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As a special feature, we're excited to introduce you to our cast members and their experiences creating the world of LOVE SONG.

LOVE SONG runs through December 9 - Wed-Sat at 8pm and Sat-Sun at 2pm. For tickets and information, click here.

Introducing: Brandon Walker, who's playing Beane in LOVE SONG. Here is his first-hand account of the rehearsal process.


First of all, it's been wonderful working with Erin Cronican as a director. Often times, I don't quite get to let go as an actor in rehearsals, because I am either directing myself or I am guiding another director through our process. So, it was a real joy to have that freedom in rehearsals, as she's worked this way so many times.

Secondly, I love this play. But it is not an easy play to do. It seems like it's going to be easy on the page; however, it's very poetic, and it's difficult to get underneath the words to the situation. One scene even alluded us until well into performances - the love scene between Molly and Beane. I kept trying to address the scene with my work, and it just kept falling flat, somehow. It would get too sexual or too weird. It's a love scene, but there's a lot of over-poetic language, and a lot of potty humor, too. It's very odd. Finally, Erin and I discussed the idea that it might be akin to a high school date. One night, I just decided to go hogwild and create the story with the objects in the room, using creative work that makes me sheepish - and miraculously, it worked wonders. And that's just ONE example.

Lastly, Beane is such an extreme character in all of his incarnations throughout the play, and I couldn't play the scenes with any logic by simply putting myself into the situation that seemed to be happening on the page. For instance, he's depressed (to the point that he appears to have Asperger's Syndrome) in the beginning of the play, and he really doesn't respond to regular stimulus. I would continually live through the situation and find that I was too sensitive - and then end up going down some rabbit hole which took us away from the story of the play. Later, he's not just hungry, but rather enjoying life as if for the first time. It seemed to me and to Erin that Beane becomes overly-sensualized - which took a while to actually get my body to DO. And then at the end of the first act, he's not just in a happy mood, but ON TOP OF THE WORLD.

Basically, these are the things that make LOVE SONG a fantastical comedy, and they are important to the storytelling. I believe this is the first time that I was really able to exercise my craft to create these tall-tale situations. Rather than just acting BIGGER, I pushed my creative work to the Nth Degree. From everything I've learned from my teacher, David Gideon, Comedy is Reality Extended. So, let's say that I were turned on in a scene, and imagining that someone were licking me sensually in order to get my imagination engaged. If I were playing a true Comedy, I would want to create TEN PEOPLE licking me. I've basically done just that all over the play.

I'm not going to go into any more specifics with regard to this play, because how I do what I do on a stage isn't the audience's concern. You come to see the story. Ideally, you won't even notice the acting. Best case scenario is that you simply believe what we're doing. But it's been really great to stretch my acting muscles in a way I am not normally able to on stage.


Brandon Walker - As an actor in New York: Committed (Dooky) - Living Image Arts; Violating Uncle Piggy (Investigator) - Gallery Players; Love's Labours Lost (Dull) - ATA. Regional: West of the 5 (Charles) - La Jolla Playhouse; Androcles and the Lion (Lelio) - Old Globe; And A Nightingale Sang (Eric Parker) - Barnstormers; A Moon for the Misbegotten (Mike Hogan), The Tempest (Caliban) - North Coast Rep; A Christmas Carol (Dick Wilkins) - Sierra Rep; Two Gentlemen of Verona (Proteus), Playboy of the Western World (Shawn Keogh) - New Village Arts; Marat/Sade (Duperret) - ion Theater; Dog Act (Bud) - Moxie Theatre; This Is Our Youth (Dennis) - Life Out Loud; Romeo and Juliet (Romeo), Titus Andronicus (Saturninus), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Puck), Twelfth Night (Orsino), Measure for Measure (Pompey/Claudio), 'Tis Pity She's A Whore (Giovanni), Taming of the Shrew (Hortensio), The Tempest (Trinculo), Othello (Lodovico), Coliolanus (Brutus), Hamlet (Horatio) - Poor Players). As a Director: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Poor Players), and This Is Our Youth (Life Out Loud). As a composer: Taming of the Shrew (Poor Players).Training: David Gideon. Member AEA.
Posted by Erin Cronican at 1:43 PM 8 comments: Links to this post Labels: Cast Interviews, Craft of Acting

 

Introducing: Jason Wilson, who's playing Harry in LOVE SONG. Here is his first-hand account of the rehearsal process.

Build the set. That is, if you’re allowed to as an actor. Some places won’t let the actor take part in building their own sets, but I’m here to tell you the benefits are beyond compare. One of the first questions I ask myself when I take on any role is where am I? This question is quickly follow by, where did I come from and where am I going? The first thing I work on is place. Long before I try substitutions or overalls, I “find” my place. If I have the luxury of actually getting to lay hands on the flats and hammer a nail into the walls or cut a piece of luan with a circular saw, most of my work on place is done. It becomes easy to say this is my house, this is my home, and this is where I’m living, if everywhere I look on stage is the fruits of my labor.

Such is the case with the set of my current production, LOVE SONG; produced by my company The Seeing Place Theater running at the ATA Sargent Theater in Hell’s Kitchen. I built the set with the help of other company members, so now when I look out the window or straighten of picture frame while “in character” on stage I have no trouble endowing the set with a rich history and a tapestry of personalizations. My work becomes real and I’m able to live fully in the moment. I believe where I am and so the audience believes my character believes where he is.

The first time I experienced this level of personalization and truth happened my second year of grad school at The New School for Drama. My class was doing a production called “The Chekhov Project”. We had the audacity to do four Chekhov plays at once, interweaving the dialog from all four plays into one script, creating a whole new play based on Chekhov’s major themes. The production was a tremendous success. I had the pleasure of creating Lopakhin from The Cherry Orchard for this “new” play. As you may know, Lopakhin buys the cherry orchard in the end but has to cut it down in order to create new revenue. When we were building the set, my director, Casey Biggs, had us go up to his house in upstate New York to gather wood and branches he wanted to use for the set. When we got to his house we discovered that on his land were actual cherry trees! Yes, I cut them down and it filled me with all sorts of emotions. I felt the guilt of destroying life and the power in being able to do so. When the weekend was over and all the branches had been loaded into the trunk and hauled to the theater I had an overwhelming feeling connection to what Lopakhin must have felt when he was “forced” to cut down Madame Ranevskaya’s cherry trees. I was able to bring this history (my personal history) to the stage when I performed. It was all needed to make the environment real for me.

Now, when I’m playing Harry in LOVE SONG I have that same sense of truth. When I feel a little lost on stage at any given moment I simply look at the walls and I remember, “oh yeah, that’s where I practically drilled a screw into my hand.” This is an honest thought and that truth brings me right back to the reality of the moment. When I look out the window I’m filled with a sense of pride because I think, “I built this window frame and it wasn’t easy.” If I need to create something to invoke a sense of fatigue or frustration, I simply remember the four days in a row I was at the theater until 5:00am painting, cutting, and drilling. I remember being at the theater for eighteen hours straight building the my set; and yes I’m tired! This is the kind of truth that makes theater seem magical. This level of personalization bring the play to “life”. When the characters are able to live truthfully in the moment the play pops.

I guess this means the cat’s out of the bag. When you come join us for this beautiful and honest look at love, when you see LOVE SONG, you’ll be let in on a secret. “What is Harry thinking about? Oh, right I know”. Thankfully, I wouldn’t want it any other way. When I see theater I want to see real characters living and breathing, thinking and feeling on stage. I want the truth. I want the real experience. So, come experience the results first hand. LOVE SONG runs through Dec. 9th. Come see me, the actor, and if you would please tell me what you think of the set too. I’m very proud to have built it right along with building my character.


Jason Wilson is excited to be a part of this dynamic ensemble driven theater called The Seeing Place Theater. Mr. Wilson was last seen on the New York stage in The New York International Fringe Festival, where he created the roles of Reverend Dale Goodkind and Deputy Blackhawk in THE ABDUCTION OF BECKY MORRIS by Alison Crane. Mr. Wilson graduated this past May with his MFA in Acting from The New School for Drama. Since graduating, he has performed with Emursive and PunchDrunk at The McKittrick Hotel, as well as The Fringe. Before returning to his studies 2009, Mr. Wilson spent 12 years as a working actor in Chicago, performing in over 24 theatrical productions as well numerous regional and national commercials. While in Chicago, Mr. Wilson performed regularly at Pegasus Players, Court Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Chicago Dramatis, and The Chicago Theatre Company, just to name a few. In 2007, he toured India with an original play about the American Civil Right Movement titled, MY SOUL IS A WITNESS penned by David Barr III. Some notable characters he’s brought to the stage include, Edgar Allan Poe in the world premiere of E.A. POE:THE FEVER CALLED LIVING, The Captain in WOYZECK, Duke of Gloucester in HENRY VI, Lopakhin in THE CHEKHOV PROJECT, and Barry “Little Bill” Williams in the world premiere of NEVERLAND INDUSTRIES by Danny Carroll. Mr. Wilson was born in Schenectady, New York where his mother still lives in the house he grew up in. He attended Ithaca College and graduated with his BA in Theatre in 1996. Web: www.jasongwilson.com

Posted by Erin Cronican at 10:28 AM 11 comments: Links to this post Labels: Art of Tech, Cast Interviews
