| re: Comedic timing | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 02:02 am EDT 06/20/18 | |
| In reply to: Comedic timing - bobby2 11:31 pm EDT 06/19/18 | |
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| Well, I think "comic abilities" is the important phrase. Not everyone has them to the degree that Gleason does, and the role was built on her. It's not that people who play the role don't realize that it's nice to get laughs in the role, which is what it sounds like you mean when you write that people "miss this in their performances." I'm not sure if that's what you intended. One thing that I can tell you is that all those laughs didn't come overnight for Gleason. She worked through weeks of previews to find them, and she'd already played the role at the Old Globe. Admittedly, changes were being made during the Old Globe run, and what started previews at the Martin Beck had significant differences from what had played at the Old Globe, and then lots of changes were made during previews. Still, a fair amount remained fairly consistent for her, and she nonetheless had to keep working to find all those laughs. I think it's perhaps impossible to expect another actress with a few weeks of rehearsal and then a run of just a few weeks altogether, as in most productions of the show. to get those laughs. I'm sure that some actresses playing the role find it a strain to know that they are going to compared with Gleason, the actress on whom the role was made, and that they will be found wanting if they don't get all those laughs. Should they imitate her? That's rarely a good idea. Some will be happy to watch her and learn what they can while also trying to avoid directly imitating her, while others will simply not want to watch her at all, and I can understand both choices. For one thing, if you know that you're failing to get the laughs she got, it's probably going to affect your confidence. So it can be better to just not know where she got laughs. |
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