Here I am! In my dorm room thing! With my roommate! His name is Paul and he's very nice. I joked with my brother over dinner, "what's the worst that could happen, he could be a chronic masturbator" and so far so good on that front. I went with him to wander around some and see there was also wandering around the hallways to meet, of which there were several people, all also very nice. And some nice dorm like facilities, one lounge with a pool table and couches, another with a kitchen, several emptyish rooms with gym mats or what have you, I guess for rehearsals? I don't know! You know what else I don't know? My sonnet! But I'm taking a break from memorizing to type this blog post. Since I can't really do any podcasting from here in Lenox, given that Jesse and all my recording equipment is on the other side of the state (although I did bring a microphone and my portable recording interface thing, as well as a guitar, so maybe I'll try and set down some music at some point). Usually, as perhaps you've noticed, I'll blog more while I'm doing a show or taking a class, and since I'll spend the next month doing Shakespeare, Shakespeare and more Shakespeare, here's to having stuff to blog about!
Oh, which by the way, here's some shit to blog about: I was cast in a show! With Company One! It's She Kills Monsters! I'm very excited! It's been a goal of mine to work with Company One since I started seriously acting in Boston, because they do really good, cool stuff a lot of the time, and it's a good stepping stone into further paid acting work on the theatre scene. Come to think of it, this will be my third paying theatre gig in a row, which is pretty cool. I'm particularly excited that it'll be with Shira Milikowski, who's work I saw and enjoyed in the Lily's Revenge, and that it will be in the context of this particularly funny, ass kicking, heart felt script.
So basically, my life is perfect. For the next month I'll be hanging out in Lenox doing Shakespeare ten hours a day, then when I get back I'll be in a show which is exactly where I want to be, doing what I want to be doing.
I've met a handful of other participants while I've been here, everybody seems fun and cool and on my wave length which is nice. I started quoting Shakespeare lines at people and thought "this is going to be fun!" Which it will be.
And that's my roommate, who I over heard saying he's about to go to bed so I'll sign off and return to memorizing. Until I blog again! Which will be soon. Just you wait.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Life (is a dream) of Pi
This evening I went with my family after doing presents and eating Christmas dinner to see Life of Pi in 3D at the AMC Loews in Downtown Boston, a film I'd read about based on a book people had told me about but which I'd never read, and I'm still processing the experience.
As a non religious person it spoke to me deeply about the meaning and level of importance in people's lives and how it helps them comprehend and accept both the beauty and the brutality of the natural world and the human experience.
And... I don't know, I can't summarize the themes of the film any more meaningfully than Ang Lee's images, especially experienced in 3D in a crowded theatre full of people. So if you can before it's pushed out completely from theaters try and see the film, OK? I can't speak for the book, but I can speak for Ang Lee as a film maker of great poetry, the film as one of the most effective blendings of real life visuals and special effects I've encountered, and the central performance as perhaps my favorite film performance so far this year (allowing that I haven't seen Lincoln and apparently Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor, but I think we all already knew that).
For it's immersive and striking use of 3D to develop a compelling story as told by a recognized film maker an immediate comparison that comes to mind is Hugo, Martin Scorceses' film from last year and also his first foray into 3D and one of the first films after Avatar that people went around seeing it was enhanced the experience to see it in that format. Except for me, Hugo was completely artificial, from it's visuals which were completely computer animated to it's performances and it's sentiment it felt calculated to the point of maudlin inauthenticity compared to Life of Pi. And mind you, Hugo is a different film with a very different message and is fundamentally supposed to be the film maker's love letter to the art of film making or whatever it was I read in reviews of the film and am parroting back.
But Life of Pi for me spoke to the depth of the human experience, and the search for meaning against a back drop of brutality, beauty and the omni present drive to survive whatever horrible things transpire. And ultimately the film for me was about the role of religion and mythology in making the harsh discordance of our experiences palatable and understandable.
Which again, as a non religious person, really spoke to me. Especially because, repeating myself, being a non religious person that's something I don't get or understand... being able to place your total faith in a power greater than yourself or in the idea that a power greater than you or your conception exists and entering into rituals that reaffirm that feeling and it being the fundamental thing from which you draw meaning or the power to go on living or whatever the purpose religion serves for any individual. It's super foreign to me. But unlike some religious people who may disdain it or find it distasteful... I enjoy seeing an instance of this wherein it's celebrated with such beauty and sensitivity, and it reminds me of the argument I always want to articulate in favor of religion that being that it's inspired so much art work of incredible, breath taking beauty.
I mean, right? Come on other atheists, Handel's messiah? The sistene chapel? Examples of spiritually informed art not from Western Culture... uh, the pyramids! That's something! Buddhist art too! Yeah, all incredible works of art the experience of which has enriched the human experience for literally countless lives across generations, you have to admit that's worthwhile. And even if religion is a source for a lot of problems, it can be a worth while lens through which to consider the world even if it's foreign to you or you've chosen to distance yourself from it because it was the lens through which so, so much of the human experience has been considered through out human history, right?
As an atheist trying to understanding the role and the experience of religion, I can have faith in at least that much.
As a non religious person it spoke to me deeply about the meaning and level of importance in people's lives and how it helps them comprehend and accept both the beauty and the brutality of the natural world and the human experience.
And... I don't know, I can't summarize the themes of the film any more meaningfully than Ang Lee's images, especially experienced in 3D in a crowded theatre full of people. So if you can before it's pushed out completely from theaters try and see the film, OK? I can't speak for the book, but I can speak for Ang Lee as a film maker of great poetry, the film as one of the most effective blendings of real life visuals and special effects I've encountered, and the central performance as perhaps my favorite film performance so far this year (allowing that I haven't seen Lincoln and apparently Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor, but I think we all already knew that).
For it's immersive and striking use of 3D to develop a compelling story as told by a recognized film maker an immediate comparison that comes to mind is Hugo, Martin Scorceses' film from last year and also his first foray into 3D and one of the first films after Avatar that people went around seeing it was enhanced the experience to see it in that format. Except for me, Hugo was completely artificial, from it's visuals which were completely computer animated to it's performances and it's sentiment it felt calculated to the point of maudlin inauthenticity compared to Life of Pi. And mind you, Hugo is a different film with a very different message and is fundamentally supposed to be the film maker's love letter to the art of film making or whatever it was I read in reviews of the film and am parroting back.
But Life of Pi for me spoke to the depth of the human experience, and the search for meaning against a back drop of brutality, beauty and the omni present drive to survive whatever horrible things transpire. And ultimately the film for me was about the role of religion and mythology in making the harsh discordance of our experiences palatable and understandable.
Which again, as a non religious person, really spoke to me. Especially because, repeating myself, being a non religious person that's something I don't get or understand... being able to place your total faith in a power greater than yourself or in the idea that a power greater than you or your conception exists and entering into rituals that reaffirm that feeling and it being the fundamental thing from which you draw meaning or the power to go on living or whatever the purpose religion serves for any individual. It's super foreign to me. But unlike some religious people who may disdain it or find it distasteful... I enjoy seeing an instance of this wherein it's celebrated with such beauty and sensitivity, and it reminds me of the argument I always want to articulate in favor of religion that being that it's inspired so much art work of incredible, breath taking beauty.
I mean, right? Come on other atheists, Handel's messiah? The sistene chapel? Examples of spiritually informed art not from Western Culture... uh, the pyramids! That's something! Buddhist art too! Yeah, all incredible works of art the experience of which has enriched the human experience for literally countless lives across generations, you have to admit that's worthwhile. And even if religion is a source for a lot of problems, it can be a worth while lens through which to consider the world even if it's foreign to you or you've chosen to distance yourself from it because it was the lens through which so, so much of the human experience has been considered through out human history, right?
As an atheist trying to understanding the role and the experience of religion, I can have faith in at least that much.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Holiday Blog Post (prelude to training
I'm writing this from my mother's laptop in my parent's house, taking a moment to appreciate the luxuries implied by both, that I have a house within easy reach, with parents and a brother, heat, electricity, running water, food and computers to visit over Christmas.
I think that sense of gratitude was an important theme for me in 2012, I certainly blogged about it more than just on Thanksgiving the obligatory occassion in which we all take note that we could be much worse off. Perhaps it's inappropriate to frame it that way, but it's true. Whatever your situation you could be far more destitute than you are now, just by virtue of the fact that you're able to read this and therefore you either own or have access to a computer, do you ever think about that shit? Truth.
Other than that, I'm grateful to have my parents, both of whom are in their sixties and who one day I will not have, also truthful. And my brother, who's only here a few times a year now that he's down in Columbus which is a much further trek than where he used to live in New York.
And that I'm here with Adia, who I'll miss terribly (as well as all my friends who are with me in spirit) while I'm off at Shakespeare summer camp... well, winter camp, or whatever, for the month of January. For which I leave on either Friday or Saturday, it's still being negotiated when exactly I'll do that. And then I'll be gone for an entire month, away away away from the real world, how's that shit? Pretty wild man. I wonder how I'll feel coming back from all that time doing Shakespeare, Linklater, Alexander, and all the rest of the stuff they teach you.
I'm really excited. And I don't tend to get excited about things easily, to be honest... towards most things I feel a weary, vague anxiety much of the time. No that's not true, I still get excited. And I'm excited about this. Because I love acting! I love training, I love the study of the craft. Almost as much as I love getting up and doing it. But I really, really do appreciate those aspects of it, but I've never been in a true, full out conversatory enviornment where I was able to live and breathe acting. And from all the people I've talked to who have done it, I've gotten the impression that the intensive is a life changing experience and how many of those do we get to go through, as artists or otherwise?
So just a few more days of real life, then it's off to Shakespeare camp, and I can't wait.
I think that sense of gratitude was an important theme for me in 2012, I certainly blogged about it more than just on Thanksgiving the obligatory occassion in which we all take note that we could be much worse off. Perhaps it's inappropriate to frame it that way, but it's true. Whatever your situation you could be far more destitute than you are now, just by virtue of the fact that you're able to read this and therefore you either own or have access to a computer, do you ever think about that shit? Truth.
Other than that, I'm grateful to have my parents, both of whom are in their sixties and who one day I will not have, also truthful. And my brother, who's only here a few times a year now that he's down in Columbus which is a much further trek than where he used to live in New York.
And that I'm here with Adia, who I'll miss terribly (as well as all my friends who are with me in spirit) while I'm off at Shakespeare summer camp... well, winter camp, or whatever, for the month of January. For which I leave on either Friday or Saturday, it's still being negotiated when exactly I'll do that. And then I'll be gone for an entire month, away away away from the real world, how's that shit? Pretty wild man. I wonder how I'll feel coming back from all that time doing Shakespeare, Linklater, Alexander, and all the rest of the stuff they teach you.
I'm really excited. And I don't tend to get excited about things easily, to be honest... towards most things I feel a weary, vague anxiety much of the time. No that's not true, I still get excited. And I'm excited about this. Because I love acting! I love training, I love the study of the craft. Almost as much as I love getting up and doing it. But I really, really do appreciate those aspects of it, but I've never been in a true, full out conversatory enviornment where I was able to live and breathe acting. And from all the people I've talked to who have done it, I've gotten the impression that the intensive is a life changing experience and how many of those do we get to go through, as artists or otherwise?
So just a few more days of real life, then it's off to Shakespeare camp, and I can't wait.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Do It Like It Matters (Until It Actually Does)
Here's a profound thought for the day. I haven't been writing as much in this blog, because I've been putting more of my energy into my joint podcasting and musical effort with my podcasting/music partner Jesse, which has not only been consuming the energy I'd been putting into writing when I was writing in this more or less weekly (times when I'd be writing I'm instead editing audio, for example) and in the process it's been fulfilling my need to be creative in a comparable way to how this blog has in the past. Also, probably because I haven't really been acting except for a few small readings and a little film shoot, and I mainly blog about acting stuff, therefore not much to blog about.
But here's something. Often on the subject of consistently releasing new podcasts, which I try to do every Sunday and have been pretty consistent at doing (with the exception of this Sunday, which is a more complicated issue) either Jesse or I will say "oh but it doesn't really matter". And in a very literal sense this is true. According to the statistics on Buzzsprout, the website that I'm using to host podcasts (for the time being) the average number of plays for a given episode is 14, with episode 4 having been played 21 times, and episode 8 having been played 8 times and the other ones existing in a spectrum in between. This is to be expected, since I haven't gone any lengths to expose my efforts to the outside world except through my social media network and given the weird, misunderstood, nichey nature of podcasts it's even more expected and who's going to Buzzsprout for podcasts? People go to iTunes, and we're not even on there, so basically I'm the only person in the universe with an investment in a new podcast being released to the internet every Sunday.
Except, as the proprietor and creator of this product that's exactly as it should be at this moment. And I should continue to be invested in maintaining that strict schedule because if I ever want to court a wider audience, and eventually that would be nice, I need to maintain that dedication throughout the time period in which it matters to no one else until eventually it does matter.
And this is the way to success in any creative field, through sheer tenacity and not giving up. Because when you start acting, or painting, or making music or whatever of course no one's going to care when you start and probably they shouldn't because you won't be very good. You have to care though, and no matter how long it takes for other people to care enough to give you money for what your doing (if that is your goal) you just have to keep going until that happens. Ya dig?
Well anyway, I do, and it really summarizes where I'm at with this podcast thing right now. Sure only eight people have clicked on my latest podcast, but in many respects it's improved on what we'd done before and hopefully the next one will have improved on that and so on and so fourth until eventually hopefully if we've been doing it long enough someone will start to notice. Or at least I have to tell myself that, and in the meantime just take as much satisfaction as I can from the work itself.
The end. Of this blog post, but not this blog! In fact, I'll be taking a forced hiatus from the podcast during the month of January while I'm doing the January intensive at Shakespeare and Company, so look out for blog posts then, I hope! Assuming I have the energy or focus after all the intense Shakespeare boot camp stuff I'll be doing.
But here's something. Often on the subject of consistently releasing new podcasts, which I try to do every Sunday and have been pretty consistent at doing (with the exception of this Sunday, which is a more complicated issue) either Jesse or I will say "oh but it doesn't really matter". And in a very literal sense this is true. According to the statistics on Buzzsprout, the website that I'm using to host podcasts (for the time being) the average number of plays for a given episode is 14, with episode 4 having been played 21 times, and episode 8 having been played 8 times and the other ones existing in a spectrum in between. This is to be expected, since I haven't gone any lengths to expose my efforts to the outside world except through my social media network and given the weird, misunderstood, nichey nature of podcasts it's even more expected and who's going to Buzzsprout for podcasts? People go to iTunes, and we're not even on there, so basically I'm the only person in the universe with an investment in a new podcast being released to the internet every Sunday.
Except, as the proprietor and creator of this product that's exactly as it should be at this moment. And I should continue to be invested in maintaining that strict schedule because if I ever want to court a wider audience, and eventually that would be nice, I need to maintain that dedication throughout the time period in which it matters to no one else until eventually it does matter.
And this is the way to success in any creative field, through sheer tenacity and not giving up. Because when you start acting, or painting, or making music or whatever of course no one's going to care when you start and probably they shouldn't because you won't be very good. You have to care though, and no matter how long it takes for other people to care enough to give you money for what your doing (if that is your goal) you just have to keep going until that happens. Ya dig?
Well anyway, I do, and it really summarizes where I'm at with this podcast thing right now. Sure only eight people have clicked on my latest podcast, but in many respects it's improved on what we'd done before and hopefully the next one will have improved on that and so on and so fourth until eventually hopefully if we've been doing it long enough someone will start to notice. Or at least I have to tell myself that, and in the meantime just take as much satisfaction as I can from the work itself.
The end. Of this blog post, but not this blog! In fact, I'll be taking a forced hiatus from the podcast during the month of January while I'm doing the January intensive at Shakespeare and Company, so look out for blog posts then, I hope! Assuming I have the energy or focus after all the intense Shakespeare boot camp stuff I'll be doing.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Making a Commitment
This weekend will mark the release of the 8th episode of my podcast, currently titled the Mike Handelman Podcast, although that may change soon... the title I mean. But hopefully not the dedication I've shown in producing it regularly! Even more regularly than I write this blog, and guess which takes a greater investment of time and energy? It's a rhetorical question, making a podcast is much harder. Yet rewarding! Even if they are averaging ten to twenty downloads a piece... which come to think of it, is how much traffic my blog posts receive on average... but for me, a big part of this experiment has been committing to an idea and sticking to it. The idea in this case being producing and regularly releasing a podcast, just like a professional person in the entertainment industry. Not that there are that many people making a living off their podcasts, in fact almost no one is doing that, but they are using them as a tool to promote themselves and their brand. The archetypal example being Marc Maron, who had worked as a respected although not particularly affluent stand up who helped kick off what's called the "alt comedy" movement, and stayed afloat in the entertainment industry throughout the 90s before joining with the ship that was Air America (an attempt at a liberal talk radio station) through it's various ups and downs and after being finally fired from it for the last time, started doing a podcast.
An example numerous comedians have followed, myself being one of them. When asked what young comedians started out should do, another well known podcaster (if you follow podcasts that is, which lots of people don't, yet) Doug Benson said "start a twitter account and then start a podcast" both of which are easy, free ways of self promotion and brand building (unless and until your podcast blows than you need to pay for hosting but that's another thing) and podcasting isn't as easy as it sounds! At least, not if you want to do it well, which is my ultimate goal.
And keeping sight of that goal has eased the transition from the end of Uncle Vanya to where I'm at now, which is focused on editing and releasing a new podcast every Sunday and listening for what myself and my partner Jesse can do better from week to week, a goal I've been accomplishing.
And thinking about it feels like a real accomplishment. I was reflecting on my past creative endeavors and I realized that I've put more focus, time and energy into this project than just about anything else I've ever started completely on my own. Sure I've put a lot of time into theatre and film things that I've been a part of over the years, but in all of those examples I've been in some way or another subservient to another person's master plan. But this is me, this is my thing, and so far it's success or failure has been dependent on my talent and dedication.
With that comes a degree of anxiety, I am collaborating with someone else and I can't take all the credit even if I am the "director" of the project (and the producer, and the editor, and the... you get the idea) and I'm trying to keep Jesse on board and motivated without being a pain in the ass. Which is a feeling I struggle with. In the few times I've taken on a "director" role, prior this point exclusively in theatre classes, it's something I've struggled with as well. The people I'm working with are volunteering their time and energy, and how do I manage that effectively and not be overbearing? If nothing else, this phase of my podcasting career will also serve as a record of how we got to know each other and have become better friends by working on this together and how do I manage that friendship aspect of the project? It would be easier in some ways to hire someone to do the podcast with me, but not nearly as satisfying or rewarding, and I can't easily think of anyone else I'd rather be working with from week to week. But there's that component, from week to week to week, I'm asking for a lot of time and so far he's been very gracious in giving it and I couldn't have gotten this far without him in the room lending his energy... I've tried it, and getting on the microphone by yourself is harder and a lot less fun than having someone to bounce energy off of. It's also a necessary skill I should learn someday, and I can think of some examples in the podcast field of people who do it very well.
Which brings to mind another source of anxiety, where am I going with this? When and how will I take it there? One step has been the establishment of a Facebook page for my podcast. A facebook page I actually established a while ago intending it as a means of promotion for my acting stuff and this blog, but I've been too bashful to share it with the world. No longer! That shits gone public! Likewise I've yet to move beyond the very small pond of Buzzsprout, the free service where I've been hosting my podcast and where no one is particularly likely to see it without first being linked to another, more professional and money costing service like Libsyn and then to the grand daddy of podcast directories... iTunes. Basically, I've been waiting until we could consistently deliver a product I felt comfortable sharing with strangers, which took us a while both from a technical stand point and a creative one but I feel like we've gotten there and my hope is when I get from the January intensive to start doing that. Assuming we can resume our present momentum, which I'm hopeful we can and even if it takes a little while I now have a nice back log of episodes to recycle.
So all in all, I feel good about the work I've been doing. I've found an outlet separate from my live performance, channeled my energy into it and taken visible steps towards developing it... all good things! Now, the next steps are to develop a live performance component that ties back to the podcast which I hope will be Jesse and I's comedy music which we can play out with first at open mics and then hopefully at real events in real venues. And of course, actually building an audience. All in good time! Time I look forward to.
An example numerous comedians have followed, myself being one of them. When asked what young comedians started out should do, another well known podcaster (if you follow podcasts that is, which lots of people don't, yet) Doug Benson said "start a twitter account and then start a podcast" both of which are easy, free ways of self promotion and brand building (unless and until your podcast blows than you need to pay for hosting but that's another thing) and podcasting isn't as easy as it sounds! At least, not if you want to do it well, which is my ultimate goal.
And keeping sight of that goal has eased the transition from the end of Uncle Vanya to where I'm at now, which is focused on editing and releasing a new podcast every Sunday and listening for what myself and my partner Jesse can do better from week to week, a goal I've been accomplishing.
And thinking about it feels like a real accomplishment. I was reflecting on my past creative endeavors and I realized that I've put more focus, time and energy into this project than just about anything else I've ever started completely on my own. Sure I've put a lot of time into theatre and film things that I've been a part of over the years, but in all of those examples I've been in some way or another subservient to another person's master plan. But this is me, this is my thing, and so far it's success or failure has been dependent on my talent and dedication.
With that comes a degree of anxiety, I am collaborating with someone else and I can't take all the credit even if I am the "director" of the project (and the producer, and the editor, and the... you get the idea) and I'm trying to keep Jesse on board and motivated without being a pain in the ass. Which is a feeling I struggle with. In the few times I've taken on a "director" role, prior this point exclusively in theatre classes, it's something I've struggled with as well. The people I'm working with are volunteering their time and energy, and how do I manage that effectively and not be overbearing? If nothing else, this phase of my podcasting career will also serve as a record of how we got to know each other and have become better friends by working on this together and how do I manage that friendship aspect of the project? It would be easier in some ways to hire someone to do the podcast with me, but not nearly as satisfying or rewarding, and I can't easily think of anyone else I'd rather be working with from week to week. But there's that component, from week to week to week, I'm asking for a lot of time and so far he's been very gracious in giving it and I couldn't have gotten this far without him in the room lending his energy... I've tried it, and getting on the microphone by yourself is harder and a lot less fun than having someone to bounce energy off of. It's also a necessary skill I should learn someday, and I can think of some examples in the podcast field of people who do it very well.
Which brings to mind another source of anxiety, where am I going with this? When and how will I take it there? One step has been the establishment of a Facebook page for my podcast. A facebook page I actually established a while ago intending it as a means of promotion for my acting stuff and this blog, but I've been too bashful to share it with the world. No longer! That shits gone public! Likewise I've yet to move beyond the very small pond of Buzzsprout, the free service where I've been hosting my podcast and where no one is particularly likely to see it without first being linked to another, more professional and money costing service like Libsyn and then to the grand daddy of podcast directories... iTunes. Basically, I've been waiting until we could consistently deliver a product I felt comfortable sharing with strangers, which took us a while both from a technical stand point and a creative one but I feel like we've gotten there and my hope is when I get from the January intensive to start doing that. Assuming we can resume our present momentum, which I'm hopeful we can and even if it takes a little while I now have a nice back log of episodes to recycle.
So all in all, I feel good about the work I've been doing. I've found an outlet separate from my live performance, channeled my energy into it and taken visible steps towards developing it... all good things! Now, the next steps are to develop a live performance component that ties back to the podcast which I hope will be Jesse and I's comedy music which we can play out with first at open mics and then hopefully at real events in real venues. And of course, actually building an audience. All in good time! Time I look forward to.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Being in the Room Together (or: theatre criticism!)
Last night and tonight were my first Wednesday and Thursday nights off since before Vanya opened... so what, six or maybe seven weeks? And I have to be honest, it feels good. In between missing the production and everyone involved... aside from those feelings, having my evenings back does feel good. But doesn't it always?
I could write more about that experience but instead I feel compelled to write some other experiences, specifically two great shows I saw this week that were great for completely different but maybe sort fundamentally philosophically similar reasons!
On the bus ride over to our last show, my friend, comrade and cast mate Ron and I were discussing (philosophizing as it were) as we often do on the nature of theatre! Somehow or another, the topic came around to how contemporary audiences' perception of theatre is inevitably influenced by their experiences with film and cinema, related but very fundamentally different mediums. Ron went on to decry theatre that attempts somehow to replicate cinema in spite of these differences or because the way we experience stories as acted out by people ala theatre is so affected by our experience of cinema... This is a long winded way of bringing around the point that the most successful theatre fundamentally acknowledges you, the audience and us the performers are in a room... together! And what makes live theatre especially compelling to us audiences in the age of cinema is the texture of that experience and how it is so much missing in our lives. I think ultimately acknowledging that is a big part of what made Vanya so successful.
And the same could be said of the two productions I'm reviewing in this blog post, Project: Project's "What Are You Doing Here?" and Whistler in the Dark's Tales From Ovid.
And it is my earnest hope to sincerely well, review them! Which is something I don't often do. Well, I sort of do, have you read many of my blog posts? I often react to the pieces I see. But I tend to avoid out and out reviewing things because as an acting member of the theatre community I can't be critically objective both because I know and have worked with or my opinions are somehow affected by my relationship to so many people making theatre and also because well, I want to work them and for that to happen I have to be hired by them and reviews can be touchy things, right? So if I were setting out or felt compelled to write a Thomas Garvey-esque scorching criticism of something or somebody (and in the past I've had to restrain myself) I couldn't bring myself to write anything like that about anyway. So I'm not really a true critic, and that's fine. But in the case of Whistler in the Dark and Project: Project I feel like I also know the people behind those companies well enough that I don't foresee them taking anything I have personally and perhaps even welcoming my criticism and commentary as part of a broader discussion, so here it goes! Critical response review a-ma-gigs!
Let me start by saying that Project: Project's "What Are You Doing Here?" is definitely the kind of show I could stand to have more of in my life. Conveniently located in the Democracy Center which is a fifteen minute walk away from my apartment, for a suggested donation of $5 a piece and under an hour long oh and I forgot to mention phenomenally entertaining, original, engaging and energetic. Basically like, the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon, which is when I happened to be seeing it, which happened to be their last performance. Talking to people afterwards and from the product I experienced it was clear I was therefore seeing the show in it's best possible light, all the mechanics of the piece hummed along beautifully while also incorporating the numerous discoveries the performers had made from bringing their devised, largely improvisational work before an audience four times previously.
Oh, so what exactly is Project: Project and what do they do? What an excellent question! It's a site specific, interactive, immersive... performance piece? For vague reasons, there are Boy Scouts but also Roller Derby Girls and the Boyscouts have crushes on the Roller Derby Girls and vice versa except when they have crushes on each other or not at all. It was delightfully convoluted, or maybe just a little convoluted if you weren't totally on board with being broken up into groups of five or six and being lead between the Democracy Center's different rooms, including the kitchen, bathroom, library and a room with arts and crafts. Meanwhile, the action unfolds around you as characters run back and forth falling in and out love and commonly asking audience members for pick up lines or relationship advice when not flirting or courting one another. In the end, the majority of the characters get paired off, and not always in ways you expect! All of this was structured around the very clever conceit of starting and ending in the so called "Ball Room", the biggest room and sort of main hall of the Democracy Center (and probably where you've seen anything there like a reading if you been to Interim Writers or what have you, a group that shares membership with Project: Project). While in the ball room, most of the plates and pieces which constitutes the plot begin spinning starting with the Roller Derby Girls crashing the Boy Scouts trial orientation for new Cub Scouts which the audience is supposed to be a part of.
Did you follow all that? Did I mention it was interactive? Which generally is something that I'm into! I like being a participant in my theatre pieces, I mean as I previously stated by being in the room I am already so I don't mind taking an extra step. But then again I am an actor and I crave attention. And this is a tricky tight rope to walk and thing to pull off. The pieces of "audience interaction" in Lily's Revenge were frankly... not great, mainly consisting of reading off pieces of paper a few times during the show. It didn't really add too much (and also chatting with performers between acts, which I'll admit was more effective). In the case of Project: Project, I wasn't completely sure what our role was supposed to be. Over the course of the bathroom segment (which was maybe my favorite part of the piece) audience members were explicitly polled for pick up lines, and throughout the piece there was no fourth wall so actors constantly referred to or addressed the audience. But at other times it wasn't clear if actors were talking mostly to the other actors on "stage" with them, or to the audience or a little bit of both and when should we be contributing? One guy for example hooted and hollered and added his own asides to the content of the second ground scene, which although, you know, not appropriate, I can't really blame him. And luckily it didn't detract from the overall experience, but I do believe for future endeavors from the company it could be better incorporated, that's all!
Overall I thought it was a super fun show and an awesome use of the Democracy Center space. The main thing that made it work for me along with the clever staging, was the sheer energy and commitment to their characters of the ensemble of performers which included some very, very talented local vets of the fringe scene. For me as an actor, seeing all of their choices and picking out what was scripted, what was spontaneous and what must had developed from the run about their interactions was a big part of the fun and that aspect was so well incorporated, it was hard to tell! And I also can't say how much I enjoyed moving from room to room watching the story unfold as the actors scurried around us in a well oiled hum of choreography and placement... man it was just so cool!
And you know what else was super cool? Tales From Ovid... I mean, holy shit, melted my fucking face. Over the summer (man I guess it was still summer when I took it, or early fall) I took an intensive in Lecoq Technique with Whistler in the Dark, with several members of the Ovid ensemble and the core of that work really shone through for me, enhanced and informing my experience of watching their performance. There are so many little, really beautiful moments I could highlight... the way the actors thrummed and moved as one when Danny Bryck was personifying the sun comes to mind... the way they incorporated the music, for another. The amazing and beautiful silk work. Their sheer physical presences together as a singular unit...
So yeah, all that just incredible shit. My only possible critique is the show's length and the absence of an intermission made it difficult to be completely and fully engaged throughout the entirety of the performance, I mean two hours is a long time to sit in one place and never think "oh and what should I do for dinner?" but anytime I drifted off I was inevitably pulled back in by another awe inspiring moment.
To be honest, I'm still a little too overwhelmed by the experience to write more than "it was really awesome" but it was really awesome! And it was really exciting seeing a show from my peers on the fringe elevated and brought to a new level of exposure by an organization like Arts Emerson and my one time professor Rob Orchard, who I took a class with many years ago when he was still at ART and who I said hi to on the way to the show. Hi Rob! I know Rob Orchard has better things to do than read this... but still. Also hi Meg Taintor! And Max! And Jeff! And anyone else involved with either Whistler or Project: Project who stumbles across this, my message to you, keep doing what you do!
*Editor's Note: I also interviewed Jeff Mosser, co founder of Project Project for my podcast and talked to him about the project (project) on that show. And like I said I took that intensive with Whistler. So I really can't be critically objective! But those are my thoughts on these shows, enjoy!
I could write more about that experience but instead I feel compelled to write some other experiences, specifically two great shows I saw this week that were great for completely different but maybe sort fundamentally philosophically similar reasons!
On the bus ride over to our last show, my friend, comrade and cast mate Ron and I were discussing (philosophizing as it were) as we often do on the nature of theatre! Somehow or another, the topic came around to how contemporary audiences' perception of theatre is inevitably influenced by their experiences with film and cinema, related but very fundamentally different mediums. Ron went on to decry theatre that attempts somehow to replicate cinema in spite of these differences or because the way we experience stories as acted out by people ala theatre is so affected by our experience of cinema... This is a long winded way of bringing around the point that the most successful theatre fundamentally acknowledges you, the audience and us the performers are in a room... together! And what makes live theatre especially compelling to us audiences in the age of cinema is the texture of that experience and how it is so much missing in our lives. I think ultimately acknowledging that is a big part of what made Vanya so successful.
And the same could be said of the two productions I'm reviewing in this blog post, Project: Project's "What Are You Doing Here?" and Whistler in the Dark's Tales From Ovid.
And it is my earnest hope to sincerely well, review them! Which is something I don't often do. Well, I sort of do, have you read many of my blog posts? I often react to the pieces I see. But I tend to avoid out and out reviewing things because as an acting member of the theatre community I can't be critically objective both because I know and have worked with or my opinions are somehow affected by my relationship to so many people making theatre and also because well, I want to work them and for that to happen I have to be hired by them and reviews can be touchy things, right? So if I were setting out or felt compelled to write a Thomas Garvey-esque scorching criticism of something or somebody (and in the past I've had to restrain myself) I couldn't bring myself to write anything like that about anyway. So I'm not really a true critic, and that's fine. But in the case of Whistler in the Dark and Project: Project I feel like I also know the people behind those companies well enough that I don't foresee them taking anything I have personally and perhaps even welcoming my criticism and commentary as part of a broader discussion, so here it goes! Critical response review a-ma-gigs!
Let me start by saying that Project: Project's "What Are You Doing Here?" is definitely the kind of show I could stand to have more of in my life. Conveniently located in the Democracy Center which is a fifteen minute walk away from my apartment, for a suggested donation of $5 a piece and under an hour long oh and I forgot to mention phenomenally entertaining, original, engaging and energetic. Basically like, the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon, which is when I happened to be seeing it, which happened to be their last performance. Talking to people afterwards and from the product I experienced it was clear I was therefore seeing the show in it's best possible light, all the mechanics of the piece hummed along beautifully while also incorporating the numerous discoveries the performers had made from bringing their devised, largely improvisational work before an audience four times previously.
Oh, so what exactly is Project: Project and what do they do? What an excellent question! It's a site specific, interactive, immersive... performance piece? For vague reasons, there are Boy Scouts but also Roller Derby Girls and the Boyscouts have crushes on the Roller Derby Girls and vice versa except when they have crushes on each other or not at all. It was delightfully convoluted, or maybe just a little convoluted if you weren't totally on board with being broken up into groups of five or six and being lead between the Democracy Center's different rooms, including the kitchen, bathroom, library and a room with arts and crafts. Meanwhile, the action unfolds around you as characters run back and forth falling in and out love and commonly asking audience members for pick up lines or relationship advice when not flirting or courting one another. In the end, the majority of the characters get paired off, and not always in ways you expect! All of this was structured around the very clever conceit of starting and ending in the so called "Ball Room", the biggest room and sort of main hall of the Democracy Center (and probably where you've seen anything there like a reading if you been to Interim Writers or what have you, a group that shares membership with Project: Project). While in the ball room, most of the plates and pieces which constitutes the plot begin spinning starting with the Roller Derby Girls crashing the Boy Scouts trial orientation for new Cub Scouts which the audience is supposed to be a part of.
Did you follow all that? Did I mention it was interactive? Which generally is something that I'm into! I like being a participant in my theatre pieces, I mean as I previously stated by being in the room I am already so I don't mind taking an extra step. But then again I am an actor and I crave attention. And this is a tricky tight rope to walk and thing to pull off. The pieces of "audience interaction" in Lily's Revenge were frankly... not great, mainly consisting of reading off pieces of paper a few times during the show. It didn't really add too much (and also chatting with performers between acts, which I'll admit was more effective). In the case of Project: Project, I wasn't completely sure what our role was supposed to be. Over the course of the bathroom segment (which was maybe my favorite part of the piece) audience members were explicitly polled for pick up lines, and throughout the piece there was no fourth wall so actors constantly referred to or addressed the audience. But at other times it wasn't clear if actors were talking mostly to the other actors on "stage" with them, or to the audience or a little bit of both and when should we be contributing? One guy for example hooted and hollered and added his own asides to the content of the second ground scene, which although, you know, not appropriate, I can't really blame him. And luckily it didn't detract from the overall experience, but I do believe for future endeavors from the company it could be better incorporated, that's all!
Overall I thought it was a super fun show and an awesome use of the Democracy Center space. The main thing that made it work for me along with the clever staging, was the sheer energy and commitment to their characters of the ensemble of performers which included some very, very talented local vets of the fringe scene. For me as an actor, seeing all of their choices and picking out what was scripted, what was spontaneous and what must had developed from the run about their interactions was a big part of the fun and that aspect was so well incorporated, it was hard to tell! And I also can't say how much I enjoyed moving from room to room watching the story unfold as the actors scurried around us in a well oiled hum of choreography and placement... man it was just so cool!
And you know what else was super cool? Tales From Ovid... I mean, holy shit, melted my fucking face. Over the summer (man I guess it was still summer when I took it, or early fall) I took an intensive in Lecoq Technique with Whistler in the Dark, with several members of the Ovid ensemble and the core of that work really shone through for me, enhanced and informing my experience of watching their performance. There are so many little, really beautiful moments I could highlight... the way the actors thrummed and moved as one when Danny Bryck was personifying the sun comes to mind... the way they incorporated the music, for another. The amazing and beautiful silk work. Their sheer physical presences together as a singular unit...
So yeah, all that just incredible shit. My only possible critique is the show's length and the absence of an intermission made it difficult to be completely and fully engaged throughout the entirety of the performance, I mean two hours is a long time to sit in one place and never think "oh and what should I do for dinner?" but anytime I drifted off I was inevitably pulled back in by another awe inspiring moment.
To be honest, I'm still a little too overwhelmed by the experience to write more than "it was really awesome" but it was really awesome! And it was really exciting seeing a show from my peers on the fringe elevated and brought to a new level of exposure by an organization like Arts Emerson and my one time professor Rob Orchard, who I took a class with many years ago when he was still at ART and who I said hi to on the way to the show. Hi Rob! I know Rob Orchard has better things to do than read this... but still. Also hi Meg Taintor! And Max! And Jeff! And anyone else involved with either Whistler or Project: Project who stumbles across this, my message to you, keep doing what you do!
*Editor's Note: I also interviewed Jeff Mosser, co founder of Project Project for my podcast and talked to him about the project (project) on that show. And like I said I took that intensive with Whistler. So I really can't be critically objective! But those are my thoughts on these shows, enjoy!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
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.
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.
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