Olivier Theatre (open seven days a week):
NATION: following His Dark Materials, Coram Boy and War Horse, the National stages Mark Ravenhill’s exhilarating adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s latest witty and challenging adventure story. Opening in the Olivier Theatre on 24 November, the production is directed by Melly Still and the cast is led by Gary Carr (as Mau) and Emily Taaffe (as Daphne).
Deborah Warner’s production of MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN by Bertolt Brecht, in a translation by Tony Kushner, with Fiona Shaw in the title role, continues the Travelex £10 Tickets season in the Olivier until 8 December.
Lyttelton Theatre (open seven days a week):
A new play by Alan Bennett, THE HABIT OF ART, plays in the Lyttelton Theatre with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour leading the cast, directed by Nicholas Hytner.
Limited availability: day seats and returns only. New public booking period opens 2 December.
David Hare’s THE POWER OF YES: a dramatist seeks to understand the financial crisis, directed by Angus Jackson, continues in rep in the Lyttelton Theatre.
Lee Hall’s award-winning play THE PITMEN PAINTERS returns to the NT on 2 December, following a UK tour.
Cottesloe Theatre (open Monday - Saturday):
Katie Mitchell directs PAINS OF YOUTH by Ferdinand Bruckner, in a new version by Martin Crimp.
Dr Seuss’s THE CAT IN THE HAT, adapted and directed by Katie Mitchell for
3–6 year-olds, opens in the Cottesloe on 16 December. Limited availability: day seats and returns only. The show will transfer to the Young Vic from 28 January.
Bijan Sheibani’s production of OUR CLASS, a new play by Tadeusz Slobodzianek, in a version by Ryan Craig, continues in rep in the Cottesloe Theatre. Cast includes: Edward Hogg, Lee Ingleby, Sinead Matthews and Justin Salinger.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
A Dream Is to Be Had Here
After an acclaimed 2007 debut at the Ontological Hysteric Theatre Incubator, The New York Innovative Theater Awards honored the original production with Best Set and nominations for Best Ensemble, Best Performance, Best Sound Design, and Best Costumes.
photo credits: Ryan Jensen
Dreams leave as quickly as they come, and the shortest of them are usually most profound and more difficult to grasp upon waking.
This was my experience with Company SoGoNo's production of Art of Memory playing at 3LD Art and Technology Center.
Conceived and Directed by Tanya Calamoneri, written by Lisa Ramirez and performed with Heather Harpham and Cassie Terman, these four women create a remarkable ensemble together. Playing off of each other with such ease and grace, they at once take command and 'on our imaginary forces work.' Art of Memory is evasive and immediate, attainable and timeless.
This is both a discovery play and an imagination play, but like real dreams, the discovery will not arrive until the imagination has been indulged.
Part of the splendour comes from behind the scenes, by the technical staff. Sean Breaults' set design is a stunning work of art, with more specificity in scenic elements than I have ever seen. Live glass music and sound collage by Miguel Frasconi is not to be described, but felt viscerally deep within you. Along with Bruce Steinberg's exceptional lighting design, Mioko Mochizuki's decayed decadence in costume and Video/Animation created and Installed by Matt Tennie, James Short, Antonio Frasconi and Michael Woody, this production team certainly earns the many awards they've brought home.
I would run to see this again.
Theatre magic has come alive again, and we need to experience it once more.
To understand you need to soften your focus with this play--you cannot take it head on and analyze it. Pay more attention to shapes and sounds than specific faces and words.
When I left the theatre I didn't know what I thought of the piece, but the more and more I feel it play around in my head, the more profound and meaningful it becomes.
Art of Memory plays July 16th-August 2nd at 3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street at Rector (1/R/W)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Acorn Jones Interviews THAT'S SHOWBIZ!
Actress Abigail Hardin, Director Marc Eardley and Composer / Book Writer Colin Chaston (who co-wrote That’s SHOWBIZ with Tony Clout) took time to answer a few questions regarding the production.
Acorn Jones: Abigail, how long have you been involved with the show?
Abigail Hardin: This is the American premiere of THAT'S SHOWBIZ! so this incarnation is my first involvement. On the first day of rehearsal Colin told us that we had permission to make these characters our own, which is a wonderful thing to hear. It has been an amazing collaborative experience. Half-way through the rehearsal process we decided to take my character in a totally different direction. We decided to enhance certain comedic elements of the script. It's been a fine line of making big, fun, choices while trying to hold onto some level of depth. Ultimately, Sophie Lee is a recognizable ditzy diva, but like many real life celebrities, she is a crafty business woman that did not get where she is now without talent.
AJ: And how do you see your character; how closely would you say your personalities liken?
AH: I play Sophie Lee, a young superstar diva who has risen out of nothing to become a performing sensation. She is not the brightest bulb, but she knows how to turn on the charm. There are elements of Sophie that exist in me, in an altar ego way. She is an exaggeration; she doesn't edit herself which can get her into trouble. Ultimately I think Sophie is looking for validation in the play. She comes on the show to prove her talent and lay claim on the bright career that is ahead of her. She has a determination and an unabashed belief in herself that is refreshing and contagious. If anything, playing Sophie has brought out my own playful side and enabled me to be a little bit grander in my every day life. And a little determination never hurt anyone.
AJ: What do you enjoy most about playing Sophie Lee?
AH: This has been a wonderful process! As a young actress it has been a privilege to step into Sophie Lee's mighty shoes. I often get stereotyped as the young innocent which is the exact opposite of who Sophie is. Sophie is loud, demanding, grand and pure fun. It is fun to be able to strut myself and be a larger than life persona.
AJ: Are there any challenges to playing a character far outside of your own personality?
AH: The difficult moments are making sure that Sophie doesn't become a pure caricature. The challenge lies in maintaining this level of high comedy while still being true to Sophie's vulnerable and sincere moments.
AJ: Marc, according to the program notes you intend to take the show further and elaborate on it more. I was wondering if you could describe some of the changes you look forward to making in future incarnations of the show.
Marc Eardley: When this show moves forward, the potential exists to take it in directions Theatre hasn’t explored yet. My thought is to truly make it like a live taping and making the audience really feel like a part of the show and that they are seeing things home audiences would never see, the behind the scenes stuff which happens at the same time as the on screen work. The most interesting parts of the story are what happens off screen so, I want cameras flying overheard capturing certain expressions and screens facing the audience so they see what the “home audience” would see and how it’s funny what’s happening around that small “box”...What we’ve created is essentially a farce, poking fun at Show Business and celebrity and talk shows while staying away from being cynical or negative and it’s a very exciting idea.
AJ: For both Marc and Colin, how has the experience with this production influenced your thoughts about further changes and future productions?
Colin Chaston: I'm loving my experience in New York. The pool of talent we're working with is outstanding. I believe musical theatre is a collaborative process, so should a producer come in for this, which is what I would like, I'll be very happy to work with them and make changes for future productions.
ME: Well, we are aggressively pursuing investors who see our vision and embrace it. As for changes, the script has come a VERY long way in a short amount of time but I foresee a healthy process of dramaturgy before us. The core idea can’t change and the characters are fun, as are the crazy plot twists, so I see it being more about specific moments; which work and which don’t and things like that. It’s all about the actors and me pulling it off the page in the right way.
AJ: Why did you want to write / direct this story, and what does it represent to you in today's world / is there a parallel to draw from?
ME: Originally I was only supposed to choreograph the show, but Colin saw that I had a high concept for what it could be and he handed over the big chair. I hope he’s happy with the direction I’m going. I think he is! And, oh my, the parallel to the world today smacks you in the face. Our society’s obsession with fame and beauty and money and gossip is front and center in the script in a big way. I mean, one character is aging and being replaced by a younger version and she denies it and hates it! Can’t get more contemporary than that.
CC: The show was originally titled Czarinas. The idea was to draw a parallel between today's stars and royalty of yesteryear. Kira Czar was Catherine the Great, of Russia, Sophie Lee (Sophie Augusta in the original) was Catherine's name when she was a German princess, before she became Catherine. Beau Cortez (originally Greg Orlov) was one of Catherine's many lovers and he killed Peter Mano, Catherine's husband.
One of Catherine's famous quotes has survived in the current show. "I shall be the world's greatest monarch (star) that's my trade and the good Lord will forgive me for whatever I have to do, that's his." However the original concept went over people's heads at the workshop performances in 2004. I decided to drop the parallel and focus on the celebrity talk show culture, believing it would be fun to have a talk show host who wasn't restricted by contracts and who could pretty well ask any questions and go to any place he liked. Many stars are actively seeking to protect their privacy while at the same time manipulating the press, which to me, reeks of double standards.
Thank you Abigail, Marc and Colin! I’ll be seeing the show this weekend and offering my thoughts here at Art Corrupted Collective. In the mean time, for more information visit http://janskiproductions.com or www.midtownfestival.org
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Joys of Fantasy or Our Town Revisited
review by Acorn Jones
Ordinary Theater Company is anything but ordinary. I recently saw their production of The Joys of Fantasy at Twelve21’s 8,000 square foot venue. Joys is a remix of a remix. The company presented Our Town Revisited back in April, but had to change the title for their New York run, especially as there is a production of Wilder’s Our Town currently playing off Broadway.
Ordinary Theaters’ Artistic Director, and director/writer of Joys, Mitchell Polin had an interesting concept to work with in revamping Our Town, but ultimately had a little too much going on. The original play itself is very minimalist, performed without sets, but set on a bare stage, with environments suggested to us by a Stage Manager / Narrator / God figure. It is a subdued and guided exploration of the value of life, and how we spend the time we have within that life.
Joys on the other hand introduces a rock band, and loses all form of text and the dual stage manager character seems to have no control over the story. With the original play set in a small town, Grover’s Corners, the play now takes place in New York City.
My main problem with the show was that throughout the first act the actors were whispering their lines to each other to a point where I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Part of this is due to them being drowned out by the band, but I honestly don’t think the band could play any softer. I understand the need for intimate moments, but if we can’t hear you, we can’t hear the play, so what’s the point of being here?
There were some wonderful moments too. During the second act, Caroline Gart and Teri Incampo share a few scenes together, and the actresses work well off of each other. These scenes were spontaneous, fresh, and the subtlety of performance was remarkable considering how much distraction they were set amongst.
Susannah Berard also has some nice moments in the performance and she does well holding her own on stage. I didn’t really understand the reasoning for the past and future version of her character, her other half played by Claire Kavanah. They both played their parts well, but I missed the reasoning for the device.
Over all is an interesting play, but I think would be better off as a music video/film. Tungsten 74 wrote some great music for the piece, and I think what the production is trying to attempt would work much better on screen and the explosive rock and roll nature can be better harnessed and used for their benefit. I think the play has potential, and just needs a little more tweaking. In the mean time, it’s a good experiment and a great concept.
The Joys of Fantasy runs July 8th-25th, Wednesday-Saturday at 8 PM. Twelve21 is located at 12 West 21st St, between 5th and 6th Ave. Tickets are $20 and available at 212.409.8662 or http://www.ordinarytheater.com/
Thursday, June 25, 2009
National Theatre presents live broadcast of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren
composed from Press ReleaseOn the evening of June 25th, the National Theatre audience for Phedre will number many thousands. In dozens of venues in Europe from Ireland to Scandinavia, Iceland to Estonia, theatre goers will share the agonies of Racine’s driven characters at precisely the same moment. A short time later, taking time zones and satellite orbits into account, these audiences will be joined by others in the United States and Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They will all be taking part in an experiment, NT Live, which will beam the action, as it happens, from the National’s Lyttleton stage to some 270 participating cinemas.
The pilot season of NT Live launches tonight, Thursday June 25th with Nicholas Hytner’s production of Phedre, by Jean Racine, in a version by Ted Hughes. Helen Mirren plays the title role, with Dominic Cooper and Margaret Tyzack also leading the cast.
Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, who is himself directing Phedre, was delighted that things fell into place just when they did: “The technology’s there, the will’s there, the money’s there and here is a great play with a great stage actress, Helen Mirren, who happens to have a massive cinema profile. But you know, the good thing is there is nothing more purely theatrical then French classical tragedy. It obeys the classical Unities. There’s very little physical action in Phedre, but it is action-packed emotionally and psychologically. It has no scenic spectacle in it. Yet eight characters come into passionate conflict with each other and all change completely. And it offers one of the two or three greatest parts ever written for women.”
Being “theatrical” in the best sense of the word, with everything delivered verbally, Phedre makes the most of the experience of theatre on screen. The long description of a terrifying sea monster would be made visual on film. But Hytner says, “I can guarantee to you that you could spend a million dollars a second on computer-generating that monster and it would not be as scary as it is described in the play.
The state of unrelenting heightened emotion is a challenge for English actors. “Racine”, says Hytner, “goes straight for extremes, he is only interested in the five per cent of time when feeling is most intense. Generally what we do [in the British tradition] is we get at the extreme by playing something else. In other words we play the subtext or rather we play the text and let the subtext emerge”. The example he gives is Romeo and Juliet where the lovers’ passion emerges amid comic and social scenes. For Racine most of this would be irrelevant.
Racine is concerned not just with passionate feeling, but more particularly with its destructiveness. Nicholas Hytner says: “Racine had one big subject: love is a disease. In his plays whenever anyone falls in love they slide inexorably into disaster, it tears them apart, their hearts explode into a million pieces. It doesn’t end well.” In Phèdre the gods are clearly a metaphor for human emotion and yet, for Hytner, “If you act in the plays you are required to believe that the gods exist. It’s no use playing Phèdre unless you believe you are descended from the Sun.”
Ted Hughes’s visceral translation is, says Hytner, “like a pane of glass, simple in a different way from Racine.” The alexandrines (rhyming, 12-syllable couplets) of the original cannot be successfully rendered in English, but Hughes has found a style using images and sometimes “an almost Medieval English way with alliteration” to match Racine’s intense simplicity.
Helen Mirren is relishing the role’s demands. “There are no lulls. You just have to commit to it. There will be no relaxation. I don’t think I’ll be seeing the inside of my dressing room at any performance, but also [the play] is so intense that you don’t want to be too far from the stage, to get disengaged from it; you want to stay in the zone.”
Mirren observes that her character “comes from a family where the women have been very unblessed in love. Her mother fell in love and arranged to have a sexual relationship with a bull [which resulted in the Minotaur, half-man, half-bull]. Lust and sexual energy are rampant in her family. At the beginning of the play she is literally dying of love. Hippolytus is her stepson but within that world that is entirely inappropriate and considered incestuous. She tries to behave very well, but fate is inescapable.”
If Phèdre’s fate is in the hands of Venus, the goddess of Love, Mirren says that nevertheless it is “an incredibly recognisable state. When we fall in love, especially if we have the misfortune to fall in love inappropriately, we feel it is more a curse than a blessing and it’s something that you struggle with and fight. It’s a wonderful play, because although it is very heightened and in this world of gods and goddesses, it is still psychologically very recognisable.”
Ted Hughes’s translation of Racine is, she says, “magnificent - so simple, so accessible, but it has poetic force. It is expressive and visceral, but at the same time it comes out like naturalistic dialogue.”
Dominic Cooper, who played Dakin in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, plays the object of Phèdre’s overwhelming desire, Hippolytus. From the first, he is described as “proud”.
“Before I step onstage, in each scene”, says Cooper, “I remind myself of Hippolytus’s pride and try to figure out where that stems from.” He has thought about what it was like to grow up as the son of Theseus, seeing how his father, an acknowledged hero, but also a cruel philanderer, behaved. “He has wonderful memories of him, of being entranced by stories of his heroism but he does not want to be that man. He is a frustrated young man, kept where he cannot break free, allowed to hunt in the forest but he has never been able to go to war. His father, although a brute, is still a hero to him. The treatment of his mother, an Amazon, appals him. The story is that she was butchered by Theseus at his wedding to Phèdre.”
At the beginning of each performance, Cooper says he undergoes “shudders of anxiety” as he contemplates the journey ahead and resolves to take it a stage at a time. “There is rarely any time to be off the boil, which makes it terribly exciting to play.”
He thinks NT Live is unlike any previous attempt to capture theatre on screen, and he is looking forward to it. “It’s going to be a challenge and, of course, being live, we actors are never going to be able to see it.”
PHÈDRE will be followed on 1 October by Shakespeare’s ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL with Clare Higgins; on 30 January 2010 (a Saturday matinee), by NATION, based on a novel by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Mark Ravenhill; and, in early 2010, Alan Bennett’s new play THE HABIT OF ART with Michael Gambon, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour.
Broadcast details in the New York City metropolitan area follow:
The Director's Guild Theatre – Thursday, June 25 at 7:30 PM
Monmouth University, NJ – Thursday, June 25 at 7 PM
Brooklyn Academy of Music – Thursday, July 9 at 7 PM
Film Society of Lincoln Center Walter Reade Theater – Monday, July 6 at 4 and 8 PM
Fairfield University, CT – Saturday, July 11 at 2 PM
Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC) – Monday, June 29 and Monday, July 13 - 7:30 PM
Cinema Arts Centre (Long Island) – Friday, July 24 at 7:30 PM
For further details of venues and screenings, visit http://www.ntlive.com
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
B.D. Wong and Frank DeCaro join Celebrity Autobiography at the Gramercy June 26th
B.D. Wong & Frank DeCaro join Drama Desk Award Winning
CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS -- GAY PRIDE EDITION
One Night Only! June 26 at The Gramercy Theater
CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS will present a special one night engagement to coincide with New York’s annual Gay Pride Celebration. CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS -- GAY PRIDE EDITION will be presented Friday, June 26 at Off-Broadway’s Gramercy Theater.
CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS, which originated in Los Angeles to great acclaim and was later adapted for a Bravo-TV special, features actors reading selections from the autobiographies of the famous and infamous. The production recently won a 2009 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.
B.D. WONG (Law & Order, M. Butterfly) and FRANK DeCARO (The Daily Show) will join previously announced performers MICHEAL URIE (Ugly Betty), KRISTEN JOHNSON (3rd Rock from the Sun), JACKIE HOFFMAN (Hairspray), RACHEL DRATCH (SNL), EUGENE PACK and DAYLE REYFEL for CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS -- GAY PRIDE EDITION as they read the words of gays and gay icons including Madonna, Diana Ross, Miley Cyrus, Pam Anderson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Debbie Reynolds, George Takei and more. (Please note: Cheyenne Jackson will not be appearing due to the extension of his show at Feinstein's).
Eugene Pack, who created the series, previously commented, "I would listen to a lot of books-on-tape, particularly autobiographies, and was astounded at what people would write about. When I would get a hold of one of these books and read it out loud to friends, they'd insist I was making it up. But people actually wrote these words! So I decided to put the material up in front of an audience, knowing that it would be extremely entertaining."
The words of gay icons including Elizabeth Taylor, Sylvester, 'N Sync, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Britney Spears, Madonna, Ivana Trump, Vanna White, Star Jones, Loni Anderson, Kathie Lee Gifford, Candy Spelling and Debbie Reynolds have all been performed in previous Celebrity Autobiography evenings.
Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called the show “big-yuks entertainment” and a “merry compendium of the witlessness and wisdom of the rich and famous.” Joe Dziemianowicz of the Daily News called it a “potent comic cocktail…you weep with laughter.” The New Yorker called it “inspired.” And Sam Thielman of Variety wrote, “Audience members hyperventilate. It should lead a long and happy life.” The show has been featured by numerous media outlets, including ABC’s “The View” and “Nightline,” NPR’s “Morning Edition,” CNN’S “American Morning,” New York 1, WNBC’S “News for New York” at 11pm, and Bravo’s recent “A-List Awards.” For more information visit www.celebrityautobiography.com.
CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY: IN THEIR OWN WORDS -- GAY PRIDE EDITION runs Friday, June 26 at 9:30pm. Tickets are $40-$25. A VIP package including a post-show reception with the performers is available for $125. A full service bar is available throughout the show. The Gramercy Theater is located at 127 East 23rd Street at Lexington Avenue (accessible from the F,V,N,R & #6 trains at 23rd Street). For tickets call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Welcome to "Our House"
by Acorn Jones
Theresa Rebeck’s new play Our House at Playwrights Horizons is one of the few plays I’ve seen in recent years to keep me engaged from start to finish. Even in other plays I’ve loved, there are moments where I sit back and am like, “really? You’re doing that?” or am just plain uncomfortable in seats built for those many times smaller than me. (at 6’4”, I find myself lacking leg room, but PH’s seats get an 8/10). Not only did director Michael Mayer’s production keep my attention, but I kind of loved it. It represented my generation (late 20’s-early 30’s) truthfully, not commenting on it, but for once actually playing out our concerns and struggles. Thank god, finally! Theatre is dropping down to our gen and out of the Brustein era! (No offense to the great B!)
Basically we follow two stories. Set in a gorgeous steel and glass executive suite, story one is about Jennifer, a news reporter on the rise (Morena Baccarin, of TV’s Firefly and Stargate SG 1) and her executive boss/lover Wes (Christopher Evan Welch) who is adamant to see her rise continue, despite the cost and regardless of any advice Stu (Stephen Kunken), the head of the news department, can give him.
The second story is set in a living hell of an apartment. (The set was gorgeously designed by Dereck McLane) For me, I’ve lived with all of these people at some point. With the rude slacker sociopath slob, Merv (Jeremy Strong), I relived all of terrible roommates of apartments past. The sick mind games and manipulation he plays on Alice (Katie Kreisler) actually made me sick to my stomach in the first act. And the other two roommates, Grigsby (Mandy Siegfried) and Vince (Stephen Kunken) are unaware of much of the manipulation, but definitely realize the magnitude of Merv’s indiscretions at the end of the first act.
This cast is great! I saw the production just after opening, and my only note would be that they should project a little less. We can hear them all fine, and they’re all over compensating vocally just a little too much. If they back down just a little, we’ll still be able to hear them well, and it’ll make Alice’s outbursts stand out even more.
Katie Kreisler is phenomenal. The fact that she goes out there and has to deal with Jeremy Strongs’ character and stand alone against him is one thing. Her absolute power and stamina of voice had me in awe. With a wide array of emotion and tactics at hand, she gave the most remarkable performance of the evening, closely followed by Jeremy Strong. Mr. Strong’s ability to get completely under my skin, and still be a likeable (yet totally crazy wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with him) character had me conflicted throughout the whole production.
Morena Baccarin does a really nice job, especially as her bio suggests she hasn’t had much stage time outside of Julliard. She holds her own and gives a memorable performance. She is strongest in the second act when she really starts to take control of what she wants and how she’s going to get it. Stephen Kunken as Stu is just great. One of the few characters with an actual conscience and any thread of moral decency, Mr. Kunken is kind of awesome.
Christopher Evan Welch is also very good, but a little less present in the first act and although he seemed to be doing some line readings, he warmed up considerably halfway through act one. His rants are hilarious to listen to and he does his best work during act two shouting a diatribe about the worthlessness of news and how Anderson Cooper started out as the host of The Mole. Mandy Siegfried and Haynes Thigpen both do good character work, considering how light their material was.
Overall Our House is a great production and I kind of want to see it again. And then maybe a third time. You should go and order your tickets now.
The performance schedule for OUR HOUSE is Tuesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM. Tickets, $65, may be purchased online via TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues).
For ticket information to all PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS productions,
call TICKET CENTRAL at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8PM daily,
or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at http://www.playwrightshorizons.org/
Basically we follow two stories. Set in a gorgeous steel and glass executive suite, story one is about Jennifer, a news reporter on the rise (Morena Baccarin, of TV’s Firefly and Stargate SG 1) and her executive boss/lover Wes (Christopher Evan Welch) who is adamant to see her rise continue, despite the cost and regardless of any advice Stu (Stephen Kunken), the head of the news department, can give him.
The second story is set in a living hell of an apartment. (The set was gorgeously designed by Dereck McLane) For me, I’ve lived with all of these people at some point. With the rude slacker sociopath slob, Merv (Jeremy Strong), I relived all of terrible roommates of apartments past. The sick mind games and manipulation he plays on Alice (Katie Kreisler) actually made me sick to my stomach in the first act. And the other two roommates, Grigsby (Mandy Siegfried) and Vince (Stephen Kunken) are unaware of much of the manipulation, but definitely realize the magnitude of Merv’s indiscretions at the end of the first act.
This cast is great! I saw the production just after opening, and my only note would be that they should project a little less. We can hear them all fine, and they’re all over compensating vocally just a little too much. If they back down just a little, we’ll still be able to hear them well, and it’ll make Alice’s outbursts stand out even more.
Katie Kreisler is phenomenal. The fact that she goes out there and has to deal with Jeremy Strongs’ character and stand alone against him is one thing. Her absolute power and stamina of voice had me in awe. With a wide array of emotion and tactics at hand, she gave the most remarkable performance of the evening, closely followed by Jeremy Strong. Mr. Strong’s ability to get completely under my skin, and still be a likeable (yet totally crazy wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with him) character had me conflicted throughout the whole production.
Morena Baccarin does a really nice job, especially as her bio suggests she hasn’t had much stage time outside of Julliard. She holds her own and gives a memorable performance. She is strongest in the second act when she really starts to take control of what she wants and how she’s going to get it. Stephen Kunken as Stu is just great. One of the few characters with an actual conscience and any thread of moral decency, Mr. Kunken is kind of awesome.
Christopher Evan Welch is also very good, but a little less present in the first act and although he seemed to be doing some line readings, he warmed up considerably halfway through act one. His rants are hilarious to listen to and he does his best work during act two shouting a diatribe about the worthlessness of news and how Anderson Cooper started out as the host of The Mole. Mandy Siegfried and Haynes Thigpen both do good character work, considering how light their material was.
Overall Our House is a great production and I kind of want to see it again. And then maybe a third time. You should go and order your tickets now.
The performance schedule for OUR HOUSE is Tuesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM. Tickets, $65, may be purchased online via TicketCentral.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily), or in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues).
For ticket information to all PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS productions,
call TICKET CENTRAL at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8PM daily,
or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at http://www.playwrightshorizons.org/
ArtCo Interview with Michael Lavine
Photo Credit: Hugh Martin, Peter Howard and Michael Lavine; taken in Encinitas at Hugh's house in 2005
Michael Lavine is a fixture in the world of Musical Theatre. He is an accompanist, voice coach, music director, and is owner of one of the largest private collections of sheet music in the United States. In the middle of a very busy schedule, Michael graciously took time out to give what you’re about to find out is a very fascinating interview. Enjoy!
Acorn Jones: You’re an accomplished musician and probably one of the living legends of musical theatre history. What caused you to, and when did you start studying theatre and music, and when, if ever separated, did these two forms come together for you?
Michael Lavine: I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. I worked in children's theatre during junior high and high school, also appearing in shows in my high school. Sadly, not really musicals. But I was interested in them from a young age. My parents are very musical. My mother proudly remembers seeing MY FAIR LADY in a late preview in New Haven, before it came in. When I started at Columbia University, I found myself often choosing to go to a new musical rather than studying for exams. I didn't study theatre in college, but I did take some piano lessons there. I started out as an actor, going to auditions. I went to an Open Call for the original production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. I got to the Minskoff Rehearsal Studios with some friends at 7AM. There was no one on the list outside. I didn't want to put myself first, so I put myself #7. I'd gotten to know Stephen Sondheim by this point (I was 18). He'd called me the night before and asked what I was planning on singing. I excitedly told him: "Johnny One Note" - if only I'd known then what I know now!! He said....... (long pause...)..."oh..." - I got through half the song and Paul Gemigniani stopped me and said "Go to the end." I finished and knew I didn't get it, but I'd had a good time. I called Steve and told him that. He was relieved because all his other friends were calling him and telling him they were number 1,000 and could he get them a private audition!
So I continued auditioning. I remember being in a room full of Seymour’s auditioning for the First National Tour of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. An hour went by, maybe 2, and I'm pretty sure I talked myself out of auditioning. By then, I'd gotten lots of work as a musician. I realized there was more work and more money as a pianist than as an actor, so I switched. I have such respect for every actor out there. They put themselves on the line every day and it can get frustrating and demeaning. Of course, also rewarding. I try to tell my students not to get cocky when everything's going right, and not to get discouraged when things aren't going as well.
So that's the very long kind-of answer to your question. The shorter answer is that I never really studied theatre or music. They were kind of what I did and they always went hand in hand for me.
AJ: You mention starting out as an actor. Could you be convinced to go back to being an actor, even if just for one or two shows? And what roles would you want to play?
MHL: I'd love to continue doing both, acting and playing. I do occasionally get the opportunity to sing a song, usually from the piano. Immodestly, I'm a good actor, and I know I'd be good at it. No particular roles come to mind, but I would prefer to play comic roles. I did several of the patter baritone Gilbert & Sullivan roles in college.
AJ: Your career has followed a pretty steady course. Was it ever rocky and was there ever another career you had considered?
MHL: As you say, it has been pretty steady. As a pianist, there are so many things I can do: coach, play auditions, musically direct, conduct, play revues, benefits, cabaret acts, rehearsals. As I've gotten known, I've become busier and busier and often recommend my friends for these things, something I love doing - spreading the wealth. I temped right out of college - I type very fast and that kept things going as my coaching’s increased. I'd been working at Sloan Kettering for a year as an assistant to one of the leading dermatologists in the City. He had many famous patients: Jann Wenner, Helen Frankenthaler, etc. I would rush home to stick in coachings. Finally, I got a job conducting a few bands on some ships in Hawaii for 2 weeks. I made the decision - a difficult one - to give up temping permanently upon my return and to just do musical theatre. That was almost 20 years ago, and I haven't looked back!
AJ: When you and theatre journalist Peter Filichia were interviewed by Robert Armin you mentioned that the late Peter Howard had been your mentor. What value did mentorship play into the development of your career?
MHL: Peter Howard was a wonderful mentor. I learned so much from him over the years. We started out working on a production of CABARET in Italy (in Italian, perche parlo italiano fluentamente), choreographed by Baayork Lee. I learned about accompanying singers, conducting large orchestras, and working with singers from an acting standpoint. Peter wrote arrangements for a Rodgers & Hart revue that we did together on 2 grand pianos at the Kennedy Center starring Mimi Hines. Watching him come up with these wonderful arrangements was exciting and invigorating. I use Peter in my teaching and my playing and my conducting almost every day. Also, going to theatre and going around New York with Peter, I met many famous people. I was a close friend of Adolph Green's. I originally met Adolph because one of my students had been reading the news to him (he had macular degeneration and couldn't see very well). I was asked to sub for her. I went over there and we went to the piano and sang for a while. As I left, he said "Now how much do I owe you?" I said - "I really have to pay YOU!" And thus started our relationship. I live across the street from the building Betty Comden lived in. Adolph would often call and say "I'm over at Betty's and it's raining out. Can I come over?" I'd often have him come at the end of a coaching, so he could work with the singer a little. Sometimes we'd be walking down the street and see someone he'd worked with walking towards us. I'd always whisper who this was (i.e., "Here comes Paul Gemigniani. He conducted ON THE 20TH CENTURY" - and Adolph would shout "Ah, Paul, good to see you!"). Peter, Adolph and I got together occasionally to eat or sing.
Peter as a mentor would recommend me to various performers and producers over the years as his protégé. I got many jobs through him, most really wonderful. I also inherited several jobs he'd been doing when he stepped down. To this day, I still occasionally play shows at Guild Hall in Easthampton. Peter had been doing that for several years before me, and I'd been providing sheet music for these concerts. They featured performers like Karen Ziemba, Stephen Bogardus, Melissa Errico, George Dvorsky, KT Sullivan and Michael Rupert performing concerts featuring the works of Gershwin, Kern, Cy Coleman, Charles Strouse, Sheldon Harnick and more. Charles and Sheldon appeared with us onstage. The first time I went to play for Peter, I left his apartment thinking I really had to practice more. I didn't think he'd work with me again. I'd barely gotten home when the phone rang with my first recommendation from Peter. It was to play Rip Taylor's one-man show off-Broadway. Rip was an old friend of Peter's and had called him for a suggestion.
AJ: What is something you'd like people to know about you? What about you would surprise even your close friends?
MHL: That I'm in large part a loner. I keep to myself quite often. I have a lot of friends but I'm often sitting home alone or going to the theatre by myself. I love hanging out with people, but one of my favorite things is just to collapse on the sofa after a long day teaching.
AJ: What is it about you that makes your students such die-hard loyal fans? Your name is known in every university theatre department in the US. How did it start and does it get overwhelming?
MHL: It does get overwhelming. But that's why I have an assistant helping me with requests. So I try to just stick to coaching and let him handle anything else that comes up. I like to believe I'm liked because I'm accessible. I'm a nice guy and I really work hard for my students. I try to find the best parts of everyone's performance when coaching them and if I think I can help them get the job, I'll make sure they're doing their best.
My obsession to have more sheet music than anyone else in the room started long ago. My collection got quite large after I acquired Arthur Siegel's collection when he died in 1994. Arthur wrote many of the songs for the NEW FACES revues of the 50's and 60's. We'd become friends. He lived across the street (in the same building as Betty Comden!). He'd been collecting since he was 12. It took an entire day of bringing file cabinets around the corner. He had wonderful old sheets, some given to him by Jule Styne or Richard Rodgers.
I'm not sure how my name got known by so many universities. I guess word of mouth grew exponentially. But I go back to my first notebook of people calling for sheet music (before email!). I've found names like Matt Cavenaugh, TR Knight, John Lloyd Young, and, more recently, Aaron Tveit. So many people who first wrote me when they were in college. Most of them I had no idea I'd been helping out before they got to NYC.
I've begun to teach at conservatories around the world, often in Australia, where I've developed a following. For the past 4 years, I've been the US/Broadway correspondent for a Sunday evening musical theatre program airing on radio out of Melbourne. I've been able to get Max Von Essen, Craig Carnelia, Craig Burns (casting director of WICKED) here to talk on the air with the hosts and I've often been out of town with shows trying out (WEDDING SINGER and SHREK in Seattle, many shows at the Old Globe or La Jolla) and given their listeners first-hand knowledge of what was going on.
AJ: Having been teaching at conservatories, and with your regular coaching’s, what would you say is missing from the training programs that are preparing students to enter into musical theatre?
MHL: I think the training programs preparing students to enter into musical theatre are getting better every year. As younger actors take over the programs, they're more in tune with what's auditioning today. Still, that's the common complaint I hear from students arriving in NYC: that they don't have all of the different genres in their book of material. I think all of the programs need to encourage their students to examine every possible style that could come their way, so they're prepared for any audition that could come up.
AJ: What still excites and surprises you about the theatre and what do you think it could do better? And on that note, why aren't there more original musicals making it to Broadway, when we’re getting adaptations of every movie known to man?
MHL: I get excited when I see something unexpected - like ROCK OF AGES, which I decided to invest (a lot!) in. I saw it in LA a few years ago and was under-whelmed. Then I went back off-Broadway and I can't tell you why, but it was a different, vastly improved show. When I was approached to invest, I thought this was a show I thought would run for a while and be tons of fun for the tired businessman who loves to rock out! I'm not alone: Max Von Essen and Lea Salonga also invested in the show. ROA is an original idea and I'm thrilled it's carved out a niche on Broadway. I'd much rather see shows like that and NEXT TO NORMAL than the adaptations, which frankly often bore me. I think with the success of those 2 shows, we may be seeing producers taking more chances in the future. I certainly hope so!
I'm excited when I see or hear of a project that's original or has a terrific cast or a composer whose work I like.
AJ: Can you tell us what are you working on next? -
MHL: I'm playing an act for Jim Barbour at Hofstra in Long Island on June 27th. I played for him at Feinstein's a few months ago. I'm playing an act for Jack Noseworthy at Feinstein's on June 29th, directed by Gary Griffin. I'm musically directing a benefit for the Red Fern Theatre Company this Sunday night, playing for Aaron Lazar, Matt Cavenaugh, Jenny Powers, Stephanie J. Block, Titus Burgess and Jarrod Spector. I'm teaching most of September in Australia: Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Teaching on Martha's Vineyard for Scott Wise and Elizabeth Parkinson in July/August. So I try to balance the teaching and the musically directing. I'd love to do more conducting.
AJ: Michael, thank you for taking the time for SuCoSeCo!
Some of Michael Lavine’s upcoming performances:
Michael playing at Hofstra: http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/news/05-2009/james-barbour-to-star-in-hofstra-benefit-concert-j_19263.html
Michael at Feinstein’s: http://feinsteinsattheregency.com/
Michael’s website: http://www.michaellavine.net/
Michael Lavine is a fixture in the world of Musical Theatre. He is an accompanist, voice coach, music director, and is owner of one of the largest private collections of sheet music in the United States. In the middle of a very busy schedule, Michael graciously took time out to give what you’re about to find out is a very fascinating interview. Enjoy!
Acorn Jones: You’re an accomplished musician and probably one of the living legends of musical theatre history. What caused you to, and when did you start studying theatre and music, and when, if ever separated, did these two forms come together for you?
Michael Lavine: I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. I worked in children's theatre during junior high and high school, also appearing in shows in my high school. Sadly, not really musicals. But I was interested in them from a young age. My parents are very musical. My mother proudly remembers seeing MY FAIR LADY in a late preview in New Haven, before it came in. When I started at Columbia University, I found myself often choosing to go to a new musical rather than studying for exams. I didn't study theatre in college, but I did take some piano lessons there. I started out as an actor, going to auditions. I went to an Open Call for the original production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. I got to the Minskoff Rehearsal Studios with some friends at 7AM. There was no one on the list outside. I didn't want to put myself first, so I put myself #7. I'd gotten to know Stephen Sondheim by this point (I was 18). He'd called me the night before and asked what I was planning on singing. I excitedly told him: "Johnny One Note" - if only I'd known then what I know now!! He said....... (long pause...)..."oh..." - I got through half the song and Paul Gemigniani stopped me and said "Go to the end." I finished and knew I didn't get it, but I'd had a good time. I called Steve and told him that. He was relieved because all his other friends were calling him and telling him they were number 1,000 and could he get them a private audition!
So I continued auditioning. I remember being in a room full of Seymour’s auditioning for the First National Tour of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. An hour went by, maybe 2, and I'm pretty sure I talked myself out of auditioning. By then, I'd gotten lots of work as a musician. I realized there was more work and more money as a pianist than as an actor, so I switched. I have such respect for every actor out there. They put themselves on the line every day and it can get frustrating and demeaning. Of course, also rewarding. I try to tell my students not to get cocky when everything's going right, and not to get discouraged when things aren't going as well.
So that's the very long kind-of answer to your question. The shorter answer is that I never really studied theatre or music. They were kind of what I did and they always went hand in hand for me.
AJ: You mention starting out as an actor. Could you be convinced to go back to being an actor, even if just for one or two shows? And what roles would you want to play?
MHL: I'd love to continue doing both, acting and playing. I do occasionally get the opportunity to sing a song, usually from the piano. Immodestly, I'm a good actor, and I know I'd be good at it. No particular roles come to mind, but I would prefer to play comic roles. I did several of the patter baritone Gilbert & Sullivan roles in college.
AJ: Your career has followed a pretty steady course. Was it ever rocky and was there ever another career you had considered?
MHL: As you say, it has been pretty steady. As a pianist, there are so many things I can do: coach, play auditions, musically direct, conduct, play revues, benefits, cabaret acts, rehearsals. As I've gotten known, I've become busier and busier and often recommend my friends for these things, something I love doing - spreading the wealth. I temped right out of college - I type very fast and that kept things going as my coaching’s increased. I'd been working at Sloan Kettering for a year as an assistant to one of the leading dermatologists in the City. He had many famous patients: Jann Wenner, Helen Frankenthaler, etc. I would rush home to stick in coachings. Finally, I got a job conducting a few bands on some ships in Hawaii for 2 weeks. I made the decision - a difficult one - to give up temping permanently upon my return and to just do musical theatre. That was almost 20 years ago, and I haven't looked back!
AJ: When you and theatre journalist Peter Filichia were interviewed by Robert Armin you mentioned that the late Peter Howard had been your mentor. What value did mentorship play into the development of your career?
MHL: Peter Howard was a wonderful mentor. I learned so much from him over the years. We started out working on a production of CABARET in Italy (in Italian, perche parlo italiano fluentamente), choreographed by Baayork Lee. I learned about accompanying singers, conducting large orchestras, and working with singers from an acting standpoint. Peter wrote arrangements for a Rodgers & Hart revue that we did together on 2 grand pianos at the Kennedy Center starring Mimi Hines. Watching him come up with these wonderful arrangements was exciting and invigorating. I use Peter in my teaching and my playing and my conducting almost every day. Also, going to theatre and going around New York with Peter, I met many famous people. I was a close friend of Adolph Green's. I originally met Adolph because one of my students had been reading the news to him (he had macular degeneration and couldn't see very well). I was asked to sub for her. I went over there and we went to the piano and sang for a while. As I left, he said "Now how much do I owe you?" I said - "I really have to pay YOU!" And thus started our relationship. I live across the street from the building Betty Comden lived in. Adolph would often call and say "I'm over at Betty's and it's raining out. Can I come over?" I'd often have him come at the end of a coaching, so he could work with the singer a little. Sometimes we'd be walking down the street and see someone he'd worked with walking towards us. I'd always whisper who this was (i.e., "Here comes Paul Gemigniani. He conducted ON THE 20TH CENTURY" - and Adolph would shout "Ah, Paul, good to see you!"). Peter, Adolph and I got together occasionally to eat or sing.
Peter as a mentor would recommend me to various performers and producers over the years as his protégé. I got many jobs through him, most really wonderful. I also inherited several jobs he'd been doing when he stepped down. To this day, I still occasionally play shows at Guild Hall in Easthampton. Peter had been doing that for several years before me, and I'd been providing sheet music for these concerts. They featured performers like Karen Ziemba, Stephen Bogardus, Melissa Errico, George Dvorsky, KT Sullivan and Michael Rupert performing concerts featuring the works of Gershwin, Kern, Cy Coleman, Charles Strouse, Sheldon Harnick and more. Charles and Sheldon appeared with us onstage. The first time I went to play for Peter, I left his apartment thinking I really had to practice more. I didn't think he'd work with me again. I'd barely gotten home when the phone rang with my first recommendation from Peter. It was to play Rip Taylor's one-man show off-Broadway. Rip was an old friend of Peter's and had called him for a suggestion.
AJ: What is something you'd like people to know about you? What about you would surprise even your close friends?
MHL: That I'm in large part a loner. I keep to myself quite often. I have a lot of friends but I'm often sitting home alone or going to the theatre by myself. I love hanging out with people, but one of my favorite things is just to collapse on the sofa after a long day teaching.
AJ: What is it about you that makes your students such die-hard loyal fans? Your name is known in every university theatre department in the US. How did it start and does it get overwhelming?
MHL: It does get overwhelming. But that's why I have an assistant helping me with requests. So I try to just stick to coaching and let him handle anything else that comes up. I like to believe I'm liked because I'm accessible. I'm a nice guy and I really work hard for my students. I try to find the best parts of everyone's performance when coaching them and if I think I can help them get the job, I'll make sure they're doing their best.
My obsession to have more sheet music than anyone else in the room started long ago. My collection got quite large after I acquired Arthur Siegel's collection when he died in 1994. Arthur wrote many of the songs for the NEW FACES revues of the 50's and 60's. We'd become friends. He lived across the street (in the same building as Betty Comden!). He'd been collecting since he was 12. It took an entire day of bringing file cabinets around the corner. He had wonderful old sheets, some given to him by Jule Styne or Richard Rodgers.
I'm not sure how my name got known by so many universities. I guess word of mouth grew exponentially. But I go back to my first notebook of people calling for sheet music (before email!). I've found names like Matt Cavenaugh, TR Knight, John Lloyd Young, and, more recently, Aaron Tveit. So many people who first wrote me when they were in college. Most of them I had no idea I'd been helping out before they got to NYC.
I've begun to teach at conservatories around the world, often in Australia, where I've developed a following. For the past 4 years, I've been the US/Broadway correspondent for a Sunday evening musical theatre program airing on radio out of Melbourne. I've been able to get Max Von Essen, Craig Carnelia, Craig Burns (casting director of WICKED) here to talk on the air with the hosts and I've often been out of town with shows trying out (WEDDING SINGER and SHREK in Seattle, many shows at the Old Globe or La Jolla) and given their listeners first-hand knowledge of what was going on.
AJ: Having been teaching at conservatories, and with your regular coaching’s, what would you say is missing from the training programs that are preparing students to enter into musical theatre?
MHL: I think the training programs preparing students to enter into musical theatre are getting better every year. As younger actors take over the programs, they're more in tune with what's auditioning today. Still, that's the common complaint I hear from students arriving in NYC: that they don't have all of the different genres in their book of material. I think all of the programs need to encourage their students to examine every possible style that could come their way, so they're prepared for any audition that could come up.
AJ: What still excites and surprises you about the theatre and what do you think it could do better? And on that note, why aren't there more original musicals making it to Broadway, when we’re getting adaptations of every movie known to man?
MHL: I get excited when I see something unexpected - like ROCK OF AGES, which I decided to invest (a lot!) in. I saw it in LA a few years ago and was under-whelmed. Then I went back off-Broadway and I can't tell you why, but it was a different, vastly improved show. When I was approached to invest, I thought this was a show I thought would run for a while and be tons of fun for the tired businessman who loves to rock out! I'm not alone: Max Von Essen and Lea Salonga also invested in the show. ROA is an original idea and I'm thrilled it's carved out a niche on Broadway. I'd much rather see shows like that and NEXT TO NORMAL than the adaptations, which frankly often bore me. I think with the success of those 2 shows, we may be seeing producers taking more chances in the future. I certainly hope so!
I'm excited when I see or hear of a project that's original or has a terrific cast or a composer whose work I like.
AJ: Can you tell us what are you working on next? -
MHL: I'm playing an act for Jim Barbour at Hofstra in Long Island on June 27th. I played for him at Feinstein's a few months ago. I'm playing an act for Jack Noseworthy at Feinstein's on June 29th, directed by Gary Griffin. I'm musically directing a benefit for the Red Fern Theatre Company this Sunday night, playing for Aaron Lazar, Matt Cavenaugh, Jenny Powers, Stephanie J. Block, Titus Burgess and Jarrod Spector. I'm teaching most of September in Australia: Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Teaching on Martha's Vineyard for Scott Wise and Elizabeth Parkinson in July/August. So I try to balance the teaching and the musically directing. I'd love to do more conducting.
AJ: Michael, thank you for taking the time for SuCoSeCo!
Some of Michael Lavine’s upcoming performances:
Michael playing at Hofstra: http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/news/05-2009/james-barbour-to-star-in-hofstra-benefit-concert-j_19263.html
Michael at Feinstein’s: http://feinsteinsattheregency.com/
Michael’s website: http://www.michaellavine.net/
Finding Sound in the Silence of the Night Sky
Power Productions New York, Inc and The National Aphasia Association present Night Sky, a play by Susan Yankowitz, playing off-Broadway at Baruch Performing Arts Center's Rose Nagelberg Theatre; 55 Lexington Avenue.
Night Sky is a play about what happens to a brilliant, articulate astronomer, her family and career when she is struck by a car and loses her ability to speak, a condition known as "aphasia." Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person’s ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence.
Jordan Baker plays Anna, the astronomer who acquires aphasia, and Dan Domingues plays an Aphasia patient, among other roles. On a personal note, the production was wonderful and the acting was great. Also featured are Lauren Ashley Carter, Tuck Milligan, Maria-Christina Oliveras and Jim Stanek. I had a chance to interview Jordan and Dan about their roles in Night Sky.
Acorn Jones: You both play characters who have Aphasia; Jordan, with your character starting without it, and developing and recovering from it during the course of the play, and Dan, playing a character that we are introduced to mid-condition, but we also see you playing many other non-aphasic characters. First off, the Aphasic language you speak during the show: Is it scripted Aphasically with a translation, or are you given the lines and have to translate yourself?
Jordan Baker: There are no scripted or phonetic translations of the language. As actors we had to interpret the meaning based on the intention of the scene. For instance, there is the moment where I am alone in the hospital bed and I discover my language has changed. The line reads “Gridge sac dibble… fujimagoo….fuji? huh?” Since the intention is discovery I made the choice that I would be trying to say “This bed is the worst….F—k!” and then recognize after the fact that I had said “Fujimagoo” and question “fuji?” that I have just said something absurd. The next line reads “Ake dis looloo I me bunder…huh? Huh?” I interpreted “what the hell did I just say?!” and the “huh?” is now deep awareness that something very bad has happened to me. The final line reads “I gimma babba…..inbane…mebane….huh? huh? huh?” The playwright has given a stage direction here of desperation – I interpreted the first part of the line to be a desperate attempt to say what I am actually thinking and then not hearing those words actually come out of my mouth. The final three “huh?” are a search for help from the outside world.
Dan Domingues: The playwright, Susan Yankowitz, didn’t write translations for our dialogue and I think that was vital to working on the play. The language we’re speaking after all is English but it was part of my own process to figure what I was struggling to relay and how to dramatize that struggle. I think the fact that the audience is trying to understand it as the characters are lends a real sense of immediacy to the play. The struggle for the person afflicted with aphasia is to be understood and for those around them to understand.
AJ: Jordan, what has been your experience playing Anna, who is incredibly well spoken at the beginning, and then spending the rest of the play re-learning how to communicate?
JB: Well, complicated journeys are the most interesting for an actor. It’s lovely to unpeel the layers of an onion, so to speak. I enjoy tearing the script apart from moment to moment and making choices about the colors of the character I want to reveal to the audience from scene to scene. The challenge in playing Anna is that she begins as a highly disciplined, intellectual woman who has high expectations of herself and those around her. She controls every aspect of her world. In order for her life to be valuable and of purpose to her she must constantly be challenged and pushing the limits of excellence. Those qualities can be very off putting and somewhat rigid to the outside observer. What’s wonderful is to start out as someone the audience doesn’t particularly like and through the journey of her deconstruction she becomes someone you empathize with and understand and respect for her ability to meet life’s challenges. While my character has strong language skill at the beginning and finds her way back to a form of communication – the real issue is her heart. In the end, Anna’s ability to experience empathy and generosity and forgiveness and to truly love intimately those around her for who they are and what they have to offer separate of her intellectual standard is the most interesting journey and for many of us the most difficult.
AJ: Dan, how difficult is it jumping back and forth from your Aphasic character to your non-Aphasic characters?
DD: It helps in this piece that I have some off-stage time to make the switch; that I’m not in back-to-back scenes where I needed to go back and forth quickly. But with that said, our director, Daniella [Topol], was very conscious of spots where there may be overlap. There was a moment where I chose to make one of my non-Aphasic characters halting and nervous and Daniella thought the audience might mistake that for aphasia so it was a matter of making a different choice. We really wanted to make the two worlds very distinct.
AJ: With Night Sky being sponsored by the National Aphasia Association, what has been your experience of the audience’s reaction, both for aphasic and non-aphasic audience members?
JB: We had a lot of opportunity to work with aphasic patients because of NAA’s involvement. I also had the opportunity to spend time at the Rusk Institute, here in New York, where the vast majority of aphasics receive therapy. We were fortunate to have aphasics sit in on rehearsals of the play and due to their involvement and generosity of spirit I went into the process feeling confident that I could translate their experience. Many have now come to the show and have been extremely generous with their thoughts on the work. Very little has been said on this subject and there are large numbers of people in our community who are challenged with this issue everyday. Aphasia is not age specific; it affects a wide range of people at many stages of life. Audience members outside the aphasic community don’t really know anything about aphasia. I was one of those people before I began the process of this play! When we learn that someone has had a stroke and that there is some paralysis or loss of speech we tend to believe that is how that person will be for the rest of their lives. But what the play teaches is that there is a wide range of healing after a stroke or brain injury. I have had several audience members tell me they knew nothing about aphasia and they were stunned that a person could suffer such challenge in their physical being and yet still be very much who they are mentally. One member said to me “It makes one stop and think for a moment before writing someone off as crazy! Or stupid!” For the aphasic there is the sense that the work they do everyday is not in vain. They see through both Anna and Dan’s aphasic patient the process for growth through hard work; and also Anna’s acceptance of her change and how that journey has made her a deeper person. The non-aphasic sees what their compassion and support can mean to the healing process. All in all it’s been very fulfilling.
DD: The response has been incredibly positive from those afflicted with aphasia and that was a huge relief for all of us. Early in our process we met with some people with aphasia and in some cases they became close friends of the production so we all felt an enormous responsibility to do right by their stories. They came to some rehearsals, gave their opinions on lines and interactions in the play, even made comments on certain costume and set pieces. They were an integral part of this production and approached it with open minds. They also understood that we needed to take some license with certain aspects for dramatic purposes. We just couldn’t have done it without them. They were great and we grew very close to them. For those without aphasia watching, I think the experience has been as illuminating as it’s been for us working on it. Most of my friends who’ve seen it had never heard of aphasia or now had a name for the thing they remember their grandfather or father or aunt going through. And many people are surprised at how funny the play is – I guess with the subject matter people don’t expect to laugh as much but the play has great humor and it’s nice to have people discover that.
AJ: Dan, in working with the language barrier, how did it inform how you play your Aphasic character? In the play you use your physicality to help you express what you want, was that a challenge to incorporate or did it come naturally with the barrier?
DD: People with aphasia are incredibly physical. They need to be in order to communicate. Their therapy stresses and encourages the use of their hands, face, whatever, to get the message across. Some people use pads and pens to give themselves clues to words or phrases. For example, if they’re trying to say a word that starts with H, it helps sometimes to write out the letter to spark the brain. So we were very conscious and Daniella constantly reminded us that the use of all our faculties was appropriate and necessary.
AJ: Do you see parallels between Aphasia and acting (specifically, the practice of acting as communication)?
DD: Well, that’s an interesting question. Hmm? I’m not sure how to answer that without sounding silly because aphasia is such a “real” issue, you know what I mean. But in the sense that aphasics really use their whole being, physical and mental, to communicate, there are certain parallels with acting. We’re taught as actors that acting is more than saying words, that it requires the whole body to be engaged. Listening and being truly present are supremely important too. That’s what aphasics do all the time so I could see where one could make a parallel. But in the end, we get to leave our work at the theatre or set and aphasics struggle constantly so the two really can’t compare. Actually, I don’t want to make it sound like all people afflicted with aphasia carry this tremendous burden around and it weighs on them. It does, I’m sure, but we also met some beautiful people with such generous, loving hearts who live their lives with aphasia but still laugh and joke and love and get angry and ... live, you know? They were really inspiring.
AJ: Anna has a goal for her recovery of being able to read her paper at a conference in Paris. Ultimately she is unable to finish the task, but does make a beautiful parallel comparing her paper to her life, which I would say is probably more beneficial to her healing process than the original goal. What are your thoughts about how the play ends and Anna’s through line / journey to this point?
JB: I was told at the Rusk Institute that the hardest part of the healing process for an aphasic is learning to let go of the person you were and accepting the person you have become. We all change in life, but over time, so our ego has time to accept and in some cases never even notice the change until many years later when we look back at who we were. The aphasic changes in an instant. It’s dramatic and does not feel like a blossoming but rather a tragic loss and in some ways a death. Initially, Anna’s desire is to get back to who she was; she believes she can be that person again through what she knows about hard work, discipline and mental control. When she stands at the conference in Paris reading her scientific paper badly she realizes she is not going to return to her former self. The former self has died and she finally in that moment accepts that truth. And only then is the door open for her to realize and accept that she is something else, not less, not dying, but something deeper and more interesting than she could ever have possibly imagined in her controlled intellectual world. The world now is full of the mystery she had been seeking through her study of the stars; she comes to understand the mystery in her everyday existence. It’s a very powerful understanding. Audience members have expressed to me how painful that speech is to hear and at the same time empowering.
AJ: My last question for both of you: Aphasia aside, how do these roles compare with other characters you have played? I don’t imagine you are playing them as Aphasia patients, but as people with wants and goals, like any other character. What makes these characters different for you? Are they familiar, or are they entirely new?
JB: There was only one other role where I was required to work with a physical impediment. It was Separation by Tom Kemspinski. I had a form of neuropathy which affected my ability to walk. Over the years, Three Tall Women, Othello, Macbeth, Spinning Into Butter, Defiance, among others have all been quite different from one another. Each character has its own challenge either physically, intellectually or emotionally. In this particular play, Night Sky, I will remember working with people who are healing from aphasia everyday. I think of certain ones everyday that touched my life during this process. I hope to see where they are at in the next few years and how they grow and who they become.
DD: Every character has obstacles. When it’s a physical one like in this play, the fight is a little more clear – it’s to be understood. But to simply play that would be missing all the other things going on in the play. I feel weird sometimes talking about “the process” of acting because so much of it happens between you and the others on stage and that’s sometimes hard to quantify. But, yes, the approach for me was similar to my approach on other roles – looking for what I want and going after it.
AJ: Thank you both for taking the time for ArtCo!
Night Sky plays at Baruch Performing Arts Center's Rose Nagelberg Theater: 55 Lexington Avenue; New York, NY 10010. The National Aphasia Association (NAA) is a nonprofit organization that promotes public education, research, rehabilitation and support services to assist people with aphasia and their families. http://www.aphasia.org/ http://www.nightskytheplay.com/
Review: Dr. C (Or How I Learned To Act In Eight Steps)
Observer: Acorn Jones
Subject: Theater Mitu
Inspiration: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Source Material: Aristotle, Appia, Stanislavski, Artaud, Brecht, Grotowski, Brook and Bogart
An experiment is going on at 3LD (3 Legged Dog Arts & Technology Center). Getting off the subway and looking for the theatre, I approached a very clinical looking building with odd lighting and few if any right angles. Ushered into the theatre space the setting becomes increasingly clinical as we take our seats in galleries, set on either side of a long narrow stage where eight actors are lying on a segmented floor. The immediate feeling upon arrival is voyeuristic and the audience instinctively takes on the part of scientific observer, while we really are playing the control in Theater Mitu’s experiment of how art works.
If the audience had access to the materials in the press packet, it might invaluable to helping the audience understand the piece, but would also undermine the experiment that the company is in fact performing on the audience.
The piece is set up as a group of test subjects who are being observed in order to find out what acting is. Characters include Philosopher, Actor, Acting, Audience, Poet, Critic #1, 2 and 3 and the Voice.
What was of particular importance in pulling off this performance (and the goal is definitely achieved) is the physical personification of the actors struggle while going through these eight methods. Often jarring emotionally and physiologically, learning a new approach to acting changes everything about a person; actors get lost inside themselves constantly trying to re-figure out who they are and what they believe. No other profession asks its practitioners to constantly re-evaluate self and self output like acting, where the physical and emotional self-in use is the art form observed and used to re-create life. The company members are all working at extremes, and do great work.
The operatic nature of the piece comes both as a help and an obstacle to the piece. With that said, it was mostly very well sung and the music is invoking and unforeseeable. I do think placing the form into an opera somewhat comments on the experiment they are trying to run, and placating the audience with “entertainment”. While it may be true that all art aspires to music, science may not necessarily reach for that goal. I don’t have an answer for that, but this is something they are determined to find out.
According to press notes, the production seeks to ask the question “can theatre still be a whole art, while being inclusive in its conversation about acting, and what does that mean for the craft of acting itself?” While asking the audience to step outside of itself and become silent observer, our part being taken over by the actor named “Audience”, we are given the charge of determining the answer, if an answer is to be found.
Overall it is a very thoughtful production although a little bit exclusive, speaking more clearly to other actors than entirely neutral observers. In using the audience in a new role as observer, our role changes, and we experience something new: not experiencing change; we observe only. We can create new theory, but not come up with conclusive answers. “Mankind is prone to assimilation,” waiting to become the next new approach, or to follow it when it arrives. In the meantime, we have an interesting experiment to observe.
Dates: June 2nd-June 14th
Location: 3LD Theatre, 80 Greenwich St.
Tickets: http://www.theatermitu.org/ or http://www.3ldnyc.org/
Subject: Theater Mitu
Inspiration: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Source Material: Aristotle, Appia, Stanislavski, Artaud, Brecht, Grotowski, Brook and Bogart
An experiment is going on at 3LD (3 Legged Dog Arts & Technology Center). Getting off the subway and looking for the theatre, I approached a very clinical looking building with odd lighting and few if any right angles. Ushered into the theatre space the setting becomes increasingly clinical as we take our seats in galleries, set on either side of a long narrow stage where eight actors are lying on a segmented floor. The immediate feeling upon arrival is voyeuristic and the audience instinctively takes on the part of scientific observer, while we really are playing the control in Theater Mitu’s experiment of how art works.
If the audience had access to the materials in the press packet, it might invaluable to helping the audience understand the piece, but would also undermine the experiment that the company is in fact performing on the audience.
The piece is set up as a group of test subjects who are being observed in order to find out what acting is. Characters include Philosopher, Actor, Acting, Audience, Poet, Critic #1, 2 and 3 and the Voice.
What was of particular importance in pulling off this performance (and the goal is definitely achieved) is the physical personification of the actors struggle while going through these eight methods. Often jarring emotionally and physiologically, learning a new approach to acting changes everything about a person; actors get lost inside themselves constantly trying to re-figure out who they are and what they believe. No other profession asks its practitioners to constantly re-evaluate self and self output like acting, where the physical and emotional self-in use is the art form observed and used to re-create life. The company members are all working at extremes, and do great work.
The operatic nature of the piece comes both as a help and an obstacle to the piece. With that said, it was mostly very well sung and the music is invoking and unforeseeable. I do think placing the form into an opera somewhat comments on the experiment they are trying to run, and placating the audience with “entertainment”. While it may be true that all art aspires to music, science may not necessarily reach for that goal. I don’t have an answer for that, but this is something they are determined to find out.
According to press notes, the production seeks to ask the question “can theatre still be a whole art, while being inclusive in its conversation about acting, and what does that mean for the craft of acting itself?” While asking the audience to step outside of itself and become silent observer, our part being taken over by the actor named “Audience”, we are given the charge of determining the answer, if an answer is to be found.
Overall it is a very thoughtful production although a little bit exclusive, speaking more clearly to other actors than entirely neutral observers. In using the audience in a new role as observer, our role changes, and we experience something new: not experiencing change; we observe only. We can create new theory, but not come up with conclusive answers. “Mankind is prone to assimilation,” waiting to become the next new approach, or to follow it when it arrives. In the meantime, we have an interesting experiment to observe.
Dates: June 2nd-June 14th
Location: 3LD Theatre, 80 Greenwich St.
Tickets: http://www.theatermitu.org/ or http://www.3ldnyc.org/
How to Be Porky Pig, an interview with Bob Bergen
By Acorn Jones
Bob Bergens’ dream was to voice The Looney Tunes, and in particular Porky Pig. Bob's idol was Mel Blanc, and he worked day and night trying to perfect eh-puh-peh-eh Porky's famous voice. When he was 18, a good friend of the family had Casey Kasem send Bob an autograph picture for his high school graduation. Bob sent Casey a thank you note, stating he wanted to do voices for cartoons and included his phone number. To his shock Casey phoned Bob and offered his assistance. Casey requested Bob make a home made demo of as many voices as he could. Bob sent Casey a tape of 85 voices which Casey, in turn, gave to Don Pitts, a voice-over agent and one of the nicest guys in the biz. Don signed Bob, and at 18 he was set up with his first agent. Not long after, Bob booked his first cartoon, Spiderman, and His Amazing Friends.
In 1990, Bob's dream came true when he joined a handful of actors who share the job of voicing The Looney Tunes. Over the years, Bob has voiced Porky, Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Henry Hawk, Sylvester Jr., and Speedy Gonzales in a variety of feature films, albums, toys, games, and television series', including the 2 time Emmy nominated series Duck Dodgers, in which Bob received an Annie Award nomination as best voice performer in a television series. In 1991 Bob was asked to play Sylvester Jr., for a radio program called Mrs. Bush's Story Time, hosted by First Lady Barbara Bush. Soon after, he was thrilled to be invited to a reception at the White House in appreciation for his participation in Mrs. Bush's literacy program.
Bob has been an active member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences since 1994, He's a 2 time volunteer Big Brother, and was honored as the 2007 Jewish Big Brother of the Year.
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AJ: You had decided at a pretty young age that you wanted to be a voice actor, specifically wanting to be Mel Blanc’s replacement for Porky Pig. Was there any other career you had seriously considered? Is there any other career that you would find interesting at this point in your life?
BB: Not really. Psychology was an interest. But from the day my dad moved the family to LA when I was 14 I never even thought about pursuing any other field. I put all my energy and passion into voice-over.
AJ: You’re known as a voice actor primarily. Do you work on-camera as well?
BB: I have. I’ve did a lot of sitcoms in the 80s: The Facts of Life, Gimme A Break, Silver Spoons, etc. And I hosted a gameshow a few years ago called Jep!, which was a kid’s version of Jeopardy!. One of the reasons I tour with my show is I love performing live. So sure, more on camera/stage work is definitely something I’d like to continue to pursue.
AJ: In one of your voiceover classes you mentioned being a class clown growing up and always making funny voices when the teacher wasn’t looking. There’s a lot of joy in the attention that a class clown gets; was that the case for you, and if so, how would you describe the feeling you get when you’re working today?
BB: Well, it wasn’t always fun in school. Especially when I got in trouble. But I can remember one of my principals always asked when I was sent to him, “Who’d you do this time?,” referring to which teacher I imitated to get sent to his office. I’d tell him, do it for him, and if he laughed I didn’t get into as much trouble. Kinda like my first critic.
AJ: Is it still fun for you?
BB: Working today is a blast, but in a different way. I’m not just aiming for laughs. It’s a career. It’s how I make a living. Although, I can’t imagine a more enjoyable way to make a living. I get the same high in front of a microphone today as I did in my early voice-over workshops.
AJ: When building a character’s voice from scratch, once you start recording the series, can you still develop the voice or is it set?
BB: Not at all. In series work, you feed the writers, and they feed you. Look at The Simpsons. The characters from that first season are very different from what they are today. Same goes for on camera. Watch the first season of All in the Family. Those characters aren’t what we eventually came to know. As a series evolves so do characters.
AJ: Are there characters you’ve recorded that you wanted to keep working on?
BB: Oh sure. And sometimes, you do! When I did Bucky for “The Emperor’s New Groove,” I never expected Disney would do a sequel, as well as the series “The Emperor’s New School.” Bucky was a one day gig for a quick gag in “New Groove.” They ran the film for a test audience who loved the character, so I was brought back a few more times for added scene. So a one day gig became much more.
AJ: Which characters are you most proud of?
BB: Well, Porky of course. ;-)
AJ: It seems like you are always on the move, whether on your teaching circuit or traveling for your one man show Bob Bergen: So Here’s the Deal!; not to mention all of the voice work you do. Do you ever have down time or vacation, or do you travel with an ISDN connection attached to your hip? (For the readers: ISDN is a type of connection that many recording studios use to transfer audio data)
BB: I actually only started taking vacations about 6 years ago. I never wanted to miss out on a gig or audition. But since one can literally take their studio with them, traveling is much easier. That said, some vacations I just vacation. I’m going to Europe this fall, and no mic will be with me! But when I travel with my one man show I can absolutely keep on working.
AJ: What does a typical workday for you look like?
BB: LOL-depends on the day. On a day with no work its laundry, The Young and the Restless, pay bills, etc. On work days I get up early, usually before 5:00am. The coffee is already made. I grab a cup and head to my office studio for my morning auditions or any work I need to do from home. If I have a session on an animated feature it’s up to an 8 hour day starting at 9:00am, so I’m out of the house by at least 7:30am. Episodic animation for TV is a 4 hour session. Commercials are typically 1-2 hours. There really isn’t a typical work day when you do voice-over. Every day is different, which is part of the fun!
AJ: Did you have any mentors in the voiceover world growing up? And what was it like to study with Daws Butler?
BB: Daws was the best! His workshop students consisted of some of the top animation actors working today: Nancy Cartwright, Mona Marshall, Corey Burton, to name a few. His workshop was 10 dollars or a handshake, whatever you happened to have. All of the class scripts were written by him, and he stressed acting and timing over voice and sound. I miss him!
Other mentors? Wow, you name it! Everyone who worked in the biz: Mel, Don Messick, June Foray, Frank Welker, and dozens more!
AJ: Where do you see the voiceover industry heading?
BB: With technology it’s getting geographically easier to pursue voice-over than it was when I was starting. Ten years ago if you’da told me that people in Iowa would have access to the same commercial copy we get in LA, NYC, or Chi, I’da said you were crazy! Today, everyone everywhere can not only have access to the same commercial copy, they can have agents. I have an agent in every port, in addition to my LA agent. Animation today is done primarily in LA. But I can see someday instead of looking at an actor through the glass of a studio, the director and producer are looking at a big screen TV with the animation actor in a studio in another town or state. Not sure when this might happen, but it doesn’t seem far fetched. Which is one of the reasons I teach my weekend animation workshops around the country. When opportunity knocks you want to be ready!
AJ: How would you change the industry if you had the power to reshape it?
BB: Wow, where do I start! Technology is a good thing. As I said, online casting resources bring voice-over opportunities to people all over the country. That’s the good news. The bad news is, it has sky rocketed the competition. Plus, a good 20-40% of what use to be union/residual paying gigs are now non union. And in some cases actors are undercutting to get the gigs. It’s really putting a damper on the ability to make a good living at voice-over. Those of us who make our living in Los Angeles make the real money in residuals. It’s really not possible to make a good living just on session fees. Plus, we get a great pension and health benefits with union work. (cartoons are both SAG and AFTRA) I know most people who live in smaller markets don’t really think about pension when it comes to voice-over. But they will be 65 one day (God willing) and will really miss that nice pension from both SAG and AFTRA.
Competition has also made it more difficult to secure agents. Those taking the non union jobs outside of LA are also shopping LA agents, and finding it hard to get one interested. That’s because so much of the work has gone away from the LA market, LA agents aren’t as quick to sign and groom newer talent. They have to work much harder these days just to keep their current roster working. If everyone around the country refused to work non union, everything would be union. But this will never happen. Most actors do not look at the big picture. They look at today. But if I could change something, it would be that all work would be union, and all actors no matter where they lived could benefit from what union work brings.
AJ: You’ve also worked with the Big Brother program, extensively; what can you tell me about your experience with the program?
BB: It’s been great! I’ve been a big brother for about 20 years for 2 boys. My first little Mark is in his mid 20s and my current little Ryan just turned 13. You get to be a kid every other week. Movies, bowling, miniature golf, etc. Plus, as the kid grows and evolves so does the relationship with them. If anyone is thinking about being a big brother, the waiting lists of kids is enormous. I work with Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles, but there are BB organizations throughout the country. It’s every other week for 2-6 hours, so it’s not a huge a time commitment as one might think. And it makes a huge difference in a kid’s life! Yours as well!
AJ: What’s something about yourself that people don’t know? Do you follow sports or music, baking or jogging, do you secretly love Brittany Spears, etc…. What are your hobbies?
BB: Well, for 5 years I was a mall Santa! From ages 18-23. I did a ton of Hanukkah parties as well, which I always found odd.
I love to cook! Love to eat!!! LOVE TIVO!!!!!!!!!!!
AJ: How many characters would you estimate you've voiced?
BB: No idea. Never counted.
AJ: You have an upcoming show here in New York, Bob Bergen: So Here’s the Deal!! What can you tell us about it?
BB: It’s the story of a nice Jewish boy who wanted to be Porky Pig. It tells of my years as a child practicing the voice, how my grandmother bought me a tape recorder, how I pursued the business, the day job I had to support myself, getting Porky, and other anecdotal stories about the business of voice-over. It’s really a follow your dream sort of thing.
AJ: Can you retell the story of when you went and saw Mel Blanc in the studio? (It’s a favorite of mine)
BB: Well, ya gotta come to the show for that!!!! ;-)
AJ: Thank you so much for speaking with us Bob! Any final words?
BB: Eh-thuh-the-eh-thuh-the-eh-thuh-That’s all folks!
Bob Bergen: So, Here's The Deal! will play at Don’t Tell Mama’s (http://www.donttellmamanyc.com/eventdetails.php?day=22&month=4&year=2009&eid=664) on April 22nd and 23rd. To make reservations call 212.757.0788 after 4 PM. Tickets are expected to sell out quickly.
Kaspar Hauser: a foundling’s opera
By Acorn JonesSomething stunning is going on; a group of young actors are lighting up the off-off Broadway scene at The Flea Theatre, where Artistic Director Jim Simpson and Producing Director Carol Ostrow are presenting Kaspar Hauser: a foundling’s opera. Kasper is composed, co-written and directed by Elizabeth Swados, and co-writer Erin Courtney, and features The Bats, the Flea’s young resident company.
Having seen and heard several of Swados’ works, this one does not disappoint, and my fandom continues. The script is lean, the score is lush, gorgeous and quirky, but most importantly, the acting is phenomenal. Now for those of you following my reviews, so far I’ve not written anything bad, a strange occurrence for a difficult-to-please skeptic like myself. But yet again, I’ve been wowed and stunned. The actors commit fully to every moment, every outlandish movement and dance and cavort like fiends from a madhouse, all the while perfectly portraying the mass of “community at large” that they represent.
Standout performances include Carly Zien, Marshall York, Hannah Shankman, Amy Jackson, Nicolas Greco, Eliza Poehlman and Adrienne Deekman. The real star of the show, and the title character is Kaspar Hauser, a masterpiece of a role played brilliantly by Preston Martin. Martins’ work is such a standout that the company must fight to stay on his wave, and the ebb and flow that is created and maintained by the full company led by Martin results in an astonishing ride for the audience. Martins’ role is similar to that of Bat Boy, but this is a role containing substance and is well thought out.
Poehlman, with a crystal voice, plays Kaspars’ lost mother and her expression of loss, longing and hope is always filled with honesty. Carly Zien, who was recently in the Flea’s production of Cato also gives a wonderful performance throughout the piece, and is an actress to watch out for in coming years. She’s tapped into something and gives the play an extra light of brilliance.
Spoiler!: The score is entrancing; just after Kaspar has been murdered, the funeral is one of the most stunning pieces of choral music, beautiful, arousing and glorious. Then they turn on a dime and become the fickle audience again always wanting the freshest news and gossip to feed their excitement.
A tiny theatre, the set is wide and shallow, but well used. Lighting, sound and costumes were all present and accounted for, and the orchestra, led by Music Director Kris Kukul accompanied the piece with great care and heart.
This is a must see. It is absolutely worth the ticket, and a great company to get to know if you aren’t already aware of them. If you don’t see anything else this year, I highly recommend Kaspar Hauser. Swados is one of New York’s top composers, and once you hear her music, you’ll understand why.
Kaspar Hauser plays through March 28th at the Flea Theatre, 41 White Street, where you can also see the world premier of Itamar Moses Love/Stories (or But You Will Get Used to It), which has extended to the 30th.
ArtCo Interview with Jamie McGonnigal
Jamie McGonnigal is a producer, director, actor, voice actor and has also been an activist working with many charity organizations. He is a recipient of the 2006 NETC Regional Award, for his charitable work in the theatre world. As the founding Artistic Producer of The World AIDS Day Concerts and as a Founding Producer of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and named an “impresario” by Time Out New York, he has produced and/or directed more than eighty events since 2003 for The Matthew Shepard Foundation, God's Love We Deliver, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Parkinson's Resource Organization, The National AIDS Fund, Opening Act, The Pied Piper Children's Theatre, Victims of Hurricane Katrina, Free Arts NYC, and Victims of the 2008 Midwest Flooding. In 2007, McGonnigal travelled to South Africa and Namibia for seven weeks as an ambassador for the United Nations' HERO campaign assisting remote AIDS-affected communities. Among Broadway’s brightest stars appearing in Jamie’s productions are Betty Buckley, Chita Rivera, Jennifer Holliday, Stephen Schwartz, Sutton Foster, Max Von Essen, Laura Benanti and dozens more.
In response to the passing of California's Proposition 8, Jamie began discussions with several leaders in the LGBT Community and started the website http://www.talkaboutequality.org/ Additionally, he has become involved with Join The Impact NYC and was one of the organizers and speakers at the Times Square Rally for Marriage Equality on December 20, 2008.
His work as a voice actor for animated features include television appearances on 4Kids Entertainment, Fox, Cartoon Network, Nicktoons and The WB. Jamie was nominated for an American Anime Award for Best Male Comic Actor for his performance in Magic User's Club.
In response to the passing of California's Proposition 8, Jamie began discussions with several leaders in the LGBT Community and started the website http://www.talkaboutequality.org/ Additionally, he has become involved with Join The Impact NYC and was one of the organizers and speakers at the Times Square Rally for Marriage Equality on December 20, 2008.
His work as a voice actor for animated features include television appearances on 4Kids Entertainment, Fox, Cartoon Network, Nicktoons and The WB. Jamie was nominated for an American Anime Award for Best Male Comic Actor for his performance in Magic User's Club.
A.J: Jamie, in researching for this interview, I’m finding information about you everywhere; you even have your own wikipedia page! You are involved with so many projects: Without asking the obvious “how do you find the time?” starter question, I do see people filling their days with activity after activity to pass the time until they’re able to live in their “dream life”. It seems though, from an outsiders’ perspective, that you are living your “dream life” with the work you do, and not waiting for something to arrive; making your own ad hoc creation and incorporating what’s in front of you into your life. Is this true?
J.McG: Wow! That’s a really interesting question. It’s funny actually. I never really thought I’d be doing much of any of what I’m doing now in my life. About 90% of it has come as a complete surprise to me. I am absolutely living my dream life. I have several jobs as you’ve mentioned and every one of them is a cause for joy, for hardship, for excitement, disappointment and success. You can’t ask for much more than that. I don’t often think about it, but when I do, I’m always very grateful. It’s always felt like God (in the most generic sense of the word) has been throwing these stones along my path, telling me to take leaps to each one. I don’t know where the next stone is going to land, but I haven’t been lead astray thus far, so I’m just going to keep trusting it.
A.J: Around 2007 you acted as an ambassador for the UN’s HERO campaign in South Africa and Namibia to assist communities affected by AIDS, and have also been on the Board of Directors for the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation, among other charities, foundations and good will organizations. How did your involvement with these groups come about, how has your experience with them influenced you to start www.talkaboutequality.org and what are your plans and hopes for the organization?
J.McG: Thanks for asking! To be honest, having been raised a Unitarian, service to others has always been a part of my make-up. I’ve just been lucky that I’ve been able to combine what I love to do with helping others. As I said before, I never knew things would turn out the way they have, but I’m grateful for it. Having worked in Africa with children who are just happy to be alive, it puts things into great perspective. It’s all about “The Butterfly Effect” – the smallest thing we do can make the biggest difference half a world away. It’s exciting to have a President in office who is so motivational in getting people to help in their own communities. That’s how change really comes.
Talk About Equality was born after California passed Proposition 8, ripping the rights away from thousands of men and women there. Harvey Milk said “They’ll vote for us 2-to-1 if they know one of us.” And in respect for that, I’ve created a group and site where people can find ways to talk about what it is we are fighting for. I’ve received a lot of support and hope to see it grow into something where we sponsor talking sessions in cities and towns across the country. Minds and hearts are changing every day, and the ONLY way that happens is by talking about it. Not screaming, arguing or fighting, but talking.
A.J: Aside from your direct work aiding these organizations you also have produced many concert events, usually for charitable causes. Last years Flopz n’ Cuts 4 benefited Animal Haven, a no-kill animal shelter, adoption center and sanctuary in and around New York. http://www.animalhavenshelter.org/ With arts organizations in flux everywhere and so many theatre companies closing down, why do you think artists continue to try and benefit those other organizations and raise awareness for them before turning to help themselves?
J.McG: As far as theatre companies closing down, it’s a tragedy. I hate to sound like a conservative here, because it’s the last thing I am, but EVERYTHING’s closing down right now – theatre companies, banks, huge retail chains, giant manufacturers. Obviously non-profits are taking a huge hit right now and have been since before this recession officially began. I kind of saw it as a bit of a sign as the arts organizations are the first things that begin to take a hit when there is a slow economy. I mean, we lost 16 Broadway shows last month – some of them long-running shows. To me, this is a sign that something has to change if we want the industry to survive.
For a family of 4 to go see a Broadway show now, it can cost $1000.00 ($500 for tickets, $300 for dinner, $200 to drive in to the city, park, buy souvenir programs, etc.-it adds up). So something needs to change. The balloon has burst and yet most Broadway producers aren’t rethinking things, they’re still charging $120 and up for a ticket and they are suffering for it. Now- as far as performers volunteering to help other organizations in the current environment – Broadway actors are some of the busiest, most put-upon hard workers in this country. All we see is the final bow, getting in the car that takes you home after signing autographs…but there’s a lot more to it. There are classes, auditions, fittings, workouts, TV appearances, benefits, and their own personal lives to deal with – it’s not an easy lot. And with all that going on, I have excellent luck at getting extraordinary performers to say yes to my concerts. They are an extraordinarily generous lot of people. And they are helping arts organizations as well as donating their time for children in Africa, animals in need of homes and any other charity they find close to their hearts.
A.J: Let’s change directions and talk about cartoons. You are a voice actor; what do we know you from?
J.McG: Okay, you would know me from shows such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and 5Ds, Viva Pinata, Weiss Kreuz, Magic User’s Club, The Gokusen. I’ve been pretty lucky in the work I’ve had since I started this all about 9 years ago.
A.J: What are some misconceptions that people have about voice acting?
J.McG: As far as being a voice actor goes, it’s quite rare to find a voice actor who wasn’t an actor first. In New York, pretty much all of the voice actors I know have stage experience and many went to school or had other training for it. Fans often expect that because they are really good at doing silly voices and LOVE anime that they are going to break into the industry and have a long, happy, healthy career. This just isn’t true. It’s a question we answer at every panel, and some people just don’t want to hear it!
A.J: What’s important to you when working on a role and what do you try to accomplish?
J.McG: When working on a role for me, consistency is really important. I may record a half episode one day, and come back a week later to finish it. Sometimes, I may have a little cold when I come back or I may not have the same energy I had as the first day I recorded and it takes some work to find that place again. It’s a very precision-oriented craft. And eventually, it comes to be second-nature, but some days it can be hard.
A.J: What about voice acting still surprises you as you continue to work in the field?
J.McG: Well, to be honest, the fandom surprises me a lot. Not like I’m a huge star or anything, but I’ve done my share of work. It still shocks me when someone knows who I am from what I’ve voiced. I was at a department store in New Jersey about a year ago and I handed my credit card to the cashier. He all of a sudden became a big ole fan boy and started shaking and getting all excited. At first I was afraid he was having a seizure and asked if he was alright and then he asked me if I was the voice of Takeo from Magic User’s Club. I said yes and he screamed. It was an utterly hilarious situation for me and I think one of the first times outside of a con where I’d been recognized. What he doesn’t know is that he made my day far more than I made his.
A.J: Ok, give me the run down of your NY Comic Con experience: Likes, dislikes, any major geek-out moments for you?
J.McG: First of all, there were like 200 special guests, so I was amazed at Guest Relations Guru, Peter Tatara. He always does an incredible job at making sure every guest is taken care of. In his eyes, I was just as important as the dude from HEROES - definitely not as cute, but just as important. J The con was a blast, the turnout for our voice acting panel was insane and what a great group of people and questions we had. I go to cons all around the country and the New York cons always bring out the most thoughtful, industry–related questions. Sometimes people ask questions that we the actors find funny and we respond accordingly. But I want to make sure the fans know that although we joke, we always respect the questions and the honest interest in what we do.
We had one question about how we feel when someone tells us they don’t like our work or some show we worked on, and Tom Wayland and I replied (somewhat comically) saying that oftentimes, fans will ask or say something that may be inappropriate and the best thing to do is to say it to yourself first and imagine what your own response would be…if it’s not a good response, then maybe you shouldn’t say it. I think the poor kid who asked the question thought we were mad at him, but I assure you, it’s an important question and the more people we can tell “just be polite” to, the better off we’ll all be!
And I had one geek-out moment. My friend Amy, from high school and her husband Ty came to the con with me and we found ourselves getting autographs from Greatest American Hero, William Katt. He was a very sweet guy and talked to us for 15 minutes. I love him. Amy was fighting back tears the whole time, so Ty and I made fun of her the rest of the day. She’s also preggers so she could easily dismiss it as hormones. But I know it was really all about the Greatest American Hero.
A.J: Where do you see Theatre and Animation, respectively, fitting into popular culture? How are they foraging ahead, fitting in or falling behind in the mainstream? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Can they learn from each other or are they too different to compare?
J.McG: Interesting question. I think they are extraordinarily different mediums, but both being the entertainment industry, both are suffering greatly in the current economic crisis. As I said before, we had 16 Broadway shows close last month and countless regional theatres are closing around the country. In my opinion, as far as theatre goes, we need to make a drastic change to the model of how profits are made if we are going to survive. Theatre has become such a luxury item for people and they just can’t afford it anymore. And the saddest part is, I don’t know if the current leaders in the theatre industry have the intellect and foresight to carry off some of the changes that need to occur. Many still look at the internet as a silly fad and are still throwing millions into printing posters that no one ever sees. It’s astounding.
Now as far as animation goes, it was an industry that was in trouble before the recession even began. I’m speaking mostly of the Japanese Anime industry, but I’m sure there’s some cross over. With the evolution of bit torrents, youtube and downloading, it has cut production of anime by more than half. What happens when an anime is produced in Japan is that it is looked at for it’s viability in the US. If DVD sales (which is the primary form of income for this industry in the US), are horrible, then the anime simply doesn’t get made. Less and less is being produced over there now and therefore, even fewer titles make it across the ocean. Take the small percent that make it over here and then understand that due to rising costs, even FEWER titles end up being dubbed and you have our current problems. Very few titles, very few jobs, whole lotta actors with no work. So if this sounds like a soap box attempt to get people to stop illegally downloading anime, it is. If you do, you are singlehandedly responsible for the death of this industry. Sounds severe, but it’s true. It amazes me that there are people out there that don’t think anything of it and truly believe in their heart of hearts that they are owed this for free. The result unfortunately, is rising costs and less being produced.
A.J: What are your upcoming projects?
J.McG: Well, I have Flopz n’ Cutz at Joe’s Pub on March 15th, I’m also helping out with a concert happening at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre on February 23rd. It’s a star-studding event called “Defying Inequality” and is benefiting several organizations who are fighting for marriage equality. You can check out the info at http://www.defyinginequality.com/. And finally, I’m doing some work for Garden State Equality’s 2009 Legends Dinner on February 28th http://www.gardenstateequality.org/.
On top of that, I’m working on Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds and the Season 12 of Pokemon, playing a new character who is featured in some of the Pokemon games but makes his animated debut at the end of Season 11.
A.J: What excites you about the future, and about the present?
J.McG: What excites me is finding equality in this country. Finally living in a place where kids growing up in Montana and New Mexico and Arkansas can grow up and realize that there is nothing wrong with them and that they too can have a happy, healthy and vibrant life, unencumbered by the struggles we are facing now. You know, a little Jewish boy who gets picked on in school can go home to his Dad and his Dad will comfort him with stories of their brave struggle as a people and their extraordinary successes as a culture. A little Black girl who gets picked on can run home to her Mom and learn of the amazing civil rights battles she fought and of their rich culture. Where does a little boy or girl who discovers they are gay run home to? This struggle has nothing to do with me being able to get married. This is about those kids who have no one to run home to.
The present is always the present and it’s always exciting. Making the choices we need to make to be the people we want to be is a constant task, and for me an exciting one.
A.J: Any final thoughts you’d like to share?
J.McG: My brain is tired.
Thank you Jamie! Jamie’s Defying Inequality will take place at the Gershwin Theatre on February 23rd and Flopz n’ Cutz Volume 5 will take place March 15th at Joe’s Pub. http://www.defininginequality.com/ http://www.joespub.com/
http://www.jamiemcg.com/
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