A NYU day that was much more engaging than the previous day where my tiredness let me down tenfold.
I was running late, but used my logic to get on a different train that had the potential to make me on time. It worked. I introduced myself to the professor Karen, a sassy Asian American, and on we went. One thing I really like about NYU is that the students lead a lot of the lectures. First up two girls presented a hour and a half's worth of a lecture on a Japanese Dance group called Pappa Tamahumara. They combine theatre, dance and singing to investigate Western texts, ideas and mentalities in order to find the Universality within them.
Here's some notes from the production of the Three Sisters which we watched: "It is rare to find choreography that incorporates facial expression as part of the choreography. Here, the dancers poke out their tongues, twist their mouths and smirk cheekily, contributing to the comedy and the characterisation for each sister. Every moment counts in this comic/tragic production that has obviously developed from intense experimentation and exacting rehearsals - nothing has been left to chance. It is the tightness of each aspect that really fleshes out the characters and creates the feeling of the trapped, claustrophobic world they occupy. In the fina
l scene there is a sense of doom, tiredness and pessimism as they sink to the floor, resigned to their situation where they will never escape from their provincial life." That particular piece was quite exciting to watch, as an actor, because, the dancers were really fusing themselves to the Given Circumstances of each character. We started a discussion about egos and how they develop from the Mirror Stage (this is where a toddler recognises him/herself in reflection for the 1st time) Fascinating because ego relies on sight, how you project yourself, what others see in you, what you see in others. One of the classmates Serep from Turkey got quite heated about this saying that a blind person cannot have this same ego growth which lead into a huge kettle of fish about how we learn, judge and copy from one another. I loved the debate. Serep, incidentally, took me under her wing and told me all the classes I should audit. Made me talked to a guy called Richard about Grotowski and his work. Was worth it. Richard's knowledge(ego?) was brilliant to listen to.
Anyway, I really liked the idea of seeing yourself in the mirror as desirable. Apparently a baby wants to grow up because they can see potential in themselves. They see a version of themselves and think that they have something to look forward to (another debate struck up as people questioned what kinds of tests they are doing on babies to figure this out) The link, or rather the theory we explored to drama, or performing, is this: THAT IS THE AUDIENCE: They are seeing a version of themselves in yourself. Which makes sense about the abundance of superficial shite television and movies that we have because our egos are so over developed we want to see more perfect versions of ourselves.
Anyway it's all theory. But interesting. I certainly hadn't thought about that sort of thing in great depth.
I caught a train back home after halfheartedly looking in some shops. I don't want to spend money on clothes here. Prices are just retarded. So I got back to the whare and hung out with Hamish, the Canadian who's staying with Shoshana for a month while he looks for a place. He studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and is a really clever guy (handsome to!) he and I had a few beers and discussed the nature of acting and how many actors are in New York and bitter about their lives. Unfortunately, I've encountered a lot of unrealisticality (if that's a word...) here. People want to be famous. It's like they forget why they do it and everything hangs on that audition, and then they don't enjoy themselves and they don't get the part, making them more and more tense. Of course, part of it is that we cannot easily make a buck from this job but it's a little sad. I was reminded on 33 Variations again; The actor playing Beethoven relishing every moment on stage, he will continue to get work. His acting muscle is strong, he is skilled and he loves it and sends it out to the audience. Brilliant.
At 20 to 8, I was thinking I should do something. Hamish wasn't keen to go out, but I certainly was. So I leapt into a cab and said dramatically "Take me to the 1st theatre on Broadway!" "Yes, Ma'am!" says he and it was like a movie, he was swapping lanes, darting around Manhatten. Mad. Unfortunately, the first movie theatre was showing MAMMA MIA! It was 8 o'clock precisely. I thought, well OK, if they can give me an uber cheap seat, I'll go here. So the seat was $20 and I went by myself to MAMMA MIA! The production was so average. This was an example of the recession to me. The set consisted of two blocks that swung around into different scenes. The performers had terrible accents and one of them, the guy playing seemed to be performing on crack cocaine. He was twitching so much... and I was in the back row! The girl playing Sophie was Miss New York and so OTT. I couldn't see any chemistry between her and Skye (the fiancee) but maybe that was down to the fact that he was terribly camp and kept doing 'Days of out lives' double takes. The highlight were, what the man in front of me called, the menopausal women. Seasoned professionals. Their timing, singing, input into a ghastly production was applaud worth. I stood up at the end for them (and cause I couldn't see because everyone else was standing up)
This production went to show that despite technological genius that we have now you can still have a pants show. The lights were awful, not quite zany enough to be artistically naff and uninspired. But the absolute worst thing was the sound mixing. Whoever was doing it had the music up much louder than the performers and some lines were COMPLETELY LOST!
The funniest thing was an usher hit a woman on the head with a programme when she tried to take a picture. Ummm. WTF?!
So, I ventured out unto the crisp Times Square air and went home. New York, New York. It's a helluva town.
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