Iphegenia 2.0 in New York City

[Sunday night, September 9]

After running the second half of Big Love at rehearsal, we loaded ourselves into two vehicles and flew along Route 78 to get into New York City to see the Signature Theatre Company’s production of Iphegenia 2.0, another play by our own playwright Charles Mee. Another modern re-telling of a classic Greek myth, it also blurred the line between historical piece and modern play, with characters named Agamemnon and Menalaus talking about Jeeps and RPGs. It was a lot of fun to see a professional production of one of Mee's plays, especially since they have the budget and the resources to do the kind of spectacle that his plays demand.

The performers were amazing, using their voices and their bodies very well to tell the story. It was also a lot of fun to see Kate Mulgrew, Star Trek Voyager's Captain Janway, onstage in such a large theatrical piece. She was very effective, capturing attention and focus when needed, and seeming at home in the physical demands of such a role. This play also contained the sequences of music and dance that are in Big Love, as well a sequence of intense destruction and celebration at the very end. All in all, I liked the production. I enjoyed the story elements of Big Love more, but I liked the way the spectacle functioned in Iphegenia. It seemed more organic and less forced.

We also had a great time. In the car with the director and three girls of the cast, we talked and laughed all the way into the city, and then played a fantastic mix CD on the way out. I asked everyone there to think of driving music for me for when I leave on tour, and it was a fun time with some new friends.

Above all, I was struck by the dedication and passion of the performers in this New York production. And I realize that when doing a Charles Mee play, the stakes must always be very high. Everything is a matter of life or death, and a high level of committment must accompany every moment. This play is a challenge, and I love it.

Paper Cuts 2.0

This afternoon was the first meeting of the semester for the online TV series Paper Cuts. We had to go through a bit of housekeeping business, and we had to talk about schedules and commitments and schoolwork and plot twists. We got our schedule for the month of September, and it actually starts pretty soon. It's going to limit my time for Pella windows, and this upcoming week might actually be my last one there. Because I'll be working on Paper Cuts in the morning, then coming home to change and eat, and then I'll head off to Allentown in the evening to rehearse Big Love. It'll be long days but fun days.

I'm very excited to work on the show again. People have sometimes asked me how I choose which plays to do, or which jobs to accept, and I can only say that I choose what I think is going to be one of two things. I want things to either advance my career and skills, or I want to have fun. Recently, I've been very lucky about picking projects that do both for me. All of these projects are teaching me things, and I'm having a ball doing them. It was great to see everyone at the meeting today, and I promise, promise, that I will write about filming here on this blog. I'm really looking forward to it, even though it means that I have many more lines to learn.

First rehearsal in a while

Wednesday night was the first rehearsal for Big Love since last Saturday. And as I treaded the boards, I was very aware that I hadn’t thought about the show since then. The blocking and character work were buried deep in my head, but the lines took a little longer to come back to me. But everyone seemed a little sluggish as well, and it was also our first day as a company to work with our lead actress again. Her understudy had been rehearsing for a week, as our leading lady happened to be on a week long cruise. So part of the night was spent working her into new scenes, as well as working on old scenes now that we had her back. We didn't get as far as Tim hoped to get, but we at least made it to the entrance of the guys, and we got to throw our weight around onstage for a bit.

Theatrical Homework

We had rehearsal on Wednesday night, during which we finished our two-night work-through of the show. We broke it down by scenes, and then we spent time looking at those scenes slowly and deliberately. Tim is also very interested in gesture work, creating physical movements that can express and capture the essence of any scene. A good gesture, he implies, can convey story far more effectively than the text alone. And then when we lay text across those gestures, the scenes spring to life. They are now layered and evocative, far more than they would have been if we were merely speaking the words.

So for our next rehearsal on Saturday, Tim gave us all the “homework” of coming up with five gestures that we can use for our character. He further qualified that by saying that this did not apply to all the gestures that we had already come up with. So as I strive to maintain my self-imposed goal of being off-book on Saturday, I also need to come up with five gestures. I know that the physical sequence from the previous entry is calling for some very strong gestures, so I’ll just have to spend some time on Friday or Saturday morning playing around. I’d love to come up with gestures inspired by pop culture, like poses from Superman, Star Wars, or even Zorro.

Lovin' Big Love

[Tuesday morning, 8/28]

Monday night, it was just the three guys at rehearsal for Big Love, and we worked on the physical movement in a scene where the script calls for us to be throwing ourselves to the ground. Now, we all agreed that we weren’t looking forward to throwing ourselves to the ground, so with our choreographer, Robin, we worked on creating a physical sequence that would help express a series of rather long and intricate monologues. The three men have speeches that culminate in my two-page monologue about the “proper” relationship between men and women. It was a really fun thing to work on, as the three of us boys worked really well together. Ideas that we had would fuel each other, and there was a healthy degree of one-up-manship that made us want to stretch ourselves to improve the scene. Robin really enjoyed the night, saying that she had a lot of fun watching us work.

This show is turning out to be a lot of fun. That first night, driving into the distance to perform, I had a momentary flicker of anxiety. I wasn’t sure that I’d made the right decision to work on such a crazy script right before I left on tour. But from that first day, I haven’t looked back. I’m really digging the chance the script gives me to stretch myself and my performance, and it’s something that I wouldn’t have the chance to do in Philly. I also like working with our director Tim, as well as the college students. They all bring a wonderful amount of enthusiasm to the project, and while they are very serious, no one takes it too seriously. It is a great working atmosphere, and a nice escape from some actors who treat everything with such weight and severity. It’s nice to remember that this is supposed to be fun.

Brief Update

Sorry that I've been MIA, but this week we started rehearsing Big Love. I'm also working at Pella windows all week, and they do not let me access this blog from work. But I promise that I will get more out soon, and everything is going well. I'm not doing "Java Drama," and I did two shows of Tony n Tina's Wedding this weekend. I will try to write more soon. Stay tuned!

Fringe audition

Last night, I auditioned for a play called Java Drama, a site-specific show set in a coffee house for the Philly Fringe. Wandering around the city in sweltering temperatures, I wasn't at all excited about coming out there every night to rehearse. But when I found a rehearsal schedule set during the day, a great group of people, and a show that sounded very interesting and very appropriate for me, I'm totally on board. They said they wanted to cast the role as soon as possible, so I'm expecting to hear some time before lunch. This is the worst part of any actor's life, I think. Waiting those few tense days between the time of the audition and the time of the casting phone call.