Tag: Martin Sheen

#Shakespeare in the Park is So #MuchAdoAboutNothing & More

MuchadoLast night, for the first time since I moved to NYC seven years ago, I went to Shakespeare in the Park. Established in 1954 by Public Theatre founder Joseph Papp, Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre draws thousands each season to take part in free outdoor theater. Over the years, award-winning actors have gotten their starts on the famed stage, including (but not limited to) Martin Sheen, James Earl Jones, Meryl Streep, and Morgan Freeman. This year is no exception with regards to famous faces. I saw Much Ado About Nothing last night starring New York theater favorites, Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater as Beatrice and Benedick respectively. Other Broadway vets backing them up included Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell (who sings in this production, and took my breath away,) John Glover (pop culture crowds will recognize him from TV’s Smallville) and John Pankow. Game of Thrones fans will also recognize Pedro Pascal as yet another villain, Don John in this production.

First off, this is one of the best productions (as it should be) that I’ve seen of Much Ado About Nothing. From a purely aesthetic perspective, it was gorgeous to look at. From the sets to the costumes, to the lighting, it was a real treat for the eyes. A production like Much Ado probably benefits from being in an outdoor theater. The stage incorporated many aspects of nature including a vegetable garden and an orange tree. I think it increased believably for me as an audience member because we were actually outside. The costumes were the best I’ve seen to fit this production. Again, it made the setting and time period extremely believable and visually pleasing.

Now for the acting. Both Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater come from very well-known theatrical families. Rabe, the daughter of the late actress, Jill Clayburgh and playwright David Rabe. She gained notoriety in the Shakespeare in the Park/Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice opposite Al Pacino.  Hamish Linlater, on the other hand, is the son of theater professor Kristin Linklater, who is renowned for her vocal techniques. In fact, I studied her technique extensively at Circle in the Square Theatre School, and continue to reference her book Freeing the Natural Voice on a regular basis as an actor. It’s no wonder that the two can both handle the difficult text that Shakespeare is famous for, and they do it magnificently. There was a funny moment where Hamish broke the fourth wall, using an audience member’s reaction to a rabbit. It was great. Even to those not familiar with classical and Shakespearean plays will be able to follow the plot and nuances in the hands of the entire cast–but especially Rabe and Linklater. I can’t say enough about them. As for the supporting cast, no one missed a beat. I especially enjoyed seeing Brian Stokes Mitchell and John Glover onstage as I have been a fan of both their work for years.

I am so grateful I had the opportunity to see such a wonderful production. It also reinforced my desire to get back on stage as soon as I can, reminding myself why I came to the city in the first place–to act. It’s weird because I remember seeing a broadcast on PBS in 1998 of Live at Lincoln Center of Twelfth Night. At 13 years old, after acting as a hobby since the age of 7 or 8, I decided at that moment, that I wanted to do that. I wanted to study acting, and I wanted to get better. It also ignited a more profound passion for Shakespeare in me. I had  read  Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet at age 11 without really “getting it.” It wasn’t until Twelfth Night  that I went “Whoa, I get it.” I became an English major in college probably avoiding a traditional theater degree on purpose because, “there has to be a fall back plan.” I’m coming to realize, as I have studied acting more intensely and Shakespeare more intensively as an actor, that I love being an actor. I love it, and I am proud to be one. Last night reminded me that I am, and that I will always be an actor and I’m glad to be part of such rich community of creators and storytellers.  I am so happy I got to see such wonderful and talented performers. I can only hope there was a young kid in the audience who was as inspired by last night’s performance as I was Twelfth Night. Much Ado About Nothing is far from nothing, this production has everything and more. Let’s hope they bring it to Broadway!

 

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Join The Family Business: Acting with Your Relatives–Marcia Gay Harden & Daughter, Eulala Scheel in “Home” (I) (2008)

Gwenyth Paltrow and mother, Blythe Danner star together in 2003’s “Sylvia,” as mother and daughter.

Joining the family business. For most people, it means working for your father in his small business in town or tagging along during board meetings in an office building. For children of actors, they have another option: act with their parents (and/or relatives in the business.) Did you know that Blythe Danner and Gwenyth Paltrow have appeared together when Gwenyth was still in the womb? Blythe appeared on an episode of Columbo when she was five months pregnant with her daughter. Yep. Some people really do start off young. Subsequently, Blythe Danner and Gwenyth Paltrow have appeared together on stage and screen as mother and daughter numerous times. Most recently in the 2003 biopic of poet, Sylvia Plath, with Gwenyth in the title role. Martin Sheen has appeared on screen with all of his children: Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Renee Estevez and Ramone Estevez. Before Sofia Coppola was a writer/director in her own right, she appeared in dad, Francis’ movies: The Godfather Trilogy, Peggy Sue Got Married, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club.) Francis Ford Coppola is rather famous for using family members in nearly all of his films. Actor Campbell Scott, the son of actors George C. Scott and Collen Dewhurst, acted alongside his mother in what was one of her last performances in Dying Young.

Having a famous parent as an actor can even help when casting the “younger” version of a character. Most recently, Tina Fey gave daughter Alice a cameo on 30 Rock where the little one played a pint-sized Liz Lemon. Meryl Streep actually got work due to daughter Mamie Gummer’s involvement in the 2007 film, Evening. They played the same character at different ages. Also in the movie, the late Natasha Richardson playing the daughter of real-life mother, Vanessa Redgrave. How cool is that?

In recent years, a certain film has caught my eye. The movie is called Home, one of several films of the same name that came out in 2008. It stars Oscar-winner, Marcia Gay Harden, and her daughter, Eulala Scheel. I stumbled upon this little gem of a movie because it was streaming on Netflix. I love Marcia Gay Harden’s work, so I decided to check it out and it was fantastic. In fact, it’s not the first time Harden and her daughter have appeared together on screen. The first was in Harden’s Oscar-winning film, Pollack in 2000 when Eulala was two. Then came the made-for-television movie Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, Home, and Whip It (Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut.) In nearly all of her work, she has played her mother’s daughter. This year, she has managed to break the cycle and appear on a few episodes of Workaholics sans mama, Marcia.

From IMDB:

Home (I) (2008): Inga (Academy award winner Marcia Gay Harden) is a poet. She wants to buy and restore a house she is drawn to that reminds her of her childhood home, but her distant husband Hermann sees little value in it or many of the things Inga loves. Inga realizes that many things in her life are coming full circle. Her crumbling marriage is a stark contrast to her relationship with her 8-year-old daughter, with whom she shares her hopes, fears and inner-most thoughts following her recovery from breast cancer.

I’ve been trying to find a specific clip from the film to put with the article, but it doesn’t seem to be found online on its own. It truly shows the power that real-life relationships can bring to a film. As with any real-life on-screen pairing, truth is achieved with ease and not manufactured (most of the time.) That’s because there is a history, a relationship that the actors have with each other that they can bring to the screen. Eulala is confronting her mother Marcia as her character, but it’s so real and raw from the two actors, I wonder how they felt at the end of that shooting day. The film as a whole is emotional, true to life and extremely under the radar. It’s worth seeing.

On another note, not everyone related to someone in the industry goes into the family business. There’s a certain celebrity chef who has made a name for herself all on her own: Giada De Laurentis, granddaughter of legendary film producer, Dino De Lauurentis (La Strada, Hannibal.) But, for those who have acted with their relatives, more power to you. I don’t know what I would do if I were Mamie Gummer. Living up to Meryl Streep’s acting ability is quite a challenge. I wonder if Daniel Day-Lewis’ kids will follow in his footsteps too. Who knows.

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Emilio Estevez Directed “The Way” (2010)

Other than the fact that I think Emilio Estevez is awesome because he just so happens to follow me on Twitter, he is also one of my favorite directors. More people know him from his work as an actor (The Breakfast Club, Mighty Ducks Trilogy to name a few) or his famous family (Charlie Sheen is his brother and his father, Martin Sheen also stars in The Way.) As a director, though, he shines. Much like this year’s man of the moment, Ben Affleck, Emilio directs and co-stars in nearly all of the movies he has directed (Wisdom, Men at Work, The War at Home, Rated X, Bobby and The Way.) It’s not a bad thing to do, especially if it is done well. In both the case of Ben Affleck and Emilio Estevez, they pull off such feats quite remarkably well.

Here’s the wonderful trailer:

What’s most impressive other than the obvious fact that Emilio Estevez directed his own father in the film, is the literal journey they took during the filming. The short summary of events, according to IMDB is, “A father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling the “El camino de Santiago,” and decides to take the pilgrimage himself.”  According to trivia on IMDB as well, filming took 40 days which, as a Catholic, I find kind of funny seeing as the Lenten season lasts 40 days. But again, my sense of humor tends to be sort of warped seeing as I went to Catholic school my whole life (even college.) Anyways, Estevez does a brilliant job at capturing the emotion of the story and the beauty of the locations within the film.

The thing that I find most interesting about the story of The Way, is the premise seems like such a simple one. Yet, the complexities of human nature and relationships that develop throughout the film stand out as one of the highlights. Much like this year’s Argo, at the heart of the film, it’s about the people in the story. With The Way, there are no special effects and there is virtually no budget. It’s low budget, indie film making at it’s best, “Filmed with a small crew of fifty people and a couple of cameras for filming. No trailers were used, and, as Estevez jokingly remarked, neither was a director’s chair.”

The fact that Martin Sheen is one of the most remarkable actors of the past 50 years bears repeating. He’s fantastic. He’s Method. He truly takes what his current circumstances are and infuses them into his roles. As the grieving father, Tom, Sheen takes the same journey (literally) that his character is taking. In some ways, I think the physical journey helped the actors portray their characters in a more truthful light. Since the moment I saw this film, I loved it. I have to apologize for not summarizing or going more in depth about the film. That being said, everyone takes a different journey. Someone might have a different view of the film than myself and it might effect them differently than it did me. I think it’s one of the those films that makes you turn inward and examine yourself, your life and your relationships. It’s fantastic and I think more people need to see it. For what it’s worth, it’s available for both rental and instant stream on Netflix. The Way is a film that, whatever your religious beliefs, spiritual or not, it’s message of love and the power of human interaction is truly amazing. See it. Now. And Emilio Estevez, if you’re reading this, I just want to let you know that you and your father are on my list of people I want to work with one day.

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