SARIT CATZ
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I don’t know why, but I’ve recently gotten it into my head that I want to take acting lessons. I have always preferred to be behind the scenes so this doesn’t really make much sense to me. Nonetheless, there it is. I want to take an acting class.
Of course, the whole thing makes no sense since I’m too old to have an acting career. In fact, I’m probably too old to get a single acting gig. I’m also too chubby yet oddly, also not chubby enough. This is even before we get to whether I’m any good or not. And this is where the classes come in. Almost.
Before I get into a class, I have to audition with a three to four minute monologue that has “a journey or some range.” The last thing I auditioned for was in college. And that was a while ago (see above: I’m old). And even then I don’t believe I had to prepare a monologue. Maybe I did - I can’t remember (see above, again).
So I need your help. I’m clueless. Many of you are actors. Some of you are directors or producers or writers. All of you probably know of a monologue you can recommend to me. So recommend one. E-mail me at Sarit@PrincessOfComedy.com and suggest a monologue or, better yet, send me a monologue. What’s in it for you? Well, if I use your suggested monologue, I’ll send you some chocolate (see above: I’m chubby). Thanks in advance for your help, folks.
Anyway, what has come over me? I guess I think it’s important to know as much as possible about the craft of the people you work with. So, when I direct and write for actors, I think it certainly can’t hurt to know a bit about acting. But, I also feel like it would be fun. Maybe fun’s not the right word. Active. All the actors I know are always auditioning for things. There’s a lot of work out there. There is a lot of theater, movies, shorts, student films, even commercials. Stuff is actually happening out there – not necessarily my stuff, but stuff. I figure, by the time actors are actually brought on a project, there’s an actual project to bring actors onto.
As a writer/producer, I have to generate the project myself. There’s a lot of heavy lifting to be done before the thing even gets on its feet. And it’s the solitary part. For a writer, which is generally perceived as a pretty solitary profession, I’m not a very solitary person. I’m not exactly a “people person,” don’t get me wrong, but I do like some human interaction – if only to give me something to complain about.
Plus, I’m really lazy. I have a script idea I’ve been sitting on for months and I just can’t seem to get my act together to write it. Actually, I still have to develop the story and I can’t get my act together to do THAT, so the writing is going to take a while.
To tell the truth, after I finish a script, I can’t believe I actually overcame my inertia and wrote it. Sometimes it even seems like someone else wrote it. That’s why I like external deadlines and working with other people. When someone else is showing up on a stage or at a location expecting there to be something to rehearse or shoot, I manage to produce the script. On my own timetable, or just for the hell of it? Much harder.
Plus the community of the cast and crew is like a giant battery, energizing the whole process. When we were in pre-production and production on the pilot I just finished, I would sleep only a few hours a night but I felt completely awake, alive, and engaged. What a damn good time.
I’d like to have more of those experiences without always having to be the one to create the project in the first place (see above: I’m lazy).
I think another reason I want to take an acting class is that I believe that meeting new people is always valuable. It’s pretty simple. The people I already know aren’t helping me so I need to meet new people and I need to meet the people they know. Maybe they can help me. Besides, put a bunch of creative people together and who knows what can happen. Sparks can fly. Ideas can erupt. Projects can bloom.
Sounds awesome. I better get into that class.
Don’t forget now, you have to help me. Send me a monologue. Okay? (see above: I’m clueless) Thanks.
Return from Sarit Catz Blog July 10th/07 to Columnists
