{"id":9651,"date":"2009-10-17T08:29:41","date_gmt":"2009-10-17T12:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=9651"},"modified":"2022-10-16T21:46:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T01:46:50","slug":"acting-notebook-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=9651","title":{"rendered":"Acting Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

More of the notes I took in grad school. (Here<\/a> is more.) Same year, same cast of characters: Doug Moston, teacher of Classics, great great class. Sam Schacht, the brilliant vulgar man who ran the PD Unit, a dreadfully long workshop every Friday, meant to develop projects – (“PD” stands for Playwriting\/Directors Unit). Then there were also the seminars we went to, with luminaries from the acting world. Shirley Maclaine, Lauren Bacall, and Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson are featured here – the notes I took from those seminars. Some of this stuff still makes me laugh out loud today. Then there were the pieces I was rehearsing for – William Saroyan’s “Hello Out There” (excerpt here<\/a>), and two new plays – “Gertrude Down” and “German Lullaby” – both of which ended up coming to fruition, not just in the grad school atmosphere, but afterwards (photos here<\/a> and here<\/a>). I was involved in full productions of both of those. But here, in the notebooks, they are in very early developmental stages, the scripts still being worked on, the casts not nailed down yet. Oh yes, and there was also a random marriage proposal in the middle of this. I said “yes”<\/a> to the proposal. He then took it back. hahahahaha It was a crazy time.<\/p>\n

I am so glad I kept these notebooks. Some of it is still useful, just in terms of understanding acting and writing – the things I “got” from my great teachers. But a lot of it is just JOKES, and I was reading through this this morning and laughing out loud all over again.<\/p>\n

9\/4\/97 Doug Moston – Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

“That’s where your juvenile delinquents were manufactured.” – Doug Moston on Hell’s Kitchen<\/p>\n

the power of words –
\nDon’t give a word more power than it can handle
\nNot every word has the same weight<\/p>\n

\nPD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

“It’s like you’ve been thru some sort of horrific marriage.” – Sam<\/p>\n

“A half-hour where you stink is no great shakes.” – Sam<\/p>\n

Go back and look at Brando’s private moment in Last Tango in Paris<\/u><\/p>\n

Sam is a born teacher. It is his calling.<\/p>\n

Hello Out There<\/u> – we just got a big ol’ green light – move forward with the project<\/p>\n

Sam: “I wanted people to be ready to bring in work today—”
\nBarbara: “Oh, for cryin’ out loud.”<\/p>\n

This room is so dreadful. The lighting. The air conditioning noise. That wavy thing above us. What the FUCK is that?<\/p>\n

\n9\/7 German Lullaby rehearsal<\/u><\/p>\n

Death is present here. Eroticism. Codependent.
\nSim: caretaker?
\nTruth or Dare game<\/p>\n

Beginning of scene: so happy to see her! Don’t play the subtext. Deny what is going on. It is not happening.<\/p>\n

\n9\/9 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

“He was known as Midtown Murray.” – Doug on his father running the most famous actor’s poker game<\/p>\n

“I want the work.” – Harvey Keitel on why he had invested in Lee’s classes<\/p>\n

antithetical thought – play the opposites off of each other.
\nIambic pentameter – the character acknowledges his own cleverness with that rhythm – and double entendre
\nNo extra words<\/p>\n

\n9\/9 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

Cowboy Mouth<\/u> – Chaos.<\/p>\n

“That’s a Greek word.” – Sam<\/p>\n

Alexander Haig: “I’m in charge here!”<\/p>\n

“We could do a merchandising tie-in.” – Sam<\/p>\n

“We have 2 striving artists yearning to be free.” – Sam<\/p>\n

\nClassics<\/u>
\nMacbeth monologue:
\ndead<\/u> for breath<\/u> – assonance. It sounds – perhaps the Messenger is out of breath? It has a panting sound to it. “here” “Thane” “had” “breathe” had” “than” …
\nAnnouncing the arrival of the King that night – some urgency perhaps.
\nThane – soft vowels, short words<\/p>\n

The sense<\/u> is in<\/u> the iambic pentameter. Do not invent more. Go to the verse already there.
\n*To be<\/u> or not<\/u> to be<\/u>
\nThat is<\/u> the ques<\/u>tion.*<\/p>\n

\n9\/11 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

“I’ll give you a hint. Boats.” – Doug Moston trying to make the class say “Spanish Armada” – After the Armada, Britain ruled the waves – people started investing in boats – strong upperclass emerges – the theatre begins (the Burbidges – John and Richard) – 1576 – The Theatre – built by John Burbidge – round<\/p>\n

\n9\/11 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

Arcadia<\/u> – Tom Stoppard –
\nactors: Matt and Barbara<\/p>\n

Sam: “The grapes don’t solve the problem.”<\/p>\n

Sam: “Not everything is Hat Full of Rain<\/u>.”<\/p>\n

Barefoot in the Park<\/u> – actors: Elena, Michael<\/p>\n

Sam: “It’s like trying to revive a 2nd rate dead horse.”<\/p>\n

I need to re-read Brendan Behan’s The Hostage<\/u> and Moonchildren<\/u> by Michael Weller<\/p>\n

Home Free<\/u> – actors: Wade and Kara
\nWe see Lawrence in a room alone, tapping the wall with the end of a coat hanger to get the attn. of his “audience” – Claypone and Edna are his students for the moment. Kara’s character, at this point, know that she is going to die.
\n“This play is like 2 panic attacks meeting each other.” – Sam
\n2 scared people trying to find comfort.<\/p>\n

“Hoffman’s won Oscars playing morons and bums.” – Sam<\/p>\n

Somehow I think that if actors<\/u> are bored watching something … what is the good of doing this? Like Sam said: Recognize when you are bored. It’s not that you are being rude to your fellow students by being inattentive. Boredom is a sign that something is not working<\/u>. It is a valid response.<\/p>\n

“The Ski Lift Named Denial.” – Jen on doing Streetcar<\/u> in Vermont<\/p>\n

\n9\/16 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

“So the idea is – she’s not there. She’s in between those sticks.” – Doug<\/p>\n

Lady Anne: Set down<\/u>, set down your honorable load<\/p>\n

“I am not a necrophiliac,” said Tom in dead earnest.<\/p>\n

Learn enough about Shakespearia so that you look like a native citizen, not a tourist.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare controls the traffic onstage with the language. As Doug says, he lets the actors know – “Stop. This broad’s makin’ a speech.”<\/p>\n

If it’s heightened language – then you choose<\/u> to speak in heightened language. Heightened state of emotion.<\/p>\n

Simple and complex language.
\nSimple? Keep it simple
\nComplex? What verbal conceits make it complicated?<\/p>\n

Lady Macbeth: The raven himself is hoarse.
\nGive me the daggers<\/p>\n

\n9\/16 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

Buried Child<\/u> – actors: Tom, Nina<\/p>\n

“Anything can be good. If it’s good.” – Sam<\/p>\n

To extract a scene: it needs to have its own internal arc. Make sense on its own<\/p>\n

Am I Blue<\/u> – by Beth Henley – actors: Michael, Kara, Cheryl
\nThe writing of this play is lousy. Lifeless. You’d have to invent the subtext. With plays like Streetcar<\/u> or Death of a Salesman<\/u> – the subtext is IN the lines.<\/p>\n

“If there’s any poetic dimension to this, it escapes me.” – Sam<\/p>\n

“She’s not a waif physically<\/u>. She’s a waif emotionally<\/u>.” – Sam – on This Property is Condemned<\/u>)<\/p>\n

Breathless<\/u> – movie – long scenes, jump cuts
\nThe thing that gives it its stature is the legends. When you stand back, you see the universal. It is in the fragments that you ahve the uniqueness.<\/p>\n

“Then why these scenes in this specific order?”
\nSam: “I<\/u> have no idea.”<\/p>\n

St. Joan<\/u> – actors: Tom, Kelly<\/p>\n

“Yeah, fuck you<\/u>, Rich!” – Sam<\/p>\n

“Tom, you fuck-head, listen to me!” – Sam<\/p>\n

“Do whatever you want to do. Just don’t have a rod up your ass and think you’re playing Shaw.” – Sam<\/p>\n

“Cast well, and then shut up.” – Gene, to the directors<\/p>\n

“All the plans that you think you’ve made may be just delusions on your part.” – Sam<\/p>\n

\n9\/17 German Lullaby rehearsal<\/u>
\nThe monologue: Did I really kill the cat? Who’s the predator in the relationship? Play the ambivalences in the piece. There’s a time bomb in this house.<\/p>\n

\n9\/18 Classics<\/u>
\nLady Macbeth – “infirm of purpose” – complex way of saying you’re weak. Heightened state. Shakespeare puts that texture into the text.<\/p>\n

12th Night: “This is Illyria, Lady.” Beautiful.<\/p>\n

Suit the action to the word and the word to the action.<\/p>\n

As You Like It<\/u>
\nseem … semen?<\/p>\n

If you think it’s bawdy, it’s bawdy. If you don’t think it’s bawdy – it’s only because you haven’t worked it out yet.<\/p>\n

\n9\/18 PD Unit<\/u>
\nA Loss of Roses<\/u> – by William Inge – actors: Barbara, Tom
\nWarren Beatty made his stage debut in this<\/p>\n

“I know I’ve been manipulating you, but I think I’ve been helpful to you.” – Sam to Barbara
\nBarbara: “You have.”<\/p>\n

Snow Angel<\/u> – Elena, Michael
\nIt’s one thing to act<\/u> material – it’s another thing to embody<\/u> material.<\/p>\n

“It looks like your soul is adrift in the wrong play.” – Sam to Michael<\/p>\n

Gertrude Down<\/u>
\nKevin: “What’s it about?”
\nMatt: “It’s about a door.”<\/p>\n

“You talk a little bit like a French art critic.” – Sam to Rich<\/p>\n

\n9\/18 Hello Out There rehearsal<\/u><\/p>\n

Looking at myself in the mirror.
\nHis heart is larger than life.
\nRemember that feeling of: This encounter is going to change my life.
\nIn a world of stick figures, he is a Michelangelo.<\/p>\n

\n9\/20 Ludlow Fair rehearsal<\/u>
\nMoment before – work on that.
\nWhat do I want from her?
\nWhat would I be doing if this scene weren’t happening?
\nReally work<\/u> the flu<\/p>\n

\n9\/22 Shirley Maclaine<\/u>
\n“We all came out of the same cave.”<\/p>\n

On dancing: “I loved the regimentation. I loved the freedom.”
\n“I learned how to negotiate movement under duress.”<\/p>\n

“I was the only virgin on that train.”<\/p>\n

George Abbott under the pool with her on his shoulders – “to prove how virile he was”<\/p>\n

Hitchcock in the audience when she went on for Carol Haney: “You see why I believe in destiny.”<\/p>\n

The Trouble with Harry<\/u> – directed by Hitchcock
\nHe said to her: “Before you say that line – dog’s feet.” (Meaning: Pause. “Paws.”)<\/p>\n

Some Came Running<\/u>
\nFrank Sinatra: “Let the kid die, and she’ll get the nomination.” And that’s what happened.<\/p>\n

“That’s why men don’t like to marry actresses!”<\/p>\n

She loves sex. It oozes off of her.<\/p>\n

On the Rat Pack: “I cleaned the crackers out of their beds.”<\/p>\n

The Apartment<\/u> – directed by Billy Wilder
\nOn Wilder: “He had this magnificent yardstick of a brain.”
\nThat last scene was done in one take.<\/p>\n

On Wilder: “He would watch us run a scene, and he would say, ‘That’s very good. Now do it again, and take out 13 seconds.'”<\/p>\n

Faster is always better.<\/p>\n

“It’s all about listening, isn’t it?”<\/p>\n

Sweet Charity<\/u> –
\nOn Cy Coleman: “He thought with his fingers.”<\/p>\n

The Turning Point<\/u>
\nOn Anne Bancroft: “Annie wanted to always be in character.”<\/p>\n

Terms of Endearment<\/u>
\n“So this brings in my other life. Are we ready to go there?”<\/p>\n

On Jack Nicholson: “He makes you a constant surprise to yourself.”<\/p>\n

On moonlight, and writing: “feminine energy of remembrance”<\/p>\n

Steel Magnolias<\/u>
\n“collective feminine energy”<\/p>\n

Postcards<\/u>
\nOn Meryl Streep: “This woman is truly channeling.”<\/p>\n

\n9\/23 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

“You mean … Hamlet gets in<\/u> the elevator … but he won’t go down<\/u>?” – Leslie<\/p>\n

“I think that you have to establish with your robot …” – Leslie<\/p>\n

Do what the character does. Remember Occam’s Razor.<\/p>\n

“Friends, Romans, Countrymen
\nLend me your ears” – rhetoric – he is building his argument through the verse<\/p>\n

\n9\/23 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

There are more things in heaven and earth,
\nHoratio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.<\/p>\n

Cloud Tectonics<\/u> – by Jose Rivera<\/p>\n

“This was a bore.” – Sam<\/p>\n

“You look like you have parentheses around you at all times.” – Sam to Cheryl<\/p>\n

Sam: “Blackout. Slow fade.”<\/p>\n

Sam: “Renee Taylor, in reality<\/u>, is larger than life.”<\/p>\n

\n9\/23<\/u>
\nMichael G. on my answering machine yesterday:
\n“Will you marry me. Let’s get married, Sheila. Call me back with your answer.”
\nHe wants to meet in Vegas. New Year’s. For our wedding. Yes, Michael, I think we should, let’s get this thing done.<\/p>\n

\n9\/25 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

“The King comes here tonight.” – simple
\nUse the verbal conceits. Play them all<\/u>. Iambic pentameter, assonance, alliteration.<\/p>\n

Clues in the writing help you to be able to play it.<\/p>\n

“Berlady”. (By Our Lady) – character from the country, this is a regionalism – it means that the Capulets are nouveau riche<\/u> – it means that Juliet has<\/u> to marry Paris. Status. Materialism.<\/p>\n

The Apothecary in Romeo and Juliet – count the “I” sounds.<\/p>\n

\n9\/28 Hello Out There rehearsal<\/u>
\nPassion – as well as loneliness
\nThe fire<\/u> in the play
\nGood and evil
\nprairie out the windows
\nIsolation
\nUrgency, stakes<\/p>\n

\n9\/30 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

“I always get cast as the eunuch or the fool.” – John<\/p>\n

Sections of Hamlet are very close to passages in the Geneva Bible<\/p>\n

Verbal conceits: express passion thru language
\nfigures of rhetoric<\/u> – Antony’s speech
\neuphemism: “My father passed away” as opposed to “My father died”
\nstychomythia: rapid-fire dialogue overlapping – alternating liunes
\nonomotopeia
\nmetaphor<\/p>\n

Prose: less precision<\/u> – but it still can be heightened
\nVerse: precise – the writer is directing you, telling you where to breathe\/pause – tells you what to stress<\/p>\n

Don’t give up who you are<\/u> when you get into this – but do give it up momentarily in order to break the code<\/p>\n

Use the punctuation. Pay attention. This is where Shakespeare is directing you.<\/p>\n

“Doub<\/u>le, bub<\/u>ble, toil<\/u> and troub<\/u>le.” – troche – not iambic<\/p>\n

Colon: you can<\/u> drop your voice – do it in a way that still holds the audience’s attention – or a shift of gears. You are still traveling in the same direction, you’re just shifting gears.<\/p>\n

\n9\/30 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

Barbara, dressed in green, lying spreadeagled on the floor, trying to relax. Sam said, “You look like a human pool table, Barbara.”<\/p>\n

\n10\/6 Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson<\/u><\/p>\n

Anne on her first moment “acting” as a little girl: “I said this poem, I got a laugh, and it was ecstasy – and after, I hid in the cellar.”<\/p>\n

Her Shirley Temple imitation<\/p>\n

Studied with Herbert Berghoff at New School 1944 – he got her a scholarship at the Neighborhood Playhouse<\/p>\n

“I have an affinity for the Italians. This is an Italian shirt, actually.” – Eli<\/p>\n

“We were the only Jews in a sea of Italians.” – Eli<\/p>\n

“Acting means to ACT.” – Anne<\/p>\n

Eli – onstage in his first big part – with katherine Cornell: “I cut 14 of her lines.” Strasberg’s main advice to Eli was: “Wait for your cue!”<\/p>\n

Anne hated improvisatiion<\/p>\n

“In acting, take nothing for granted. You don’t know what’s going to happen.” – Lee Strasberg<\/p>\n

“And for the next 7 years, we did nothing but Tennessee Williams.” – Eli<\/p>\n

On The Misfits<\/u> – Eli and Clark Gable fooling around – John Huston: “For Christ’s sake, would you guys cut it out?”<\/p>\n

Anne: “Please. Let’s go on. I’m going to say something profound.”<\/p>\n

“It’s a<\/u> Method, not the<\/u> Method.” – Anne<\/p>\n

Eli, arriving in England: “It’s so green here.”
\nLaurence Olivier: “Naturally. It’s been raining for the past 300 years.”<\/p>\n

Marlon Brando in Stella’s class: “Chickens don’t know about atom bombs.”<\/p>\n

On The Rose Tattoo<\/u> – directed by Elia Kazan
\nElia experimenting with fantasy (Camino Real)
\nWritten for Anna Magnani – Maureen Stapleton auditioned 6 times
\nEli turned down From Here to Eternity<\/u> for Camino Real<\/u><\/p>\n

On Camino Real<\/u>
\nKazan: “Go on and make friends.” He would pit actors against each other.<\/p>\n

Anne’s break was with This Property is Condemned<\/u><\/p>\n

Summer and Smoke<\/u> – directed by Margo Jones
\n“It was like music.”<\/p>\n

“Not a hit in those days meant it ran for 6 months.” – Eli<\/p>\n

Eli talked about Tennessee’s laugh. “Make voyages. Attempt them.”<\/p>\n

O Men, O Women<\/u> – Anne had a 20 minute monologue
\n“The more I cried, the more the audience laughed.”<\/p>\n

Middle of the Night<\/u>
\nEdward Robinson – She went to stand up, he put his hand on her shoulder, shook his head
\nJosh Logan: “Don’t ever get attention with a pause.”<\/p>\n

Anne on pros and cons of working with Eli: “The pros are obvious. You share the same taxi.”<\/p>\n

Sir John Gielgud said to Anne, about being onstage with Olivier: “Larry is a terrible giggler.” (Anne has a problem with laughing on stage)<\/p>\n

Anne on marriage: “We drank Manhattans and we have no memory of our wedding night.”<\/p>\n

Baby Doll<\/u> – this was Eli’s greatest experience.<\/p>\n

The Magnificent Seven<\/u> – 2 gold teeth
\nEli: “I’ve played a lot of Mexican bandits since then. I wonder why.”<\/p>\n

Steve McQueen shaking the cartridge – taking attention from Yul Brynner. Eli said, “McQueen was very clever.”<\/p>\n

The Misfits<\/u>:<\/p>\n

Anne: “Marilyn Monroe was a man’s friend. She wasn’t a woman’s friend.”<\/p>\n

Eli on Clark Gable: “Clark never had a mother in a movie.”<\/p>\n

Anne on Clark and Marilyn in The Misfits<\/u>: “The movie was disturbing to our fantasies of these people.”<\/p>\n

Monty’s first scene in the phone booth: one take<\/p>\n

Anne, on going to painful places as an actor: “And we go there with delight!”<\/p>\n

Eli took a class with Martha Graham. She shouted at him: “Would you for God’s sake walk as though you carry the seed?”<\/p>\n

Clifford Odets said, “I always start a play in the middle of a fight.”<\/p>\n

Eli on working with Milo O’Shea – Eli wasn’t nervous about the play until Milo whispered in his ear, right before the curtain went up: “Thank God you’ve got the first line.”<\/p>\n

Eli on marriage: “Marriage is not for sissies.”<\/p>\n

Anne looked at him at one point and said, “This relationship isn’t going to last.”<\/p>\n

Coppola to Eli, on Godfather III<\/u>: “You are an old old OLD<\/u> friend of the Corleone family.”
\nEli: “If I’m such an old old OLD<\/u> friend of the Corleone family …….. then why wasn’t I in the other<\/u> Godfather movies?”<\/p>\n

\n10\/8 German Lullaby rehearsal<\/u>
\nThis is the death of our relationship. It just takes us a while to realize that.
\nEroticism in the air.
\nThe intimacy is in the silences, the gestures.
\nWho is leaving who here?
\nI am yours. You are mine.
\nWho is she to me?
\nI can be on a precipice. I live on the edge.
\nThe night gives us permission to exaggerate.
\n*I lose myself in her lush dramatic personality. This is where our sex life goes. I fight for my identity.<\/p>\n

It’s 3 a.m. She’s been gone all day.<\/p>\n

\n10\/9 Classics<\/u>
\nCharacters pursue their objectives verbally<\/p>\n

“I’ll buy that parentheses and I’ll raise you a mid-line ending.” – Doug<\/p>\n

The conspiracy scene in Julius Caesar<\/u> – all the “s’ sounds … makes it sound like incessant whispering<\/p>\n

Gear changes in thought need to be audible<\/u><\/p>\n

Suit the action to the word and the word to the action.<\/p>\n

Sarah Siddons’ Lady Macbeth<\/p>\n

\n10\/9 PD Unit<\/u>
\nWe read German Lullaby<\/u> – Sam said to Lesley afterwards: “Lesley, you should be very proud of yourself for what you have created.”<\/p>\n

Wade gave me a backrub.<\/p>\n

Sam discussed subtext – for him a play needs subtext – that “subterranean tide pulling us forward.”<\/p>\n

Sam on PD issues: “The main issue is the bored actors.”<\/p>\n

Sam to me and Jen: So how are you 2 Irish broads doing?
\nMe: We were just sitting here appreciating you.
\nSam: Oh – really? (he got all excited – stretching his arms)
\nMe: Yeah. You’re not afraid of anything, are you?
\nSam: No. (He went right there with me)
\nMe: I can tell. Have you worked really hard to get that?
\nSam: Yes.<\/p>\n

God, I love him. That no bullshit honesty. He’s so there<\/u><\/p>\n

\n10\/14 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

Romeo and Juliet<\/u> – Eileen and Rebecca
\nscene between Juliet and the nurse
\nLine 1339: Juliet: “I would thou hadst …” play up the “I” sound
\nDon’t forget the given circumstances
\nThe Nurse: aching bones. Sexual innuendo. Maybe it goes over Juliet’s head, but it’s for the audience and for herself
\n“Is it good or bad” – antithetical
\n“Go thy ways, wench” – perhaps to herself
\n“Where is your mother” – make sure no one hears<\/p>\n

Macbeth<\/u> – Steven, JM
\n“Hark, peace” – the owl scares the shit out of her – to the audience? Try to get their sympathy – which is a real task<\/p>\n

Shakespeare puts the actor in the position of the character<\/u><\/p>\n

\n10\/14 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

Sam to the directors: “Actors at their best are fantastic creatures. If you give them the correct stimuli – character, circumstance, objective – and then Get Out of the Way – they can work miracles.”<\/p>\n

I want to work on Arthur Miller’s Some Kind of Love Story<\/u><\/p>\n

\n10\/15 German Lullaby rehearsal<\/u>
\nI love her for all her big-hearted dramatic qualities – i don’t have any of that – and the very thing I love about her will become our point of dissension
\nalarm bells: she hasn’t been eating. She also has never disappeared like this before.
\nThe character has never thought all that much about being German
\n“She was a Jew!” – this is a surprise when it comes out. I have the capacity to say that? We love each other – this is why it is so disturbing.
\nI always knew she was Jewish – it was never a big deal
\nThe past is haunting our relationship
\nThe collective guilt of the Germans
\nRain is the 3rd character in this play. It is in this room with us. And then when it stops, it’s like the silence is loud.
\nWhat else is wrong in this relationship?<\/p>\n

\n10\/16 Classics<\/u>
\nNegotiate each moment. Don’t act like you’ve already made choices. Discover the choices.
\nIf you follow the language correctly – it will create an attitude within you that is<\/u> the character<\/u>. It’s a direct line to the playwright’s head.<\/p>\n

This stuff can take you over like a mask if you let it.<\/p>\n

Augment<\/u> the performance with performer’s instincts – but don’t start there<\/p>\n

Caesura: rhetorical pause. Provides audience a chance to catch up. Named for Caesar. He was dyslexic probably and paused a lot.<\/p>\n

\n10\/16 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

Speed the Plow<\/u> – out of context this scene is hard to follow. The relationship is not clear.<\/p>\n

“Relaxation should not be a spectacle.” – Sam<\/p>\n

\n10\/18 Hello Out There rehearsal<\/u>
\np. 19: establishing myself to him<\/p>\n

“Since last night” – testing waters? See if I can tell him what happened last night between us.<\/p>\n

Moment before – remember: he has just called me Katey.<\/p>\n

“Well, yeah, except me.” I am trying to segue here into my more personal stuff.<\/p>\n

Mike: “If I’m her knight in shining armor, then she is my angel.”<\/p>\n

I know that feeling with a man.<\/p>\n

p. 23 clear and heightened sense of danger. Urgency growing.<\/p>\n

Premonition at the end. “I want to tell you something.” I would die for him. I would kill for him.<\/p>\n

\n10\/19 German Lullaby rehearsal<\/u>
\nwatch Night Porter<\/u> again – the eroticism. Pain = pleasure. That is our relationship.<\/p>\n

The moment with the clip-on earrings: seduction, uncertainty<\/p>\n

Monocle on a ribbon, maybe. Subtly militaristic outfit perhaps.<\/p>\n

\n10\/20 LAUREN BACALL<\/u><\/p>\n

“I have spent half my life quaking with nerves.”<\/p>\n

“My childhood was not thrilling.”<\/p>\n

On her father: “He was a negative<\/u> factor.”<\/p>\n

She would read Grimm’s Fairy Tales with a flashlight under a blanket<\/p>\n

On her high school: “I went to school with five thousand<\/u> girls.”<\/p>\n

On Juliet’s death scene: “It’s supposed to be sad<\/u>. It’s not supposed to be pathetic.”<\/p>\n

“I would cut school and go see Bette Davis movies in the theatre. I’d sit there and cry and smoke.”<\/p>\n

She stalked Bette Davis.<\/p>\n

Graduated high school at 15.<\/p>\n

Went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts – with Kirk Douglas. “I learned how to fall down stairs. I learned how to walk with a book on my head.”<\/p>\n

On animal exercises: “Yes. We did animal exercises. Never used it in my life.”<\/p>\n

“I was an usherette.”<\/p>\n

“George Kaufman was my friend till the end of his life.”<\/p>\n

Diana Vreeland put her on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. Howard Hawks saw it. “Howard Hawks said to me: You would be good in a movie with either Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart and I thought: ‘Cary Grant!!'”<\/p>\n

On To Have and Have Not<\/u> – “Hawks wanted me to be not tough – but insolent.”<\/p>\n

On The Big Sleep<\/u>: “I love that movie because nobody knew what it was about, including us.” Who pushed the dude off the pier? “Howard called Raymond Chandler who wrote the book and he<\/u> didn’t know. But it worked<\/u>.”<\/p>\n

On Dark Passage<\/u>: “Bogie was<\/u> the camera in that movie.”<\/p>\n

On the Rat Pack: “In he’d come – ring a ding ding – and he’d go right to the bar.” – Bacall talking about Frank Sinatra. “Frank loved married couples.”<\/p>\n

“And I walked into this party and the Hope Diamond was there.”<\/p>\n

On Key Largo<\/u> and John Huston:
\n“If the boom boy had a suggestion, John would listen.”
\n“Huston was also called The Monster. For good reason.”<\/p>\n

On Young Man With a Horn<\/u>:
\n“I had a giant crush on Kirk Douglas.”<\/p>\n

The African Queen<\/u> – Katharine Hepburn carrying the full-length mirror in a raft down the river<\/p>\n

On Designing Women<\/u> – this movie was filmed while Bogie was dying at home. “He wanted me to do it. Bogie wanted me to work so that I could come home and have something to talk about.”<\/p>\n

“Gregory Peck was not bad to look at, you may have noticed.”<\/p>\n

“Bogie was a last century guy. He lived by the 10 Commandments. I had a great time with him. Some people never have that.”<\/p>\n

“The 3 people I knew who had such strength of character were Bogie, Katharine Hepburn and my mother.”<\/p>\n

On The Shootist<\/u> – filmed while John Wayne was dying: “He never spoke of it.”<\/p>\n

Lauren to John Wayne: “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
\nJohn Wayne: “Every day you wake up, it’s a beautiful day.”<\/p>\n

On her book: “Writing By Myself<\/u> was very cathartic. And yes, I wrote every word<\/u>.”<\/p>\n

On Barbra Streisand and Mirror Has 2 Faces<\/u>: “I worship talent. Just being in her presence was terrific<\/u>. She was terrific<\/u>.”<\/p>\n

\n10\/21 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

Julius Caesar<\/u>: Portia: says “ungentle” twice – implying that he is normally gentle with her.<\/p>\n

Objective: and then add a Why<\/u> – see if the objective can’t go to another level – personalize the choices.<\/p>\n

Stella Adler: “Your talent<\/u> is in your choices<\/u>.”<\/p>\n

“The interest in custard pies is seeing them hit people.”<\/p>\n

“Our consciousness stands guard at what might be revealed.”<\/p>\n

Doug on DeNiro: “Robert DeNiro doesn’t get to be different anymore.”<\/p>\n

\n10\/22 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

Me to Wade: “I went to the Book Fair …”
\nWade burst into laughter.
\nWade: “I love you, Sheila.”
\nMe: “Oh, Wade. I love you too.”<\/p>\n

Sam, at one point: “Who do I have to fuck to get out of here is what I want to know.”<\/p>\n

Sam: “I’m just trying to keep my spirits up.”<\/p>\n

Liz on SRO hotels: “You could be killing people in there and no one would care.”
\nWade: “Where is this?”<\/p>\n

Kara: “Are we still not allowed to be naked in school?”<\/p>\n

Sam: “All this love of Jesus is just as obsessive as any other form of narcissism.”<\/p>\n

Sam: “You know who originated this part? It was Geraldine Page.”
\nKara: “I bet she sucked<\/u>!”<\/p>\n

\n10\/23 Classics<\/u>
\nDoug to Eileen: “Eileen, you’re brilliant. Now I’m going to ask you not to be.”<\/p>\n

Measure for Measure<\/u> – the 1st speech of Duke – the punctuation<\/u> gives him the sound of a gov’t official –<\/p>\n

\n10\/23 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

Sam: “Fences<\/u> is a masterpiece of structure.”<\/p>\n

“Do you have the time?”
\n“What am I, fuckin’ Swiss?”<\/p>\n

\n10\/28 Classics<\/u>
\nJulius Caesar<\/u> – Heaven<\/u> – elision, almost always one syllable – heav’n<\/p>\n

Doug was Harold Clurman’s assistant<\/p>\n

“Amanda, you need to watch out for the Nice Girl Police.” – Doug<\/p>\n

It’s not about the answers. It’s about the questions.<\/p>\n

Make the end of the last thought the beginning of the next thought<\/p>\n

\n10\/28 PD Unit<\/u><\/p>\n

“Speaking of surly and disrespectful, where is Kara?” – Sam<\/p>\n

Quote from Gingerbread Lady<\/u>: “My apartment is on a sublet from Mary Todd Lincoln.”<\/p>\n

Sam: “If you do a high-class piece that lays an egg, no one will think: ‘Boy, that’s a high-class broad.'”<\/p>\n

Sam: “I wouldn’t care if you had them do it on pogo sticks.”<\/p>\n

Sam to D.: “To whatever degree you can get it up, try to create some authentic misery.”<\/p>\n

Sam: “Method acting the stereotype is eyeballing your partner, mumbling, breaking up your sentences in illogical ways. You can be 100% full of shit and be a Method actor.”<\/p>\n

Kazan said to Geraldine Page when directing Sweet Bird of Youth<\/u> – she was afraid of the audience, terrified – He told her that the more frightened she was as an actress, the more she should attack the audience. It’s one of her greatest performances.<\/p>\n

Sam: “I studied with Strasberg for 21 years and I never felt that gave me the license to be an asshole.”
\nMichael: “So where’d you get your license then?”<\/p>\n

\n

\n10\/30 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

Lesley: “Let’s go from ‘Where is your mother’ – so you can have your moment where you get horrified.”<\/p>\n

Doug: “Your acting is like a little fake tree. Oh, look how real that looks!”<\/p>\n

\n11\/4 Classics<\/u><\/p>\n

Preconceptions get in the way of your talent expressing itself.<\/p>\n

Take the car out of drive, put it in neutral, and see the shape of the land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More of the notes I took in grad school. (Here is more.) Same year, same cast of characters: Doug Moston, teacher of Classics, great great class. Sam Schacht, the brilliant vulgar man who ran the PD Unit, a dreadfully long … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[1528,300],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9651"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182413,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9651\/revisions\/182413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}