I sometimes joke that the back of my head is the most famous part of me, since for years now it has appeared on the Wikipedia page for They Might Be Giants in a picture taken during a concert they gave at Amoeba in Hollywood (I’m the guy cut-off on the right edge in the green shirt). If it’s going to appear somewhere, I think of that as a pretty cool place for it. But it appears that part of my body is about to achieve yet more fame – I have been cast in a production of Amanda DeMaio’s drama about WWII sex slaves – Unrelenting Relaxation – at STAGESTheatre in Fullerton, where I am currently performing in Picasso.
I’m playing The Interviewer, the only male role in the script. It means a lot of dialogue, but it also means that part of my role is to put the focus on the five women who are the interview subjects. The script has been staged in the past with The Interviewer not even appearing on-stage, just speaking into a microphone; but the director has indicated to me that he intends to have me seated at a desk in front of the audience as I conduct the interviews. So while it is still a 95% vocal performance, I will be there, in the room, the entire time, with the audience seeing (yep) the back of my head.
I think this is going to be a fascinating challenge. I haven’t done a straight-out drama since I came back to acting, and other than the phone directory at my old day job, I don’t often work with just my voice. And it makes you aware of your physical presence in a very different way to be facing away from the audience but still need to convey certain moods and qualities to them with what they actually can see. Also – can’t slump in my chair.
The show opens on April 20th. In the meantime, I’ve got 15 more performances of Picasso to get through. I like having a calendar this full.