I've been curious about how he approaches it both physically and mentally. Being of a certain age, and knowing Joe is the same age, I wonder how is he going to learn these lines. I can't remember what I went to the kitchen to get, or whether I've already rinsed the conditioner out of my hair!
Having read through the entire play several times, he has started from the beginning taking a section at a time, not progressing to the next until this one is nailed down, and starting from the beginning with every mistake. It's a form of discipline which I understand. Section is not a real definite size, either, but he divides it up into easily digestible pieces.
He's been notified by the stage manager, Terri Foley, that the first read-through is in a couple of weeks. It looks to me like he might be a third of the way through. He has work to do.
Joe mentioned once that early on in his acting career, he learned that the delivery of lines comes from the entire body, not just the mouth, or head, or brain. I see what he means. As he goes over lines, gesturing, moving, looking at the potential juror (me), glancing away (at the imaginary courtroom), I realize that this is a dichotomy. Acting, and specifically the learning of lines, is both exhausting and energizing. Joe is already like the Energizer bunny, so I am hoping for a balance here.
I also wondered about whether he concerns himself with how the lines are
delivered, or is he just learning the words at this point. What I witness is that it's an all-inclusive package. He experiments, repeating the lines with slightly different intonation and inflections, working out the cadence and timbre. (Yikes! I'm exhausted watching.) All this time he's moving deeper into the role of Henry Drummond and the character of the man.We'll keep track of his progress, but next we'll investigate how he "finds" the character.
joe's front window was directly across from my parents house on wilbur.thats when he started acting i saw the job he did on his sisters his mother and his dad. later I moved away and went on my own but we toched base when he graduated,and agin when his daughter lisa graduated with my son, then later at track meets for his son so how long have i knowen joe? how old are you joe?
ReplyDeleteThis is the part that really makes it interesting . Seeing Joe with the highlighted script has made this go from just hearing about a play to the reality of it. His goal to make this the best part he has played is pure determination on his part... After many conversations with Joe you will find that acting is the love of his life . It takes a lot of stamina and fortitude to accomplish this task...Most of us would have a hard time memorizing two or three lines so we all know that this is a unique individual that can do this..We all look forward to seeing the end result. Good luck Joe and God bless....
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