How do you memorize all of your lines?

There is no trick to this. It is simple repetition and muscle memory. Going through the scene at practice multiple times will give you a sense of the flow, and then repeated runs at home cement the lines.  My personal method is memorizing for 105 minutes at night (regardless of how much I get done), and then repeating the lines learned first thing in the morning before I even get out of bed.

Actors train their brains to hold onto the lines like sports fans train their brains to stats and numbers.

How violent is the stage violence?

This can vary. The point of stage violence is to appear as real as possible and the stage makes a big impact on how it is approached. A standard stage (proscenium) has the audience in front, and that helps mask many of the moves. The actors can position their bodies to have the slap or punch blocked. The impact of the move comes from the reaction of the actor being struck and the sound the move makes (the knap). 

In a 3/4 stage, where the audience is on three sides, it gets tougher. For a slap, many times the slap will be real but at a lessened intensity. A stomach punch is real as well, with the punch being pulled so the receiving actor is not hurt. A face punch needs to be blocked carefully so the distance between the punch and face is minimal as possible.

A stage in the round (audience on all sides) is the most difficult. Careful choreography is a must, but this also results in the most dangerous because the spaces between actors are the smallest.

Stage combat, while choreographed and practiced, is very dangerous. I have broken toes to testify to it. Just like WWE is “fake” the punches, body slams, and flips are real and, although controlled, they hurt and take their toll.

What is the liquor made of?

Almost none of the liquids onstage are what they actually appear to be. Whiskey is usually tea or watered-down soda. Vodka or gin is water. Beer is usually NA with a fake label applied to the outside of the can. Coffee is almost never used because it stains the costumes.

How intense do the kisses get?

Stage kisses depend on the scene and the actor you are working with. The scene will often say “Kiss passionately” if the playwright wants a deep and long one. If you know the other actor well, or have a good relationship with them, it can get as deep and long as you feel comfortable with. Sometimes the two actors don’t like each other and that makes it a pure lip kiss with both acting like it is passionate. This usually looks forced and silly.

Above all, you hope that your co-star has good breath.

What is the stage blood made of?

You can make your own stage blood using Karo syrup, creamy peanut butter and red food coloring. Most companies buy bottles of stage blood, which has a minty flavor and is thick and gooey. If an actor gets punched and needs to start bleeding in a scene, the blood is put in a gel cap and bitten after the punch. Teeth can be substituted with Tic-Tacs and spit out to accentuate the violence. Teeth are then blackened out with “Teeth Black” which is painted on and tastes terrible.

Why can’t I say Macbeth in a theater?

This is the primary superstition in theater. It stems from loosely documented events that multiple actors have died or been seriously injured while taking the role and multiple mishaps during each production (I have a broken finger to attest to it). Because of the dark arts in the play and every main character being killed (there are 16 onstage deaths on the script), the script has a violent tendency to itself.

The rule is that unless you are doing the play itself, you should refer to it as “The Scottish Play.”  If someone tempts fate, the way to eradicate bad juju is to go outside the theater, close the door, spin around two times, spit on the floor, curse, and then be asked to be let back in.

Other superstitions are don’t whistle in a theater (stemming from the Greek’s use of sailors running the fly lines) and never put your shoes above your head in the dressing room.

How do you make yourself cry?

Each actor will approach this differently. Some partake in “Dead-puppy acting” which is when they think of a personal tragedy and use the emption to bring tears. Others simply ride the emotion of the scene and use the events around them to fuel the water works. I use a breathing technique that shortens breath and dries the water in the eyes and makes them over compensate and tear up.

So, the next time you see a friend or family member in a show and these questions pop up, you don’t have to concentrate too hard on them. Like any skill or craft, there are techniques and tricks that the artists use to convey their meaning. Whenever you watch a great artist, just sit back, relax and respect the skill required to make a great night of theater happen.

They say the neon lights are bright... on Broadway

By Reed Meschefske

With two well-received Broadway musicals bookending Scene’s release this month, Legally Blonde and Fiddler On the Roof give strong reminders of both the glorious past habits and momentum-filled future of the adaptive strategies of Broadway.  

Musical theater has long been the feeding ground for grand collaborations and even grander budgets. While straight theater has enjoyed a renaissance of late, when the lay-person hears the term “Broadway,” the image that is immediately thought of is sequined beauties kicking high.  

This image is rightfully deserved and it is based on names and characters so ubiquitous in American culture that it is hard to believe they ever had opening nights.  Musicals such as The Sound of Music, Oliver, West Side Story and Chicago are recognized high points in the history of the Great White Way, but also hold special significance in Hollywood as well.  They transferred well to film and took the coveted Best Picture Oscar in addition to raging success on stage.  Films such as Cabaret, Grease, Oklahoma and the above-mentioned Fiddler On the Roof also made the successful transition from live action to celluloid treasures.

That tradition has undergone a change in the past 25 years, however.  Hollywood has long had a tradition of taking the spectacle of Broadway and applying it to the silver screen.  From the earliest attempts of showing opera singers belting an aria during silent films (yes, silent films featuring singers), to the Busby Berkeley swimming pool numbers, Hollywood has long tried to capture the glamour and glitz of New York.  

Americans have had an inherent love of the bold and beautiful when it comes to their entertainment and this hasn’t changed.  What has changed is the source material for Broadway musicals.  Previously the sources were literary in nature.

Some examples: Damn Yankees – Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The King & I – Anna & the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon

South Pacific – Tales of The South Pacific by James Michener

Man of La Mancha – Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Phantom of the Opera – Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

West Side Story – Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

Jesus Christ Superstar – The New Testament (various authors)

My Fair Lady – Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

Guys & Dolls – The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown by Damon Runyon

It must be remembered that at the time of the Golden Age of Broadway (of which not all above were part of, but when the unwritten requisites of a Broadway musical were established), the populace had a much smaller palette of entertainment to choose from.

While the motion picture was the primary source of entertainment for the common man, it was books and radio that provided the majority of nightly escape for the masses.  That is why musicals translated so well to the screen.  

A normal family in the middle of Nebraska did not have the opportunity to visit New York, so New York came to them in the form of musicals set on screen.  While some of the previous sources may not be remembered now, it should be noted that they were there at one time and only through outstanding productions have the “covers” outlived the “originals.”

Thus it should not be surprising that the most used source material today (and for the last 25 years) for Broadway productions have been Hollywood.  

While it may be thought that this is a new trend, it actually began as early as 1966 with the small screen-to-stage adaptation of Superman (which is undergoing a Broadway revamping again) and has continued through the ’80s with the single most notorious Broadway production of all-time, Carrie (yes, the pig blood one) and into the ’90s and beyond.  

Some have achieved success on their own merits.  The Lion King is a mainstay in nearly every big city in the world with a theater.  Other films turned musicals that have forged their own path are The Producers, Legally Blonde and Little Shop of Horrors.  

Some are so well known as musicals that the source material is almost forgotten, such as trash director John Water’s Hairspray. Other films that have made the leap from the screen to the stage, with greatly varying levels of success include:
Titanic
The Color Purple
Young Frankenstein
Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels
Xanadu
Saturday Night Fever
High Fidelity
Tarzan
Shrek
Batman
The Lord of the Rings
When Harry Met Sally
Footloose
Grumpy Old Men
Some Like It Hot
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Some of those are well known and some are not.  You can probably take a guess at how some of them fared.

So why has Broadway relied on taking source materials for so long?  It is by far the most collaborative art form (dance, acting, staging, costumes, music, lights, etc.), and a source material gives all artists a mutual jumping off point. Or maybe the producers do not trust originality.  Many of the most creative and groundbreaking Broadway musicals were panned on initial release (Assassins or The Last 5 Years for example).

Whatever the reason, it is an established fact that originality and Broadway musicals do not dance hand in hand.  In fact, a 1996 study took every musical production on Broadway (hits and flops alike) from 1896 on and it found that 85% of all productions were based on an original source material.  While it may seem like every movie out in the theaters is a remake, remakes only account for about 14% of all annual releases.

Broadway will continue to adapt and absorb and produce musicals that are based in all creative ventures.  The desire of the American Broadway musical is still the same. It is a place to watch the lights go down, respect the craft that it takes to produce such a spectacle, and treat your mother to a wonderful night on the town.  

On with the show.

***

Share in the experience! (May 2010)

By Reed Meschefske

Twenty years ago, I got the fourth Entertainment weekly magazine ever published in the mail and on the cover was a television with an enormous eye on it next to an innocuous looking man. Under them was a headline trumpeting “Television’s Greatest Show!”

Being the inquisitive and artistic young man that I was, I read the article describing a program called Twin Peaks which was airing that Sunday. I didn’t know David Lynch from Adam, and although I had heard of Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, and even seen Dune, I was for all intents and purposes a novice in the area of film.  Something in that article, however, raised a red flag and I knew that I needed to watch this show.

What did happen was an artistic instinct was born and one that I follow to this day.  There is a much finer cultivated voice inside my head that steers me in directions of performance, literature and music that is based in nothing more than “a hunch” but that has helped introduce me to countless great works of art since that afternoon.

Everyone has this voice inside of them. Call it instinct (which Lynch himself describes as “creativity and intelligence meeting”) or feeling from the gut or whatever. This voice has much deeper roots than a Netflix recommendation based on “If you liked this, you will probably like that.” This voice stems from the collective sub-consciousness of the world, where the wellspring of humanity gave birth to creation myths, and continues to thrive to this day.

As Jung (and later to greater degree Campbell) pointed out, all of human experience is shared.  There is a common thread between the events of the past and the events of today. This is evident in the stories, myths and gods that have given meaning and structure to the cosmos since man stepped out of the cave.  While the pantheons of myth have been replaced by the unshakable belief in science, that shared experience of belief still resonates deeply in us and occasionally makes itself known by awakening the zeitgeist and propelling a piece of art to a cultural and social milestone.

Examples such as Star Wars, Titanic, Thriller, The Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter transcended mere storytelling and became cultural and artistic benchmarks of which everything that followed would be compared to. What was it that caused these creations to reach such towering heights of popularity and success? If there was a reliable answer to that, there would never be a flop in Hollywood again.

What does bond these events (and many more throughout history) is the sense of communal oneness that occurs to people when they happen. People are either in the club or out of it, and even those that are out often times absorb details and facts through cultural osmosis.

These experiences are the modern shared sub-consciousness. These are the stories that pass from culture to culture and offer identity, entertainment and meaning to us as a whole, but they also reflect the great tradition of what has happened before. The myths mentioned above may have different names, but the stories are all the same. A great flood story can be found in every ancient religion in the world. But today, as the focus  shifts to higher budgets and marquee stars, people forget that the shared events of telling stories is the collective experience for all of us. It is more than a way to kill a few hours. It is a reflection of who we are and where we have been before.

So the next time a voice starts telling you that you should check something out, listen to it. It is just your gut, but it is also the history of man’s creative endeavors screaming out to discover something new. As summer approaches, make a note to see, read and listen to new things in the upcoming months. While you may not always like what you find, remember that discovery takes some risk, but the rewards are incalculable.

* * *

So you want an audition...(April 2010)

By Reed Meschefske

A question I am consistently asked by friends and colleagues is “How do you get jobs?”  While the public sees the end result of an actor’s trip to the stage, the audition process is, for the most, a mystery. Except for the few masochists that choose theater as either a profession or hobby, the process of finding work is a skill that few understand or respect.

While each actor will approach the task of landing a part in slightly different ways, the overall presentation for an effective audition will be the same. Directors, casting agents and producers all agree on one thing: make an impression that is both appropriate and malleable. This impression can be achieved through a variety of techniques, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

STEP 1: Find an audition

In larger cities where the theatrical community is primarily professional or semi-pro store-front, this is fairly easy. Trade magazines, websites, college campuses and public message boards will carry notices for auditions. Many actors will also rely on agents to secure positions in an audition hall, as the space and time is very limited for the large calls (films, long running touring productions, Broadway shows, etc.).

In a smaller community it can be more difficult to locate audition rooms. In a decent-sized metropolitan area, there is often at least one company that has been operating for a good amount of time. Find their website and look for upcoming auditions. In addition to this, you can call the company or local colleges with active theater departments and ask if there are any upcoming casting calls. Coffee shops, Craig’s List, and local papers will often carry notices as well.

After securing a time, find out if a monologue is needed. A monologue is a 45- to 90-second solo piece that introduces the actor to the agents.  Many large general calls will require two: one contemporary and one classical.

Many local auditions will rely solely on reading sides. Sides are excerpts from the show that is being produced. If at all possible, GET A COPY OF THESE. These short scenes are the means to get the work, and the more an actor can prepare with the text, the better.

For musical auditions, a song will be required.  Many local companies will require the song to be sung acapella.  Often times they will have an assistant that may pound out a few notes of another common song (Silent Night is a real favorite) to see the range of the actor.  For large productions, the music may be brought in an accompanist will play along.  Rarely do they require you to bring in the backing music yourself, but many colleges are going this way during dept. auditions to maximize the comfort ability of the actor.

STEP 2: Work on the script

If it is possible to get the sides early, start the text work. If you can’t get the exact scene, get a copy of the whole work. This might take some legwork and cost a few bucks, but it will be worth it.

Breaking down the scene is essential because the casting director can see changes in the actor during a small segment. National casting director Daniel Renner says “Show at least three changes in character during a read because it shows me that you have range and don’t just play sad.”

This is done by breaking the scene into beats.  A beat is a moment that is associated with an emotional state. If the character is elated at the beginning of the scene and terrified at the end, obviously an emotional shift takes place. Identify where those changes occur, and highlight them. Different actors will identify different moments, but each should strive to make the shifts identifiable and engaging. As a dear friend once said “Change your thought, change you tone,” meaning if your character has an emotional change, it should be reflected in the way he/she speaks.

Next, get as familiar as possible with the script. Memorization is a good idea (especially for commercial auditions where you look into the camera) but not mandatory. What is mandatory is that you have a strong understanding of the scene and can take direction if requested without being completely thrown off.

STEP 3:  The Room

When you get to your audition, a couple of pitfalls can hit you before you get into the room. Arrive early. Be comfortable. Wear appropriate clothing. Bring a pencil, resume (if they have requested one), and act like you know what you are doing (even if you don’t).

Many people forget that the person outside the room is probably the first person the casting director is going to talk to at the end of the day. That person may be a spouse, assistant director or producer. They have a lot of input about you, and many people have gotten cut before they even walked in the door because they did something to upset the proctor. Playing music too loud, acting impatient or just seeming desperate can rub them the wrong way and you don’t want to be remembered for something like that.

When called, enter the room confidently. This is one of most important parts of an audition. Studies have shown that directors will make up their minds 10 seconds into the audition if the person is right. Poking your head in sheepishly and making it seem like you’re bothering the agent is not the best impression to make.

Introduce yourself and let the director drive the audition. If they have questions, they will ask. There may be an additional person to read the scene with you. There is almost always a chair, but if there isn’t, take it in stride. Don’t take the one that their laptop is sitting on.

When you get done with the reading, they may or may not have input or feedback. Many directors want to know that you can be directed and will give something like “Try a little softer” or “Really explode at the end.” These may or may not be appropriate with the scene. They may just be seeing if you can be flexible in your interpretation. This is the most crucial part of the audition, and you must make a choice. Even if you think you are going over the top or doing something that doesn’t fit the scene, take the direction and run. National Theatre Conservatory Head of Acting Larry Hecht says “I would rather see a big wrong choice, than a little right one. That way I know they have guts.”

STEP 4: Wait.

After the audition you sit and wait. Sometimes you will hear back immediately and sometimes it will take time (I once didn’t hear anything for three months). It is not good form to call and ask the status of a part, unless they say “You are cast” and you don’t hear anything for some time. In that case, only call once. The more you audition, the more you get turned down, but you can’t get a part if you don’t get in the room.

Lastly, many people forget that the person that they are auditioning for is their biggest fan. They want you to be brilliant because they want to cast their show. Many people feel as if the proctor is their enemy, but this is not the case. Having a brilliant audition makes their day easier because they know they have the actor for the production they are mounting and that is a relief for all involved.

Auditioning is a difficult task because you make yourself so vulnerable. However, if you look at it as an opportunity to showcase your brilliance, and spin the experience into a positive one, you will be much more successful regardless of the outcome.

Break a leg!