I have read in these posts about how Doc often saw peoples strengths and weaknesses and how he would push those for the sake of performance, making actors confront their fears, or do challenging, uncomfortable things to find those characters. Although my time with Doc was far less, and my place in the programs lore is nothing substantive, he was one of the first directors who really helped me be Confident by emphasizing one aspect I had always sought to hide. I have very limited mobility these days, as a result of a lifelong neurological illness. When I was in high school and college, I had that disability (though less advanced) but I always hated it, and tried my best to disguise it when performing on stage. I auditioned throughout my freshman year in college, and see these wonderful actors auditioning, and my name never came up on a cast list, which was hardly surprising to me. On the last audition of the year, for some Stoppard play called The Real Inspector Hound I leave auditions dejected, and dont even stay until the end. As Im leaving, Doc says Dont forget to check the cast list, tomorrow. I was like Yeah, sure... whatever, Doc as I had given my worst audition of the year... But maybe just maybe... Doc was going to cast me as the Body?!? So, Ill come back and hope that I am the Body. This was my thought process as I approached the cast list hanging at the end of the hallway that Spring day... I look for the Body... Jeff Lorraine got the part... DAMN it. As Im about to leave, my best friend Rick gestures back to the list... I see the following listing in Disbelief. Inspector Hound.............................. J. Evan Wade I proceed to lose my mind, flip out, and all manner of stuff... I spent the next month with wonderful actors, clipping my Rs for the sake of British diction, of learning about British mystery theater, and theater criticism; running in shopping cart races with Brian Sloop and Skeet Ulrich, and learning so much in the process. It was wonderful. As the time for performance approached, I find out that my costume is going to involve me entering stage wearing a pair of swamp waders with giant inner tubes attached to the feet. I had always tried to mask my disability (at that point... theres no hiding it now) and I had always been nervous about movement on stage, wanting to hide my disability. I dont think I ever vocalized anything like that to Doc, but surely he picked up on my movement patterns and any reticence I may have felt in stage crosses and the like. And so, now with swamp waders attached to my feet, how can I be Reticent? How can I hide my deformed feet? I couldnt. I had to Embrace the craziness of my costume, forget how I walked, and remember to speak with a CONSISTENT British accent. The opening night approaches and Im sitting outside the SRO ready to make my entrance, nervous as hell, hoping the audience will appreciate my ridiculousness. I make my Entrance and the crowd erupts. As I make my first few passes in these waders, the crowd snickers with every step. By the time I have exited my first scene, the crowd was in stitches. And a humbled actor sitting in the wings didnt care that he was different anymore, utterly exalted and warmed by the thrill of performance. My father was in the audience that night, and he told me the next day after the show that it was the first time he had come to see me as an actor and not as his son. I credit Doc for helping that transition. In my older age, Ive gotten a nice spot as a regular director for the Greensboro Playwrights Forum. Ill never be the Director that Doc Rogers was, but I surely think of him frequently when working with my actors, when helping push them to stronger character choices, and when trying to elicit strong performances from my actors. He was an amazing man, and that little show in the Spring of 1991 was a life changer for me, as far as teaching me lessons in both acting and directing, and I carry those lessons forward. Doc was a wonderful man; I wish I had reconnected with him in the last two decades to tell him what he had meant to me... He would have shrugged it off, Im sure... But his influence was definite, concrete, and special to me. RIP Doc.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 13:46:38 +0000
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