Stage Banter: The Arena Stage Blog

One final note …

Hey all – just wanted to put in one more entry as I am back in NYC. Got a few lovely comments from some fans of the blog and I really appreciate it. Now that I am back home and back to the “grind” I miss writing. Had an audition today (nothing like jumping right in, huh?) and have one tomorrow and Thursday. Fingers crossed. Someone asked when I was on “The Sopranos” – it was the second episode of this last season. When Tony gets shot by Uncle Junior, he has sort of a fantasy/dream sequence and I am the hotel clerk near the beginning who won’t let him check in again. Short scene, but much fun and great to be a part of television history as that series has legions of fans.

Wish I could be in town for Gem of the Ocean opening night. Don’t know who is taking on the next blog at Arena but I wish them well. Thanks again and hope to be blogging again soon.

Best,
Jay

The party’s over...

Well, it’s all done. Just got home from the closing night party and am exhausted. Of course, I haven’t started packing yet and am leaving tomorrow morning. But first off – my final blog entry.

We had an incredible show tonight. What an audience. I think there were a few returnees – met a few at least. My partner Don was there and hadn’t seen it since right after Christmas and really enjoyed it and thought it had grown a lot. Sad to say goodbye to a lot of folks. Hope to cross paths and work with many of them again.

Trying to think of any particular tidbits to end with. I watched a lot of the second and third acts tonight. I found a little place to watch way above stage right. Great view of the stage and the audience can’t see you.

Hadn’t watched a lot of stuff for a long while and it was fun to see all the new hijinks that were going on. Helen’s scene at the top of the third act just killed me. When you have audiences like we have been having lately, it truly frees you up onstage and some wonderful accidents can happen. Oh yeah, tonight when I was doing my little speech in front of the curtain between Acts 2 and 3, I am supposed to go back through the curtain to check on what is happening and then come back downstage. Well, when I went to go upstage through the curtain, I could not find the opening for the life of me. I kept hitting the curtain, certain that I would find the slit at any second. But to no avail. Finally I decided it couldn’t wait any longer so I squatted down and crawled through the bottom of the curtain. I was freaking out a teeny bit as Amber had just told me recently to be careful when I touch the curtain as she was concerned that the mechanism that drops the curtain would be affected. Thankfully, all went well.

The party was fun. A bit of an English theme so they had shepherd’s pie and trifle. Also, one hilarious moment as Victoria announced that our company had accumulated the most accident reports (the report filled out if anyone is injured during the show) of any show in Arena Stage history. Not exactly something to be proud of but luckily we all made it through the run without anything major. So, everyone put a dollar in a basket with their guess of how many accident reports they thought we had. I was pretty close at 31 but alas Steve Schnetzer won the pot with his guess of 33.

Okay, time to wrap up. Must pack. And sleep. I have so enjoyed blogging during my time here at Arena. Huge thanks to Ann Marie for making it all happen and making my e-mails enter the blogosphere. I have had an incredible time here – Noises Off is a great gift of a play making audiences bust a gut night after night. D.C. is a fab city and I have enjoyed exploring it. And the staff at Arena has been terrific as well. Any last comments or questions, please do it soon. I will check in over the next few days but then I will become Blog History. Thanks for reading and keep supporting the theater. We need you.  

Until the next time,
Lots of love,
Jay

Another Saturday Night …

Just got home from work. Two great shows today with another two great crowds. Had some friends at the matinee – wonderful D.C. actress Anne Stone (whom I worked with years and years ago in stock – we were mere children) and her husband, Ed, and dear friend Gene. Went to Ebbitt’s afterwards for dinner. I wish I had stock in that place. I should at least get an account there for all the time and money I have spent there. 

Two left. What really made me happy today was even at this late date so close to our closing night, I found something new this afternoon. Just a little beat that no one would especially notice but suddenly it made total sense to me. It is so nice to discover something during a run. I notice a lot of our company is still working and finding new things – Bob and Helen especially. Tomorrow morning I am taking our fabulous Production Assistant, Lita, and our Stage Management Fellow, Victoria, out for breakfast. They are both so amazing and work so hard for very little pay or recognition. I have loved getting to know them both and hope to work with them again. Lita is going to be a stupendous Production Stage Manager and Victoria is going to be a terrific director. It is such a strange and small business that you never know who you will work with again. There are many friends I have made in all aspects of the biz that I would LOVE to work with again and of course there are a few that I hope to NEVER work with again. It’s a small list and one that I only share with a select few. That is all I am going to say on that subject – I don’t want to get into trouble. Are you wondering if I have added someone to the list recently? I’ll never tell.

What else? I am going to miss doing the blog. Ann Marie told me I should keep writing but somehow I don’t think my exploits trying to find my next gig in NYC would make much sense for an Arena Stage Blog. However, if I am ever back here you can count on me to start blogging right away. It has been great fun. I love to write and it is so hard to have the discipline to keep it up. I wrote a play with a good friend of mine that we premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival a few years ago. We got incredible response from it and did it again at various venues for a while and had a producer attached to it with plans to open it at an Off Broadway theater. Of course, this business is full of producers with plans to open your show Off Broadway. So, it didn’t happen that go round. We continue to write, though, and are working on some new material. So, you ain’t seen the last of us.

So, tomorrow is the big day. Two more shows and we are history. Still have to pack and get things in order to head home on Monday. Oy vey. Will start that tomorrow. Can’t think about it tonight.

I will write a final entry after closing and I will check the blog for a few days so if you have any comments or questions send them in and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. Then it will all become blog history. 

’Night …
-Jay

Beans, beans, the magical fruit

Great, great show last night. What was interesting was we had sort of an odd show on Thursday night and we all had theories as to why. We had a short photo call before the show and because of that, Arena fed us all dinner. They brought in pulled pork and BBQ sauce, Mac and cheese, baked beans, chips, etc. Delicious. But the thing is we all ate it from 7:00 right up to about 7:30 or 7:45 with a show right at 8 p.m. Usually I eat dinner at about 5:30 or so before a show (so I have time to digest) and would never consider eating that close to show time, esp. that kind of rich food. Now, we were hungry and the food was delicious but I think it did affect the show in some ways. Little glitches here and there and timing and entrances were just a bit off. We were all baffled and then people started saying as they came offstage – “It’s the BBQ!”

This is of course all crazy actor talk as the audience that night still LOVED the show – but welcome to the world of being an actor – that is what we do – obsess about each show, constantly comparing and contrasting and analyzing.  

So, what was interesting was we all came in last night and were determined to have a “non BBQ show” – and we did! Seemed to be one of the sharpest performances we have had.

Okay, enough of that. In the home stretch. Two doubles left and we are done. Some friends coming this afternoon. Though I think they are standing as there were no tickets left. Hope they wear comfortable shoes.

-Jay

George’s House ... a bit of a disappointment

Hey – just got back from my White House tour. I have to say, though I am glad I went, overall it was a tad disappointing. Somehow because we had to set it up through my senator and all the info we had to provide (date of birth/social security number, etc.) and the huge list of prohibited items, I was imagining it was going to be some sort of special private tour. No. It is a self guided tour and only of limited areas of the White House. Now, again, I am glad we went as you do get to see some wonderful rooms, many which are used quite a lot – East Room, State Dining Room, etc, etc. I just wanted a tad more once-in-a-lifetime behind-the-scenes stuff. Ah well, maybe if I become a movie star like Bob I will get a more private tour – Bob played Santa for Bill and Hillary and he and Ida got the royal treatment.

We did then go to the Visitors Center and they had a few interesting exhibits – my favorite being a series of black and white photographs of staff members at the White House – no, not members of the Cabinet but butlers, housekeepers, doormen, florists, plumbers, pastry chefs, etc., many of whom had worked there for 30+ years. I thought it was pretty cool that they were senior members of the staff and had worked under both Democrats and Republicans. Wild to think that the butler serving your coffee or the plumber fixing your toilet perhaps didn’t vote for you. 

My friend Kathleen did think that the rest of the exhibits there seemed to definitely favor the Republicans. It seemed that except for JFK, all the photos and displays were heavy on the Republican side. Maybe that will change after next year when we have a DEMOCRAT IN OFFICE!!

Now, a nap and then going to see a run through of Gem of the Ocean in the Fichandler. So excited that I get to see it.

More later,
Jay

The ever generous and lovable Bob Prosky

Another sold out performance tonight. Great crowd. Schmidt and I were discussing the possibility that audiences have now heard about the show from friends or from reading the reviews, and with tickets being so hard to get – well, we were saying that it seemed that audiences were coming in more ready to laugh. It’s hard to know for sure, and of course everyone on the stage has a different idea of what their idea of a great audience is – BUT, it does seem like they come in now and are really ready to laugh from the get-go. As if they come in with the idea of “I heard this is really really funny so I am really really ready to laugh.” Of course sometimes this sort of preconceived idea can work against you and people can come in with the idea of “I heard this is really really funny … so, prove it to me.”

I’m babbling. All I know is the audiences continue to love it and we continue to be grateful to be a part of such a great hit and part of a theatrical event that makes folks convulse with laughter night after night. As an actor who has predominantly done comedy I have to tell you – there is nothing like that sound. It is a high that feels better than any drug (well, I haven’t done that many drugs but it’s better than the few I have done). I mean, I do think we have a pretty phenomenal production but a lot of it is this incredibly funny play and the genius of Michael Frayn. When I come out with that cactus in the dumb show and they go nuts – I like to think it is me and the genius expression I bring to it but honestly I know it is this hilarious play and the brilliant setups and situations that the playwright has devised.

Tonight after the show we had a great treat. Bob Prosky and his lovely wife Ida had the company over for a party. Great food and drink – I mean REALLY great food and drink and a lovely home – I mean a REALLY lovely home. Was such a treat to see all three of Bob’s original Hirschfeld drawings. And his Tony nominations. I am so inspired by Bob and the incredible work he has done throughout his career. And I am especially thrilled to hear that his film career didn’t start until he was in his 50s. Means there is hope for me.

Anyway, it was a truly lovely party. Wish Jonathan could have been there but was nice for us as a company so close to the closing to have this wonderful evening. Ida made this amazing cheesy eggy thing (I got the recipe and plan to make it when I get home), plus a ham, salad, bread, cheeses of the world and yummy desserts. I just left at 1 a.m. as I have my White House tour at 9:30 but it didn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon. I loved playing with their cat – I miss my kitties terribly and cannot wait to see them on Monday when I get home. I do miss my partner but it’s the cats that I really can’t wait to see, you know. Skipper, Shakespeare and Samantha (we didn’t mean to name them all with S names – it just happened). Have a few auditions next week when I get home. I think I said it before – I really would like the next gig to be at home (or at least really darn close to home). Cross fingers.

Okay, tomorrow morning the White House. And the clock continues to tick. Two shows down … six to go.

-Jay

You are 15 going on 35

Just got back from my in-class visit. Went to a Junior High School to talk to a class of 9th graders with two of the guys on staff at Arena – Chad, the Education Intern, and Psalm, a Teaching Artist. The kids had seen the show at last Wednesday’s matinee and really loved it.

It was interesting to hear their questions and comments. It was mostly girls with a few boys thrown in so no questions about Brooke – well, actually, I take that back – one kid asked me if I was “uncomfortable with her in her underwear at all?” Interesting. They all asked for autographs so I felt like a real celeb.

Chad and Psalm had an activity for them after the Q&A. They presented an “open scene,” which is a scene or dialogue with two people (A and B). The dialogue is vague and it was the students’ assignment to pick a relationship, a place and write in stage directions for each line (as in the dumb show in Noises Off).

The whole experience was eye-opening. First off, we all had to go through a metal detector when we entered the school. And when the teacher walked us all out after the session, he told us how much it meant to him and the kids for us to come. He said there was a wide range of issues with these kids (including that some of them had babies!!) and that they were in need of school spirit and this went a long way. We were all a bit floored to hear that some of these 14- or 15-year-olds were parents already. Wow! God, now I am going to get political again. No, not now. I am just glad that they were able to see the show and that I was able to meet them today. Arena has an incredible program with some of the D.C. schools where the tickets are only $3 each. For many of them this is their first experience seeing live theater. I think it is SO important to expose kids to art and theater early on. These are the audiences of the future and if we don’t get them started young, we will be in big trouble.

Okay, time to finish my laundry and eat. Then to work. The clock is ticking. Seven left.

-Jay

An entry that is actually about “Noises Off” for a change.

Just got home from Tuesday evening show. Great, great crowd and a talkback afterwards. Probably our last one. Sad. 

A new crazy thing happened tonight. When Lynnda throws the cactus to James near the end of the dumb show, I always hold my breath because every night it looks like it is going straight into the audience. Well, you guessed it. Tonight my fear became a reality. Thankfully no one was hurt. But of course there was a dilemma. The dumb show ends with all of us coming downstage to watch Lloyd (James) sit on … guess what? … the cactus! And with the cactus in the audience this was going to be a tad difficult. Thanks to the wonderful audience member in the front row who put the cactus back onstage just in time for me to grab it and place it on Lloyd’s chair. Bit saved.

Great talkback led by Mark Bly, who was running in from tech for Gem of the Ocean next door. Large group of high school kids in the middle who I guess were in drama at school as they had many stories of being in shows at school. Lots of talk about our beloved Jonathan Munby and how much we all miss him (don’t worry, he is just in England … he’s not dead). 

Tomorrow is my first in-class visit. Looking forward to it. Steve Schnetzer said he did one today and most of the boys asked questions such as “How old is Brooke?” and “I wish Brooke took off more of her clothes.”

Wish me luck that I get a bit more than that. 

Good night,
Jay

More NOT about theater

Today was a day off – well, our last day off really. I ventured out to explore this wonderful city with snow. Now, I know this blog is meant to be about Noises Off and not about politics but I had an experience today that I just have to write about – hell, it is my blog. If you are offended or not interested skip ahead please. Let me just say up front that this is MY opinion and is NOT the opinion of Arena Stage. Those at Arena may have their own opinions but I want to clarify that I am not speaking for them but just myself. So, if you want to send hate mail send it to me – NOT Arena. Okay, here goes …

I headed downtown on the Circulator Bus only to have it be put on a huge detour as the driver said there was some sort of rally going on and he couldn’t cross the Mall. I got off and was surrounded by thousands of people covered in Pro Life stickers and waving Anti-Abortion signs. Huge pictures of fetuses – both healthy and aborted – and giant banners against Roe v Wade. I called a friend and was informed that today is the anniversary of Roe v Wade and that is what this was all about. Now, I happen to be Pro-Choice (not Pro-Abortion as they would have you believe, but Pro-Choice) and would never in a million years think that I had any right to tell a woman what to do with her own body – but, it is a free country and people can believe what they want to believe. However, what got me so upset was seeing hundreds and thousands of children ranging in age from teenagers to much much younger covered in stickers and waving signs as well. I don’t know why I had such an emotional reaction to this but I just felt that it was unfair to parade around children who haven’t yet even begun to figure out what they believe in. Parents forcing their kids to have their beliefs and parading them around with these violent and bloody signs … I don’t know … it just got me quite upset. I decided I needed to get away from it and see something beautiful so I went into the National Gallery of Art East Building and was able to escape and enjoy some beautiful works of art for a bit.

When I was done and ready to leave the museum the rally seemed to have quadrupled and I seemed to be directly in the middle of it. I pushed through the throngs and escaped to Olsson’s book store and had a latte. By the time I was done there it all seemed to be over and the streets were littered with their signs and banners. Oy.

I then went to the movies and saw Babel. A wonderful film full of complex issues and politics with an incredible international cast. Really enjoyed it.

I then had some dinner in Chinatown and headed back to Olsson’s to hear the restaurateur Danny Meyer speak about his new book Setting the Table. I had seen it advertised earlier when I was in the store and hoped it would work out for me to go. Danny started Union Square Cafe in NY and now is a thriving businessman with many restaurants and companies to his credit. The reason I wanted to go was that though I had never met Danny Meyer, several years ago he was very kind to me. I was working on a production of the one-man play Fully Committed, which is about an out-of-work actor who works taking reservations at a four-star restaurant in New York City. In it I played over forty characters, including the entire restaurant staff and all the many patrons who will do ANYTHING to get a seat in this restaurant. Before I left for rehearsals in St. Louis, I heard through a friend that Danny Meyer was originally from St. Louis and was a big fan of the play when it played off-Broadway. So, I wrote him a note asking if I could possibly sit in and observe the reservation staff at his restaurant. He responded almost immediately and I had an incredible and invaluable evening at Union Square Cafe sitting with the reservationist and learning all the behind-the-scenes secrets of her job. They invited me to sit in on the staff meal that night and I got to chat with many on the staff. The show was a huge success and the director and I actually headed to Vienna, Austria in 2005 to do it there as well, also to great success. So, long story short – I thought it would be cool to see him speak. And it was. A very bright and charismatic man with some incredible ideas about how to run a company with a happy staff, happy customers and happy investors. Really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the book.

So, quite a day – from politics to coffee to films to food. Tomorrow it’s back to work to begin our final week here.

-Jay

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow …

Just got home from the Sunday evening show. It was a sell out but because of the snow we only had about 60% show up. I was a bit shocked as I spent a big part of my growing up in Minnesota and we only start to get worried there when the snow tops 2 feet. This was barely half an inch! Ah well, this would have been the night to show up and get in as the rest of the run is pretty much sold out.

However, that said, it was truly a testament to the show and the production that even with a small scattered house we still got a great response and the crowd went wild.

Can’t believe there is only one week left. It is so bittersweet because obviously the show is a hit and it is great fun to play every night to such great crowds and huge laughs. But on the other hand, I am really homesick and ready to go home too. And of course going home means unemployment and looking for the next gig.

Tonight was our Assistant Stage Manager Susan’s last night. She is going on safari to Africa next week with her family. What an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience! We all said our goodbyes to her and welcomed Andre in to cover for her for the final week. Andre has worked at Arena a great deal and has been here for the past few days learning Susan’s track. He has a great energy and humor and I am glad to work with him for a bit.

I think that is all the news for now. I am already in my PJs and gonna curl up on the sofa and watch crappy TV. Tomorrow is off and I am hoping the snow clears a bit as I would like to tackle a few more things on my DC To See List. We’ll see. The snow makes you want to stay in and eat (well, that is what it makes me want to do). Wish I had a fire. That would be perfect. Should have brought my Yule Log DVD from home. Next time. Stay warm. And even if it keeps snowing … if you have tickets, COME!! Be brave – it’s worth it.

-Jay