I can’t believe we are already in the last week of performances for NEXT FALL. If you are reading this, and haven’t yet seen this production, I hope you will be able to attend. It is a great honor to perform in a production that has managed to get everything just right—from the witty and powerful script, Matthew Weiner’s passionate direction, the perfect design elements, to an extraordinary ensemble of actors. Such experiences are rare for both audiences and “theatre makers”. I’ve been attending plays and performing in them for over 50 years—once in a great while an undeniable artistic miracle occurs, a very special combustion between audience and performers that leaves you astonished, thoroughly entertained and transformed. Those rare moments are the reason I chose to make the theatre my life’s work at the age of 8, after seeing a stunningly powerful performance of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK in guilt-stricken Germany in the 1950s. Those occasional miracles are what have kept me working in the theatre all my life. You can’t force or predict them, of course.
When we started rehearsals for NEXT FALL, I was certain it would be a great show and a terrific experience---all the ingredients were there, after all. But it wasn’t until the final dress rehearsals and the attention of the first audiences that I realized I was witnessing the birth of another artistic miracle. Actually, I’ve been kind of afraid to blog about until now, a little superstitious that talking about it might cause it to evaporate! But now the magic has become very dependable, it happens every night as the lights come up on Andi and David. NEXT FALL will close on Sunday and will live on only in the memories of those who were witnesses to it. But productions like this truly feed the souls of actors and theatre artists and keep the art of theatre alive for generations to come. I hope you’ll come and experience NEXT FALL with us.
photo: John Groseclose
(l to r) Debra K. Stevens, David Vining and Chance Dean
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