Eclectic Views

    
Today's shows were very good.  The elementary school show-- the principal 
was excellent.  He prepared the students in just the right way, and when 
we did the show, the kids were well behaved and paid attention and even 
laughed at some of the more clearly funny things.

The high school one (Fitch High School in Groton CT) had an amazing stage!  
The stage was nearly the size of the Providence Performing Arts Center (a 
gigantic broadway road house in Providence.  They don't have the fly space 
to fly in sets, but their facilities were excellent.

The audience was very responsive and appreciative.

In both, I'm getting big responses out of the word "jackass"  (We changed 
"please do not forget to specify, when time and place shall serve, that I 
am an ass." To jackass, the better to get it into schools with.

I guess it is to be expected, but I expected a little bit more 
maturity from the  high school.  (I don't know why)

Tomorrow we have just one show, but it's in New Haven.

I'm enjoying writing this journal, although it makes me a little tired!
  

    
Oh, that's a great tour you're taking there.  And it's great to
see how you play around the edges of acceptability, tailoring it
to the audience level like that.  You must have gotten quite a
rush from performing those.
  

    
Yesterday at lunch, one of the actors (an older guy, who is quite skilled, 
and kind of a legend, told me that he thought my characterization of the 
two characters was excellent.  "I feel like I'm speaking to two different 
people."  he said.  I merely beamed.

7:45 am call-- got to go!
  

    
Today's show was at a private school in New Haven.  The kids were well 
behaved, the theatre was well appointed, the show marched along just fine.


The Q & A after the show was fun-- the questions were very good-- somebody 
asked what drove us to be actors.  Nigel, the English actor said that he 
saw a movie of Antony Hopkins as Claudius and was blown away, and wanted 
to go into the theatre.  


For me, I wanted to do something that involved my whole mind, body, and 
soul.  I didn't want to get stuck in a job that I hated.  Acting (and the 
theatre) seemed like the best way to continue to work on myself and get to 
know myself as best I could.
  

    
Do you ever get discouraged, start thinkin' you should have gotten an MBA or
something, kafclown?
  

    
> Do you ever get discouraged, start thinkin' you should have gotten an 
>MBA or something, kafclown?

all the frickin' time!

I got a 44 on my LSAT, went to an Ivy League school, had good grades, and 
probably could have had my pick of great law schools.  I was accepted 
at Hastings School For the Law.  But since I already got into acting 
school, I had to try it.

Of course, I often think about changing careers, having a different 
life, making a decent salary. I'm pretty good at business, and could 
probably get a fairly good job in the business world, or use some of my 
creative impulses to sell soap, or do other lucrative activities.

But you know, I'm not sure that I'd be happier (although without a doubt, 
I'd have finer stuff!) And when I think of the cool things I've gotten to 
do and be, (Clown Laureate of Greenbelt  Maryland, travelling to Brazil 
and Chile and Canada as an artist, making films, creating shows, etc) then 
I feel very good about things have been going.  Of course I'd like to make 
more do re mi, but hey you can't have everything (where would you put it?)

Besides, if I quit, there will be one less flea circus in the world.  And 
really, the world can't afford to lose any more flea circuses!  I'm doing 
a public service.
  

    
Bravo, <kafclown>!!!  What a wonderful attitude!
  

    
I, for one, have enjoyed watching you and your flea circus tremendously.
Glad you're carrying on the tradition, kafclown.
  

    
Well, we did two shows today.  A run down high school in Stonington Ct and 
a Catholic elementary school in Westerly, RI.  The high school, the kids 
seemed bored and forced to watch (as if somehow they had been assigned 
this as punishment.)  The Catholic elementary school was very into it, and 
laughed at all the right places.

I really think that a lot of the enjoyment of a school play with hard 
language like this is set and setting.  If the kids are properly prepared 
(as the Catholic elementary school was) they are into it.  They are ready 
and willing to take it all in, to struggle with the hard words, and the 
unfamiliar language and the frilly costumes.  If they are not prepared, or 
the teachers don't manage to convey the excitement of the play and the 
excitement of the discovery of language,  of wit, of plot, and of acting, 
then it would take a miracle to get them in the room.

So that was our NINTH show of the week.  Already the tour is a week over, 
1/3 done.  We've got another 10 shows next week (2 shows a day), and then 
another 10 shows the week after that, and then the tour is over.
  

    

But it's just started!

You also point out a central issue with education today. I volunteer to
help clean a local private k-5 school that makes the arts an integral part
of the curriculum including drama. From what I've heard, it makes a big
difference not only in the kids background but in their development
to participate in theater.
  

    
Some of you have been wondering how and when you could see the show.

Most of our shows are in schools in Connecticut.  If you let me know in 
advance, I can probably get you in, (but you'd have to meet me 
approximately 1/2 hour before the show).  We also have a public 
performance in Enfield CT at the library there on Tuesday May 11 at 7 pm.
  
If you are interested in seeing the show, let me know, and we'll figure 
something out!  (Plane fare not included!)

Here's the remaining schedule:

SCHEDULE:
MONDAY MAY 3
9 am Montville HS, Oakdale, CT
1 pm Jennings Elementary School New London CT

TUESDAY MAY 4
9 am Greeneville Elementary School, Norwich CT
1:45 pm John B. Stanton Elementary Norwich CT

WEDNESDAY MAY 5
9:15 am New London High School New London CT
1:45 pm New London High School New London CT

THURSDAY MAY 6
9:15 am Old Lyme Middle School, Old Lyme CT
1:00 pm Old Saybrook Middle School, Old Saybrook CT

FRIDAY MAY 7
9:00 am Mystic Middle School Mystic CT
1:15 pm Pawcatuck Middle School Pawcatuck CT

MONDAY MAY 10
10:30 am Pine Point School Stonington CT
1:30 pm Bradford Elementary School Bradford RI

TUESDAY MAY 11
8:30 am Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School New London CT
10:00 am Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School New London CT
7:00 pm Enfield Public Library, Enfield CT (public performance!)

WEDNESDAY MAY 12
9:00 am Integrated Day Charter School, Norwich CT
1:30 pm Corrigan Correctional Facility, Uncasville CT
(this one is not available to attend)
7:00 pm AAUW at Unk's On the Bay (selected scenes-- I don't think I'll be 
at this one)

THURSDAY MAY 13
8:30 am West Side Middle School Groton CT
1:00 pm Ledyard Center School, Ledyard CT

FRIDAY MAY 14
8:30 am Winthrop Elementary School New London CT
  

    
> 1:30 pm Corrigan Correctional Facility, Uncasville CT
> (this one is not available to attend)

  By invitation only.
  

    
Yes that show is definitely one to avoid, unless you are already a guest 
of the Governor, in which case, you really don't have a choice!

Above earlier, jmcarlin talked about how arts can make a big difference in 
a kid's life.  I know, because I was one of those kids.  

I remember Ted Casha, a local saxophonist came to my school when I was in 
third grade. He talked about making music, and earning your living by your 
artwork, and I just remember being completely fascinated that he got paid 
to do something that he was planning on doing anyway!  I always liked that 
concept!

The other thing is that In Rhode Island, for the past 35 years or so, 
they've been running Project Discovery, which means that every kid in 
Rhode Island sees at least one play a year.  (Usually a play at Trinity 
Rep, the local professional theatre)  I was a Project Discovery kid, and I 
loved seeing shows, and have no doubt that part of my extremely complex 
psychological desire to create plays and theatre is based on that 
experience.

Hmmmmm.... maybe I have a class action lawsuit?  :o)
  

    
Yesterday we had another high school/elementary combination.

When Leonato and Hero kissed in the high school (at the end of the play, 
natch) one girl yelled out "It's About Time"  Got a huge laugh!  That girl 
has a future!


Also, I've found that audiences are generally very fon of the "I Am an 
Ass" line (although for the sake of the schools, we've changed it to 
Jackass)  I get a fairly big response on that, no matter where I go.

Sex and Swearing always go over big in Shakespeare, I guess!

Well, another early day-- two elementary schools in Norwich CT.

I'm open for questions, if anyone's got them....
  

    
And today, one of the actors (Beatrice) nearly didn't show up.  She went to 
the wrong school.  While all the kids were in, to stall, we decided to tell 
them the story of the show, so that they knew what was going on.  This 
strategy worked out great.  They got to know which characters were which, and 
one of the actors said at the last minute---"And Don John is the villain, so 
every time he enters, you need to boo him!  Let's hear it.  BOOO!!!"  Anyway, 
it kept the kids really engaged and on top of it-- and when I came in as 
Dogberry, they didn't boo!.

So, we did it for the second one too, and it continued to work out great!

I'm voting that we do it for every one, including the high schools-- having 
visual cues really helps the students figure out what's going on.

Tomorrow we play the same high school twice.  The only downside is that one 
show is early and one show is late.  (9:15 and 1:45)  so in between I need to 
do some other work!)
  

    
That audience prep technique sounds quite useful, both for the kids and for
the actors, kafclown. I could probably benefit from it too, to tell you the
truth. I'm not a Shakespeare buff, and whenever I do see a Shakespeare play
it takes me a while to adjust to the language before I can figure out what's
going on. Sort of like subtitled movies...
  

    
We didn't do it for the high school students, and they were predictably less 
enthusiastic.  I voted otherwise, but I was in a minority.

Of course, giving high school kids a license to yell may be a little 
different than elementary kids. (they may not stop!)  I was willing to take 
that chance.

The kids talked quite a bit during the performance.  I'm not sure whether they 
don't see many plays, they are too used to talking during a TV show, or they 
were just plain rude (or some conbination of the three)  Bob Colonna one of 
the actors (who has been acting professionally for 50 years!) asked the kids 
after ths show "Could you hear us during the performance?"  When people 
answered in the affirmative, Bob then said "What makes you think we couldn't 
hear you?"  I thought it was well done.  That was the first show-- the second 
show, the teachers made an announcement and the kids were much better.

At this point in the process we've done approximately 16 shows.  I feel pretty 
secure about my performance, and I'm trying to find and explore new things, 
different ways to say things, slightly different pieces of business, and 
trying during the show to make more connections with other actors.  It's now 
getting to be fun!
  

    
Sounds great Adam, bravo!
  

    
Photos? Got any photos of the performances, the audiences?
  

    
<42>, I wonder if maybe a new generation of kids may be growing up more
proficient at dividing their attention than previous generations.

When I was a kid the rule around the TV was that we talked only during
commercials.  But that was when TV was relatively new (we got our first TV
just before my eleventh birthday).  We now have kids whose parents
"always" had TV and were accustomed to talking over it.  So they may
actually be able to multi-task TV-watching and talking to a greater extent
than previous generations.  This may also explain why more people seem to
think it's OK to talk during movies.  For them, talking doesn't actually
detract from anything like it does for their elders.
  

    

Still, Shakespeare's language is different enough that it takes a little
more attention than a Saturday morning cartoon soundtrack.

Or am I too old-school?
  

    
I remember one of the joyous discoveries I made when we got our first
VCR:

A PAUSE BUTTON!  I could finally let my parents talk to their hearts'
content and STILL get to actually hear my show!
  

    
For those of you that are interested, I took some photos today of the cast.

<http://www.acmeclown.com/muchado/>
  

    
The Westerly Sun recently did an article about the show, and there's a picture 
of me at the top of the site!

<http://www.thewesterlysun.com/>

Today's shows were quite good-- we did the intros, and especially at the 
second show, everytime I entered I was roundly booed!  It was quite good.

Now, there's a part of the show where I've been getting laughs, but today both 
shows did not get laughs-- I'm not sure it's because now the kids are booing 
me, and not ready to laugh, or if somehow I'm giving the joke away ahead of 
time.  I feel like I'm doing the joke right.

It's just before I see Claudio alone, and go to lie to him about my brother 
Don pedro being in love with Hero.  I do a Pssst.  Pssst.  Psssst.  lazzi 
(where each time I get a little closer and a little louder until I pssssst him 
right in the ear.  I've usually been getting laughs, but today for some reason 
I did not.  Not exactly sure why.

In the meantime, I've been enjoying the interplay between the actors on the 
stage, really fleshing out the scenes and making them exciting. and full of 
life.
  

    

That's a nice picture.