So, some time in 2011, WE decide to apply for the rights to HairSpray, the musical.. Not really a show I loved, but so many IOT staff adored the show, I felt it was a good idea. I applied for the rights and got them for a September 2011 run.
Then the problems began.. Another group, as it turned out, had the rights either before or after we had them so a tiny fight ensued.. Once settled we moved the dates to April-May 2011 and planned the auditions...
Originally Scheduled to co-direct with Elijah with Michelle as Choreographer, we scheduled, planned and ran auditions.. Had an amazing turnout with over 45 people to choose from.. EXCEPT... Other than David, NOT one single male over 30 showed up.. So we were "Edna Challenged"...
The strategy began from there.. Knowing David did not have the time for an Edna type commitment and that Elijah, Michelle and I had discussed me as an understudy for the part, we made the decision that I was Edna and my nerves started their assault on me.. Elijah was instantly a first time Musical director and I a first time mother!! LOVE how theatre works..
ONE FUNNY POINT.. The only auditioner who even expressed an interest in the part was Tyler, a MAYBE 100 pound teen who at 5'6 (?) and "Munchkin Like" in size, would have presented costume and make up challenges that IOT was simply not ready for...
So we begin....
I remember how my thoughts turned to wondering if I could get past the fact that I, very soon, would be attired in a dress, hose, and a bra. Not so much for me, but if others could get past the fact that a straight man of 57 was going to be trying to portray a woman...Instantly my mind wandered to self doubt and created the puzzle of how to pull this off..I knew I did not want to act like a "Gay Man" playing a woman but wanted to, as best I could, to be a woman.. My point with me was that, since no attempt was going to made to disguise my voice, that to do this correctly would be to try and act a woman with my voice..We knew that this script did not call for Edna to disguise the voice so the challenge was to decide to act like a man in a dress or a woman with a low voice.. I decided a low voiced woman was best..
So I started researching.. Scoured the net for any video I could find showing any Edna portrayals. From Broadway to Community Theatre shows I bet I watched 50 or more videos... In conversations with others, found out what they see when they think of Edna. Read and re-read the lines, repeating to me over and over again until they sounded right.. I was bent on making this part, probably my last, as memorable and real as I could..
And so, the rehearsals begin....
Part II to follow soon......
Not gonna lie; the "Gay Man" approach would have been MUCH more challenging to act opposite (for ME). I flatter myself that I still could have DONE it, but it would have required even MORE effort.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine the play making ANY sense played as a "Gay Man" (or even a straight transvestite), any more than it makes sense for me that Ru Paul played Ms. Strict in the film adaptation of Zombie Prom (which I haven't seen and don't WANT to see); Like Ms. Strict, Edna (the character) is a mother.