The Story So Far - 8/13/05

It's a hot day in Staunton VA, with the temperature at 97.3 degrees and a heat index of 100 degrees. So I thought perhaps I'd sit in my little air-conditioned all-purpose room and provide my readers with an overview of my situation and how all this got started.

After serving three years as Chair of the Visual Arts and New Media Department at SUNY Fredonia and merging Media Arts and Visual Arts together, I decided I had done all I could, stepped down as Chair, and received a sabbatical for this coming academic year 2005-06. In my request I wrote about doing several things, one of which was trying to find professional theatre work, perhaps in New York City. I also thought I would take some time to organize the many, many thoughts I've had about theatre and acting for several years and do some research and writing about those subjects. Most of what I wrote was somewhat vague, and by December of 2004 I really didn't know quite what I was going to do. I had looked into obtaining research grants but found that I sort of fell between the cracks. Not possessing a PhD disqualified me for every research grant, and since I wasn't planning any kind of performance production I did not qualify for artistic grants.

On Christmas Day 2004 my grandmother passed away at age 96, and so I went to Long Island to attend the funeral. I took one day to go into the city and just visit my favorite spots - chief among them the Cloisters - and collect my thoughts about my grandmother and what she had meant to me all these years. During one of my waits I picked up a copy of Backstage out of curiosity, having not read that paper for at least three years. In the casting section was a notice for auditions for Shenandoah Shakespeare coming up in mid-January. As I read the notice, it jumped at me that everything about the gig was perfect. A touring Shakespeare troupe, a one-year paying contract from June 05-June 06, non-Equity. I love Shakespeare, I've always wanted to do at least one tour, and I was getting a one-year sabbatical. Long story short, after talking it over with Ann Marie and getting her blessing, I auditioned and got the gig. That's how I got here.

I've been here now since June 12, and all the time has been spent rehearsing the three shows. We have completed rehearsals for Return to the Forbidden Planet and Much Ado About Nothing and are one week into rehearsals for Richard III. If you want information about the shows and my roles in them, check out the American Shakespeare Festival link on the right sidebar - everything's there, including tour dates and stops. Not listed yet, however, is the fact that I am also playing Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, which plays in December. I get two weeks off from January 1-13, and that's it for the entire contract. I've also joined the Equity Member Candidate program, so by the time I finish this tour I should be eligible for my Equity Card - after all these years!!!!


I am by far the oldest member of the touring troupe; indeed the oldest member of the company. The acting company is divided into two troupes, the Resident Troupe and the Atomic Fission Touring Troupe. I believe the second-oldest person in the touring troupe is 20 years younger than me. There are actors in the company younger than Jenna, my oldest child. I have a feeling I got the gig because I had little competition. Where else are you going to get an older character actor if not from a college professor on sabbatical? So of course I'm playing all the "old guy" character roles, and some of the younger members of the company have taken to calling me "Uncle Tom" on occasion.

The way a typical season runs is that the Resident Troupe arrives in April and rehearses the summer/fall season from April-June, opening in mid-June. During that opening week the new touring troupe arrives, and rehearses until mid-September, when it leaves for the first leg of the tour. The tour returns just before Thanksgiving and then rehearses and performs A Christmas Carol while the resident troupe is on vacation. The Resident troupe returns in January to rehearse and perform their Renaissance season (shows produced without a director) while the touring troupe goes out on the second leg of the tour. The resident company finishes its contract by the end of March, which is when the touring troupe returns and is in residence with its shows at the Blackfriars Theatre while the new resident troupe is in rehearsal for the next summer/fall season. Got that? :-)

The rehearsal schedule is 6 days/week, 8 hours/day, with Saturdays off. When we complete the rehearsal period for a particular show we get two days off. It's tiring, but it's also in its own way exhilirating. It has taken awhile to adjust to the idea that all I have to do down here is rehearse, that it's my only job. Quite a change of pace. I have been working to stay in shape by riding my bicycle and walking, but I must say the amount of energy I'm expending is a lot. This is not a desk job, for sure!

The city of Staunton (pronouced STAN-ton) is for the most part a tourist city. My lodgings are about a 10-minute walk from the theatre, in the downtown area. The theatre is quite beautiful, and the downtown area is mostly composed of restaurants and quaint little tourist shops. And the town is extremely hilly! I heard one person say that Staunton is sometimes referred to as the "San Francisco of the East" because of its hills. It makes riding the bike - and walking - quite challenging! I was afraid to ride my bike the first few weeks for fear I wouldn't get up the hill to my lodgings! I can do it now, but it's still a challenge after a day of rehearsal. The other interesting thing about Staunton is that all of the downtown buildings are made of brick. The town dates back to 1791 or something like that, and was occupied only once by Federal troops during the Civil War (they blew up the RR station and burned a good part of the town before leaving), so a lot if the buildings have historic significance. It's also the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson. His Presidential Library and birth home are in town not far from the theatre.

And, of course, this area is at the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley, with the south entrance of Shenandoah National Park about 25 minutes from here. I have been trying to visit many of the Civil War battle sites in the area, but more on that in another post. I took one hike in the park to the Jones Run waterfall, and it was quite beautiful. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go hiking again before we leave on tour and then again in April when we're in residence.

OK I've taken up enough of your time for now. Thanks for reading. -TWL