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| Why would she necessarily? | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 05:55 pm EST 11/24/18 | |
| In reply to: inthought it was interesting that landsbury - dramedy 03:19 pm EST 11/24/18 | |
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| It's not standard at all. There was a big discussion here a few years ago in which some people insisted it was standard and traditional to learn the lines before the first rehearsal and that it was unprofessional not to do that, but that's simply not true. Well, I suppose whether it's unprofessional is an opinion, but if that's true, some pretty famous actors have been unprofessional. I think you were involved in that discussion. For one example, three years ago I stayed for a talkback after a performance of The Humans at the Laura Pels. Reed Birney said that Joe Mantello had asked them to know their lines on the first day of rehearsal for that because he felt that for that play they needed to rehearse on the finished set. This meant there would be only two weeks of rehearsals, and it was going to be expensive (IIRC) for the Roundabout to have the set ready that early. Because of the shortened rehearsal period and the ways things were going to be done on the production, he wanted the actors to know their lines by the first rehearsal — something that he otherwise would never ask of them. So clearly neither Mantello nor Birney (nor, I would guess, most of the other actors) think it's standard and expected for actors to come in knowing their lines on the first day of rehearsal. The surprise to me is that Prince would ask for it given that songs are often not taught till rehearsals start. Also odd that he would have asked for it on Sweeney since Len Cariou has spoken of his tendency to hold onto his script till near the very end of rehearsals, till they have to virtually force it out of his hands, and that he resents actors who learn their lines too early because he feels they have to be giving line readings they've worked out by themselves rather than responding to the other actors at rehearsals in the moment. Like Cariou, Judi Dench (until she had memorization problems) did not even like to work on her lines outside of rehearsals. She even said that she'd often intentionally leave her script at the theatre overnight during rehearsals so that it would not possible for her to look at it at home. She did not like to learn her lines in any way other than naturally during the course of the rehearsals. She also has said that she preferred to not even read the script till the read-through on the first day of rehearsal. And this is not something especially new. A 1932 New York Times article on how actors memorize lines makes it clear that it was by no means considered standard for actors to know their lines on the first day of rehearsals back then. One actor discussed in the article was Leslie Howard, whose process was like that of Dench and Cariou (and I'm sure many other well-known actors). From the article: "Leslie Howard, for one, is reported to go through no process of deliberate memorization. He merely holds the script before him and reads it at rehearsals until finally he puts it aside and speaks without it. Nor does he even study lines at home." The article also mentioned Alice Brady, who had recently finished her Broadway run in Mourning Becomes Electra, as someone who never studied her lines outside rehearsals, simply holding on to her script in rehearsals until they came naturally to her, although it was also said that she was fast at learning them that way. This was also said in the article to be true of Edna Best, but not of Best's husband, Herbert Marshall, who confessed himself the bane of his colleagues. "He never, says Miss Best, knows his lines till the dress rehearsal." If you read William Redfield's terrific Letters From an Actor, about the production of Hamlet with Burton that Gielgud directed (and in which Redfield appeared), it's clear that Gielgud did not ask the actors to come in knowing their lines. And don't we think of Gielgud as having been a traditionalist? Obviously, there are actors who prefer to know their lines on the first day of rehearsals, and some of them may get as annoyed at those who don't as Len Cariou would get annoyed at those who did. And there are some directors who demand it. Noël Coward used to demand it, at least sometimes. But there are plenty of directors who don't demand it. I bet there are even some who discourage it. In any case, it's not considered standard. And if it ever was considered standard, that was long ago. |
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