“Right This Way”
The snow was falling hard and fast, and by the time I reached the entrance to the Actors Studio I could have been mistaken for a snowman. I’ve been circling back to the places I first started, and no single place looms larger for me than the Studio. Years ago, I was an “observer,” exchanging volunteer hours cleaning up the place for the chance to watch sessions and soak up some knowledge.
Today, I sat in a small room I’d once cleared out and painted. My scene partner sat across from me, and not a word was said. The photographs on the wall of Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan and other luminaries seem to do all the talking. Finally, the knock came and we were escorted to the top of the stairs into the dark of the theatre where a pretty young woman extended an arm and whispered, “Right this way.”
The words bounced around in my head as I stepped forth into the spotlight. Right this way. Right, this way. Right, this way. This was not a distraction, but rather the perfect way to get into character. We were doing a scene from “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” no easy task, and my character Edmund surely would have chewed a while on right this way, and so I did as well. When the first line came to start the scene, I was fully alive, deep in thought, and the scene went beautifully.
I have no expectations for membership. It’s notoriously hard to get in to the Studio on the first try. But I’m satisfied with the work we presented and the presence I was able to hold forth. Something’s clicking, I can feel it. It’s an unmistakable sensation in the bones.
Right. This way.
For the Mineralava Musings…
