We are assuming that our readers have some familiarity with theatrical production-the relatively long rehearsal period and the hoped for long run of perfomance. In the medium the challenge is to keep the performance fresh, to retain the illusion of the first time. You may be doing the show for the hundredth time, but the audience has never seen it before. Anthony Lapaglia’s stunningly powerful portrayal of Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge made it the most successful production ever to be mounted by the Roundabout Theatre Company. So enthusiastic was the audience response, the run of the play had to be extended-at Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre.
Theater,to me, is the only place left where you can’t fake it. You can turn in a lousy performance in movies, and a good editor can make you look decent. There is a skill to acting short fragments, maintaining your composure for hours, waiting to do your closeup at the end of the day. There’s a skill making very fast decisions, hoping that they’re the right ones. But theater! you gotta get up there and give for two, two and a half hours, however long it takes. And thats becoming a rare thing now because the business has changed so much. young actors are not attracted to the theater for the most part. Theres no visibility. theres no money. Theres no prestige involved-unless you happen to hit a play that really does go over the top…
I did this play merely because I wanted to do it. I had no idea it would go this far. I was just commited for a short run. I wanted to get back onstage, and that was my only motivation for doing it. The fact that it has gone into an open-ended run on Broadway is gravy. And I’m enjoying every second of it because i realize, now, that this kind of experience comes along every ten years. When I was younger I thought they happened every week. But they don’t,. This is the best job I’ve had in ten years. By far in fact, in terms of personal satisfaction, it beats everything I’ve ever done!
