Dare To.....

...suck.  My new motto after my Masters Class at Acting Studio Chicago last night with the dynamic Kimberly Senior as guest director.  Yep, The Cherry Orchard as never done before :-)  I went BIG and all over the map, which, to me, is totally supported by the text and I am a text-driven actor.  I mean, If you can't take risks and make bold, dynamic choices, then this isn't the business for you.  But everything is open to interpretation, isn't it?  Happily, before our scene, Kimberly read the introduction to the play and I distinctly heard her say "there is no right or wrong way."  So....I went with my "right" and embraced it.  It was very scary but exhilarating and working on the scene with Kimberly afterwards, who took it in a whole different direction, was thrilling.  Bless my scene partner, who had like four lines, for putting up with me through our process of rehearsing.  It was one of the most challenging acting exercises I've done.  So nice to s-t-r-e-t-c-h and throw it out there and just see what happens.  After asking a ton of questions about the scene and doing so much homework and making a billion decisions, we just let it all hang out....successful?  Well...I dared to suck, so for me, that's success, perfectionist and anal person that I am.  I'm not trying to impress anybody in class.  I'm just doing the work.  I mean, it is scene STUDY.    I'm an excellent student :-)

Doesn't Rusty look cool, his orange against Yellow Chair?  He's so adorable, I sometimes just want to cry.