The Vs. Studio Blog

I have several friends and colleagues who’ve studied with the late great actor, comedian, director and drama teacher, Charles Nelson Reilly. They’re all very talented artists in their own right, which coupled with how fondly they speak of Mr. Reilly, makes me wish I had the chance to study with him. Their stories are so colorful and memorable. Here’s one told by my close friend and phenomenal actor, Gareth Williams…

I was thinking recently, for reasons I won’t go into, about what I consider to be the single greatest acting lesson I ever received. I was fairly new to the whole acting thing, though I’d been working in the scene shop and backstage for a bit. I was apprenticing at the Burt Reynolds Theatre and Charles Nelson Reilly was the “Eminent Scholar” and one of my more significant influences.

I had done a scene from Michael Cristofer’s “The Shadow Box,” after which we, my scene partner and I, sat in our chairs for our criticism. Charles, in his inimitable voice, asked ‘what we wanted in the scene?’ Being quite green, I literally reached in my ass and somehow pulled out the word “Love,” which was an accidentally perfect answer. Everything we do, always boils down to ‘Love,’ the absence of it, the need for it, the abuse of it, etc. So… perfect, I lucked out and answered correctly… vague and broad sweeping, but correctly.

The young woman I had done the scene with answered; “I wanted to leave!” At which point Charles rocketed up, literally exploded out of his chair and started yelling at us; “Start the scene again… don’t worry about the props or the furniture… just start the scene and DON’T stop until you’re at the end of the scene, go… go… GO….!!!”

We stumbled back into the scene and got a couple of lines in when Charles pulled this young woman toward the door of the rehearsal hall, then out the door… guided her down two flights of stairs, then out another metal door and into the parking lot… all the while screaming at her; “YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO LEAVE… LEAVE… GO… GO… GET OUT… LEAVE, YOU SAID YOU WANNA GO… GO!!!”

I found myself at the huge plate glass window, looking down at her in the parking lot, gesticulating wildly and yelling my lines in the blind hope she might understand where I was in the scene, and from all I could gather she was doing the same from down below. We muddled through the scene til we had each exhausted our own individual lines and she came back upstairs.

We sat back in our chairs for our criticism and Charles simply said; “Ya can’t make that choice, can ya?”

Greatest acting lesson I ever got. It came at such an early phase, so it had even greater impact than it might have were I to have received it much later, after studying for a few years. Not only was it a great acting lesson but also directing, writing, producing, storytelling of any strain, and actually a true life lesson. ‘No one ever stays where they don’t want to be!’ Ever! Our first job is to answer the question why we remain IN that relationship, that job, that location, that situation… It’s true in life! No one ever stays where they truly do not want to be. Until they don’t. Then they leave.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

P.S. – This topic came up in a recent Vs. Tuesday Night Reading of Edward Albee’s “Zoo Story.” Why does Peter stay on the bench when this seemingly insane stranger, Jerry, accosts and interrogates him? The actor playing Peter must figure this out.

P.P.S. – For more on Charles Nelson Reilly, check out his one person show, “The Life Of Reilly.” It’s superb.

“To make a great film you need three things – the script, the script and the script”. -Alfred Hitchcock

The legendary sound and film editor Walter Murch (talk about a filmography!) revealed on a recent podcast the elements he looks for in a project before signing on. It needs to have (paraphrasing) “a great script, great people, and the resources to make it happen.” He goes on to say that you rarely, if ever, have all three lined up at the outset. But you need to feel confident about at least two, to then commit. (Apologies to Hitchcock who per the quote above, says you just need one element…the script.)

If you’re contemplating saying yes to a project or making your own, can you line up at least two of these elements beforehand? That will give you the confidence to move forward and/or attract the talented artists you definitely will need to collaborate with.

As Meat Loaf advises, “two out of three ain’t bad.”

Starfish (A poem by Mary Oliver)

In the sea rocks,
in the stone pockets
under the tide’s lip,
in water dense as blindness

they slid
like sponges,
like too many thumbs.
I knew this, and what I wanted

was to draw my hands back
from the water – what I wanted
was to be willing
to be afraid.

But I stayed there,
I crouched on the stone wall
while the sea poured its harsh song
through the sluices,

while I waited for the gritty lightning
of their touch, while I stared
down through the tide’s leaving
where sometimes I could see them –

their stubborn flesh
lounging on my knuckles.
What good does it do
to lie all day in the sun

loving what is easy?
it never grew easy,
but at last I grew peaceful:
all summer

my fear diminished
as they bloomed through the water
like flowers, like flecks
of an uncertain dream,

while I lay on the rocks, reaching
into the darkness, learning
little by little to love
our only world.

With so many seemingly intractable problems in the world, it’s fair to ask if one person can really make a difference? Are you asking that of yourself? Is that holding you back from making the change you want to make?

Consider “The Starfish Story” (adapted from the original by Loren Eiseley below)…

“Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young woman, and that what she was doing was not dancing at all. The young woman was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young woman paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

“I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young woman replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, “But do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

At this, the young woman bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, she said, “It made a difference for that one.”

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Perhaps the project you’re trying to manifest, the change you’re trying to make, doesn’t have an endpoint in sight. You’re worried about the long slog ahead. “Is this worth it?”

Just begin. Trust that if you’re intentions are pure, the endpoint will eventually reveal itself. And even if you’re not around to see it, others will be inspired by your actions. They’ll step up and carry your work forward.

I was performing in a play, a total passion project, and in the audience that night was one of my acting heroes. As a matter of fact, he’d originated the role I was playing. (No pressure, right?)

What I’ll never forget is that the entire time, he sat on the edge of his seat, totally absorbed and invested in the show. I could feel him rooting all of us on. He had a big smile on his face, his eyes were wide open as they ping-ponged back and forth on the action. It was almost child-like. He was all in.

Let me tell you, that energy and presence made such a difference to us on stage. Afterwards, he stuck around for hours talking to the cast, asking questions, taking a genuine interest in every aspect of the production. It made for a great, great night.

When we’re all back in the theatre again, and we will be soon, let us all be that awesome audience member. Let us love and be grateful just to be there. Witnessing the miracle of live theatre. Let us embody and have that rooting spirit in our hearts. Trust me, it will make all the difference to those actors on stage who are baring their soul. Which will then translate to everyone having a greater experience of the show that night.

“How long must you wait until you demand the best of yourself?” -Epictetus

“There is no tomorrow! There is no tomorrow!” -Apollo Creed

Pressure is a choice and a privilege. It’s also the only way you make a diamond.

Learn to love it.

No doubt, there’s been an explosion of content with no let up in sight. There are over 300 different streaming services right now. You heard that right. 300. Yet as this same article mentions, nearly 50% of people surveyed reported dissatisfaction. Chief among their reasons were “the decentralized nature of all those choices.”

Do we really need more content and more providers?

Or just better arbiters?

Hey! It’s your tomorrow
(Right now)
Come on, it’s everything
(Right now)
Catch your magic moment
Do it right here and now
It means everything

-Van Halen, “Right Now”

In case you had any doubt…

You’re right where you’re supposed to be. Doing right what you’re supposed to do. You’re on the right path. In the right place. It’s exactly the right time. You have all the right skills. All the right knowledge. All the right contacts. Everything you’ve done was to get you right here.

Now that we’ve got that straight, what are you gonna do right now?

That’s the title of a brand new play written by my friend and uber-talented playwright, John Kolvenbach. This past Friday I attended a reading of it at a theatre space in Los Angeles. There were about 20 of us (all masked and socially distanced) and the night was nothing short of magical. It marked the first time I’d seen anything live in over a year. The play is so timely as it’s all about experiencing that communal feeling again. Dropping in to it. John’s writing is so, so good. It just crackles and the acting was spectacular. The audience energy was real and palpable.

It’s one thing to try and remember what it’s like to see great live theatre. It’s a whole other thing to experience it again. Everything about it–the preshow banter, being with friends, finding your seats, ambient street noise, the collective emotion and intelligence of the audience, silence, breathing in and out, watching great actors in the flesh, hearing great language, meeting new people afterwards, etc…, all of it. I was overcome with emotion as I had that feeling of “Oh yeah. That’s what it like. That’s why I do this and love this art form so much.”

I can’t wait for you to experience it again too. Hang on. We’re almost there…