OCTOBER 1997 ----------------------------In this issue------------------------------------------ Voices: Maryellen Hooper: One on One Norman's Theatre The Play's the Thing: The Biographical Play, Part II Enter Laughing: The One that Got Away CyberTheatre Monthly: The Musical's Homepage Rubin's Corner: Parade TRE Trivia, News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Voices Maryellen Hooper : One on One by C. W. Cecil She's animated. She's jocular. She's Maryellen Hooper. I had the pleasure of catching up with her in Dayton, Ohio a few weeks ago. Amongst the clatter of dishes and "Would you like more coffee," interruptions at Denny's, I discovered Maryellen's passions for theatre, comedy, and people. Maryellen has graced the stage for more than twelve years now, commanding laughter and defending herself from hecklers. She has finally made her mark in American Standup history by being nominated for Best Female Standup Comic in 1996. Although Wendy Liebman took that honor, Maryellen couldn't be happier just for being nominated. sounds\mirror2.wavsounds\mirror2.wav Press for Audio sounds\hurry2.wavsounds\hurry2.wav Press for Audio sounds\finger2.wavsounds\finger2.wav Press for Audio CW: Tell me about how you started in the standup business and why. MH: I started in 1985 right after the Fourth of July weekend. I was always acting and I got tired of not being paid for it. At that time, I had no idea how you could become a stand-up comedian. I thought you were born that way. When I heard about open mic night at the local comedy club I decided to do it. I went that Monday and watched, I never do anything without watching first. As I watched, I thought, "Hey, I can be just as bad as they are." So I wrote my first real-life bit about my father being a cop and how it affected me. I was scared to death. I almost didn't go up. But when I looked out of the curtain and saw all my friends I figured they would kill me if they didn't get to see the person they paid the cover charge for. So I did it. CW: I would like to focus on making it as a female comedian. What were some of the hardships and set backs you had starting out? MH: Clothing. I wear vintage cloths but I started wearing jackets with the sleeves pushed up because that is what everyone wore. That is not me at all. And I didn't realize it until one night, about three or four years into doing standup, when one of my fellow comics said, "You dress like this off stage. Why don't you dress like that on stage?" The problem is, and this is the whole female thing, when I wore masculine clothes on stage, I would still get sexual heckles. Guys would whistle and yell, "Take it off. Show us your t*ts." So I thought, if I am getting this dressed in jackets, how would it be if I were to wear a skirt or dress? But I was wrong; completely wrong. The problem with that type of male mentality is, and of course I am talking about the low-browed, un-evolved mentality, that these men don't have women as friends. They don't know how to relate to a woman in any other capacity except sexually; whether it is the role of a mother, a girlfriend, or even a prostitute. Those are the categories and I didn't fit into any of them. I am on stage trying to talk to them intellectually and they can't handle it. So I figured, they are not going to listen to me anyway, but by wearing a dress they can just sit there, shut up, and stare at my legs, or fantasize about me because now, at least, they are comfortable with me as a woman. CW: What about the craft of comedy? Is it different for men and women? And how did your style develop? MH: No. Whether you are black or white, male or female, it is all the same. Looking back at the first time I got on stage I was impressed. I actually wrote set-ups and punchlines in a story format which has become my style ever since. However, I wasn't prepared for hecklers. IT IS THE HARDEST THING TO LEARN. I like everybody, and I would take it personally. I'd almost cry. I thought, "Why are you doing this to me? I am just trying to make you people laugh." So, I finally came up with heckler lines that I keep in my back pocket, ready to go. It makes me even more confident, which just feeds me to be even more funny. I used to watch other female comics and see what they would do. But when they were sexually heckled, the women would throw back another one-liner that kept the conversation on the same level. I wanted to just nip it in the bud, pun intended. So one night, when a guy said, " Yeah, well I have a car wreck for ya, right here baby," (insert graphic groping here) it dawned on me, "You've never seen a woman on stage with her clothes on have you?" It got such a big response that I figured I really hit a nerve with this guy. I began mocking him, "Ohh, where do I put the dollar? Why is she talking?" Now he can't say anything sexual because I just made fun of the way he thinks. CW: Does it work every time? MH: No. One time I was on stage for about 15 minutes and this guy stood up screaming, "I am sick of you women talking about us males. Don't you know your place. You should be at home cooking. What's the matter, can't get a man?" In a situation like this, you have to keep in control and keep things funny. I could have said all kinds of things to this man, but I also had to show respect to the audience. So I said my normal line, and although the audience loved it, the guy just become infuriated! The man walks to the stage, unzips his pants and begins stroking himself right there in the club. The whole while he is shaking his fists at me and yelling, "Get over here and let me teach you some manners." I was scared for my life but I couldn't show fear. "Maybe the DJ could play us a song for this special moment, maybe 'it's a small world'." Nothing worked and the bouncers just stood there laughing. Finally I yelled, " Could someone please remove this man from my stage. He has paid homage to me long enough." The management just ushered him back to his seat and I had to go on with the show with this man staring at me all night. CW: What happened after the show? MH: I was furious. This man threatened my life and they did nothing. "Ah," they said. " You are making a big deal out of nothing. He is just a good 'ol boy." It was the first time I had ever seen that kind of rage and I realized that it wasn't about sex. It was about control. Afterwards, I understood why, in small towns with this type of mentality, women don't report rapes. She began eating her muffin stacked with two slices of tomato with more vigor. I decided to sip my coffee and wait for the air to clear. CW: Was that the worst experience you've ever had on stage? MH: No. Even worse than that was the time a crowd completely ignored me. I performed for a college in the cafeteria at noon. The students were eating and studying. They never even turned to look at the stage when they announced me. I can be heckled. I can have people throw things at me. I can handle people not laughing; but to ignore me, that is the cruelest thing anyone can do to anybody. I turned around and started talking to the wall so I didn't have to face them. I finished, got my check, and went to the car and bawled. It is so funny how standup comedy gives me such an awareness of human nature. For the first time I knew what homeless people must feel like when they ask for something and we just ignore them. When a homeless person walks up to you and asks for money, don't ignore them. Just tell them you don't have any and go on. When you don't acknowledge them, they yell and scream at you. Why? Because people just want to be acknowledged. CW: Speaking of being acknowledged; how did you feel when your were nominated for Best Female Stand-up Comedian? MH: Wonderful! I felt like I had reached half of my goal by being acknowledged by my peers and by the nation for doing a good job. That is very important to me. It wasn't exactly the nomination that was my goal, but what the nomination meant. At least, one time in my life, I got to wear a borrowed designer dress. My mom and my brother and I walked down the red carpet into a room with all my idols. "Mom, this is Carol Burnett. Carol, this is my mom." What a wonderful feeling to be included with all of these great people. I felt like I finally belonged. CW: What happened when they announced Wendy Liebman's name? MH: I figured I didn't have to worry about tripping. I was so excited. My heart was pounding out of my chest. No one is supposed to know who the winner is, but as calm as Wendy was, I figured she must have known. If they would have announced my name, I would have screamed. The camera would have caught me crawling over Shari Belafonte trying to get on stage. Now that would have been embarrassing! CW: Your favorite quote is by John Lennon, "Life is what happens when you are making other plans." Explain. MH: I try to get this through to my brother all the time. He is such a goal oriented person that he doesn't stop to have fun while trying to reach them. Success isn't about the comedy award, it is about all those nights you spent working in the clubs making everyone laugh and having a great time. Life is about doing what you want. I appreciate everything and I love everything. The reason I am so passionate about life is because a woman literally grabbed me by my shirt, pulling me closer to her. She whispered," I wasted my entire life worrying about the future...Don't waste a single second.. Live you life." Passion burned in her eyes as if she knew she had to tell me this. Days later, she died. CW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to write or perform standup comedy? MH: If you love it, do it. No matter what it is you will have your rewards. If you are struggling with it, maybe you should be a writer. But at least you tried. Don't be like that old lady on her death bed; regretting your life. Go after your dreams and know that you lived life to its fullest. CW: Thank You. Related Hyper-Links Joker's Comedy Cafe Comedian Websites & Email Comedy Central Quotes of the Month "It is impossible to say how it would have affected my career if I had not come out. Impossible to know whether my decision debarred me from a line of characters that I might otherwise have played. I don't think so.... But I do think it is easier to declare yourself if you are at a certain level of the profession, and much harder to do if you are just starting out. In a way I didn't have too much choice as I was just about to do a play for Gay Sweatshop. When I told my mother, she said 'I assumed that would be the case'." --Simon Callow (Snoo Wilson's HRH), from a London Times interview by Alan Franks Do you know what is puting a smile on my face right now? I look out of my window, and the theaters that were once empty are now not. --Tytoole, MSN Theatre Forum Chatroom ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Play's the Thing The Biographical Play, Part II A Playwright's Perspective For a playwright, working on a biographical play poses particular problems. Depending on the target of the play, there are issues such as copyright versus public domain, historical accuracy and research, and how to deal with the "unknowns" of the subject's life, that must be considered. Using some of my own experiences working on historical figures and the work of other playwrights, I will attempt to explain how a playwright might approach this kind of play. How does a playwright select a subject to write about? First, the subject must be one that the playwright is interested in. I have always found that if I am attracted to a historical figure, past or present, I will have an easier time getting to know more about the person. The research into their lives will be a journey full of twists, turns, and even roadblocks that will intrigue me and keep me working. Once I uncover something worth dramatizing, I can begin to form the basis of the play and outline the details I want to bring to light. Shakespeare is among one of the most prolific writers of historical figures, from the ancients of Greece and Rome, to the monarchy of England. Selecting certain figures to portray on stage enabled Shakespeare and his contemporaries to stay in good graces with the patrons that provided financial support for the acting companies. Shakespeare, for example, wrote about Henry VIII in order to please Elizabeth I, Henry's daughter. He generally showed the monarchy as noble, righteous, and courageous, like in his play Henry V. He also showed the villainy and treachery of monarchs in plays like Richard III. One aspect for the playwright to consider is whether or not the historical subject falls into the category of public domain. Many contemporary figures retain rights to their private lives. In order to write about these people, a writer might have to obtain permission to write their story. There may be other writers who have already obtained rights to the story. Doing a bit of checking around may save hours of work and legal entanglements for the playwright. Many figures throughout history are available without permission for the playwright's pen. I have researched an interesting historical figure for many years that I want to turn into a play (although at the moment a screenplay might better serve the project). Without giving away too many details (shhhh, there might be theatre spies out there!), the story centers around a Celtic queen, Boadicea, who nearly defeated the Roman occupation forces that tried to conquer England in 60 AD. With no restrictions regarding copyright issues, I am free to explore the life of this character and develop my own unique way of presenting her life. I began the search for information by scouring the libraries, Internet, bookstores and historical texts to find all that I could about the queen. There were so many rich details about her life that I had many avenues I could take when developing the skeleton of the play. One of the many people involved in the story of this queen was a Roman historian who wrote the memoirs of his father-in-law who was actually part of the army that faced the Celtic queen's own army. This became such an interesting perspective that I decided to begin my story with the historian recording the life of the queen. With that decision made, the real research began. I was now faced with learning about Roman and Celtic cultures during 60 A. D. But how much accuracy is necessary for the play? This is a question I am still dealing with since not every factor of the play must be perfect. The historical story itself must be as accurate as possible. Details about rituals and places should also be as close to accurate as I can make them. Information on the costumes and set will become important when the play in produced, but I can include some of these details in stage directions for future productions. What is a playwright to do about the "unknown" factors in a historical character's life? How can a playwright create conversations and dialogue that sound historically correct without letting fiction blur the facts? The key to remaining true to the historical character is understand that person's thoughts and actions. The playwright must know enough significant information about the person to create dialogue that represents the character's motivations. If I do not understand the motives behind the actions taken by the Celtic queen in my play, how can I create realistic sounding dialogue? If the character is a contemporary figure, the writer might have more information readily available to help with dialogue construction. Suppose that the writer has chosen Marilyn Monroe as the focus of a play. There are so many films and interviews that the writer can study her closely and develop a knack for recreating her speech patterns. Actual excerpts can be used to create conversation. Books and articles on the actress' life will give insight into the internal working of her personality. Suppose, as in my own play, the historical figure is centuries old and very little information exists about speeches and personalities. The writer, as I have done, must create a character that closely resembles whatever information is out there and trust that whatever is embellished or enhanced remains true to the spirit of that person. In my case, I am fortunate that a Roman historian was able to record some first-hand information about how this queen spoke, what she looked like, and was fierce a fighter she was during the battles. The Roman general assigned to suppress her and conquer England is also described in vivid terms. Any information I don't possess will be left up to my creative instincts. When the queen rallied her troops to fight against the overwhelming Roman army, I will have to rely on the information I do have and the information I have created in a character biography in order to write the speech. When her children are raped by Roman soldiers and she is beaten, I must put myself in her place and write dialogue that conveys the anger and angst any woman would feel under those circumstances. I will have to create information about her husband whose death sets into motion the events of the rebellion. At one point I did not have the names of her daughters, although some exhaustive research on the part of my partner (thank you Steven!) finally paid off. There are also characters that I am creating that are purely fictional to round out the story. The queen lived at the height of the Druid religion and practiced many Druid/Celtic rituals. Therefore, I have created a Druid priest to act as her advisor in order to bring that aspect of life into the story. I have also created a nasty henchman that carries out a lot of the dirty work for the Roman general, thus adding conflict to the play. This license happens frequently in historical cases so that the missing pieces can be filled in. As you can see, there are so many decisions that a writer has to make when tackling a biographical play. Checking on the copyright issues, researching historical references and dealing with the "unknowns" will not create the story. That must still come from the writer. Finding the most dramatic way to present this information is how the playwright weaves all the information into the cloth of a theatrical presentation. Writing a play based on real figures can be frustrating and rewarding for the writer. The joy of discovering some subject that fills you with passion and desire to capture that life on paper is exhilarating. There will be a lot of work ahead. Fact and fiction may be mingled to make the story more interesting. Research hours may pay off with a wealth of information or leave the writer tearing their hair out for the lack of it. Critics may argue that the writer has strayed from the "accurate" account of the subject's life. Audiences may be critical if information they expected is left out. All the writer can do is create a world in which the historically figure can once again gain a voice to speak to new generations. A note by Caprice Woosley: The information in this article about Boadicea is for a work in progress. The play has not been completed at this time. I have taken great care not to reveal too much of the actual format of the story to protect my interest as a playwright. The purpose of sharing the information about the play is to illustrate the manner in which a playwright might tackle the issue of a historical play. Internet Sites related to historical/biographical information History Links - Grand Rapids (Michigan) Public Library Biography Links - Grand Rapids (Michigan) Public Library The History Net - Where History Lives on the Web The Patriots' Project supports the Heroes' Page Biography.com --- Caprice Woosley is currently pursuing her BFA in theater (directing and playwriting), after 25 years working in and around the theater. She is a produced playwright, actress, and amateur dramaturg who enjoys researching plays. She is a host in the Writing Forum where she co-hosts a Writing Discussion Group. She also hosted "Shakespeare Unplugged" and "Murder and Mayhem" in the Theatre Forum. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Enter Laughing: The ones that got away! There's an oft-told joke that goes something like this: "What is the difference between L.A. and yogurt? Answer: One has live culture." This notion that L.A. - indeed any place outside of NYC - is a fortress for cultureless misfits has gone unchallenged for far too long. Why must any show make it on Broadway before classifying it as a hit? As a West Coast man myself, I set out to prove once and for all that culture does indeed exist within the hearts and minds of non-native New Yorkers. If only I could find a play to prove this fact. I found my proof at the Natinal Archive of Un-Produced Plays Written by Non-New Yorkers (ohk, it does exist, it's right there up the street from the Library of Congress). As I waslked through the archives, I identified thousands of wonderful plays which should have 'made it' on Broadway, and probably would have if only they'd been scripted by a playwright from the good ole boy network in Manhattan. As you'll see, it seems as if many of these plays were plaguarized and reincarnated as Broadway hits you'll easily recongize. Let me share a few of the better ones with you: Dogs A musical based on William Wegman's wonderful Weimaraners. Actors and actresses dressed in elaborate dog costumes reenact the life of these famous canines. One of the play's most MEMORABLE musical numbers is entitled Mail Man-gled. It reveals how one of the dogs was saved from sure destruction after seriously disfiguring a postal worker. 1976 A musical starring Whoopie Goldberg as a medium who calls forth the spirits of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in honor of the nation's bicentennial. The four experiment with drugs and stumble upon some truth serum. Trouble ensues when Thomas Jefferson reveals that he lifted the entire Declaration of Independence from the writings of Francis Bacon. Most memorable song (which reveals the thieving tendencies of our nation's forefathers): We Stole the Violin. The Bald Couple Issues of intense emotional complexity receive a deft handling in this fine play about two seemingly incompatible men who find themselves coexisting as patience and roommates in a chemotherapy lab. Song dropped from the show: Give Me A Head with Hair! Chiquita A small town South American actress, Chiquita Duarte, makes it to the big time as top banana in the commercials of an Ecuadorian fruit Baron. As Chiquita Baron, the actress wins the heart of her entire country until she develops severe skin bruises. Chiquita is peeled of all power and dies penniless among a bunch of revolutionary soldiers. Maim A young boy is sent to live with his aunt. Unbeknownst to him, his aunt is secretly a serial killer who finds special thrills in cutting the legs off her victims and serving them in meat pies. When the aunt goes bankrupt, the young boy conspires to marry her to a rich Southern gentleman in order to in herit the man's wealth once his aunt finishes him off. Memorable song: If he could only walk into my life. Upon further consideration of these plays, I stand before you a changed man. I now confess to the cyber-world: Culture is indeed dead in al the world except New York City - although I must admit that Chiquita more than intrigued me. --- Wayne Disher: Born and raised on the beaches of California in Santa Cruz, lived a 'white trash' childhood. Miraculously, developed a passion for culture and attended UCLA in hopes of becoming the next Barrymore. I settled on a degree in English. Later I obtained a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University, and now serve the public as 'Super-Librarian' for the City of San Jose. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CyberTheatre Monthly The Musical's Homepage All lovers of new and classic musicals should devote an hour to exploring THE MUSICALS HOMEPAGE where, sandwiched between links to some pedestrian features and links you can find anywhere, lies an astonishing collection of material on 77 musicals, from Anyone Can Whistle to West Side Story. A typical entry will contain a song list, lyrics, story synopsis, a small collection of "media" such as a Phantom of the Opera desktop for Windows '95, .gifs or .wav files, notes containing commentary and reviews, and a rather silly polling area where visitors vote for their favorite shows on a scale of 1 to 10 (and vote against upstarts what are unseating their favorites), and of course, the inescapable links to official and fan websites. It's all very well organized, and attractively laid out - a sad contrast to the news links and "features" which seem tacked on and cluttered. Nevertheless, this is a first-rate theatre-website, and if they stay focused on what they do best, will grow even better over time. This month's CyberTheatre Pick contributed by Milton. Do you have an idea for CyberTheatre Monthly? Send your suggestions to Theatre_msn@msn.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rubin's Corner PARADE Livenet announced today that Chairman and CEO Garth H. Drabinsky and veteran director Harold Prince, winner of a record twenty Tony Awards for distinguished achievement in the Broadway theatre, will mount a workshop production of the new musical Parade. The show will have a book by Alfred Uhry, the only author in history to have won the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony Award and the Academy Award (Driving Miss Daisy and The Last Night of Ballyhoo). The score is by Jason Robert Brown, a young composer/ lyricist making his Broadway debut. Parade is based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager in Atlanta, Georgia who in 1913, was accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, a 13-year old white Christian girl and an employee of the factory. The musical tells a bittersweet and intimate love story of the relationship between Frank and his wife, Lucille Selig Frank, set against the backdrop of one of the most explosive and troublesome periods in American history. The playwright was born and raised in Atlanta and drew on his own family history and the world of the German-Jewish elite of Atlanta as the subjects for his multi-award-winning plays, Driving Miss Daisy and The Last Night of Ballyhoo. His great uncle owned the pencil factory where Frank worked, and his grandmothers was a friend of the Frank and Selig families. Uhry began his theatrical career as a lyricist and book writer for the musical adaptation of Eudora Welty's The Robber Bridegroom and wrote the screenplays for Driving Miss Daisy, Mystic Pizza, and Rich In Love. Parade will be the firth collaboration between Harold Prince and Garth Drabinsky following the Toronto and Canadian International Touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals Kiss of the Spider Woman and Show Boat and this past season's revival of Leonard Bernstein's Candide The compelling case of Leo Frank has been examined in books, on television, and in motion pictures. The Leo Frank story was the basis of the 1937 fictionalized film, They Won't Forget, directed by Mevyn LeRoy and starring Claude Rains, as well as an acclaimed 1988 two part, made-for-television picture, The Murder of Mary Phagan. The Toronto workshop production will feature 30 actors with Brent Carver portraying Leo Frank opposite Carolee Carmello as Lucille Selig Frank. Plans for Parade will be announced following the Toronto workshop production ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRE Trivia How many? SCARLET PIMPERNEL costume designer, Jane Greenwood, has created a staggering 250 period costumes, and wig supremo Paul Huntley has designed an equally impressive 180 hairpieces for the new musical. Dario Fo, a 71-year-old Italian actor-playwright whose irreverent comedy has drawn he ire of the Vatican caused the US government to deny him a visa, won the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. he said he first heard about it driving between Rome and Milan. A car pulled alongside his and a passenger held up a sign saying, ''Dario, you've won the Nobel Prize.'' Here's something you don't see everyday: the ad-artwork on the Orlando Lynx bus service are somewhat unusual, so they display them on their website. Here are pics from the local Broadway Series: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1997, Mersinger Theatrical Services