#Shakespeare Acting Classes in NYC

[brynnterpretations]

Where the Roys Went to College

Connor

Connor, the eldest, goes to Harvard; while he doesn’t do exceedingly well in high-school, Logan Roy can really pull strings—especially in an age where "nepotism admittance" isn't going to show up on TikTok videos—and Connor isn’t a bad student. In fact, he scores incredibly high on both the SAT and ACT — it’s just classes where he struggles. He commits with a major in Theatre, Dance, and Media after watching a Shakespeare production, but then takes a gap year after he’s verbally eviscerated by his professor after he tries to add his own creative flair to King Lear. He then returns and gets a B.A. in Anthropology, and on a whim, goes to grad school at Stanford for a Master of Arts in Political Science in his thirties.

Kendall

Kendall, the number-one boy, decides he has to go to Harvard: and, so, he does. Even though his addiction issues started young, he was as academically motivated as Shiv was, even choosing drugs specifically to "enhance" his performance, like Adderall and cocaine. He attends Harvard for a major in Business and a minor in Accounting, joining a fraternity and becoming a member of Delta Sigma Pi, an honors society. He graduates summa cum laude.

Roman

Roman goes to Hampden-Sydney College; despite his posturing of being a "pussy magnet", he honestly just wants to go to a good school and get out of there immediately. To him, no women = no distractions. Still, he only fully applies himself in random bursts of energy, and barely graduates in time considering he skips lectures constantly and mostly just fucks around drinking and going on random joy-rides back up to NYC (because Jesus Christ, nothing happens in Virginia). He majors in Economics & Business and graduates with what he says is a 4.0, but is really a 3.2. Not that it matters, though; he’e a Roy.

Shiv

While Shiv talked a big talk about going to a women's college (because #feminism), she commits to Yale due to wanting to be able to network with both men and women—especially since, during this time, there's a gendered divide in jobs that makes both genders important to talk to. Also, to be completely honest, she wants a bigger dating pool. She didn't want to go to Harvard due to Connor and Kendall already "staking their claim" on it, and also... she wants to feel different, and Yale provides enough of that for her. She majors in Political Science and joins a sorority, though she drops it before initiation, and graduates summa cum laude.

[thirtecnth]

(Luke Thompson) THE RACONTEUR. Please welcome THOMAS “TOMMY” RIPLEY  (HE/HIM) to Huntsville, WV. They are a 32-year-old VISITOR who lives in TOWN. You may see them around working as a THEATRE TEACHER at BOTH HUNTSVILLE SCHOOLS. Poor unfortunate soul. We’ll see if they survive.

GENERAL

FULL NAME: Thomas Alexander Ripley NICKNAMES: Tommy, Tom AGE: 32 years old DATE OF BIRTH: August 4th SEXUALITY: Bisexual STATUS: TBD

APPEARANCE

HEIGHT: 6′ 1″ HAIR: Dark Brown EYE COLOR: Green

BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Elora, Ontario INCOME STATUS: High Class FATHER: Brad Ripley MOTHER: Janet Ripley SIBLINGS: Older Sibling (WC), Younger Siblings (2) (WC) SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Ex-Fiancée (WC) HOBBIES: Acting, Art, Film, TV, Scriptwriting

TRAITS

[+] Creative, Loyal, Comedic [-] Reticent, Soft, Clumsy

STORY POINTS

Born in Cambridge, England but hadn’t stayed for very long. Moved to Elona, Ontario when Thomas was about 6 for his Father’s work. It became a Summer home for the family instead.

Being the new kid was harsh on him. He was sensitive and kids were mean. One day, he got shoved in the mud and a girl came to save him. Victoire Dubois. She became his best friend immediately.

The two were inseparable. She was his safe place and being that his own Father was always working, Thomas grew rather close with her Father as well.

In the Summer, he spent time with his family back in the UK… It was there that he gained his love of Shakespeare and theatre. He was bound and determined to perform.

Around high school was when things began to change. They were in different social groups but they were still as close as could be. What really changed things was when Victoire got in a relationship with Conrad Greene and he felt— bad.

Suddenly, he just saw her differently. Maybe he always had and the realization was finally hitting him.

Either way, it didn’t matter. She wanted to stay and he got accepted to Juilliard in NYC. He would have to leave her anyway. The feelings would stop. Surely.

Every break in the semester, he would visit. Every chance he got, he’d call. The feelings didn’t go away. Still, he found time to connect with the Atkins, a family his own had been friends with since his childhood. They made the US feel more like home.

When he finally got his bachelor’s, he spent a concerning amount of time at home with his folks and well— Vic. He eventually found a teaching job and continued his education there instead. That was enough for now.

He wanted to tell her about his feelings but then her father passed. She was already dating someone too. Maybe he just figured it wouldn’t last. Someone like him? No. Vic would learn that she deserved better.

When she got engaged, the wind was knocked out of him. He was in the wedding, watching it happen, having dreams about stopping it, and he didn’t. He just stood there. She was gone.

He moved back to NYC and became more of a disaster than the first time. He focused a lot more on his career and dated a lot. Slept around a lot more.

Still spent way too much time talking with Victoire but things were going back to normal.

He eventually got engaged. It was a rushed decision but he wanted to move on with his life. She was nice enough. Maybe a little possessive? And jealous? Controlling? So he spoke with Vic less then and only then.

When he visited home to give the good news and ask Vic to be in his wedding— he finally got the news that she was gone. Had been gone for a couple months.

He wanted to go find her. Well, he wanted to try at the very least and figured that being her best friend, it might make a difference. He owed her that.

His fiancée was not okay with this. She gave him the choice to either let Victoire’s husband try to handle it or lose her.

Tommy traced her steps all the way to Huntsville.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

1. Coworkers

2. Friends! (Maybe hookups lol)

3. His Ex-Fiancée

4. His Siblings

5. Theatre Enthusiasts

…More to come, I’m sure!

[unproduciblesmackdown]

speaking of happening to manage to go away to college ft. a shakespeare theater within walking distance & not just student pricing & pwyw but a freshman course taken at/with the theater / company, fun to think about all the nonzero exposure scattered all around to Theatre that i could be interested in & engaged with & respond to the idea of theatremaking big time but i had no context for this lmao like well i assume everyone adores Rehearsal & Playing A Role & Being Backstage or In The Greenroom just doing your own thing & the Idea of more of this, so that i feel neutral/average really

like on the note of no context, started dance classes as a Thing To Do when i was all of three? four? on the basis of [older sibling doing that] b/c like how else do i choose doing something. also did that w/[older sibling is being taught playing piano] + that i like to know how to do many things, like determined speedrunning of an edutainment learn to read computer program when i was three, except playing the piano never caught on for me (it'd be fine if it got to the point a song was muscle memory but i never got the hang of oh this note written here is [whatever it is without me having to count the steps in the staff] & ah that's here [without me having to look / count the keys]) so that was a miserable half hour weekdayly requirement for years. whereas dance was alright, & for a while the performance angle could be kind of fun for rehearsal, onstage, costuming, but didn't really have Roles, & was yknow everyone doing the same part at the same time & taller people in the back if there's rows, what older students did seemed more fun, plus like an annual nyc trip some did which didn't happen by the time it was relevant to me....but when it finally kind of kicked off like oh boy pointe shoes have panache & Make Noise (i suppose ideally you're quieter with it but ideally to me, Clonk Bonk Tap. & why not) but speaking of why not, that this also involved like oh shows that have Scenes & Roles even if this is all dance w/pantomime, got solos, costumes, more acting adjacent, more rehearsing, plenty of fun to me, unforch one of the most fun shows was ballet but in less Classical form & more character styles & i had the parent who could make anything into an ego issue who decided things Ought to be Classical despite knowing i enjoyed the more character style techniques as much or more lol so that was like, oh boy an adagio claire de lune quartet? pinch me. however a few more wins in there, fun getting to do a Cats inspired facepaint leg/armwarmers character that some absolute random audience member apparently liked so much their dad was like hey your number one fan, can we get a pic. which is in fact a great basis of an interaction to me

had a damper on dance class anyways from like lord the increasing gender "i'd rather not wear fitted dance garments" problems & my left knee getting more sensitive & my just more wearied like i don't see Fun Performances down the line, i was never doing this besides as a hobby, i'm gearing up to go to college where i kind of assume i could fail asap but the idea of keeping up with dance classes too is a bit much so what if we just didn't....meanwhile a drop of Drama(tm) in middle school, but just as like cycle of elective courses four per year so very Brief & i don't think was part of 6th grade's & yknow, middle school. but it was really fun to me still, not sure what all i even learned lol & yet. & like one time it was like uhh write your own scenes / play & Writing Original Stuff has never been a thing for me & is not only unrewarding but yknow difficult like i don't know. writing Vocab Sentences in like first grade i started to get annoyed at how contrived it felt & the teacher complained the sentences were too simple like clearly the context of what the word means is there but i'm sick of making up narrative beats & character arcs that have fuckall to do with me understanding what a bleacher is, but when i decided to Theme them on a computer game i enjoyed then i could rock n roll lol....anyway so Writing Material just became throwing preexisting characters in a bin & just being silly making jokes / stringing some fun plot along w/the acquaintances in the group assigned to be making this, & then Performing it was a high time i was like i love to do fun comedic stuff & be a villain, throwback to fourth grade and doing scenes from julius caesar like yaayyy nongendered casting b/c all the roles are guys anyway & i'm technically a villain which i enjoyyy, but i'm also like i wish anyone told me anything at all about acting techniques, i don't know what i'm doing beyond [talk loud enough]....feedback on the middle school class homemade performance was that nobody really knew what was supposed to be going on while watching it lmao like well that's fine b/c i'm not interested in writing fuckall, could've stood to have feedback that Enjoying Performing Onstage even that goofaroundly wasn't just expriencing the universal baseline lol ah well. my useful personalized feedback from middle school besides that as ever it was great that i got good grades & kept my head down (reading) was the librarian saying nobody checked out rebecca but i might like it, i did have fun & it's like oh nice when there's pleasant nontransactional gestures For No Reason i.e. you didn't even have to "earn" them, i was just getting to hang out reading in the library at the end of the school day. fond memory still like ah being readily handed one of the crushed oreos & gummy worm cups at the end of some early elementary school year Just Because i was there, wasn't that moved by like figurative pats on the head for good grades or what have you when i understood the conditionality of that just fine

in college like Introducing That Shakespeare Theatre like i sure did respond to getting to be up close & personal w/some professional actors & acting & plays, great time attending....kinda was tempted to get involved in the school theatre going on w/classes or productions but at this point it was like, i don't want my parents to be involved in anything at all ideally but especially not something i do suspect i'd genuinely enjoy & care about, plus it was like uh oh there'll be all these ppl older than me with even experience doing plays in high school & stuff :/ but another real damper was being around age peers incl my roommate who still Also had theatre experience & interest much more established & would be telling me like oh you're not a tenor if you're a man or oh you're not doing xyz right that way (based on their own perspective doing a whole other activity) like i love info & tips sure but not people feeling In Charge of me or even giving the awkward biting back genuine feedback wow nice good lmao....knowing some theatre people with theatre knowledge a bit helpful like oh these are some bway shows / cast recordings from like, the '00s & on, i've heard of Some of these, i've seen some macys parade show names....still just lacking context like what the hell Is broadway, just talked about like gonna take a while like it's this location & this technical capacity based venue designation & here's further context yet. still never really Did Theatre but seemed like a fun thing of Course ppl would be interested in, but luckily some Experiencing Performances, saw live stage shows in various mediums at various levels of professionality now & then, in retrospect like oh i think i saw some bway stuff Touring a few times, i just had no idea that was a ting, nobody explained shit lmao. disinterested parents who just kind of expected you to magically Pick Things Up by virtue of existing, but also don't ambiently pick up the things i don't want you to know about, you can bet it all always worked out great....parents at least a Bit interested in theatre / specific shows / recordings was certainly handy like oh okay not everyone would happen to be exposed to some shows even thusly, sure, but again like with no context / further info or really further way to engage with that....also backing off like i ripped off my siblings' pastime when i was three re: dance classes, just b/c their doing lively musical productions in high school seems super fun like i can't Also rip them off on that one (plus even like yeah family / parental proximity & attendance like eugh....)

like that the How Do You Even Get Context like all the time i'd be amazed if stuff i read or watched that i super enjoyed was like Also something i could find in the outside world, other people who liked it, even just the ability to procure it, like wow magical b/c yknow everything is just what i experienced by myself at home w/no significant onlineness yet or way to travel anywhere else. just pouncing on proximate enough things like queer & have to go to church? hell yeah tenor harmonies time & it's always Be Quieter Be Quieter lol well everyone else step it up, there's like 5x as many sopranos with 5x the rehearsal time going over The Melody....but seriously folks. only showing up late for an online breakout popular Current Bway Musical like oh hey btw what Is any of this? & still don't much know what goes on but at least a little more than i did for sure, plus i just don't keep my finger on the pulse of fuckall, i'm not so much more likely to check out musicals for the sake of being musicals so much more than i do movies b/c they're movies, maybe a little more likely though sure lol....& i just have more of that context like ohhh yeah i did super big time like doing live performance & theatremaking stuff the ways i got to / related activities, i just figured like well me & everyone else having the exact same response i'm sure. or same with enjoying taking it in, i suppose

which nowadays it's still like bummer i Never took in any acting technique just b/c it annoys me not to have anything besides idk making it up, also bummer idk how to sing any better than [also making it up] like no technique known barely in the same way, & i just like knowing things, i'd value knowing it just for singing to myself when nobody's around & i like to do a little performing too when pertinent, e.g. more than survive in the kitchen & i'm doing the choreography lol....utterly abstract though like i love to See people acting the crap out of acting & be like oh shit damn wowww, don't Really feel like ah actor au me is just over there....not even sure like ah you can be backstage in other ways, like i do not know how lol plus likewise i just don't think it's gonna come up yknow like we'll cross bridges when we come to them, who knows in this life. but i'm having the highest time ever as Audience, not live & in person but online & lively, like oh fuck yes finally digging into the relatively nicher more specific theatre live performace acting singing musicaling stuff i'd more specifically enjoy like pointing hands to head yelling are you seeing thising getting everything that i want so i do feel like it's worked out well. maybe low level for randos acting / singing instructing just cuz i like to Know & have the Option to wrangle playing around w/effects one can engage with but in the meantime like i Have always cherished proximity & audienceship so. fr Yayyy 💖

[vatt-world]

hi

do the scenes flow Opening Image – Bill's Apartment (Morning) Scene: Bill is getting ready for his day job as a truck driver. Bill prepares for the day, reflecting on the difficulty of balancing his work and acting aspirations.

Parkour Run (Day) Scene: Bill navigates a parkour run through the city. Showcasing his agility and determination, he races through the streets, symbolic of his constant hustle.

Subway Train – Day Scene: Bill rides the subway toward New York City. While sitting, Bill mentally prepares for the day, either practicing lines or zoning out to the rhythm of the train.

Phone Call from Boss (Subway – Day) Scene: Bill receives a call from his boss, interrupting his focus on acting. Reluctantly, Bill checks his phone and realizes he must shift his attention to his day job.

Shakespeare Monologue – Parked Truck Scene: Bill practices a Shakespeare monologue in his parked truck. Attempting to stay connected to his acting dreams, Bill is cut off by a reminder from his boss to focus on work.

Street – Day Scene: Bill talks with a co-worker about dating while carrying a box. Suddenly, a passerby shoves Bill, highlighting his frustration with daily obstacles.

Ignoring Pat's Call (Street – Day) Scene: Bill receives a call from Pat while rushing to an audition but ignores it. Determined to get there on time, Bill prioritizes his career over social connections.

Racing Through the City (Street – Day) Scene: Bill rushes through the crowded streets, dodging pedestrians. As he narrowly avoids obstacles, the tension of making it to his audition mounts.

Audition – Day Scene: Bill auditions but flops. He struggles to make an impression on the casting director, further emphasizing his ongoing difficulties in the acting world.

Meeting Joe – Day Scene: Bill meets Joe, an old friend. Joe offers a glimmer of hope by mentioning an indie role, injecting some optimism into Bill’s journey.

Times Square Joy – Day Scene: Bill dances in Times Square, enjoying a brief moment of freedom. In a spontaneous burst of joy, Bill momentarily escapes his worries.

Hit by a Ball – Times Square – Day Scene: Lost in thought, Bill gets hit by a ball, snapping him back to reality. This leads to a brief altercation, reflecting the unpredictability of his daily life.

Bill Trains Martial Arts – Dojo – Day Scene: Bill trains at the dojo. This showcases his discipline and the physical preparation he undertakes to stay balanced.

Bill and Roommate Bond – Night Scene: Bill and his roommate share a conversation about auditions and dreams. They reflect on their frustrations and ambitions, providing an emotional anchor in Bill’s journey.

Bill Visits Father – Night Scene: Bill visits his father, and they share a quiet moment. As they watch a TV show together, Bill admires the host, who is also a producer, and his father mentions an open call audition at the host’s production company. Bill’s excitement grows, seeing a new opportunity on the horizon.

Second Audition – Day (Montage) Scene: A montage of Bill auditioning at different offices. Show Bill's relentless pursuit of acting, facing multiple rejections or brief glimpses of success.

Father Encourages Bill Scene: Bill uploads a video for the open call. With renewed motivation, Bill takes his father's advice and submits a video audition, hoping this could be his big break.

Catalyst (Scenes 12-15)

Scene 13: Bill Meets Amy (Street/NYC Café – Day)

Bill reconnects with Amy, an old friend from acting class, during a chance encounter. Scene 14: Amy and Bill Discuss the Hindi Musical (Street/Café – Day)

Amy explains her Hindi musical project, and Bill eagerly offers to help, hoping this opportunity will advance his acting and music career. Scene 15: Bill Trains Martial Arts (Dojo – Day)

Already included from previous scenes. Debate (Scenes 16-25) Scene 16: Roommate’s Offer (Bill’s Apartment – Night)

Bill’s roommate suggests he quit acting and join the advertising industry for a more stable future. Scene 17: Bill at a Party (Night – Bar/Apartment)

Bill attends a party with a co-worker, trying to unwind and forget about his struggles. Scene 18: Brief Co-Worker Conversation (Night – at the Party)

Bill has a lighthearted conversation with a co-worker at the party, momentarily forgetting his stress. Scene 19: Bill Watches TV, Fantasizing About Being on a Popular Talk Show (Bill's Apartment – Night)

At home, Bill watches a late-night talk show, daydreaming about his potential future as a guest. Scene 20: Father’s Obsession (Bill’s Family Home – Day)

Bill visits his family home, where his father reveals an obsession with writing letters to a powerful figure from the past.

Break into Two (25-30) Break into Two (Scenes 25-30) Scene 25: Anita’s Introduction – University Park – Day Anita, with her bright energy, is introduced as she vlogs at University Park, showcasing her creativity and vibrant personality.

Scene 26: Bill and Anita Meet at Brooklyn Promenade – Day (Win) Bill meets Anita at Brooklyn Promenade.

Scene 27: Bill’s Boss Berates Him – Day (Setback) At work, Bill’s boss harshly criticizes him for not showing up for work and assigns him a task ..

Scene 28: Bill Discusses the Producer with His Roommate – Apartment – Day Bill opens up to his roommate about the producer potentially liking his viral monologue.

Scene 29: Quiet Meal with Father – Night (Win) Bill sits down to dinner with his father, who offers words of encouragement and advice. This win helps to balance the setbacks Bill is experiencing in his career and work life.

Scene 30: Bill Finds Business Documents – Night (Setback) Late at night, Bill stumbles upon old business documents tied to his father’s financial troubles. He discovers a link to Wayne, a former business partner, adding stress and conflict to his life.

Fun and Games (Scenes 30-50) Scene 31: The Producer Makes Bill's Monologue Viral (Win) Bill finds out that his funny monologue has gone viral thanks to the producer, marking a small win in his acting career and boosting his confidence.

Scene 32: Bill Trains Martial Arts – Dojo – Day (Win) Bill practices martial arts at the dojo, focusing intensely and feeling a sense of achievement as he sharpens his skills.

Scene 33: Bill and Roommate Casual Conversation – Apartment – Day Bill and his roommate have a lighthearted conversation about their lives and future ambitions, providing a moment of camaraderie and support.

Scene 34: Bill Confides in Roommate – Apartment – Night (Help Offered) Later that night, Bill opens up about his career struggles, and his roommate offers him some advice and encouragement, helping Bill find some clarity.

Scene 35: Casual Conversation with Co-Worker – Day (Win) Bill has a light conversation with a co-worker about his acting journey. The co-worker offers a different perspective, which gives Bill a slight boost of motivation.

Scene 36: Bill Drives His Truck – Day (Setback) While driving his truck, Bill’s thoughts drift toward his acting career and life choices, and he begins to feel the weight of his decisions.

Scene 37: Confronting the Wealthy Figure – Day (Setback) Bill visits the wealthy man his mother has been writing to, only to realize this man isn’t interested in helping. The confrontation shatters Bill’s self-image and deepens his frustration.

Scene 38: First Fight with Jack – Dojo – Day (Setback) At the dojo, Bill spars with Jack and is outmatched. Jack easily defeats him, bruising Bill’s ego and making him question his abilities.

Scene 40: Mantra from Master Kang – Dojo – Day (Win) After the fight with Jack, Master Kang gives Bill a mantra, offering him guidance on developing focus and discipline, providing a new tool for Bill’s journey.

Scene 41: Riverside Reflection – Riverside Park – Day (Mixed) Bill and Pat sit by the riverside, reflecting on their frustrations with the acting industry. It’s a contemplative moment where Bill feels both hopeful and doubtful about the future.

Scene 42: Bill Practices the Mantra – Night (Win, but with Doubt) At night, Bill tries to meditate with the mantra from Master Kang, feeling some clarity .he discovers fire immunity and feeling powerful while reciting mantra…

Scene 43: Roommate Helps Bill Prepare for Audition – Apartment – Day (Support) Bill’s roommate helps him rehearse for an upcoming audition, offering feedback and much-needed encouragement to help him prepare.

Scene 44: Bill and Amy Catch Up – Coffee Shop – Day (Win) Bill meets Amy at a cozy coffee shop. They catch up on their lives, and their conversation provides Bill with a sense of support and possibility.

Scene 45: Bill Shows Amy the Theater – Small Theater – Day (Win) Bill takes Amy to a small theater where he’s planning to perform his solo show.

Scene 46: Bill Fired After Gun Incident – Boss’s Office – Day (Setback) Bill is called into his boss’s office and gets fired after a gun incident.

Scene 47: Drowning Sorrows at the Bar – Night (Setback) Bill sits alone in a dimly lit bar, nursing a drink and drowning in the weight of his failed auditions, breakup, and now job loss.

Scene 48: Street Fight – Night (Setback) As Bill heads home from the bar, a confrontation with a group of strangers turns into a fight.

Scene 49: Bill Returns Home Battered – Night (Mixed) Bill returns home, bruised and battered from the street fight.

Scene 50: Anita and Bill Discuss Careers – Café – Day (Setback) Bill and Anita meet in a café to discuss their careers.

Midpoint (Scene 50) – Significant Loss Scene 50: Anita Announces She's Moving to Europe Anita reveals to Bill that she is moving to Europe for a new opportunity.

Bill’s Injury and Anita Pulls Away – Dojo – Day (Setback) Determined to redeem himself, Bill challenges Jack to another sparring match at the dojo.

Bill Prepares for Solo Show – Theater – Night (Win) Despite his injury, Bill refuses to give up and pushes forward with preparations for his solo show.

Bad Guys Close In (Scenes 52-65) Scene 52: Bill’s Obsession – Apartment – Night (Transition Point) Bill becomes obsessed with mastering his newfound fire immunity and perfecting the mantra given to him by Master Kang.

Scene 53: Bill Reflects on Injury and Anita’s Distance – Apartment – Night (Personal Consequences) Alone in his apartment, Bill reflects on the growing emotional distance between him and Anita.

Scene 55: Bill Tells His Friend About the Invitation – Apartment – Day Excited about the opportunity to meet his idol (possibly the producer from earlier), Bill shares the news with his friend.

All Is Lost (Scene 65) This scene represents a pivotal moment when Bill hits rock bottom, and everything he’s worked for seems lost.

Break into Three (Scenes 67-70) Scene 67: Bill Intensifies Training – Dojo – Night Bill throws himself into rigorous training at the dojo, pushing his body and mind to their limits.

Scene 68: Bill’s Father Becomes Seriously Ill – Family Home – Day (Setback) Bill's father falls seriously ill, forcing Bill to take on the responsibility of caring for him full-time.

Scene 69: Police Investigate Bill – Day (Setback) The police start investigating Bill’s potential connection to recent violent events.

Scene 70: Roommate Offers Help Again – Apartment – Night (Emotional Support) Bill’s roommate offers emotional support, encouraging Bill not to handle everything by himself.

Finale (Scenes 70-75) – Personal and External Showdown Scene 71: Bill Confronts Wayne – Public Humiliation – Day Determined to expose Wayne’s past betrayal, Bill publicly confronts him. Scene 72: Bill is Captured by Wayne's Men – Abandoned Warehouse – Day (Showdown) Bill is assaulted and burnt alive by Wayne’s men in an attempt to silence him.

Scene 73: Rooftop Confrontation with Wayne – Day Bill confronts Wayne on a rooftop, seeking justice for his father.

Scene 74: Talk Show Opportunity – Talk Show Studio – Day Bill is invited to the talk show of the producer he has admired all his life.

Resolution Scene 75: Bill with Amy – Promenade – Night (Support System Solidified) Bill meets Amy at the promenade, and they share a moment of reflection.

Scene 76: Bill Visits His Father – Family Home – Day (Resolution) Bill excitedly visits his father to share the news of his success and how far he has come.

Scene 77: Bill Thanks Master Kang – Dojo – Day (Closure) Bill returns to the dojo to thank Master Kang for his guidance throughout his journey.

[delossbrown]

Shakespeare Auditions in NYC: A Journey into Timeless Theater

New York City, the heart of American theater, has always been a magnet for aspiring actors. Of the many auditions held there, Shakespearean auditions are particularly special. Whether you're an experienced actor or a beginner trying out for a Shakespearean role, the experience of auditioning in NYC can be both thrilling and intimidating.

Why Shakespeare?

Shakespeare's works are the cornerstone of theater. His plays explore the depths of human emotion, societal norms, and the complexities of life, making them timeless. For actors, mastering Shakespeare is a rite of passage. Auditioning for a Shakespeare play is more than just getting a role; it's about honing your craft and demonstrating your ability to handle complex material.

Preparing for a Shakespeare Audition

Understanding the Text: Shakespeare’s language can be challenging, but it’s essential to grasp the meaning behind every word. Spend time with the text, explore different interpretations, and understand the context of your monologue or scene.

Voice and Diction: The clarity of speech is crucial in Shakespearean plays. Work on your diction, and ensure you can deliver the lines with the appropriate rhythm and emphasis. Remember, Shakespeare wrote in iambic pentameter, and understanding this rhythm can help bring your performance to life.

Character Study: Shakespeare's characters are multi-dimensional. Dive deep into your character’s motivations, background, and relationships with other characters. Whether you're playing a tragic hero or a comedic sidekick, understanding your character's journey is key to a powerful audition.

Embrace the Fear: Auditions can be nerve-wracking, especially when dealing with Shakespeare. Embrace your nerves and use them to fuel your performance. Remember, even the most seasoned actors feel the pressure during auditions.

The NYC Audition Scene

New York City is home to countless theater companies, many of which specialize in Shakespearean productions. Whether it's a traditional staging of "Hamlet" or a modern adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet," opportunities abound for actors to showcase their talents.

Training with the Best

For those serious about improving their Shakespearean acting skills, Deloss Brown offers a premier training experience. His classes focus on understanding the text, voice training, and character development, ensuring that actors are well-prepared for any Shakespearean audition.

Brown’s approach combines classical techniques with modern insights, helping actors connect with Shakespeare’s language and themes on a deeper level.

Conclusion

Shakespeare Auditions NYC is a challenging yet rewarding experience. It requires dedication, preparation, and a passion for the craft. With the right approach and training, actors can not only land roles but also develop a profound appreciation for Shakespeare’s timeless works.

[delossbrownnyc-blog]

Attend the best Shakespeare Acting Classes in NYC at an Affordable Price

Looking for the best Shakespeare Acting classes in NYC. Visit Deloss Brown and attend the best sample Shakespeare acting classes in New York City. Our professionals will help you to enhance your acting skills.

[delossbrowns-blog]

Are you passionate about acting? Go for Shakespeare Acting classes and make your career in Acting. Call us to get more details of Shakespeare Acting classes and workshop.  More information reach out our website.

[thelittlestcheshire]

Is that HAILEY CHESHIRE “CHES” ELSWOOD? Wow, they do look a lot like KATHERINE MCNAMARA. I hear SHE is an EIGHTEEN year old FRESHMEN who is studying ENGLISH at Luxor University. Word is they are an ARISTOCRAT student. You should watch out because they can be IMPULSIVE and STUBBORN, but on the bright side they can also be ENERGETIC and LOYAL. Ultimately, you’ll get to see it all for yourself.

the basics //

Full Name: Hailey Cheshire “Ches” Elswood

Preferred Name: Ches Elswood

Age: 18

Birthday: July 19th

Zodiac: Cancer

Gender & Pronouns: Woman (She/Hers)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Occupation: Youtuber (two channels, a theme park history channel that uploads once a month (documentary style) and a DIY channel she shares with a friend she posts on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month)

Relationship Status: In a Relationship with Elliot Mills

Place of Birth: Paris, France

Hometown: Manhattan, New York, New York

Country of Citizenship: United States and France [dual citizenship]

Languages Spoken: French (first), English, Latin, Portuguese, and she’s learning Norwegian (she doesn’t think it’s enough to count yet) and she just started Russian

deeper dive //

Hobbies and Talents:

 ♡ Piano

 ♡ Archery

 ♡ Acting

 ♡ Singing (Voice Claim: Katherine McNamara (updated - spring 2021))

 ♡ Reading

 ♡ Forgeries

 ♡ Lockpicking

 ♡ DIYS (especially involving resin)

 ♡ Writing (not creatively though, essays, Defunctworld scripts)

 ♡ Video Creation

Favorites:

♡ Color: Pink (the watermelon paint color)

♡ Food: Cheap Chinese Food

♡ Animal: Tigers

♡ Drink: Cherry Cola

♡ Flower: Lilies

♡ Book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

♡ Holiday: Halloween (costumes) or Christmas (gift giving)

♡ Movie: The Shining

♡ Scent: Vanilla Bean

♡ Place: Her family's flat in Paris

♡ Quote:

“and though she be but little, she is fierce” - William Shakespeare

Bêtes Noires:

♡ Color: Dijon

♡ Food: Sushi (a lot of it has to do with that tuna allergy though)

♡ Animal: Domestic Cats, she can tolerate them but they’re one of the few animals she wouldn’t seek out.

♡ Drink: Coffee (it’s a key reason why she drinks it when she’s panicking, because who has time to panic when you’re too busy being offended by what you’re drinking? Not Ches.)

♡ Flower: Roses (she loathes them, dislike is an understatement)

♡ Book: The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo

♡ Holiday: Her birthday

♡ Movie: The Notebook

♡ Scent: Roses

♡ Place: Touristy Locations, she hates being around tourists ok

health //  

Conditions:

           ♡ Borderline Personality Disorder

           ♡ PTSD

Allergies: Severe Allergy to the Perciformes family of fish (tuna, mackrel, perch , and bass). Shellfish and salmoniformes (Salmon and Trout) are fine, but she won’t try any other kinds of fish just in case.

Sleeping Habits: Ches doesn’t sleep well at all, she has nightmares more often than not, and it’s rare for her to get more than a couple of hours of sleep.

Exercise Habits: While she occasionally skips leg day, Ches exercises daily because she needs to be in good shape for archery. Usually, she goes for boxing (with a dummy, not other people) but she likes hiking a lot as well.

Addictions: Alcohol, although Ches is currently in recovery

Drug Use: Occasional weed (edibles), but for the most part she avoids drugs

Alcohol Use: Ches used to drink multiple times of day daily, but now she doesn’t drink at all because she’s in recovery (attending NA and therapy) and has quit.

personality //  

MBTI: ENFP

Enneagram: 7w8 (The Enthusiast with The Challenger wing)

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral, occasionally bordering on Chaotic Good

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Percy Jackson Parent: Aphrodite

Pokémon Type: Ghost

Pokémon Subtype: Electric

Winx: Light

appearance //

Height:  5′3 ½” (not at fc height)

Tattoos: One, Two, Three

Scars: None

Piercings: None

Hair:  Red (naturally). Ches dyes her hair from time to time so she has a current hair color thing in her sidebar (you may have to scroll).

Eyes: Green

Fashion:

♡ link to ches’s closet

♡ link to ches’s shoes

life at luxor //  

Major:

♡ English

Clubs and Activities:

♡ Archery Club

♡ Theater (Actress)

♡ Concert Band (Piano)

♡ National Honor Society

fun facts //  

♡ Ches is a former Carnifex student who came over to Luxor during the merge. You can see everything that she’s been up to during her time in the rp on her timeline page.

♡ Ches has a twin brother named Jonah who isn’t at Luxor.

♡ The Elswoods are rich. Top 25 Forbes list, 50+ Billion Networth levels of rich. In turn Ches really doesn’t think that much about money, and how much it actually means to other people.

♡ Valedictorian of Luxor Academy’s 2020 Class, she turned down Columbia’s English program to attend Luxor University.

♡ She doesn’t use her first name, ever. She doesn’t like it, and there’s a fairly high chance of her just not acknowledging you if you call her Hailey.

♡ She’s a bit of a closet nerd - if you look under her bed she has a chest of comic books, although she has NO idea how they got there if you ask her.  Do not question the R2-D2 shaped thing covered by a tarp in her closet. She also doesn’t know where that came from.

♡ Extremely restless, if you want her to sit still during a movie you better give her something to do simultaneously.

♡ Her purse is kinda like Mary Poppins bag, odds are she has what you’re looking for in it. She almost always has her multi-tool on her. She also tends to carry around a single shot nerf gun, don’t ask.

♡ She got her first tattoo while she was away from school, using a forged note of parental consent in New Jersey. (The not fragile one, the arrow was added later).

♡ She has way too many siblings, you can learn about them on her family page. (She has one more not listed, a still born half brother named Julien she learned about via her mother’s diaries. The rest of the children (excluding Emmett) are unaware.)

♡ Loves animals, a lot, sometimes to a reckless extent. She would try to feed piranhas, she does try to climb into enclosures with venomous snakes. She would steal a dog (as would her twin brother, so apparently they have more in common than they realize).

♡ If Ches makes a threat, take it with a grain of salt. Yes, she owns a blowtorch, no she won’t set you on fire even if she lights it in your direction. Your muse might not always know that - depending on how much time they’ve spent with her, but ooc just remember her bark is way worse than her bite.

♡ Ches has a Porsche that she got from her father for graduating at the top of her class. Although it’s currently not travelling with her because the cost of shipping a car is insane. Anytime she’s in Lake George though, this is her baby. (She also owns a Mercedes, which was her first car).

♡ I’m always willing to discuss my muses, so feel free to hit me up if you have any questions at any point.

a tl;dr history  //  

♡ Ches’s mother was murdered on her 8th birthday in front of her

♡ She was raised by her oldest brother, Logan, and is NOT close to her father really. She also helped raise her younger sisters and is very protective of them.

♡ The Elswood she is closest to is Emmett. He’s a big part of why she’s even here, as she’d followed him to Carnifex.

♡ Her first real love was James (an npc). They dated Freshman-Sophomore years. It wasn’t a healthy relationship, and it started Ches’s messy af relationship and fwbs pattern as she didn’t want to go through that again.

♡ Ches left Luxor in October of 2019 because her oldest brother (Logan), overdosed. He’s alive and doing well now, but she stayed in NYC until March 2020 in order to take care of things here.

♡ I strongly recommend skimming Ches’s timeline page before interacting with her. These are just the bare minimum basics, and there’s more things your muse may know on there.

wanted connections //  

♡ Exes (when Ches dates it’s not for long, but she’s definitely the type to be like ���I’ll go out with you” if asked and then... dump you if she thinks she’s getting too attached. So her exes are either on good terms, neutral terms, or they probably dislike her a lot)

♡  Former friends with benefits (while Ches is no longer taking on new ones because of Elliot, I’m always willing to headcanon past things!)

♡  Friends (I am weak af for a good friendship plot, never be afraid to be like “hey can our muses be friends” the answer is legit always yes)

♡ Enemies (Ches can... be a lot so it’s not unlikely she’s pissed people off ok)

♡ NA Sponsor (I think it'd be beneficial for Ches to have a sponsor, someone she respects and trusts but not someone with a close emotional attachment. I'd prefer if the muse has been sober for two+ years, but we can probably find a middle ground.)

♡ Ex Friends (People used to be friends with but no longer is on good terms with, either as an aftermath of her addiction, the aftermath of her recovery when that starts, them just growing apart, etc etc)

[fiibonacci]

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME Donatello Hamato

NICKNAME(S) Donnie, Dee, Purple, Don, Donald

ALIAS(ES) Dynamite Don, Othello Von Ryan, Don Tron

TITLE Purple Knight, Purple Rain

OCCUPATION Freelance technician/mad scientist

AGE 19

DATE OF BIRTH August 25th, 2001

NATIONALITY American 

GENDER & PRONOUNS Cis man, he/him

ORIENTATION Biromantic asexual

RELIGION None

THREAT LEVEL Dangerous

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

FACE CLAIM Kazuma Mitchell

HEIGHT 6'1" (bc I don't buy the canon heights unless NYC is full of living troll dolls, and u can fight me on that)

EYE COLOUR Brown 

HAIR COLOUR + STYLE Black

DOMINANT HAND Right-handed

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES Tall, always wearing goggles/a fiberglass backpack, and has a screen strapped to his arm 

ACCENT + INTENSITY Nerdy New Yorker + mild

TATTOO(S) He wears glittery purple temporary tattoos shaped like pixels all over his body bc he’s a dork

SCAR(S) N/a

PIERCING(S) N/a

GLASSES Has a pair of thick, square glasses, but chooses to wear contacts or just walk around blindly

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

HOMETOWN ?

CURRENT RESIDENCE Sparkwood, VA

LANGUAGE(S) English, some ASL

SOCIAL CLASS Middle class

BASIC EDUCATION Home-schooled through high school

COLLEGE EDUCATION Taking a gap year before his junior year of college

DEGREE(S) Majoring in mechanical engineering, minoring in computer science

PARENT #1 Unknown mother

PARENT #2 Baron Draxum-- original foster father to all four boys. Did not care for their welfare, merely their perceived usefulness. Lost custody of them after an explosion in his lab that they were involved in. Splinter has a restraining order filed against him because he fears what the man would do if he found the boys again

PARENT #3 Splinter-- adoptive father. Beloved by all four boys and better at parenting than Draxum, but not well-equipped to be a father. Doesn't understand just how much his sons crave his time and attention. Donnie calls him Papa

SHIP N/a

SIBLING(S) April (21), Raph (20), Leon (19), Michael (18)

CHILD(REN) S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N., his robot son. An adaptive AI created by Donnie himself, and tampered with by his brothers.  Speaks like a surfer dude and is irreverent and sarcastic like his father

PET(S) N/a

ADOPTED? Yes

RAP SHEET? Arrested once for being a public nuisance

PRISON TIME? N/a

PERSONALITY INFORMATION

JUNG TYPE INTJ

SUBTYPE Thinking

ENNEATYPE 1W2-SO (Level 6)

MORAL ALIGNMENT Chaotic neutral

TEMPERAMENT Melancholic

ANGER Judgemental

SCHEMATA Perfectionism/social alienation

INTELLIGENCE TYPE Logical

NEURODIVERGENCE(S) ADHD

VICES + HABITS

SMOKES? No

DRINKS? Rarely 

DRUGS? No

VIOLENT? Only when necessary (note: what he deems necessary is not always actually necessary)

ADDICTION(S)? Caffeine

SELF-DESTRUCTIVE? Mildly

HABIT(S) Pulling out his phone when bored, no matter the situation; over-analyzing; showing people up

HOBBIES Dancing, inventing, skateboarding, video games

LIKES Science, technology, disco balls, pizza, skateboarding, his phone, experimental learning, learning, his brothers, the colour purple, satin, shakespeare, dancing, acting, video games, his baby (the Turtle Tank), hoodies, fashion, Shelldon, creating songs for mnemonic memorization

DISLIKES Being shown up, magic/fantasy, Leo’s puns, Leo (in a brotherly way), the wilderness, not having his tech, pineapples combined with ham, Mikey stealing everything from him

TIC(S) Vocalizes reactions/actions

OBSESSION(S) Jupiter Jim, Lou Jitsu, science

COMPULSION(S) Will start hitting things if they stop working and he can’t get it to work, claws his nails down his face when frustrated, denies guilt/blame every single time

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

ASTROLOGICAL SIGN Virgo

VICE Pride

VIRTUE Diligence

ELEMENT Fire

MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE Mock turtle

ANIMAL Spiny soft-shell turtle

[scouthearted]

How To See Theatre Cheap!!

What’s the number one complaint I see about theatre from people both into it and who want to get into it but haven’t yet? It’s the price. I get a lot of friends who don’t understand how I can afford to see so much theatre, or who just assume I’m personally rich. Really, being a third year theatre student has just granted me a lot of knowledge about the tips and tricks on how to engage with this art form for cheap... and sometimes even free.

Bootlegs are the obvious choice that I know most people know about as far as cheap and accessible theatre goes. However, even if you wanna say “fuck you” to rich producers, know that bootlegs put the theater itself at risk, and can impose huge fines on them, which can bankrupt smaller theaters... just because they didn’t catch someone filming! Because of this, it’s not the most ethical choice and it’s especially bad if you want more theatre to be accessible. I’m choosing to keep this masterlist bootleg-free for that reason, and while I encourage people to add on their own tips and tricks, I ask that they also follow that rule!

Note for the super broke: tips and tricks that are 100% free are in bold for quick reference! Bolded but starred are those that may be free, or are free with caveats.

SEE THEATRE IN PERSON:

Usher. Contact your local community and small professional theatres and see if they are looking for volunteers. Many times, those that need volunteer ushers allow them to see the show for free! Ushering is easy and a good opportunity to get to know other theatre fans. Keep in mind: there may be a dress code or physical requirement for the job.

Shakespeare in the Park. TONS of cities across the world do this... if you don’t see your city on here, that’s not a dealbreaker either, as my city is going into its 26th year of SitP and still isn’t on the list. It’s a great chance to see Shakespeare performed, an absolutely different experience than reading Shakespeare in high school English.

High school productions. Often, these are a lot better than you might expect, especially if you are near a performing arts high school or just a school with a good theatre department. High schools often do big-name shows, usually for $10 or less per ticket!

College productions. They operate similarly to high schools, but with (usually) a larger budget and better talent pool. They may also be more experimental or obscure in their season selection. I recommend attending shows at schools that have a theatre major, as those productions often are classified as “pre-professional...” think professional theatre with lower prices, often under $15 a ticket.

Hamilton lottery. If you live in or relatively near NYC, London, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, or San Francisco, you can and should enter the lottery to win two $10 tickets. You can enter every single day, and I’ve personally known people who have won, so the chances may not be as small as you think!

Pay What You Want Theatre Nights*. Often, community and smaller professional theaters will have nights where you can contribute as much or as little as you choose (some theatres have lower limits, but not all). These nights are often ones that aren’t as popular for audiences, such as Wednesday or Thursday, but they’re a great way to see things cheap.

Improv class graduation performances. Improv classes are becoming a huge thing among people who want to socialize without drinking. Often, these classes will conclude with a performance that’s open to the public and super cheap (my local improv school has $6 shows). Check local improv theatres or acting schools for more details.

Local festivals. Some local festivals are home to children’s performances (such as are orchestrated by Missoula Children’s Theatre), local improv, free musicals, etcetera. They’re a great place to scope out a little bit of the scene.

Discounts! If you’re a student, a senior, active military, or a veteran, you are almost guaranteed to get a discount. Other discounts may be available... see the next point.

Call and ask! If you can’t find any ways to see cheap theatre on your local theater’s marketing or website, don’t be afraid to call and ask for deals, promotions, or opportunities not listed. Theatre professionals want butts in the seats, and we want people to be engaging in this art form! We’ll do our best to help.

Playwrights Welcome*. On the off-chance you’re a member of the Dramatists Guild, you can see shows at certain theaters for free. A full list of the participating theaters is at the link, as well as further details on the program. You do have to pay Dramatists Guild dues, so not very free... but if you’re already a member, take advantage of this!

LEGAL RECORDINGS

Movie musicals. Yes, I know, we hate them, but they’re readily available and easy to get for cheap on DVD, or streaming online legally. Check out The Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray, Into the Woods, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Les Miserables, and many more. Many are available on Netflix!

BroadwayHD. This streaming site is exclusively for high quality professional theatre. If you have $8.99 a month, you can watch SO MUCH theatre. They also do individual rentals, but it’s more expensive to do an individual rental than to just pay for the month. The selection used to be small, but is growing quickly, and showing your support might convince other productions to put legal recordings up!

National Theatre Live. Performances from an absolutely fantastic theatre, broadcast to movie theaters around the world. Tickets run a little more than a movie ticket, but less than a live theatre performance, and they’re INCREDIBLE. 

DVD and Blu-ray selections. Often, shows are in fact recorded and available for purchase, usually older or closed shows. While the article is a little bit old, the linked article makes some suggestions, but more can be found with a little bit of looking (or check out this wikipedia article).

PBS Great Performances. Opera, musicals, concerts, plays, dance, and more... the complete theatrical experience, for free on PBS. You can watch some of them free no-strings-attached online, too, but others require a subscription service.

Starkid. This theatre company does parody and original comedic musicals (with surprising depth!), and they’re posted on Youtube for free. There’s a ton to choose from, and they’re a really good time and a great gateway if you’re intimidated by the PBS stuff.

AUDIO RECORDINGS

LA Theatre Works. Performing plays in the style of radio plays, you can stream some very good stuff if you’re interested in just listening. It’s a lot like a podcast! I also recommend poking around on their website to find more shows than on this page (and if you ever get a chance and have a little more money than this, they tour and you can see them live. It’s really cool!). 

Off Book: The Improvised Musical. Think Starkid, but audio only, smaller casts, and also, completely improvised. Every week, the podcast weaves a brand new improvised musical, along with a guest or two (including people like Travis McElroy and Felicia Day). 

Audio plays* (like what LA Theatre Works are doing) are a little tricky to find sometimes, but a little research can get you a long way. Here’s some that I found just in trying to dig more up, including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and the famous production of War of the Worlds. Audible is known to have a growing selection of audio plays, if you’re okay with using and paying for Amazon services.

THEATRE EDUCATION

Podcasts. Continuing on the audio theme, there’s a ton of amazing theatre podcasts that can teach a lot about the business and the art form alike. Here’s a list of twenty podcasts ranging from the explicitly educational to the news-oriented. Note, it’s about five years old. 

Theatre classes*. These are often astronomically too expensive for this list, but there is a little trick (though your ethical mileage may vary). Many theatre schools offer a free first class, like a trial offer. This is meant to help the student and teachers alike determine if the class is a good fit, but it’s also a great chance to go and learn something for a couple hours. You may then decide not to pay for further lessons at that theater, or you may decide you like it so much you want to splurge!

Guest workshops and masterclasses. If you don’t want to do the above, or if you have exhausted your local theater options, be aware of guest workshops and masterclass opportunities near you. While proper classes often run in the hundreds of dollars for a six to eight week course, these one-off classes can be as cheap as $10 sometimes, with the majority I’ve seen where I live being around $25 or so (the upper limit I I placed on things that make this list). You may be surprised at who is leading your class, too (plenty of Broadway actors run classes), and if you want to pursue theatre as a career, a masterclass or workshop looks nice on a resume.

Playing Shakespeare. The entire series can be found on Youtube, and it’s a series one of my professors personally recommended for those who want to learn how to do Shakespearean roles better.

Youtube in general. Honestly, just looking up “theatre masterclass” brings up a ton of credible and amazing stuff.

Volunteer. Learning by experiencing is truly something you can do, and there’s plenty of community theatres that would die for a good volunteer. Even if you don’t want to be on stage, there’s plenty of technical positions that cater to any and all skill sets.

[alcalavicci]

Jill’s timeline of Dean, 1936-1979. She said something about working on an 80s timeline too but I didn’t find it: 

Robert Dean Stockwell was born on March 5, 1936, at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles.

His father was Harry Baylis Stockwell, age 30, an 'artist' employed by motion picture studios. His original birthplace was Missouri. His mother was Elizabeth Margaret Veronica, age 24, a 'housekeeper' employed at home. Her original birthplace was New York. This was her second child. [Me: Jill somehow got his birth certificate. I guess this was in the days before they got a lot more secure about who got birth certificates?? Either way, it’s not really something I approve of because that’s applying genealogical methods to a living person, which genealogists generally frown on doing.]

1953 - 1956: The mystery years. Jill: “Dean left college in the spring of 1953, and disappeared for awhile until he showed up doing live television in 1956. When interviewers asked him what he had been doing, he spun quite a fanciful tale. There is no way for any of us to know how much is true, and how much he was making up. According to him, he changed his name several times, and began an odyssey of traveling across country doing odd jobs and living with the laborers of the land (Woody Guthrie, anyone? Bob Dylan also made up his own past when he hit New York. Must have seemed quite romantic at the time). “Dean says that he worked in the mailroom of a large company in New York....but when people began to figure out who he was, he hit the road. Worked on the railroad in Texas....in Mexico.....worked as a fruit picker.....worked in a bakery in New Orleans.....eventually ended up in New York again, and decided to try acting once more.

Jill: “Here are a few facts I've been able to find: Dean attended the University of California in Berkeley from 1952 to the spring of 1953, when he dropped out. His brother Guy was attending the university at the same time, and when Guy graduated (probably 1954), he became a schoolteacher in northern California. A former pupil of Guy's recalls Dean coming into the classroom occasionally to read Shakespeare to them (how cool would that be?). Also, Dean himself has stated that he was in 'northern California' when James Dean was killed in an automobile accident (which was the fall of 1955).

“Because of these few facts, I get the feeling that Dean was with Guy during a lot of these 'lost years.'

“However, he definitely was in New York during 1956, as that is where the live TV shows were originating from that he appeared in. He attended a few classes at the Actor's Studio, which is where he met Suzanne Pleschette. Since she is a real person, I will take that fact at face value.

“The rest is a mystery.” [K: I think there’s some truth to Dean’s claims- he was in NYC during the summer of 1955 and acted in a religious show, The Wise in Heart, to get money to go back to LA, according to Nature Boy. Nature Boy’s author confirmed this was pulled from a magazine interview with Stockwell. So, between the summer of 1955 and up to fall/winter 1955 at the earliest, spring 1956 at the latest, he was with his brother in Northern California, working as a logger, before going back to LA. Between spring of 1953 and the summer of 1955? I’m sure he found work elsewhere, was recognized there, moved, changed jobs, and that’s why he went through so many, but he may have exaggerated as well. After moving to LA, Dean soon met Berman. They had certainly met well before 1957- Dean wrote a poem that mentioned Berman’s son Tosh blowing out the candles on his 21st birthday cake.]

1957: A new adult Dean Stockwell emerges. Sometimes Dean says he went back to Hollywood in 1956, but another time he stated he returned to Hollywood on his 21st birthday, in order to collect the money that had been held in trust for him (it wasn't very much.......I'm thinking around $25,000, but I'd have to look that up). Dean turned 21 on March 5, 1957.

This is the period when Roddy McDowall took that photo of Dean's that shows up on the mantel in the QL show "M.I.A." [Me: Dean doesn’t look that young in the picture, based on his hair. I’m thinking the picture that’s in Roddy’s art book was taken around this time, while the MIA picture was taken in the early 1960s.]

There is so much happening between 1956 and 1957, that I have a feeling he was traveling between New York and Hollywood, rather than staying put in one place. He makes his first film as an adult, a western, titled "Gun for a Coward." "The Careless Years" will follow that one, plus countless appearances on TV dramas, plus a run in a Broadway play "Compulsion" with Roddy McDowall from late 1957 to early 1958 (while rehearsing for Compulsion, he appears in live TV dramas from New York........he was busy!).

Also, in 1957, he began to hang out with the beatniks living in Topanga Canyon, above Los Angeles. His address is listed as an apartment building in Hollywood (there's a photo of that building in our Files section), but he eventually buys his own home up in the canyon (I have no idea what year).

Dean states in the recent Neil Young biography that he spent a lot of time with the artist Wallace Berman and his family, and that Berman's revolutionary way of thinking was a profound influence on him. Berman was an avant-garde artist who worked with collages and symbols, often incorporating Hebrew letters (having to do with the Kabbala). When Berman's art exhibition was closed down due to obscenity, it was Dean Stockwell who bailed him out of jail (this was still 1957).

1957 - 1959: This is the period of time that Dean is hanging out at Jazz clubs, and is referred to as a Hollywood Hipster (with the likes of another child star, Bobby Driscoll), when he's not being compared to the late James Dean. He shows up in a documentary about the 'Beats' in California (a film I would love to get my hands on. :-) It's also the time when Dean's name is being connected to quite a few Hollywood starlets (Janice Rule, Diane Varsi, Ina Balin, Suzanne Pleschette, Sandra Dee).

1959 - 1962: At this point, almost every interview/article about Dean Stockwell centers on his relationship with another quirky personality, Millie Perkins. They were young, they were different from the mainstream, they were 'hip' without being obnoxious, and they made a cute couple. It's difficult for me to even figure out what else Dean was doing at the time, because everything centers around his marriage to Millie (1960 - 1962), and their efforts to hide from the press. They are married shortly after he finished "Sons and Lovers" and are going through a divorce by the time of "Long Day's Journey Into Night."

A brief glimpse into Dean's character is provided by Katherine Hepburn, during the filming of Long Day's Journey - he showed up for filming on the first day, an outdoor scene, without a coat during cold weather. That bothered Kate so much, she went out and bought him a coat, and had it there for him the following day. The director stated that Kate Hepburn had a soft spot for heavy drinkers. Apparently Dean arrived for work with a bottle of vodka close at hand. Sounds like he was getting a bit of a reputation.

1963: This is when Dean runs into Dennis Hopper again (they first met in New York in 1957, through their mutual friend Roddy McDowall). They become lifelong friends. Dean is mentioned in 'Andy Warhol's Diary' as being one of the guests at a party at Hopper's house, with Russ Tamblyn and Suzanne Pleschette. [Me: According to Semina Culture, this is also around the time when Dean met his longtime girlfriend Toni Basil.]

A photo of Dean from these days was taken by Dennis Hopper, and can be found in our Files, as well as in the Photo Album on our Website. [Me: That picture- with the egg on Dean’s face- was taken in 1965.]

1965 - Makes frequent appearances as a continuing character on the TV series "Dr. Kildare." Stars in a black and white film shot in France, titled "Rapture."

1966 - creates a short art film titled "Moonstone" with his artist friend George Herms

1966 and 1967 - in a sense, we can call these 2 years as 'lost years' or 'mystery years' also. Only called that because Dean's life at the time cannot be discerned by movies or TV appearances. Instead, we find Dean creating collages for Art Showings, living in Haight-Ashbury (verified by the beatnik poet Charles Plymell, who became a friend of his at the time), and perhaps sojourning in London for awhile. While in Haight-Ashbury, he attends parties at Plymell's apartment with the likes of Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg. [Me: There was Mr. Paracelsus, Who Are You? early around this time, but after that, nothing until late 1967.]

1968 - appeared in the psychedelic hippie movie "Psych-Out"; according to sources, the only actor in the film who actually lived in the Haight district at the time. But not for long, because now he's reappearing in Topanga Canyon with Russ Tamblyn, and eating breakfast at the local restaurant there. He befriends the female owner, who introduces him to her new boyfriend - Neil Young.

Also starred in a British TV mystery drama (which puts him in London, if only briefly). [Me: This was Thirty-Minute Theatre: Before Breakfast.]

Also made appearances on The Danny Thomas Show, and FBI.

Finishes the decade by performing (most charmingly) in a Bonanza episode....... and writing a screenplay titled "After the Gold Rush." Introduces George Herms to the music of Neil Young during an acid trip.

1970 to 1973 = Dean continues to make short art films with his friend George Herms. Also makes a short documentary about the making of "Breakaway," which was an art film created by the artist Bruce Connor, starring Dean's girlfriend at the time, Toni Basil.

1970 = stars in the film "Dunwich Horror" with his friend from the 1950's, Sandra Dee. Asks George Herms to paint the hieroglyphics on his torso for a scene in the film.

1971 = Joins his friend Dennis Hopper and other "Misfits of Hollywood" in Peru for the making of Hopper's film "The Last Movie." LIFE Magazine does a cover story about Hopper down in Peru, and stories circulate about the wild times on the set. Hopper spends a year editing the film, but Universal refuses to distribute it. The title of the film is almost prophetic regarding Hopper's career. [Me: His stepmother Nina Olivette passes away this year.]

Also in 1971, Dean stars in two television movies - "Paper Man" and "The Failing of Raymond."

1972 = stars in a low-budget biker-on-the-road flick titled "The Loners." The press release for the film states that Dean Stockwell has 'been living in England.'

1973 = Stars in "The Werewolf of Washington." Dean later says that the script was funny, but he knew by the very first day on the set that he was in a stinker.

1974 = Appears in a play in Albuquerque called "Relatively Speaking," and tells an interviewer from the local paper that he is tired of being typecast as a murderous lunatic who guest stars on television dramas. He would like to try comedy. [Me: There’s a 1972 newspaper article about Win Place or Steal that says he’d love to do more comedy, but I think his first comedic role as an adult was in his 1964 episode of Burke’s Law.]

Also around this time he is showing up in Taos quite a bit, getting drunk and stoned in bars with Dennis Hopper. But even though he was getting quite a reputation in Taos (and not a good one - Dean quotes, with good humor, a person saying "I always thought Dennis Hopper was the biggest asshole in Taos - until I met the other guy....,"), that isn't his entire existence. He is also still living in Topanga Canyon above Los Angeles, and the magazine "Fighting Stars" does a cover story on Dean about his newfound interest, Stickfighting.

Dean comes across in the interview as an eager, enthusiastic man, younger than his stated age (the photos that accompany the article look like a man in his 20's instead of a man approaching 40), who has discovered the martial art Stickfighting after appearing in a low-budget film in the Phillipines. He is so involved with this sport that he brings his instructor over from the Phillipines, Remy Presas, to stay at his house. He also tells the interviewer that he really doesn't care if he never acts again, as long as he can be involved in this martial art.

At the same time, though, Dean is happy to give his blessing to an official Fan Club, started by a woman named Geordie James (whom our member Claire was corresponding with at the time). Dean even telephoned Ms. James when he returned from the Phillipines, and he sounded just as eager and enthusiastic over the phone as he comes across in the magazine interview. Alas, there was a fire at the home of Ms. James, and the Fan Club never got off the ground.

1975 = stars in another low-budget film, this time a comedy, titled "Win, Place or Steal," with his friend and Topanga Canyon neighbor Russ Tamblyn. [Me: This was filmed around 1972.]

Also in 1975, spends a fastpaced summer with his friend David Bowie, who was living in Hollywood at the time. Bowie recalls making the club scene with Dean and Dennis; Iggy Pop remembers them visiting him in the mental hospital.

1976 = Does the photography/artwork for the cover of Neil Young's album "American Stars 'N Bars" (9 years earlier, Dean had contributed a photo of the artist Wallace Berman for the cover of the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper" album).

Also, in 1976, Dean and his girlfriend Toni Basil accompanied Dennis Hopper to the Cannes Film Festival for a showing of the independent film "Tracks," which both Dean and Dennis had appeared in. According to the gossip columns, there were parties on the beach from dusk to dawn, and it was here that Dean meets his future wife, Joy Marchenko. They begin a 5 year correspondence.

1977 to 1978 = Toni is very active in the punk rock scene, and the artist Bruce Conner makes a documentary about punk rock clubs in California, with her in it. Toni introduces Dean to the band Devo. Dean makes a tape of their music and gives it to Neil Young. Then Dean takes Neil to a club to see them.

1978 = Probably the beginning of the breakup with Toni, as she begins an affair with Devo's bass player. Dean moves in with Russ Tamblyn, still up in Topanga Canyon. During a frisbee game with Russ and Neil, the idea for "Human Highway" takes shape. Joined by Dennis Hopper and Devo, they begin filming a movie which will ultimately take 5 years to complete, and will end up being completely different than the original conception.

Stories circulate about the wild times on the set, which began as simple outdoor shots filmed around Taos, New Mexico, but which will end up being a very expensive studio set created by Neil Young's imagination.

1979 = Dean appears in Las Vegas doing comedy dinner theater ("Come Blow Your Horn"). Also directs an avant-garde play in Los Angeles called "Man With Bags," starring Russ Tamblyn (this is where our member Claire gets to meet him). A few weeks later she gets to meet him again at an art exhibition of George Herms' work, which includes a showing of Dean's film creation "Moonstone." A good time was had by all.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

anytime i eat a Mini Muffin i’m specifically taken back to this time in fourth grade when my english/literature/reading/whatever class did this thing with some other school’s english/whatever classes where we all went to this One School and put on our plays in succession (which were like, idk, maybe 5-10 minutes each excerpts from some Public Domain shit like idk ours was some scenes from julius caeser, shakespeare or whatever)

it’s one of those times i look back and i’m like oh in retrospect maybe it’s a bit obvious i’ve been a theatre gay all along. like with other evidence such as having a decent time learning the tenor parts in a choir, having Opinions on the fact that sopranos are always useless and basses are always useless in a different way, also our tenor section of like, 3-6 people being told we need to sing quieter and me being like aw fuck that Every Time, my vastly enjoying being on stage and the entire process of putting together a performance in the realm of ballet which i did for 11 yrs and which on occasion involved productions which had A Plot and Characters and i got to be some of those characters and super enjoyed the most musical-adjacent stuff, me abandoning stage fright on several memorable occasions, this one time i was in a Drama Class in middle school and threw together a useless skit with some friends but actually super enjoyed Playing The Part and putting it on even if it made no sense b/c that was never the point we were just Goofin, generally having somewhat sporadic exposure to but genuine enjoyment of theatre/musicals, like all my friends in college being involved in the theatre dept which might be in part because like 80% of my friends were through my theatre-y roommate who was that person in nyc i just mentioned, All This And More

anyways the signs and tells i could’ve perceived from this specific occasion were Many....back in fourth grade i was still pretty In A Shell which i’ve always been but to varying degrees and in varying ways, but i was like oh man yeah please let’s go on stage, i love that. we even sort of did ~auditions~ in that i think we all memorized like, a paragraph, and then all of us in the class like, rated each other or whatever and then that was tallied and the teacher had final say...i was Into that...and then i got one of the main-er parts which was cassius and i was like fuck yeah!! being caesar is overrated here b/c he dies like halfway through!! and then the teacher taught us the most important lesson which was Talk Louder which was great because when we went to the Meetup of all the classes from various schools doing their bits, it was a bit underwhelming because we couldn’t fuckin hear anybody

also i think we did it barefoot? or in sandals? i loved that. i’m like a hobbit in that i always want to be barefoot. reminds me of the time i really risked it all b/c i danced en pointe for a school thing once but it was just a regular ass stage, no rosin, none of that rubbery floor padding, so like, better not accidentally slip. i didn’t though. and back to caesar, i remember i was Vexed because when we did the stabbing part, it was only like, us all stabbing him, no particular sounds to provide dramatic cue or anything. maybe it worked anyways, idk. still haunts me to this day

also we got to put it on twice b/c some parents were late, and i was pumped about that. the point is that during a Break, one of the accompanying parents had brought along a box of those little snack bags of mini muffins, and i had some, and so every time i have mini muffins i think of this Theatric Experience

and then, as an epilogue, sometimes i’m like “oh ugh i have no interests or things i ever particularly wanted to do” but then i’m like well okay but again in retrospect, there’s some things i had “i’d be interested in doing that” feelings about but one of the reasons i don’t recognize that as an Area Of Interest is because i then brush it off as like “oh, but everyone’s interested in that” even though things like, for example, acting onstage, is Not actually something that interests everyone. and when there’s other similar sorts of concepts i’m Not interested in, i conveniently don’t think “well, nobody’s interested in that” b/c i know that’s not true

and then also in retrospect i’m like “well maybe you should’ve tried theatre in school, dumbass” i remember that i’m not even sure my middle school Had a like, after school drama program, i wanna say mayyyybe there was one but to be fair at that point i was like, entirely ignoring Everything in the after school realm. i just wanna go home and read honestly, terrible student forever. and then i didn’t go to high school, and in college obviously the theatre program was people who’d already been doing that shit, and i had no clue. didn’t stop me from hanging out around there sometimes and “helping” sometimes aka hanging with my friend who would actually be doing something; one time i painted a set, another time i painted a set for my old middle school. that’s all i know. also i went to see lots of the plays cuz my roommate would be in them and graciously give me a comp ticket and i’d be like sick let’s do this. friday night baby

[acuppellarp]

Welcome (again) to A Cup-pella, Wen! We’re excited to have you and Cora Anderson in the game! Please go through the checklist to make sure you’re ready to go and send in your account within the next 24 hours. 

OOC INFO

Name + pronouns: Wen + she/her Age: younger than some buildings Timezone: GMT+1 Ships: Cora/Bottoms, Cora/Happiness, Cora/The world outside the closet Anti-Ships: Cora/Forced

IC INFO

Full Name: Cordelia Rhiannon Anderson Face Claim: Natalie Dormer Age/Birthday: 29 / January 5, 1990 Occupation: Actress Personality: charming, charismatic, driven, ambitious, judgmental, proud, superficially outgoing but hermetic with her feelings. Hometown: Greenwich, CT Bio: The person that’s influenced Cora’s life the most is, undoubtedly, her mother. Which is remarkable considering she was only alive for the first three years of Cora’s life, and her daughter doesn’t really remember anything about her. But Morgan Anderson (Lady Morgan, technically) was Richard Anderson’s first love, and she was gone before she could do anything to tarnish his idealized image of her.

Carrying the legacy of a perfect woman is not exactly an easy task, but Cora had the good fortune to be mostly perfect just by virtue of winning the genetic lottery. She had her mother’s light blond hair and porcelain skin, and her father’s striking blue eyes. She was bright and outgoing, effortlessly charming, and - thanks to her father’s firm hand - perfectly polite even at only five years old. Which may have been the reason why her father’s second wife immediately fell in love with her and treated her like her own.

Her childhood was busy in a very structured way. She had classes at an exclusive and challenging private school, and a wide variety of extra-curriculars that for some reason she never got to choose. But the more Cora grew, the more she looked like a blue-eyed version of Morgan. So why wouldn’t she want to do exactly the same things her mother had loved?

Cora learned ballet and drama. She played polo and practiced fencing. She played the piano and tried not to fidget in her seat when her father took her to special father-daughter outings to listen to symphonic orchestras and watch famous ballet companies from all over the world. She always wondered why he didn’t take Blair instead. Blair loved music. But her father was never that concerned with Blair’s interests.

When she was fifteen, Cora traveled to Wales to spend the summer with her mother’s family, and learned there was a whole new set of expectations to fulfill on the other side of the pond. She didn’t just have to be perfect like her mother: she had to have the background to belong in the same circles Morgan used to thrive in.

At Benenden School, Cora quickly realized being at the top of the food pyramid in Connecticut meant next to nothing among the daughters and granddaughters of British peers and centuries-old family fortunes. Cora’s accent was wrong. Her posture was wrong. The way she carried herself, the people she knew and didn’t know, her father’s job, the things she’d worked so hard to learn at school - it was all wrong.

But Cordelia Anderson had been trained to be perfect. And that was exactly what she was going to be.

When Christmas break rolled around, she refused to go home to Connecticut. She went to her grandparents’ manor in Wales, sat her grandmother down, and asked her to teach her. Through the years, she’d learned to be malleable - to become whatever her father expected her to be - and now she wanted Lady Rhiannon to undo everything Cora had been molded to be, and start over from scratch.

By the start of the Spring Term, not even the teachers could tell she’d ever set foot in America. And now that she’d climbed up to the same level as the rest of the girls, all she had to do was charm her way to the top.

She finished school at 18, with her social calendar full to the brim with high society events, every academic achievement she could get her hands on, and an enthusiastic acceptance from Cambridge where she planned to study History. 

A call home was all it took to inform her she would be doing no such thing. She had an audition with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, where she would be studying drama - just like Morgan before her. Maybe her father would’ve let her go into History instead if she’d told him that was what she wanted, but he never asked, and she knew better than to tell.

Cora was a natural on stage, which she blamed on a lifetime of embodying the role of her father’s dream daughter. She soon became the most promising new talent in London’s theatrical circuit, and she was even invited to perform with a select few at one of the most important galas in the city. Everyone who was somebody was therem and among them, there was Leopold. Lord Leopold, technically. She didn’t feel much of anything towards him - good or bad - but her father liked him. He had contacts, Richard said, not only a title. He wanted Leopold for her.

Cora had been acting since she was three years old, and she’d read enough about love to know what a woman in love should feel. And even if she didn’t feel it herself, she acted like she did. Leopold, she figured, was pleasant enough. He was head over heels in love with her, and - as he constantly repeated - the only reason he hadn’t proposed yet was that she had to finish college first. And then law school. And then, of course, settle into her rightful place in politics next to his father. Cora was more than happy to wait.

While her boyfriend built the foundation of their future life together, as he liked to put it, Cora graduated from RADA and made her way to the big leagues at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. And for the first time, she thought she could really feel all those things women in love were supposed to feel. The butterflies, the heart skipping beats… she was in love with London and its stages, and London fell in love with her.

With several Olivier awards on her shelf and an undisputed seat among the West End’s current royalty, Broadway has set its sights on her. And though she’s declined several offers out of loyalty to the city that owns her heart, she’s now been offered the lead on the upcoming all-female version of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, and she couldn’t say no.

Pets: None. She owns a couple of horses who live at her grandparents’ estate, but they’re not exactly pets. She’d love to have an Old English Sheepdog if she ever puts down roots somewhere.   Relationships:

Blair Anderson: Younger sister. They’re not close because Cora’s been in the UK since Blair was 9, but there’s no animosity on Cora’s part. Her sister is just virtually a stranger (though she’s definitely heard a lot about her from their father) so Cora doesn’t find relating to her particularly easy.

Bea Smith: They did a show together at the Shakespeare Theatre Company a few years back, and they’ve stayed in touch. Though Bea had a bit of a straight girl crush on Cora, Cora was completely oblivious. If she’d known she’d have been very flattered but not really surprised.

Jessi St. James: When Jessi was in London for her semester abroad in college, her class had a workshop experience with the Shakespeare Theatre Company and Cora was one of the professional actors who ran the lessons. They’ve stayed in touch through the years, and Cora is excited to see what’s been going on with Jess.

Serena Smythe: They went to the same prep school in Connecticut when they were kids. Their fathers are acquainted and they were friends, though it was never a very close friendship. Though they wouldn’t exactly call each other ‘friend’ in the strict sense of the word, they’ve both been trained to know you never lose a contact that may come in handy later, so they’ve kept a friendly relationship going.

EXTRA INFO

Twitter name/twitter URL/description: Cordelia Anderson | @cordeliaranderson | Actress. Currently in NYC, but my heart is still in London. “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”

Five latest tweets:

@cordeliaranderson If I don’t tweet in the next 15 minutes, assume I looked the wrong way to cross the street and was run over by a cab. @cordeliaranderson #faq Friday: not related to @gillianA, but I’d be happy to sign those adoption papers #makeithappen @cordeliaranderson Went to TKTS Times Square thinking it’d be like the one at Leicester Square, was nearly trampled by the crowd #liveandlearn @cordeliaranderson First reading for investors! Ever seen a one-woman reading of Midsummer Night’s dream? #trailblazer @cordeliaranderson  Mark my words: if there is ever another US/UK war, it shall be over the biscuit controversy.

[tvguidancecounselor]

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 583: Natalie Gold

July 30 - August 5, 1994

This week Ken welcomes actor (Succession, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Rubicon) and all around fascinating human Natalie Gold to the show for her first ever podcast.

Ken and Natalie discuss YouTuber Natalie Gold, having the same name as somebody else, social media, how Miami isn't Florida, growing up in Florida, Emerson College, Burn Notice, being a local child actor, Sheena Easton, rave theater, running lines with Jeff Goldblum, Ernest Saves Christmas, showing your children media, Christmas Vacation, shared interest friends, getting obsessed with Soaps, how OJ Simpson ruined so many things, Days of our Lives, turning into a panther, demonic possession, manning the complaint line, moving to NYC, sharing an apartment with more than five boys, getting mail, Short Circuit II, The Fame Movie, scary NYC, smoking, tobacco cigarettes, pregnancy cravings, Tom and Roseanne, the greatness of Denny Dillon, Friends,  being so wealthy you can get a University to open a west coast location JUST for you, Kevin Bright, Kristen Linklater, voice teachers, oversharing in acting classes, Shakespeare in the Park, covering your face, the magic of Dennis Farina, Rubicon, watching things you're in, Law & Order, buying anti-reels, Tommy Lee Jones comedy, The Fugitive, Chicago, apocalypses movies, avoiding The Road, making a book's ending darker, Mad Max, The Walking Dead, Love Boat, Hotel Malibu, J-Lo's TV career, Teen Witch, Branson, your kid having zero interest in your job, avoiding quality TV, Mad Men, Ken's contrarian nature, binging, having no patience, watching Eraserhead in Physics class, Ken getting good grades despite failing, Cookie Puss and topping that.

[mfmagazine]

Patrick Fabian

Article by Ricky Tavi

Photo by Josh Madson

Patrick Fabian is likely one of those actors who seems to have been in so many movies we’ve seen so many TV shows we’ve watched and so many adverts we’ve listened to. And yet because his performances and characters are so diverse and convincing, it just hasn’t seemed necessary to remember his real name.

But Patrick Fabian may not be able to avoid the personality spotlight too much longer. As the season of his current CMT sitcom, ‘Working Class’ just ended, he’s looking at another critically acclaimed success to add to his nearly 20 year acting resume.

Patrick spent some time with us and allowed us to discover something of the real life personality behind the brilliant list of stage and screen characters that this fine actor has so often brought to life.

Our interview reveals a man of humor and humility. He gives us a glimpse of his Working Class co-star Ed Asner - is he easy to work with? – And, with a big smile, drops a hint about the most famous screen character he’d welcome the chance to portray. Read on to discover the fascinating background to one of Hollywood’s better kept secrets – Patrick Fabian.

In your 18 year acting career you have appeared in just about every performance medium possible – stage, movies, TV, voice-over, adverts…..the list seems endless. So starting with the most recent, and where today’s buzz is, please divulge something about the new CMT series, ‘Working Class’.

This has been a great experience and a ton of fun to do. It's a smart, funny sitcom that'll get the whole family laughing; it's a real traditional show in the vein of "Roseanne" & "Everybody Loves Raymond". If you haven't tuned in, now's the chance to see what all the fun's about.  And there's gonna be some kissin'!

Do you think you were an easy choice to portray your character?

Well, I run Parker Foods and am the boss of Melissa Peterman and Ed Asner's characters, so clearly, someone in casting thought I knew how to order people around! That, and wear Armani well. I think I can bring a bit of humor and good nature to the usual traits that bosses possess.

I read somewhere that you are happy to be thought of as a ‘working class actor’. If so, are you bringing ‘real life’ to your part – albeit the show is not intended to be taken too seriously?

The show is meant to make people laugh, we're not solving the world's problems, you know? And being a working class actor, for me, means that I get to do a wide variety of roles and situations, and that I'm fortunate enough to work fairly consistently. Although, let's be clear; if you need me to be a Star, I'm open to that.

Ed Asner, one of your co-stars in ‘Working Class’, is known for his real life advocacy of the ‘common man’. What special energy do you think his outlook on life has brought to the show?

Ed's a man of his word and certainly backs up his beliefs with his actions and I respect him for that. His acting experience and skills are totally fun to work with and I've learned a lot from watching him. He's not afraid to fail in life or work.

Comments from your colleagues in the show talk of the fun and good humor that has made the production work such a pleasant experience. With so many seasoned actors are you all able to stick to the script? Is ad libbing allowed?

I can easily say it's been one of the easiest sets to work on; we laughed all the time. And that tone is set by Melissa Peterman; she's a shining light and considering the crazy schedule we were on, that's no small feat. And Melissa comes from improv, so she's wonderful on her feet and can ad-lib all day long. The writers' wrote us great material and they weren't averse to our going off the rails: we were all looking for the funny.

As an actor you’ve portrayed the deadly serious to the comic. How do you classify yourself primarily – if you do?

I think it's all about the point of view you bring to any particular role, and how that fits into the whole, you know? I'm fortunate to work in both serious and comic worlds and I like it like that. However, if James Bond ever opens up..........

Where do you have the most fun? In theater or movies?

They all have their charms, (and frustrations), but I definitely have a soft spot for live theatre; it's where I learned my craft and the immediacy of a play and it's interaction with an audience can't be beat.

All reports are that you have a great sense of humor. Could you ever imagine yourself as a stand-up comedian? Ever tried it?

I have way too much respect for stand-up to try it. I need writers. Wildly, talented writers making me look good. Daily.

As a serious actor, has Shakespeare featured much in your stage experience?

I got my Equity Card at the Shakespeare L.A. Festival years ago playing Moth in "Love's Labor's Lost". Shakespeare under the stars at the John Anson Ford Theatre in the summertime. A wonderful experience and I would kill to be at the Festival in New York City's Central Park.

Ever played Hamlet? Would you want to?

No I haven't. And yes, given the opportunity, I think every male actor would love a crack at it.

Your career has given you the opportunity for a lot of travel. Much time away from home. Now that you are a parent – congratulations, by the way, to you and your wife, Mandy Steckelberg, on the birth of your daughter Abbey Ray – will you be earning fewer frequent flyer miles?

Well, they say have a baby and the world will provide (or something like that) and so far, that has been the case, although most jobs have kept me local. I thought it would be great to get a series in New Zealand or Europe for a few years while Abbey Ray's still a wee one. But my wife has been wonderful about the work when it does take me out of town. Many of friends have managed it all, so I imagine we will too; we should be blessed with such problems, right?

What are some of your favorite place around the world?

Wandering the old streets of Barcelona, the Playhouses of London, NYC's Central Park, Muir Woods just over the Golden Gate Bridge and Will Rogers State Beach in Santa Monica, Ca.

You are one of the hardest working and most experienced actors in today’s industry – and yet you manage to avoid the excesses of the paparazzi. How do you balance keeping a private life with the demands of your work to be in the spotlight?

Well, going back to what a 'working class' actor is; I'm familiar to a lot of people because I've been in such broad spectrum of venues, but I don't necessarily stand out as one particular role, one that the paparazzi or public is that enamored or obsessed with, so I get the benefits of being known, but without the downside of being crazily sought after. (Again, if you need a STAR, however......)

You’ve been active in the union movement on behalf of stage and screen actors and others in the entertainment industry, and have held union elective office. Could you imagine a political career in the future?

I've really enjoyed my experience on the SAG Hollywood Board; it's a great reminder that you need to have personal responsibility for what goes on in your Union, or for that matter in your City, State and Nation. As much as I would be interested in a political career, I think working with a baby, a chimpanzee and Screech in a single episode of "Saved By The Bell: The College Years", disqualifies me.

It’s difficult to imagine now, that as an actor you’ve ever found yourself ‘resting’. How difficult is it to sift through the offers and scripts to find those that interest you? Are you very selective?

I love to work. And the next job is always the one I'm interested in finding out about. Different jobs rear their heads different ways; this past year has included Commercials, Low-Budget Films, 1/2 Sitcoms, Hourlong Guest Spots, Live Theatre and VoiceOver: I've been wildly fortunate and love to stay busy.

When you are ‘resting’ at home, what do you like to do for R & R?

Take walks with the whole family. (wife, baby & the two dogs) And cooking is very relaxing.

What musical preferences? Are you playing Mozart for your daughter?

I love Rock & Roll and 80's Hair Metal, but there's room in my head for lots of different things. We play a kaleidoscope of music for Abbey Ray; I hope she takes to it, but you cannot force it. (So far, Rock-a-Bye Baby: Pink Floyd is a big hit!)

What movies have you enjoyed recently?

Loved "The Social Network", "Inception" and "The Awful Truth"(Cary Grant)

Your character in “Working Class’ dresses exceptionally well for a grocery store manager! An anomaly of the storyline? Your stage and screen characters have provided just about every costume statement that could ever be made! What styles reflect your personal comfort zones?

Only on television does a store manager sport Theory, Donna Karan & Armani: What a great business! I love comfortable, horse-riding clothing; Robert Redford around 1974. And the 'Swashbuckler' wardrobe from "Xena" will be hard to top.

Can you give an idea of where you see your career progressing over the next few years? Maybe the next James Bond? Could you ever imagine living elsewhere from LA or is that almost a necessity that comes with the work?

Did you say Bond?  I'd love to spend a chunk of time in New York, albeit with a steady gig. But I love Los Angeles, its home for me and my family now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

It’s clear that you are a man with an active social conscience and also a man of letters – graduate of Penn State & California State Universities. Do you have any words of advice to young actors and performers starting their careers in today’s entertainment industry?

It's the greatest business when's it's all working; and absolutely devastating when it doesn't. Don't take it or yourself too seriously. However, learn your craft. Go to school or take class, and take IT seriously.

[wildhorns]

WHAT YOUR FAVORITE MUSICAL SAYS ABOUT YOU

Phantom of the Opera: You’ve only seen one musical.

Wicked: You only see the biggest, most popular musicals because you know you won’t be disappointed.

The Lion King: You take a family trip to NYC every year and are too afraid to try new shows.

Love Never Dies: You’ve seen two musicals. The other one is Phantom of the Opera.

Chicago: You’re like. 85% sure you even actually like this musical.

Dear Evan Hansen: You’re an avid tumblr user and reblog flower crown edits in 2017.

Hamilton: You are nothing without trends.

Newsies: You are gay and live a lackluster life.

Be More Chill: You want to try drugs but you’re too scared.

Great Comet: You liked the lights but you’re too afraid to admit you don’t know what happened.

High School Musical: You peaked in high school.

Mamma Mia: Here we go again. My my. How can I resist you?

Any Disney Musical: What are you, 12?

Shrek The Musical: You have a Netflix account.

The Producers: What’s Young Frankenstein?

Les Mis: Somebody in your life left.

Heathers: You’re sexually frustrated and probably have a fetish.

CATS: You DEFINITELY have a fetish.

Oklahoma: You were in this show in high school.

Sound of Music: You’re 65.

King and I: You’re 65 and white.

Young Frankenstein: What’s the Producers?

Grease: You’re John Travolta.

West Side Story: You’re white but you think you understand the plight of POC.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: You went to Catholic school and feel obligated to say this is your favorite.

Sister Act: You went to Catholic school and this is ACTUALLY your favorite.

Cabaret: Bet you didn’t know there were Nazis in this.

Pippin: You like the spectacle but don’t care much for the substance.

Little Shop of Horrors: You’re not ready for a real horror movie.

Book of Mormon: You’re far below South Park’s target demographic.

Thoroughly Modern Millie: You did this show in high school and now think you’re a bonafide theatre kid.

Drowsy Chaperone: You’re ACTUALLY in theatre.

Spring Awakening: You’re an angry liberal.

Any Starkid Show: You really like memes. Like, REALLY like memes.

RENT: You’re gay and that’s your only identity.

Something Rotten!: You’ve taken an entry-level Shakespeare class.

Any Sondheim Musical: You think you’re better than anyone else on this list.