gee jet america
so here's the deal... it's late.no, actually it's early, real early. i'm not asleep yet either.
obviously or i wouldn't be writing this.
West Side Story opened tonight.
how'd it go?
i really don't have a clue. it seemed like it went well, or at least ok.
i'm only on stage three times not including the curtain call.
it's hard to discern.
the first in the last time i'm only on stage for about three minutes each.
the middle, or second time if your paying attention, i'm on stage for about six minutes.
i have one other duty to do during the show and that is blowing the whistle just before intermission.
that's it.
i like small roles, especcially with a director that won't waste my time with unnecessary calls to rehearse.
Adrianne is the sort of director who doesn't wast my time.
i like big roles too, don't get me wrong.
but small roles can be immensely fun and rewarding.
now i know the old adage: "there are no small roles, only small actors"
but there is a difference.
that isn't to say smaller parts aren't important, that is simply not the case.
and while there may be less to memorize line ways, there are other challenges to consider.
the biggest one is making the character with the lines and the stage directions given.
you've got to portray them as realistically as any of the other actors are portraying thier characters.
i do at least, i want the audience to get the impression that this guy (in this instance Krupke) is as realistic as the Jets, or the Sharks, or Tony or Maria.
he may not sing and dance (which makes me happy in fact) but he goes out and does shit.
he roughs up the kids in the nieghborhood, tolerates Glandhands dance, and generally tries, without much success to butter up to Schrank.
i have nine minutes to portray that.
it's fun.
it's hard.
even harder when i only have nine lines to portray that in.
the lines reveal the character to both the actor and the audience.
i'm not necessarily good at interpetting scripts, but i try my best.
posted by F.G. Shaw @ 3:47 AM
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