Mon Oct 05 15:13:06 1998
Subject: Re: Washington



> women are more inclined to question themselves... 

actually, i saw roughly equal self-restraint between the genders when i
was in theatre.   two of the fundamental rules of performance are 'never
go half-measures' and 'never apologize'.   most of the early training
is, in effect, practice at looking stupid in order to work the
hesitations and inhibitions out of people.   you get to see a whole lot
of humanity's rough edges in that kind of setting, and i'd say both
sides live in equal fear of offending.   

as a matter of fact, there's a guaranteed period of serious male angst
just after the women start to really unwind.   the guys want to play
along, but the topics are raw enough that they're absolutely terrified
of making a wrong step.   the girls become absolutely merciless, until
they goad some poor schmoe into blurting out the worst possible thing at
the worst possible time.   what follows is a collective gasp, and a
moment of silence as everyone realizes that they were able to cope.  
then all hell breaks loose, and things *really* get fun.



> so, did you ever consider seriously going down that path? 

yep.. but i got typecast early and hard.   i was good as a character
actor, especially for extreme roles.   i got parts like the Elephant
Man, a 97-year-old butler dying of pneumonia, and a werewolf/junkie who
spent time in the Manson Family.   most of them were fun roles, but they
were frustrating in production.   

high-voltage roles like that draw attention from the audience
automatically, and if you present them competently, you own the stage.  
unfortunately, the character roles are almost always minor ones, for the
sake of added color.   a play with a good character actor has to have
*very* strong performers in the lead roles, just to keep the audience's
attention focused properly.   

most directors don't know how to handle that, so they have conflicting
goals for the character parts:  they have to be extreme enough to draw
focus, but they can't steal focus from the primary cast.   you end up in
a double bind, where anything you do is wrong.   

in one play, the director brought my character onstage for no reason
other than filling out the stage picture.   then he decided i was
stealing too much focus, so he made me sit in a neutral position, with
my back to the audience, not moving a muscle.


in defense of the trade, my timing and my sense of dynamics both needed
work (and still do.. but not nearly as much), so i wasn't really capable
of handling major roles.   i've learned a lot more about sharing the
stage as i've aged and mellowed, but now i don't have the patience to
deal with all the politics and bad management which are built into the
entertainment industry.

actually, one of my long-term goals is to start my own movie studio and
theatre company.   there are a lot of open spots at the phenomenally low
end of the entertainment market.   anyone who understands the business
of art, and knows how to run a creative team, could carve out a healthy
business space.



> > [...] but then, i used to be a street mime, too.    existential
> > negation is the look on a woman's face when you've gotten back
> > to her place, the lights are low, the music is soft.. and you
> > start tying balloon animals.  ;-)
>
>[...]
>how about picking up a cat, a puppie and a baby? how are they different?
>I suppose the cat scratches your face, the baby burps and makes a mess,
>but what would the puppie do?  it's just being adorable.

the cat gets picked up and stroked.   then it can get playful and start
attacking your hand, or sharpening its claws on your clothes.   

the baby gets rocked horizontally (in contrast to the cat, which is held
vertically.. roughly like the position for burping a baby).   then you
feed it, burp it (giving the impression that it lets out a 30-second
foghorn blast), and snuggle a little.   then you do a facial cycle of
question, recognition, and dismay, then hold the little beggar out and
let it drip.

the puppy is held in both hands from the start, and is a wiggle-monster.  
its single goal in life is to lick your face, leaving it dripping wet.  
then you have to try to hold it while digging out a handkerchief and
wiping off.   then it wants to play tug-of-war with the handkerchief.  
on the ground, puppies are either digging holes, playing fetch with
anything you put down, or biting your trouser leg as you go past.



>oh good, so your DC trip is only delayed one week.  hey! the Van Gogh
>exhibit starts this weekend!  you should see it! 

didn't make it to that.. the lines were hellish.   OTOH, we did get a
chance to see the Star Wars exhibit, with all the production models and
costumes.   pretty cool.   according to the manneqins, Carrie Fisher's a
tiny little thing.