finished, he or she (sometimes) turns off the light and (sometimes) turns the pages to the Epistle reading for the convenience of the Epistle reader. And then one is free to return to one's seat in the congregation "with the satisfying feeling that one's duty has been done."*****
One day the church will figure out how to benefit from another of my talents: my multi-gallon per day capacity for a nice, hot cups of tea.
*As the number of people in a cast grows, the likely number of times you'll have the entire cast together diminishes. So I try never to direct anything with a cast larger than eight.
** The name for the kind of reading out loud that David does is called "being a volunteer." He reads textbooks and such out loud for an organization that provides spoken versions of written material to the blind and others with reading challenges. They are called Learning Ally and would happily accept a donation.
*** It is clear that most of the congregation is following along in their bulletins because of the page-turning noise that happens at some point in one of the day's readings.
**** One time I got up there and halfway through the reading, I suddenly couldn't remember the button, even though I have heard it and responded to it for decades and have said it as a lector several times. But I am actor and so I told myself silently -- as I was reading out loud -- what I tell myself on stage when I start to worry about a line from another scene: "Do not worry about that line. Say your next line. When it is time for that line, it will come to you." And it did.
***** W.S. Gilbert, The Gondoliers. Of course.
Knowing of my
There were a couple of talents of mine that the church had left buried in the ground until recently: I like to read and I like to talk, so certainly I like to read out loud. The church name for the person who reads out loud is a "lector."** So, in addition to ushering, I am now a lector, which makes me very happy.
Here's how it works: Late in the week Steve, who coordinates the lectors, sends a reminder that one is scheduled to read on the coming Sunday. The reminder includes what one is scheduled to read, with the first lector reading from the Old Testament and the second lector reading from the New. Beth, the church secretary sends a preview copy of the bulletin and the "Synthesis," which provides context and commentary on the readings and the gospel. Speaking as someone whose favorite part of the rehearsal process is tablework, I'm really glad to get those. Makes the reading much less cold.
On the Sundays when I lector (when I lect?) I start the service seated with the Acolytes behind the choir on the Epistle side. Before church I check that what I am reading has been flagged at the beginning and end of the reading and that my reading is continuous rather than, say, verses 1-3, 9-15, and 18-22. The person reading Old Testament lesson goes up to the Large And Very Authoritative Looking Bible on the lectern, which also being rather large and authoritative, nearly completely masks the bible, but that's fine as it also masks the Post-It flags. Anyway, the Old Testament reader, climbs up on the little step-stool (so as to be seen by the congregation over the Large and Authoritative Lectern), turns on the mic and the light, and says "A reading from ________."
We are asked not to bring our bulletins with us to the lectern because it should be clear that we are reading directly from the Bible.***
For some reason most things that have to do with theater do not make me nervous but microphones do. Maybe it's because I can hear myself talking or maybe it's because everyone should have some odd thing that makes one nervous, but reading a long paragraph in church with the words in front of me to an audience that is mostly paying attention makes me more nervous than anything else I do "on stage." I think if I'd been told to project to the back of the house and there was no mic I wouldn't be as nervous, but not's not the deal.
And because I am an actor I try to balance how I read. I want to treat it like a cold reading at an audition and really embody the characters. But this is not about me. So I don't. On the other hand, people pay more attention if one doesn't, uhm, drone.
So I do add a little color to my voice here and there and I slightly set of quotes from narrative. Today, for instance, I read the story of the conception of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:4-20, for those following along at home) and -- to make this a visual -- you can could say that I read it thus:
Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?" After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord.
Rather than, say,
Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her,
"Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"
After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord.
At the end of the reading, the button is "The Word of the Lord" to which the congregation responds "Thanks be to G-d." ****
After the Old Testament reader is finished, he or she (sometimes) turns off the light and (sometimes) turns the pages to the Epistle reading for the convenience of the Epistle reader. And then one is free to return to one's seat in the congregation "with the satisfying feeling that one's duty has been done."*****
One day the church will figure out how to benefit from another of my talents: my multi-gallon per day capacity for a nice, hot cups of tea.
*As the number of people in a cast grows, the likely number of times you'll have the entire cast together diminishes. So I try never to direct anything with a cast larger than eight.
** The name for the kind of reading out loud that David does is called "being a volunteer." He reads textbooks and such out loud for an organization that provides spoken versions of written material to the blind and others with reading challenges. They are called Learning Ally and would happily accept a donation.
*** It is clear that most of the congregation is following along in their bulletins because of the page-turning noise that happens at some point in one of the day's readings.
**** One time I got up there and halfway through the reading, I suddenly couldn't remember the button, even though I have heard it and responded to it for decades and have said it as a lector several times. But I am actor and so I told myself silently -- as I was reading out loud -- what I tell myself on stage when I start to worry about a line from another scene: "Do not worry about that line. Say your next line. When it is time for that line, it will come to you." And it did.
***** W.S. Gilbert, The Gondoliers. Of course.
05 October 2012
Lucky Wil, Lucky Leta
Wil Wheaton captures pretty much exactly how I feel when I get to work on a good show which happens to me more often than is truly fair.
I would get out of my car and nearly run in the door for rehearsals for August: Osage County this past spring and I am counting down thehours minutes until I can get back in "the room" for Farragut North.
"And I know I keep saying it, but I’ll say it again: this is awesome. I get to work with people I love making a show that I’m proud of ..."
I would get out of my car and nearly run in the door for rehearsals for August: Osage County this past spring and I am counting down the
"And I know I keep saying it, but I’ll say it again: this is awesome. I get to work with people I love making a show that I’m proud of ..."
14 September 2011
Don't Throw the Past Away
I have an audition for another Irish play, Brian Friel's* Dancing at Lughnasa. If I am cast, I will need an Irish accent for the weeks of rehearsals as well as the weekends of performance. The chances of it not leaking into my every day conversation I leave as an exercise for the reader.
*If I say I have an audition for an Irish play, one can assume that I mean one by Brian Friel. I am one of the few theater geeks I know who finds Martin McDonagh hard to take. I'd much rather watch the crew do the clean up and reset all the blood squibs than actually watch The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
*If I say I have an audition for an Irish play, one can assume that I mean one by Brian Friel. I am one of the few theater geeks I know who finds Martin McDonagh hard to take. I'd much rather watch the crew do the clean up and reset all the blood squibs than actually watch The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
21 August 2011
If we'd met when we were teenagers. And Irish.
Mag: Oh, you're so clever! Well, I'll tell you something: there are occasions in my life when I know how G-d feels.
Joe: Good for you.
Mag: And one of those occasions is now. (Puffing her cigarette regally.) At this moment G-d feels ... expansive ... and beneficent ... and philanthropy.
Joe: Philanthropic.
Mag: (after momentary setback). And we will not be put into bad humor by grubby little pedants.
Joe: Look, Mag: we came up here to study. What are you going to do first?
Mag: French. And then maths. And then Spanish. And then English language and literature. And after lunch geography and the history of the world. I have planned a program for myself. The important thing about revising for an examination is to have a method. What are you starting with?
Joe: Maths.
Mag: Then what?
Joe: That's all.
Mag: Only maths?
Joe: Huh-huh.
(She considers this absurd idea for a second. Then, because Joe is wiser in these than she, she readily agrees with him.)
Mag: Then that's what I"ll do, too. (Really worries.) My G-d, if the volume of a cone doesn't come up, I'm scootrified! Not that I care -- I can afford to go down in one subject. (Pause.) Joe ...
Joe: What?
Mag: What's the real difference between language and literature?
Joe: You're not serious, Maggie!
Mag: Don't -- don't -- don't tell me ... I remember now ... One is taking and the other is ... books!
Joe: Talking? ...
Mag: That's it.
Joe: That's no definition! Language is ----
Mag: Don't say another word. I have it in my head. But if you start lecturing, I'll lose it again. I have my own way of remembering things.
Joe: Good for you.
Mag: And one of those occasions is now. (Puffing her cigarette regally.) At this moment G-d feels ... expansive ... and beneficent ... and philanthropy.
Joe: Philanthropic.
Mag: (after momentary setback). And we will not be put into bad humor by grubby little pedants.
Joe: Look, Mag: we came up here to study. What are you going to do first?
Mag: French. And then maths. And then Spanish. And then English language and literature. And after lunch geography and the history of the world. I have planned a program for myself. The important thing about revising for an examination is to have a method. What are you starting with?
Joe: Maths.
Mag: Then what?
Joe: That's all.
Mag: Only maths?
Joe: Huh-huh.
(She considers this absurd idea for a second. Then, because Joe is wiser in these than she, she readily agrees with him.)
Mag: Then that's what I"ll do, too. (Really worries.) My G-d, if the volume of a cone doesn't come up, I'm scootrified! Not that I care -- I can afford to go down in one subject. (Pause.) Joe ...
Joe: What?
Mag: What's the real difference between language and literature?
Joe: You're not serious, Maggie!
Mag: Don't -- don't -- don't tell me ... I remember now ... One is taking and the other is ... books!
Joe: Talking? ...
Mag: That's it.
Joe: That's no definition! Language is ----
Mag: Don't say another word. I have it in my head. But if you start lecturing, I'll lose it again. I have my own way of remembering things.
19 August 2011
Thank you, Fin Dwyer!
I was recently asked to sub for another actress in a one-act at Silver Spring Stage. A week's notice, okay, but really that just makes it exciting, right? And besides, I'm playing a narrator, so I can consult my script while I sit in a chair. Easy peasy!! I can read! I can sit! I can read and sit at the same time!
However.
The play in question is the first act of Brian Friel's Lovers. Brian Friel is Irish. So are his characters. That means that they have ... Irish accents. And preferably not "Irish Spring" or "Lucky Charms" accents.* I have long said that I had an Irish accent that would pass auditions but I'd never had to put that to the test before.
So I collected the script a few days ago and have rehearsed with the cast a few times. And the other night at home I re-loaded all of the Irish History podcasts that I had previously listened to back onto Smudge. And I have been wandering around in my free time listening to the host, Fin Dwyer, tell stories that can be summarized as "As then things went very badly for the Irish"** and repeating what he says more or less phrase by phrase.***
No would seriously mistake me for a resident of the Auld Sod but I think I'm at least ... not jarring.
And I was, of course, no end of pleased when our director was giving notes one night and suggested to another cast member that their accent was wandering. "Maybe you could listen to some Irish History podcasts," she said nodding at me.
Possibly more difficult will be to stop speaking that way when not in performance.
So this is my tiny effort to repay Fin for the assist. If you have any interest in Irish history, I highly recommend his podcast and website.
*Telling an actress that she has a Lucky Charms accent is the sort of thing that makes people go all slitty-eyed and resentful, though outwardly still smiling and charming.
**See, for example, the Vikings.
***In the episode about the Spanish Armada, I got really good at saying the word "gun" with the proper accent. Such a pity that word doesn't occur in the play. Well, unless I work it in every so often. "He carried his school-books *and a gun* in a leather satchel." Like that.
However.
The play in question is the first act of Brian Friel's Lovers. Brian Friel is Irish. So are his characters. That means that they have ... Irish accents. And preferably not "Irish Spring" or "Lucky Charms" accents.* I have long said that I had an Irish accent that would pass auditions but I'd never had to put that to the test before.
So I collected the script a few days ago and have rehearsed with the cast a few times. And the other night at home I re-loaded all of the Irish History podcasts that I had previously listened to back onto Smudge. And I have been wandering around in my free time listening to the host, Fin Dwyer, tell stories that can be summarized as "As then things went very badly for the Irish"** and repeating what he says more or less phrase by phrase.***
No would seriously mistake me for a resident of the Auld Sod but I think I'm at least ... not jarring.
And I was, of course, no end of pleased when our director was giving notes one night and suggested to another cast member that their accent was wandering. "Maybe you could listen to some Irish History podcasts," she said nodding at me.
Possibly more difficult will be to stop speaking that way when not in performance.
So this is my tiny effort to repay Fin for the assist. If you have any interest in Irish history, I highly recommend his podcast and website.
*Telling an actress that she has a Lucky Charms accent is the sort of thing that makes people go all slitty-eyed and resentful, though outwardly still smiling and charming.
**See, for example, the Vikings.
***In the episode about the Spanish Armada, I got really good at saying the word "gun" with the proper accent. Such a pity that word doesn't occur in the play. Well, unless I work it in every so often. "He carried his school-books *and a gun* in a leather satchel." Like that.
01 July 2011
Or ... maybe not
The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. Blaise Pascal
I think my favorite thing about watching Pinter's plays is that almost as soon as I think I understand what was going on, a voice in my head tells me "No, that's not it. Try again."
We saw Old Times last night and its themes of the unreliability and possessiveness of memory meshed perfectly with that sense I always have of not having understood what I just saw. Or having understood it through my own filters. We interpret what we think we remember, changing the memory, and changing its meaning.
I don't remember several things about what happened when I got rear-ended a couple of weeks back, but at least I know that I don't know. It's very comforting to have a yes or a no answer.
The plays I hate the most - and they are often early plays by newer playwrights - are the ones where when asked why a character did something, said character responds immediately, with the complete reason. In complete sentences, too. I don't actually know anyone like that. We are mysteries to ourselves just as we are to others.
So now I'm revising what I saw. Did this mean that? Why did she behave that way? Did I totally misunderstand that character? That scene? That play?
And because it's Pinter (pause) I may never know.
... And that's okay.
I think my favorite thing about watching Pinter's plays is that almost as soon as I think I understand what was going on, a voice in my head tells me "No, that's not it. Try again."
We saw Old Times last night and its themes of the unreliability and possessiveness of memory meshed perfectly with that sense I always have of not having understood what I just saw. Or having understood it through my own filters. We interpret what we think we remember, changing the memory, and changing its meaning.
I don't remember several things about what happened when I got rear-ended a couple of weeks back, but at least I know that I don't know. It's very comforting to have a yes or a no answer.
The plays I hate the most - and they are often early plays by newer playwrights - are the ones where when asked why a character did something, said character responds immediately, with the complete reason. In complete sentences, too. I don't actually know anyone like that. We are mysteries to ourselves just as we are to others.
So now I'm revising what I saw. Did this mean that? Why did she behave that way? Did I totally misunderstand that character? That scene? That play?
And because it's Pinter (pause) I may never know.
... And that's okay.
30 June 2011
Very live theater
A fun article from the New York Times about this summer's en plein air shows.
In Outdoor Theater All New York's a Stage.
In Outdoor Theater All New York's a Stage.
But this isn’t exactly hit-your-spot, say-your-lines theater. With two wild cards — the audience participation and the uninitiated public that is buzzing around — anything can happen, and at the performance I took in, it did.
Yosef Solanski, a rare Jewish immigrant in the Irish neighborhood that is now Chinese, is crucial to the crime, and he was played by Mr. D’Amore himself. Just as Yosef, a close friend of Mary Ryan’s, was explaining to us that he often slept in yonder park, someone who really does sleep in yonder park came up and called him a liar. He had never seen him in the park, the fellow insisted, and much shouting ensued.
16 March 2011
Why community theater is my home
From a Silver Spring Patch interview with Silver Spring native Michael Blaustein:
More than once I have described acting in Hollywood or New York as a career in sales with yourself as the product.
Patch: What have you learned about the business?
M.B: In any industry it is a business. While it is important to build genuine relationships, this business is based on money. Money runs the business. When there is no money being generated those "friendships" slowly fade.
Patch: What do you say the key to your career is?
M.B: I would say networking is. In this business I would say talent is 30 percent and networking is 70 percent.
More than once I have described acting in Hollywood or New York as a career in sales with yourself as the product.
07 March 2011
Audrey’s WATCH Award Speech
The WATCH awards were held last night at the the Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria. It was, as always, a very fun evening and I got lots of compliments on my dress*. Any evening spent with 500 theater people and a bar is going to be a good evening. I mean, really, how bad could that be?
The ceremony went well and the winners were pleased and the nominees who did not win were gracious (at least in my hearing) and the wait staff was busy bringing more drinks. As I say, about as usual.
Because I am standing on the stage for the whole thing, I generally don't applaud for winners or speeches. I smile. I smile at the top of the evening and I smile all the way through.** My friend, Chuck, one year complimented me at the end of the evening on how I was still smiling. "Oh, am I smiling? How nice." :-D
But the evening took a memorable turn when my friend, Audrey, won for Featured Actress in a Play. I was pleased for her for more than one reason: She's a damn fine actress and she's been through a really rough time. Taking home a piece of lucite won't make the last year any easier, but I'm very glad she got it.
And when she gave her acceptance speech, which like everything that Audrey writes was honest and funny and smart and likely to give me a lump in my throat, Audrey accepted her award by giving a tribute to community theater which not only put that lump there but made me teary-eyed as well. In those few words, she summed up exactly how I feel about this hobby of ours and how I feel about the friends I've made doing it.
So I asked her if I could post it here. And tough, kind, generous Audrey said of course I could.
Congratulations, Honey! And no fair making me cry in public.
*That cost $32. The only thing better than a sale is a clearance sale. Thank you, Lord and Taylor's!
**One of the reasons why I wear flats. It's much easier to smile if your feet don't hurt.
The ceremony went well and the winners were pleased and the nominees who did not win were gracious (at least in my hearing) and the wait staff was busy bringing more drinks. As I say, about as usual.
Because I am standing on the stage for the whole thing, I generally don't applaud for winners or speeches. I smile. I smile at the top of the evening and I smile all the way through.** My friend, Chuck, one year complimented me at the end of the evening on how I was still smiling. "Oh, am I smiling? How nice." :-D
But the evening took a memorable turn when my friend, Audrey, won for Featured Actress in a Play. I was pleased for her for more than one reason: She's a damn fine actress and she's been through a really rough time. Taking home a piece of lucite won't make the last year any easier, but I'm very glad she got it.
And when she gave her acceptance speech, which like everything that Audrey writes was honest and funny and smart and likely to give me a lump in my throat, Audrey accepted her award by giving a tribute to community theater which not only put that lump there but made me teary-eyed as well. In those few words, she summed up exactly how I feel about this hobby of ours and how I feel about the friends I've made doing it.
So I asked her if I could post it here. And tough, kind, generous Audrey said of course I could.
Congratulations, Honey! And no fair making me cry in public.
Thank you for this recognition. Thank you to my talented cast and crew, our designers and technicians, and mostly, our fearless director Chris Curtis for giving me the opportunity.
I just need to take a minute here, because this isn’t about me… it’s about us.
A few years ago, my play Fin and Euba premiered in a local one-act festival. It was later published in an anthology called Best American Short Plays. I used to think that kind of thing only happened to folks like Edward Albee. But sometimes I actually call myself a playwright. And I have community theater to thank for that.
Last year, while I was performing in the show Rabbit Hole, for which I was nominated for tonight, my husband, who has been battling kidney failure for years, went into the hospital and stayed there quite sick for 5 months. He lost his job. And our house went into foreclosure. But I was not alone. Bridget Muehlberger and Erika Imhoof said, “it’s not going down like this.” They, along with every single cast and crew member of Rabbit Hole, along with many, many other volunteers, produced a yard sale and fundraising effort that saved my house… and my life. I wouldn’t have a home right now if it weren’t for community theater.
Take a minute and look around at your table. Chances are there’s someone in front of you or beside you, who knows your favorite show tune or your mother’s maiden name or where the bodies are buried. Someone you cannot imagine living without… someone you never would have met, or had the chance to love, if it weren’t for community theater.
Community theater is a lot more than just a few crazy actors and techies who stage plays and throw cast parties, admittedly, really great cast parties. No.
Community theater is what we choose to do instead.
Because, let’s face it. It’s cheaper than therapy. More fun than prime time television. And probably more rewarding than that night class at the annex. It’s a home. Community theater, is a really great… warm… life-giving home.
Thank you.
*That cost $32. The only thing better than a sale is a clearance sale. Thank you, Lord and Taylor's!
**One of the reasons why I wear flats. It's much easier to smile if your feet don't hurt.
02 March 2011
Why I do dark, difficult plays sometimes
I'm currently in rehearsal for The Shadow Box which is a lovely play about three families coping with terminal illness. Needless to say, it has fewer laughs and "feel good" moments than your average Neil Simon play. The show isn't about uplift, it's about closure.
* An e-mail list for Gilbert & Sullivan fans
**Andrew is a G&S scholar who has added greatly to what we know about those two men, their works, and their times.
I find myself feeling the tiniest bit defensive about the show because a cheery evening out, it ain't. Frankly, it's always easier to ask your friends to come see happy comedies. But theater, as I like to say, is the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. How human beings got where are are and how we'll get where we're going. And that isn't always sunny or uplifting. Sometimes it's sad or difficult.
My friend, Craig, who loves dark, difficult plays recently directed David Harrower's Blackbird in comparison to which The Shadow Box is pretty sunny. I think that he would be very interested to read these quotes which were found and posted to Savoynet* by Andrew Crowther** about W.S. Gilbert's drama The Hooligan which is celebrating its centennial this month. The Hooligan is story of a condemned man's last hours.
Andrew wrote:
Andrew wrote:
A comment from the Stageland column in the Penny Illustrated Paper of 11 March 1911 (a more racy and perhaps more working class paper than others):
It disturbed everyone. Most to applause; a few to resentment. There was the ruddy, ample gentleman whom I met in the bar during what the Col. calls the 'Intermission.' 'You come here to be amused, not to be----" He groped for the word and lost it. 'A man of a morbid turn of mind might think it all right, mightn't he?'
A play that can wing a ruddy, ample gentleman; leave him puzzled, gasping, unsettled; stir up vague doubtings about killing folk and giving them 'no chanst'--a play like that is a play which you ought to pop in and see at once.
In Holbrook Jackson's essay "Why Do We Laugh?" in his volume of essays Occasions (Grant Richards, 1922, pp 94-95):
I always felt that the laughter provoked by [James Welch's] characterization in The Man in the Street was an expression of relief from the underlying tragedy of the thing. But if there is any doubt about that, there could be no doubt whatever about the small gasps of hysterical laughter during his realistic interpretation of the condemned man in Gilbert's little tragedy The Hooligan. The theme is so painful as to be almost unbearable. I have seen people walk out in the midst of this play unable to stand any more of it. Yet those who remained in the grip of the horror, watching Welch revealing the fear of a condemned man during his supposed last few moments on earth--the fear of a man who is half idiot, and who has very little worth preserving in his life--those who remained laughed every now and then at the humour of it. Some things may be too deep for tears, but nothing is too deep for laughter.
* An e-mail list for Gilbert & Sullivan fans
**Andrew is a G&S scholar who has added greatly to what we know about those two men, their works, and their times.
28 January 2011
The Dress
Much-more-consistent-blogger-than-Leta, Quinn, has written two posts recently on what women wear they to big Hollywood award shows and why fortheluvvagahd they wore that: Dark Globe and I'm a Barbie Girl in a Barbie World. Much fun -- go read them.
And, of course, the nominations for the WATCH awards were announced a couple of weeks back. As we were standing decorously to the side after we'd read our share, Sue leaned over to me and said, "But more importantly -- have you bought The Dress?"
I haven't yet. And I'm trying to decide if I should recycle one of the ones I've worn before or get a new one. .... Dither .... Dither .... Yeah, I'll probably get a new one.
I don't have the many various requirements that ambitious starlets do when choosing a dress, fortunately, so I was able to list my requirements in a comment on Quinn's second post:
1. I must look fabulous enough that strangers stop me to compliment the dress (This actually has happened. Made my lifetime.).
2. In order to look that fabulous while standing on a stage for three hours the dress must not be painful in any way.
3. I must be able to buy the dress at Loehmann's for not much money in about a half hour on my way to rehearsal for whatever show I am in that time.
The fact that I -- a non-fabulous, middle-aged woman -- achieve these goals most years is an annual miracle.
And, of course, the nominations for the WATCH awards were announced a couple of weeks back. As we were standing decorously to the side after we'd read our share, Sue leaned over to me and said, "But more importantly -- have you bought The Dress?"
I haven't yet. And I'm trying to decide if I should recycle one of the ones I've worn before or get a new one. .... Dither .... Dither .... Yeah, I'll probably get a new one.
I don't have the many various requirements that ambitious starlets do when choosing a dress, fortunately, so I was able to list my requirements in a comment on Quinn's second post:
1. I must look fabulous enough that strangers stop me to compliment the dress (This actually has happened. Made my lifetime.).
2. In order to look that fabulous while standing on a stage for three hours the dress must not be painful in any way.
3. I must be able to buy the dress at Loehmann's for not much money in about a half hour on my way to rehearsal for whatever show I am in that time.
The fact that I -- a non-fabulous, middle-aged woman -- achieve these goals most years is an annual miracle.
31 August 2010
I think I could give her a run for her money
Mom gets the large print Reader's Digest every month and when she is done with them, she passes them on to me. One of the highlights of RD, of course, are the little anecdotes that people send in, "Humor in Uniform," "Life in These United States," "Campus Comedy," etc. Mostly I read them, smile, and move on. But after all of the time that I have spent in theaters over the past few years, this one really caught my eye:
My young daughter loves to go to performances at the local high school, so when her brother was in a spelling bee, she happily came along. But halfway through, she lost interest. Leaning in to me, she whispered, "This is the most boring play I have ever seen."
Angie Aiken, Alpharetta, Georgia.
I may have to recruit Ms. Aiken's daughter to be a WATCH judge on day.
My young daughter loves to go to performances at the local high school, so when her brother was in a spelling bee, she happily came along. But halfway through, she lost interest. Leaning in to me, she whispered, "This is the most boring play I have ever seen."
Angie Aiken, Alpharetta, Georgia.
I may have to recruit Ms. Aiken's daughter to be a WATCH judge on day.
27 August 2010
Bread and Roses
A few months ago a friend was asked to sign a petition protesting the "sweetheart deal" that a local professional theater/venue had or might have in the future. She asked me about it and I actually was able to frame a reply that didn't involve sarcastic swipes at the giant, tax-payer funded stadia we have around here:
Sorry that it's taken me so long to reply but I wanted to get past my knee-jerk "don't hurt the arts!" response.
I was actually in that space on Monday night because [Theater}, who uses the space, was doing a season preview. I chatted for a bit with [their artistic director], and he told me that [Theater] splits their gate with [Venue].
Considering [Theater]'s normal show budget, [Venue] is not pulling in lots of dollars from them. It's kind of win-win because 1) [Theater]gets the use of a nice black-box theater which seats about as many people as they sell tickets for; 2) [Venue] doesn't have to absolutely program there year-round; 3) Silver Spring's profile as an arts destination is raised a bit; 4) people who want to see good shows for cheap can do it in place where there are restaurants and parking.
[Theater]received two Helen Hayes awards (a big deal in local professional theater) for their work in that space and if they are allowed to continue to use it they will continue to bring value to the downtown area. Theater goers are actually pretty good about spending money around the theater. They meet for dinner, they go out for drinks after, etc. The American Association of Community Theaters has something on their website describing the dollar multiplier provided by theaters. [Real theaters, not movie houses. :-) ]
And [Theater] isn't the only group that uses that space. Back in January the Community Theater Festival Association hosted the One-Act Festival there. I don't know the financial arrangement, but I do know that Association doesn't have much cash, so it may have been a similar split the gate deal. Folks came in from around the state to perform at the festival, so hotel rooms, dinner tabs, and liquor tabs were run up around the area. I, personally, stayed in my own home, it being near by, but I had lunch on my tech day at Egg-spectations, coffee on performance day from Panera, lunch at Panera, lunch the next day with a big group at McGinty's, etc.
Contrast that with the situation at [Other] Theater. They are about $6 million in debt. [Another] theater is going up for auction on Tuesday due to a $4 million debt. The economy is bad all around but arts organizations are always hit hard by any penny pinching. When police are being laid off, it's hard to justify grants for plays. Theaters cannot pay their bills on ticket sales alone. If we did, seeing any play would cost close to New York
But we also provide a benefit, both monetary and artistic to the communities in which we reside. Theater goers spend money. Theaters provide the kind of story-telling that is our cultural heritage. Participating in theater provides the kind of team-work and character development that we ascribe to sports.
I don't know how much of a "sweetheart deal" Montgomery County should give to [Venue] but I know that Maryland lags behind Virginia
22 June 2010
I think I celebrated this wrong
Last night I stopped in a the Forum Theater season preview* and then walked home, stopping on the way at Baskin Robbins for a scoop of Daiquiri Ice sorbet. Yum....
It turns out that I could have honored the soltice better:
*Note to working actor - I wasn't planning to tear you away from your friends, merely to ask if you are rehearsing anything I should plan to see. But, alas, you couldn't give me a few seconds of your time, so that ticket is going unsold, isn't it?
*Not Leta = me, but LETA = the Latvian news agency. But wouldn't that be cool? If the prime minister's press secretary called me up and told me stuff like this?
It turns out that I could have honored the soltice better:
Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis (New Era) wishes all residents of Latvia a joyful "Ligo!" Midsummer holiday, LETA** was informed by Liga Krapane, the prime minister's press secretary.
The leader of the government wishes each person who celebrates the holiday an unforgettable feeling on Midsummer's Night while waiting around the bonfire singing "Ligo!" songs and waiting for the sunrise.
"The longest day and the shortest night, the bonfire, garlands, floral crowns, songs, cheese and a tankard of beer. This all belongs to the summer solstice, the celebration of which is an ancient and fundamental Latvian tradition. We are proud of this, and generation to generation we preserve it," said Dombrovskis in his festive greeting.
At the same time, he calls for the public to act responsibly towards themselves and those around them during the long holidays, so that this celebration will leave only positive and bright memories without tragedy or unpleasant consequences.
*Note to working actor - I wasn't planning to tear you away from your friends, merely to ask if you are rehearsing anything I should plan to see. But, alas, you couldn't give me a few seconds of your time, so that ticket is going unsold, isn't it?
*Not Leta = me, but LETA = the Latvian news agency. But wouldn't that be cool? If the prime minister's press secretary called me up and told me stuff like this?
18 June 2010
Why I blog
For years I have contemplated telling this story, and for years I have put off telling it. While I have delayed, my memory has not improved, and my recollections of the past are more hazy and fragmentary than when it first occurred to me that one day I might write them down.
...although I was at one time conscientious and diligent enough in keeping a diary, I kept it for use at the moment, not for future reference.... It had become a bursting, groaning dust-bin of information, for the most part useless.
About six years ago I moved into a smaller house in London, and I burnt a great many of my earlier diaries as unmovable rubbish. The few passages which I shall quote in this book from those which escaped destruction will prove that my bonfire meant no great loss!
Still, when it was suggested to me in the year of my stage jubilee that I ought to write down my recollections, I longed for those diaries! I longed for anything which would remind me of the past and make it live again for me. I was frightened. Something would be expected of me, since I could not deny that I had had an eventful life packed full of incident, and that by the road I had met many distinguished and interesting men and women. I could not deny that I had been fifty years on the stage, and that this meant enough material for fifty books, if only the details of every year could be faithfully told. But it is not given to all of us to see our lives in relief as we look back. Most of us, I think, see them in perspective, of which our birth is the vanishing point. Seeing, too, is only half the battle. How few people can describe what they see!
...For weeks I had hesitated between Othello's "Nothing extenuate, nor write down aught in malice," and Pilate's "What is truth?" as my guide and my apology. Now I saw that both were too big for my modest endeavor. I was not leaving a human document for the benefit of future psychologists and historians, but telling as much of my story as I could remember to the good, living public which has been considerate and faithful to me for so many years.
From The Story of My Life, Recollections and Reflections by Ellen Terry with thanks to Sam for sharing it as Savoynet discussed how much reliance to have on memoirs written in a subject's later years.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
