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 .

I just returned from seeing the Sunshine Boys at Kelsey Theater. A very good production directed by Ruth Markoe (Martha in Woolf). Solid performances by Paul Saunders and Charles Leeder as Willie Clark and Al Lewis better known as Lewis and Clark. Doing a play like this that has such a memorable movie (George Burns and Walther Matthau) attached to it is difficult without channeling the other actors. Sanders and Leeder do a great job of making the roles their own. Mark Violi is excellent as the exasperated nephew. Special shout out to Melissa Rittman as the “comic nurse.” She seems to have walked right off of a burlesque stage. This is all the more remarkable given that she’s too young to remember a time without Facebook, let alone burlesque. Ruth Markoe obviously did a great job of teaching bumping and grinding. Go see it, good show. http://www.kelseyatmccc.org

I got the script for All Shook Up. I know this comment will come back to bite me in the ass, but this is the silliest script I’ve ever read. Makes Bye Bye Birdie look like Antigone. Don’t get me wrong, when it is infused with youthful exuberance I can see where it will be a fun evening but it reads…not so hot. I am psyched though to begin rehearsals on Monday.

Lou Stallsworth alerted the world that PinnWorth Productions has obtained the rights to do Equus in October. I immediately offered Lou the use of any of my bodily orifices for the right to do the role of the psychiatrist, Martin Dysart. If I had a “bucket list” of roles to play, this one is definitely up there, way up there.

Speaking of bucket list roles, I have an audition for Sweeney Todd at Kelsey. The show goes up in June. Either Sweeney or Turpin would just be a capstone for a fantastic season. I will do my absolute damnedest to make it happen.

I’m getting my life prepared for the show at Media upcoming. It’s aptly named “All Shook Up.” Although I’ve been waiting for this opportunity quite a while, it does involve some intensive maneuvering. First there’s the matter of my practice. In this regard I am actually pretty happy that we have only about 10 days before moving into Tech. Basically it means moving clients into evening slots instead of daytime which actually makes most of them pretty happy (I usually don’t work nights). Tech week I’ve decided to just take off so that’s settled. Then during the run I will be seeing patients during the day and performing at night. Other than perhaps being ridiculously tired, I should manage fine. Carolyn is worried though. She’s having some difficulty understanding how I’m going to do everything. She ought to have learned by now that I have two speeds; fast and off. I just won’t be able to shut off until April 5th at around 6PM at which time I will be ready for Happy Acres. Actually, given the disruption this causes at home, Carolyn is being a pretty good egg.
Got a letter from Vince Marini, the director of All Shook Up. This guy is enthusiastic and his enthusiasm is contagious. I am extremely excited as well as somewhat nervous. I feel as I felt as a kid going to a new school; where is everything? What do I do? Where do I go? Will I be liked? Yes my young friends, one does not outgrow certain insecurities. As I’ve said before, it’s only acting that makes me crazy. Thankfully it also makes me happier than anything else in my life… except for love, except for love…(okay that also makes me crazy sometimes. I guess with big potential rewards always comes big potential agita).

I was just cast in the role of Sheriff Earl in All Shook Up at Media Theatre. I’m very excited. It’s a small role; I’m on stage a lot but fundamentally mute and miming, except at the end of the show but it’s a return to professional theater after…40 years! (Oh, and I understudy the only other “adult” male in the cast, the role of Jim) I’ve been trying to go legit for some time but just have not been able to get cast…now I have. In order to pull this off and not lose my practice and my wife, I will need to be spry but I’m feeling up to it: rehearse all day, work at night then work all day, perform all night…simple actually. I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say in coming weeks but, the show goes into rehearsal February 23rd and opens March 11th! Promises to be exciting. The run is from 3/11 – 4/5. Go to http://www.mediatheatre.org for info.

Meanwhile, 40 years you say? What was that? Well, in a little known anecdote, my first job as an actor was as, what was then called, an “apprentice actor,” for an equity company performing children’s theater in the then extant Theater in the Round circuit ranging from Contact down to Washington in a bi-weekly cycle. As an apprentice I pretty much did what all community theater folks do routinely: built the sets, set up and tore down, acted in the shows, ran lights and sound (the only thing unionized apparently was the actors). I did all this during the summers for a princely sum of $60 a week. Eventually, when a friend of mine was hired, just to act, because she was equity, and was paid $150 for the week, I laid down the ultimatum; give me a raise or at least get me into equity, or I QUIT! They told me not to let the door hit me in the ass on my way out. Well, I showed them! I stayed off the professional stage pretty much completely for the next 40 years! Don’t screw with me!

So I’m giving it another go. The pay still sucks being non-union but at least there is now a point system in place which was lacking back then. I know that when I finally earn my card I will largely have to give up community theater but that looks like it’s not going to be for a while. Meanwhile, I’m going to do what I love to do; perform. Whether it’s pro or community, I love the theater, I love the people (mostly), and I’m so glad to be back.

I’m sort of enjoying the rest after Woolf and sort of going crazy for want of a show. There are opportunities. I mentioned either here or Facebook that I declined a proffer from Swarthmore PC to be in A Few Good Men: too far, not the right role. I got a solicitation from a new group out in Packer Park, which is beyond Swarthmore, to audition for CATS but, after playing George in Woolf, I just can’t jump to silly immediately. So… Town and Country has a Murder Mystery, the Butler Did It, but this also sounds rather silly. The title reminds me of mellerdrammer, reminds me of a show I did in high school; “Egad, What a Cad.” I was, of course, the cad. No, too silly, too silly. There is a purportedly great show, The Underpants, to be auditioning at Langhorne. This sounds like a very funny show and it’s at a very good theatre. I don’t know the director, and I don’t know if I’m too old for the role I desire. The real conundrum I’m experiencing right now is that I’d really like to be in Sweeny Todd at Kelsey. Pete LaBriola is directing and just told me auditions will not be until March, which makes perfect sense considering that the show goes up at the end of May. Well, do I stay or do I go?
I’ve been here before, we all have (actors). Audition for anything good that comes across your vision and accept the luck of the draw? Sometimes, when we do that, and we’re amazingly fortunate, a director will cast us, the next show’s auditions will overlap, and then that director will also cast us and accommodate to our schedule! While this is really great, a lot of directors want our total selves; body and soul and ALL time we might have. Of course the dilemma is complicated because if you wait, you may not be cast. If you jump, you might lose out on what you really desire. Screw it. I am so fed up with being neurotic about acting (and readers are getting so fed up with me). I’m auditioning for anything good that crosses my plate. In the event I’m cast in something, that will indeed be my good fortune and I need to stop being so friggin’ spoiled for God’s sake! I have been so fortunate to be cast in some great shows with amazing talent and fantastic directors and support. Whatever comes next will be great! I’m going in! There’s an audition!

Tomorrow we do show 4 of Woolf. We’ve had a week off which is never a good thing. After hell week and then consecutive performances we had developed a pretty fine edge; and then it stops. Now the challenge is to maintain, rediscover perhaps the tension, the quality we had developed. The concern of course is, that in this show it’s difficult enough to remember the lines after a week. Now normally we would have had a dress during the week but I had a talk to deliver this evening and so we were going to do a run through last night BUT we couldn’t get the stage! So…we did seat work last night, which was great to refine the lines but strangely the lack of physicality caused me a lot of anxiety. I wanted to feel again the movement, the way I am in space while delivering lines. Obviously we do that in our minds, but it’s not the same. Nevertheless, I believe we are all good enough actors that we are all working like crazy to get it back to amazing tomorrow.

I posted the review before but here it is again http://centraljersey.com/articles/2009/01/13/time_off/theater_reviews/doc496ceff9d39de337747584.txt .
It’s a good review but it gets me a tad nuts when reviewers want to be directors. For instance, playing Acts 2 and 3 more inebriated is a distraction from the script and totally unneeded. The audience gets the message and stumbling around would be close to slapstick. Honey plays drunk and that’s sufficient.

Speaking of reviews, this review was decent but it was not written by Stu Duncan. I am sorry that is the case. Stuart was apparently considered redundant at the Packet Papers. I think that is a damned shame. Stuart Duncan is, in my opinion, a cultural icon in the NJ and Southeastern PA Theater scene. The lack of respect shown him by the paper is unforgivable. Now, I know not everyone loves Stuart, hell not everyone even likes him! He can be arrogant, lecherous, and self-absorbed but then, this is theater baby! Who isn’t? At his best Stuart has been generous, erudite, and tireless in his promotion of regional theater. He is a font of theater lore and personal stories. He did what he did out of support and affection for local theater and I imagine is personally responsible for more ticket sales than anyone else in this area. So…write the Packet publisher editorial director Ilene Dube at idube@pacpub.com . Ask to bring back Stuart Duncan. Not because there’s anything wrong with the gentleman writing the Theater reviews now; just because when someone works for us; we should work for him.

Coming up, weekend #2. This is my only complaint with Kelsey Theater; the run of plays is too short. Now I know that the rational is that it’s a big theater and they just don’t have a large enough audience for an extended run but, especially with dramas, just by the time a buzz gets going, the show closes. Oh well, it’s always something.

I was asked to play Markinson in Ritz Theater’s production of A Few Good Men, rehearsals to start in 2 weeks. I turned it down. I would very much like to act at the Ritz and I’ve auditioned a couple of times, but the timing is just not good. Now perhaps if the role on offer was Jessup I might make an exception and take on “she who” but otherwise I need a little break. The director got my name via Theater Alliance, probably the 7th or 8th time that’s happened. It is worth the small yearly fee folks, besides, they do good work; join now! Alas, my head shot on their site is of the fat bearded John as opposed to the svelte goateed John of current mintage. I really have to get new pictures. I’m going to contact Kresimir as soon as I finish here.

So once again; SEE THIS SHOW. It’s remarkable. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll plotz for cryin’ out loud!

Woolf opened last night to audience raves! As is so often the case in theater, we kicked it up a notch for opening. All were great! I will humbly admit that I was a veritable dervish. I was really in the moment. What amazed us all was the amount of laughter this show engenders. I mean we knew there were laugh lines but the audience really broke up at points. I think it’s because the laughs help the audience break the anxiety of watching the incipient train wreck that is George and Martha.

There were still dropped lines, some in my opinion quite important, but thanks to quick thinking on everyone’s part, I don’t think the audience was any the wiser. In spite of the length of this show, no one left. People do you know, as rude as it is, people sometimes leave at intermission if the show sucks. The most common comment I heard from the audience last night was that they were so focused by the show that they didn’t even realize how much time passed. That is indeed a compliment.

Constant readers know that this show terrified me. As much as I deeply appreciated being cast, I doubted myself frequently. Lou Stallsworth, the director, has been such a calm, cool, optimistic voice throughout. Without the deft touch Lou showed in directing I could never have done the job of which I believe I’m capable. Another shout out has to go to Kate Pinner for her wonderful technical ability in building, with Lou, an amazing set and providing the costumes and verisimilitude the show demands. Kitty Getlik has, once again, done a marvelous job with sound and lights and Tara Simonelli is just an amazing incredible Stage manager.

For my fellow castmates I have nothing but praise. Ruth Markoe is pitch perfect as the slashing, braying residue that calls itself Martha. Danny Siegel has just the right blend of young man bravado and insecurity as Nick. But Ashley Stuart! Oh baby, what a job! Ashley has, I believe, the most difficult acting job in the cast. She must, without many lines to provide anchor, convincingly portray a very drunk, very vacuous young woman without losing focus or slopping over into slapstick or shtick. She does it brilliantly! I have to also thank Dan and Ashley for keeping up with the occasional screw-ups Martha and I make, even now. Although the audience may not notice, Nick and Honey need to be able to role with the punches, so to speak, and figure out where the hell we are in the script. This they do flawlessly.

Come see this show! I guarantee that you will have every delight of professional theater which this show is absolutely. This is the finest show with which I have ever been associated. I hope to see your face in the place.

Well, not perfect exactly. But, dear readers, we have a show. Yes, I know, I have hardly been Panglossian about our process here. But who wants to read a bunch of hyperbole huh? I mean when I say things suck, you can bet dollars to donuts they suck. (Come to think of it, it’s getting to the point where betting a dollar to get a donut may be a good payout. But enough of the financial meltdown.) But also you can trust the good Dr. to let you know when things are getting better and are approaching good; that’s where we are now. Last night there were more than a few moments of inspiration. They’re still fragmented, there are still moments of terror and cluelessness, BUT they are so much more spread out and sometimes even not noticeable.

I know this usually happens. I also know I’ve been particularly whiney about this show but, OH MAMA! When I originally got the part, I looked at the script in abject terror. What had I gotten into? It reminds me of when I was fat and drunk (see photo) in the bad old days, and I decided to clean up my act, so to speak, by exercising; lifting weights. Now, at the time, even though I was a much younger man, I was weak! I went into the gym and I could barely bench press the naked Olympic bar (45 lbs.) for repetition. I was mortified. Teenagers used to kick sand in my face (and this was no mean feat in a gym. They had to first bring the sand in…you get the picture.) At any rate, it was daunting. But I persevered. Slowly, with practice, I added plate after plate. I became, in time, a veritable Colossus; a titan among, well…psychologists. It got to the point where I could press 290 lbs. for repetition!

So it has been for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. At first, my acting muscles were so weak from musical comedy and farce that I could barely lift a sneer. I struggled week after week to add gravitas and color. I fed Tums and Mylanta to Lou, our erstwhile director, while I went home and nursed my wounds by studying the nuanced delivery of Yosemite Sam. BUT! I now feel strong. My emotive muscles are bulging (wanta see?) I can feel something coursing through my body. I think it’s energy! Or perhaps the Taco Grande’ I had for lunch. But no matter! I am energized and along with me I feel the coming to life of, what’s her name…Martha; and the kids, the kids! They look to us with that look of pure wonderment and awe as if to say, “What the fuck are you guys doing?” In short, it’s almost opening and I’m alive, ALIVE I TELL YOU!! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

6 days until Woolf opens; 6 days! Things are still mighty rough. I know I’m neurotic about this stuff, I’ve explored it ad infinitum in these posts so I’ll spare faithful readers my angst. Suffice to say we still struggle and, as the week goes on, we’ll struggle less and then we’ll open, I will regain my sanity, and all will be sunshine and light. In the meantime I’ll take my lomotil, my tums, my tranquilizers and, oh I’ll do some drinking. In short, my usual routine.
I saw that Cheng/Ferrara is doing High School Musical. Thought for a brief minute about trying out. For the father for cryin’ out loud! What did you think? I thought it would be a hoot. I don’t think I will try out though. The ignomy of being passed over would be too much. I’ll save my humiliating moments for shows I really want to do. To be young again though! Ah well.
Hell week began today. So I’ll keep this short. But it occurs to me that I haven’t really wished everyone a Happy New Year. So here it is…I wish you all your heart’s desire. All year. How’s that?
Love you all madly.