Well, guess who I get to share Actor Housing Central® with for the next 10 days? None other than the playwright of The Pavilion, Craig Wright!
He showed up at the house last night while I was napping. Nice guy. I'd actually met him once in Pittsburgh while I was doing The Mystery of Irma Vep and he was in town for rehearsals of The Pavilion at City Theatre. I was surprised to find that he remembered me, frankly. I'd be really surprised if he remembered me just from our chance encounter on the street in Pittsburgh - perhaps he saw Irma Vep while he was in town. Not sure - maybe I'll have to ask him that when I see him next.
We did a run-through of the show for Craig this afternoon, and it was pretty apparent afterward that we still have a lot of work to do. Craig was pretty gracious about it, though. I felt like I was on a train hurtling toward a wreck. I was hyper-conscious of his being in the audience, since I know that I haven't memorized the script word-perfectly... every time I misplaced a word, I imagined him wincing in the audience. Drove myself crazy with that crap.
But I've got a bit of a reprieve with the whole line-learning thing, since Craig had to go to New York this weekend - I've got 'til Sunday to work on getting it right. Me being me, of course (I am after all, known as The King of Paraphrasing), the work will continue indefinitely.
I'm keeping this entry short, since I'm doing it late at night and I've got to be back at rehearsal at 10 a.m. tomorrow. But I did want to share this photo with you that I discovered. I took it when Danny Stiker and I were out on one of our Central Park outings back in New York - I believe we were in the Conservatory Garden up near the Harlem Mere when we came across this beautiful fountain. Danny tells me it's his favorite fountain in the city, and I can totally see why... there's such a playful aura about the three women. I really enjoy its energy too....
Did you check out the dedication? Somehow seeing this fountain makes me wish I could know a lot more about Samuel and Minnie Untermyer; what were they like? Was their life together (for of course I'm assuming they were married) as happy and full of joy as it would seem from the fountain dedicated to them? Was he devoted to her, and she to him? It's the romantic in me coming out. There's just no stopping it... it's why I always have hope for better times for myself, I think. That kinda optimism is irrepressible in the end. If a day comes when the last of it's beaten out of me, I think I'll just roll over and die. I'm not stupid and unrealistic (at least I don't think so), but I'd like to believe that although there's no perfect love, there is a love so deep and beautiful and flawed and human that it's worth commemorating after you pass on. If there really is an afterlife, I think I'd like to meet Samuel and Minnie and let them know how much of an impression they've made on me.
He showed up at the house last night while I was napping. Nice guy. I'd actually met him once in Pittsburgh while I was doing The Mystery of Irma Vep and he was in town for rehearsals of The Pavilion at City Theatre. I was surprised to find that he remembered me, frankly. I'd be really surprised if he remembered me just from our chance encounter on the street in Pittsburgh - perhaps he saw Irma Vep while he was in town. Not sure - maybe I'll have to ask him that when I see him next.
We did a run-through of the show for Craig this afternoon, and it was pretty apparent afterward that we still have a lot of work to do. Craig was pretty gracious about it, though. I felt like I was on a train hurtling toward a wreck. I was hyper-conscious of his being in the audience, since I know that I haven't memorized the script word-perfectly... every time I misplaced a word, I imagined him wincing in the audience. Drove myself crazy with that crap.
But I've got a bit of a reprieve with the whole line-learning thing, since Craig had to go to New York this weekend - I've got 'til Sunday to work on getting it right. Me being me, of course (I am after all, known as The King of Paraphrasing), the work will continue indefinitely.
I'm keeping this entry short, since I'm doing it late at night and I've got to be back at rehearsal at 10 a.m. tomorrow. But I did want to share this photo with you that I discovered. I took it when Danny Stiker and I were out on one of our Central Park outings back in New York - I believe we were in the Conservatory Garden up near the Harlem Mere when we came across this beautiful fountain. Danny tells me it's his favorite fountain in the city, and I can totally see why... there's such a playful aura about the three women. I really enjoy its energy too....
Did you check out the dedication? Somehow seeing this fountain makes me wish I could know a lot more about Samuel and Minnie Untermyer; what were they like? Was their life together (for of course I'm assuming they were married) as happy and full of joy as it would seem from the fountain dedicated to them? Was he devoted to her, and she to him? It's the romantic in me coming out. There's just no stopping it... it's why I always have hope for better times for myself, I think. That kinda optimism is irrepressible in the end. If a day comes when the last of it's beaten out of me, I think I'll just roll over and die. I'm not stupid and unrealistic (at least I don't think so), but I'd like to believe that although there's no perfect love, there is a love so deep and beautiful and flawed and human that it's worth commemorating after you pass on. If there really is an afterlife, I think I'd like to meet Samuel and Minnie and let them know how much of an impression they've made on me.
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