the pirate king

This is dedicated to Mrs. Kelly, who once crossed the street just to tell Kevin Kline that he is an American treasure. I agree.





A few things that stick out from the Classic Conversation with Kevin Kline:


When asked what is the secret to a successful 25 year relationship with his wife, he said: "I said no to a lot of things I wanted to do. I did projects close to home. I planned projects away from home during the summer so I could take my family with me." In other words, he made his family a priority and for that indeed he is a treasure.

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He didn't start out loving Shakespeare. He thought it was boring, useless and didn't understand it. He had to grow into loving it.


He didn't know right away that he wanted to be an actor. It took him a while through school and trying out different things to figure it out. He was a musician and played the piano in a rock band, which had business cards printed with the band's name: 
The One-Eyed Jacks
   Jacks are wild!


He chooses projects because he thinks they will be fun and challenges are always fun. They are successful because the people involved are generous. 

as Cyrano de Bergerac

He originally turned down the role of the Pirate King and the movie Dave. He shook his head at himself and said he finds that he's done that a lot, turned down roles initially that are actually quite good for him.


When asked how do you play stupid people so brilliantly, he replied: Because I'm stupid and I know it. It's like that quote from Socrates: "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing." So, I am a genius.


All in all a fun night and a great insight into being creative and fearless.

boldly

I do love a good looking older man and Sir Patrick Stewart is no exception. It's not even necessarily his looks; they are verra nice.  It's the whole package, personality and looks all wrapped up nicely.

I sat last night for an hour and a half, and listened to him talk about life and passion for acting. It was a thrill to hear some of his stories and his perspective on Shakespeare. His wit, kindness, and sincerity were apparent.

He was completely unapologetic about his work for Star Trek, while sitting on the stage of the Shakespeare Theater Company in Sydney Harman Hall, and, in fact, takes great pride in his time spent as Captain Jean Luc Picard.

He even recited the famous ST voice over--"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."--in his native Yorkshire accent. And admitted to originally auditioning for the role in a toupee and reading lines with a French accent--"Spaze ze final frontier.  Zese are ze voyagez of ze starship..." (Thank heavens we don't have to deal with another toupee wearing starship captain.)

I hope to see him at work on stage some day. He's a pretty fabulous actor and I always enjoy his work on the big and small screen.

A few things he said last night that have stuck with me are:

When asked which actresses he had a crush on as a young man: I wanted to marry Doris Day and if she wouldn't have me, then I would settle for Debby Reynolds. (Seriously, I love this man.)

"You will never achieve success by insuring against failure."

Which film had influenced him as a young man: On the Waterfront (I'm adding this my list to watch.)

"Banish fear."

When asked if he thought Shakespeare had indeed written all his plays, he said yes, then elaborated: It makes no sense that a glove maker's son with a grammar school education could write such plays, but that to me is the strongest argument for the power of creativity. (I've paraphrased this last quite a bit, and, yes, I agree.)

einstein's dreams

the empty stage after the performance of einstein's dreams.

In the world in which time is a circle, every handshake, every kiss, every birth, every word, will be repeated precisely. So too every moment that two friends stop becoming friends, every time that a family is broken because of money, every vicious remark in an argument between spouses, every opportunity denied because of a superior's jealousy, every promise not kept. (excerpt from Einstein's Dreams)

Tonight I went to a performance of Einstein's Dreams a play based on the book of the same name. It was surprisingly brilliant in its simplicity and the flow of the story line was easy to follow. I enjoyed seeing a play that was very different from what I expected and left me wanting more. 


One of my favorite things about the cast was that there were varying levels of ability on display and physical capability as well. After the show I briefly met some of the cast members and one of whom was sitting in a wheel chair. I had watched her movements on-stage and was struck by how gracefully she moved, even though at times I could tell it was hard for her. Another cast member was a young man with a beautifully melancholy face and difficulty using his hands. His face was so expressive and at times so joyful it just made me smile. Their physical hardships didn't detract from the performance at all. Instead it added a level of human-ness which reminded me that everyone can find a way to do what they love from finding theories on time to acting in a show to well whatever it is. I think this was the best part--watching people do what they so obviously loved.


I also loved the storyline. It was fun to imagine what Einstein's dreams might have been like. The words were beautiful and I felt as though I were hearing poetry as I listened to Einstein's thoughts on time and how he came up with his theory of relativity. I think I now must read the book. There is an excerpt  here.


Ticket information here at Spooky Action Theater. The theater is very small, so you'll definitely want to plan ahead. I'm probably going back to see it, 'cause after all Einstein pretty much rocks!


By the way "spooky action" is a really cool scientific fact. Basically, spooky action is when two particles become so synchronized or entangled that when one changes the other also changes instantaneously no matter how far apart they are. Einstein originally made fun of the theory and wrote a paper on it, which later became the basis for a whole new branch of quantum science. You can read about it in layman's terms here--"the closest thing we have to magic".

cymbeline

How hard it is to hide the sparks of nature!

-William Shakespeare, Cymbeline 3.3

The Shakespeare Theater Company's production of Cymbeline was great.

This past weekend a friend had an extra and free ticket.

What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

photo here

all's well that...

Oft expectation fails, and most oft there Where most it promises. ~All 's Well that Ends Well, 2. 1

tonight, just as i was getting ready to sit down and eat, my phone rang. it was a.a. calling to tell me she had a free ticket for to see shakespeare's all's well that ends well at the lansburgh theatre. in under an hour i had eaten my dinner, changed back into my clothes, hopped in my car, drove to the theatre and parked, and was seated watching the show.  i must say it was a brilliant way to spend my evening. i laughed and enjoyed witty repartee as only the bard himself can do it.

i love dc!

i got to see marsha mason, who is brilliantly funny and quite good at Shakespeare too!

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