Another Openin'; Another Show. One of the first lines I ever said as an actor. Thirteen to Fourteen years later I got yet another chance to be on stage with a remarkable cast for the Attic Ensemble's production of Sidney Kingsley's Detective Story. Twenty-two people successfully performed as thirty-plus characters bumping into each other in a VERY busy day at the local New York Precinct. These were vibrant spirits that one and all got along famously, which is one hell of a thing to do.
No exagerations: At times it was hard to be the strangers on stage because off it you would hardly know that one or the other had to be antagonists. Moreover, I think only two or three evenings were not sold out. It was a long show and no one ever took issue with the two and a half hour ensemble spectacle.
Ah--the feeling of direct lights in a packed house. We knew what we were doing was making an impression. I get the feeling that we helped make this theater company take another step in keeping its roots in North Jersey as a great community theater. There's a lot of reasons to believe they've got a great future ahead of them.
Neither was it without a good actor's tale. (Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!)
I play the part of Arthur, a well-intentioned (albeit, not very wise) WWII veteran that has stolen his boss' money to impress a girl--which he's been chasing after for seven years--so he can treat her to an upper-class night on the town in an effort to ward her off a wealthy man she intends to marry. Unfortunately, the attempt fails and he is brought in by a Detective to be interogate and brough to criminal court. In his remarkable up-and-down journey to forgiveness and salvation, there's a moment in the two-and-a-half hour play where me and my love interest, Susan, confront each other before I'm escorted off to my holding cell and inevitable incarceration. Susan convinces Detective McCleod to have two minutes alone with me; which he does only after handcuffing me to a chair. I don't leave the chair until several scenes later, where McCleod's partner, Brody, frees me and us newly-made couple run off into the (offstage) sunset. Including tech, we pulled off this relatively minor feet as reflexively as one goes about tying their shoe.
But of course, one night was very very different.
The chair lockdown went as planned, our scene and the following ones came and went. Brody stopped by as scripted, went about his empassioned speech as he negotiated the handcuffs.
He seemed to be picking at it a bit longer than usual. Within a few fractions of silence it was clear that the cuffs had forgot their own cues. My hand wasn't going anywhere. And neither was the future of Arthur and poor Susan. In the brilliance of true Theater Acting, everyone got back involved in their business, kept the action going and the timing of the lights came down so perfectly, I swore this was a second ending the playwright had crafted himself.
First crisis masterfully averted. However, the chair, the cuffs, and my hand, were still bound.
Which meant that during the blackout I had to get backstage while handcuffed to a chair. And we were all downright in stitches about it. It took every ounce of commitment not to laugh about it ONSTAGE.
But there was no time; another minute later, I had to enter for the curtain call, which I did by holding the leg of the chair, and by it the whole chair, triumphantly high over my head, like a rock star just finishing his signature ballad. (Or maybe something that guy from Shawshank might have done after he crawled out of that tunnel.) The crowd responded well, and only after did I hear that the audience thought it was actually a part of the show.
Alright. So we managed to rebound from my more permanent detention onstage, but my current predicament was quite bound to my present condition.
Several people, by that the whole cast, sat me down in another chair whereby each in turn preceded to attempt saving me from my debacle. Eventually, after at least one key had been broken, several iphone photos were taken, and I was sufficiently less amused, my wrist was unbound. And Ben, not Arthur, was a free man. To make the situation more bizarre, it was learned an additional pair of handcuffs had made their way into the pile that had never been seen before, and this was the set that had been used. If only I were a real detective to solve THAT case!
So there you have it. 2013 done in the Actor Books.
From here, I look into the next twelve months. The actor will be on vacation for quite a bit. My journey does not remove me from my Art, but it does remove me from being a professional artist. You won't hear from me likely until something else emerges, so may your Happy Holidays and New Year, and all other wonderful Occasions, be merry, of joy, with thanks, and in good company. Thank you all for sticking around as loyal readers and hope to see you all in real world!
Love you all.
-Ben
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