Friday, May 19, 2006
The Tony Awards...
...I would give are quite different than that ones recently announced....
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to all the wonderful performing artists nominated...so proud of them all, especially Jane Houdyshell, a real true character actress , who has been around the community for ages and is finally getting the recognition she so richly deserves...a true veteran of the trenches...and who made such a wonderful splash in WELL on Broadway....both she and her writer/co-star Lisa Kron are nominated and though I did not see the play (so few did), I know they were both terrific in it! And more congrats to all the nominees....it is a thrilling time for them, I know.
But the Awards I would give? Since being away at the Barter, and being home now for a while, I see the theatrical community differently than I used to...I came back from Barter with different eyes to see with, and my heart and soul grew in such ways there that my values have changed as well....so , whereas I admire all the glamour and excitement of the Broadway scene, that busy beehive of ambition and striving, there are other parts of our art and business i would award, if I could...for example:
An Award for : Best Scenework Done By An Aspiring Actor and Actress in Some Obscure Acting Class Downtown Late At Night....or
An Award for: Most Hours Spent Struggling to Get That Audition Just Right...or
An Award for: Best Audition by the Most Nervous Actor/Actress...or....
An Award for: Best Efforts By An Agent to Get His Client Seen For a Particular Show, Yet Failing!...or....
An Award for: Most Honest Conversation Between An Actor and His Agent...or...
An Award for: Best Efforts Made By An Aspiring Actor to Get Seen By A Casting Director.... or
An Award for: Best Work Done By An Individual Actor/Actress in a Showcase...or
An Award for: The Hardest Career Road NOT Given Up On By an Actor/Actress...and finally
A Lifetime Achievement Award : For Hanging In There The Longest!!!
Blood,sweat and tears go into the work we all do as career actors...people have no idea, and there is so little honor in sticking to one's dedicated dream...especially when the life and career are not distinguished by dress-up evenings and smiling photographs taken with celebrities...there is no money to be made when the struggle is real...yes, Broadway shows have their owns struggles, God knows, to get where they want to be...and each artist involved has worked long and hard to get to that magic "there",...BUT, the real blood and life is in those "trenches" I mentioned earlier: the acting classes, the agents' offices , the hallways outside those nervewracking auditions...the private places where all actors cry and sweat and vomit with terror, in the astonishing effort to get their art out to where people can see it and share it. THAT is where the awarding should be done. that is where it would be appreciated the most...in the trenches....would it rob theater artists of something to strive for? I think not.
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to all the wonderful performing artists nominated...so proud of them all, especially Jane Houdyshell, a real true character actress , who has been around the community for ages and is finally getting the recognition she so richly deserves...a true veteran of the trenches...and who made such a wonderful splash in WELL on Broadway....both she and her writer/co-star Lisa Kron are nominated and though I did not see the play (so few did), I know they were both terrific in it! And more congrats to all the nominees....it is a thrilling time for them, I know.
But the Awards I would give? Since being away at the Barter, and being home now for a while, I see the theatrical community differently than I used to...I came back from Barter with different eyes to see with, and my heart and soul grew in such ways there that my values have changed as well....so , whereas I admire all the glamour and excitement of the Broadway scene, that busy beehive of ambition and striving, there are other parts of our art and business i would award, if I could...for example:
An Award for : Best Scenework Done By An Aspiring Actor and Actress in Some Obscure Acting Class Downtown Late At Night....or
An Award for: Most Hours Spent Struggling to Get That Audition Just Right...or
An Award for: Best Audition by the Most Nervous Actor/Actress...or....
An Award for: Best Efforts By An Agent to Get His Client Seen For a Particular Show, Yet Failing!...or....
An Award for: Most Honest Conversation Between An Actor and His Agent...or...
An Award for: Best Efforts Made By An Aspiring Actor to Get Seen By A Casting Director.... or
An Award for: Best Work Done By An Individual Actor/Actress in a Showcase...or
An Award for: The Hardest Career Road NOT Given Up On By an Actor/Actress...and finally
A Lifetime Achievement Award : For Hanging In There The Longest!!!
Blood,sweat and tears go into the work we all do as career actors...people have no idea, and there is so little honor in sticking to one's dedicated dream...especially when the life and career are not distinguished by dress-up evenings and smiling photographs taken with celebrities...there is no money to be made when the struggle is real...yes, Broadway shows have their owns struggles, God knows, to get where they want to be...and each artist involved has worked long and hard to get to that magic "there",...BUT, the real blood and life is in those "trenches" I mentioned earlier: the acting classes, the agents' offices , the hallways outside those nervewracking auditions...the private places where all actors cry and sweat and vomit with terror, in the astonishing effort to get their art out to where people can see it and share it. THAT is where the awarding should be done. that is where it would be appreciated the most...in the trenches....would it rob theater artists of something to strive for? I think not.
Artists are always dis-satisfied...they will always reach for more...whether they are awarded or not.
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