Acting, Schmacting
So, apparently, some actress has dropped out of a play here in New York because she was concerned for her physical safety around co-star Alec Baldwin. In an email to a friend, the actress, Jan Maxwell, wrote that Baldwin put his fist through a wall and has physically and mentally intimidated the rest of the cast and crew.
Actresses. What is their deal? I know it’s in their very nature to be all dramatic and sensitive, but do they have to go and quit a production every time someone puts their fist through a wall? Let me say something to all the so-called actresses out there: Punching holes in walls is acting. At least, it is where I learned the craft. And where was that? A little place called the Yale School of Drama and Drywall Smashing. Not to brag or anything, but the YSDDS is just about the greatest acting/wall punching school in all of America.
I’ll never forget my first day of class when my instructor strode confidently into the room, delivered the stirring monologue from Act I, Scene II, of Hamlet, all the while punching holes through the scenery! After he finished and we had given him a standing ovation, he said to us, “Children, anyone can walk around on a stage spouting memorized lines. But when you learn to speak your lines while smashing holes in the wall, then, truly, you have become an actor.”
Truer words were never spoken. So give Baldwin a break, lady. You just might learn something. And just to toot my horn a little, when I played Joe in Damn Yankees, I punched everything in sight: the walls, the curtains, the stage, my fellow actors, the first four rows of the audience, etc. NYTheatre.com called it “the punchingest show we’ve seen in years! Bravo!”
Oh, Uncoolkids.com has posted some photos and video of Tuesday night’s show. Thanks, Shannon!
