This week we visit the Alley Theatre in Houston, give an homage to Wali Lundy, and share the last (but certainly not least) of our SETC interviews! Enjoy!

Title: Hamlet: A User’s Guide

Author: Michael Pennington

Publisher: Limelight Editions

ISBN: 0879100834

In the introduction to this most readable and charming book, Michael Pennington playfully confesses his awareness to inflicting the world with yet another book on an over-analyzed subject.  There are more scholarly writings on Hamlet, he admits, and perhaps more artistically investigational too, but Pennington assures us, in his witty and self-deprecating style, that what he offers is an insider’s view into the Danish Prince.  Who better to bestow this insight than a gifted actor/director who’s performed every principal male role in the play, including several incarnations as the title character?   His most notable turn in the title role was with the Royal Shakespeare Company, under the esteemed John Barton in 1980.

The author smartly separates the book into two sections: The Action and The Characters.  With the first, he introduces each of the play’s five acts as a single day.  Why he should do this he can’t explain even to himself.  He declares outright that there is a significant passage of time between acts Four and Five and then proceeds with his conceit, blithely ignoring its flaw.  In his defense, the evidence offered is that, in this compression of time, the drama is better served. Anyway, each individual Day is given its own chapter, and, within each chapter, every scene is gone over with a fine-toothed comb.  Pennington asserts his interpretations of the text with droll humor and perception, staking his claims boldly.  Sometimes he treads on the toes of other analysts and artists before him, but not without allowing his reader the opportunity to form their own conclusions.

The Character section is split into families and factions, allowing Pennington the opportunity to dissect the various dysfunctions of both kin and court.  This is especially revealing when he is deconstructing Polonius and his children.  The sins of a distant father’s domineering cruelty weigh heavily on the heads of Laertes and Ophelia.  While he admits to the delicate comic-balancing act an actor must perform in portraying the play’s “Prime Minister”, the author brushes aside the traditional buffoonery associated with Polonius and focuses instead on the inept parenting and social gracelessness inherent in the character.  The careless use of his children, Pennington contends,  – spying on his son and exploiting his daughter – contributes to his and their downfalls.  This “emotional suppression” is what leads directly to Polonius’ inability to succeed as a politician too – “the pawns that he is playing with are his own.”  In these pages, the author, once and for all, kills the idea of Polonius as a simpering old boob and leaves him dead and buried.  How fortunate for us.

But what of Hamlet, you ask?  How does Pennington handle the penultimate role, both dreaded and desired by actor and director alike?  The answer is with all the depth, complexity, and contradiction the Prince of Denmark demands.  In this particular area, the author and his book shine.  He shifts skillfully from memoir to manual and back again.  Comparing and contrasting previous Hamlets – Olivier, Gielgud, Burton, etc. – with his own, Pennington speaks without preciousness or pretension.  He is concise and verbose and that is how it should be, considering his source and subject.

The book benefits greatly from Pennington’s far-reaching experience and his ability to view his subject clearly and intuitively.  It bubbles over with personal anecdotes and sidebars, lending an almost dishy quality to the text.  Imagine chumming up the chatty rogue Pennington in a cozy London pub and, in exchange for a few pints, being privy to him spilling his guts on some of England’s greatest (and not so great) performances, many of whom are/were close friends.  Approachable in language and tone, yet illuminating in content and text,  “HAMLET: A User’s Guide” is chocked full of valuable tidbits and treasures, pleasing the most avid Shakespeare scholar as well as the tenderfoot freshman.

The second part of our SETC “trilogy” of episodes is now online.  Need the show notes?

In case you missed it, you can now just click on the “Listen Now” button on the left to hear the newest episodes of the podcast. 

(Of course, if you are subscribed to the podcast via iTunes, you don’t have to worry about that do you?)

In case you missed it, we were at SETC this past week.  We were trying to be as high profile as possible to promote the website and The Inexplicable Dumb Show.  John and I (as well as our colleagues Kyle Zimmerman and “Hollywood” Jackie Holmes) were also conducting workshops on a variety of subjects.  I videotaped Kyle’s commedia workshop, you can find the video here.  (Be aware that it’s a large video file and might take a little while to load.  Also, if you haven’t loaded Quicktime, you won’t be able to view it!) 

Also, Doug Cordes put together a great brochure for us that we handed out to anyone with a pulse!

There will be more to report from SETC, I’m sure.  We’ve got a lot more interviews lined up for you from the conference, so be on the lookout for those!

 

 Podcast Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week, we have the first of our multi-part series on our goings-on at the Southeastern Theatre Conference 2007 in Atlanta, GA. We had a great time and racked up so many great interviews with people, we couldn’t possibly fit them all into one episode. Also, for those of you who attended our workshops and didn’t get one of our handouts, here’s they are!

Preparing your College/University Audition (Part 1)

The Smart Shoppers Guide to University Theatre Programs

Words, Words, Words Using Classical Commedia Techniques for Modern Audiences

The Harold: Long Form Improv (coming soon)

This episode is our first location recording and Laura Cole of the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern has been gracious enough to be our guinea pig. Thanks Laura!

This week’s episode features an interview with Tom Key of Theatrical Outfit based in Atlanta and a preview of our efforts at SETC. We also name our winner of the Sanford Meisner DVD and promote our new Giveaway!

This week’s show features an interview with Randy Williams, a look at Florida Studio Theatre and Tee’s musings on the Oscar Process.

Title: On the Line: The Creation of A Chorus Line

Authors: Robert Viagas, Baayork Lee, Thommie Walsh With the entire original Cast

IBSN: 978-0-87910-336-1

Advice: For the True fans of Musical Theatre

On the Line is a book about the landmark musical, A Chorus Line. The book relays the details of the idea behind, the development, and eventual success of a musical based on the lives of dancers auditioning for a show. It is written by those people directly involved in the process which gives the book a great sense of authenticity. Vaigas, Lee, and Walsh share alot of personal insight into the creation, rehearsal and pains of success that causes the book to read like an episode of VH1 ’s Behind the Music.

This book was orginally published in 1990 but has been updated to take into a slight account of the re-mounting of the 2006 production currently running on Broadway. I enjoyed this aspect because it caused the book to feel “current” and not like a history book. I found the appendix on the original cast very interesting. The fact that some eventual left the theatre all together and for some like Baayork Lee, A Chorus Line, has become almost a large portion of their career. Lee who created the role of Connie; for example, has directed more than thirty-five productions of A Chorus Line world wide and was directly involved in the 2006 Broadway revival as choreographer. Walsh who orignated the role of Bobby went on to a very successful career as a director and choreographer, collaborating with Tommy Tune which garnered him two Tony and Drama Desk Awards (A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine , 1980 and My One and Only, 1983). Every orginal cast member is updated and what I found fascinating was how a group of artists could be involved in such an intense experience that directly or indirectly continued to shape their lives after the last curtain call.

The book is a must read for the fans of A Chorus Line which I admit might be the understatement of the year; however, fans of Broadway and theatre will learn a lot from this tale. I was impressed by how much dedication and passion have to go into getting a show to broadway. It is easy to get lost in the “numbers” and “profit margin” of a show bound for Broadway that you lose sight of the human connection to the material which is ultimately required for the project to be successful. On the Line reminds me of this “human” element by relaying all the triumphs, losses, and hard work that this particular group of people experienced. This 376 page book (complete with photos from various stages in the evolution of this musical) demonstrates how “powerful” theatre is made by passionate people striving to tell a deeply “human” story.

This is a SPECIAL EDITION of the Inexplicable Dumb Show! We were fortunate to have nearly 45 minutes to spend on the phone with Dr. José Angel Santana who was one of the featured students on the Sanford Meisner Master Class DVD. He talked about his current projects as well as his recollections of working under Mr. Meisner and the filming of the Master Class.

Also be listening for Episode 28 of the IDS!  We are going to be GIVING AWAY a copy of the Sanford Meisner Master Class DVD, but you have to be listening to win!!