The opening night audience, all a-flutter with anticipation, arrives at what is known as the summation scene of a mystery thriller, the famous detective having cleverly solved what was heretofore a thorny puzzle. He meticulously lays out the clues and their natural conclusion, the culprit is apprehended, and lights come up, and everyone goes home …
Acting 101: For All of Us
Here’s what actors do, in one way or another. Imaginatively, they work to enter the experience of a person, a character, imagining circumstances, beliefs, thought-life, sensory preferences, histories of relationships, and perhaps most importantly, what their particular characters are hungry for, long for, and have been living without. They then shift their physical and emotional …
Humor Abuse: See It at The Seattle Rep
I'm not really a clown kind of guy, but years ago, back in the 80's, I spent a memorable evening of theatre in the presence of one of the best. Avner the Eccentric, he called himself, and I remember laughing as hard as I have ever laughed that night. You know the kind of laugh …
Friday Night Lights: Sorry to See You Go…
That football sailing through last-minute skies landing months down the road in the arms of a future worth far more than six points and a ring: a new personal favorite story moment that encapsulates so much of what I loved about Friday Night Lights. I liked the first film, especially (spoilers ahead), the gritty ending. …
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Improvisation, Freedom, and The Will to be Yourself
"In a self-protection mode, we are not truly free to teach, learn, create, improvise, or love." In going through some old papers the other day, I came across a remarkable little article by Dennis B. Plies, a professor of music at Warner Pacific College, in which Professor Plies addresses improvisation. The title of the article …
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