Holy shit!

Sorry! Still not about that other thing. The Holy Shit! would be much bigger. But interesting shit keeps happening!

I was watching Darkness Falls on FX. Then I watched a few more minutes of it, because FX also does that thing where they show it twice in a row. Emma Caulfield was supposed to be 22, eh? And the girl who played her younger self, is that the girl who was later in A Series Of Unfortunate Events? I believe it is. Then I flipped over to the TV Guide Channel.

Holy Shit! I know this guy! He was being interviewed, because apparently, he is on Guiding Light. Holy shit!

I went to school with him. Sort of. He was a year ahead of me and in Mason Gross. I've met him a total of three times, and I would be utterly shocked if he recognized my name or face. And ... he's on the Guiding Light!

I was totally shocked, but at the same time, I was not at all shocked. Because this man? Is awesome. Seriously. He was, I think unquestionabley, the best actor at Rutgers the entire time I was there. I had more than a small crush on him. He's just ... gah. I sound like Annie. Anyway. He really deserves this, because he's great. I can't even describe.

Wait, yes I can! This is a short paper I wrote for my last acting class. We had to see all the school's productions and pick one actor from each and discuss their performance. For Two Gentlemen of Verona, I choose Mr. Pelphrey. He was Proteus. I toned down my praise, actually, because both of my teachers were in the show with him, so, I didn't want to make it too awkward, you know?

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February 5, 2004

In this production, I was most particularly impressed with Thomas Pelphrey. I tend to hold Shakespeare productions to a slightly different standard than "normal" shows, and I really appreciated his performance. He kept his line delivery at a moderate, conversational pace, and it felt like every word was imbued with meaning. He was always clear about what he wanted, and always clear about what he was saying, and what the words that he was using meant to him. I felt he was one of the best in the ensemble at handling the dialogue (other favorites include Heather Kendzierski and Raymond McAnally). I also thought that he was one of the best at keeping up the dialect. It occurred to me during the show that the setting used for the play, 1950s Italy, very much lent itself to the type of poetic and metaphorical dialogue that Shakespeare used. I felt that this was highlighted by his delivery, that he really made it seem both possible and plausible that this character, in that time period, could be using those words. While I liked all the performances, I sometimes got the impression that the two "worlds" weren't meshing as easily for some of the actors; sometimes they were being Italian, and sometimes they were being Shakespearean. He seemed to make everything a believable extension of his character.

I was most impressed with the obvious character work on his part. I've seen him in other shows, and in every one I've seen him play completely unique and different characters. He seemed to embody the role. The mannerisms and even the body movement of the character seemed like it was unconscious and naturally done. If I hadn't already seen him use wholly different movements just as naturally for other characters, I might have assumed that he was cast because his personality fit the part.

I also liked the way he focused on the people he was acting with. His attention to his partner was very evident in his face, and you could tell that he was listening and absorbing what they were giving him. He kept good eye contact. There were some moments that I liked in the final scene, in particular his reactiong to Julia identifying herself and Valentine's denunciation of him. In the latter, I felt a very powerful reaction from him, and when he asks for forgiveness, it seemed to me to be a genuine moment from an honest place. Because of his clearness, he did a good job to make his character understandable in his desires, and as sympathetic as possible at the end. This is particularly a feat in my opinion because his character was largely unlikable and his storyline resolved in a conveniently swift and not very believable manner. The playwright was cleary a hack.
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A+! Also, Tom Pelphrey helped me realize that the acting training at Rutgers is mostly bull crap. Because he went in great. That's why, even though BFAs aren't typically cast in shows, he was in starring roles as a sophomore. He was great before they got their hands on him, and managed to still be great after they were done with him. Rutgers did not do that. Just so you know.

My mother said that she supposed I'll have to start watching Guiding Light now. MAYBE I WILL!