from "Brighton Beach" to the "Blue Room"

Needless to say the part of "The Student" is a far cry from the character of Eugene in "Brighton Beach Memoirs. for those who have seen both shows the comparison is obvious. You have Eugene: a boy of fifteen finally really rooting himself into depression-era New York--and really just rooting himself into the world of manhood--and then we have "the student." Now, while he is ultimately in a search more grounding himself in his world there is a higher level of comfortability where he is concerned since it is established that he comes from a wealthy family (complete with au pair, i mean come on!) so his understanding of the "world" is somewhat limited, just like Eugene. For me the hardest adjustment in the character came from my own personal opinions and judgements and views on the character, which i think is something no actor can really avoid. To this day I leave the stage following the first scene between "The Student" and "The Au Pair" and think to myself "God, what a dick!" (referring to myself of course...not the au pair...)
But then I feel "the student" somwhat redeems himself in the scene between "the student" and "the married woman." a scene I very much enjoy for both my scene partner (Nicole Yoba) and the scene is much more fitting to my personality. This play is a great treat to be in because everybody gets two scenes in which they play two sides of themselves. The Arisocrat says something to the effect of "Don't we change? With one person aren't we one way and with another we're another?" (sorry vinnie i totally butchered your line but you know what I mean) so it's really a fun play of exploration which makes it that much more enjoyable to watch and really makes it that much more enjoyable to act in. Each night we go on there is a totally new sense of energy to the place. The play is never the same. But one thing that I see happening that is very exciting is people really trying new things and bringing up the passion and sex and pelvis-acting we are encouraged to embrace by our fucking awesome director Philip Cuomo whom i would have be my director any day of the week.
I think through the span of these three shows people have really settled into who they are as actors: everybody has a more prefessional air about them, people are more in tune with the rehearsal and performance process, and with the showcase closing in i am very excited to see the performances we bring to the table.