From the desk of Gerard J. Savoy
It’s going to happen sooner or later. If you’ve been doing theater since before you can remember a time when you weren’t, eventually you are going to watch another actor step into a role that you’ve played.
It happens all the time on Broadway. Headliners come and go in order to keep a production that may or may not have been produced without them, alive. In the world of OOB however, this is much rarer. Sure, we’ve all done our Shakespeare and Sheppard. We’ve watched as others have taken on the roles of Iago or Desdemona, Eddie or May. It’s expected. Theater is a living breathing art and in it, characters can exist forever.
I recently had the opportunity to experience this first hand when POY remounted a production of Kenneth Branagh’s “A Midwinter’s Tale”. Originally produced in 2004, I was given the opportunity at that time to play the role of Carnforth Greville. Up until that point most of the roles I had been cast in had me playing tough guys or the guy next door. I had begun to think that this was what I was destined to play forever until POY gave me the chance to sink my teeth into a role that was totally against my “type”.
Let me just clarify something. I think that casting on “type” is bullshit. I have seen this happen over and over again. Most of the jobs I have gotten, I knew in the first 30 seconds that they were mine. Didn’t matter if my audition was crap (at least in my mind), I could see the look in the casting director’s eye that I was the one they were looking for. They pictured me when they envisioned the character. But I digress.
Carnforth has a depth of spirit that I wanted to explore. He is a quiet, shy man who loves his mother and seeks approval from her in a life that she considers a waste of time. Carnforth is a drinker. Hiding behind the strength and confidence that alcohol provides. Here is a man that has never been challenged regarding his ability as a performer or his ability to stand up straight. I love this character. I loved bringing him to life.
Jump ahead to 2010. POY remounts the production from March 3 to the 13th. The show is
recast with some of the same actors that appeared in the original and several new additions to the POY family. All the original actors are recast in different roles. I am not cast as Carnforth. Instead another actor takes on the role at his request and I am given the role of Henry Wakefield by the director. A brand new opportunity opens for me to play another interesting role. I have the chance to mostly work opposite an actor who I have enjoyed watching in the past but have worked with on a limited basis. We make each other better. I watch as the actor playing Carnforth now works out his own interpretation of the character. It is not easy. Not because of what he is doing but because like most actors there were things that I had only begun to discover the first go around. I want to jump in and share these insights with him but realize it is not my place. He is on his own journey. It’s tough. I concentrate on my own role. I have to hope that the director and actor take care of the character I love. It’s an interesting place to be. In the end the production had its run. A good time was had by all. And for me, I have learned to let it go. Who knows, in the world of OOB, I may cross paths with Carnforth again.
Labels: A Midwinter's Tale, Gerard J. Savoy
