So I feel like the first thing I need to do is apologize for being absent for so long from the site. I’m not pullin’ my own weight here, and it’s something I intend to change in the near future, especially as I gear up for my next project or two. But I’ve got a couple of things to reflect on at the moment, and I thought this would be a good place to put it all down and see what I’ve learned, if anything, from it all. I guess what I’m talking about are surprises.

So I’m playing Macbeth this summer in the park in Nashville, and it’s one of the coolest things I’ve had happen to me yet. Not only is it probably my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays, it’s a role I’ve wanted to play for a good ten years or so, and I honestly never thought I’d get a chance. Couple reasons for this, the first of which being my age. I’m 32, and for some reason, the heavy hitter roles in Shakespeare’s plays often go to older actors, presumably because it is assumed that they have the maturity and experience to handle it better. I don’t know, but it always seems to be the case. Well, I had to pass up a chance to play Macduff last fall due to a conflict, and I figured my chances of even being involved in the play weren’t gonna be good for a while (at the time, I had no idea the Shakespeare Festival here in town would do the show). Plus, the guy who was cast as Macbeth in that production is a good friend of mine who is a good ten years older than me. And here’s my problem with that, and it’s actually one of the reasons I got cast in the part in the upcoming production: it has never made sense to me that Macbeth should always be an older man. First, he is childless, and while the play never flat out tells you why, you can draw from alllusions in the text that either he or his wife have possibly had children before and lost them, either through miscarriage, stillbirth, or just plain bad luck of any kind. The whole “I have given suck…” speech by Lady M. seems to imply that she has had and lost a child, so it does put them at a certain age, but nowhere does it seem to imply (unless I’m missing something huge, but I’m no Shakes scholar) that it would be impossible for them to have children in the future, so it makes sense to me that they’re young enough to try again. Add in the fact that Macbeth is pretty nakedly ambitious, and he seems to be given a very youthful energy that makes him seem a lot closer to twenty-five or thirty than forty. But it’s open to debate. Suffice to say, my personal opinion is that he is a young man with his entire life and career ahead of him, and what makes it so tragic is that he throws this all away by making the first of many poor decisions, the moral ramifications of which he seems to be very consciously aware. He knows from the beginning that it’s the wrong thing to do, but he decides to pursue it anyway, and hell follows thereafter. Seeing someone with potential ruin himself seems much more interesting and tragic to me than someone who is just simply evil and jaded, like Richard III. Furthermore, he realizes before it’s all over just how badly he has screwed himself, and since there is no recourse or way to save himself, he commits even more fully to his course of action and does what he does best - he kills whomever gets in his way. It’s extremely interesting that there is this existential thread in Macbeth - he realizes his world is falling apart, and even though he could simply give up and aloow himself to be taken prisoner, he fights to hold onto it as long as he can. I’ve never read any of Beckett’s thoughts on Shakespeare, but one would have to be blind not to notice the connection between this particular play and the bleak yet somehow persevering world of Didi and Gogo. Unfortunately for Macbeth, at the end of his story he has no friend to comfort him through the unbearable truth, and so he must persevere alone. At least Didi had Gogo to wait with him.

Anyway, to my pleasant surprise, the director of the upcoming production feels much the same way as I do. Thus, I am cast, and it’s a golden opportunity for me. It has given me the opportunity to step back and look at myself in a role which I haven’t before - the leading man. Self-awareness is something an actor can always stand to have, and while I have always dreamed of playing some of these great roles, I guess I have never really considered myself the leading man type. Comes mostly from past insecurities about myself - growing up as a fat kid, not much interest from girls early in life - some of the very reasons that I believe I became an actor are now the reasons that I seem to have a hard time actually imagining myself playing some of these great roles.

As a side note, but no less important: I’m going to be teaching drama camps this summer at the Nashville Children’s Theatre, and one of the camps is a three-week intensive conservatory program designed for older kids who really want to be challenged and get as close to a professional experience as they can. Julee Baber, the Director of Education at NCT, is going to direct The Crucible for this conservatory, and I will be playing John Proctor along with Nashville actress Jenny Littleton as Elizabeth. The kids in the program will make up the rest of the cast, and it’s a chance for them to work with professionals and hopefully to learn from them. So this summer I’m going to get the chance to play two of the greatest roles in the English language, and to be honest, I’m still trying to come to terms with that. Not in terms of the workload, because I will be working on both shows at once, and I have no fear of that, but just in terms of the fact that I’m going to be the lead in both shows. It’s not earth-shattering, just a new phase in my life and my career, and I’m very happy about it. I guess I should just shut up, be glad that it’s happening, and see where it takes me after this.

Anyway, back to Macbeth. I’ll write more on the process I go through as the summer proceeds. Once again, this is one of my favorite of Willy’s plays, and it’s once Ive spent a lot of time on in the past ten years anyway, so I’ve got some pretty strong ideas about it. I’d love to hear what anyone else has to say about it - if you agree or disagree with my take on it, etc. Here’s something to stew on: I personally feel that Macbeth is a man of action. While not an idiot, he is intelligent and blessed/cursed with an abundance of imagination, which allows him to conceive of the murder of Duncan, and he is definitely a killer of men, he is not a murderer at the beginning of the play. He becomes one as soon as he decides to act on his imagination and kill the king. Once he starts doing so, he isn’t smart enough to figure out a way to keep himself safe, and he responds to any threat to his position the way he would on a battlefield - he kills whomever gets in his way. Even when he’s aware that it’s the wrong thing to do, he does it anyway, mainly because he can’t see any other way to accomplish his goal. Iago and Richard are manipulators; they make others do much of the work for them. Macbeth doesn’t know how to do that. He only knows how to kill, and even when he knows there should be a better way, it is all he knows how to do.

Any thoughts?

One of the strongests lessons that I took away from my time at SMU is that acting lessons will jump out and surprise you from the most unlikely places.

I’m 32 years old and yesterday I got on the back of a horse, at least by myself, for the first time in my life. My wife’s uncle Mike has a farm here in Middle Tennessee where he keeps two horses, Hershey and Fancy. I had the honor of sharing some time with Hershey. Mike gave me a few pointers, put the reigns in my hand and let me walk him around the property. I was warned the Hershey hadn’t really been ridden in several months, so there was the possibility that he would be a bit stubborn. He also hadn’t been away from Fancy in quite some time. Yet another addition to the possibility of stubborness.

Here’s where the acting lesson comes in. When it comes to horses, you don’t steer them as much as you come to a consensus with them as to where you’re going to go. That means that there is a communication that goes on between horse and rider. At the same time I was getting accustomed to being on horseback, Hershey was getting use to having someone on his back again and learning what I meant when I gave him commands with the reigns. I became almost instantly aware of this communication that was going on. Early in the ride, there were times when I was trying to get Hershey to slow down a little and he would come to a halt almost immediately. Likewise, there were some times when I would pull a little too hard trying to get him to go to the right or left and he would come to a halt. What was amazing was that we both learned each other’s tendencies at almost the exact same time and it just clicked.

I quickly realized that in order for the ride to be a successful one, I had to listen to Hershey as much as he was listening to me. I’m hoping you see the analogy here. In order for your scene or the entire play to be successful, you have to listen to your fellow actors and scene partners as much as they (hopefully) are listening to you.

Acting is reacting. If you are not listening to your fellow actors–and not just with your ears–there is no way you can react realistically in the moment.

I’m no horseman, but I certainly will spend a bit more time on the farm with Hershey. It’s impossible to ride a horse and not be totally open and listening to him!

Just a little update about an upcoming project…

I will be Assistant Director for MTSU’s upcoming production of Oklahoma! in the Fall semester of 2006!  We’ve already cast the principal roles and will have another round of auditions in the fall to allow any incoming Freshmen and transfer students a chance to be in the show.

Anyway, the cast is fantastic and the show should prove to be quite exciting.  I’m very pleased to be part of it.  It will be a summer of some early production meetings and e-mailing announcements to the cast.

Watch for more info as the Fall semester starts!

This weekend I transferred the site from one host to another.  I’m pleased to announce that this site is now hosted by Dreamhost.  If you are on the lookout for a hosting service, this is the one for you!  They have the easiest control panel I think I’ve ever seen.  The site may be acting a little weird while the nameservers are being rerouted, but it should settle down pretty quickly.
Oh yeah, since I was in the process of moving the site, I decided to go ahead and scrap the Greenroom.  I don’t think anyone ever looked at it except for the spammers who had begun to flood it and were making my life a living hell.  So, down it goes.

Author: Craig Wroe

Publisher: Limelight Editions

Copyright: 2003

ISBN: 0879109866

My Advice: Own it

“New York, New York what a wonderful town”

It is the Mecca for all that is Theatre and the Arts. Anyone associated with theatre, plans or dreams of going there, living there, and being successful there. However, a lot of questions that potential New Yorkers come across when planning their move are: where to begin, how will I find a place to live, and where will I be able to afford to live? Ultimately, how can I endure long enough on a limited budget till I’m established?

That’s what Craig Wroe provides for you in his book, An Actor Prepares: To Live in New York City. Mr. Wroe is an actor, writer, and teacher who has lived in the Big Apple since 1984. He takes his life experience with New York and offers you a guide to all things necessary for survival on a limited budget. His wit and sense of humor makes what could be a tedious book to read, a joy. The simple and concise manner at which deals with the plethora of daily life issues is refreshing and appreciated.

The issues he deals with first are getting settled, finding a home, and dealing with banks. He paints an honest picture of the ordeals of finding a home. His advice, “Apartments being as hard to come by as they are, if you find something that is even remotely suitable, take it immediately. If you don’t someone else will.” Keys to deeming if a place is “suitable” are: 1) examine the apartment, building, and neighborhood 2) the commute to midtown 3) do you feel safe and content living there. The book lists several options to aid in securing a place to live. Wroe also offers some sage advice in regards to roommate-pairing services, basically, DON’T USE THEM. His examples of why one shouldn’t use them are priceless.

He even decodes the mystery of finding an address on the Avenues in Manhattan. He claims of the formula, “I won’t attempt to explain how it works (as if I knew, I’m an actor for God’s sake: I can barely balance my checkbook), but it does.”

The book is broken down into five categories. They are: Getting Settled, Staying Healthy, Personal and Professional Resources, Shopping, and All Work and No Play. Each one of these categories has sub- points and they are very detailed. For Example under Shopping, the book addresses each of the following topics: Provisions; Spirits, Beverages, and Brews; Vitamins and Supplements; Clothing; Shoes; Handbags and Accessories; Leather Goods; Makeup; Sunglasses; Furniture; Mattresses; Housewares; Electronics; Books, Plays, and Scripts; CDs; Flowers and Plants; Art Supplies; General Merchandise Stores; Sample Sales; Flea Markets; Thrift Shops; Street Fairs; Outlet Stores; Weekly Sales Listings and Discount Coupons and finally Bargain Retail Areas.

In each one of these sub-points, Wroe lists the stores complete with their address and phone numbers that in his estimation give the most value for money spent. He also gives at least a paragraph of justification for his choice. There is a “best bargain” per sub-point; for example, when one is looking for men’s and women’s shoes the best bargain is: Make 10 Ladies and Gents Shoewear Warehouse Store (44 West 39^th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, 212-391-2926) and socks can be purchased at either the sock vendor at the Sunday Greenflea Market at I.S. 44 (Columbus and 76^th Street, 212-721-0900) or the sock guy who sets up a card table on the west side of Ninth Avenue between 42^nd and 43^rd Streets every weekday from about 3 pm on.

The amount of effort that is involved in just searching down the right place to buy socks is amazing and every aspect of this book is that detailed. He explains when, where, and who to sign up with to get discounts or sales notifications for all areas under Shopping. There is a very informative and amusing tutorial about the proper way to “borrow” apparel from the leading retailers and the art of haggling.

In this 350 page book, he covers every possible want or need to having a comfortable level of lifestyle without having to spend an extravagant amount of money to do it.

The book is organized extremely well and is a quick, entertaining read. Not only that, Wroe’s writing style gives you a sense the book was written just for you by a trusted friend. It’s a great reference book to help you prepare for your move to New York City. Even though it is geared toward the actor anyone can find useful information in it.

Buy it from Limelight Editions

Author: Mark Brandon

Publisher: Limelight Editions

Copyright: 2005

ISBN: 0879103167

My advice: Own it

It seems the longer you stay in the entertainment business, the more and varied advice you’ll receive about how to go about landing that break-through role. Most of the advice that is presented, however, is based in some kind of fantasy world and was probably created by people who were looking for excuses as to why they weren’t getting cast. The fact of the matter is, for the professional, there are techniques that can be employed that will help any actor, regardless of experience level,increase their chances for nailing that next audition.

That’s what Mark Brandon provides for you in his book, Winning Auditions: 101 Strategies for Actors. Having worked in the industry and been through several university training programs as well as a number of workshops, I can tell you that Mr. Brandon has provided a product that is worthwhile. Most of these strategies he has developed after teaching workshops on acting for the camera and discussing these problems with his students. In his introduction to this book, he talks about the process of culling through his copious notes and compiling them into its current form.

Furthermore, he goes to the trouble of breaking them up into three categories: Preparation Strategies, Presentation Strategies, and Performance Strategies. He also cross-references himself several times throughout the book linking one strategy with another and pointing out their most important differences.

His strategies were devised from actors working in the field. These are the actors who are continually going out and being seen before scores of casting directors and agents and their own observations about acting techniques and how to apply them in the highly competitive world of film and television auditions.

Perhaps his simplest strategy is the one that he references the most; in fact, its so simple, it’s elegant: Have Confidence. I know that sounds simple, but throughout the book, he references this strategy (it’s number 5 in the book, by the way) and tells you exactly how a lack of confidence can affect you and your performance at the precise moment you need it the most. He goes into detail about how to use the various types of sides you’ll see in the casting director’s office from film/TV scripts to commercial copy and beyond. He also talks about simple strategies to help you improve your cold-reading technique and how to keep it at its best.

The strategy that is provided the most detail in the book is Number 71: Above All Else, Aspire to Truth. In this strategy, Brandon details the difficulty and inherent problems most actors face in preparing their audition ahead of time: getting so bogged down in their preparation that they forget to just let it go and strive for honest and truthful reactions when they are reading before the casting director. He outlines several techniques to help actors with less experience overcome this problem.

In short, in this short 110 page book, he covers the absolute basics of what to expect in auditioning for pretty much anything in front of a camera.

The book is organized extremely well and is a quick, easy read. Not only that, it’s just as easy to use as a reference book to help you prepare for those auditions where you’ve got a few doubts or feel a bit behind the 8-ball.

If you are an actor, or are thinking about getting into the film/TV business, you could do a lot worse than to have a copy of this book handy.

This Friday past, I was on location for the shoot of a regional TV spot. The shoot was for Stray Dog Productions with David Jellison directing. I arrived on set, got into wardrobe and makeup and we caravaned to our first location. After shooting for about an hour, we wrapped at that location and headed back to the second location.

The premise of the commeical is this: my character has won a “Pimp My Ride” style contest whereby this crew of mechanics is going to take my car and turn it into a stock-car. After a brief scene at my house, the crew takes the car and heads off to the garage to start the transformation. Then, the car is revealed to me, the crew stuffs me into the car and hilarity ensues.

It’s been nearly two years since I had been on a set and I had a great time. I had forgotten the amount of “hurry up and wait” time, but luckily, I brought a little bit of work along so it wasn’t completely wasted. I was able to get limited internet access at the location. The folks at Stray Dog were fantastic. The crew was professional, but it was clear that they were dead set on having a good time doing their jobs. Even though it waslate in the evening, I was a little sad to be leaving the set and heading home. Many thanks to Gaye for her positive attitude and professionalism!

In other news, the casting has occured for the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s production of Macbeth and I was unfortunately not cast. I am pleased to announce, however, that our very own Ross Brooks will be playing none other than The Scottish King himself!! Many kudos to Ross! I can not wait to see the show. If you are in the Nashville area, make sure to make this part of your summer plans.

So, in keeping with the only true way to survive in this business, I have already begun the process of lining up auditions with the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Nashville Children’s Theatre and the People’s Branch Theatre. In addition to that, my agent is keeping me plenty busy with film and video auditions in the Nashville area as well.

Anyone want to make a donation to my “I’ve Got To Get To London” fund?

Link.

I BOOKED IT! I’ll be shooting a commericial with Stray Dog Productions this Friday! I got the call this morning and I went for a wardrobe fitting this evening!

Thanks, Josh!

Okay! Things are starting to get back in gear around here. I’ve finally gotten a callback for a commercial! Tomorrow night, I’ll be in Nashville again trying to land this role in a commercial that shoots on Friday.

Here’s the lesson folks: If you are in (or are thinking about getting into) this profession, don’t plan on taking any time off! I know that life happens (that’s what happened in my case), but if you have been out of the loop for awhile (in my case it was nearly 2 years), it will take you a while to get your feet back under you!!

Let me be clear, I don’t regret my time off. I have two beautiful children to show for it, but it’s taken me a while to get comfortable in front of a camera again.

Okay, that’s my little tidbit from this weekend past. Carry on…