Clara(s)!

Well it was a wild week in the Beaumont last week!

Katie was ill on Thursday so Jennifer went on Thursday night. But then Jennifer was out for the weekend so Laura went on Fri/Sat. Mat as Clara until Katie felt well enough to come back Saturday night. 3 Claras in one week!

The added wild factor to this happening: Laura had never been on as Clara before!

Here's how a Broadway company is generally set up to insure that 'The Show Must Go On!' when situations like this occur...

In every company there are principal actors and ensemble actors. What differentiates the two is usually the contract the actor signs. Principals' agents negotiate their salaries while ensemble members have a standard contract that's the same for all ensemble members in that company (usually. also this is called 'Favored Nations'). To cover for each principal role in case the actor were to get sick, there are understudies (usually 2) for every principal role.

Then, each week, once a week, the understudies have "understudy rehearsal" of the show with minimal props, etc; on stage in the theater.

Ultimately, it was a crazy fun week! The challenge and rush of performing the show with different lead actresses back to back was wonderful. Each Clara was so different. And Bravo to Laura--stepping in for two performances of a role she'd never done! She was fantastic!

Holidays, Snowstorms, Blackouts, Illness...The Show Must Go On!

Liberal Arts vs. Conservatory

I've had a lot of young performers ask me for advice regarding their pursuits of higher education after high school. Here are some thoughts...

Think of yourself like a high school athlete. Across the entire country are thousands of high school athletes many of whom dream of success in the pros. How many of these kids actually make it to the pros? Very VERY few. But like you, an athlete has to be realistic about his abilities and his dreams.

Ex. A short guy who's not very quick probably won't make it in the NBA.
No matter how great of a passer he is in high school, the odds are against him--UNLESS perhaps he goes to a good college, and while there, tirelessly works on his skills to make himself the best player he can be. Even then, there's a good chance he'll still never make it in the pros.

Knowing this, would you recommend that this student go to a college that will only develop him as a basketball player? Where's his future if he's not drafted into the NBA? What does he have to fallback on? And at 18 years old, is he missing out on discovering and cultivating other skills and talents he may have?

In that example, the basketball college is like a conservatory for actors. What if you work tirelessly for 4 years on your performing skills and graduate, and don't get an agent at your senior showcase? Are your parents supportive of your dreams? Do you have the will power, the desire, the passion to fight the uphill battle of being a professional actor in New York...alone?

The point is--be realistic about your talents NOW. Know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Are you the best of the best? How do you compare to other kids your age?

When I graduated high school I had been the lead in my high school musical for 3 years. But it was a hobby, not a dream. I enjoyed singing and acting, but thought, "Come on. This is high school. It's a far cry from Broadway. I may be good here, but there's no way I'm good enough to make it in NYC." So I did it because I enjoyed it, and had fun!

I then went to a liberal arts college (Duke University) and continued to dabble in the arts but only as a hobby--despite similar accolades and success. When teachers encouraged me to pursue acting professionally, I laughed. Me a professional actor? Right...It wasn't until I got my first professional job at age 19 making 30$ a week at a theater in Maine, painting sets, cleaning up after Equity actors, and singing/dancing in the ensemble of 5 musicals that I thought, 'wait a minute...'."

The leads in the shows were all Broadway professionals. It was the first chance I had to share the stage with real Broadway performers and see how I measured up. And after doing so, it was the first time I ever considered a real future for myself as an actor.

All throughout I've had very supportive and very realistic parents. (i.e. they supported my artistic aspirations as long as I had a "fall back" plan, which for me was medical school). But they were right.

Despite all my success--leads in the shows at CCM for two years, award nominations, meetings with a dozen agents after graduation, 3 Broadway shows, one nat'l tour, 2 Broadway workshops, 1 feature film, voice-over/commercial/modelling work, and my current success in The Light in the Piazza...it's been nearly 6 years of incredibly hard work and scraping by to pay the bills at times (I worked as a personal trainer when I first moved to the city). I got to New York thinking I was the best of the best--that I'd land the lead in a Broadway musical or a TV show or a movie, and it's taken me six years to do it.

Along the way, I'd have been lost without the love and support of my friends--the guys I met at Duke, and my family. My life experience at Duke gave me a well rounded perspective and introduction to so many types of people from all over the world. It gave me a chance to be a kid too--to enjoy life with friends away from home--while I discovered who I was--my dreams and skills and likes and dislikes.

Of course, every actor has a different story. The moral of mine: unless you're 100% sure that the only thing you want to do with your life is be an actor, I urge you to consider liberal arts colleges along with conservatory programs in your search for the next step. Visit the campuses, talk to the students and faculty...I knew from the minute I stepped foot on Duke's campus it was where I wanted to be....

See what your heart tells YOU.

Keeping it Fresh

Recently at some talkbacks we've had after the show, audiences members have asked, "How do you guys keep it fresh 8 times a week?" Good question.

I'm going into month 7 of my run as Fabrizio and keeping it fresh is definitely something myself and the rest of the cast are working at constantly. Chris Sarandon may have put it best...

During intermission one night a few weeks ago, i was feeling pretty unhappy with my performance after the first act. I felt like our cast had gotten a bit lazy and moments weren't as deep and honest as they could be. So I was trying hard to fight that energy, but that put me in my head and started the whole beating myself up thing, etc; Since Chris went into the show a week after me, I asked him if he was experiencing anything similar and he said, "Of course. But all you can do is go out every show and play the moments."

Instead of trying to push the energy of the show to where I wanted it to flow, I needed to flow with the energy surrounding me on stage. Accept what's happening in the moment, listen with every pore of my body, and react--play the moments.

That's been my mantra for the last month of shows and it's been working well. It allows me to be excited about every moment in the show and exist in each moment as if for the first time.

If any of you study Alexander Technique, it's a similar principle to freeing up your body--you don't want to grip/force anything, rather you focus on allowing the body to do what it wants, with whatever energy it's experiencing in the moment, releasing muscle gripping to create a sense of ease in the work.

Play the moments and you'll find it frees you up and makes the work easier :)

Pajama Game

So we had a BLAST last night at The Pajama Game! It was so nice to be sitting in a comfortable theater (American Airlines Theater) excited to see Kelli and some other friends do their thing. And it was sooo fun!

First off--The orchestrations (by genius MD David Chase) are amazing! --Jazzy and fresh, perfectly suited to Harry's singing style. And the cast owns the show and has so much fun, that you feel like you're seeing a new musical. Bravo to director Kathleen Marshall for keeping it light and tight.

As for all the hype about Kelli's BABE and Harry's SID being the sexiest couple on Broadway--it's pretty true. Of course, I'm partial to Katie and I, so let's call it a tie. He's a total stud, and she's a total 'babe' and they have great chemistry and fun up there together.

And bravo to Harry on his bway debut. He's such a unique presence, truly a star.

He was so good...I thought for a second about the idea of who's replacing him if/when they extend/Harry opts not to extend. With the new replacement Tony award, I'd bet the producers are looking for another star name.

Kinda hurts my chances, but that's what this business is becoming. As long as the next star is as talented as Harry and not simply a name...

Oh, before i forget--mark your calendars! Unofficially--Thursday June 15th, The Light in the Piazza will be broadcast LIVE from Lincoln Center! Not sure what channel (I'm pretty sure it's PBS/Channel 13 in NYC). Pretty cool :)

To be or not to be...famous

So what's it all for?

...the thousands of dollars spent on coachings, the countless hours spent in pure terror of what may or may not lie ahead, the nervous breakdowns, the insecurity, the sacrificing of a social life, the change in diet, the hours in the gym, all the time spent preparing for 100's of jobs you'll never get, the stressed personal relationships, the second guessing, the diving into the depths of introspection, the vanity, the lonely feelings of being different from the rest of the world...?

Years go by. YEARS go by.

What's it all for?

Dave Chappelle said on Inside the Actor's Studio, "It's not about the sneaker deal. Of course the sneaker deal would be nice, but that's not why we're doin' this."

And I agree. Of course we want the sneaker deal, but we are artists. We are in this because it's what makes us happy, we have g-d given talent that we are compelled to put to use, we can't do anything else--we must entertain people.

But in today's celebrity driven culture it's difficult to maintain the balance between the pursuit of an artistic ideal and the dream of fame and fortune.

Tonight at the show I had four friends in the audience who were some of my dearest friends in high school. Despite our having spent hardly any time together since h.s., seeing them after the show, it was as if no time had passed. And on the cab ride home with one of my dearest friends since 7th grade who I really miss, we remarked how lucky we were to being to doing something with our lives that we love. He wakes up every morning happy to go to work, and I thank g-d every time I step foot on stage. As different as our lives are now, we both share that.

But other than that, our lives are so completely different.

As I sit here and think about tonight's experience, I realize that I am on a path towards fame that I don't fully understand. And somewhere along the way, i've lost a certain degree of normalcy.

And then watching Dave Chappelle on TV later, so did my wife. As we listened to Chappelle talk about the mystery of the last year of his life, we started talking about what we're doing with our lives/this business/fame. She pointed out that to a lot of people, we're already famous. What? I was dumbfounded. Famous? I'm so not famous? I'm an actor fortunate to be in a lead role on Broadway, finally able to pay the bills, and happy to come home to the love of my life. She disagreed. How could I not have realized that to many people--my family, my friends, my community, I'm famous. So many people know who I am, talk about me to their friends, are invested in keeping up with what I'm doing. No I'm not Matthew McConaughy, but I'm pretty famous...and getting more and more famous with each step of my journey.

What? That's crazy...and...true i guess...and what I want...right?

But what's the ultimate goal? To be as famous as Matthew McConaughy (or to use Chapplle's words, to "have the sneaker deal?") What's fame? What's success?

And fame comes with a price. Dave Chappelle left Hollywood (walked off the set of his own multi-million dollar TV show) because he didn't want to end up like Mariah Carey taking her clothes off on TRL or Martin Lawrence waving a gun around on the streets of LA. These were strong people, strong talented artists--driven to EXTREME places by the Hollywood machine. And who wants the details of their marriage/children plastered on every bullshit gossip magazine sold at every grocery store counter around the world?!

That's what I'm working so hard to be a part of? Hollywood, the movies--the all symbolic 'sneaker deal'. Why? Well, for starters it's the financial pinnacle for actors. The multi-million dollar film deal, the series regular on a Dick Wolf series... We would be able to have a family, and put our kids through college, buy nice things, and pursue our artistic ambitions without the fears and pressures of financial instability. But nowadays in order to land that film/TV deal you often have to be famous first. It's a catch 22 eh?

A big part of the journey, of life as any artist, is balancing artistic integrity with the real world's corporate expectations and demands. And that's what they don't teach you in school.

My hope is that all the work I've done and will continue to do for the rest of my life, uncovering and developing who I am as an artist, as a husband, as a brother, a son, a friend, a human being--will allow me to handle each step of this journey with humility, confidence and intelligence, and an originality that will allow me to achieve my goals/live my dreams with or without being "famous".

It's scary. As Chappelle put it, "once you go there, there's no goin' back. You can't become un-famous. You can become infamous, but you can't become un-famous."

He's right.