Memorizing

Part of my learning to become an actor is to memorize something. It may take the form of a monologue or lines from a play said with another person. I do not remember memorizing much during my school years. I do recall things from my early childhood such as:

Red Rover, Red Rover,
let Nancy (I always liked girls) come over

Hickory dickory dock. The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one and done he run
Hickory dickory dock.

It is evident that I must be a natural.

As you can see, nothing serious. But, I did memorize them.

Several years ago, I did learn the first several lines of the poem “The Ballard of East and West” by Rudyard Kipling. I am sure you all have heard the phrase “East is East, and West is West and never the twain shall meet”. This was during the Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev era and I thought it was appropriate to the times.

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Til Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But, there is neither East or West, Border, nor Breed nor Birth
When two strong men come face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!

Back to present. At the beginning of this class, our beautiful and vivacious instructor “A” (I am told you are not supposed to use real names in a blog unless you get the person's permission) asked us to pick out a monologue to learn. She had a number of selections and I picked out one by a German playwright, Alfred Henschke. The first lines are "Ich habe verloren ... Ich habe alles verloren ... Ich bin am Ende, bevor". It would be about 3½ minutes long. To me this was almost like having to learn the Bible by memory. Just kidding. Did not have to learn it in German. "I've lost...I've lost it all....I'm finished before -----" and so forth is the English translation.

I practiced over and over and finally mastered it. My wife got to know it as well as I did. If I forgot a line, she came up with it. So comes the fateful day that I have to recite it in class. And, I have it down cold. We had several practice dialogs prior to this, and “A” gave me some marvelous tips. You should sit and not stand for this monologue, look at a spot or one person in the eye and talk to him, and speak slower. All great tips. Being in front of an audience does not bother me. I have given sales meetings throughout my career and even gave a commencement talk in front of 1800 at OSU Tech in Okmulgee. I am used to looking audience members in the eye. The night of my performance I stood, tried to look at everyone in the class as though I was talking to them personally, hurried through, and promptly blew it. TOTALLY!! That’s why teachers are there, you dummy! She told me that when I change up my style it is easy to forget the lines since you are so used to doing it one way. She’s right. At home, I recite in front of my wife. But, I do stand. NO more. So I get to do it again in about a week. The last meeting of this class.

I am more impressed than ever with actors I see on television series. Especially, when they have to learn their lines in a week, or often times, overnight.

Stay tuned. I have a long way to go. Wait till you hear about saying lines from the play and movie “Proof” with my very pretty and talented 18-year old female partner - while practicing in a back booth at the Boomerang Restaurant.

The Beginning

In June, a movie was filmed in and around Oklahoma including Oklahoma City where I live. I decided to audition for a spot as an extra. I had obtained a copy of the script from a friend and decided to go dressed for the part. The movie, "The Killer Inside Me", took place in 1952 in a small West Texas town. So I dressed as a cowboy from that era or at least what I took to be that era. When I worked my way through the long audition line, I was asked to remove my cowboy hat. Oh Lord, now I had hat hair. Yep - a large line all around my head where the hair had been pushed down by my hat. I knew I was lost. And sure enough I did not get the part. Had to be the hair.

I would have liked to have been in that movie with Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Ned Beatty, Simon Baker, and Bill Pullman. But, no such luck. I did see later that they needed someone to stand in for Bill Pullman. My hair and coloring would probably have worked but my 5'8" height was a little short for his 6'3". So, again shot down. I have recently read that this movie will be in the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010.

However, the experience intrigued me enough to check into acting. I thought that if they will not take me for a non-speaking part perhaps if I learned to act they may pick me for a speaking part. And, now six weeks later after my first acting lesson I am getting close to graduating.

What I go through to obtain some kind of part is what this blog will address. I will need to get an agent, go to auditions, learn lines, learn mannerisms, head shots, and anything else that might earn me a part.

So come along and let's see what happens.