| Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 09:13 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| I just heard Jesse Ventura on the Joe Piscipo Radio Show (I know, every now and then I listen to conservatives just to hear what the other side of the aisle has to say) and he talked about attending the show Misery. He said Bruce Willis wears an ear piece and is fed his lines. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, this makes me so angry, he's an actor and part of an actor's job is to learn lines. Someone who is as rich as he is and is undoubtedly making a ton of $$ just so people can spend lots of money seeing him, should at least know his lines. It's not as if he's that old either. I've never been a fan of his and I've no intention of seeing Misery, but for those of you who are or who may have already purchased tickets, you should at least fact check this. That being said, Mr. Ventura raved about Laurie Metcalf which doesn't surprise me, I've always enjoyed her work. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | KingSpeed 12:54 am EST 11/03/15 |
| In reply to: | Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - RufusRed 09:13 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| What does being rich have to do with it? | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | Mac29 07:05 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - RufusRed 09:13 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| If this is true, there is no excuse for this. He is a professional, probably highly paid, actor. He should be able to learn his lines. Personally, having performed in many musicals and plays in the past 35 years at the community theatre and dinner theatre level, there was never anyone available to feed me or anyone else our lines. As an actor, you learned your lines, period. And the only available time to learn our lines was on weekends or evenings, because most of us worked a full-time job, 40 or more hours a week. Also, I would probably find it distracting to have to listen for a line instead of listening and reacting to other actors on the stage. Great actors just don't act and deliver a line, they "react". Also, when you know your lines rock solid, you can think about other things that are importantly involved with acting; blocking, timing, interpretation, emphasis, focus, body language, the five "W"s, etc. If Mr. Willis is being fed his lines and he can still pull off a formidable performance, good luck to him. But it is not fair to the audience. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 08:19 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - Mac29 07:05 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| Well said, perfectly put. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | NeoAdamite 01:52 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - RufusRed 09:13 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| It's completely routine for anxious actors in leading parts to have their lines on a monitor or a bug in their ear. Most of the time the crutch is ignored, so it's ridiculous to assume that the performance is suffering without actually having seen it. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | allineedisthegirl 02:38 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - NeoAdamite 01:52 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| "It's completely routine for anxious actors in leading parts to have their lines on a monitor or a bug in their ear." You're kidding, right? Completely routine, as in "the way it's usually done"? Stritch, Lansbury. . . (maybe James Earl Jones). Who else? Thanks | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | NeoAdamite 03:38 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - allineedisthegirl 02:38 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| Completely routine, as in "the way it's usually done"? Completely routine, as in "what you do when an actor needs help." I have no idea why Willis is doing a Broadway run, but if he needs a bug in his ear to get him through--and the audience can't tell the difference--I don't think he's doing the art of acting any significant damage. I'm roughly his age, and have been alarmed very recently by some really shocking memory slips of my own. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | JAllenC3 03:11 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - allineedisthegirl 02:38 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| Val Kilmer in 10 Commandments the Musical. Though those lyrics were so forgettable that you can't really blame him. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | bwaynut 02:43 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - allineedisthegirl 02:38 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| Supposedly, the great Mary Martin (late in her career) while touring with Carol Channing in "Legends." I'll have to revisit this book now. I remember howling at certain places the first time I read it. | |
| Link | Mary Martin and Carol Channing in "Legends" |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | allineedisthegirl 02:50 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - bwaynut 02:43 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| Guess what I really want is examples of stars as young as Willis (or, like, under 80) doing this. db | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | comedywest 03:11 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - allineedisthegirl 02:50 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| Mary Tyler Moore in Rose's Dilemma -- or did it not get that far? | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 03:20 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - comedywest 03:11 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| If I remember correctly, Moore played only a single preview of ROSE'S DILEMMA before the infamous letter from Neil Simon was delivered backstage by Elaine Joyce. | |
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| No, she appeared in more than one preview | |
| Posted by: | Esther 04:23 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - JereNYC 03:20 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| Previews started before Thanksgiving & she left right before the December 3rd matinee. | |
| Link | Previews begin 11/24/03 |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 01:33 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - RufusRed 09:13 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| I'm not so sure I buy the premise. If an actor folks want to see can't (for one reason or another) commit all the lines to memory), why is it so shameful to perform with an earpiece. Whether he is doing his job or not, it seems to me, is between him and his employer who may well think that "his job" is selling tickets. I also think that, for someone unaccustomed to the stage, the earpiece may be more of a security blanket than something more essential. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | schlepper 11:12 am EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - RufusRed 09:13 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| "I've never been a fan of his and I've no intention of seeing Misery, but for those of you who are or who may have already purchased tickets, you should at least fact check this." You mean we should "fact check" it like you did before you just posted it? PS I did just fact check it -- and you are incorrect. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 07:04 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - schlepper 11:12 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| No I am correct, I heard an interview on the radio with Jesse Ventura and Michael Riedel, see my later post. But it seems you don't care so it doesn't matter to you. I for one think it's inexcusable, part of an actor's job is to learn lines, I'm sorry, for these prices, the actor better be off book by the time a paying audience attends. That's just me though. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | Ann 07:53 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - RufusRed 07:04 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| What are they going to do, fire him? | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | MikeR 07:13 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - RufusRed 07:04 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| >I heard an interview on the radio with Jesse Ventura and Michael Riedel, see my later post. And which one of these people is privy to what's going on backstage at the Broadhurst? Even if it was on the radio, it's still hearsay. | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 09:21 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - MikeR 07:13 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| But if Michael Riedel said it then it must be factual. He's my theater God! | |
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| re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? | |
| Posted by: | origamiboy 09:29 am EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - RufusRed 09:13 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| I've heard that his performance isn't stellar, but this is the first I'm hearing of a line problem. Unlike Pacino, who is a disaster in CHINA DOLL. | |
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| Michael Riedel says it true | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 11:04 am EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Bruce Willis in 'Misery' Getting Fed His Lines? - origamiboy 09:29 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| Co incidentally I just heard an interview with MIchael Riedel and Jesse Ventura on the radio talking about this very issue. Apparently it's true and I find it shameful, ugh! | |
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| re: Michael Riedel says it true | |
| Posted by: | mikem 12:53 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | Michael Riedel says it true - RufusRed 11:04 am EST 11/02/15 |
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| I give Willis a little bit of a pass if the script is being revised extensively in previews. This is his first big stage show, and he may not be very skilled at quick memorization. Unless he has a significant memory problem, though, he shouldn't be relying on an earpiece once the script is set in stone. | |
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| I'm amazed how many of you defend Willis | |
| Posted by: | RufusRed 07:02 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Michael Riedel says it true - mikem 12:53 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| I think it's frankly appalling and more so that none of you seem to care. This reminds me of when I saw the last revival of 'Bye Bye Birdie' where I paid full price for a preview performance that was perhaps a step above a high school production as far as professionalism and execution. I was enraged! Color me picky but I'll be skipping this. Then again, I'd never see this story anyhow onstage, how dreary can you get. | |
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| re: I'm amazed how many of you defend Willis | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 11:17 pm EST 11/02/15 |
| In reply to: | I'm amazed how many of you defend Willis - RufusRed 07:02 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| I'm having trouble wrapping my head around what you find appalling. You have not seen the show, so you have no idea whatsoever whether he is giving a fantastic performance or not. Yet you compare it to an unprofessional high school quality production. I think the reason no one cares is that it is both irrelevant and not our business: all we are entitled to is a wonderful performance. And if it takes post-it notes on the back of sofas or an earpiece or a monitor or 2 martinis, I couldn't give a rat's ass if the performance is successful. I think those you think don't care just don't feel the need to micro-manage how the job gets done. | |
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| re: I'm amazed how many of you defend Willis | |
| Posted by: | KingSpeed 12:57 am EST 11/03/15 |
| In reply to: | re: I'm amazed how many of you defend Willis - ryhog 11:17 pm EST 11/02/15 |
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| I agree. I go to see a great performance, not a memorization test. | |
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