It is a well established 'fact' according to many peoples opinions that an actor must be self centred, arrogant and full of hot air. Whilst there is some sort of bravado that must indeed be linked to being an actor, being these things up above is more detrimental than anything else in this writers opinion. I will freely admit to having a boast about how many people congratulated me about this and that so and so from the RSC praised my work and said I had a future in the industry blah blah blah but the truth is that it is hot air that I don't need and that I shouldn't let get me resting on my laurels. Here is the cold hard truth, especially for me, the lack of work can lead your once sharpened skills to dull quickly. Last year I was very rusty when I did 'The Worthing Tales' and I would never say that it was a very good performance from myself, it was fun but it wasn't very good (my acting that is, the show was fabulous). So what can we do about this apart from keep practicing with monologues and joining drama clubs and societies etc?
We can remember our faults and analyse them. In 2005 whilst still at University I was taking an Auditions Workshop in which we had to look at our strengths and weaknesses before picking a piece we felt could win us a job. I had until recently forgotten what I had written down and had made up a lot of new problems or what I felt were problems I hadn't addressed before when lo and behold whilst going through my folder of random notes etc I found on the back of an Entertainment license information resource a list of my strengths and weaknesses dated the 26th of May 2005. The list makes for good reading as it instantly reminded me of work I had done to combat all these problems when I was rehearsing and creating a character. It also reminded me of some of the monologues I had toyed with doing ranging from the work of Edward Bond, someone in my class recommended him so I looked in the College Library for some of his work and found nothing I then went to Methvens in Worthing and spent £14.99 (that includes the student discount) on a brilliant book I have barely read due to all the roles being out of my playing range, to the eventual choice of Benedick from M.A.A.N by Shakespeare where I decided not to do this monologue and instead picked what I now believe to be the easier one. I have since reread my list of bad things and thought you might all like a read or at least a look.
Posture
Shuffling Feet
Diction on the letters P, B, D
I need to add more movement
I need to deepen my physical characteristics
Work on my mime work
Work on accents
I find this list now very refreshing to read mainly due to the fact that there is my complaining about my shuffling feet yet I am also saying I need to move more. I guess it was just a case of moving with purpose, something that I do not think I ever really got until my final degree year. Posture has always been one of my main problems, when you have spent years slouching it can be very uncomfortable to stand up straight and even today I have issues with this. P,B and D being problems for me was just laziness and as soon as I read this I remembered how the first couple of days after acknowleding this issue I went around and over emphasised those letters, it did make my Shakespeare speech sound very funny though. Mime is something I sometimes find very hard to grasp but I respect the ability to do it and I think with practice I could probably improve this a lot. As for accents, there I fall down quickly, much like my singing voice my accents fail after about 20-30 seconds of sounding even moderately correct. I would say the majority of this list still are things I struggle with but knowing them is half the battle. I really should make a 2010 one that brings all of this up to date and lets me work and focus on improving myself. I would recommend that you performers out there should always review what you are doing right and wrong because we need to be self critical. Without being your own critic you cannot grow, I am not saying slate everything you do because you want to grow. Its fine to compliment yourself and go 'Yes I did that well' but remember you are only ever as good as your last performance and that is why you should always be looking at ways to improve your abilities.
I know I said I wrote a positives list as well but I will not be sharing that with the World as I think everyone can see my point, plus I don't want to pat myself on the back. Complacency is the death of good acting, I should know I got complacent when I was younger and it took me nearly 3 years to get my confidence and ability back to where I wanted it to be. Remember to be critical means to be able to push yourself to bigger and better things. You can do it, we can all do it. Just remember to always review and if you think you're perfect then get a peers opinion because they will surely know what you did wrong.
Hi just a very swift update today although I will be weighing in with my thoughts on the whole Julie Andrews comeback concert in the next 24 hours. I have been asked recently to put together a workshop for a local drama school and it has made me look up several of my favourite resources and I thought I would just share this one with everyone. This is one of the best hub pages on the web for finding improvisation exercises and the sites it links to are fantastic. If you want to get better at improv then these websites will provide you with exercises that are perfect for that, if you just want silly party games they are good for that too. So please check it out: here.
Well it was with great excitement that this evening LibraryGirl and I headed to the Pavillion Theatre, Worthing to see the much loved and critically acclaimed show ‘Morecambe’. My excitement stems from how wrong I was regarding the success of this show; long time readers and watchers of my youtube channel may remember my criticism of this type of show and in particular whether or not ‘Morecambe’ would have any future life following its much hyped debut at the Edinburgh Festival. I read the reviews for it in Edinburgh and was so pleased to discover it had a West End run- then the unbelievable happened- it announced a National Tour that would stop in our Seaside town of Worthing. I quickly snapped up our tickets, even before we heard of the Olivier announcement, and spent many a week thinking about this show.
When we entered the theatre and saw the set on stage, 3 pieces of set and a proscenium arch created in the background. Simple, clean and creative. The show began and I instantly started smiling, the energy that came straight out of Bob Golding was amazing. He came on stage bouncing with energy and it swept over the audience making us all feel comfortable. He quickly gave us a run down of the history of Eric Morecambe’s early life as a child music hall/variety act. This was very well received by myself and LibraryGirl, having not read the biographies of Morecambe and only knowing him from the repeats of ‘Morecambe and Wise’, as it gave us a good insight into Morecambe’s relationship with his mother and his love of comedy. It ran very quickly into the first meeting between Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise where we were introduced to ‘Ernie’. Ernie turned out to be a ventriloquist’s dummy and although that may sound like a simple solution for a single man show about a double act comedian (a dummy is technically a prop) the focus and sense of humanity Bob Golding invests in it raises it throughout the show to the point that you forget in many ways that it is a prop and it becomes a character in and of itself. It also is a very nice nod to the commonplace joke between Eric and Ernie about Ernie’s size. The way that Golding holds the dummy as well is a piece of design genius, Eric Morecambe, whilst a brilliant comedian in his own right would never have become as well loved on his own as he did with Ernie and the amount of focus and belief Golding puts into the dummy makes it a believable relationship. The props and set designer Julia Bunce did a fantastic job but it would be remiss to not mention the brilliant work from lighting designer Chris Davey. The lighting was very well used in the Pavillion; the disco ball used generally for dances at the theatre was used on occasions for the romantic interludes and the use of shadows which was very effective. The lighting very much focused on both Golding and the Dummy giving them both a level pegging in status until the story changed focus to something outside the double act. This was never more apparent than during the nightmare scene and heart attacks. The nightmare scene shone a crimson light over Golding casting dark shadows across the back of the set, the way the shadow broke up slightly because of the set proscenium arch made the shape of what looked to me like a Harlequin or a Peirrot now whether or not this was intentional I cannot say but it was very effective. The silent movie film effect for the recollection of the 1983 Christmas special’s Keystone Kops sketch was incredibly effective and it worked so well, the flashing washed out the colour on the stage and suddenly segued into the second heart attack. The way the heart attacks were lit, as well, was a great way of affecting the audience by showing how things can get derailed by a tragedy. The change in feeling when the attacks happened is enhanced very effectively by the lighting changes.
The story flowed really well and the storytelling by Golding was fantastic as he adopted voices of other characters, from agents to a brilliant impression of Bruce Forsyth, but always moving back to a very good characterisation of Eric Morecambe. The play flows incredibly well and feels like it is just naturally happening and time speeds by with plenty of belly laughs, small chuckles and smiles aplenty. The moments of high drama and touching reminiscence are beautifully written and very well handled by Golding. There are genuine moments of sadness in the play especially when he referred to his confidence taking a knock giving the audience an insight to the sadness behind Eric Morecambe’s enormous grin. Then as he talks about his father passing away, a funny story to be sure, it is not played for laughs and is chilling in the way it is linked to Eric Morecambe’s own last words. Golding’s retelling is treated with great care and thoughtful acting. His acting while describing his mother’s slow decline following his father’s passing is perfect and goes brilliantly with his setting up of their relationship earlier in the play, this is so well directed and acted there seems to be no weak part in the story telling. When we get to the end of Morecambe’s life a song begins indicating the end of the show as he picks up the Dummy he stops singing and pauses looking at little Ernie and it feels like forever before he leaves a long tearful lingering kiss on the puppets forehead- there cannot be many dry eyes in the house. The show ends on a high as the song finishes with both Eric and Ernie, another pre-dressed dummy, resplendent in their white tops and tails dance off as if these two friends are angels dancing off together.
Bob Golding is quoted in the programme as saying:
‘… nobody will ever come close to being anything like Eric. Nobody could match his timing, delivery, natural rhythm…’
I have to say that whilst it is true that nobody will be exactly the same as Eric Morecambe, Bob Golding is pretty much the closest we are ever going to get. His physicalization of Eric Morecambe is so brilliant that it had both LibraryGirl and me gasping at times because the veil had dropped over our eyes and we truly thought it was Eric Morecambe onstage. Golding had obviously studied Eric Morecambe very closely because he glides over the stage like him, stands like him and even moves when telling his jokes much like the man himself. Whilst he doesn’t really sound like Eric Morecambe Golding does very nearly match both his rhythm and his delivery and this is as close as I can believe an actor can really get to being another person. To me Golding embodied Eric Morecambe totally and drew me in so well that my disbelief was suspended to the point that I felt I was watching the great man himself on the stage showing just how good an actor Bob Golding is. The Pavillion obviously agreed with me as the audience gave Golding a standing ovation for his performance. I just wonder how good Aneurin Barnard must have been in ‘Spring Awakening’ to have snatched the Olivier away from Golding whose performance is definitely award winning.
This show had me smiling from the moment it began to the final curtain, something I have to say has never happened before in any show I have seen. It is a real feel good piece which is so entertaining it totally deserves its Olivier Award for best entertainment. A fantastic show in the perfect venue for it, a show that celebrates one of our last variety acts at an old Summer Concert Party venue where acts like Morecambe and Wise once entertained the tourists. Just a brilliant show, I wish I could go and see it again tonight.
In closing I just want to say that I have never been so glad to be so wrong and want to congratulate everyone involved in this production for just putting together such a feel good show which provides everyone with a real smile.
Ok so the Tony award nominations were released yesterday and they are interesting to say the least. I should point out that whilst this blog doesn't focus on Broadway and the american theatre in general the happenings in the USA do effect the Theatre here in the UK. Tony award winning shows and Tony nominated shows generally get at least a chance to be considered for our London stages just as our Olivier Awarded shows get a chance for a Broadway transfer. So with that in mind here are the nominations and I am going to comment on a couple of those nominations.
Nominees for the 64th Annual Tony Awards follow:
Best Play
In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Author: Sarah Ruhl
Next Fall
Author: Geoffrey Nauffts
Red
Author: John Logan
Time Stands Still
Author: Donald Margulies
Best Musical
American Idiot
Fela!
Memphis
Million Dollar Quartet
Best Book of a Musical
Everyday Rapture
Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott
Fela!
Jim Lewis & Bill T. Jones
Memphis
Joe DiPietro
Million Dollar Quartet
Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Addams Family
Music & Lyrics: Andrew Lippa
Music: Adam Cork
Lyrics: Lucy Prebble
Fences
Music: Branford Marsalis
Memphis
Music: David Bryan
Lyrics: Joe DiPietro, David Bryan
Best Revival of a Play
Fences
Producers: Carole Shorenstein Hays and Scott Rudin
Lend Me a Tenor
Producers: The Araca Group, Stuart Thompson, Carl Moellenberg, Rodney Rigby, Olympus Theatricals, Broadway Across America, The Shubert Organization, Wendy Federman/Jamie deRoy/Richard Winkler, Lisa Cartwright, Spring Sirkin, Scott and Brian Zeilinger
The Royal Family
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove
A View from the Bridge
Producers: Stuart Thompson, The Araca Group, Jeffrey Finn, Broadway Across America, Olympus Theatricals, Marisa Sechrest, The Weinstein Company, Jon B. Platt, Sonia Friedman Productions/Robert G. Bartner, Mort Swinsky/Joseph Deitch, Adam Zotovich/Ruth Hendel/Orin Wolf, Shelter Island Enterprises, The Shubert Organization
Best Revival of a Musical
Finian's Rainbow
Producers: David Richenthal, Jack Viertel, Alan D. Marks, Michael Speyer, Bernard Abrams, David M. Milch, Stephen Moore, Debbie Bisno/Myla Lerner, Jujamcyn Theaters, Melly Garcia, Jamie deRoy, Jon Bierman, Richard Driehaus, Kevin Spirtas, Jay Binder, StageVentures 2009 Limited Partnership
La Cage aux Folles
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani, Barry and Fran Weissler and Edwin W. Schloss, Bob Bartner/Norman Tulchin, Broadway Across America, Matthew Mitchell, Raise The Roof 4 Richard Winkler/Bensinger Taylor/Laudenslager Bergrère, Arelene Scanlan/John O'Boyle, Independent Presenters Network, Olympus Theatricals, Allen Spivak, Jerry Frankel/Bat-Barry Productions, Nederlander Presentations, Inc/Harvey Weinstein, Menier Chocolate Factory
A Little Night Music
Producers: Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch, Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, The Menier Chocolate Factory, Roger Berlind, David Babani, Sonia Friedman Productions, Andrew Fell, Daryl Roth/Jane Bergere, Harvey Weinstein/Raise the Roof 3, Beverly Bartner/Dancap Productions, Inc., Nica Burns/Max Weitzenhoffer, Eric Falkenstein/Anna Czekaj, Jerry Frankel/Ronald Frankel, James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer
Ragtime
Producers: Kevin McCollum, Roy Furman, Scott Delman, Roger Berlind, Max Cooper, Tom Kirdahy/Devin Elliott, Jeffrey A. Sine, Stephanie P. McClelland, Roy Miller, Lams Productions, Jana Robbins, Sharon Karmazin, Eric Falkenstein/Morris Berchard, RialtoGals Productions, Independent Presenters Network, Held-Haffner Productions, HRH Foundation, Emanuel Azenberg, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Michael Kaiser, Max Woodward
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Jude Law, Hamlet
Alfred Molina, Red
Liev Schreiber, A View from the Bridge
Christopher Walken, A Behanding in Spokane
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Viola Davis, Fences
Valerie Harper, Looped
Linda Lavin, Collected Stories
Laura Linney, Time Stands Still
Jan Maxwell, The Royal Family
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Kelsey Grammer, La Cage aux Folles
Sean Hayes, Promises, Promises
Douglas Hodge, La Cage aux Folles
Chad Kimball, Memphis
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela!
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kate Baldwin, Finian's Rainbow
Montego Glover, Memphis
Christiane Noll, Ragtime
Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture
Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
David Alan Grier, Race
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences
Jon Michael Hill, Superior Donuts
Stephen Kunken, Enron
Eddie Redmayne, Red
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Maria Dizzia, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Rosemary Harris, The Royal Family
Jessica Hecht, A View from the Bridge
Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge
Jan Maxwell, Lend Me a Tenor
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Kevin Chamberlin, The Addams Family
Robin De Jesús, La Cage aux Folles
Christopher Fitzgerald, Finian's Rainbow
Levi Kreis, Million Dollar Quartet
Bobby Steggert, Ragtime
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Barbara Cook, Sondheim on Sondheim
Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises
Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music
Karine Plantadit, Come Fly Away
Lillias White, Fela!
Best Scenic Design of a Play
John Lee Beatty, The Royal Family
Alexander Dodge, Present Laughter
Santo Loquasto, Fences
Christopher Oram, Red
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Marina Draghici, Fela!
Christine Jones, American Idiot
Derek McLane, Ragtime
Tim Shortall, La Cage aux Folles
Best Costume Design of a Play
Martin Pakledinaz, Lend Me a Tenor
Constanza Romero, Fences
David Zinn, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Catherine Zuber, The Royal Family
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Marina Draghici, Fela!
Santo Loquasto, Ragtime
Paul Tazewell, Memphis
Matthew Wright, La Cage aux Folles
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Hamlet
Neil Austin, Red
Mark Henderson, Enron
Brian MacDevitt, Fences
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, American Idiot
Donald Holder, Ragtime
Nick Richings, La Cage aux Folles
Robert Wierzel, Fela!
Best Sound Design of a Play
Acme Sound Partners, Fences
Adam Cork, Enron
Adam Cork, Red
Scott Lehrer, A View from the Bridge
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans, La Cage aux Folles
Robert Kaplowitz, Fela!
Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen, A Little Night Music
Dan Moses Schreier, Sondheim on Sondheim
Best Direction of a Play
Michael Grandage, Red
Sheryl Kaller, Next Fall
Kenny Leon, Fences
Gregory Mosher, A View from the Bridge
Best Direction of a Musical
Christopher Ashley, Memphis
Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Ragtime
Terry Johnson, La Cage aux Folles
Bill T. Jones, Fela!
Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Promises, Promises
Bill T. Jones, Fela!
Lynne Page, La Cage aux Folles
Twyla Tharp, Come Fly Away
Best Orchestrations
Jason Carr, La Cage aux Folles
Aaron Johnson, Fela!
Jonathan Tunick, Promises, Promises
Daryl Waters & David Bryan, Memphis
Now we have got the nominations out of the way its time to talk about a couple of them. I will start with the nomination for best performance by a Leading Actor in a play for Jude Law. Long time readers of HeadTheatre may remember an article I wrote in October of last year named Jude Law: Hamlet in which I analysed Jude Law's work on Broadway and the reaction he was getting, I criticised him and his type of film actor as people who use the theatre for credibility. I would like to apologise and congratulate Jude for his nomination, as I said in my article at the time he was receiving decent notices praising his work and I was surprised to hear that but also very happy to hear it and now I am glad his work has been nominated. Good for Jude and again I wish we had seen it at the Donmar when it was on in London.
I would also like to congratulate Douglas Hodge for his nomination for best leading actor in a musical for his performance in La Cage Aux Folles. Having seen Hodge perform in Guys and Dolls, as Nathan Detroit, back in 2005 I have been following his career to see how he does and the clips shown on British TV for LCAF during its West End run showed that Hodge is one of our top actors at the moment. He moved with the production to Broadway for its New York run and I am really happy that he has gotten this international recognition.
The other two nominations I want to talk about are for Nathan Lane and American Idiot.
American Idiot, based on the album by Green Day, is a Rock Opera in the same vein as Tommy. I have been waiting for this show for years, when the album originally came out I was so excited by the talk of a Rock Opera and I have been waiting to hear about it for the past 5 years. It opened on Broadway just two weeks ago and has already garnered this nomination alongside many favourable reviews. So knowing how Broadway is now utilising the world wide web I headed over to youtube for a gander and this is what I found.
I instantly felt like I was watching a little bit of WWRY but then also a little bit of RENT. It seems full of that anguish that RENT has and the unending happy teen bopping that WWRY was so guilty of. Not knowing where the show really will go means that I am unable to truly give a meaningful critique of its style etc. However being a piece written by, including the book, an international band means the liklihood of either a film deal or West End run being brokered increases the chance that at some point I will see this piece of new Rock Opera. I am most interested to see how much of the albums criticism of American society will have made it into the show. None the less even if the show doesn't win the Tony I predict a long run on Broadway.
The other nomination was for a favourite of mine, Nathan Lane. Lane has for me been the most entertaining american broadway star I have seen for years. His work both in film and onstage has kept me laughing for many years and I am really happy he has been nominated yet again. It did however surprise me considering that this $15 million production, The Addams Family, is a huge artistic flop with Lane being the only good thing in the entire show. Having watched a clip from the Letterman show (see below) I can see why people do not like it but the American public have lapped it up and the show has been playing to mostly full houses... something virtually unheard of at the moment in the theatre industry. Only two shows have been making more money than The Addams Family and that is 'Wicked' and 'The Lion King' both massive shows that have got a very impressive following. Lane has signed on to play Gomez Addams until March 2011 and it looks like there is nothing that will stop this artistic bust becoming at the very least a moderate commercial success. I would say that if it does huge megabucks I really can see this show making its way across the Atlantic and if it does you can bet that just like when the Producers came to London that Lane will follow to fill his role and if he does I will go and get tickets just to see him.
In conclusion I would like to congratulate once more those artists I have mentioned and of course everyone else who has been nominated for a Tony Award.
On the note of awards, tomorrow I am attending 'Morecambe' at the Pavillion Theatre in Worthing and will post a review of the show on headtheatre before Saturday. There will also be a special analysis episode of Theatre from My Head reviews on youtube regarding 'Morecambe' next week.
