February 28, 2009
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One Week Down
First week of rehearsal for All Shook up is in the bag and so far so good. The show looks like a winner; much better than I anticipated. And I have not fallen apart with the grind of working all day at rehearsal and then working all night. Truth be told, I don't have much to do at rehearsal other than watch. I will repeat myself; I will never understudy again. This show would be a breeze without the added load. Oh well, it's an experience. Helps me empathize if nothing else.
The energy of these youngins is amazing and makes me feel both energized and old. Just about everybody is young or at least younger than am I. Generally day to day I am in denial of my age, if not my mortality and I do a pretty good job of it, but being with such a large, young cast all day, I cannot maintain the fiction. I am a geezer. Older than most of these folks parents! I struggle not to begin sentences with phrases like, "Back in the day..." or "When I was a young man..." or "You come here often?" Okay, strike that last one, I am a man of integrity and fidelity. I only lust as did Jimmy Carter (look it up kids).
As much as I love the energy of musical stage, I think I'm coming to the end of my time there. Straight theater has so many more roles I want to do that stretch me in interesting ways: Willy Loman, Dysart in Equus, Henry in Lion in Winter, Macbeth, Titus, even another go at Petrucchio and so many more. In musical theater I want to do Sweeney and/or Turpin, Jean ValJean and/or Javert, Tevye, Higgins, maybe Fagin and that's about it. It's a young person's medium for sure.
I saw "The Last Days of the Dinosaurs" last night at Actors NET. This is an original, semi-autobiographical play, written by Joe Doyle who also directed it, about parents sinking into dementia and the effects on the adult children. Not the best show to watch when one is feeling as mortal as do I but a fine show nonetheless. Marco Newton and Virginia Barry are just excellent as the old folks while Jamie Bradley, Kyle Mostello-Donnelly and Chuck Donnelly are excellent as the sibs. These are folks that have acted together many, many times in repertoire and act like the family they are. Go see it. It runs through March 15th. Info is at http://www.actorsnetbucks.
org .
