Cast Interview: Alan Altschuler in A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Alan Altschuler

Role in this production:
Baylor

What's been your favorite role, to date?  

Playing Oberon in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?  

Having a fellow actor in TWELVE ANGRY MEN shift his accent mid-performance from Eastern European to Italian and finishing every sentence with the words, "Mamma Mia!"

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role? 

Making sure that Baylor has various levels and does not come off as two-dimensional bully.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process? 

Working to develop my relationship relative to each of my scene partners: Meg, Mike, Beth and Frankie.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?  

The similarities between Baylor and myself stem from my personal experience with certain men of Baylor's generation, who tended to be bullies who actually lacked self-confidence and/or self awareness.

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?   

This June, I'll be playing Polonius in both HAMLET and ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD with The Seeing Place.

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Robert King in MISS JULIE

Your name:
Robert King

Role in this production:
Jean

What's been your favorite role, to date?

Performing in my one-man show, HALFRICAN-AMERICAN. I don't think I will ever find a role that means as much to me as that.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?  

One of my first shows in NY was an Off-Broadway show that started off with a legit script, and evolved (or really, devolved) into an interactive Chip & Dales spoof. It ran for a year and a half, and will haunt my dreams forever.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?  

On the surface, and in almost everything you find about Strindberg's writing, you can find a lot of misogyny. The hardest part of preparing for this role was justifying and humanizing that, because it is so far from who I am.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?  

This process allows you freedom to find things on your own, and that boils over into being able to "play" onstage. Very rarely do you find surprises and honestly fun moments onstage, and this process really cultivates the opportunity to do that.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character? 

Jean has such a deep desire to improve his station in life, to be seen as more than his current position, and live better. When you are just starting out as an actor (and in most professions) you have to prove yourself over and over again, and really MAKE people see that you are better and can do better.

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?  
I will be playing Guildenstern in ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, and I couldn't be more thrilled. And terrified. In a good way.

MISS JULIE runs March 3-12, 2013

Sun at 7pm,  Mon at 6pm & 9pm, Tue at 7pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Janice Hall in A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Janice Hall

Role in this production:
Lorraine

What's been your favorite role, to date?  

Well, although my theater roles to date have been good ones, there haven't been that many, so I'll have to pull out an opera role. The role of Salome was something I never expected to play; it's incredibly dramatic music, and my voice isn't quite the size and scope usually associated with her.  But in small theaters, it worked--aside from the loud orchestra, everything else about the character suited me perfectly. And then, also doing multiple roles in the operatic version of Angels in America is a tremendous experience.  I feel as if I've done the play, although I haven't. For one thing, the opera is a lot shorter... 

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?  

A production of Madame Butterfly in Berlin, directed by a very controversial Spanish director (Calixto Bieito). I made an entrance poised on the rim of a hot tub, rode a mechanical bull, poured Coke on my head in the middle of an aria, and went on a killing rampage at the end of the show (that's not really how Puccini wrote it). And there were some other things that I don't think I want to write down here... But, oddly enough, it was a wonderful experience---at least there was drama onstage, in a way that really fed me in the role. 

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role? 

For me, working in the way we work in this company is new and different.  I come from the world of opera, where everything is regimented and planned out in detail.  Nothing is left to chance.  In A Lie of the Mind, things onstage are different every night, and I am learning how to roll with that. 

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process? 

The most exciting thing for me is to get to do this wonderful play. I love Shepard's writing, and the characters he has created. And it is a truly ensemble piece, where everyone carries equal weight. This is the perfect show for an ensemble company like The Seeing Place. 

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?  

My character, Lorraine, is unlucky in love. She loves maybe too much, too intensely. I think that is true in my own life as well.  And she loves to wallow in her misery; I like to think I've gotten through that phase of my own life, but who knows?  But the wonderful thing about Lorraine is that by the end of the play she has let it all go, and is ready to start a new life, which I think is very inspiring.

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?   

Next, I'll be playing Gertrude in Hamlet for The Seeing Place. I am very excited to be doing my first full production of a Shakespeare play!

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Marnie Klar in MISS JULIE

Your Name:
Marnie Klar

Role in this production:
Christine

What's been your favorite role, to date?

 Joan in “Love Song,” as it was an emotional roller coaster and playing with such a dynamic cast, I felt as if I were always on my toes.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?  

While playing the role of Cinderella in “Into The Woods,” the wire lowering my birds broke and they fell into my hands as I was singing “fly birds, back to the sky…” The died!  I had to walk them off stage as in a burial procession.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?  

The most challenging part of Christine has been getting to her core and understanding her place of servitude.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?  

Using The Seeing Place’s rehearsal process to uncover the layers of Christine and personalize them for myself.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character? 

I think I’m similar to Christine in her strength and practicality. 

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?  
I’ll be performing in my newest cabaret, “Accidental Happiness,” opening on April 13^th at Don’t Tell Mama.  www.marniklar.com for more information.

MISS JULIE runs March 3-12, 2013

Sun at 7pm,  Mon at 6pm & 9pm, Tue at 7pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Mary Lahti in A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Mary Lahti

Role in this production:
Meg

What's been your favorite role, to date?  

Cinnimon.  No, kidding (sort of).  My favorite under 40 role is the role of Amy in COMPANY.  My favorite over 40 role is "Georgia" in CURTAINS.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?  

Oh, so many to choose from.  I guess maybe performing for a Father's Day Benefit dance concert where the only audience member turned out to be the choreographer's father.  We were tricked into thinking it was a big benefit concert.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?  

I was going to say, preparing to massage my character's husband's feet, but that's not so bad.  I would say probably finding a balance in the character substitution for my character's daughter who is beat up and has brain damage.  It was way too easy to put myself into that realization and I have had to find a balance in the exploration for the character.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?  

Besides absolutely loving this cast?  I would say breaking down a scene by individual objectives and exploring just one at a time for the whole scene to really get a sense of the dynamics with your scene partners as well as within yourself.  It's just amazing what unfolds in the process.   

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?  

Oh, I would say the over mothering is probably the biggest similarity and there is mention to not yelling or screaming which is very much me.  I don't like yelling.   But I am in no way, shape or form a country girl.

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?  

Well, I will be helping the company for the season but my next project is my debut cabaret show planned for May which I'm so excited about.  This is a different area I had not considered before and after studying this form for awhile, I'm ready to take what I've learned and put on what I hope to be a fun show.  

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Erin Cronican in A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Erin Cronican

Role in this production:
Beth in A LIE OF THE MIND

What's been your favorite role, to date?
I think it might have been Roberta from DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA. I never in a million years thought I would be called upon to play a broken mother from the Bronx. She had so much heart yet so many anger and hurt, and it was amazing to find a personal way into the character so that I was sharing myself fully with the audience.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?

Oh wow - The physical & emotional aspects of someone with brain damage, that's for sure. I watched a lot of videos to get a sense of what a person physically goes through when they're recovering from a brain injury. I also did a lot of research on what it feels like, emotionally, to have an injury that severely impacts communication. Beth knows what she wants to say - she still has the same thoughts, feelings and emotions as before the beating - but cannot find a way to free her voice. This was such a challenge to create, and I'm finally starting to feel like I have a good handle on it.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?

The ability to build complex relationships with each of the characters in the play, portrayed by some of the finest actors in NYC.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?

Beth is someone who wants desperately to fit in, but doesn't have any way to be the kind of "normal" required. She also is fighting to have her voice heard, against all odds. In playing this role (which has been played by some of the greatest actresses in NYC history) I feel much the same way. I want to so much for my voice to be heard, without judgment, so that my story can come through. Beth also has a love/hate relationship with her body, now that her body has betrayed her through this tragedy. This is especially true in her seduction scene with Frankie - she knows she's no longer beautiful in the way she was before. Through this, I've had to come to terms with my own body image issues (especially since I spend a good portion of the play in just a bra!)

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?
I'll be playing Ophelia in The Seeing Place's repertory productions of HAMLET and ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD. It's a nutty season for me - I went from a girl who didn't exist (Love Song) to a girl who has brain damage (A Lie of the Mind) to someone who goes crazy and kills herself in a rage. Good times. :)

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Gabrielle Loneck in MISS JULIE

Your Name:
Gabrielle Loneck

Role in this production:
Julie

What's been your favorite role, to date?
My favorite role to date has been Kassandra in TROJAN WOMEN. I have a special place in my heart for ancient Greek Drama.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?

Probably the canary scene in MISS JULIE. yeah, definitely the canary scene in MISS JULIE.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?

The most challenging thing about this role has been to bring as much of myself to the character as possible. Over a hundred years have passed since when it was written and today and there are concepts within the play that are dated. The challenge for me has been to find what is not and bring myself to that and create a full, living, breathing person.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?

Working with Erin as a director! It has truly been a privilege to work with such a passionate and driven director. I love that collaboration and exploration have been encouraged so much by her. It makes that process so much more enriching and fun.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?
I definitely have a side to myself that challenges people and ideas around me. I am a bit more reserved than Julie is, but I feel like we both have a rebellious side.

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?
Next with The Seeing Place is HAMLET and ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD. I am so excited to move forward with The Seeing Place in Season Four!

MISS JULIE runs March 3-12, 2013

Sun at 7pm,  Mon at 6pm & 9pm, Tue at 7pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Philip Lakin in A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Philip Lakin

Role in this production:
Mike

What's been your favorite role, to date?
All bias aside, I have to say that playing Mike in A LIE OF THE MIND has been my favorite role to date.  It is some of the hardest and most detailed work I have ever done on a character.  His journey throughout the play is so interesting because his tries so hard to restore order in an insane world, that it drives him insane.  Telling his story night after night never gets boring.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?

Trying to do a serious piece based on HAMLET while a Jazz concert was going on in the venue below. The music bled through so much, it was like we had our own live orchestra.  Obviously it  was a huge challenge and disrupted the show, but some moments randomly worked really well with the show.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?

Not having blocking, not having blocking, and, oh yeah, not having blocking.  (But I'm getting better with it).

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?

The breakthroughs I had in regards to "speaking out."  It seemed so strange and foreign at first, but after a wile it really started to help me get closer to my role.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?
 His deep love for his family and his stubbornness (to a degree). 

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?
Playing Rosencrantz in ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD with The Seeing Place.  I have wanted to perform this show since the day I heard my acting teacher talk about it in High School, so I am pretty excited.

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Magan Wiles in A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Magan Wiles

Role in this production:
Sally, Assistant Director

What's been your favorite role, to date?
Juliet - although I never cracked open that damn tomb scene.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?

I was playing Hero in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING with the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis.  I was doing the scene where Hero and Ursula have a fake conversation to make Beatrice think that Benedict is in love with her.  There was one night where the audience was laughing their asses off the whole scene, and I thought, "Boy, we must be really cookin' tonight."  It turns out there was a possum crawling its way up the front of the outdoor stage.  It finally appeared at the edge of the well where we were washing clothes, maybe five feet away.  The audience just lost it-all we could do was stare at it, then look at each other, then look back at it.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?

Sally is a really lonely and angry person.  Recalling times and people that make me feel that way has not been pleasant.  Interesting and maybe even cathartic, but unpleasant.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?

I will use the tools we are using in our rehearsal process for the rest of my career.  I find a lot of Strasberg's technique to fall in line with the way I approach acting instinctively.  It's thrilling and fruitful to have the processes I used to do unconsciously be named and used consciously as a rehearsal tool to build an ensemble show.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?

Sally is unsatisfied with her life, and wants to move herself and those around her forward into a new way of living...I have found myself in that place several times over the course of my life.  She presents a tough exterior but is actually a very vulnerable person....that' me.  But if you ask me about it, I'll deny it :)

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?
I am shooting a New York Film Academy thesis project titled "Meetings" - I play a jealous girlfriend who confronts the supposed mistress in a restaurant and then chokes her out.  You know, a feel-good role.

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Cast Interview: Jason Wilson in A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Jason Wilson

Role in this production:
Frankie

What's been your favorite role, to date?

My favorite role to date was actually a role I haven't got to play yet in a full production.  It's Doug from GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES.  I got a taste for it in graduate school, when I played Doug for a classmate's thesis project.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?

The wackiest moment happened on the last dress rehearsal for CALIGULA.  I was playing Cherea, and I went up on my lines one sentence into a three page monologue.  I went so blank that I wasn't even nervous about it.  I just looked in the eyes of all the other characters on stage and after getting no response except the appropriate amount of terror, I frustratingly exasperated, "Fellas!", and walked off stage.  My director stopped the show and we started over.

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?

Almost all of Sam Shepard's works are a mountain to climb for any actor.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?

Getting to work again with some of my favorite actors I've ever shared a stage with.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?
Thankfully, I can say I've never had a bullet hole clean through my leg so that's not something I have in common with the character I'm playing.  I guess I would have to say that love for something I can't have is probably what I most have in common with Frankie.  Deep down we've probably all known that feeling.  Lusting after the taboo or falling in love with the forbidden fruit is something we can all relate to.

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?
Next up for me is Claudius in HAMLET and ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD with The Seeing Place.

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.

Director/Cast Interview: Brandon Walker on A LIE OF THE MIND

Your Name:
Brandon Walker

Role in this production:
Jake / Director

What's been your favorite role, to date?

Warren in THIS IS OUR YOUTH.  It's a role I never played.  But I played Dennis in a small production in San Diego, and I spent several years preparing to play Warren after I came to terms with myself and realized that I was never the definition of cool.  I was the kid who tried too hard.  I was Warren.  I understand him in my bones and my blood.  I rehearsed and read with all sorts of people.  I had a couple of different productions of the show over the last six years that never got off the ground for one reason or another.  I finally gave up after we didn't get the rights for it.  It was supposed to be The Seeing Place's second production.  So...Warren joins the list of roles that got away.  He's right up there with Hally in MASTER HAROLD...AND THE BOYS and Kostya in THE SEAGULL.  I just got too old too quickly.  Ah well.

What's the wackiest experience you've ever had onstage?

Probably when I had to run offstage and pee in a trash can during the 3rd scene in DANNY AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.  I'd had way too much coffee before the show, a pitcher of "beer" and a bottle of "wine" onstage, and we were up there for 90 minutes straight.  I realized I had to pee after about 30 minutes.  And by about 80 minutes, it was a full on emergency. 

What's been the most challenging thing about preparing for this role?

Having to come to terms with the fact that I am not 100% different from Jake.  I haven't beaten anyone, no.  But I'm more volatile than I'd like to admit - even to myself.  I think that all of us have been a little abusive in one way or another, and we like to pretend we're better than that.  And we strive to be better...but it doesn't make the time we went just a little too far any more okay.

What's been the most exciting thing about the rehearsal process?

Watching all of my fellow actors come to life.  It doesn't always happen.  But everyone is doing some very special work.  And it's really exciting to play with them all onstage.

What parts of yourself are similar to the character?

I wasn't initially intending to play Jake.  But I'm glad that I did.  I think the role requires a very particular kind of actor.  On the outside, it seems like Jake needs to be a typical abuser - whatever that means.  For some, it's a rough guy.  But as I've done my research, there is no type.  That's why this play is beautiful.  We see eight people deal with an abusive event.  We get all sides of it.  Most importantly, Jake is a guy who went too far.  He crossed the line.  His emotions got the best of him.  And that's been the story of his life.  And that's the story of mine, too.  As Lorraine (and my own mother) would say, I'm an "over-emotional boy".  Always have been.  I don't mean to say that I feel things any more deeply than anyone else.  But me and Jake are a pair of Drama Queens.  We're always in a state of crisis.  My motto for much of my life can be summed up in Albert Camus' advice to "Live to the point of tears."  So...I guess the real question is:  What parts of myself are different? 

What's next for you (with The Seeing Place, or other)?
Hamlet.  I know, right?  Kill me now!  :O)

A LIE OF THE MIND runs March 1-17, 2013

Wed-Sat at 7pm;  Sat & Sun at 2pm, in New York City.

For tickets, click here.

For more info about The Seeing Place, click here.

To donate (it's a worthy cause!), click here.