Here’s a terrific short film (that co-stars a very talented actress and good friend) that’s a great example of some really extraordinary acting on film: The Drought Wow. And who says acting is only for the young? Who is that guy…?
I like to think of the process of rehearsal for an actor as one that is predominantly about taking in and for the performances that follow one of living out. Looking at it from afar you can see how creating theater is a lot like breathing.
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When rehearsing an actor should focus on creating an internalized gravity for the character. Take in everything, from everywhere. Listen to the director, be accepting of what the other characters are giving you, let your body absorb the physical differences between you and those of your character. Throughout it all be mindful of your discoveries and take heed to what feelings come up in you as you plumb the depths and angles of the internal reactions of your character from all of those sources. Gather it all in and let it ingest within the character, freely eliminating anything that doesn’t feel absolutely truthful and allowing all that does to become infused into the core of who the character is and how they react to the world.
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When you then begin to perform the show, you will have a powerful touchstone for your character from which you can always count on. What started as a crutch in rehearsal is now an anchor for you in performance. You will have created a strong grounding in who they are that will allow you to Live out the story of the character with greater authenticity. And there is nothing more riveting to see on stage than one authentic moment being lived out right before your eyes…
Maybe you want everyone who’s interested to connect with you. But probably not the best idea. Better to control your exposure especially on Facebook as it’s usually the first place someone goes to when they are interested in you creatively…or otherwise.
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Here’s the most current guide to making sure that your Facebook page is giving out just the right amount of information that you want the world at large to see: 2011 Definitive Facebook Lockdown Guide. Worth a few minutes now to save who knows how much time later…
This interview with Peter O’Toole appeared in the New York Times. Fantastic stuff from a “real actor.” Enjoy: Peter O’Toole speaks his mind about theater directors and more…
There was a notice in Variety this past Saturday of the death of Irene Gilbert. Most people don’t know Irene but she was the co-founder of the Los Angeles branch of the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory, arguably one of the most influential teaching organizations in theater and film in the last 20 years…which, by the way, is about how long Irene ran it. That’s a pretty cool testimonial to a great artist who started her career as an actor and then became a teacher. She also produced and directed shows, but mostly at the conservatory’s theater as that place was her baby.
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When I attended the school, I remember hearing other students remark how sad it was that she “gave up acting” to become a teacher. But I don’t think she ever really felt that way. In the end, her greatest talent was not a single performance but supporting and impacting the craft of thousands of actors who have in turn performed for millions.
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Maybe there’s a lesson there for all of us. That where you begin as an artist sets you in motion but it’s where you end up defines the artist you truly are.
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Where are you on your journey to discovering the artist you are?
I recently attended a dance performance with my daughter who is an actor and a pretty serious dancer. The Parsons Dance show at the Joyce Theater here in NYC was simply amazing. Six pieces performed in two acts with each piece bringing different groupings of dancers with dramatically different costumes, lighting, music and, of course, choreography.
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Afterwards, in the taxi ride home, we talked about the all the dances and what we liked about each one. She told me which were her favorites with the main reason being that she loved the “story” of those in particular. Story. Right.
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Story, ironically enough, is far too frequently overlooked in the rehearsal process of creating theater. Story informs everything else; set, lighting, sound, costumes, direction, character. But what can be easy to miss is how every scene of every act of every show has it’s own singular story.
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In your work as a theater artist ask yourself “what’s the story” of this part of the broader story of the show. As you breakdown a script and go through the rehearsal process think about what is the story of any given beat. What’s the story here and how is it different from before? Be aware of how it shifts throughout the piece. That’s what makes theater as exciting and engaging a medium as it can be because we see the story change and evolve as it unfolds before us. In real-time. Like life.
Michael Allinson passed away on December 29th just one day short of his 90th birthday. He was the best actor I ever personally knew.
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Now and again, you meet someone who is different from the other people you know. Everyone’s unique but this person just strikes you as being in another class from the others. Michael Allinson was one of those people for me.
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I met Michael ten years ago when he came backstage after a performance of a play I was acting in. He was dashing for a actor almost 80 years old. He had first appeared on Broadway in 1960, taking over the lead role from Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. He was superbly accomplished, impeccably dressed and held a wit and charm that came from a world that no longer exists. He was simply an actor’s actor.
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I saw him perform only a few times and always on a small stage far, far from the theaters of Broadway where he performed thousands of times in the heyday of the Great White Way. I saw him in AR Gurney’s play, The Dining Room, done in a church basement on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where the house consisted of metal, folding chairs. The set was sparse, the lighting adequate and the other actors passable. But Michael was fantastic. When he came on stage the entire performance took on a new level of motion and sound and intention and emotion. And it was just marvelous.
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The thing that I learned from Michael is that the stage one appears upon doesn’t matter. Living the life of an theatrical artist, be it actor or director or writer…is an amazing way to live a life. It may not be the fastest way to the bank but it’s a great way to live a life. As Michael once said to me over lunch in the Grill Room, “What good is it to be rich if there’s no applause in it! It’s great to have a Broadway dressing room but the front row of the audience in the church basement is exactly the same ten feet away.”
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So now Michael is off and on to other stages. He no doubt chose stage right…
Frequently, people make judgments of others based on what that person has accomplished. Accomplishments are simply the results of actions or choices that people have made. Be it winning an Olympic medal, being great at scrabble or surviving a life-threatening crisis; what you’ve done gives others an understanding into who you are. 
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So, what are the major accomplishments of your character? What does that tell you about them? What does it tell the audience?
Hmmm…
Last night I went to a yoga class (if you’re an actor, I highly recommend it as nothing else develops better muscle control of your instrument) and as I was sitting on my rubber mat noticed how specifically differently people “prepare” for the class to begin. Some are actively stretching hard. Others are slouching, presumably conserving their effort until the instructor instructs them that it’s time to begin. Some are clearly inwardly and intensely focused while others are scanning the room looking to connect, perhaps with another beginner.
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And I thought, how would the character that I recently took on in play Bedroom Farce (by Alan Ayckbourn) behave at the start of a yoga class?
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It can be a really interesting exercise as you develop a character to put them into situations that are outside the world of the play or script and that you personally experience. Then look for the differences. Therein lies the character outside of you.
I always loved Halloween as a kid. I remember hearing other kids saying they liked Christmas the best because you got presents (we had already eliminated the option of one’s own birthday as that was a given.) Yeah, presents. Fine. But would you rather get a new pair of Levi’s or some lame new board game…or would you like to dress up in the craziest costume you could imagine, including, and of course preferably, with fake blood? And then go out into the world in character acquiring as much candy as possible? What’s it gonna be…candy canes or serial killer? I mean, c’mon. Let’s be real. You can get that other stuff anytime (okay, maybe not the candy canes but no one really likes candy canes anyway and they can’t hold a candle to mini-Snicker bars!). You can’t really show up dressed as a swashbuckling pirate or craven witch on Thanksgiving. At least you can’t if you live anywhere else but Manhattan.
So, I have to say that I throughly enjoyed a trip through a really great haunted house here in NYC that just opened called Nightmare: Superstitions. The production team there has been doing it for years and knows how to do it right. Over two dozen separate “rooms” that you weave your way through, some in absolute darkness, as ghouls and scary creatures leap out at you from from time to time. It’s theater of the macabre but theater none the less!
But for the actors working as murderous lunatic, suicidal patient or agitated ax murderer, it’s got to be a kick-ass experience. To get paid to run around in nothing but a large diaper-like loincloth is tougher to do than you’d think. (I’m not kidding about that either as I once took a role as a Greek messenger whose only costume was a loincloth and a stick. And the stick was little!) I was really impressed with the actors as they were so committed to their characters, be it a ghoulish psychiatric nurse or a maniacal circus clown. The never broke from character once. Awesome.
Costumes aside, breaking the fourth wall to connect and speak directly to the audience for short periods of time when acting in a play is a not an easy thing to pull off well. You lose that safety mechanism of forgetting about the audience and you become very aware that they are all staring at you. You know this of course because when you break the fourth wall you are now looking at them. Suddenly, they’re not “over there” past the edge of the stage. Now they’re in the scene with you. And that feels dangerous. It’s unpredictable and you can’t rehearse it. It’s like rehearsing a space shuttle launch…you can practice all you want but it just ain’t gonna be the same as when you light the rocket fuel! That audience didn’t go through rehearsal with you so you don’t know what they may do. There’s always the chance there will be someone who fancies himself an actor in the crowd and who will inevitably determine that those three pre-show drinks were a good idea after all and having that guy on stage start talking to him makes this a perfect time for his theatrical debut.
I think there are two key things in breaking the fourth wall. The first is the ability to absolutely stay connected to your character and to have a good understanding of how your character reacts to being seen in the way that they are by the audience. The second is to have a clear idea of the character that the audience represents. They could be a jury to which a lawyer is speaking. They could be God. Or they could be an actual audience at the theater. In any event, you need to know how your character feels about being seen and heard and why they are doing so with this “other” character.
The deranged, psychotic mental patient had done the work when he screamed to me as I was leaving the room where he was lashed in a straitjacket, “I know you can see me! Don’t leave me! Help me! Help me to get out before I kill again…!”