A RUN-THROUGH

My granddaughter, Ally, and I attended the rehearsal for "Inherit the Wind" on Wednesday evening, 6/22/10. It was held in one of the rehearsal rooms at Spectrum Theater, part of Grand Rapids Community College.

I had a chance to meet and chat very briefly with some of the cast members. Kitty Slasinski, is playing Mrs. Krebs; Francis Gentile, playing Mrs. McClain. I had met Mary McGuire-Howing earlier. She is playing the part of Mrs. Blair. Mary's son is also cast in the play, and is playing the part of Timmy. Different women with different lives and different reasons for being in theater, and completely enjoyable to watch. The young woman, Clara Osbeck, who plays the part of Rachel Brown, is doing an extraordinary job.

Rehearsals are scheduled so that everybody doesn't have to be there every night, all night, but tonight everyone is scheduled. Things were a little late getting started as the costume woman, Valerie, was there to measure everyone.

The plan was to do a run-through from beginning to end. We left at the end of act 2, but Ally has become a fan. She'll be at opening night. Even an eleven-year-old can appreciate hard work.

The director, Christopher Weaver, was coaching the delivery of lines, and helping them to understand what they, and their audience, should be feeling. He's continuing to tweak the blocking. Joe has said that blocking is ongoing, that it can be changed even after a play has opened. It's challenging, because they are rehearsing in a small room without props.

None of that, however, prevents this group of actors from working hard to get it right. Stage manager, Terri Foley, read the parts of Bert Cates, and the judge, but she works so hard at it, that things move along smoothly even with missing actors. Jim Burr, playing the part of Brady, is still in recovery mode after knee-replacement surgery, but makes the most of a tough situation. He's getting around with a walker on stage, and icing the knee when seated.

For all our Godwin friends--put it on your calendar. Plan on attending! Don't miss it! You'll love watching Joe. He's more than believable as Henry Drummond. It's very clear that he's been working, but more than that, even with the stops and starts we were hanging on his every word.


At right: young man in foreground is Sam Vandersluis, playing Howard Blair, gentleman in center is Jim Burr. Jim is playing Matthew Harrison Brady and is recovering from knee-replacement surgery.









In this photo L to R: Toby Weiner Dolinka, playing the role of Sarah Brady; Bob Rose, playing the part of bailiff, George Meeker; Terri Foley, stage manager; William Handy, playing the Reverand Jeremiah Brown.











Kitty Slasinski, who plays the part of Mrs. Krebs has brought popcorn to share with the members of the cast.

REHEARSAL WITH CAST MEMBERS

The definition of digest is: to obtain information, ideas, or principles from; assimilate mentally; to arrange methodically in the mind; think over,to arrange in convenient or methodical order; to condense, abridge, or summarize.

I spent the evening of June 2 observing the cast of “Inherit The Wind” at their second rehearsal. I’m still digesting it.

As I observed the group of people coming together to rehearse I was taken with what a diverse group they were—young, middle-aged, older, a couple, a student, an entrepreneur, a pastor and his wife (the movie star, the professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligans Isle).

The room became electric. As the size of the group grew the buzz grew, too. Each person arriving brought their own special something to the group. It was evident as each person arrived they were leaving behind whatever the day had held for them, stresses, exhaustion, busyness. Coming together, there was a comraderie evident among the group. This is local theater. These folks are doing this because it gives them joy, it fulfills a need for them, and it shows. Each actor works to get it right.

On this evening they are working on courtroom dialog. Joe, as Henry Drummond, is grilling Brady. The townspeople are assembled as spectators in the courtroom, and are referred to as the “Greek Chorus.” Director, Christopher Weaver, works with them to help get the level, volume, and rise and fall of their reactions to match, and enhance, the action on the witness stand. Each one makes notes in the margins of “the book” marking what and where their reactions are needed. Christopher directs them like a choir, encouraging, tempering, shushing. He’s excited and clearly communicates his vision.

Joe says that the director is in charge until the performances begin, then the stage manager takes over. In fact, he told about one play where the director went to Chicago on opening night (yikes!). Tonight the part of the judge is being read by stage manager, Terri Foley. She is a woman of many talents, organized, and anticipating the needs of the group. This cast will be in good hands when the performances begin. Terri is also responsible for communicating pertinent information to all of the cast members. I think she must LOVE having email to do this!

I have no way to measure, or compare, but this seems like a successful evening to me. They are not required to be “off book” until July. Seems like Joe is about where he should be for that to be doable. Because at the moment, dialog is sometimes being paraphrased, the cues are hard to catch occassionally, and blocking work is being put off until there is a designer to build the set, but in all, this cast seems well on their way.

Our differences are what make us interesting to one another. The vocation we choose combined with our avocation(s), our relationships, our faith (or lack of), and our history meld each of us into the unique person we become. Even superficially, one can see that this is a cast of interesting, unique and fun people, all doing something they love.

REHEARSING

Joe is currently playing a hobbled actor with a tailbone/rollerblade incident, and a roofing nail into the foot accident. But, the memorization work continues. Act I is pretty much nailed down, and he's working on some of the longer pieces from Act II, which includes the scenes where he goes after Matthew Harrison Brady pretty intensely.

I was curious why he would be jumping around and not just pushing forward learning the lines as they come. Joe says that some passages are less comfortable to articulate than others. They are different in tonality, inflection, and emotion. They require more work to make them feel totally original and totally his. When they're finally right, he can comfortably move on, but not before. When they're done right, he can hear and feel it in their delivery, and then repetition is the key to any measure of confidence.

Joe mentioned something that I wouldn't have considered relative to the learning of lines. He pointed out that we all have a vocabulary which is uniquely ours. We're comfortable with it. We speak it fluently. When you start using unfamiliar words, or combining them in unfamiliar ways, it can feel awkward. That's acting and that is what he does.

Note: 5000 may be the number of words a typical person uses. When it comes to vocabulary, it is important to distinguish between the words someone understands, and the words they actually use. An average adult with English as a first language understands between 50,000 and 250,000 words. Some people with very large vocabularies, such as Winston Churchill, have been estimated to understand up to 400,000 words. Most people actually use about 10% of the words they understand. So a person who understands 50,000 words probably uses about 5,000. Shakespeare used about 29,000 words in his plays & sonnets, so we might estimate that he had a vocabulary of 290,000 words. There are at least 475,000 words in the English language, with some estimates as high as 1,000,000. And there are thousands added every year (Twitter, anyone?). So, there’s a lot to learn. (from Wikipedia)

Joe discussed becoming tongue-tied. It is an actor's bane, and can cause the rhythm and momentum of the moment to be lost. (Think Perry Mason in the midst of one of the cross examination zingers. Stopping to repeat a line wouldn't have been acceptable, and that is why live TV all but died.) Jim Burr is the actor who will be playing the part of Brady. I wondered if the two of them might be rehearsing together outside of the scheduled rehearsals. It turns out that Jim will be taking a little time off to have one of his factory-installed parts replaced. Here's hoping the new knee is better than the original!

Perhaps during recovery and rehab there will be some Brady/Drummond sessions. Joe has promised to stay off the rollerblades until after the performances, which sounds like a wise decision.

There might still be jurors needed. They are nonspeaking roles and will not likely be required to rehearse until the week before the performances, but would be required to be available for all performances. This could be your golden opportunity!

I will be attending a rehearsal tonight, and that will be the subject of my next post.

ADDITIONAL AUDITIONS

On Monday evening, May 8, Christopher Weaver, the director of "Inherit the Wind", held auditions for the part of Howard. Howard is the student called to testify about whether the teachings of Mr. Cates have changed him in any way.

Joe is there to read with them. There are two brothers, Nick, 15, and Andrew, 13. Joe makes light conversation with them, and determines that only the younger boy, Andrew, is planning on reading for the part. Joe asks Nick why he isn't reading for the part. Nick's reply is that he's really more of a music kind of guy.

Christopher has arrived. He and I are introduced and we chat briefly.

He turns his attention to the boys and their mother. She has been cast in the play also. She briefly explains that Andrew has been rehearsing and wants to audition for the part of Howard. She then leaves the room. Terri Foley, the stage manager, places a chair to represent the juror's box. While Terri is handling practical matters, Christopher sits down with Andrew and Nick and asks their ages and questions Nick about his interests. After a few minutes, he explains to Andrew that, he looks younger than his vision of the role of Howard. He asks Nick if he has an interest in reading for the part of Howard. He does. Nick takes the "stand."

He in understandably nervous, tentative, and very soft spoken. Christopher checks, again, that this is something he wants to do. It's time for an acting lesson. CW introduces Grandma Gladys. He explains that she is half blind and half deaf. He further explains that we have to exaggerate our movements, so she can see them, and say our lines and project our voice so Grandma Gladys can hear us. Why doesn't she sit closer rather than all the way to the rear? Because she needs to be near the restroom.

Everyone laughs and Christopher has succeeded in relieving the tension Nick is feeling. Before offering Nick the part of Howard, he directs his attention to Andrew. He, again, explains that while he is very likely able to play the part of Howard, he simply looks too young. He adds that there is a smaller part, Timmy, that he thinks he looks perfect for and explains that actors hear "no" often for reasons that have nothing to do with acting, but they simply don't look the part. He asks if he's interested. Andrew accepts the role of Timmy.

I, though, have a question. The play seems contradictory about Howard. The scene notes about Scene 1, Act One say that Howard is a 13 year old boy. In early dialog Bert Cates has with Rachel, he says that he read chapter 17 of Darwin's "Origin of Species" to his sophomore science class. It's possible that school subjects may have been taught at different grade levels, but later when Henry Drummond is questioning Howard, he, jokingly, asks him if he thinks what Cates presented to them in class might have affected his pitching arm. Again, this seems more appropriately asked of a high school sophomore than a thirteen year old.

So, the mother of the boys can be excused for encouraging her 13-year-old to audition, and Christopher Weaver for looking for someone older. On this night it's settled. Nick will play Howard and Andrew seems happy to play Timmy. Everyone has a good laugh at the realization that a mom and her two sons will all be in the play together.

Fast forward to the first scheduled read-through. Nick does not attend. We would have to assume he has changed his mind, or perhaps has a conflict with the performance dates. They audition, again, for the role of Howard.

Read-throughs are exactly that: the "book" is used for the lines, and sometimes very basic blocking is discussed. Some cast members attempt it without the book. Joe determines to work harder and acknowledges his only concern should be his lines. The first read-through has been accomplished, and they are none the worse for wear.

Here's an interesting tidbit relative to the memory work. The night of the auditions with Nick and Andrew, Joe asked Weaver on which side of Howard would he be, and where would the judge be. The stage manager commented that he was over-thinking it for the purposes of this audition.

What I've witnessed is the memorization of lines is impacted by his physical movement, and his positioning on stage and among the other actors. This makes perfect sense to me as Joe appears to be a kinesthetic learner. His positioning and placement is setting up cues for him for his lines. He adds a light air to the auditions and the boys laugh at his jokes. All good.

Our next post will be catching up with Joe's progress, As soon as the dates and times are available they'll be posted on the blog, but also start thinking about possibly attending as a group. Perhaps it will need to be several groups, but at least make a little mental note to be there.

BECOMING HENRY DRUMMOND

I have problems enough figuring out who I am. Some days I feel more me than others, but my "me" is changing, evolving. Joe is working on becoming Henry Drummond, and he is evolving, too--both, Joe, and Joe as Henry Drummond.


There are courses, entire schools, and mountains of information available on character building. This particular post will be a description of how Joe works it out, but please, we welcome comments from other actors about what works for you.


The very subject of learning styles is controversial, but as a mother I'm a believer. Nothing I see as I watch Joe could make me believe otherwise. He paces, he sits gesturing, he's up, he's down, repeating lines the entire time. There is another process going on beneath the obvious one of learning lines. He is becoming Henry Drummond.


Actors become the part they're playing. It's pretty obvious that a minor walk-on role wouldn't require much in the way of character building, but with Henry Drummond it will take a good bit of work. Joe uses several techniques, one of which is the question method. How do you feel? Where were you just before this? What just happened to you? What do you think is going to happen next? What do you want to happen? Did you sleep well? Are you hungry? Is it hot or cold? Do you have a strong feeling at this moment? How old am I? Am I a person of color? Is there anxiety, anger, jealousy? The number of questions one can ask is infinite. Some will always be more helpful than others.


Henry Drummond is past middle-age, caucasian, is from Chicago, prides himself on representing the underdog, and has a "large and in-charge" reputation. The play, itself, will provide some of this information. We know from the script that it's late morning and it's hotter than blazes. Also from the script, Drummond has a history with Brady. Drummond is in Brady's element and out of his own. From the research I've done I know that Henry Drummond is based loosely on Clarence Darrow. I've watched the 1960 film version of "Inherit the Wind" a couple of times, and I would say that the play and the movie make Henry Drummond a bit softer around the edges than Clarence Darrow.


Joe has read the play umpteen times, articles from the analysis of the play, opinions of the authors, the history of Clarence Darrow and information about the Scopes trial, which is available online. This is all being done as he begins to work on the lines, all of it helping him sort out the character.


A friend and mentor, Fred Sebulske, told Joe at whatever point you are in character development, there is always more to bring. You might find it from going deeper into your own memories, or finding a place deeper into the moment of the character. The key here is that he does whatever it takes.


There'll be more on character building, but I sat in on the audition for the part of Howard, the student who is called to testify. I'll tell you about that next time.


Oh, one more thing. I'll save it for later, but the director, Christopher Weaver told me what his comments to, and about, Joe were on the day of the "callback" auditions.

THE MEMORY WORK - PART 2

I stopped by to see how Joe was doing with his memorization work. I don't know what I expected to see--maybe Joe with his "book" pacing between his telephone poles--wild eyed with his hair on end. NOT! What I found was Joe with his book, Henry Drummond's lines neatly highlighted, diligently working.

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.

THE MEMORY WORK

As I read over Joe's notes to me, I'm struck by how strongly I react to the idea of forgetting one's lines. He calls it going "up." I'd not be "up" at all. More likely down--in a puddle--on the floor.

It's a gradual process, but in community theater the whole timeline is compressed, sort of in fast forward. Many of the actors have jobs, and the whole memorization process seems, as I've already said, daunting. The number of performances is limited, but the amount of work that goes into a production is the same.

So, how does it all work? By the time they're in rehearsal the actors have a pretty good handle on their lines. They're still working out blocking, and someone is nearby with the "book." (Remember, this is the insider's reference for the script.) If an actor goes "up", they simply call "line", and it's fed to them. Because every actor learns their lines differently, and they're all trying not to lose the moment, the bookholder may feed lines differently to each actor. (Boy, you've got to love the bookholder, right?)

The director notifies the cast when they will be expected to be "off book." Initially some line feeding is still permitted. Then, again, the director dictates that line calls will be eliminated. At this point my imagination has run amok. My palms are sweating. In this situation I think I would be hyperventilating.

They're actors. They're up to the task. They are, literally, relying on each other. It's important, now, that the lines are delivered in the appropriate timing and rhythm. When someone goes "up", if everyone is in the moment the line can sometimes be fed with a question, or sometimes a line can simply be skipped with an ad lib by another actor. Acting is, really, reacting.

The cast is a team. They all have a common goal, and their responsibility every performance, is to do whatever it takes to deliver the best performance possible each and every time. Every performance will be different. They're live. No "take two", no voice overs, or ADR. What you see is what you get. The Golden Rule in acting is: don't leave anyone hanging out to dry."

Early in Joe's acting career he is playing the Kralahome in "The King and I." It's his second play. Anna and The King are on stage. The Krahahome's job is to enter, deliver a greeting, and announce that the British are here. One night Joe scoots out and delivers the greeting. Brain fart. He actually thinks he's done.

The wonderfully talented Carol Black is playing the part of Anna. She leans around The King and says, "What's the commotion? Who's here?" Now, Joe experiences a brain bomb. He blurts, "The British! The British are here!" And on they went.