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« on: Jul 17, 2011, 06:55 pm »
Thank you guys! Here's a little recap:
-The director is involved (he's in the next show we're doing, so he's still in town). He stopped by after his rehearsal last night and watched the last 5 minutes or so from the balcony, and I filled him in afterwards. He came today pre-show and talked with the actor privately. He said that it went pretty well, and he reminded him that I am supposed to give him notes, he needs to call if he's running late, etc.
-I am sure the paraphrasing is intentional- he's been paraphrasing since the first read-through, and no matter how many line notes I gave him or how many conversations the director had about "the playwright chooses very specific words... we are communicating what the playwright had to say so we have to use his words... you don't need to make any improvements on the text..." he just kept doing it. A prime example would be, the script says:
Stella: How old are you, Doug?
Doug: Ninety-two.
And the actor says, "Ohhh, I'm ninety-two years of age, Miss Stella!"
-The problem is that he is a HAM. He feeds off of the audience's laughter, and if they're laughing he just keeps going. He's already the audience's favorite character, and the director and I have both told him in several instances that the audience already thinks he's funny, he doesn't need to add anything else. When I gave him a note about wiggling around while he's supposed to be asleep on the couch, he argued with me, saying "The audience thinks it's funny! Don't you hear them laughing about that?" My response was, first, "that wasn't what we rehearsed," then "just because the audience thinks it's funny doesn't mean you need to add things," then "that's not the style of comedy that this show has- it's situational and verbal, NOT physical comedy. Yes it's funny, but it doesn't fit the style of the play," and finally "you are taking the attention away from the rest of the scene- there are things happening that are important to the plot that the audience isn't paying attention to because they're laughing at you moving around on the couch." He finally stopped arguing with me, but it was clear that he didn't think I was right, he just didn't want to keep fighting with me. He did quit moving around as much.
-He's already been grumbling backstage about how he has a life and he's ready to be done with the show, and I as much as I would like to just fine him (which is the standard procedure where I work), I honestly think that if I did, he would quit. My impression is that he feels very much maligned by the whole situation and if I don't handle him with kid gloves he'll just leave. I would like to take a firm, aggressive stance or turn him over to the producer, but I really believe that he will quit. We already replaced one actor in tech, we can't afford to replace another (plus, 40-something white women are easy to find in our theatre community, 60+ African-American men are not). I also don't know whether any language about upholding the integrity of the show is in his contract or not...
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