So this was a weekend of a couple firsts for me.
One is that I never expected I'd see a one-man-show split into two parts. The other is that I never expected to see Floyd King, my favorite local actor, a hero and inspiration to me (the actor I saw in VIGIL that fateful night)... I never dreamed I would see him in a role and think to myself, "I could do that better."
I was loathe to miss the big paintball game this Sunday, but instead Mom and I took a well-deserved adventure and drove to Philly to see a play. Specifically, I AM MY OWN WIFE. This Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play has become one of my dream roles ever since
2sick2pray bought me the script, and the opportunity to see Floyd in it... well, it was worth the last minute drive.
The play itself is a one-man-show, one actor playing almost 40 characters in telling the story of an East German transvestite who survived both the Nazis and the Communists, was awarded the medal of honor, and was disgraced as a spy. It is simply marvelous, and had I but known about it two years ago, this might well have been my thesis instead of VIGIL.
For some bizarre reason that is never made clear, they make it a two-person show, with both actors playing lots of characters. A second problem with this is... well, for Floyd's part, I was under the illusion that he could play something other than Floyd. As such, all of the characters were basically Floyd. A one-man-show like this requires a real chameleon actor, and Floyd, it was sad to realize, is not one of those. Sadly, neither was the other actor, a lithe and clearly gay young man. It's a sad sight when every single character you portray, from soldiers to nazis to talk show hosts to japanese reporters, all lisp.
It wasn't a good production, and it was marred even more by overuse of gobos, projections, and strobe lights (this show could be done without a single prop), but regardless, it was a great experience seeing it. It was absolutely fascinating to see a truly different take on what seemed to me a relatively straightforward piece. Modern plays don't lend themselves as well to interpretation as Shakespeare, of course, and it's always fascinting to see someone try. In a way, I feel we might be doing some things in our production of CLOSER that no one else would have thought to do.
Big thanks to
lonebear for the initial heads-up. And hey, lemme know what comics you want and I'll see what we got.
One is that I never expected I'd see a one-man-show split into two parts. The other is that I never expected to see Floyd King, my favorite local actor, a hero and inspiration to me (the actor I saw in VIGIL that fateful night)... I never dreamed I would see him in a role and think to myself, "I could do that better."
I was loathe to miss the big paintball game this Sunday, but instead Mom and I took a well-deserved adventure and drove to Philly to see a play. Specifically, I AM MY OWN WIFE. This Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play has become one of my dream roles ever since
The play itself is a one-man-show, one actor playing almost 40 characters in telling the story of an East German transvestite who survived both the Nazis and the Communists, was awarded the medal of honor, and was disgraced as a spy. It is simply marvelous, and had I but known about it two years ago, this might well have been my thesis instead of VIGIL.
For some bizarre reason that is never made clear, they make it a two-person show, with both actors playing lots of characters. A second problem with this is... well, for Floyd's part, I was under the illusion that he could play something other than Floyd. As such, all of the characters were basically Floyd. A one-man-show like this requires a real chameleon actor, and Floyd, it was sad to realize, is not one of those. Sadly, neither was the other actor, a lithe and clearly gay young man. It's a sad sight when every single character you portray, from soldiers to nazis to talk show hosts to japanese reporters, all lisp.
It wasn't a good production, and it was marred even more by overuse of gobos, projections, and strobe lights (this show could be done without a single prop), but regardless, it was a great experience seeing it. It was absolutely fascinating to see a truly different take on what seemed to me a relatively straightforward piece. Modern plays don't lend themselves as well to interpretation as Shakespeare, of course, and it's always fascinting to see someone try. In a way, I feel we might be doing some things in our production of CLOSER that no one else would have thought to do.
Big thanks to