An Animated Bill Murray Sings About Positivity in the Music Video for ‘Happy Street’ by Paul Shaffer
It’s Boom Time For Older Actors But How Realistic Are Their Roles?
At the National Theatre, Improbable are producing Lost Without Words. It’s inspired by the fact that while older actors may have spent a lifetime playing characters in plays, as they move into their 70s and 80s, it sometimes becomes harder to remember the lines. Lost Without Words allows them to go off script and learn new skills in an evening that will be improvised at every performance.
With theatre audiences often containing a significant proportion of retired people, there could be box-office appeal in shows that offer them the chance to see themselves portrayed on stage. But does this current trend represent a move towards greater representation of older people in theatre? It will take far more to bring about lasting change. At a time when theatre is becoming far more aware of its lack of inclusiveness in relation to gender, race and economic and social privilege, ageism is often left out of the diversity conversation. But, as Linden says: “It is undoubtedly a diversity issue. Why squander all that talent and experience when we can use it to offer a different view of older people than the one we so often see?”
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Michael Blakemore: Young Actors Are Neglecting Vocal Training
Director Michael Blakemore has expressed concerns that younger actors are neglecting training in traditional acting skills, such as projection.
Speaking at a rehearsal for the UK premiere of Cy Coleman’s musical The Life, starring Sharon D Clarke, Blakemore said: “A lot of the old Olivier-type skills are being neglected now, like voice and projection. All the things that Maggie Smith and Judi Dench can do so well, they’re not being passed on.”
The Life opens at Southwark Playhouse, London, on March 25.
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Patrick Stewart On Acting
Since Star Trek, Stewart has been fortunate enough to play a massive variety of roles, from Charles Xavier, to playing opposite his close friend Ian McKellen in Waiting For Godot. Right now, he is about to lend his voice to the poop emoji for the upcoming Emoji movie. Certainly no one can accuse Stewart of always playing the same role. Talking to The Independent, Stewart says he always seeks to play someone different, and strives for diversity in his work.
“Diversity and contrast have been important to me from the very start. When I graduated from drama school in Bristol, I didn’t have a job, an agent or anything. It seemed to be everyone else did except me, but after a month of signing on at the Labour Exchange in Dewsbury, I suddenly got an offer out of nowhere. I was introduced to variety from the beginning, so it’s stayed with me. I’ve never been interested in finding a Patrick Stewart persona and simply regurgitating it – and anyway, who’d be interested in Patrick Stewart? Very few people. It’s always for me been about performance and trying to produce the unexpected.”
“I feel incredibly fortunate because aspects of my career, not only did I never anticipate any of it, they weren’t looked for. I was a stage actor and the fact that somebody would employ me to work on the stage was enough for me. I did a bit of TV, but movies, Hollywood, it was la la land and a lot of it was accident – being at UCLA illustrating a friend’s academic lecture on Shakespeare; a producer of Star Trek signed up to the course of lectures. I say to my son who is also an actor, it’s a lottery, it really is. Always do the best work you can do, but don’t expect that it will lead to the next thing.”
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Arpeggio, A Robotic Player Piano System That Flawlessly Plays the Instrument Like a Human
Interview: German Tenor Jonas Kaufmann
The German tenor has spoken with refreshing candour to Britta Schultejans of the German press agency about his comeback struggle and his hopes for the future. He sings Andrea Chenier in Munich this weekend.
Excerpt:
Q: Do you find you have become more cautious since your illness-related break? Are you back?
A: In the first performances, I sang perhaps a little with the handbrake applied – or with more prudence, less spontaneously and less full-throated. But that’s over, and in a piece like this there is no chance to hold back. This is so wild and vocally so challenging. This can not be controlled, thank God.
Q: In June you will make your debut in London as “Otello”. Is that in the back of your mind?
A: I know that this is coming, but not more. I don’t plan to hold back on the “Otello”. There is plenty of time in between.
Q: Are you a bit nervous?
A: Maybe. I was a bit nervous at the “Lohengrin” in Paris because it was the first performance after so long. Since I already had the fear in the back of my mind, whether I could get through the evening or if I would have problems again. I felt I used to be more energised. This is a positive tension, self-evidently. But that soon went away, once I realized it went well. Had I tried it a couple of times and failed, I’d probably have been much, much more nervous.
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3 Steps To Transform Your Acting Career With A Simple Mindset Tweak
1. Start focusing on the solution
Visualize your dream acting career. What does it look like? Sound like? Feel like. Be specific.
2. When you slip, make a conscious course correction
When you find yourself swirling around in a pool of negativity, stop & change your mindset.
3. Be open to receiving help
To transform your acting career, practice living in the solution instead of in the problem.
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