Working Hard in Toronto
Toronto is not an edgy city. It’s a place of balance and equity, harmony and symmetry. It sits on the edge of Lake Ontario and smiles and it’s not an edgy city. It’s a good town for food, for beer, for culture, for inclusion, for meshing cultures, heavy traffic and television/film production. I like it fine. A city doesn’t have to be edgy to be good.
Big day on set today. A harrowing scene involving Rebel soldiers terrorizing a busload of Americans they have kidnapped. We had them in a thatched roofed shack and were shouting in their faces, pushing them around and just generally causing havoc. All well and good until one of the hostages started fighting back against our oppression. He swung at me and missed, I thought it was on purpose, I supposed he had made the actors choice to be the “defiant” hostage. I respected that and opted to take our improv further. I took him by the shoulder and held him at arms length. I cocked by fist and hesitated. Then I called one of my henchmen and told him to “take this one outside”. My guy took hold of the “rebel” and got a sock in the eye for his trouble. The “thwack” of the collision of flesh and bone was unmistakable. There was a pause and the my henchman broke the silence with “Excuse me, I don’t think he’s supposed to hit me”. Outside the director yelled “cut”.
As ever there were two sides to the story and the poor guy who threw the punch was aggrieved and angry and frightened at the way he was being treated. He came to the set unprepared for the kind of moment we were playing. The Director took charge of the situation and got everyone calmed down. He’s a really sweet guy and very actor friendly. There was no bad blood between the two actors involved and I didn’t even mention the punch I slipped seconds before the one that landed. The day ended well and the extra with the mean right cross stayed on. Twenty years ago he would have been sacked. It’s good to see that the industry has evolved in some way. And frustrating to know that some of the people with power in our business are still abusing that power.
Loving Toronto. I could definitely spend a lot of time in this town. The people are friendly and welcoming. The city is clean and modern. The food is fresh and varied and delicious. And the beer is cold, cold, cold.
One more day of shooting tomorrow, and an early morning flight on Tuesday. Hopefully I’ll have some time to catch the Dia De Los Muertos festival at Olvera Street.
Toronto Bound
Up late. Packing, sitting, looking at my sides, glancing at my carryon to be sure my passport is still sitting atop it. It’s the ritual, it’s the pattern, it’s what I do when I go on the road. I stay up late, saving up weariness for the flight. I check and recheck my necessaries. “Do I have what I really need?”. I push aside thoughts of air disasters, and keep a positive outlook. I look up museums and metro maps in the city I’ll be in. Toronto is a very cultured town. It has a metro system and the museums seem to be top notch. No doubt there are some good restaurants. And Beer? Hell it’s Canada.
Of course I wonder how I’ll be received. I’ve been a hired gun all my career. A day here, a week there, folks are usually friendly and welcoming. I remember Blair Brown making an effort to chat me up and put me at ease when I was guesting on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, it was my first network job and her kindness helped me so much. Mark Harmon on Navy NCIS welcomes guest stars as though he is welcoming guests to his house. That man is a class act.
I’m an old bunny now and much less needy. But even so I’m still the “new kid in class” whenever I’m guesting on a show.
Oh Canada! Here I come.
One more look at The Butcher
Fear The Walking Dead is such a cool show. I got to do terrible things to Zombies and got paid for it too.
Here is one more scene from this great AMC show.
Designated Survivor
The life of an actor is a bakeshop filled with fresh baked surprises and nectarous delights, dusted liberally with disappointment. On the surprise and delight side of things, I’m happy to announce that I just booked a really good gig. Gonna do a guest star job on Designated Survivor in Toronto next week. I’ve never been to Toronto and I’m a great admirer of Kiefer Sutherland. This is the first time I’ll be working in Canada, and hopefully, not the last.
The Butcher
From time to time you get a gig where you can really rely on imagination and just go wild. I’ve had such an opportunity lately. It was a lot of fun and such a joy to be working with an outrageously creative crew and cast. Here is a clip –
Table Work: The Foundation of Clarity
For the last 6 rehearsals the Troilus and Cressida company has been focused on table work and 
physical conditioning. This period has been a dream come true for a long time journeyman like myself who, even now, has aspirations of becoming a true theatre artist.
Every day has been a full day of script reading, discussion, clarification, consultation with our voice coach, Shakespeare scholar, director and each other, and just plain getting to know the story inside and out. What we are discovering about Troilus and Cressida today is going to have a profound effect on how we tell the story to our audience next month. Â Table work is foundational if one is serious about Theatre.
In my limited experience of LA Theatre, table work was limited to a group read thru of the script and some light discussion. This effort usually consumed half a day. Â DIscussions about scenes, the arc of the play, it’s characters, it’s actions would come up during staging rehearsals and usually involved the director and the actors who were on call for that moment. Granted I have never worked at ACT, whose Artistic Director Carey Perloff, is a big believer in table work. I know this from working with her at the Classic Stage Company, in New York City.
The typical Los Angeles theatre does not have the luxury of long rehearsal periods and on call scholars and dramaturgical experts and yet many excellent productions come out of the LA Theatre. For me though, it took coming back to the New York theatre to renew my appreciation for a more intellectual approach with lots of table work. Good theatre happens in both cities. I guess I get more personal and  artistic enjoyment out of the east coast approach and sensibility.
On top of all this goodly table work. Our company is gathering 3 mornings a week for physical conditioning. We do an hour of group calisthenics and strength exercise that leaves us all sweaty and breathless… and energized. The need for this physical work comes from the way we are staging Troilus, very physical, very action oriented. Also, to work in the park you have to be inshape, it gets hot and sweaty and you can get sapped of all your strength in no time flat.
This is an amazing and rejuvenating experience. I feel like I never left while at the same time feeling like it’s my first time. Ha! I’m a born again theatre virgin.
Some Omens Are Good
Not many people know this about me, but for many, many years now I have coped with tinnitus, a 
constant ringing in my ears. It is part of the reason that when conversing with friends I am constantly asking them to repeat themselves, and why I always have the volume up loud on the television or while listening to music, and why I sometimes talk too loud. Â I’ve gotten used to it and have sort of grown a callous around it .
Today is day one of rehearsals for Troilus and Cressida. The Stage Manager has sent out schedules and has placed calls. He has beautifully set up our expectations for the day and for the entire rehearsal period. It promises to be a physically and mentally challenging rehearsal. There will be movement sessions and even a “bootcamp” for some military training. (all those years I served in the Marine Corps will finally pay off)
Knowing that it will be a demanding rehearsal I went to bed early last night and, lucky me, dropped right off. I awoke this morning after nearly 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. As I lay in the gray of the morning, gazing at the hot red numerals on the digital clock across the room, watching the numerals change to 6:51, the decades long ringing in my ears suddenly stopped. Is this an omen? I think so. I think it’s going to be a wonderful day.
Arrived in NYC. Rehearsal starting soon.
I’ve arrived in NYC and am now set up in my temporary digs. How I got this fantastic sublet in Harlem is a story in itself. Suffice it to say I’m blessed.
Harlem is a beautiful old neighborhood and in spite of all the New York time that I have put in while on my journey, yesterday was my first visit to this really beautiful enclave above Central Park. There is no one to blame but myself for that fact. I would hope that the next 10 weeks will serve to correct that fault in my ongoing education.
As I was taking my morning exercise on the riverside overlooking the Hudson river I was briefly transported to the riverside of Sumida Gawa in Tokyo, where only a couple of weeks ago I was taking a similar jog. The pace of life is picking up and I like it.
Visiting the NYSF costume shop in a couple hours to have my measurements taken. And then I go on a nice long walk through the west village and Soho. It’s time to start soaking up the city. And after that, even more exploring in Harlem.
Something just occurred to me. In T&C I play Priam and Calchas. Priam is the father of Troilus. Calchas is the father of Cressida. I’m embarrassed that it took me this long to see that. I wonder if the director has something in mind for the fathers of the lovers. He’s a very smart man. I don’t think he would cast the same actor as the father of each of the title characters without a reason. I’ll be sure to bring it up at rehearsal, which starts in just a few days.
“Half Hour Ladies and Gentlemen, Half Hour…”
In a couple of days I board a flight for NY and will land in the past and the future at once. There are
so many old friends and colleagues in New York whom I will see and spend time with and party with and watch working and who will watch my work. Of all of them though the one I am most anxious to see again after so many years is the great stage manager Buzz Cohen.
To me, and to many, many, many Theatre professionals around the country Buzz Cohen is the standard for measuring the quality of a stage manager. She is small of stature, always smiling, always positive and always, gently and unequivocally, in charge. Buzz runs a safe, classy show. She understands all aspects of theatre life and has a way of making each and every person in the company feel safe and cared for. How does she do that? She does it by really, truly caring about the show and everyone in it.
I’ve had the sincere pleasure of working Buzz on Broadway and downtown at the Public Theatre and ever since meeting her and working with her I have been a fan. Wherever I am, when the words “stage manager” are spoken within earshot, I think of Buzz.
Back in 1995 I was working a big show with Buzz. During that time I received word that my father had terminal cancer. I was devastated but circumstances were such that, at my father’s insistence, I stay with the show and visit him after we had opened. From that point forward I was on the payphone near the stage door nightly, talking with my Dad. Afterwards I was in my dressing room, regaining my composure. And every now and then, just at the right moment, Buzz would appear and offer a kind word, or a listening ear, or just a pat on the shoulder and a smile. It helped. Â I’ve never forgotten her simple and human kindness. And I am so looking forward to hearing her voice on the intercom calling half-hour to the company.
“Half hour, half hour, it is half hour ladies and gentlemen for the New York Shakespeare Festival Production of Troilus and Cressida. Once again it is half hour, half hour!”
There Are Only So Many Opening Nights
Those that know me know that these last years have been a renaissance for me. I’ll save you the details because 
you already know them, there is nothing new or interesting about the reasons for this “rebirth”. What is worth thinking about and knowing and writing about is that it’s happening
Going back to NY to do Shakespeare in Central Park is another step in my journey back to my best destiny and beyond. I’m just a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage. That is really all I was meant to be and it’s what what I am happiest being.
A actor in the American Theatre knows that you only get so many opening nights, and of that limited number there are just a precious few in New York. The last time I helped tell a story on stage in New York was 1997. When I came to NY in 1980 to study acting and start a career I indulged in fantasies of fame and fortune. My teachers were demanding and pragmatic and just a little cynical. They promised us all that we could count on years and years of dues paying before our careers would get going and that those careers would be filled with high highs and low lows. They were right. What they did not tell us was that we must cherish every minute on stage. I was young and optimistic and more than cocky. I just knew that the jobs would come and I would pick and choose what I wanted. At first my career was moving just the way I wanted. Then finally reality set in and the truth of a life in art began to clash with the truth of Life. I struggled, and when I was forced to choose between Art and Commerce, between Theatre and supporting my family. I chose commerce. No regrets. It was the right choice.
Now I’m in a position to choose again. And now I know that there are so few moments on stage, so few chances to tell a story. I’m choosing Art this time. Â Yes it’s possible to manufacture those minutes, to produce oneself, to tell one’s own stories, and yes I will take that plunge, but for the moment, that seems like cheating somehow. To be invited to work with a top flight company, in a New York theater, working on world class material is an honor and a privilege. It’s a validation, a reminder, a confidence booster, and ego inflator. It carries with it feelings of professional pride and accomplishment, and it also feels good like it felt good to be first pick in a boyhood sandlot game of baseball, football, whatever. It feels good to be wanted, to be valued, to know that a producer will pay you for what you have to offer as a Theatre artist.
I’m hoping that I can rack up a few more opening nights before I cash out. And if some of those can be in New York, well that will be just fine.