Show me show me show me....

I thought about what I would “blog” for Riverside, what aspect of creating and teaching puppetry would be most interesting or important to share. Most often when I try to write, it comes out like verbal vomit, I am much better at interpretive dance, hence why I am a movement theatre artist. But I realize what I do say a lot at rehearsals is for the students to show me the specific thought with the puppet. What we tell the students over and over is that the primary objective is to show the audience the puppet’s idea. Like in mask work, the movements need to be specific and economical in nature. If a puppet needs to hit another puppet, it can’t simply turn and smack quickly. That action would be too sudden and muddy for the audience to soak in, not because the audience is dim, but because the subtle nuances that humans can add to that action (furrowed brow, eyes widened, nostrils flared, snarl on face) is not available to the mask of the puppet. For this reason you need to break down the action beat by beat. In order for a puppet to hit they would need to, turn head to the other puppet, take a big “angry’ inhale, look at hand, pull that arm back followed by a slight twist in the torso, look at the puppet being hit, exhale as the hand leads elbow and shoulder towards the “soon to be hit” puppet. Then the puppet receiving the action needs to react to the punch to “sell” the hit. Easy right? Nothing to it. Actually it becomes second nature to break down the movements as you get used to the style. The students have picked up the physical timing and run with it.

There has been a world of change since the first week of rehearsal (and only 4 weeks in that is incredibly impressive). Every nudge, look, and tap is tied to a specific want. It is exactly what acting requires, but easier to see how necessary it is in puppetry. I feel I have become a better actor since studying puppetry, because it has taught me that every action has an absolute, required need of a reaction from the other actor in the scene. Now don’t go and tell my acting teachers that a puppet taught me what three years in their classes couldn’t nail into my noggin. It is simply that with a puppet you can’t fake it half way. It is all or nothing. The scene will scream that it isn’t working if the puppet isn’t specific in thought and action. Just a little bit of muslin and fiberfill can say it all…if that isn’t a title for a book I don’t know what is. Ahh, maybe it will make a blog entry one day instead (wink wink).


I want to thank Ron, Jody, and Mark for involving me in this wonderful opportunity and to the students who keep giving me nothing but their best and complete focus. They will knock your socks off…so wear shoes (my joke telling is another reason why I am a non verbal movement theatre artist-just ask my husband).

Enjoy the show,
Stephanie Braun Jacobson

If only life were a musical...

A young man steps out of Panchero’s and begins to bellow “Tonight, tonight, won’t be just any night . . .” Across the street a middle-aged banker hurries toward the ped mall holding forth with “I’ve grown accustomed to her face . . .” In front of Prairie Lights, a cop stops traffic with “I got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere . . .” And in a finale, the Hawkeye Marching Band pours out of the Union Bar playing “Seventy-six Trombones!”

If only real life was set to music.

In fact it is. All those people you see with their lips moving as they sit out a stop light? They are not ALL on cell phones or schizophrenic. Lots of them (us) are singing with the radio or are doing a mighty a capella rendition of “I Will Survive.” Or check out the urban kids that hang out doing beat box on street corners. Their musical predecessors were the do-wop quartets that sweetly harmonized under an overpass for that powerful reverb. Even those who are shiest among us sing in the shower. So why does it seem mysterious or unrealistic that people burst into song onstage?

When the human heart is so enthralled with emotion that speech is not adequate, there is no other choice but to sing. Still not convinced? Take this test: close your eyes and remember your first junior high dance, the people that were there, what refreshments were being served, what you were wearing and simplest and best of all – the music that was being played. Don’t resist. ADMIT IT! You want to hum or sing right now. You are 14 again, your heart is on your sleeve, ultimate truths are found in the top 40 and you NEED to sing to really express yourself.

I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE is all about the most basic need and joy of all – to be loved and love back in what is the perfect romance in that moment. Singing is not a choice but an imperative. Come sing along with us.

Ron Clark

COLLECTED STORIES FEATURES SHAMIS BECKLEY

Most actors spend so much time and energy simply trying to get work, that when they finally do “book” a job, they often experience a surprising amount of panic. As the reality sinks in that they’re responsible for creating a character, and then translating that character honestly to an audience, an inevitable amount of self doubt usually begins to creep into the process. I had the privilege, when I was in college, to study with Philip Seymour Hoffman. He told our class that when he books a part, he spends at least one day worried, wondering why he was cast, sure that a mistake has been made. So, when I find myself in this position, I’m assured that even the best actors feel this way, that it’s not just me, and then, I go to the text. I really, truly feel, that the text can save you as an actor. The text is your safety net.

Before the first rehearsal I always read the play three times. Once for the story, once to achieve a better understanding of the relationships at work in the play, and once for my character. I try to have a sense for the play on multiple levels so that when I begin the rehearsal process I can make choices that are helpful not just for my character but for the play in its entirety. As rehearsals progress, I keep the script close. I’m constantly going back to the play, looking at each moment, discovering how my character moves forward. Why does my character say that next line? Is it inevitable? The rehearsal process always seems to fly by, so I try to take advantage of every available second. While I’m in the process of going through the script, and discovering things, I don’t try to memorize my lines. I try to learn them emotionally. It’s necessary to do this, I think, because it helps me find the important moments for my character, and justify the emotional beats.

Since, I’m an actor who works from the text, I feel privileged to be working on a Donald Margulies play. Collected Stories is an exceptional, complicated and thoughtful piece, and I was excited to tackle Lisa. My boyfriend is a writer at the Writer’s Workshop, so I had an immediate familiarity with the life of a writer. Still, I found the role fascinating and challenging, not simply for the moral questions in the piece, but because she is an interesting character who grows substantially during the play.

I’m thankful to the Riverside Theatre for allowing me the opportunity to play such a complicated woman in such a wonderful piece. I have had a fantastic time and I hope our audiences do too!

- Shamis Beckley

From Ron Clark (Marvin in Guys on Ice)

So the question arises from insiders as well as interested patrons: “Do you have to prepare as seriously for a comic role like Marvin in Guys on Ice as say the title role in King Lear? The simple answer is, “yes” and “no.”

I always think it’s a huge mistake to not think about the inner life of a character no matter what the genre. In a play like Guys on Ice it is essential that the actor find the heart of the character and explore it with as much empathy as you can muster. The temptation is to just play the jokes without thinking about the true life that generates them. Once you go over the top and lose the characters intentions, goals or objectives (choose your noun depending on where you went to acting school) the audience can tell and will no longer care about the stage action. As an old director/friend of mine used to say, “They’ll be playing mah jong in the back row if you keep that up!”

But doesn’t Lear require more truth? I don’t know – it requires a hell of a lot more work. He speaks over 20% of the lines in one of Shakespeare’s longest plays, so the sheer energy required is extraordinary; it’s even tougher than singing and doing a soft shoe number in L.L. Bean snow boots. Lear as a human being is certainly more complicated than Marvin the ice fisherman, but Marve deserves just as much truth in the telling of his story.

See ya on de ice.
Ron Clark

Dis ain’t yer basic buddy story, no sirree!
Riverside delivers buddy play with heart and humor
Theatre review by John Busbee - Art Scene

The formula is tried and true: begin with an easy-going script with all the charming appeal of a Currier & Ives snowfall, blend in some jokes, an instinctive trio of actors, and serve with well-crafted production elements. Serve on ice. Let the fun begin.

Riverside Theatre’s “Guys on Ice: An Ice Fishing Musical Comedy” reaches well beyond the guffaws and chortles its humor and jokes elicit, and delivers a harmonious buddy story that evokes as much warmth as a soothing cup of mid-winter hot cocoa – with an occasional shot of fortification. Achieving the same standards of excellence that any Riverside production achieves, “Guys on Ice” will surprise many, successfully straying from their more traditional fare of serious, classic and edgy material.

Longtime pals Lloyd and Marvin convene in their ice fishing shanty, keeping the northern chill at bay through their mutual appreciation for good bait, cold beer, and the Green Bay Packers. While Marvin awaits his fifteen minutes of fame in an on-location interview on a cable TV fishing show, both attempt to divert Ernie the Moocher from their beer stash and bait. Numbers like “Ode to a Snowmobile Suit” and “Fish Is de Miracle Food” add a charming musical zest to the show.

Director Sean Paul Bryan takes a deeper route than this show’s humor and jokes may tempt with other directors, drawing upon the natural stage chemistry of veteran actors Ron Clark and Christopher Merrill. The results are a delicious blend of belly laughs and richly intimate human insights. Tony Zabka provides a scenic palette upon which the action unfolds, with the centerpiece ice shanty interior that would make any ice fishermen burst with pride.

John Watkins as Ernie the Moocher – with a dead-on dialect straight out of the movie, “Fargo” – crafts one of the most original pre-show speeches ever seen. He continues his audience interactive shtick during the special intermission show. During the play, his delightful interludes pepper the script with outrageous behaviors, town gossip revelations and a gasp-producing “cold one” chug-a-lug.

The heart and soul of this show are entrusted to the masterful talents of Ron Clark (Marvin) and Christopher Merrill (Lloyd). Their lines are submersed in the dialectic lilt of the northern states. Their on-stage bond (this is their fourth Riverside show together) is rich, textured and sublime. In one scene, their reciprocal gifts of fish sandwiches (one walleye, the other trout) reflect their deep friendship. The long waiting for that big fish to bite is often punctuated by their love of the Green Bay Packers and their jokes, leading one to the correct conclusion that catching fish is perhaps not the greatest reward, or even goal, of ice fishing.

For a great escape, take time to experience the charismatic and comic “Guys on Ice.” You’re sure to catch your limit of laughs and rewarding storytelling, leaving you in a warm, feel-good comforter of time well spent.

Order tickets on-line at www.riversidetheatre.org

Call the box office at 319-338-7672

SMALL MIRACLES HAPPEN EVERY DAY

By Ron Clark

Playwright and performer of Small Miracles

Showing at Riverside Theatre December 9-10

There we were, hand in hand, walking to our favorite restaurant in Wilmington, North Carolina and a young man smoking a cigarette stepped in front of us.
“I am the street corner poet and I have identified you two as the people most in love on this entire street. I have a poem for you.” He then recited a very original (if somewhat corny) love poem. His voice was low and breathy and generated a sense of urgent intimacy. I can’t remember a single word or verse, but rather only that confused but delightful feeling one gets when serenaded by a Mariachi band in a colorful Mexican café.
He finished his sonnet and flashed a broad grin showing lots of gold and white teeth. I dug into my pants and gave him a buck. He said, “Thank you sir and I hope you continue to fall in love with this beautiful woman the rest of your life.” And he was gone down the street looking for his next set of lovers.
That’s a true story. It happened to Jody and me as we were celebrating our 22nd anniversary last April. But what value does it have to you? What is the importance of me telling it to you?
As I prepare to present Small Miracles once again, the thought occurs to me: “Why do I keep telling these stories and why do people keep coming to listen to them?” and even stranger, “Why do some people come to listen to them more than once?”
To answer: No, I don’t change the stories from one Christmas season to the next. It is a set piece of literature that has been recorded on compact disc and presented in many different locations. So, if you are considering buying a ticket as a repeat attender and expecting something new . . . sorry. But . . .
I love Jean Sheperd’s classic film A Christmas Story and apparently so do millions of other people because TBS shows it for a solid 24 hours every year. I also watch my own DVD of It’s a Wonderful Life (IN THE ORIGINAL BLACK & WHITE) every year and I cry every time at the same places; how can you resist?
And every year millions and millions of people remember their own sacred stories that range from Aunt Dorothy’s fruit cake that went round the world to Uncle Howard getting drunk and falling into the Christmas tree to the birth of Christ to the marking of Passover and Hannakah . . . the list never ends when we consider the stories we NEED to make sense of where we started, who we are now and who we aspire to be in the future.

Order tickets here