More enthusing of the thespic variety
Jun. 22nd, 2010 07:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feliciakwIt seems that right now, most of my dramatic proclivities are going to find an outlet at church. One of the ladies is very keen on getting a drama program/ministry up and running, and Geo and I (particularly I) are very interested in having an outlet for my love of theater. I miss working with people of a theatrical background, and I really miss taking part in full-scale productions (the last one was The Threepenny Opera in 2006). But the local community theater group that I'm part of trying to get started has run into a few snags and internal conflicts, and until we can figure out what's what, church is going to be where all my performance energies are going to be channeled. (Not a bad thing, mind you. A very good thing, actually.)
In that regard, I and one of the other ladies of the church are going to be performing a skit/short play at the ladies tea this Saturday. And it's going to be a challenge for me.
Why? Well, for a couple of reasons. Most of the script falls to me. Whether it's the actual dialogue or physical reaction to recorded instruction/narration, I just got through highlighting the script, and there's a lot of yellow on the pages. Also, I have less than a week to learn it all. Yipes!
Second, it's a lot of physical humor and slapstick. Physical humor, slapstick, and improvisation are not my strong suits. The closest I've come is Mrs. Peachum (see 3Penny Opera), wherein I played a drunken lush, and was told that I A) was too drunk and scaring the director that I might hurt myself; tone it down; and B) was going to steal the show. Both huge compliments, particularly B, which came from one of my favorite co-workers (Tech Guy who played "Mack"). :-) Still, it's been a long time since I've done that sort of thing, so I'm kind of freaked.
Third, a lot of it is facial reactions, and I've never felt that I have a huge variety of expressions. (I've never been able to cock an eyebrow, for example, an expression I really wish I had in my repertoire.)
This brings me to my now-to-be-expected enthusing on Jensen Ackles. In addition to my own stint as a drunken lush, I've started filing away in the back of my mind the completely OTT silly stuff he has no problem with that shows up in the gag reels. Of thinking about how great he is at improv ("Eye of the Tiger," anyone?). And of some of the things he said at the recent convention--that he likes to challenge himself, and he likes to work with people he can learn from and who can make him a better actor. This is the kind of stuff I need to be thinking about, in all aspects of my performances.
I just feel so freakin' removed from so much of it anymore. I feel rusty and out of practice.
I honestly can't remember when I've admired an actor this much, the way I do Jensen. Not just as an actor, but as a person. As an honest, genuine, passionate person. My admiration of Michael Hurst might be comparable, but I think I know more about Jensen as a person than I've known about any other actor I've enthused about.
The actors who have most captured my attention in my adult life include, in order: Mel Gibson, Michael Hurst, Garett Maggart, Rob Morrow, Jensen Ackles. (With interests in Richard Burgi and Jared Padalecki being corollary to a couple of those.) Those are the men I would go out of my way to find out about their careers, their backgrounds, their histories and attitudes. However, my enthusiasm usually doesn't overlap. I don't lose interest, necessarily, but my intensity of interest or intensity of focus tends to shift, to wax and wane. But with Jensen, I admire him so very much as a person as well as an actor, and his work is steady and readily available to me (Michael Hurst has worked steadily, but he's in NZ, so his work isn't always easily available to me. He's also very active in live theater, which makes it impossible to see). I think I'll be following Jensen's career and those aspects of his life that are public for a long time.
And I've totally lost the point of this post. Anyway, more enthusing to come, I think.
In that regard, I and one of the other ladies of the church are going to be performing a skit/short play at the ladies tea this Saturday. And it's going to be a challenge for me.
Why? Well, for a couple of reasons. Most of the script falls to me. Whether it's the actual dialogue or physical reaction to recorded instruction/narration, I just got through highlighting the script, and there's a lot of yellow on the pages. Also, I have less than a week to learn it all. Yipes!
Second, it's a lot of physical humor and slapstick. Physical humor, slapstick, and improvisation are not my strong suits. The closest I've come is Mrs. Peachum (see 3Penny Opera), wherein I played a drunken lush, and was told that I A) was too drunk and scaring the director that I might hurt myself; tone it down; and B) was going to steal the show. Both huge compliments, particularly B, which came from one of my favorite co-workers (Tech Guy who played "Mack"). :-) Still, it's been a long time since I've done that sort of thing, so I'm kind of freaked.
Third, a lot of it is facial reactions, and I've never felt that I have a huge variety of expressions. (I've never been able to cock an eyebrow, for example, an expression I really wish I had in my repertoire.)
This brings me to my now-to-be-expected enthusing on Jensen Ackles. In addition to my own stint as a drunken lush, I've started filing away in the back of my mind the completely OTT silly stuff he has no problem with that shows up in the gag reels. Of thinking about how great he is at improv ("Eye of the Tiger," anyone?). And of some of the things he said at the recent convention--that he likes to challenge himself, and he likes to work with people he can learn from and who can make him a better actor. This is the kind of stuff I need to be thinking about, in all aspects of my performances.
I just feel so freakin' removed from so much of it anymore. I feel rusty and out of practice.
I honestly can't remember when I've admired an actor this much, the way I do Jensen. Not just as an actor, but as a person. As an honest, genuine, passionate person. My admiration of Michael Hurst might be comparable, but I think I know more about Jensen as a person than I've known about any other actor I've enthused about.
The actors who have most captured my attention in my adult life include, in order: Mel Gibson, Michael Hurst, Garett Maggart, Rob Morrow, Jensen Ackles. (With interests in Richard Burgi and Jared Padalecki being corollary to a couple of those.) Those are the men I would go out of my way to find out about their careers, their backgrounds, their histories and attitudes. However, my enthusiasm usually doesn't overlap. I don't lose interest, necessarily, but my intensity of interest or intensity of focus tends to shift, to wax and wane. But with Jensen, I admire him so very much as a person as well as an actor, and his work is steady and readily available to me (Michael Hurst has worked steadily, but he's in NZ, so his work isn't always easily available to me. He's also very active in live theater, which makes it impossible to see). I think I'll be following Jensen's career and those aspects of his life that are public for a long time.
And I've totally lost the point of this post. Anyway, more enthusing to come, I think.
