at the stage door…
..this isn't a
stage door...its an alley with a roof. These are barn doors from a
farm...he is going to walk out amongst garbage and dirty linens. No
wonder we missed him before...it’s hidden by scaffolding...well, at
least it’s lighted...maybe I don't need the flash and I can get five or
tens shots off before he gets to the doors. He couldn't have left yet,
we made a beeline to get here. He knows we're here waiting, he's too
kind. Two others, so we'll let them talk first so we can shoot
pictures. The door is opening....no I have no idea who that is...what
if he caught on and goes straight through the back door of the hotel.
No, they all exit in this roofed alley. Sh@*! They are all hovering
there together and he is going to leave with group...they are probably
going to dinner...last night was it there is no other chance. Oh well,
you got four pictures - Maxx will put them up, they're not blurry.
They're leaving without him...okay these people know them...they know
her too...maybe they know him and will keep him in conversation...Lisa
can move to a better angle and get multiple shots...Now they all left -
we are going to have him to ourselves. I can't ask him a question,
what? My heart is beating...at least my hands aren't shaking tonight.
Ask how long he will be here, you wrote you would on the Board. There
he is...he's with Alice...this is their limo...just ask for pictures...I
hope to God he doesn't recognize us - he might say something off...he
wouldn't...we'll let him go.
"Excuse me, may we take a picture?" Don't let this one blur Lisa. Okay,
step back, go slow, don't shake....you did this last night...you need
his eyes looking to the camera. "Your flash didn't go off - take
another. Her flash went off, yours didn't go off." He's speaking to
me...he cares that your shot may not come out... "Okay..." Someone has
to cut in front of us now? Oh my, he is waiting... "May I take a
picture with you?" "Of course." ...don't fall...you had braces for
four and a half years...great time to loose your teeth... He put his
hand on my back...what the f%@*...do it too...his coat is absolutely
soft...come on Lisa take a great shot...I don't care cut me out...I have
him here...Laura will crop me out if I tell her to. "May I ask you a.
question?" "Of course." okay, he answered...he could have avoided
anything direct...I have an answer for them...Shake his hand...come on
Lisa...shake his hand...touch wood for us - isn't that absolutely sweet,
touch wood..."He winked at you" "Did he?"
If a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it, does it make a
sound? Well, someone was here - he winked at me!
tinkerdog~ thoughts on
Rock 'n' Roll New York 2007
You'll find in me the least capable theatre critic you'll ever
encounter but I had fun and I thought the show and the cast were in
remarkable shape for a first preview. It took me about 30 minutes to
snap out of my 'f*cking h*ll, I'm actually watching Rock 'n' Roll!!
Look, there's Jan! There's Max!' mode but after that it was all good
and I was swept up in the proceedings. The 'trinity' were fabulous imo
and so were Alice and Nicole. I liked the guy who played Stephen even
though his accent visited various parts of the UK and Ireland but he was
very likable. Stephen Kunken who plays Ferda is (so I hear) a fresh
addition to the cast so we'll give him some time to practice. The set I
think looked more or less the same (the same spinning platform) with a
few 'Broadway' touches like a 3D skyline of Cambridge and an actual
garden gate. There were some minor changes here and there, some extra
lines, a Cure song instead of Guns 'n' Roses and I was sad to find that
they cut the "Lenka: she's brushing her teeth. Jan: *smiles*"
scene near the end where's he waiting for Esme to come with him to
Prague and also the story about the Rolling Stones being locked out of
the castle's balcony in Prague. Oh, I am a purist!!
uke~ thoughts on
Rock 'n' Roll New York 2007
Rufus Sewell’s
waffling from exuberant Czech resister to pensive British lap dog is
nothing short of brilliant. Bringing the weight of his enormous capacity
for emotional eloquence fully to bear on the role of Jan, he is
alternately touching, effusive, damaged, vibrant and pitiful. Jan
evolves and then evolves again in his mute resistance to the forces of
political contrivance. The real Jan is as elusive to the audience as he
shifts and changes to fit political need as he is to the people that
believe they know him. Anchored in western music, he is buffeted by the
vagaries of the turbulent times, at once a resigned cynical creation of
the state and a wistful innocent whose speech to Max on his few years of
precious freedom at Cambridge that should give each of us in a free
country, pause and tighten our throats.
I won’t insult the hard-working Mr. Sewell by dwelling on the skill of
an accent present in his scenes with his British cohorts that disappears
in scenes with the Czechs—as it logically should be. I won’t include how
the scenes with Jan drive along at a more urgent temporal pace than the
ones without him. I won’t mention the changes in posture and body
language as Jan ages or the constant nervous fussing that makes him
appear a man who is always looking over his shoulder, caught in the
oncoming headlamps of a speeding train. And I won’t mention the tiny
bits of flotsam and jetsam that make us believe Jan is more than a
vision in a playwright’s mind. These are small tasks compared to the
enormous emotional journey we travel, guided by the expertise of his
performance—small tasks when held up to the vividness of the glimpses
into the workings of his inner life that spark and flare into life at
the most unexpected moments.
maxx~ thoughts on Rock 'n' Roll London 2006