Taking The Falls?

I don’t consider myself a control freak, though I certainly do like things a certain way — mine. I imagine I’d be more dictatorial if it didn’t involve having to deal with so many people. Even when directorial, I like to minimize the extent of managing interpersonal dynamics by casting from a talented pool of frequent collaboraters. After all, if casting is 90% of a show’s success, why not draw from the 10% that represents the wisdom of your previous hires? Thus it was with great reluctance and a spoiled pissiness that I accepted the unorthodox casting conditions for the assignment of staging a reading of Jenni Prange Boran‘s The Falls. I adore the script and count the author among my closest friends but was discomfited by the SAG mandated process of casting by virtual chance. To explain: A call was put out via the Guild’s website and I would have to select from the lot. I could not supplement this draft even when it was a character shy. I could not dictate preferences other than the basic character descriptions. Thus, as I snarkily remarked to Jenni, this was not so much color-blind casting as it was deaf, dumb and blind casting. And, maybe I was right… if I amend it to blind faith and dumb luck. Despite the randomness and the process-dictated, abbreviated rehearsal time — we started at 3pm when normally I’d begin at 10 am — these actors, unknown to me but one, worked hard and delivered mightily. They proved SAG’s notion is right to introduce actors likely unfamiliar to writers and directors. Better yet, like any solid, hand-picked cast, they made me and the work look very, very good. So, today, I am thankful for the Screen Actors Guild and owe a great debt to: Angela Redman, Geoffery Simmons, LaShon Watson, Juleen Murray Shaw, Meg Savlov, Jim Budig and Rik Deskin. Bravo, actors!