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Transcript of Robert
Armin's online chat with |
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[Chris Durang chatted from his home in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the first few minutes of the chat floated off the screen and disappeared before they could be saved. The introductory remarks were mostly about Chris’s period at the Yale School of Drama and his being influenced by the absurdist plays of Eugene Ionesco and Edward Albee. The conversation turned to the perceived anger in much of his early writings. Chris commented that he didn’t think that he felt angry when he was writing…] [ChrisDurang] I have to be in a good mood to write. [ChrisDurang] Now that I'm older, I do see the anger in my work more clearly. But I didn't always feel it. [RobertArmin] As you developed as a playwright, I think your own voice comes through more clearly. [RobertArmin] I think there is a good deal of hopefulness beneath the anger [ChrisDurang] Well I hope there's hopefulness. (laugh, sounds funny) [ChrisDurang] Re. anger [ChrisDurang] An early play, "'dentity Crisis" is in my absurdist tone [ChrisDurang] and I didn't feel anger writing it [ChrisDurang] and I think it's too larkish to seem angry [ChrisDurang] but the theme itself -- a strong personality imposing his or her viewpoint on another one -- is a theme that does on some level make me angry. [RobertArmin] One thing I particular enjoy about reading your plays is the introductions and afterwards. [ChrisDurang] Oh, glad you like the intros [RobertArmin] Although your plays are not often autobiographical, it is interesting to see where you were in your life when you wrote them. [RobertArmin] Writing was often quite difficult for you. [RobertArmin] There were many periods when you just didn't feel like writing. [ChrisDurang] I've had writing blocks sometimes. And periods when I got discouraged, or didn't have the "ping" to write. [RobertArmin] Talk about the period of Frank Rich. You wrote such an eloquent essay on the subject of the New York Times. [ChrisDurang] Hmmm, trying to think how to answer without getting bogged down. [ChrisDurang] Let's see, short versions... [ChrisDurang] It's weird and unfortunate that theatre goers really only read one newspaper. [ChrisDurang] Thus, unlike movies, where there's more consensus, in theatre the Times had disproportionate power. [ChrisDurang] And Frank Rich was and is a talented writer, so his opinions were very convincing. [RobertArmin] Your works were often wildly well received -- except by the Times. [ChrisDurang] Well Rich and the Times loved "Sister Mary Ignatius"... [ChrisDurang] and for a while I got praised by them [RobertArmin] Which became your biggest hit at the time. [RobertArmin] The Times seems to love to build people up and then knock them down. [ChrisDurang] then some subsequent plays had not hideous reviews, but ho hum ones... and after 4 or 5 in a row I felt discouraged. [RobertArmin] You're not the first, by any means. [ChrisDurang] no I'm not [RobertArmin] Have you found greater pleasure in writing for regional theatres? [RobertArmin] Or do you still have the desire to get back to "Broadway?" [ChrisDurang] I wouldn't say I found greater pleasure in the regionals, no. [ChrisDurang] In my mentally healthy periods, I try to be glad when I'm being produced -- NYC or anywhere. [ChrisDurang] I had lots of fun with my NY productions. [ChrisDurang] And NY still seems significant about getting known enough to have a career. [RobertArmin] I was frustrated that I didn't get to the History of The American Film when it first opened. My friend Udana Power had helped get me my Equity card. [RobertArmin] She was in the L.A. production. [ChrisDurang] oh, Udana, how nice! [ChrisDurang] She was great [RobertArmin] That was a unique situation in that you had three premieres at the same time [RobertArmin] That rarely happens! [ChrisDurang] Yes, it was like winning the lottery for a young playwright. [ChrisDurang] That play premiered at O'Neill National Playwrights Conference [ChrisDurang] And then was chosen for production by three major regional theatres [ChrisDurang] And my agent, the late Helen Merrill, convinced all three to have a triple premiere! [ChrisDurang] It was the first actual money I made writing. [ChrisDurang] Though previous summer I had one act that paid me $50; Helen called it her kleenex money. [RobertArmin] (laugh) [RobertArmin] Are there any videos of any of the productions that you know of? [RobertArmin] Library of Performing Arts? [ChrisDurang] There are no video records, unfortunately. [ChrisDurang] A quirky one, somewhere [ChrisDurang] Richard Barr, the producer, ran a series interviewing playwrights. And actors from the Arena Stage "American Film" performed scenes. [RobertArmin] I noticed that you did an "update" [RobertArmin] for Julliard which is now published [RobertArmin] Hopefully, there will be a major revival some day [RobertArmin] I think it is a very special work. [ChrisDurang] Oh thank you. [ChrisDurang] Yes, the Juilliard production was excellent. [ChrisDurang] Michael Mayer -- right before all his big, deserved successes, directed it. [RobertArmin] Maybe he will revisit it again. [RobertArmin] You write that Beyond Therapy is your most produced work. [RobertArmin] I saw the Broadway production and loved it. [ChrisDurang] I think that it is. It's had legs! [RobertArmin] It has stayed with me. [RobertArmin] John Lithgow and Dianne Weist were perfect [ChrisDurang] We had a great Broadway production with Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow, yes [ChrisDurang] I was sorry more people didn't see it, after the Times didn't like it. [RobertArmin] And, of course, David Hyde Pierce, who appears on the Fynsworth Alley version, too. [ChrisDurang] It was directed by John Madden -- Oscar winner for "Shakespeare in Love" [ChrisDurang] Yes, and David Pierce [RobertArmin] Are you pleased with the recording? [ChrisDurang] Madden and I are proud we gave David his first Equity job. [ChrisDurang] I'm delighted with the recording. [ChrisDurang] I hated the movie version Robert Altman did. [RobertArmin] In recent years, recording plays is very uncommon. [ChrisDurang] So I'm happy to have something out there in the right tone. [ChrisDurang] Yes, recorded plays are unusual. [RobertArmin] Yes, I didn't like the movie, I'm afraid. [ChrisDurang] I liked them when I was in grammar school and high school. (recorded plays) [ChrisDurang] The movie was an unhappy experience. [ChrisDurang] Altman rewrote the screenplay himself [ChrisDurang] And he in my opinion took out all the psychology. [ChrisDurang] So the characters just run around frenetically [RobertArmin] What was your reaction to the Sister Mary film. Was that your script? [ChrisDurang] Sister Mary was predominantly my script. [ChrisDurang] I like the people involved. [ChrisDurang] I think it's an honorable attempt... but it isn't very funny. [ChrisDurang] And the play was funny. [ChrisDurang] Maybe too much time has gone by. [ChrisDurang] Plus it is hard to adapt from stage to screen. [RobertArmin] That kind of humor rarely plays on film for some reason. [ChrisDurang] Yeah. [ChrisDurang] Plus my plays are sort of non-realistic which is hard to make work on film. [ChrisDurang] Though I feel it can be done. [RobertArmin] So-called "film acting" rarely captures the manic humor often found on the stage. [RobertArmin] Your plays are often absurd on the surface, but there is a greater truth underneath. [ChrisDurang] Yes. And Sister on stage is talking directly to the audience. And that creates a connection, an electricity. [ChrisDurang] Yes, I hope so (about underneath) [RobertArmin] How difficult was it for you to write Marriage of Bette and Boo, your most autobiographical work? [ChrisDurang] It wasn't difficult, per se [ChrisDurang] But it was over a very long time... many years. [ChrisDurang] I wrote the first draft -- a one act -- at Yale in the 70s. [ChrisDurang] Then I put it away, thinking I'd expand it later on. [RobertArmin] You wrote about not wanting your mother to see it, and then when she did she was pleased. [ChrisDurang] Yes, my mother saw the one act version. [ChrisDurang] It was put on at Princeton [ChrisDurang] and she heard about it. [ChrisDurang] I was worried she'd be upset by it. [ChrisDurang] But to my surprise/relief she liked it. [ChrisDurang] And she liked the way I criticized the other family members, lol [RobertArmin] Chiefy asks the question: Bette and Boo is my favorite play. Is there a chance for a revival on Broadway? [ChrisDurang] I suppose there could be. There are no plans. [ChrisDurang] I loved the original production so much [ChrisDurang] it's almost hard for me to think of doing it again in nyc. [ChrisDurang] But certainly lots of time has gone by. [RobertArmin] Your last play on Broadway, unfortunately, was not a big hit. You mentioned that you wanted to do some rewrites. Have you done them? [ChrisDurang] "Sex and Longing" [ChrisDurang] I tried the summer afterward with some rewrites, but I don't think I cracked it. [ChrisDurang] So I've put it aside. I don't know if I'll go back to it. Though certain sections I think are very good. [ChrisDurang] Luckily, I have had another play since - "Betty's Summer Vacation" [RobertArmin] Of course, I had forgotten the timing of the two. [ChrisDurang] It's hard when your last one is a flop. So my second-to-last was a flop. [RobertArmin] Woody Allen always seems to put down his comic works in favor of more serious films. Have you a "serious drama" in you waiting to get out. [RobertArmin] Or are you contented with your comic voice? [ChrisDurang] I like the comic voice. Plus a play like "marriage of Bette and Boo" mixes comic and serious... I like that a lot. [ChrisDurang] I like that mixture I mean. [RobertArmin] It makes you a very unique writer. [ChrisDurang] Thank you. [RobertArmin] I don't think there is anyone else who sounds quite like you. [ChrisDurang] Odd story - [ChrisDurang] with my Yale application you had to fill out your "purpose" in applying. [ChrisDurang] I forgot what I wrote; but after I got in, I looked at my file, and it said [ChrisDurang] that I wanted to write plays that combined the comic and the serious. [ChrisDurang] I hadn't realized I had been that clear about it. [RobertArmin] It sounds like you knew what you wanted at an early age. [RobertArmin] You have fulfilled your dream! [ChrisDurang] lol [ChrisDurang] well don't know what to do now, then [RobertArmin] Talk about your experience with The Frogs, Stephen Sondheim's musical which premiered in the Yale swimming pool. [ChrisDurang] I was such a fan of Sondheim's... still am [ChrisDurang] that the notion that Yale was doing a new work of his when I was a student there was thrilling to me. [ChrisDurang] Then I learned that non-acting majors could audition if you sang. [ChrisDurang] So I auditioned and got cast in the chorus with [ChrisDurang] Sigourney Weaver, Meryl Streep, Alma Cuervo [ChrisDurang] None of us had lines. [RobertArmin] Not a bad group to be a part of. [ChrisDurang] but we all got to learn a whole bunch of very exciting and intricate songs. [ChrisDurang] Years later [ChrisDurang] Sigourney and I did a cabaret act in NY [ChrisDurang] and got Sondheim's permission to sing the title song "The Frogs" [ChrisDurang] as the opening of our act [ChrisDurang] a kind of Da-Da choice, since it didn't really make sense outside of the show the Frogs [ChrisDurang] But it was fun and set the tone for the act to be silly/crazy [RobertArmin] And of course, you later got to co-star in Putting It Together with Julie Andrews [ChrisDurang] Yes, that was very exciting for me [ChrisDurang] also [ChrisDurang] the opening song I got to sing [ChrisDurang] was the opening song that Larry Blyden sang in the Frogs [ChrisDurang] years ago. "Instructions to the Audience" [ChrisDurang] So I've enjoyed those unexpected things in my career [RobertArmin] Interesting sidebar - when I was at Montclair State College in 1971, a fellow named Tom Babbitt wrote a musical version of The Frogs. He showed it to his mentor Stephen Sondheim -- and a few years later, Sondheim wrote his own version of the show. [RobertArmin] Of course, the versions were quite different! [ChrisDurang] That's strange [ChrisDurang] Glad they were different. [RobertArmin] It certainly must have frustrated Tom, though. [ChrisDurang] Yes. That's hard when people pick up on the same idea. [ChrisDurang] I have a composer friend who's done "The Visit" but so have Kander and Ebb [RobertArmin] archyryan asks: Mr. Durang and Mr. Armin, can I say something? Nobody is talking, and now that you've mentioned Betty's Summer Vacation, I have something to add [ChrisDurang] sure [RobertArmin] I'm waiting on the question... [RobertArmin] archyryan writes: Well, I enjoy your truly unique style of writing a lot, although [RobertArmin] several of my friends in my theatre major have read more of your work than I have...so far... [RobertArmin] A production of Betty Summer's Vacation was done by a student-led theatre group here last [RobertArmin] Spring, and it was quite successful. [RobertArmin] What struck me, and I'm an aspiring working playwright, is how funny it was and the bigger comments it made on the screwed up parts of our society [RobertArmin] That's all from archyryan [ChrisDurang] oh well I appreciate that [ChrisDurang] I'm glad he (you) liked it. [ChrisDurang] I think it does make comments [ChrisDurang] though I didn't know I was going to write about some of the things I wrote about when I started out the play [RobertArmin] Chris, do you enjoy being able to be "politically incorrect" in your writing? Does it give you a chance to say things you wouldn't dare to say in public? [ChrisDurang] I don't know that I enjoy that. [ChrisDurang] "Politically incorrect" is a confusing concept. [RobertArmin] I loathe political correctness [RobertArmin] It has killed a lot of otherwise good drama [ChrisDurang] Well I'd want to know what the specific "political correctness" was. [ChrisDurang] For instance, I think the play Sister Mary is primarily about what I see as the illogic of some of the dogma. [RobertArmin] Well, certainly, there are those who very much opposed Sister Mary. Although they seem to not have understood it at all. [ChrisDurang] But I don't think of it as politically incorrect. [RobertArmin] We were thinking the same thing [ChrisDurang] Though I can understand people who don't find the same dogma illogical are in disagreement. [ChrisDurang] And also annoyed because I've caused laughter at the thing they're believing. [ChrisDurang] Though to me, it's not the core dogma at all... it's all the sex stuff, and all the quirks on the side [RobertArmin] On a very serious topic -- how do you view the current situation in the Catholic church re pedophilia and child molestation. [ChrisDurang] Well... in case it's of dramaturgical interest... [ChrisDurang] in my mind Sister Mary would be horrified by the priests and by the cover-up [RobertArmin] Interesting. [ChrisDurang] Sister was a bully, but she was not a hypocrite. [ChrisDurang] She told everyone not to have sex, and she never had sex, and she was angry at any who disobeyed. [ChrisDurang] So she'd be angry at this crisis; and outspoken. [ChrisDurang] About the crisis itself... [RobertArmin] Your notes to producing that play are very clear about your views of Sister Mary. [RobertArmin] And she is not an evil person at all. [ChrisDurang] Right, she's not evil. [RobertArmin] Which is what probably makes her so scary, in a way. [RobertArmin] Because she is so well meaning. [ChrisDurang] She's one of those strong minded people who like to force their will on you. [ChrisDurang] About the crisis, the shuttling of priests in trouble from parish to parish is/was astounding. [ChrisDurang] I hope it makes the laity get more power in the church. [RobertArmin] Let's talk a bit about your acting career. [RobertArmin] You seem to play priests a lot! [ChrisDurang] Yes priests and ministers a few times :) [RobertArmin] What has been your favorite acting experience? [ChrisDurang] Two. "Marriage of Bette and Boo," my own play. And then the Sondheim "Putting it Together" experience. [ChrisDurang] Oh the cabaret show with Sigourney. And my act "Chris Durang & Dawne" with friends John and Sherry [ChrisDurang] "Bette and Boo" was a wonderful production experience. [RobertArmin] Is there any chance that you and Sigourney will get back together again for a brief run? [RobertArmin] I saw the two of you at Westside Arts. [ChrisDurang] Sigourney and I have talked about it for many years... I don't know if we ever will. [ChrisDurang] If we do, we'll have to update it and somehow make sense of time going by, or something. [ChrisDurang] We did perform it two years ago [ChrisDurang] well 10 minutes [RobertArmin] You should certainly get a chance to videotape the Lusitania Songspiel [RobertArmin] Or at least record it! [ChrisDurang] at this Yale celebration in a big theatre. It went great, was encouraging the material held up [ChrisDurang] Well I'd love to tape Das Lusitania.. [ChrisDurang] which is the name of the act [ChrisDurang] Das Lusitania Songspiel. [RobertArmin] How did you come up with that concept? [ChrisDurang] Named cause it originally was on a double bill with my play Titanic [RobertArmin] Ah, that's why! [ChrisDurang] The concept of our being Brecht-and-Weill experts [ChrisDurang] grew out of our Yale years [RobertArmin] I have a photo of Sigourney doing that play in my file. [ChrisDurang] Yale Rep did lots of Brecht [ChrisDurang] Yes? We had good photos taken from that show. [ChrisDurang] I also was on Sat. Night Live with her [ChrisDurang] in 1986 [ChrisDurang] and we did a 5 min. version at the end of the show, from the act [RobertArmin] Is that on home video that you know of? [ChrisDurang] I don't know. [ChrisDurang] It was the first show the Dana Carvey-Jan Hooks group did [RobertArmin] When you write, do you have particular people in mind? Sigourney, for example? [ChrisDurang] Sometimes I have people in mind. [ChrisDurang] But I try to limit doing that [ChrisDurang] you often can't get them. [ChrisDurang] Or early on, you sometimes couldn't get them cause the theatres didn't know them. [RobertArmin] You have been blessed with some amazing actors, often early in their careers. [ChrisDurang] Yes I have. [ChrisDurang] I'm proud sometimes of choosing/finding them early. [RobertArmin] Any particular ones come to mind? [ChrisDurang] Well Sigourney, who I met as a fellow student [ChrisDurang] David Pierce and his Equity card [ChrisDurang] Dianne Wiest as the romantic lead (before any of her movie work) [ChrisDurang] Though she'd done lots of wonderful things on stage [RobertArmin] she was wonderful!! [ChrisDurang] She was terrific indeed [ChrisDurang] Sigourney couldn't do Bette and Boo for scheduling, and we found Joan Allen [RobertArmin] Some find! [ChrisDurang] who was a dream to work with, and so touching [RobertArmin] She always amazes me in the theatre [RobertArmin] Such presence [ChrisDurang] also Olympia Dukakis was great in Bette and Boo.. she'd done lots of theatre, but this preceded her film successes [ChrisDurang] yes about Joan Allen, she is great [ChrisDurang] so happy she's had film success too [RobertArmin] Have you any projects that we can look forward to? [ChrisDurang] I'm hoping to clean the house. [ChrisDurang] haha [ChrisDurang] I just had a new play [ChrisDurang] that premiered in Pittsburgh [ChrisDurang] "Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge" [RobertArmin] Yes, I read about that. [RobertArmin] Who was in it? [ChrisDurang] a seasonal play obviously; Kristine Nielsen played the lead and was great [ChrisDurang] Hope it comes to NY. And if not, that it plays other places too [ChrisDurang] I also have a play commission from McCarter Theatre, though I don't know what I'm writing yet. [ChrisDurang] And last summer I had a new musical -- I did book and lyrics and Peter Melnick did the music -- called "Adrift in Macao" [ChrisDurang] it's about to be under option for off-Bway, so I'm crossing my fingers [RobertArmin] Yes, I'll cross my fingers, too. [RobertArmin] Now that "Kristin" is gone, are you looking forward to TV again? [RobertArmin] Or other acting? [ChrisDurang] My getting cast in the sitcom "Kristin" was such a fluke. [ChrisDurang] I don't think people usually think of me for sitcoms. [ChrisDurang] I enjoyed my part as her minister. [RobertArmin] You're certainly not like anyone else. [ChrisDurang] And she (Kristin Chenoweth) is very talented [ChrisDurang] But unless the show was on the east coast... [RobertArmin] I remember you way back in The Secret of My Success. [ChrisDurang] you do? Secret of My Success? [ChrisDurang] my first speaking part in a film [ChrisDurang] actually I wrote my lines [RobertArmin] That was the best part! [RobertArmin] I have the film on DVD [ChrisDurang] I got hired after 2 weeks to polish the dialogue... a sunny job, surprisingly... the plot and characters were done, it was all about trying to find funny lines [ChrisDurang] yes, I got the dvd too :) [RobertArmin] :) [ChrisDurang] I look younger in the film than now. [ChrisDurang] Why is that? [RobertArmin] What other films are worth investigating for your work? [ChrisDurang] lol [ChrisDurang] well I'm very good in "Wuthering Heights" with Laurence Olivier [ChrisDurang] I have small but good parts [ChrisDurang] (for real) in "Butcher's Wife" [RobertArmin] archyryan comments: I enjoyed you in House Sitter, too [ChrisDurang] "Housesitter" - as a minister again [ChrisDurang] and "Mr. North" as a YMCA clerk dealing with Anthony Edwards [RobertArmin] I loved you in Wuthering Heights! [ChrisDurang] Thank you [ChrisDurang] I enjoyed "Housesitter" too.. a fun commercial comedy, and my scene is with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn [ChrisDurang] though I briefly worked with Julie Harris, and eventually wrote her a fan letter [ChrisDurang] her stage work and some of her film work is so good [RobertArmin] Did she respond? [ChrisDurang] that is, Julie Harris was in "Housesitter" too [ChrisDurang] oh she was very gracious. a nice person [ChrisDurang] obscure film [ChrisDurang] Julie Harris is in "I am a Camera" [ChrisDurang] playing Sally Bowles, long before the musical [ChrisDurang] it's pretty good [RobertArmin] Yes [RobertArmin] Well, given your multiple talents, which gives you the most pleasure at this point in your life? [ChrisDurang] I like hearing audiences laugh [ChrisDurang] hope it doesn't sound corny but I do enjoy it [ChrisDurang] hearing them laugh at a play I've written I like best [ChrisDurang] but my work is quirky, not all audiences like it [RobertArmin] Ken asks: Do you have a favorite author or playwright or mentor? [ChrisDurang] I don't have a favorite anymore [ChrisDurang] I have lots of authors who's work I like [RobertArmin] In the past? [ChrisDurang] though sometimes it's based on stuff from the past more than the present [ChrisDurang] Here are various ones [ChrisDurang] Tennessee Williams (though I know I don't write like him) [ChrisDurang] John Guare [ChrisDurang] the films of Fellini [ChrisDurang] Caryl Churchill, I love her experimentation [RobertArmin] All excellent choices [ChrisDurang] then some friends of mine... Wendy Wasserstein, Marsha Norman [ChrisDurang] still Sondheim, I'm hoping the one he's working on now goes well [RobertArmin] Yes [RobertArmin] We all do [RobertArmin] I want Prince and Sondheim back together [ChrisDurang] Yes, well you have it [RobertArmin] For a long time! [ChrisDurang] right [RobertArmin] Okay, so here is the usual question. [ChrisDurang] ok [RobertArmin] Which of your works do you think will be most lasting. And which would you like to be remembered by? [ChrisDurang] Caveat first. [ChrisDurang] I'm wondering if my work won't be remembered cause it's so comic. So I wonder about that. [ChrisDurang] However, if it's remembered [ChrisDurang] I hope it's "Marriage of Bette and Boo" [ChrisDurang] And probably "Sister Mary Ignatius" and "Betty's Summer Vacation" [ChrisDurang] and a quirky choice, "Laughing Wild" too [RobertArmin] I think there is a very good chance of your work lasting. [ChrisDurang] well thanks. I'll try to look down from wherever I am and see [RobertArmin] Kaufman & Hart have survived -- at least a few of the better ones [RobertArmin] Or not so much "better" as less topical [RobertArmin] Topicality fades fast. [ChrisDurang] yeah, I hope people keep following theatre, and reading it. [RobertArmin] Humanity survives [ChrisDurang] I read lots of plays when I was young, for some reason [RobertArmin] I think we have that in common. [RobertArmin] I can't understand people who want to be actors who don't read plays [ChrisDurang] I always assume people studying theatre read plays, but I guess maybe they don't always [RobertArmin] You'd be surprised... and saddened. [RobertArmin] I highly recommend your collections. In addition to the plays, your intros and afterwards are very enlightening [ChrisDurang] I'm glad. I enjoyed reading them. And getting to give my version of the history of them... I did work with interesting people [ChrisDurang] I mean enjoyed writing them [RobertArmin] I'm going to have to go back and reread a few of them, I think. [RobertArmin] One thought, have you ever thought of approaching Sondheim with an idea for a musical? [RobertArmin] It might be an interesting change of pace for him? [ChrisDurang] I did think of it, but I never did it. [RobertArmin] Do it [ChrisDurang] I didn't have a specific idea, but.... [RobertArmin] :_ [RobertArmin] :) [RobertArmin] Only I could misspell a smiley face. [ChrisDurang] well who knows [ChrisDurang] yes I don't know what :_ looks like [RobertArmin] My wife mentioned that her sister, who teaches in a college, says her students regard you very highly. [RobertArmin] That's a good legacy. [ChrisDurang] What are their names and numbers? [RobertArmin] I'll see if I can get them. [ChrisDurang] lol [RobertArmin] It's Bethel College in St. Paul, MN [ChrisDurang] I went to a conference in Florida [ChrisDurang] a few years ago [ChrisDurang] I thought I was talking to college theatre teachers [ChrisDurang] but I had my facts wrong [ChrisDurang] I was actually meeting college and high school students [RobertArmin] ! [ChrisDurang] who were part of putting on plays for a contest [ChrisDurang] anyway, I was kind of amazed and thrilled how much the high school students [ChrisDurang] in particular knew and liked my work. [RobertArmin] I think you speak to a lot of people [ChrisDurang] that was a nice surprise [RobertArmin] And I think that's why many of your plays will last [RobertArmin] Any last thoughts before we wrap up? [ChrisDurang] Not one coming to my brain. Have you a last topic you want to try? [RobertArmin] Here's a question. [RobertArmin] With the power of casting directors so strong today... [RobertArmin] how does an unknown actor get through to a playwright? [RobertArmin] It seems that many good actors cannot break through these people to be seen. [ChrisDurang] Hmmmm. Well I always think the casting director does bring in new people, as well as established. [ChrisDurang] I hope that's still true. [RobertArmin] One hopes that's true... [ChrisDurang] I know James Calleri at Playwright Horizons [ChrisDurang] cast both "Betty's" in NY and then later in Boston [ChrisDurang] and he brought in many people starting out. And a couple we cast. [RobertArmin] But do you ever call in people that you have seen elsewhere? [ChrisDurang] I used to call in people that I saw often. [ChrisDurang] Trouble is, I'm seeing less in NY now that I live in PA. [ChrisDurang] So I do have to rely on the casting director. [ChrisDurang] I do know opening those early doors is so difficult [ChrisDurang] for actors, writers, directors [ChrisDurang] I remember way early when no one had heard of me I sent a play to Wynn Handman at American Place Theatre [RobertArmin] archyryan has a long comment: [ChrisDurang] oh ok [RobertArmin] A story on this subject: A strange thing is that a friend of mine auditioned with your Mrs. Sorken, I think in high school, and apparently these auditors (I think at a community theatre) criticized her because it wasn't known to them....imagine criticizing audition material for being too obscure, at least to the auditors. Mrs. Sorken is a great piece, I want to say. [ChrisDurang] oh thanks, about Mrs. Sorken. [ChrisDurang] That's weird about criticizing her for that. [RobertArmin] And Ken has one last comment: Hopefully your works will continue to breed new talent and help jump start careers [ChrisDurang] Thanks. You mean actors in particular? [ChrisDurang] Yes, I'm sure you do. [RobertArmin] Ken adds: yes, and directors. [ChrisDurang] I got confused, thought you meant other playwrights. [ChrisDurang] Right. Well I enjoy actors, it's a good thing for a playwright, but I do. [RobertArmin] Absolutely. [RobertArmin] Chris, thanks so much for chatting with me tonight. I'm sorry that it has to be "long distance." Perhaps, we can get together in NYC one of these days. [ChrisDurang] Thank you. [RobertArmin] Break a leg with Laughing Wild at Playwrights Horizons! [RobertArmin] I'm still going to try to get a ticket! [ChrisDurang] Thank you... looking forward to it. [RobertArmin] Boy, is it sold out! [ChrisDurang] I'll ask around about the tickets. [ChrisDurang] But we're only doing 4 performances, is part of it. [RobertArmin] That's the frustration, isn't it? Thanks. [ChrisDurang] Well good night then. Thanks for asking me to do this. [RobertArmin] Good night. It's been a pleasure. [ChrisDurang] Thanks. [RobertArmin] Next week, my guest will be _______. Oops, don't know yet. Stop by next Monday at 8:30 and find out! [RobertArmin] Good night, Chris.
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