Tuesday, February 28, 2006
GBS CONQUERS ALL AGAIN!
PROJECT SHAW, at the Players Club, was, it seems another triumph last night...every time we do one of these Shaw readings, we are so amazed not only at the number of people who show up at them, but at the number of people who stay for the entire thing! In fact, last night's audience, already overbooked, got larger after intermission! People straggled in from the Open Mic Night downstairs at the Player Pub....and the enitre reading, barely read through once by the large cast yesterday afternoon, seemed to delight and enchant...once again, as with ARMS AND THE MAN last month, the place was rocking with laughter and enjoyment of the English language!
David Staller, the originator of this lovely idea and founding principle of The Gingold Theatrical Company, once again pulled the whole thing off with grace and eclat....the cast for FANNY'S FIRST PLAY is large, much larger than most Shaw plays, and yet David managed to make each actor feel special..this is one of his gifts as a person: he makes each person in his sights feel necessary and appreciated.
And with a large large cast that included George Irving (I played his wife in this one), James Murtagh, Max Von Essen, Rebecca Luker, Marc Kudisch, and Peter Yonka (he was a wonderful Narrator), as well as four actual critics reading the roles of the fictional critics in the play (Howard Kissel nailed every single laugh of the character "Trotter"), there was a lot for David S. to juggle in the way of schedules and temperments, and he managed to do so with his usual aplomb...special envelopes and packets with info and money and letters of gratitude for each cast member, etc, all on the lovely designed logo letterhead of PROJECT SHAW....colorful and witty...lovely, all the way around...
As usual...
And I learned a lot, reading the role of "Mrs. Gilbey", thanks to David's direction, after the first read-through...i tried things with her that i would not have instictively known to try, but with David's insights into the woman, I managed to actually use the experience as a genuine work challenge, and i loved it...while I was doing it, it felt like work, as my concerntration was specific on the job i was doing, and I was intent upon it, but as I analyze and discuss it with peter i realize how good it was for me....thanks to David S. I learned a but more about a playwright that continually fascinates and challenges me. Which is another good reason for the PROJECT SHAW: a chance for actors to grow and learn...because of course, as many "name" actors want to be involved (and there is a growing list), it's hardly a "career opportunity" or a money-maker...it is what actors are born to do: grow, learn, discover, entertain, incite and educate....it's what made Shaw the writer he was and is for the ages....
David Staller, the originator of this lovely idea and founding principle of The Gingold Theatrical Company, once again pulled the whole thing off with grace and eclat....the cast for FANNY'S FIRST PLAY is large, much larger than most Shaw plays, and yet David managed to make each actor feel special..this is one of his gifts as a person: he makes each person in his sights feel necessary and appreciated.
And with a large large cast that included George Irving (I played his wife in this one), James Murtagh, Max Von Essen, Rebecca Luker, Marc Kudisch, and Peter Yonka (he was a wonderful Narrator), as well as four actual critics reading the roles of the fictional critics in the play (Howard Kissel nailed every single laugh of the character "Trotter"), there was a lot for David S. to juggle in the way of schedules and temperments, and he managed to do so with his usual aplomb...special envelopes and packets with info and money and letters of gratitude for each cast member, etc, all on the lovely designed logo letterhead of PROJECT SHAW....colorful and witty...lovely, all the way around...
As usual...
And I learned a lot, reading the role of "Mrs. Gilbey", thanks to David's direction, after the first read-through...i tried things with her that i would not have instictively known to try, but with David's insights into the woman, I managed to actually use the experience as a genuine work challenge, and i loved it...while I was doing it, it felt like work, as my concerntration was specific on the job i was doing, and I was intent upon it, but as I analyze and discuss it with peter i realize how good it was for me....thanks to David S. I learned a but more about a playwright that continually fascinates and challenges me. Which is another good reason for the PROJECT SHAW: a chance for actors to grow and learn...because of course, as many "name" actors want to be involved (and there is a growing list), it's hardly a "career opportunity" or a money-maker...it is what actors are born to do: grow, learn, discover, entertain, incite and educate....it's what made Shaw the writer he was and is for the ages....
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