Monthly Archives: March 2016

One of my favorite and perhaps most dangerous toys of my youth was the Easy Bake Oven. With all of its small parts and desire to make everything hot and play with stoves, it was likely NOT the best choice. It was also a questionable gift to give a young boy of the sixties, but that is a blog for another day. I do remember that those little “cakes” remain some of the best desserts I have known. I am not sure what they were made of – – but the word radioactive comes to mind. Where in the world is this metaphor taking me? Last night was one of our first full runs of the play, Read more →

In almost every script there is that one scene in which the actor really has to take a big emotional leap into the great beyond. Often in the scene this is where the character either digs his heels into the ground and claims his freedom or perhaps drops down the guard and finially lets the waterworks roll. How do you rehearse this scene? Do you just tell the actor, “Here is where you have to cry. Damn it.” and then you just wait for it – – and when it doesn’t happen you hold the actor accountable to the dry face. Read more →

This world is full of naughty words. If you have ever sat down with a piece of modern theatrical literature you will be amazed by all of the naughty words. Even in the play that deals with the most affirming of topics in the best possible literature you will still find a string of words that MIGHT be offensive to SOMEBODY. When I first started teacher, I thought to hell with leadership (I know, naught word). Read more →

In doing work with high school actors – at least the high school actors under my watch, I am always amazed and rather jealous at how comfortable they are to touch and hold each other. This openness seems to go way beyond gender or sexual identity. Read more →

One of my all time favorite movies is the class “school movie” to Sir with Love. This classic movie, with a very young Sidney Poitier, tells the story of a teacher from a privileged world taking his first teaching job in a poor working class part of the city. At first he struggles because his students could care less about the history, science and math that was spelled out in antiquated, oversize textbooks. The students just didn’t give a damn and they let the teacher (Sidney Poitier) know it each and every day of class. This is the Amityville Horror for teachers! Read more →