First Performence.

Rehearsals went pretty smooth and I was given liberty to find the charactor on my own. The style was fast paced , so any pauses or slowdown of delivery had to be completely justified. Now as I said , I was playing a homeless guy in this comedy and when we had rehearsals and run throughs anyone watching my scenes would laugh and this gave me a lot of confidence in what I was doing. I knew if I did well here in this cathederal of theater, it would open up many doors for me in acting and life would be rosey after that. The first performance came in this workshop production but the audience was full of people. I had the first scene in the play. This was my big moment. Even though it was still a workshop production, that was good enough for me. I entered thru the audience while the lead character was on stage hailing a cab. I was to walk thru the audience, walk up on stage and ask for a quarter. Well. the play started and the lead was out yelling "Taxi Taxi". I walked in and just as I was about to step on the stage, an arm grabbed me that I didn't expect and I swung around angry. It was the security guard thinking I was a real homeless and tried to throw me out. I whispered loudly and angry that I was in the show. The guard not sure let me go but stood right there ready to jump on me if I was lying. I said my first line and he went away but no laughter from the audience at all for the whole scene. (continued)

It Begins.

The first day of rehearsal came and I was ready. With the pressure off my acting career, I was able to relax and get my self ready for this possible life changing event. I worked out every day and was back in boot camp navy shape. The character I was playing was somewhat similar to Jerry from "Zoo Story" but not as deep. While Zoo story had a lot of black humor, this play was a comedy and the guy I played although homeless and desperate did not have Jerry's depth. It was certainly a showy part. The first day came and we rehearsed in a rehearsal space off the grounds. It was easy as we just got acquainted and and then went to lunch. On the way, the director said he wanted my character to really seem like he lived in the street, Now there are 2 kinds of homeless, the ones like Jerry, who on the surface seem normal and the others who almost show off the fact that they are homeless in the way they dress and I don't mean old cloths but a costume, like something out of Dickens. Well, anyway when the director said that to me, just then this guy came by with a overcoat that was dragging on the ground, a walking stick that he did not seem to need and a British type military hat. That's what I'm going to become. A homeless guy making a statement.

Waiting to Begin!

So after I was approved by everyone , I had to wait 2 months for the play to go into rehearsal. Well, doing a play at this theater was what I was trying to do since I became an actor and that was to add some prestige to my career. This would do it. The 'Neil was great and it led to this job. But now I was to be put in front of the most sophisticated audience in New York. I would be reviewed by the NY Times I would be on stage with not only good but connected actors. There were other plays being done at this facility with actors who were established not only on stage but film and TV. So for the first time since I went on this path I relaxed. I didn't pick up a copy of backstage. In fact I was offered to do a part in Pittsburgh, an equity show and I had to turn it down. When I told the CD what I was going to do , he said everybody wants to work their and I should take what is guaranteed now. he was right, there was no guarantee, someone could change their mind. But I was going for the big bet. It was funny, when I told other actors I knew what was happening, they didn't seem too exited because after-all a lot of actors say they got this going or that, so until it actually happened it wasn't real.

The big reading for the big producer!

The day came for the reading and the whole cast met at the theater. We were brought into the huge office of the BP. My character opened the play. The character was a homeleess person who runs into a guy he went to school with and who was very successful. The reading went very well in the office and the director after the reading said it looked good but we wouldn't know his decision for a couple of days. 4 days later I received a call from the director saying that the BP wanted to try the play out as a workshop and that it was ok for me to do the part. He said I would receive a call from the casting director. Now I have been trying for a couple of years to get an audition or even an interview with this CD but to no avail. When she called in a very cold voice and asked who my agent was. I said I didn't have one at the moment. The CD said I was being offered the part and do I accept. Of coarse I said yes and I do believe that she hoped I would say no. Rehearsals would begin in 1 month.

Always be ready.

One day I received a call from a director that I had met up at the O'Neil. I did not work with him but he knew and worked with one of the actors that I had worked with up there . He said that he was doing a reading for a major theater producer and he wanted me to fill in a part for a rehearsal. He said the actor doing the part could not make the rehearsal and would I mind just to read that part for the rehearsal. Now as I still had no agent and wanted to do anything that got me close to the money , I said I would do it. The day of the rehearsal came and there were 10 people in the cast. All were on the fast track of acting. Signed with the best agents, graduates of Yale and Harvard and then there was me. The part I was reading was very funny and when I read it with the lead actor, a yuppie to his genes, I got a lot of laughs. When the rehearsal was over, the writer of the play, who I just met, came over to me and asked how I liked the play. I told him, and it was the truth, that I really liked it. The director asked if I was available for the reading on the date for the big producer. Well, I didn't have to look in my appointment book when I said yes. The other actor was not mentioned again and I was set to do the reading. So this was some kind of sneaky audition in that if they didn't want me, there would be no hard feelings. What served me well was my growing experience working with new plays and my cold reading abilities. I do not mention names because I don't know the legalities but this was huge for me to be in the company of these high powered actors before the king of theater in New York.

In Review!

So what have we learned so far? One of the most important tool that is needed to be a good actor is concentration, You have to be in the moment always. All the research that is done , all the rehearsal that you have done all must be thrown out the window when you are entering a scene. For example: if the scene calls for you to have a big argument with your mate when you come home from work, well first of all the character has not read the play so therefore, the only action you would have when you come home is to maybe just relax and have a drink after a hard day at work, but your mate interrupts you with something that makes you angry. Now you don't walk in angry, you don't know what they will say, so your first action is to do whatever you do after a hard day. This is playing moment to moment. Concentration is needed to block out any distractions like a close up of you with the camera in your face.

The second is listening, let the other actors help your performance. The better they are , the better you are. There are too many actors that are afraid of working with really strong actors because they think people will not notice them . If you are listening and playing your character's Motivations then a good actor can only help you get there and the audience will be wrapped up in the scene and the story and that is why you are there in the first place.

After the O'Neil.

When I got back from Conn. I still had no agent but I was being offered really good roles Off-off. The most interesting role and play for me was "The Gentle People" by Irwin Shaw. Now the character I played was written to be evil. When I say this is because ,from my research, the writer wanted the audience to hate this character. It was written in the 30's and the character I played< Goff, was a metaphor for Hitler who was in power in Europe when the play was originally done. Now I had played bad guys before but none with the intelligence and the audacity of this Goff. One of the things he does was to extort money from the father of a girl he was dating. To get into that mind was to rationalize his actions. Goff felt if he did not dominate , he would be dominated. So his evil came out of fear. Again I kicked ass. At the end of the play, these fishermen who I had been terrorizing kill me and the audience cheered.

Playing in the Majors.

At the O' Neil ,as I said before. 16 new plays were done over a 4 week period. Each play had a very extensive rehearsal for 3 days then 3 performances with book in hand. This was a great idea on their part. It took away the obligation of memorizing the lines and also created the illusion of a work, if given a full production, would be much better. In fact for a lot of these plays, the best rendition they received was at the O'neil because even though it was only 3 days of rehearsal it was very intense. You were required to carry the book even if you knew your lines so the audience, full of producers and agents, could use their imagination. Now to get their as an actor in just 3 days meant that you had to make choices, usually your first instinct, and follow an objective. I was working with some really good actors but I was not intimidated at all because I had gone thru the mill the last few years and was confident that I would be equal to the task. I had really good parts over the 4 weeks that I was up at the O'neil but socially I was like a kid in a candy store with no one around. What I mean is, in stead of networking and basically kissing ass, I succumbed to every temptation that came my way. There were many interns there that had not yet graduated from the conservatories and would flirt and offer themselves. Here my instincts of a sailor overcame my better sense. But still this lead to an even bettr job.

Up in Connecticut.

So I was hired to go up to Conn. for the Eugene Memorial Playwrights Conference . I was to stay at a dorm with the other actors. The pay was better than I would make in a month driving a cab. My first day I was to meet in Manhattan to take a chartered bus to Conn. This was my first real experience with class distinction in America. These were people who came from very upper middle class. Besides the name actors , there were what was considered up and coming actors on the New York scene. These went to fancy Acting CONSERVATORIES that charged 10's of thousands of dollars to attend. I must say my experience with this layer of humanity was very limited. I knew other actors that went to college for theater or film but mainly they came from the working class and were looking to better themselves. In the navy there were this type but they were officers and we didn't hang with them.

So I met where the bus was and this woman saw my pass and she thought I was part of the crew and asked me to help with the luggage. I helped because I didn't know that I was above that until one of the assistants discovered that I was one of the actors and pulled me off that duty. I finally got on the bus with all these rich people dressed in expensive and trendy casual clothes while I was wearing a semi- polyester shirt and levi jeans that were not worn out. I tied to keep a low profile on the bus but I felt I stood out as an alien.

The Big Break!

I was sort of worn out after all the work that I did, producing and acting at the same time. It must have shown in my work some how as I struck out in every audition I had for almost a year after the show closed. I was going thru one of the worst times I had since I ventured into acting. My girlfriend and I ended our relationship and now I was alone again. My career was going nowhere and the future was not looking good. I was 33 years old and back driving the cab, One Thursday when Backstage came out listing auditions for the next week, there was an open call for the Eugene Memorial Playwrites Conference In Conn. I usually didn't bother with these open calls because the only rerason they had them was because Equity requireed that they have an open call every few years. This was a very presidegios conference as they would do stage readings of 16 new plays and were covered by all the producers and agents from NY and La. Name actors would jump at the chance to work there. But I fiqured why not go and maybe have some fun as auditions were a good place to meet women. When I went to sign up thert were already about 500 actorts before me and the chance of even getting in to see them were slim. While waiting I saw a actress that I had done some readings with who was rehearsing something for PBS. She was very well known in the Business and had even won an Obie for an Off-Bradway play. When I told her I was waiting for an interview for the Conference she said she had worked there many times and she would recommend me for a audition. Well I went home without an interview that day and forgot about it. Acouple of days later I received a call from the casting Director to come in for a audition. I went in on the day of the audition and was seeing the material for the first time as they wouldn't give out any material before hand. It was a nice part and when I read, the director laugh so hard I thought he was having a heart attack. It went great, The nx day I received another call to read another play with another director, again it went great, 4 more times like this and the CD called me and asked if I had an agent. I said my agent died which was a lie and he said I was cast in all 4 plays that I read for and would be going to Conn. for 4 weeks with an equity contract. My actor freinds at the bar were astounded as this was a choice job and I would be with name actors.

Improvization.

We wrote the dialogue for the play with improvization and a tape recorder. The best way to do this is to know your objective in the scene. We set up the structure of the scene, what we wanted in the scene to accomplish and what each individual character wants in the scene even if the character was not conscious of it. By doing it over and over and editing as we went along we were able to write some really dynamic dialogue. As we both had opposite objectives created the conflick that made it a pretty good piece of theater to the few that came for the run of the show.
Because we had no money for publicity and we were only able to charge $2.50, which were equity rules and I was a member now, I didn't get back the money I laid out. But it was a very creative experience and would benefit me some day. By the way, the director took full credit for the writing which at the time I didn't oppose because he was a tremendous help in getting the show up. But a he was able to sell the script a few years later and he eventually received 6 figures for the script and my girl friend and I received nothing for it.

Producing!

So where I? Yes so we had a theater, my girlfriend and I but no play. My friend ,who was going to direct us and whose original play I had done, said he had an idea of another play he was looking to wrie based on his relationship with his ex- girlfriend. It was about a working class guy going with a Harvard type. Well, my relationship with my present girlfriend and actress, that was doing the play with me ,was similar to his. Now remember, we were scheduled to open in 4 weeks. So the 3 of us sat around for a couple of days and plotted it out. When I say a couple of days , I don't mean average working days , I mean about 36 of the 48 were working on the structure of the play. It was just 2 characters so that was an advantage at this point. Then we would improve each one of the scenes over and over witha tape recorder until it not only made sense but was dramatic and humerous.After 10 days of doing this, we had what we thought was a fairly good play as long as the acting held up.But if you thought that was the hard part , you would be wrong. Now we had to get some kind of a set together. We were able to get a little help but every day after rehearsel we at least the director and I would hammer and saw building the set. My partner worked on getting the flyers together and the publicity. My old buddy from Zoo Story came in to stage manage. I had never worked so hard in my life. That includes my time in the Navy which when times were rough, I would goof off every chance I had but now I was in command so to speak and success and failure depended on me.

Bum's Life.

So now I had Shakespeare under my belt, on unemployment insurance, so now I can experience the life of unemployed actor in New York. I didn't have to drive a cab anymore although that job gave me an insight that I didn't have before. People mostly don't look at a cab driver as a human being but as part of the cab. Their true nature comes out when they ride a cab because they will never see you again and even if they do, you are nothing more than a cab driver to them and cannot do anything for them. In picking up the different classes of people, one thing became evident. Rich people have contempt for the working man. They talk to you like you are a servant and treat you with disrespect. I left a few self-important rich dudes with a fat lip, laying in there gutter for treating me in a way that was totally disrespectful. Such as calling me stupid or making jokes at my expense to impress some woman. I couldn't let myself be disrespected like that and sometimes I would stop the cab on a side street and throw them out. If they didn't like that , I would get out of the cab with them and it is surprising how cowardly these rich people are when somebody stands up to them. The best riders were other working class people who saw you as a human being and not part of the steering wheel. They tipped the best. If I saw 2 people hailing a cab and one had a lunch pail and the other a suit and briefcase, I would always pick up the guy with the lunch pail.
Back to acting, well again no casting people saw my "Bottom" but it did enhance my belief that if I could just get a shot, I would go all the way. I was living in Queens with an actress that went to college for theater and was a great help in-pushing my career forward. In fact, we planned to produce a play off-off broadway. At first we picked a couple of established one acts but after I had laid down borrowed money as a down payment on the rental of the theater the rights to the plays were pulled from us because the writer had a film coming out , so what to do? Write our own and put it up in 4 weeks?