Theatricaling

Oh my... so! Let's blog some shit! Yeah!

What have I been doing? Uncle Vanya, that's what, five times a week for the past four weeks, that's how much. After tonight's show, a young guy introduced himself to me, and complimenting my guitar playing, asked "so how is doing this show for you? Stressful?" and I said "stressful? Shit no. I hang out, play some guitar, chill out back stage, do my three lines, play some more guitar, hang out some more, do a few cues off stage and then have a beer." And that's the way life should be. My friend Anne, who's playing Nanny, said to me the other night "you're probably ready to play a bigger role now, right?" And thinking about it, I've made so many little discoveries with the music from night to night, and with my few little interactions on stage, as "small" as my part has been I've got nothing to complain about. Especially with my guitar playing... I've gotten to be so much better of a musician from this show. There's something very pure and simple about jamming out on a few russian folk tunes for thirty minutes every night, solo on stage. You really do develop a different level of chops playing in front of people, which despite the fact that I've been playing since I was 17 (which is what, six or seven years now?) I haven't done that much of in my guitar playing career. So that's been really satisfying. And hearing myself develop and change how I approach the music night after night, finding new nuances, new variations, new ideas in these simple melodies. Again, totally solo. And in front of crowds of thirty people, which forces you to focus and when an idea gets tired move on from it because even though it's a very private moment on stage, ultimately I'm performing for a room full of people. Among other things, I hope it's really solidified my confidence as a musician. As an actor, I have no problem doing my thing in front of people because that's what it's all about. But like I said, I haven't done a lot of live music performance before this and the times in the past when I had I used to get surprisingly nervous, believe it or not. But I think I have my sea legs under me. And it helps I played these tunes for the entire duration of the last run of the show, and now coming back to them and playing them for four more weeks I really know them in and out.

And I've discovered so many new things in the process about playing the classical guitar, for the first three weeks of the run completely with my fingers, a technique I've become light years more comfortable with (again that thing of chops from playing in front of people) and now this week I've started bringing my very anachronistic plastic, bright red "jazz" style guitar pick on stage with me (jazz style in this case refers to the dimensions of the pick which are very small and subsequently make it ideal for the kind of precise technical stuff you'd be doing in a jazz setting, that's it) and discovering brand new things in the process.

So that's all been very fun. Don't tell the cast, but I've been meaning to sit down and record all of this music at home to make a nice CD to give everyone as a memento of our experience. Oh wait probably some of my cast will read this... well don't tell those other people! Or do, and then they'll be expecting it and I'll be forced to put up or shut up and get it done this week because only five more shows to go, oh my god!

In other news, I've begun auditioning for things as opportunities that fit within my schedule have been springing up. In between the relatively close proximity of this show with Rosencratz and Guildenstern and that show with Three Sisters, I haven't been able to audition for a lot of things I would have liked to have gone out for, but oh well. And now I'm doing the winter intensive at Shakespeare and Company, which is very, very exciting, but limits even further what I'm able to audition for. But, now things are coming down the pipeline that don't start rehearsing until February, and as they trickle through Stagesource I've been responding. What are they? I don't feel like saying, because two of them I didn't get and the third isn't until next weekend and I don't want to go and jinx it!

Other than that, with Uncle Vanya wrapping up I can look forward to getting out and seeing more of the local theatre (with a Boston accent, theatuh)! This afternoon, I made it out to 44 Plays for 44 Presidents from Bad Habit Productions and directed by my buddy, Jeff Mosser! Who I interviewed about it! So I was pretty excited, because the last show I saw from Bad Habit in this same space, Much Ado About Nothing With A Twist was awesome so I'm a fan of the company and of Jeff. How was it?Well, I can't be critically distant because it's Jeff, but I liked it! It brought up some really interesting questions about how we interpret history and also the darker epochs that reveal themselves of colonial aggression, genocide, racism and war that make up the fabric of American history. I mean, have you ever thought that essentially the entire political climate beginning from the decision to allow slavery to be abolished in the North and continue in the South was one big build up to the Civil War? One of the most violent conflicts in world history up that point? Have you? Well I did after seeing this show! Oh and it was very funny and entertaining. So I recommend checking it out! Here's a tagline for Bad Habit, "Both fun and thought provoking, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents is a People's HILARIOUS History of the United States!" There you go! Use it, I dare you.

Making It Work For You (!)

Tonight was a return of sorts to my work with my teacher from this summer, the wonderful Yo-el Cassell. I was in a position to take one class this fall, and I thought about doing the Company One acting workshop I did last fall, but I really wanted to continue the work I started in my movement class so Modern Dance at Boston Ballet on Thursdays seemed like the correct choice for where I'm at right now.

A decision which was reaffirmed during our session tonight. It was myself, seven or eight other students (including my friend Mary from Swimming in the Shallows whom I turned onto the class), Yo-el, and a percussionist to provide accompaniment. Just being in the room with Yo-el is fun and inspiring. He brings a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm to his classes, and just a general sense of fun which makes it easy to leave wanting more... unless you're exhausted and dripping with sweat, as I was at the end of this particular session.

It was very interesting seeing Yo-el work in this new context. Over the summer I was in movement for actors which brought with it a particular emphasis and energy from the presence of that particular group, whereas this is modern dance as offered by the sort of continuing education extension of Boston Ballet. So it was clear we had some serious ballet students, some more intermediate people and of course myself the stumbling beginner with near to none dance experience. And the emphasis on this class, in this session, was definitely on dance. We did some free work certainly, which as usual came most easily to me, but much of the class was taken up learning sequences of movements in sort of a Laban mode, neither of which are my forte but I made myself push forward and give it my best shot.

Because one of the key phrases to Yo-el's teachings is "make it work for you" and I think I started to do that. Rather than trying to imitate the sequence of movements as closely as possible and focus on the specifics I allowed myself to give over to the general flow of the actions... or I sort of started to, anyway. Part of the problem I've always had executing dance routines is they put me in my head. "OK feet there, turn like that, arms... where? Oh we're at the part where we kneel OK now wait how do I get up? OK just get up, keep going" and that's more or less where I was at because unlike text I can't hold in a lot of movements on short notice and I'm simply not familiar with the vocabulary. But then after a few go rounds I was comfortable enough to say "fuck it" and just go with it.

Fuck it, just go with it. That's a mantra. A good mantra. One which I'll need as I continue my work. I did feel myself getting some things I struggled with over the summer, particularly in the area of Laban work. And I'm sure I'll continue to do so when I'm able to make it to the class.

And then this weekend, I'm taking a two day intensive training in Lecoq movement technique which I know next to nothing about but will know more about very soon. Here we go! Fuck it, just go with it. Fuck it go with it. Fuck it just go...