Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Play On!

THEATER 43
-summer 1998
I got a call from J.T. Smith, at the Old Schoolhouse Theater on Sanibel. It was a beautiful space, originally a one-room schoolhouse. J.T. staged musical reviews, and was trying an occasional comedy. He wanted me to play Billy in the upcoming show. The script was funny. I told him i was interested, and could he pay me? He told me he could get me $100 a week, and not to tell the other actors. I almost passed, because i didn't want to be known as an actor who works for free, but it was a great part. The script is about a community theater troupe putting on an original play, an Agatha Christie-style whodunit. The playwright keeps rewriting and meddling, and everything goes very wrong on opening night. I played the "leading man". The dressing room was a fun place. Dave Yudowitz had been a comedian, and was trying his first acting, in his late sixties. His gestures and timing were wonderful. A sweet, sweet man. Tom Corcoran played the director, and he was so great, very easy-going and fun. Clement Valentine played the villain, and very well. On the girls' side was Unota Lucero, the "leading lady", Betty Madonna, the "playwright", Teresa Shea and Carolyn Smith, the "tech crew", Joanna Theiss, the "maid", and Jene, the "Lady". The stage manager was a young guy named Jason, and he and Betty and Joanna rounded out my buddies in the cast. J.T. was a bit standoffish, but he created a good atmosphere. Dave and Tom ribbed me about the crush sixteen year-old Joanna had on me. She was talented, smart, and fun. I had been writing a play about a guy trying to deflect the crush of a teenager, and Joanna's energy crept into the writing. I finished writing it around the end of the run, and got a copy to her. She may have ended up thinking i was coming on to her. The talent level of the actors was a little uneven, but there was enough to make it a good, funny show. At the start of the second act Tom is onstage, and i enter. In our second week, i did something i'd never done. I was late for my entrance. He ad libbed some dialogue. I was shocked. So guess what happened in week three? I did the same damn thing again. Don't ask me how. Sorry, Tom.

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