Monday, November 29, 2010

As we STUMBLE!!! BUMBLE!!! FUMBLE!!!! ... ... TRUMBLE!!!

Last weekend, dear readers, I went to see my friends in the BTC's Production of The Drowsy Chaperone. (YAAAAY)
This is pretty much, in a nutshell, how a lot of actors learn the craft: they watch others perform. Kind of like a monkey-see-monkey-do sort-of thing.
This was double-casted (two casts) and both provided different variations on the same theme.
Wynnie Van Dusen (who played the Woman in the Chair in one casting) played the Woman as a very socially-akward-cat-lady-type character. She used the comic timing and her lines to the fullest extent and made a potentially boring character very interesting.
Elise Swift (who played the Woman in the Chair in the other casting) played the character as a timid-libraryan-who-rarely-went-out kind of character. She was very quiet and at certain points would show an anger outside of her character which added dynamic.
These are two different types of character choices, but the same character... WHAT?!?!?!
Wynnie is a comic engenue who can improvise anything on the spot, and wind up with an amazing show. Elise has amazing comic timing, and her presence on the stage is never undermined.
Character is all about the actor using his or her life experiences to make the show their own. No one can play a character the same as someone else, because nobody is exactly alike...
think on that, and I'll see you for my next blog post!!!
PEACE OUT!!!