One Less Bitter Actor's Blog

book talk #3 The Neighborhood Playhouse

There is that lovely and yet forlorn feeling of returning to your old school where your earliest epiphanies and your deepest sorrows took place and stained the woodwork with your toil.

I love this building and I love the school. I love that I can walk into a classroom and see that only the furniture has changed. I can look at the young face that is sitting in "my" seat and smile with recognition and I can listen to young students discuss their thoughts on the world of acting with complete understanding.

The room was well aware that a grad was coming in and they were welcoming along with their minor apprehension as again, I learned that previous talks with industry professionals left them overwhelmed and a bit deflated.

I am just worn out by the idea that every professional's job in the name of good counsel is to "toughen up" the young artist for the "real world" of acting. Gosh, it's like they've never heard of the internet and think that the average student is sheltered from the prospect of it being less than courteous in the biz.  Trying to derail someone's life dream to speed up the inevitable disappointing outcome of a career isn't really helping is it? I don't know an agent who doesn't have a story of passing on a young unknown who became a superstar. They didn't see the talent, but someone else did. Thank god for perseverance.

My friend Aarne came with me again. We graduated together 20+ years ago.  Aarne is a Broadway stage hand and has been for 35 years. He says he can tell you in 20 minutes upon meeting them if a new member of his cast will be a diva or easy to work with after the 2 week honeymoon.  20 minutes. After 35 years of watching newbies show up, and having trained with Mr. Meisner, and put his own time in as an actor, he can damn near tell by the way they walk across the stage in their street clothes before the show, if they will "become" a nightmare in the next 14 ish days.  Wild eh? We just carry it with us.

That doesn't mean we can't unlearn bad habits or learn good lessons that teach us better habits. Aarne's advice to new actors who want to win the crew over (which they SHOULD ABSOLUTELY DO) is... go to any crew member and offer to bring them coffee. You the actor, offer to bring this new stranger who works with you, coffee. A week later they will offer you the same. Aarne says that this then secures that the crew is now setting Markus' props and hitting Markus' cues. Which is not the same as them setting "guy who is playing Tony's" props. Interesting advice, eh?

The talk went well and for all their bravado of being in the big city and studying at the center of the universe they have all the same ideas, good and bad, as students who aren't so close to the action. In fact you might even be able to say it's scarier to admit you're not fully prepared if you're studying in a school in the heart of the Big city. That's one of the reasons you go to NYC to study, to be "in it." You certainly get a wider education having to deal with NYC and class, but in the end what you don't know about the future seems to feel the same.

This was my 3rd talk with classes at The Playhouse and every time by the end the camaraderie is right there and the appreciation is palpable. Richard Pinter and Hal Baldredge are both so gracious in giving me time to talk. I think it's safe to say that I really do know exactly how the students feel in this room about the day after their final show at The Playhouse.  I hope my talk gave them some tools for the next chapter.

book talk #2 Wagner College

Wagner College, in Staten Island was brought to my attention by Todd Thaler during a drop by (an old NYC habit) where he handed me a pile of mailers he'd received for "showcase season." I hadn't heard of the school but I emailed them because I feel like any school that's showcasing their students cares about their future success, which is my mandate as well. So I emailed John Jamiel the Head of the Acting dept. and he emailed me right back with a hard date! Like... no one does that.  I then built the rest of my trip around his date.

I went to meet John at the Staten Island ferry in Lower Manhattan knowing nothing about him except that a girl from my talk the day before at Rutgers told me that John had "saved her life" while at Wagner by guiding her to the MFA program at Rutgers. She was as happy as people get with her trajectory and she owed it to this Mr. Jamiel. With his colleague Fred Tessler, an Acting and Musical Theatre teacher,  we boarded the ferry and used the trip across the bay to talk. What was immediately apparent was that both of these men are people of the theatre. The kind of people you meet during your journey and with just a few sentences you know that  they really couldn't ever have been anything else in life. They were just built for creating theatre and people to go in it. A great start to the day.

The college is quite attractive and has a dynamite view of the water and the city. Our class took place in a loft space and the students couldn't have been more gracious. As happens with these talks there was a slow melting and a slow recognition that I am one of the good guys who is there to remind them that they, as artists, have a place and to be an example of what can happen if you stay in the game and keep trying your best to tell your truth.

Following the talk there were good questions. good thoughts, and good solid fears exposed and resolved. These students though had one great thing in common: an undaunted faith that musical theatre and Broadway are a worthy life goal and that pleasing the theatre gods was the reason to get better, not the paycheck.  These young artists are on a great course. I love when I meet souls like John and Fred who can't help but transmit their steadfast belief in the power of the theatre just by sharing their space.

I sometimes wish I had gone to a college but then I would have missed out on being taught by Mr. Meisner. Oy, the ongoing battles of life...the grass is always greener, eh?  There are many schools to go to but with teachers like John and Fred the students at Wagner need not wonder if they are getting the best they can, because if there is more out there for you, John is just as interested in getting it to you as you are.

A lifesaver... when you need it most.

Thank you gentlemen and thank you Wagner actors. Even the rain couldn't douse my enthusiasm as I left.

Book talk #1-Rutgers

As Neighborhood Playhouse Graduate I'd always heard about the program at Rutgers because it was run by William Esper a Neighborhood teacher and because my dad went there so he touted it as a great school. Mr. Esper has left so one might wonder how strong the teaching is now that he's gone. I can tell a lot about a program by how they respond to my emails. You'd be shocked at how many schools don't see the need for this kind of discussion for their students. One school told me straight out they don't teach Theatre as a career and their students have no aspirations to work in Theatre. They simply teach the theory of Theatre and that's it. That school costs $45k a year.  Funny, huh?

Beth Wicke invited me quickly and kept up with me about the date and a few things that had to be ironed out. She was very diligent. It makes one feel wanted and lets you know that she's taking care of her students. She made the book mandatory reading for the talk. The class, both BFA and MFA acting students contacted me and had me send them a box of books. These guys were cracker jack!

I was met at the train by David and Jerry, and on the drive to campus they told me about their year in London studying Shakespeare and how solid they felt their training was. I was flat out jealous. A year in London?! 

I entered the room to applause. 26 smiling, excited, artists welcomed me with an attitude of gratefulness. It was such a different feeling. Usually talks start with a melting of skepticism, but this...this was full support for simply traversing of the door's threshold!

I spoke, they asked questions, Beth reinforced things being said to make them extra clear, they asked more questions. It was time to go, they asked me to stay a bit longer. For three hours these very eager students got the most from their time with me. There was never a time when they were looking for the exits.

They'd read the book. They were prepared. It's one of the things I harp on as an absolute for a career. Preparedness. Beth made sure they were that. She's relentless with them about creating good habits early that will keep their careers moving. They didn't waste time with questions that were answered in the book, they went into personal things and applying the books ideas to their fears about certain situations that might crop up. All those nagging, scary, things you grind about when you're about to embark on something that feels enormous and you feel unprepared. There was relief in the room by the time I left.

For the next three days I received emails from that class. Then today I received a thank you note and gifts!

Flattery aside, this class is learning IN COLLEGE how to engage, follow up with, and thank the people who will aide them in their career. Which is really everyone you meet in this biz. I never learned that until years later and...the hard way. Beth Wicke worked in casting. She's aware of how casting likes to be treated. My book reinforced her views so she brought me in. The students at Rutgers have such a head start on making their lives easier in "the biz" and they have no idea. They'll just see it as normal. Good.

Thank you Rutgers and thank you Beth for caring enough about the artists that you're entrusted with. You are not the exception, but you are also unfortunately not the rule. I am meeting those schools that want to prepare their students and I'll talk about them in days to come.

But as far as a way to start a lecture tour...you guys were absolutely top notch. When I need that little pick-me-up in my day I think back to walking in to your class and that emotional hug you all gave me.

 Artists offer it up like no one else.

Jeez, time flies...

Shocked to see I haven't written for a month. I was busy but still I should be writing more often. I am now back from two weeks of doing talks for the book in NY, NJ and Philly.  I usually talk with an acting class of 20ish at a time. 50 students is big class. Circle in the Square was probably 50-60 students, Rider U was about 100, but Temple took the cake at 200 in their big theatre. I will write about that later because I want to tell you about working on a film recently.

I auditioned for the great John Papsidera, and I say great because he makes you feel great when you read for him (he also went in on a fun restaurant in Hollywood that is a good eatery), and got the job. 2 scenes, one days' work, in Atlanta, on a feature film. So I had to fly there, work for a day, and fly home. Tidy.

We are lucky to be working, but actors always find a reason to complain the second after they get over the flattery of getting the job, don't we? "All the way to Atlanta?! For one day!?"  Oh yeah, I've heard things like that from actor friends. Not me of course, but other actors....(ha!)

The scene was with Josh Lucas and Kathryn Heigl. They were great, the director was great, the first AD allowed me to invite my two young cousins who were taken out of school as a surprise to visit me on the set. Josh and Kathryn were great with the kids. About 4 hours into the day I was looking at the call sheet as saw that she was listed as an exec producer. I went to her and kidded her about being my boss saying, "I should have spent all my time here making you my best friend, laughing at all your jokes and telling you how pretty you are!" She waved me off saying it was nothing more than a vanity title. But you know...a few years ago I would have been doing that, for real, thinking it would make a difference in my career.

Now, I'm much more interested in enjoying the day I could have with my little cousins who are 9 and 7 and on their first film set. They were given full access to the set and watched us film all day. When I was leaving I asked Kathryn for a picture with the boys and she happily obliged. Then she hugged me goodbye and said in my ear, "Thanks so much for traveling all the way from LA to come in for one day and be awesome in the scenes with us."

That's not common folks. Usually the stars of the film are very good about letting you know how good you should feel about being part of their film, and spending time with them.  We fellow actors contribute and we make the whole thing better, but it's often reduced nothing more than the opportunity to be close to something that could make us bigger and better. So as I joked with her earlier about being my boss, that feeling is very true and common. Buddy up to the big star and your career could change! 

It's a piece of bad information we've been fed for years.  

If you do your work and you're good, and you're respectful, you don't have to buddy up to the stars to gain their favor. Big stars won't really ever decide to make you their best friend and share their stardom with you based on doing a movie with them. of course if people like you and you're a good actor and you make their life better and their projects better, you could make a strategic friend of anyone, but that has to happen on it's own. Every celeb ever knows what everyone around them wants from them. You don't have to plant the seed that you'd like to do every KH film from here on. She knows. You're an actor.

I was happy for the entire experience, the best part was spending the rest of the day with my cousins and having them show off their picture with KH to their friends and all the plans for it at school the next day.

I don't know the hype on Katherine, but I know she has great habits where fellow actors are concerned.