Aristocrats

So I uploaded, like, six days worth of journal entries last night, and as I was going back through them to make sure I was also uploading the appropriate pictures too, I realized that I've hardly discussed my work on Aristocrats at all. Which might lead those of you who know me well to think that I'm having a less than stellar experience, since I'm one of those if-you-haven't-anything-good-to-say-don't-say-anything-at-all people. Generally. Okay, so it's not that true, but I generally do try to spare people's feelings when it might (a) be really hurtful or (b) precipitate some sort of conflict that isn't really going to help anyone.

Anyway, if, indeed, you're thinking that my Aristocrats experience sucks, I'd like to assure you that couldn't be farther from the truth. Things are going a bit slow, and sometimes rehearsals are tedious, but when aren't they? I'm a typical actor - if it's not totally about me, my attention beings to wander; I'm just usually pretty good at hiding that, so every one thinks I'm a great guy.

The greatest thing about doing Aristocrats though is, by far, the cast that I'm working with. You know, if you're going to pick a group to work with right before going on a theater sabbatical, I couldn't think of a greater group to work with... well, I could, I suppose, but whatever the final result was would include these people and about twenty of my other favorite actors... which would mean we'd have to be doing a production of Nicholas Nickelby with no double casting. So given the circumstances, I think we're doing better than expected. We've got a really talented cast, and I'm enjoying each and every one of them.

One of the best things about working with this group is that they don't seem to mind that I'm such a shutterbug freak! Which is way cool. This first picture is one of my favorites. It's of Tessa Klein, who's playing "Claire." She's a delightful lady, with whom I get to spend a large portion of the second act playing a game of imaginary croquet. Long story.

Next up is Hal O'Leary - a beloved local actor from Wheeling, West Virginia. Hal runs the Towngate theater in Wheeling, but he's been making more and more appearences in the Pittsburgh area over the last few years - or at least it seems to me that I hear of him working in Pittsburgh more than I did when I was a younger actor, and still in the city. Of course, it's entirely possible I just plain didn't hear about him, and he was working like a fiend all along. What the hell do I know? Anyway, Hal's playing the dual role of Father/Uncle George. It requires him to sit around a lot while the rest of us idjits work out the blocking, but I'm sure his heart's not too broken.

Here's another of my favorites. I call it "Three Monkeys" after the Hear/See/Speak No Evil guys, though these guys have nothing to do with evil and are seemingly involved in varying degrees of I-don't-know-what. That's Tessa again on the far right, then to her left is Jay O'Berski, and to his left is Caitlin Clark, who seems about to collapse from despair, but is actually focused (and I do mean focused) on something being said by director Andrew Paul... he's out of the shot there on the left. Way off in the distance is Larry John Meyers... more on him later.

Here's one of our stage manager, Ali Paleos. I'm not entirely sure when it was that I first met Ali, but I suspect it was somehow through a show I did at the City Theater, while working with our mutual friend Patti Kelly. Ali's a really good stage manager (as much as I can make that pronouncement, mind you, after only working with her for a week), and you can see Patti's influence on her. Which is, frankly, a pretty big compliment, no matter which way you look at it.

Once again, here's Larry Meyers, who you saw as but a distant figure in the photo above, this time explaining a point to Andrew Paul, who's the Artistic Director of PICT, and, of course, the director of this production. It's frankly not a very good picture - really rather fuzzy and kinda bland, but I figured, what the heck? It's not like I have that many photos of either of these guys. I'll have to work to remedy that. Although you'll see another of Larry below that I happen to like a lot - I'm just not sure anyone else would think it's very good.

Here's one of the delightful Jay O'Berski. I don't know Jay well, but I've been waiting for the chance to work with him for years. The fact that he is beloved of any number of people whom I admire (not the least of which is Kevin Lageman) made him rank pretty damn high in my book before I even met him - hence my being anxious to work with him. This guy is just plain wicked smart. Doesn't he look like he's about to haul off and tell someone they're full of horseshit? I just thought it was hugely funny when I saw that look on his face, I had to snap the photo... can't remember who he was looking at, though.

Let me introduce you to Caitlin Clark. I should be especially embarassed to admit to you that I've been like a drooling idiot ever since I found out I was going to get to work with her. It's a measure of how much of a geek I am... Do you remember the movie Dragonslayer? Circa 1983 or so? I freakin' loved that movie - until Lord of the Rings came along, I thought it was hands-down the best fantasy film ever produced. Anyway, Caitlin was not only in Dragonslayer, she was one of the stars! She played Valarian the girl disguised as a boy to avoid being sacrificed to the dragon. You, of course, probably think I'm an idiot for being so excited about that - you'd think that because I'm an actor, I'd be a little more blase about it, but I'm not. Turns out that Caitlin's got some incredible stories about the shows she's done and the people with whom she's worked. We spent an evening after rehearsal last week hanging out and talking, and it occurred to me that, in many way, the memories we have of the shows we've done is our real payment, since your run-of-the-mill actor hardly makes the money of a Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks. Those stories are the fringe benefits we take with us throughout our life. So anyway, I'm a fawning idiot 'cuz I get to work with Caitlin.

Next we have Jim Critchfield, who's playing Willie Diver in the show. It's nice to finally get a chance to know Jim, since I've known of him for years, due to his association with Gavan and Pittsburgh Musical Theater. Jim played Scrooge in PMT's yearly Christmas Carol, so I heard a lot about him. Though I often wonder why it is that I never saw that show... it's been running every Christmas holiday season for the last ten years. Jim and I have really only one scene together, and it's really kinda funny, since together we're a bit of a visual joke. He's this tall, broad guy and I'm really short - I suspect that Andrew had that in mind when he cast us.

Here's another picture of Jay, this time with Colleen Delany. I think they're listening to Andrew talk about something - directors'll do that, you know. Anyway, it's a thrill to finally get to work with Colleen. I've known and adored Colleen for years - I think I met her through Doug Rees and Kelly Buzalka, who were dating at the time. Truth be told, I have no idea why it took this long for us to work together, but I'm glad that we finally have the chance. As you can see from the picture on the right, I was correct: Jay and Colleen were listening to Andrew. Directors for you.

Here's Jay and Caitlin in their scene during the second act. The second act took us two days to block because of the fact that an imaginary game of croquet is going on around all these other scenes, and Andrew was trying not to distract from them. That's where the tedium came in. I have to say, I think this is going to be a good show, based mostly on the fact that I'm finding all these actors just incredible to watch. I'm gonna have to work hard to keep up with them.

Here's the last of the photos I've pulled out to show you... the inimitable Larry John Meyers. It's really nice to get a chance to finally work with him again. The last time was Below the Belt - my very first Equity show, geez, what is it? Six years ago? Maybe five. Sometimes it seems I've been in the union and a full-time actor much longer than I actually have. I noticed not long ago that I'm starting, I think, to look my age. I need to take care of that - or more precisely, take better care of myself.

So that's the Aristocrats gang. I'm very, very lucky to be a part of this company - something I'm privileged to feel a lot, lately. To be honest, I can't tell you the last time I've been part of a cast that didn't thrill me... but this one, especially, is a great way to end this phase of my career. Weird to think of it that way, but it's really kinda so; being in New York and turning my focus away from stage work is going to be exciting and scary, all at the same time. But it's like any big change in one's life, isn't it? They're always scary and thrilling.