Author: JF.com

We’re doing run throughs almost every day now and Monday we move into the Eugene O’Neill Theater for the start of technical rehearsals. These are to theater what camera blocking is to movies. The actors who’ve done this play before in DC and La Jolla–Don, Zach, Erik and Susan–all say tech rehearsals for this play are slow and complicated. I can only imagine. The set is almost a character is its own right. The lighting is intricate and, they say, very bright which means I’ll need thicker and somewhat darker makeup. There are many confusing entrances and exits with other actors coming and going in all directions, and props and sets flying like dancers. We will be moving step by step, methodically pacing it out so that, by next week’s end, we will know exactly where we must go so as to not get run over. Yesterday’s run through went really well. For the first time, various people who are involved in the production were in the audience at this little rehearsal theatre and it gave us a boost of energy, especially since we got laughs I didn’t expect. I am starting to see our writer/director, Moises Kaufman, as a master weaver. This is confirmed when I think back on his previous work–like “The Laramie Project.” He builds strands, sometimes from his head, sometimes from others, sometimes from real events, and weaves them together into an emotional fabric that isn’t evident at first but that creeps up on you, picks you up and carries you to a new place. None of the individual strands, by themselves, have singular resonance. It is their interrelationship, their juxtapositioning that carries the whallop. All this, I feel, will be particularly evident in this play and it bowls me over. I feel confident that people will leave this play feeling they have learned something, experienced something new. I am so happy to be one of the strands in the process. During the press “reception” this afternoon, I was asked many times “what was it about my role that caused me to want to do this play?” The answer I have to give is that it wasn’t as much my role as it was the play as a whole…the unusual style and structure and within that, the blending of character styles. There is one character played by Erik Steele, for instance, that is like something out of Cirque de Soleil by way of Dickens. And alongside that is my more conventional, contemporary character. It’s getting exciting. I am starting to yearn for our theatre, the Eugene O’Neill, where we will live for 5 months. See you next time.

I spent the morning rehearsing by myself, trying new ideas and tonight I ran scenes for a few hours with my assistant, Rachel. I feel ever so much better. Sleep! What a difference it makes for me plus having the time to work quietly, marinating in Moises notes from yesterday, and working through some glitches. One of the things Moises talked about yesterday after the “stumble through” was how he feels that we’ve become a real company. He said the mutual support and love that has developed within this collaborative is palpable and is as important as what we see onstage. I agree. We are coming together and there is a feeling of safety and a shared commitment to each other and to the play as a whole. This afternoon I had my second and last singing lesson. Deb Lapidus is so amazing in the way she finds metaphors to help me understand what she’s getting at. I asked Rachel to video the lesson to try and give you a quick sense (click here to see the video). Hey, it’s not that I have a lot of singing to do, but for a brief moment, I am out there all on my own with the opening bars of Kyrie Elaison and I have been terrified of it as my children can attest to. I practiced incessantly over Christmas to the point where they were making fun of me. I will bribe them not to laugh when they come see the play. After that, I had a Pilates lesson and asked Rachel to video that as well. People often ask me what I do for exercise these days so I thought a little “show and tell” would be nice. I am a relative newcomer to Pilates. I had been going to a gym, I still lift weights and hike, but I have had a rotator cuff “issue” for quite awhile and the physical therapist recommended Pilates. It’s must what I need and I found a studio, Pilates on Fifth, owned by identical redhead twins who were former Rockettes. One of them, Kimberly, is my instructor. It’s somewhat hard to hear, but while she has me on the “reformer” working legs, she is explaining that originally, Mr. Pilates developed his equipment for soldiers who were bedridden. They needed something they could do while flat on the bed. (click here for video) Then, I am telling her how worried I had been that the economic crisis would negatively impact her business. After the New Year I was thrilled at how busy they still were. I reminded Kimberly that I started my own Workout business in 1978 when we were also in a recession and that it, too, had been successful in spite of the economy. As she said, staying fit is at least one area where you can have some control when all else seems beyond our control. I specifically asked Rachel to film Kimberly working with me on a brand new kind of equipment that originated in Norway. It’s called ActivCore and Pilates on Fifth is the only studio in NY that has it right now. It is very intense and their clients seem to really like it. When I got back to my apartment tonight I received an email from my friend, David Zeiger. I first met David in 1971 when he was on the staff of a GI coffee house in Killen, Texas, near Fort Hood. I was there as a supporter of the powerful GI Movement against the Vietnam War. David later became a documentary filmmaker. One of his recent films is “Sir, No Sir!” which tells the little known story of this GI Movement. He interviewed me for this documentary and used some excerpts from my film, “The FTA Show,” which toured and performed for soldiers outside military bases in this country, Hawaii, Okinawa, the Philippines and Japan. David has subsequently bought the rights to and re-released “FTA.” His email was to alert me to this review by Docurama Films: Hollywood Legends JANE FONDA and DONALD SUTHERLAND Star in the Newly Unearthed, Controversial Documentary That Disappeared 37 Years Ago FTA   New York, NY January xx, 2009 – Docurama Films brings you the infamous lost 1972 film FTA, now available for the first time. Capturing a fascinating slice of the Vietnam anti-war movement, FTA follows two-time Academy Award® winner Jane Fonda and Golden Globe winner Donald Sutherland on their Free The Army (or, more popularly, “F*** The Army”) Tour, the anti-war and pro-labor show that rallied and roused dissident GIs stationed along the Pacific Rim. The film first hit the silver screen in July of 1972, but after one week was removed from all theaters without explanation. All prints of the film disappeared and for the past three decades it has only been available through bootleg copies. Now, after 37 years of silence, FTA will premiere on the Sundance Channel on February 23rd, and hit stores February 24, 2009. “Viewing FTA today is like opening a long-forgotten time capsule. The film’s true power comes in the frank, often rude comments from the servicemen and women who openly question the purpose and planning of the American involvement in Vietnam.” – Phil Hall, Film Threat FTA is a gritty mix of rollicking performances and GI interviews, juxtaposing lighthearted political satire with the somber realities of war, occupation, and the absurdities of military life, a barbed rebuke to the staid USO program. From Okinawa to the Philippines, stirred by the show’s provocative message, the members of the U.S. military find courage to speak out candidly in front of the camera. Fonda and Sutherland are joined on stage by an all-star cast of musicians and activists including folk musician Len Chandler, songstress Rita Martinson, and comedian Paul Mooney. A fresh look at the Vietnam anti-war movement through the songs and skits that shook a generation, this film will leave you singing along with the fired-up men and women of the military. Foxtrot, Tango, Alpha… F*** the Army! Premiere Screenings of FTA in Los Angeles and New York Friday, January 30 7:30 pm at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles FTA Cast Members Q&A After Screening Monday, February 2 7:00 pm at the IFC Center in New York Q&A with Jane Fonda After Screening Broadcast Premiere February 23 On the Sundance Channel And, dear Blog visitors, if you are interested in knowing more about “Sir, No Sir!” It is available everywhere on DVD www.sirnosir.com TWO THUMBS UP® Ebert & Roeper Nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Audience Award Best Documentary–Los Angeles Film Festival Jury Award Best Documentary–Hamptons International Film Festival Seeds of War Award–Full Frame Documentary Film Festival Jury Award Best Film on War and Peace–Vermont International Film Festival Nominated for a Gotham Award and International Documentary Association Award See you next time.

We’re doing another stumble through this morning. I like to do these because it gives me a chance to see the arc of my character and of the whole play which you can’t get when you’re rehearsing scenes out of order. I am fairly confident of my lines now with the exception of the final scene in Act One where all the characters come onstage and have individual lines interspersed, and sometimes spoken simultaneously. It is stylized and I sense it can be effective and theatrical but right now it’s challenging to learn how it all goes together. For some reason, I love having to learn the technical stuff—what to do with props, how to get on and off stage, even the learning lines. Maybe because these are safer than the parts that require emotional exposure. Wouldn’t you think that after fifty years I would have more confidence? But in some ways, it’s just the opposite. More is expected of me and I expect more of myself. * * * * * * The stumble through did not go well, in my opinion…not for me. I feel very low right now. Very much wondering why I am in this profession. Very much wishing I could disappear to my ranch and never come out. I feel at a loss as to what to do about it. Maybe a good night’s sleep will help. For the first time in my life, I am having trouble sleeping through the night. See you next time.