An Actor Prepares

Posted by Billy Christopher Maupin

And so begins the "behind the scenes" look at the rehearsal process...from an actor's point of view.

I've been cast in my first mainstage Theatre IV production! In Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter that runs January 25 - February 10. I'm thrilled. So I had this nifty idea.

Theatre IV's touring productions include a post-show Q&A. A lot of the questions that come from the students (and sometimes the parent and teachers as well) are about being an actor. One of my favorite questions...well...it was really a favorite answer...was on my very first tour with Theatre IV. This was when Theatre IV still had an arm (or a branch, if you must) in Cincinnati and I was touring in Paul Deiss' beautiful musical, The Song of Mulan. All five of us were brand new to touring and we were seeming to find our way quite nicely with some of the strange questions that would pop up from time to time. In one of the aforementioned question and answer sessions, a child asked, "How much do you get paid?" After what was probably a very brief pause that seemed much longer, I said "Qurell?" Our cast had no formal way of distributing the questions, but if one came up that was something that one actor generally answered or that one of us thought that individual would be particularly adept at answering, then we would "pass the ball" to them. I got a quick and outwardly congenial sideways glare from Qurell who prompty replied, "We do receive monetary compensation for our work. You there in the blue shirt." She moved so smoothly and swiftly on to the next child. In its telling, the story seems to be somewhat similar to a story that Jackie Jones (nee Goldberg) had told in her questionnaire blog. I'll have to revisit that.

But now I have ventured far from the path! It's so easy to do that when talking about experiences in the theatre!

My point (and I do have one. Ellen. Anybody?) is that this series of entries might be a bit of insight into an actor's process. A single actor- I should emphasize- as each has his or her own method or technique. I should also point out that, contrary to my "clever" title you will find no (at least concious) Stanislavski here. Perhaps very close to The Practical Handbook for the Actor, which is a fantastic (and on the top of my list) book about the craft of acting.

We had a readthrough with the cast, director, and designers earlier this month. The ideas that they are bringing to the table (literally) are awesome! My jaw was dropped more than once by these incredibly vivid and brilliant ideas!

For now, I sign off. Back to reading my script and working on my music. We have our first rehearsal the evening of January 2. Look for more to come!