On Monday, I had my interview for the Graduate Directing program at Brooklyn College.
I met with Professor Thomas Bullard, and we spoke for nearly 40 minutes. Tom is a warm man, with a gentle demeanor and a keen intellect. I could've spoken with him for hours, but I know he had other things to attend to. The theater department at Brooklyn has been growing rapidly in these past few years. There is a plan now for a brand new performing arts center, replacing the outdated Gershwin Theater that is now home to the college's productions. Even those facilities, however, are respectable. The approach to teaching directing at Brooklyn is very much based in Stanislavsky. It is a writer's theater, and unlike other "director's theater" programs, here the goal is to fulfill the vision of the playwright, and erase any traces of the directing rather than calling attention to them. I love this approach. It's where I feel most at home, and its in line with my own views on theater. We'll see if I get into the program, but irregardless, it was a day well-spent.Wednesday evening was the final session of the Winter Workshop, the class I have been conducting along with Eva Burgess. I learned a great deal throughout the class. Eva taught me so much about how to by-pass our judgmental think-brain and how to access the place of impulse. Her exercises are fun, physical, and charged. I was focusing on voice work, specifically the kind of work that has been laid down by the great Cicely Berry. We all found a newly-awakened sense of language moving through several of Berry's exercises and techniques. Each class was also an opportunity for participants to do some scene work. Students worked on Shakespeare, Beckett, Albee, Shaw, Stoppard, Chekhov, and Tony Kushner. Congratulations to all of our workshop members: Jason Blaine, Elizabeth Bell, Rebecca Yaggi, Carl Mayer, Robin Sorenson, Melanie Armer, Samantha Desz, Erick Kever Ryle, Jon Okabayashi, Laura Gaona, and Guen Donohue.
I ended my week with an audition at Lincoln Center Theater for the National Tour of Frost/Nixon. I was delighted to have a chance to read for casting director Daniel Swee. The role I went in for is Jack Brennan, Nixon's chief of staff and the major antagonist of the play. It's a great part, and Kevin Bacon will be playing the role in the upcoming feature film. So, fingers crossed.
I also worked several caiter-waiter jobs this week. That's the un-glamorous part of my life. It leave me exhausted. But times are tough, and we all gotta pay the piper. All I can say is "thank God its Friday"!
W.
