The Vs. Studio Blog

If you encounter an issue or potential problem, first think about whether or not it will matter in 5 years.

If it won’t, don’t spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it.

If it will matter, and you’ve thought about it 5 or more times without taking any kind of action, stop worrying and do something. Take one teeny tiny step.

Remember, do nothing. Get nothing. (Other than more worrying).

Do something. You might get something. You will most assuredly learn something. And you’ll end your worrying.

One day.

Or.

Day One.

You decide.

Is today day one of you making your art? (In addition to art, insert any good intention or desired habit here like exercising, eating healthy, getting control of your finances, getting more sleep, signing up for that class, etc…)

Or is today just another day, in a long string of days, in which you tell yourself you’ll get around to it…one day.

You decide.

“If the artist is happy with the work they’re creating and the viewer is enlivened by the work they’re experiencing, it doesn’t matter if they see it in the same way. In fact, it is impossible for anyone to experience your work as you do, or as anyone else does….The purpose of the work is to awaken something in you first, and then allow something to be awakened in others. And it’s fine if they’re not the same thing. We can only hope the magnitude of the charge we experience reverberates as powerfully for others as it does for us.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act

You can’t control how or if your art is received.

All you can do is answer the call ( or “the calling”) to make it.

But do make it. In whatever capacity you can. Because if you don’t answer the call, then rest assured my friend, it will haunt you forever.

“I had this cognition that I realized I was going into auditions, trying to get a job. And that simply wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing. An actor is supposed to create a compelling, interesting character, that serves the text. You present it in the environment where your audition happens. And then you walk away. And that’s it. Everything else is out of your control. Don’t even think about it. Don’t focus on that. You’re not going there to get a job. You are going there to present what you do. You act. And there it is. And walk away. And there’s power in that. And there’s confidence in that. And it’s also saying, I can only do so much. And then, the decision of who might get a job is so out of your control, that, really when you analyze it, it makes no sense to hold onto that. That, to me, was a breakthrough. And, once I adopted that philosophy, I never looked back. And I’ve never been busier in my life, than once I grabbed onto that. That’s it!” -Bryan Cranston

“This is something a teacher told me years ago, and he’s right: even if you’re auditioning for something that you know you’re never going to get or for something you read and didn’t like—if you get a chance to act in a room that somebody else has paid rent for, then you’re given a free chance to practice your craft. And in that moment, you should act as well as you can. Because when you act as well as you can, there’s no way the people who have watched you will forget it. At the end of the day, all that matters is the work. Everybody knows that. If I show up one day and the work I’m doing isn’t any good, then I’m just a guy who’s not acting well…So I would say it to anybody starting out: if you’re given a chance to act, take those words and bring them alive. If you do that, something good will transpire ultimately.” -Philip Seymour Hoffman

Whether it be 5 minutes in the audition room for a tv show you’re not crazy about and a part you’re not right for or the countless hours you spend rehearsing and then performing that dream role in the Shepard or Chekov play you love so much you produced it yourself, one thing you must do no matter what the circumstances…give it everything you got. Act as well as you can whenever and wherever you can.

If you got a chance to act today, realize it’s a gift. Be grateful for it and use that gift wisely. You never know when that gift will come back.

P.S. – Thanks to Billy Oppenheimer and his always great “Six At Six” weekly newsletter for inspiring this post.

“Just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away.” -Eddie Carbone in A View From The Bridge

I recently saw a terrific production of Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge. (Thank you to my friend and wonderful actor Sal V. for inviting me. He and the rest of the ensemble were dynamite. Tix/info Here. I highly recommend it.)

Some friends and I were talking outside afterwards about the power of Miller’s play and why it still resonates. We all proposed our theories…my friend Alex focused on the brilliance and beauty of Miller’s language.

Alex is right. Miller writes beautiful, poetic language that as an actor you want to say, and as an audience member, you want to hear. It’s as good as it gets.

But, what I especially appreciated about this production is that the actors didn’t make a meal out of Miller’s language. They spoke it plainly and simply as everyday dialogue, just like their characters would. They didn’t stop down to “wax poetic.” They just spoke truthfully and honestly, yet full of intention.

As a result, Miller’s language was allowed to be heard and felt without interrupting the power and resonance of this timeless story.

So, a reminder to myself and my fellow actors…

Don’t make a meal out of the dialogue. Or as one director friend often says, “Don’t put any extra mustard on that hot dog. It doesn’t need it.”

“The idea that you won’t have to work to sell your product is more than entitled…Many creatives want to be just the creator, or only “the idea guy.” They like that because it’s sexy and because that’s what comes easy to us. But I suspect we like it also because we’re afraid. We’re afraid of taking full responsibility for everything that comes next. A lot of decisions are going to be made—many of which can sink or make a project—that it’d be nice to have someone else to put it on. If we hand it off to someone else, then we have someone to blame when the project fails.” -Ryan Holiday, book Perennial Seller

Rick Rubin has talked about working with artists who just want to focus on making music and do nothing else. And working with The Beastie Boys, who not only worked hard on the music, but also worked tirelessly on cultivating a fan base.

Before setting out on your creative project, first ask yourself, “Who’s it for and what’s it for?”

And then once you’ve answered that question, ask yourself how hard you’re willing to work once you make your art, to get it out there.

You can choose to do nothing or very little. That’s fine. Hope for the best.

Just realize there are many others who not only make great work, but also care deeply and invest tons of creative energy into connecting with their audience.

Because ultimately, you are making it for them?…for the fans, right?

P.S. – This great Rick Rubin podcast episode with Ian Rogers. (Hat tip to my friend Ron for recommending.)

From the Urban Dictionary...

butts in seats

(also “bums in seats” and “butts in the seats”): spectators who have been drawn into a theatre or other entertainment by a low-brow, mass-appeal production. A reference to the economic demand on entertainment business producers to attract paid attendance.

As a producer I often get asked the question, “How do I get butts in the seats for my show?” A quick google search reveals numerous articles like this one and this one and this one that discuss strategies for doing so.

This is flawed thinking right from the jump.

Your audience is not “butts in the seats.” Your audience consists of people you know and love who will be delighted by your art. That’s who you’re making it for.

Tell them a compelling story as to how much you care about this work and why you’d love to share it with them. Tell it from the heart. Tell it with generosity and empathy for their time. And tell it consistently.

All your marketing (remember, marketing is storytelling) should be focused on that and that alone. If you do your job (you must do it throughout the ENTIRE run) and your production is indeed excellent, they will come and they will be delighted and they will tell their friends.

“The task of the playwright is to make the audience wonder what is going to happen next…How does one entertain the audience? How does one make it wonder what happens next? How does one accomplish that? Through the structuring of a plot. That is what drama is, and that is the task of the dramatist. The plot, the structure of incidents, is all the audience cares about. The audience may not be able to articulate it, but honest (which is to say, personally necessary) observation by the dramatist will reveal this to be true. (Consider the sales-pitch meeting: When the other fellow’s eyes glaze over, the meeting is done, you didn’t make that sale.) You or I may think, “But what of my talent, my ideas? What of my characters?” and so on, but stand in the back of the house and watch the first audience member yawn (let alone walk out), and learn a lesson.

The task of the dramatist is the construction of a plot. Some will write snappier dialogue. Fine. Note that we enjoy plays in translation, where we have no idea how snappy the dialogue was in the original. Why do we love An Enemy of the People? Because of the plot. In the back of the house (and only there), watching one’s beloved play fail in front of that group that paid to see it succeed, one will learn of the importance of a plot.

How does one learn to structure, that is, to create a plot? Read Aristotle’s Poetics. There we find that a plot is the necessary structure of the incidents (that is, scenes), the failure of each scene driving the hero on toward a new attempt at the solution of the goal stated at the play’s outset. There is a plague on Thebes. Oedipus, the king, sets out to find its cause. He discovers, at the end, that he is the cause. The play is over. Note that it ends in a way, as per Aristotle, both surprising and inevitable. Why has the play survived thousands of years and why did Aristotle adopt it as a paradigm? Because of its perfect plot.

What must the contemporary dramatist do? Learn how to write a plot. How is it done? By writing, revising, staging, revising, and starting again. Good luck.” – David Mamet, book Theatre

For the playwright…

Your number one job and it’s the hardest job–only a few can do it well–is to get the audience to want to find out what happens next. That’s it. Everything else is secondary.

(Side note: As an actor and Artistic Director, I love great character-driven stories. They’re my favorite plays to act in, to see, and to program. But when I reflect on the ones I love, I realize those have pretty good plots too. You care deeply about the characters and want to find out what happens to them.)

Beware of exposition (if you write it, excise it and then if you want, hand it out as backstory for the actor), superfluous “flashy” dialogue that serves no purpose, or anything extra that bogs down the plot.

Because once you lose your audience from wanting to find out what happens next, all Is lost. Game over. It’s curtains for you.

For the writer…

Same as above. Your number one job is to get the reader to want to keep turning pages.

The Tao can’t be perceived.
Smaller than an electron,
it contains uncountable galaxies.

If powerful men and women
could remain centered in the Tao,
all things would be in harmony.
The world would become a paradise.
All people would be at peace,
and the law would be written in their hearts. -Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translation)

“It’s common to believe that life is a series of external experiences. And that we must live an outwardly extraordinary life in order to have something to share. The experience of our inner world is often completely overlooked.

If we focus on what’s going on inside ourselves–sensations, emotions, the patterns of our thoughts–a wealth of material can be found. Our inner world is every bit as interesting, beautiful, and surprising as nature itself. It is, after all, born of nature.

When we go inside, we are processing what’s going on outside. We’re no longer separate. We’re connected. We are one.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being

“Keep an eye on the amount of time and the amount of awareness that we are allowing ourselves to get lost out there…Turn around and see yourself because then in the moment when you are doing this you are going to see yourself and this is the beginning. Because once you’ve spent time with yourself, the inside comes…The world is always getting bigger on the one side…and always getting smaller on the other side.” Master Shi Heng Yi

As small as a proton. Even smaller.

As big as a galaxy. Even bigger.

The range and possibilities for insight, beauty and connection are limitless.

The inner and the outer.

The micro and the macro.

Aligned. Working together. In harmony.

At peace.

“Every time I go see a play, I’m hoping this will be the best play I’ve ever seen.”

That’s what a friend and avid theatre-goer told me recently.

While you can’t control whether your production will be judged that way, you can make it your goal.

And if it’s not your goal, why exactly are you doing it anyway?