The Social Net

First week of rehearsals is completed, and boy do I have a lot of rust!

The first week of rehearsals for any show is almost always the same. You read the script, you talk about a few core character choices and generally, you get on your feet and block the play. If you're working on Shakespeare, this routine varies a bit--you spend the first week going thru the script quite carefully and discuss the words to make sure everyone understands what every word means.

'Blocking' is the process by which you make stage pictures. Who stands where and when. It's a part mechanical, part organic process. Sometimes the director has the entire play blocked out in his or her mind and gives you the blocking. Sometimes they say "go where you feel like going and follow your impulses." And sometimes it's a combination of the two.

There are pros and cons of each method. When the director gives you the blocking, it can mean that they've thought a great deal about how to tell the story of the play visually. And it saves time in rehearsal. The job of the actor is to then find the justification (or 'motivation') for the movements.

In the hands of a great director, this is very good. It's very freeing, and most directors of this type will allow you to change the blocking to something more organic after trying it out for a few times.

It can also be the sign of a manipulative director who treats actors like they are live puppets, and that's no good. The problem is that you won't know the difference until 4 weeks into rehearsal when it's too late to do anything about it besides suffer and look forward to the end of the run.

The second option--finding the blocking on your own--is the most time consuming. It can be very instructive--you might have cast mates with an impeccable sense of movement and timing to play off of...or you might wind up with people who over-analyze everything and you are constantly subject to their 37 thoughts on what they could do at any given moment.

Multiply that by 4-10 actors in a play and you can spend a LOT of time talking, and not very much time doing. Not that talking isn't valuable, but almost every play I've ever been in has not had enough time allotted to adequately rehearse, so rehearsal time is *precious*.

The middle way is the most common. The director has an idea of what she wants to see AND is smart enough to honor the actor's contribution. There *might* be a perfectly good reason why I'm playing an intimate moment with someone who is 12 feet away from me, and it's up to me to find it.

But it's also up to me to contribute that while this picture might look pretty from the audience, I'm disconnected from my fellow actor in an intimate moment and therefore it's not going to *feel* intimate.

Actors convey feelings, so when you hear an actor say something like "what's my motivation", it's because they are trying to summon up the right feeling.

Our director likes to sketch in the rough blocking and then since its a comedy, leave some of the creativity to us. So I might have to go from my piano in the living room into the kitchen and stay in the kitchen for a couple of pages of dialogue. It's up to ME though, to figure out what I'm doing in the kitchen and how I do it.

We call those types of things 'bits'. So the blocking might be "cross to the kitchen on this line, stay there until that line, and come up with some bit while you're in the kitchen that isn't too distracting."

It's boring if I'm just standing there doing nothing (unless I'm part of the conversation), but at the same time, I don't want to 'upstage' the other actors by doing something that takes the audience attention away from where it should be.

It's a fine line. You need to be *interesting* because you're on stage and someone is ALWAYS looking at you, but you can't be SO interesting that you draw attention away from what is going on in the play.

Anyway...we got the blocking done for all of the scenes that I am in, which is roughly half the play. Now comes the laborious part--memorizing lines. It's a truism that an actor cannot really play and really explore the role until s/he is 'off book'. (has their lines memorized)

Until you've got everything memorized, you're really going thru the motions, so most actors like to have a detailed rehearsal schedule so they can memorize certain scenes in time for rehearsal.

Everyone ALWAYS asks "how do you memorize all the lines?". I'm afraid I don't really have a great answer for it--there are several different methods different actors use and you have to do what works for you.

Some people memorize both their lines and their scene partner's lines. Some people tape all their lines and cue lines and talk along with the tape. Some people play word association games.

In my younger days, I had a near-photographic memory and could visualize the words as they were printed on the page, and memorizing was always easy. As I've gotten older (and this is a problem common with actors as they age), it becomes more difficult to memorize things word-perfect, exactly as they are written.

Sheer repetition works for me, developing muscle memory in the lips and the tongue. If you say something exactly the same way several hundred (or thousand) times, the mouth remembers the order of the words and how they were shaped without having to think about what you're saying.

There are monologues that I memorized years ago that I can't write out, but if I start to speak them, it will suddenly just flow. It's not brain memory, it's muscle memory.

So now I'm in that boring phase of rehearsal where I know where I'm supposed to go and stand, and I'm repeating my lines (I take 1-2 hours per day right now, although I could use MORE time) until they become reflective.

It's important NOT to memorize your lines with inflection--you want to form the words as neutrally as possible and not 'practice' how you are going to say them. You want to *discover* the words every night--the new inflections, nuances, and meanings, because most of us don't practice speeches in our every day conversation.

The art of the stage is to mirror life, so the words must flow as if you are thinking them up for the very first time....as if the conversations you are having on stage have never happened before. So you want the words to flow...

....but the feeling behind them to be created brand new every night. You can't do that if you practice inflections--the words will always come out the same. If you learn the words neutrally, then you can be more 'in the moment' with your scene partners in performance and that adds an edge of excitement and makes for more interesting viewing.

First week of rehearsals is also like the first week of school. You meet everyone and start to get a sense of how you are going to play with each other. Generally, I form quick relationships and without being a psycho about it, I try to have the relationship with the actor that I have with their character.

In this show, my main relationships are with my wife, my mother and my father-in-law. So even though we barely know each other right now, when we're on breaks, I'll go sit with Vera (who plays my wife) so we establish a bond of always being around each other, so we develop that casual connection with an easy physicality.

When I'm with Marie, my mother in the show, we talk a lot about our past experiences so we have a shared history. When I chat with Ray, my father-in-law, we're a little more superficial and casual because that's our relationship in the play.

Now, like I said, I don't go psycho over this, and not every actor does it this way. And for some, it's not even necessary--they can just act however the script says they should act towards the other characters. I don't have to fall in love with a leading lady if I'm doing that kind of show...but for me, at least, I have to find *something* about her to fall in love with. There are some emotions you just can't fake.

For me, though, I find that I can have many different kinds of relationships with people and thru the course of rehearsal, we will all generally get to know each other pretty well. But you can usually spot when 'chemistry' exists between people on stage or not and as an audience member, you would say "I didn't believe that they were really married" or something like that.

Everyone has boundaries, of course, but if Vera and I are supposed to be married, then there is a way that she would react to a welcome kiss, or a way you sit when you're on a couch together that helps tell the story of that relationship.

I remember playing John Proctor in The Crucible a few years ago, with an actress that I couldn't connect with who was playing my wife. It was very difficult in rehearsals--she had a very jealous boyfriend and while she was very good at playing the emotionally cold and distant scenes with me, she never felt comfortable being vulnerable and intimate with me on stage.

Many of my fellow cast members had worked several times with me before and could all see me trying to get close to her, and encouraged her that it was safe and to open herself up too, but her relationship with her boyfriend was affecting her work--she could never make the distinction that what we did in the rehearsal hall and on stage STAYS in the rehearsal hall and on stage...and the production suffered for it.

(for the record, in a 20+ years of being involved in theater, I have had an affair with a leading lady twice, and both times when I was in my early 20's and still in school. I learned the lesson early that carrying the relationship too far is bad both for the people involved and the production.)

It's pretty obvious to an audience when one person in a scene is really going for it, and the other is faking it. In the end, several of the cast members got upset with her for shutting down--there were some *electric* moments we had during rehearsals, but she wasn't a good enough actress to turn it on and off like a light switch, and wasn't comfortable enough living in the relationship during rehearsal hours.

So in the end, the big poignant moment at the end of the play--the denoument--was lost because we had never established the feeling of intimacy. The audience didn't care about the sacrifice that was made for love, because they never felt that we were IN love. Two and a half hours worth of work by 15 people on stage failed to have the impact that it could have, because one person (the boyfriend) wasn't comfortable with intimacy.

I'm happy to report that we don't have any such barriers with this cast. My stage wife is comfortable being physical and treating me the way she treats her real-life fiance, and my stage mom and I are bonding. It helps that we're both new to this acting company and the director, so we feel a little bit like outsiders and seek each other for support.

Just like the characters in the play.

Trust me, there is plenty of time to develop normal, healthy relationships with everyone in the play, but when you're thrown together in an unnatural situation for a short period of time and MUST produce something that will be seen by an audience, you use everything you can.

Reviews of current movies in the theater...in one minute or less.

Vicky Christina Barcelona-- This one of those Woody Allen films that can either spur uncomfortable conversations with your significant other or bring back really fond memories of youthful indescretions. Either way, it's a film for grown ups and not your typical date film.

Vicky and Christina are best friends who are polar opposites when it comes to love--one is cautious and careful, the other spirited and carefree. One is engaged to be married, the other doesn't know what she wants in love--only what she doesn't want.

So naturally, (this is the movies, after all) they meet a swarthy, intense Spanish artist who wants to sleep with both of them and the ensuing entanglements leave both women wondering just what is important in their lives.

This is a very thoughtful movie that captures the passion and intensity of the kind of summer fling and experimentation that most everyone over the age of 28 has experienced at some point in their life--and might have you yearning for those days. The cast is outstanding--Penelope Cruz is brilliant, passionate and seductive, Javier Bardem is charming, swarthy and sexy, Rebecca Hall is perfectly cast as the earnest, straight-laced graduate student, and Scarlett Johannsen as her best friend exudes an easy, bohemian sexuality along the lines of Angelina Jolie. She's got that 'it' factor.

And for what it's worth, I went to graduate school with the narrator of the film, Christopher Evan Welch. It's nice to see school chums doing well, and part of the appeal of this film is bringing back fond memories of wilder, crazier times--like grad school.

GRADE: B

Transsiberian-- As it turns out, there was an unintentional travel theme this night at the movies. I went to see Transsiberian mostly because I have always wanted to make this journey myself--ride the Transsiberian railway from Vladivostok to Amsterdam. After watching this travelogue of a vacation adventure gone seriously awry, I don't think I'm going to make the trip. Thanks a lot.

Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer are in China as part of a church group helping kids--Harrelson is a bit of a nerdy, Iowa-bred train buff, so they decide to hop on the Transsiberian before catching their flight home. Along the way, they are befriended by the type of backpackers one encounters in out-of-the way locations--Eduardo Noriega as a drug-smuggling lothario and Kate Mara as the troubled American waif from a bad background who has been on the road for 7 years. Ben Kingsley is very effective as a Russian narcotics detective.

Bad things happen to everyone, and as a thriller/whodunit, the movie really only rates maybe a 7.5 out of 10. There's not a lot of suspense although the characters are compelling enough to be interesting. It's not a bad movie, but not great either. The Russian countryside also stars--having visited the Russian Far East several times, I can vouch that the movie captures my experiences and the feel of traveling in Russia. Except for the part about getting entangled in a Russian narcotics ring.

If the movie has any enduring message, it's a good reminder to never lose sight of your luggage when traveling overseas.

GRADE: C+

I have recently decided to take on a theater project with what little free time I have. Among my many other interests, I have an MFA in theater and was a theater junkie for 15 years before coming to the social media and online community world 10 years ago; so this amounts to rekindling an affair with an old flame.

Since the process of making theater is as mysterious to some people as is the building of strong online communities, some folks have asked me to blog my experience. I will be playing the role of Jerry in "Squabbles" at the Centerstage theater in San Jose, opening in late November.

Here's a quick rundown of my actor process on this show so far...

1. Audtioning. Auditions are a first date--you're nervous, and you spend hours preparing and practicing saying the right things and fret over the right thing to wear. You try to be yourself, make a good impression and hope that no matter what you do, she'll like you enough to call you again.

Most actors hate auditions. You feel judged.

Me? I love 'em. If I don't have an acting job, I look at auditions as a brief opportunity to go play. My attitude towards auditioning is probably what my attitude towards dating was in my early 20's--I go have some fun and then forget about it.

2. Callbacks. She likes you! No matter what stupid things you did or said, she wants to see you again. Now it's time to really perform and show her how impressive you can be.

The actual callback is kind of like the first time you have sex as a teenager--in your mind, it's perfect, but in reality it's over too quickly and you're not sure of how good you were. Time to wait some more and hope you get another call.

3. The Offer. OMG...she likes you! She REALLY likes you! Uh oh...you were just out for some fun....some harmless flirting and now...now...now you're IN A RELATIONSHIP!

It's exciting, thrilling and scary all at the same time--you've just committed all of your free time to this person (the director) that you barely know! The joy of receiving the call "I'd like to offer you the role" is immediately followed by "oh my god, I hope I can measure up. What was it that they liked about me anyway?"

4. The First Reading of the Script. You run a hot bath... light some scented candles...pour a glass of wine...and put some soft music on--it's time for your first full reading of the script. Like your first sex act, you're almost always alone when it happens.

If Callbacks are like the first time, your first reading of the script is like the first time you understand what it is to make love--it's a very tender, special and magical act.

I always pick a quiet space where I can be alone for a first read, but you could do your first read of script on a crowded subway, in an airport, a noisy bar or a quiet room--it doesn't matter. When you're doing your first read, the ONLY thing you can focus on is the script and you shut out all other distractions.

The first read is holy. It forms the basis of your relationship with the play forever.

5. The first rehearsal. These are always a little awkward. You're meeting your fellow cast members for the first time, some of whom you may have worked with before and some you haven't.

This is my first production that I've done in San Jose, so I know NOBODY, which makes me feel like the new kid in school. Everyone is friendly, of course, and the theater is one of the few places where trust is assumed--theater folks don't take long to get to know each other.

First rehearsals are the same no matter what play you do or where you do it. The director talks a little bit about the play, says how talented this group of people is, you walk the stage and then you sit and read the full script as a company from start to finish.

You try not to 'act' in this reading--it's really just to get a sense of the ebb and flow of the play, listen to everyone's voices and put everything that happens in the play into a context and getting the core relationships down between all of the characters.

The reason you don't 'act' at this point, is that you're still open up for possibilities. The first few weeks of rehearsals are all about 'what ifs' and discovery.

It's the best part of the process, in my opinion.

And that brings me up to where I am in the process now--I've auditioned, gotten the role and have had the first rehearsal. The real fun...and work...begins now.

Stay tuned.

A quick writing exercise--write on a topic for one minute. I see a lot of movies, so here's a quick run-down of what's playing at the movies.

Burn After Reading: The Cohen Brothers just keep getting better and better, consistently delivering the most entertaining and thoughtful movies in the biz over the past 10 years. While many movie-goers will go see any movie starring their favorite actor, you can be guaranteed that any film produced and directed by the Cohens will be well worth the price of the ticket.

Burn After Reading is in the mold of Fargo and The Big Lebowski--an absurdly plausible premise, quirky characters and taut storytelling with twists and turns that keep you wondering what's going to happen next. No predictable Hollywood formulas here.

Of course, any actor with brains and talent would like to be in a Cohen brothers film, so they get great actors and the entire cast is outstanding. Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand are particularly charming, but J.K. Simmons as the CIA chief is a real scene stealer who adds some depth and wry political comment to the film.

Tropic Thunder: Many people will dismiss this is just a silly comedy (and a very funny one at that), but this movie is *brilliant* and worthy of Oscar nominations for Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller as director.

Really. It's THAT good.

You've probably seen the previews by now and know that this is a movie about making a movie, and Robert Downey Jr. plays a critcially-heralded Aussie actor playing an African-American soldier in the film-within-the-film. A white actor playing in blackface has long been considered a taboo, and stiller and Downey tackle the issue head on with just the right amount of farce and sensitivity. What could be a highly offensive premise turns out to be not only funny, but a thoughtful examination of race and identity--which is a lot more than most audiences will bargain for in a joke-a-minute comedy.

By the way, if you're looking for a VERY funny film that examines the blackface tradition and racial stereotyping in entertainment, check out Spike Lee's Bamboozled.

With performances that somehow strike a balance between being an over-the-top satire of Hollywood filmmaking and a thoughtful examination of stereotypes and self-identity, Tropic Thunder manages to be a hilarious comedy that actually has something to say. Jack Black and Ben Stiller do their usual thing that will please their fans, but it's as director that Stiller really shines. The music, sound, editing and camera shots all show that Stiller has developed into a director who is ready to take on bigger challenges than the usual romantic comedy fare that he is known for.

If you haven't seen Tropic Thunder yet--go see it. Even if you don't want to take the film seriously, you'll find yourself laughing out loud many times.

Bankok Dangerous: Okay, I only saw this movie because I've been to Bankok and I always enjoy seeing how places I've visited are portrayed in movies. In this case, the Bankok I know is presented pretty accurately (well, I didn't meet any gangsters while I was there, so I can't vouch for that), but the movie itself isn't anything special. I'm not much of a Nicholas Cage fan.

The film is a remake of a Thai film by the same name--it's the usual hit man has to kill people and struggles with his soul kind of fare, complete with redemption found thru a connection with a woman and by mentoring a new protege. If you're a fan of gangster films, you'll probably go see this, but if that's not your favorite genre, I'd suggest you save your money and wait til this one is available on Netflix and there is absolutely nothing else on TV.

Mama Mia: If you haven't seen this yet, you must. It's as simple as that. It's a guilty pleasure, to be sure, but I'll also say this: Mama Mia also is Oscar-worthy for Meryl Streep and Phyllida Lloyd as director.

Mama Mia is what a musical should be--the focus is on the *acting* in support of the music. At it's best, music is heightened storytelling that is frequently reduced to just beautiful voices singing songs without any feeling behind it. In Mama Mia, the voices are all pleasant enough, but as an audience, you *feel* the songs, and that's what a musical is supposed to do.

This film won't change your life, but it WILL transport you for a couple of hours, make you smile, maybe even bring a few poignant tears to your eyes along the way. Go see it--Mama Mia is time well spent at the movies.