My Regards to Broadway

Ah, Broadway. The light of my life. A few months ago I spent a few days in New York while traveling with a play, and saw three shows in four days. In that one weekend I saw the 2010 Tony winner for Best Musical, and met one of my favorite musical people, Kristin Chenoweth. While in recent weeks I have given up my dream of being a part of that magnificent spectacle, I am still completely enthralled by it, and am more than a little upset by the league's investment decisions.

At the time I was visiting, several shows were about to begin previews before officially opening to the public. Two of these shows were The Scottsboro Boys and Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. The first is a true story about a group of black teenaged boys who were accused of raping to white girls on a train car in 1930's Alabama. The second is about, well, Spiderman. One of my castmates on my trip to NYC was able to see a preview of The Scottsboro Boys, and had nothing but good things to say about it. He downloaded the soundtrack and we spent the next week listening to little else. After amazing reviews On- and Off-Broadway, the show (written by the same men who wrote Chicago and Cabaret) closed after 29 previews and 49 regular performances.

Now let me tell you about the Spiderman Musical. It's been in the making for seven years, and costs $65- million to produce. If you've seen any of the Spiderman movies, you know the plot of this musical. There have been nearly a dozen actors injured; the original director, Julie Taymor, has been replaced; and the opening has been pushed back 6 times to finally open in July, making it ineligible for the 2011 Tony Awards.

What's my point? It seems some of the big-named people on Broadway have their heads in the clouds. A play about a comic book hero is more valuable than a play about real people? I'm sure the musical is pretty good- it was written by U2. I have no problem seeing a musical written by a rock star. I saw Green Day's American Idiot and was almost brought to tears. But, someone needs to take a step back and look at what is happening. While more intimate shows like The Scottsboro Boys are closing after two months of rave reviews, unrealistic spectacles that have brought more skepticism than anticipation are casting a dark shadow over the wonderment of Broadway.

Sidenote: There have been talks of a revival of the Scottsboro Boys. It would open sometime in the next year, just in time to be eligible for the 2012 Tony Awards. Seriously, go listen to the soundtrack. It is wonderful.

Actors Are People, Too

As an actor, I tend to look at movies a little differently than most people. Instead of judging a movie solely on its entertainment value, I take a look at the other elements. The script, the cinematography, the believability. But the main thing I notice above all others is the actors. Not the characters. The actors who play those characters. Because, in case you forgot, the characters are played by real people.

 Sometimes while I'm watching a movie I'm seized with a feeling of awkwardness for those actors on the screen. Why, you ask? Because I think about what it must have been like for them on the set, saying those lines, doing those crazy actions. Most of the things you see in movies would be really odd if they were to happen in real life. So, I've compile a list of just a few movies that have led me to wonder what was going through the actors' minds while filming.

Twilight
I can only imagine writhing on the floor in fake pain while someone pretends to suck on your wrist could get a little awkward. Add that to the campy dialogue, low budget, and entirely unrealistic storyline, and I'm sure at some point the actors wondered what they were getting themselves into.

Phantom of the Opera
While this soundtrack is my go-to sing-in-the-shower music, let me direct your attention to the age of the actors. When this was being filmed,  Emmy Rossum (Christine) was 17, and her love interests were 13 and 17 years older. How would you like to sing a seduction song to someone while being watched by hundreds of extras and a dozen cameras?

X-Men
Umm, she's naked. Like.... naked, and covered in prosthetics. And she's running around fighting people.

Saving Private Ryan
I can just imagine the director's words before shooting the opening scene. "Ok, when I say 'action' we're going to blow piles of dirt into the air, and we need you to run up this hill while we shoot blanks at you out of machine guns. Try to remember your lines."
I think I would call in sick that day.

So, the next time you sit down to watch your favorite movie, think of those actors who bring to life the characters. Think of the words they're saying. Then take it a step further and put yourself in their shoes. Imagine if those characters were real people. Gives you a new perspective of the magic if cinema, doesn't it?