CHOOSE ACTING AS A CAREER (3/11/15)

      In the 2010 podcast aptly named 'Without a Net': the multi-talented actor and handsome gadfly Don Smith spoke of acting as if it was the most noble of professions. 

     The program presents Smith's story, and the bittersweet reality that an actor may never get a major role.  The positive side of the broadcast was that Smith had stayed employed, even though he never played the 'leading man'.

     "As an actor: who are you?" said Richard Tavernaro of Long Shot productions.  Tavernaro has acted in multiple movie projects and insists that aspiring thespians take lessons.  "I'm not the leading man type.  Maybe you are the one who has the character face."

     Professionals advise that playing supporting roles, such as policemen, detectives, lawyers and doctors are also good parts.  One local actor said he has been consistently employed in Atlanta for more than 35 years as an actor in minor supporting parts.

     "The fun part about acting is that you make it your own," said Georgia State University Player Michael James Miller.  "There's no real template to follow in most roles, you add your own stuff to make the character unique."

     "When you are involved with the arts, you are involved with the world," said Atlanta attorney and actor Stephen Adams.  "That world may not be your own, so that's where you act." 

     Last fall Adams held one of the leads in the controversial play 'Trouble in Mind', which required him to act the part of a racist director.  This winter he returned in another edgy role, playing a mentally ill murderer in 'Provincetown Playhouse July 1999'.  The play, by Canadian Playwright Normand Chaurette, is about as controversial today as when it premiered in 1981. 

     "The story is told in a non-linear progression, and since the character is basically mentally ill, the role was crazy," said Adams.  The Attorney-Actor looks for complex roles which allow him to stretch his talents. 

     Others in the cast suggest aspiring actors should reflect off of audience energy and feedback.  The GSU Players are taught to be aware of the relationship between audience and actor, no matter what medium.

     Canadian theater and playwrights are Dr. Frank Miller's area of study.  He is also aware that the GSU students he teaches are going to get the subject matter.  "I wanted people to hear the story which lead to the play 'Fortune in Men's Eyes' by John Herbert."

Writing in the Sand' was presented by Miller as a separate work for the winter audiences. The short piece gave life to the character of Herbert, and the injustices he suffered in his own rejection. 

      "The lead character doesn't just complain of being beaten in jail, he turned the event into something of international significance.  Changes in laws were made because of it.  And it was also because someone was there to act in the parts, the fringe parts, in that way---acting changed the world."

---Ray Macon