Henry V is open! Long live the King!
It’s really good. And it’s really good because Steph is incapable of mediocrity. The devil is in the details, and she gets real chummy with the devil during tech week. Some may say, that it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. (Haha. This is a joke. She is delightful throughout the process, but she thinks she’s super mean and bitchy during tech).
Another reason that the show is really good is because we attract the best kind of people to act in our shows. Talented, dedicated, masochistic actors are drawn from all around southern California to bleed for the bard. Princes and Princesses all!
We have several familiar faces in Henry (not so much in Comedy). Olivia, Gregbear, Andy, and I are the old guard. (Andy and I both started with SBTS in 2002, so we are the REALLY old guard).
–Oh, here’s a tangent. This year, I aged into the old man category in Shakespeare. Or as he would put it, “the Justice in fair round belly, with good capon lined.” Playing the Duke in “Measure” for New American Theatre, and now Exeter/Chorus in “Henry V,” cements my new life as the old dude. King Henry and Hamlet are roles that eluded me. (And now I’m too old to care). Although I did play young Hal in H IV pt. 1. So, I got a piece of the Henriad. And if I can ever find a stand alone H IV pt. 2 to be in, I will have done them all.
We also have some carryover from last year. Jonathan, Jon, and Sean forgot how much they suffered last year…and so they are back. Suckers. And we are so lucky to have them! Jonathan is killing it as Henry and as Antipholus in the other show. Sean, my pokemon partner, is thankfully back to keep me sane. And Jon is freaking hilarious.
And we’ve added some new people. Who still don’t quite know what they are in for. I gave those in both shows a dire warning last night that tour is when the rubber meets the road. They looked up at me with tears in their eyes…”surely tour couldn’t be worse than opening two shows back to back…” oh, I remember being that naive once. And I didn’t want to scare them. They are so great! But I felt it my duty to let them know what lies ahead. The pain, the agony, the heat, and Orange County,! The four horesmen of the tour-pocalypse. I kid. It’s funny because it’s true.
We really do have a great group this year! Jane is so good in both shows. And she’s a true pro. A legit actor and worker for the kids to look up to. Brendan is awesome! Every year I have a talent crush on somebody, and this year, it’s him! He is such a good Dauphin, and Dromio. And like the nicest guy. He picks up fight choreography like a champ and he’s just great to be around. Also, he looks like Captain America! We have a new BJ this year. He is very different from our normal BJ, and that takes some getting used to. But his dry wit makes him the perfect Frenchie. Aldon is not only a great actor, but he’s also a freaking opera singer! Unfair. I don’t trust people with more than one talent. He must be destroyed before he ruins everything! (Please don’t destroy Aldon. We need him. He is also a Pepperdine Alum–along with our AD, Sydney…we got some Wave Power happening in this show!) I worked with Ben and Aaron in Three Musketeers earlier this year at the Norris and was so happy that they came out for the show. Because they are great, and they can really fight! Losing our old BJ and Cy, and me becoming an old guy left me strapped for fighters. But we got a new generation of swashbucklers! Thank god. Finally, we tried to cast Paul a couple of years ago, but his job kept him away from us. But we snagged him this year and he’s a great French King and Archbishop!
This group, with our wonderful stage manager, Sati, is built for greatness! I hope you come out and see it. It is a labor of love! And you can see that love.
And if you go see it next Friday, you will see my understudy Chris, who promises to do exactly what I do, but only more handsomely and with better hair. I expect a full report from you, my three loyal readers. (It used to be four, but my wife just informed me that she hasn’t read my blog this year. I am looking for an understudy here at home too).
(If she reads that, I’m probably in trouble).