Break a Leg

I hope everyone had a happy Turkey Day.  Well it’s Friday and it’s time for some fun on Rochelle Wisoff Fields page.  You can find the links here.

 

Sam had prepared for the spotlight by humming Brownsville Girl in his head.  He walked out of the green room towards the dark wing.  He rubbed the  mask with the toothy grin, went right yet ended up stage left.  Acting is all in the head, a lie of the mind he reminded himself. Fly Guys pulled on ropes, what was on was in. Inside the living theater he tripped on his way out, black hawk down.  Tripping was OK he told himself.  I don’t make mistakes, I have unintentional improvisations.  The audience is my flock and I am the Shepard.

18 thoughts on “Break a Leg

  1. Hi Tom,
    I’m not sure but i think you might have a typo in the fourth line…”pulled on strings what was on was in.” Doesn’t seem to make much sense.
    So this is a play on the name Sam Shepard? Nice. However you gave us two ‘p’s for the price of one. 😉
    Unintentional improvisations…I like that. As an interpretive dancer/mime I relate well to those.
    shalom,
    Rochelle

    1. Rochelle,
      “What was on was in” is correct…That’s theater talk but you’re right I did give you and extra P. It’s a play on the name Sam Shepard. Its a play on his plays and movies. Thanks for commenting.
      Tom

  2. Hi Tom,
    First, thanks for your comment on my genocide blog post. We seem to be of the same mind on that topic. We also had a similar response to this week’s photo. I thought it looked like the comic theatre mask and did some searches to learn more and get inspired. You seem to know a lot about acting. Great internal dialog carries this piece and humor makes it fun. Ron

    1. Ron,
      No problem..I always enjoy your posts. I know a thing or two about the business because I was a professional stagehand and motion picture projectionist for ten years. I also did a little acting in college and was assistant technical director for a few years. I am glad you found it fun. I was trying to have a little fun this week.
      Thanks Tom

  3. I love this line: ” I don’t make mistakes, I have unintentional improvisations.” A good philosophy. I know I missed some nuances by not knowing all the theater talk, but I enjoyed it anyway.

    1. Janet,
      “I don’t make mistakes, I have unintentional improvisations.” is well used line in the theater world…let me see if I can point out a few…A lie of the mind is a Sam Shepard play… Brownsville Girl is a song Sam co-wrote with Bob Dylan, Black Hawk Down is a movie he was in, fly guys are the men and women who control props that fly in and out on stage and of course stage left is really right and break a leg means good luck.
      Thanks for the comments,
      Tom

  4. The theater is the perfect place for this sculpture. I really get a sense of being inside the performer’s head and all the pre-performance jitters. I used to perform a lot, so I can relate. Nice piece!

    1. Actors all have their methods for dealing with pre-performance jitters. I acted with a guy who cranked out heavy metal and punk music while banging his head and staring at himself in the mirror. Thanks for the kind words.
      Tom

    1. Abraham,
      Basically that’s what this is…An actor giving himself a pep talk. I had a little fun with it and made the actor Sam Shepard. I included some of his work in the piece, Black Hawk down, a Lie Of The Mind and a song he co-wrote with Bob Dylan. I also threw some theater terms in…Kinda of a play on plays. Glad you liked it.

      Tom

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