Archive for May 2nd, 2008
Who does this guy think he is?
According to the AP:
Former President Bill Clinton was in West Virginia on his wife’s behalf. In Clarksburg, he called her a scrapper and contrasted her appeal among working-class voters with the elitists he said support Obama.
“The great divide in this country is not by race or even income, it’s by those who think they are better than everyone else and think they should play by a different set of rules,” he said. “In West Virginia and Arkansas, we know that when we see it.”
Lesson #8 from Sunday In The Park With George
As some of you are aware I was involved in a workshop production of Sunday In The Park With George. It is a piece of work that I am deeply in love with. I was fortunate to do it with some of my closest friends whom I admire greatly as people and as artists. Here is a long overdue clip of Lesson #8. It’s weird but I haven’t really watched this since we finished doing it. I guess a part of me wishes I could do this kind of work forever and watching it would be a reminder of the fact that I am not. I’ve learned however that I am utterly fortunate for the moment and that my career is in a great spot right now. I know that one day I will return once again to creating my own work like this. In the mean time I am growing as an actor and an artist. I will say that the two or so weeks spent on this project still to this day were some of my most creative and inspiring. Hope you enjoy it. I will post more stuff as soon as I can! I know that those in the cast especially Tricia Lackey are gonna be clamoring for it!
After The Dance and other Shaw stuff
So we’ve started rehearsing my second show at Shaw. It’s an utterly beautiful play called “After The Dance” by playwright Terrence Rattigan. You may not know the play or even the playwright. When the play premiered in 1939 it was to critical praise. Unfortunately, it has not been produced much since. Kudos to our Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell who has decided to present this piece again.
The cast for After The Dance is wonderful and we are all fortunate to be directed by Christopher Newton who Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival for many years prior to Jackie Maxwell taking over. It is amazing to see how much knowledge this man possesses on the period in which the Shaw Festival bases its work on (1856-1950). They content and the manner in which he presented his initial talk about the play and world surrounding it made me realize what this whole thing is about. The penny dropped on the significance of the period of George Bernard Shaw’s life and exactly why it is imperative that we continue the tradition.
The play itself is lovely and heart-wrenching. I promise you that if we do our job right, you will leave the theatre moved. We have had three read-throughs so far and each time I have sat there crying.
Another beautiful play is being rediscovered and that is The Stepmother. I was fortunate enough to catch a preview of it the other day and I simply loved it. It was very very Ibsen. The acting is superb and gives me a glimpse into what kind of actor I hope to be one day.
Claire Jullien is wonderful as the title character, and she is accompanied by a fantastic group of actors. Watch out for Shaw veteran Blair Williams who is so good at playing what we would call a villain that when he came out for the curtain call the audience actually booed him! Out of love course, but I’ve never seen anything like it!! It was amazing. Thom Marriot, who is a pretty amazing actor himself said that, “it takes a lot of courage to allow an audience react to you like that.” Camilla Koo designed the set and she, as usual, has done a wonderful job. I’ve always loved her sets and this is no exception.
What am I trying to say? Basically that The Stepmother and After The Dance are two plays that you may not know, but they are two plays that you should know. I hope that you take an opportunity to see both.
