“No man misdeals with Joshua Quince, by Jesu!”

Some of you may be familiar with the recent Shakespearean adaptation of the The Big Lebowski. A filmmaker named Adam Bertocci adapted the screenplay into a stage adaptation known as The Two Gentlemen of Lebowski. It’s being produced all over the country, and I’ve been cast in the Exquisite Corps Theatre reading directed by Adrienne Boris.

Try to guess which role???

All those acting classes paid off. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun analyzing text and doing character work. Of course, I’m in a unique position of portraying a character already so vividly immortalized onscreen. Of course, I’m treating the text like I would any other classical verse text. Interestingly enough, the poetic style of Iambic Pentameter meshes splendidly with the flamboyance of Joshua Quince (as he is known in this version.) The focus on my work thus far as been on the physical flow and exuberance, which I believe to be the key to honoring both the new character of Joshua and the original John Turturro portrayal of “The Jesus”.

There’s two ways I can see this role going sour; focusing too much on recreating the Turturro portrayal or completely ignoring it. As he’s written, Joshua Quince is completely new character and yet he and Jesus have key similarities. It’ll be a tightrope walking that line, but so far I’ve derived only joy from my exploration of the character. How often does one get to play “The Jesus”?!


Some actors use their training to prepare for Hamlet or Mother Courage. I prepare for The Jesus.

More Details will be posted as the dates approach (Feb 8th and 9th: Adrienne Boris, Director).

Eating Dinner at 11pm

A Thursday in the life of a 20-something Theatre Bostonian:

8:55am - roll out of bed 20 minutes late
9:35am - run out of the house 10 minutes late
9:50am - grab coffee 5 minutes late
10:00am - Arrive at work on time
3:00pm - Leave work
3:30pm - Arrive home, check e-mail, send out resumes, review StageSource postings for the week,eat grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate milkshake
5:00pm - Leave for a rehearsal across town a.k.a. a 3 mile jaunt that easily takes an hour
5:58pm - Arrive at rehearsal
8:00pm - 10 minute break!
11:00pm - Arrive home, eat a chicken and stuffing dinner, e-mail, resumes, blog

Who's with me?

The State of A College Graduate

I had a good day today. I say this because some days are really awful days. Being a grown up is not as easy as it looks on tv - there isn't always sappy music that plays when a lesson is being learned and Danny Tanner doesn't hug you and tell you that everything is okay. Some days are sad - I work a job that I usually enjoy but sometimes gets me down. I get turned down from parts I desperately want and I miss my friends who live far way from me. But, when all is said and done, I enjoy being out of school. I enjoy making money and paying bills and feeling satisfied when I cook a homemade meal. I enjoy having independence but sometimes I just want to be back at home, blissfully unaware of the troubles of the world around me. (I realize that sounds depressing - keep reading. It gets happier!)

And speaking of troubles of the world, tonight is the State of the Union. (If you think this isn't one of the biggest theatrical events of the year, think again. You should all be watching. I'll be watching on DVR once I fulfill my theatrical duties at rehearsal this evening.) Obama is projected to be full of apologies and tough words about the past year (come onnnnnn mid-first season of The West Wing where the struggling presidency has a major turn around).

However, even if he has some sobering things to say, it doesn't mean that we all have feel glum afterwards. I've been reading a phenomenal book called The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. If you like beautiful language (think Nabokov's descriptions in Lolita) or are just looking for a good read, you should pick up this book. Anyways, this one passage stuck with me. Especially with the impending speech these words particularly resonated with me...

"At times like this you desperately need Art. You seek to reconnect with spiritual illusions, and you wish fervently that something might rescue you from your biological destiny, so that all poetry and grandeur will not be cast out from the world."

Don't let poetry and grandeur leave your world, even if what Obama has to say tonight resonates with you. I know I've had a year full of ups and downs between graduation and finding a job and learning that sometimes it takes months in order to qualify for something as simple as health insurance. Even though there are bad days, we have to remember the things that we love in life. I love my family. I love my friends. I love my career path. I love chocolate and wine and the warm weather we've been having lately. And I love knowing that I've just started on my path to adulthood, my path to the rest of my life. What do you love? Remember those things this evening as you watch. Even if times seem tough, we'll all emerge on the other side all the better for it.

The Other Chekhov

It’s common knowledge amongst my friends and collaborators that I’m something of a nerd for theatre history, theory and technique. If I haven’t practiced it, I want to read about it, and if I haven’t read about it, I want you to tell me about it. From Meisner to Meyerhold, from Artaud to Strasberg, I believe that it is an actor/director/playwright’s duty to develop a wide palette from which to paint from. For today’s post, I want to discuss my experience with Michael Chekhov.

Click Image for Wikipedia Article

For those of you unfamiliar with the technique, Michael was a nephew of Anton Chekhov and one of the most important actors of the Moscow Art Theatre and MAT Studios. He developed an approach to acting adapted from the Stanislavski “system” that included an added emphasis on imagination and physical specificity. While many other techniques focus on the psychological, and others focus on the physical, I’ve found that Chekhov links the two together via the use of one’s imagination and encouraging personal creativity. This is, of course, my own understanding, and others might explain Chekhov differently.

This past Saturday, I attended a three-hour introductory workshop on Michael Chekhov, led by Scott Fielding. I first studied Chekhov during my senior year at Brandeis, where it formed the basis of my final year of acting classes. Now, some of you might be a few years out of school and remember the days of “acting class.” We learn so much from acting classes, and yet we rarely get the opportunity to refresh our memory, flex the muscles and stretch our chops once we’ve left school. Some directors like to play, but I’m sure you’ve all encountered rehearsal processes where you feel creatively stifled and bored. While many criticize acting classes as “impractical”, I do find that it is important to periodically reenter that world of wonder and curiosity.

I felt this during my experience this past weekend. I enjoy being in a judgment free environment, free from the pressure of opening night or meeting ticket sales goals. Scott’s approach to the art of acting is right up my alley. One of the key points he made is that the actor is an artist, and needs to be creative. He briefly discussed how some prefer to refer to acting as a craft, and though he accepts that as subjective judgment he believes acting to be an art. And for those of you who worry about the tendency of some acting to impose dogma in their students, from the very beginning Scott explained that what matters most isn’t what we believe should work, but rather what does work. If I remember correctly, his exact words were “It’s not the same for everyone. Whatever works, works.”

Scott recently moved to Boston where he is offering a series of classes and workshops on Chekhov. If you have the time, I recommend you give it a try. I don’t believe there are many Chekhov teachers in the Boston area, so if you’ve never worked with Chekhov or have but would like a refresher, take a gander at Scott’s website. If you do, please let me know what you think! I love discussing this stuff.

MICHAEL CHEKHOV ACTORS STUDIO BOSTON

Blue Monday

Ok, who is sick of this grayness? Who is feeling antsy and sort of down?

Well it's scientific fact that today January 25, 2010 is going to be the most depressing day of the year. It's true. And boy, I am feeling it. And if you are too, then you are in good company. The winter blues don't usually get to me, but this year...something is definitely slowing me down.

Maybe it's that I haven't actually performed since August , or that I'm not really sure what direction I want to/ should be headed in, or that most of my good friends are really far away, or that I can't seem to find the time to sit down and eat an actual meal lately, or of course some combination of all of these things. But I just have a case of the Blahs. And the Mondays. And they are an unfortunate combination.

I know it will pass soon enough - but for now I can just marvel at the calm contemplation that this mid-winter melancholy brings.

"...we must anatomize melancholy
take stock of the causes:
stars a cause
love a cause
death a cause
morning a cause
afternoon a cause
evening a cause
the odd times between morning and afternoon and evening
a cause"

The imminently intriguing Sarah Ruhl from Melancholy Play

Word Smith

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE! Before we get into today's post - if you haven't watched this clip yet of the Jon Stewart Show, do so immediately. I'm serious. Stop reading, watch it and come back to me. Not only is Jon Stewart's monologue written well, it is a phenomenal bit of acting. Just watch it, okay?

Moving on... I'm in the middle of writing a one act for SLAM Boston and I'm really enjoying it. I haven't written anything in awhile and I forgot how much fun (and work) it is to craft a conversation between two people. Not just a conversation, but a whole relationship. I was talking with one of my roommates yesterday about the TV show LOST. Now, I don't follow the show but I know that the plot is incredibly intricate/complex and as a result must be well thought out. We discussed how the writers must have volumes of notes in their offices (probably under lock and key) about the relationships between all of the characters - who is related, what their favorite foods are, even details down to where their first kiss was and if they've ever had a cavity.

That's the beauty of being a writer (in my case a playwright), you get to know your characters so fully that you know them better than many people in your life. And I like that about writing. I like helping my characters to say "what comes next." I like giving them quirks. Quirks that I possess, quirks I wish I possessed, quirks some guy who sat in my section the other day possessed. And for x number of pages, I get to plan out down to the last punctuation mark, what gets said. That's why I love the theatre. Words don't get jumbled because they are written down on the page for you. If you're the actor, you don't have to search for the right thing to say (the character might... but you don't have to make up what happens next, you've memorized it). The playwright can rewrite what the character wants to say (and I do mean what THEY want to say - if you know the character well enough their next sentence will come naturally as if right out of their mouth and not your pen) until you find the perfect combination of words. More often than not, I wish life was like that. I wish I knew the appropriate thing to say in an awkward situation. I wish knew the proper quip to come back at my tables with when they make an uncomfortable joke. I wish I knew how to be eloquent when I'm flustered. But I don't. So I guess I'll go on writing and playing pretend in hopes that some day, when the time is right, the words will just come to me. Until then however, I think I'm just going to enjoy my weekend.

Wrighter’s Block

How many of you have tried writing before? Raise your hands.

Yes. Yes. I see. Wonderful.

How many of you have tried writing a play before? Sigh a collective groan.

Yes. Yes. There there… I know what you’re talking about.

I am, quite honestly, in a bit of a rut. Late this past summer, I completed at 96 page first draft of Perfect Pitch: A Post-Punk Play with Music. I held a private reading with some local actors this past October and begun rewriting in November. Unfortunately, I’ve found that the most difficult aspect of playwriting isn’t the first draft… It’s the rewrites.

As it stands right now, Perfect Pitch has some strong, positive elements. It tells the story of a young professional and a young musician who befriend each other at a tumultuous time in both their lives. Cole and Shane bond instantly, but as they fall for each other, their ultimate destinies in life pull them apart. Cole quits his job and he struggles with his responsibility to provide for his terminally ill mother, while Shane’s band strikes it big and tours the world non-stop, mentally exhausting the band. It’s a story about falling in love with your best friend, but realizing you met ten years too early. The John Lennon quote comes to mind: “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.”

Those who’ve read the first draft have reacted positively. I’m working from primarily from the criticism that the play needs greater focus, more developed secondary characters and a revamp into a three-act structure. I know what the play needs…in theory. But the discipline that I need to develop is the discipline to cut and rewrite, cut and rewrite. I sit down at the computer, look at the text and think: “But… it’s done, isn’t it? Do I REALLY have to write this again?”

The play needs work and I know I’ll finish a second draft. I’m in a rut, having barely rewritten ten pages in two months. But I’m determined to retake the initiative. At this rate, I’ve been writing the play for close to a year and a half now.

It took Neil Simon more than two years to finish writing his first play. It took two months to write his second.

Puts things in perspective…