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.

THE WORK BEGINS

To say that the process of memorizing a whole play seems daunting is...well...an understatement. I have, personally, never liked memorization, but maybe that's because I remember having to memorize things like "the Gettysburg Address," "the Preamble of the Constitution," and "The Raven." Not that these aren't worthy of my time and memory, but I don't remember them as fun.

Joe says there are some techniques to aid in memory work, but the cold hard truth is that you have to do the work. Reading. Over and over and over again...out loud. Then still, more reading. Some actors make audio recordings. Some might do their own lines, and speak them back with the recording. Others record everyones' lines except their own. they leave a spot, or pause, for their lines and say them using the other actor's cues.

Still others use that period just before sound sleep comes to rehearse their lines. Using a recording of a rehearsal and reciting one's own lines as you're drifting off to sleep is another effective tool. In my personal experience, that time in which the body and mind are preparing for sleep is a time when the creative part of our brains is very active. It makes sense that it would be a good time for working on memorizing lines.

For most actors the time between notification that they have been cast in a role and the first read-through, is spent reading with a fair amount of memory work. Some actors, however, either because their learning style is connected to movement, or because their physical activity on stage gives them clues, choose to wait until rehearsals begin.

There are many clues to the dialog when blocking begins. Blocking is when the director instructs an actor to move as he's speaking, or to move to a certain spot before delivering his next line. These things are written in the margins, in pencil, in the "book." The "book" is what you and I would know as the script.

Next, more about...I forgot...oh yes, memory work. We'll discover the specific ways in which Joe goes about learning his lines.

THE REVEAL

There is the rare occasion where, without auditioning, an actor might receive a phone call asking him to play a specific part in a specific play. However, when auditioning, a lag of a few days often exists between the day of callbacks and notification of the casting of the roles. If an actor has not been cast, that information might be sent by mail. The letter is polite, but it's message is the same..."no." It might be softened a bit by a ticket for opening night. They might never hear at all. This just seems rude to me, and I hope it doesn't happen often.

On the Sunday of callbacks for "Inherit the Wind" the director, Christopher Weaver, makes the announcement that he has what he wants. I imagine the room is electric with a mix of anticipation, hope, and desire.

Now, the wait begins. Only on this Sunday in April, for Joe, it does not. Weaver asks Joe how his memorization is. Joe tells him it's really good, but tells him to ask around to be sure. Weaver, with several actors and actresses still remaining, tells Joe he hopes his memorization skills ARE good as the part of Henry Drummond is his. He might have stopped there, but didn't. With a fair amount of fanfare, he not only tells Joe he has the part, but why. My heart is pounding just recounting this part of the days events.

Joe won't repeat the things that were said, but you can bet your bippy that conversation with director Weaver is on my "to do" list. Joe says this role is a "bucket list" role for him. The notification, and the comments made by Weaver about why, felt like he'd received an award. Indeed, he had.

Now, the work begins.

THE CALLBACK

Having been tipped off regarding the Drummond role, Joe spends Saturday evening going over the lines. Sunday morning during callbacks, Joe reads some of both the Brady and Drummond roles. They read different parts and in different combinations looking for that perfect chemistry, aligning the characters in the play, the dialog, the delivery of the dialog, and the actors in their respective roles.

As I hear Joe recount these events, my mind is whirling with the realization that there must be LOTS of rejection in this business. According to Joe, actors live in the world of "no." So, this is why acting could not possibly work for me. Living in the world of "no" is not a place I could live.

Christopher Weaver is the director and tells those assembled that he has what he wants. What does that mean? Usually, there is a period of "no news is good news" waiting. Generally, each director, each play, each theater group is handled the same, or nearly so, but only in very broad terms. Sometimes the wait is just that, waiting. Sometimes, the "no news is good news" becomes "no news is no go."

The wait begins.