There’s an old, weary, chestnut in the theatre — that deserves to be burned alive, eaten whole, pooped out and buried in the deep blue sea and then never spoken of again — that goes a little something like this, when directors say to Playwrights: “Never Speak to the Actors!”
There’s an old saying in some theatrical circles that a play does not exist unless and until is has been performed on a live stage in front of an audience. You can imagine the heartache that creates for the amateur, but vigilant, Playwright who writes page after page only to have the work discounted in the end analysis by some because there is no final proof of production to validate the effort. Is that a right and fair way to deal with a written Art in Performance? Does the actor exist without being staged? Does the director have a role without filling an empty space?
Tommy Tune — one of the tallest and most imaginative directors and choreographers on Broadway — loves to button a scene, but he also takes the idea of a button one step beyond by needing to create a proper “Guzinta” that dramatically leads one scene into another. “Guzinta” is Tommy Tune shorthand for “goes into” and the idea behind the ideal is quite necessary, precise and well-reasoned.
There is no greater moment of trepidation for a Playwright — or any author, really — when you’re dealing with a Director or an editor who replies — “I’ll know it when I see it” — in response to your asking for clarification on a change they want made.
When I was working on the Broadway production of — “The Will Rogers Follies” — I was contacted by a friend of mine who was teaching at a major East Coast university.
Continue reading → The Lie of the Lie: Faking the Will Rogers Follies
I met Romanian director and actor Liviu Ciulei while I was a graduate student at Columbia University. He was teaching directing and Shakespeare and the first thing I learned from him was how to correctly spell his name. That spelling talent came in handy because when others in the department needed to write Liviu a note, they sought me out for help in composing his name. Liviu is more fragile today at age 87, but the strength of the name, and his talent, remains within me.
Several years ago, there was a major Broadway musical in crisis of being shuttered before even making it to the previews stage. The problem was not the story, or the plot, or the personalities involved. The problem boiled down to greed and money.
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