WEBVTT - One on One: Jason Kravitz (Dwight) 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:17.680 I am all in, Kiss you, I am all in 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:22.040 with Scott Patterson and I Heart Radio podcast. Hey Everybody, 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:26.200 Scott Patterson, I am all in Podcast one eleven productions, 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:30.560 I Heart Radio. We are here with Jason Kravitz, who 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.400 appeared as Dwight in season three episode five eight o'clock 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:37.120 at the Oasis. He was the uh, the new neighbor 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.640 across the street who came over and asked Laurelai to 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:42.360 uh water his lawn and then mow his lawn and 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:45.560 then go inside and all kinds of things. Um. Very 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:54.680 memorable character. Um. And Jason has an extraordinarily um uh 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:59.000 long and distinguished resume. And we'll get into that later, 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:01.560 but let's get into the Gilmore stuff. Jason, thanks for 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:04.759 coming on. Welcome. Good to meet you, pleasure. Hey, good 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.800 to meet you too. And we thoroughly enjoyed all of us. Uh, 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.640 the team enjoyed your performance. We were, we were. It 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:17.199 was side splitting funny. Um. And that was the only 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:21.040 episode of Girl Gilmore Girls you did. But it's so memorable. 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.160 How did you get the role? This is an audition 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:26.280 for a role in you know, the same way you 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:28.120 get a lot of jobs in this business. Your agents 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:31.040 put you up for a role, your audition and hopefully 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.240 you get the part. This kiss it worked out good, 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:38.360 good good. Um we actually would have loved to have 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:42.720 seen more of you. Um ah. So what do you 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:47.720 remember about being on set? Oh? Well, I remember, you know, 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.720 working with Lauren, who was really nice. I enjoyed working 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:57.760 with her a lot. And I remember immediately first thing 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:00.440 as I got onto the set, I was told the 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:05.600 script supervisor, uh, fast, fast for fast, the fastness of work, 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.360 don't out of work, don't do anything okay, And the 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:13.800 first take I did, I do remember. I believe I 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.000 the line had sometimes you're forgetting me. I don't remember 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.040 the line exactly, but it was something about and I 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.040 turned the corner and there it was. And I believe 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.040 I said, and I turned the corner and boom, there 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:28.800 it was, and I cut no boom, do not add beat, 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:30.840 do not at a sentence, do not at a clap. 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.160 Now that it's got to be very specifical. Of course, 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:36.520 that's how Amy Shumpalasina rights her stuff, and I totally 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.200 respect that. I just had no idea until I was 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.400 on the set that that was in need case. So 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:44.960 that's my that's my overarching memory and also the fact 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.040 that you know, being in stars Holland and being around 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.919 that set was really phenomenal. Actually, it's a nice place 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:54.440 to be. It was a nice place to go to work. 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:56.360 It was it was great. It was great for the 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.600 for the time I was there. Um, I have a 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:02.760 fun Stars Hollow story though if I'm Gilmore story that 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:07.240 will come into play with people who know this this 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:11.680 actress from other Amy Shrump things and the second Uh 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:17.360 Gilmore Girls incarnation. When I a few years after I 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:21.600 did this episode, I was in l A doing a 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.840 pre Broadway run of a musical called The Drowsy Shop 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:29.760 Grow and The Drowsy Shop Erne starred. Uh Stutton Foster, 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:33.960 of course at that time, was that Tony Award winner 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:40.520 for thirty Modern Millie and she also eventually was on 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:44.240 the lead on Bun Headsman the next show, and then 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:50.360 appeared in Gilmore Girls The Red Boot. So Uh, but 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:52.720 she was not She was just a big Gilmore Girls 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:56.160 fan at the time. And I was staying with you. 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.400 We're all staying in the same area, and I was 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:00.880 still in touch with the people of Gilmore Roles, especially 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:06.000 one of the casting directors Uh and Uh I said 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.560 to Sutton deep do you want to go on set? 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:10.760 And I'm sure we can get on in the warder lot. 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.640 I just called my you know, call my friend Jamie 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:17.160 who is Jimmy want the casting directors and she said, 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:21.680 I'd love that. So I got to bring Sutton Foster 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:26.080 two Stars Hollow and she I've never seen anything like it. 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.280 People look at she looked at the world around her 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.440 the way that people look at her now. Who are 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:33.720 fans of fun? Heads? Who are fun who are who 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.279 are broad in musical fans? Um. She was really dumb 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:38.920 struck by the whole thing. And she got to meet 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.479 Lauren and she was really nervous, and it was just 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.920 one of those really magical moments to be in that 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:46.800 in that place with somebody who was such a huge 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:51.120 fan of the show. Yeah, that's uh yeah it it 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.520 was overwhelming from me and I was in the cast, 0:04:54.520 --> 0:05:01.520 so I know what you're talking about. Um. Um. So 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.240 the tone and the banter that you had with with 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.920 with Lauren, it was it was really really perfect. How 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.600 much did you get to rehearse that with her before 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:15.200 you would shoot? Very little? We shot pretty quick because 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:19.960 you know, they moved pretty fast and upset, and uh, 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.720 I think, you know, having seen the show, you knew 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:26.320 exactly what to expect in the way of a rhythm. 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.400 Um So, even though I had my little, you know, 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:33.640 mistake earlier, it was easy with Lauren, who was such 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.640 a professional in the situation. It was very accepted and 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:39.520 we just kind of take it off very quickly, so 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:41.640 it was very little rehearsal and just kind of swam 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.920 right into it. Do you get recognized as Dwight when 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:50.039 you're out in public? I really do. And the first 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:54.320 time that happened to me, I had forgotten the name 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:56.800 of my character. You know. It was years and years later, 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:00.599 and even just it happened about four years ago in 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:04.080 New York City. I was going through Macy's and somebody 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:08.320 who was like temporarily working in for the holidays stopped 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:10.600 me and said, oh my gosh, it's Dwight from eight 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.239 o'clock at the Oasis. And I said, who was pretty 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:18.760 talking about? She goes Gilmore, Gilmore Gilmore And you couldn't 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:21.400 be were you boring by that point because she was 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:24.960 probably money? And she said, oh my gosh, I just 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:26.880 watched it again. Oh I love that show so much, 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:30.360 and you're Dwight. Oh my god. So and then since 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:32.640 then I've gotten stopped. Since it's been back on the air, 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.720 you know, wherever it's been playing, it's got a lot 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.760 of recognition for Dwight. It's really amazing. Have you ever 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:46.480 met anybody? Have you ever met anybody like him? Dwight? Oh, 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.680 I'm sure. I mean any's characters exist in a in 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.520 a kind of a hyper real world in some ways. 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:57.480 I don't know any he talks at that pace, but 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.640 somebody who's that fastidious and somebody who's that also. It's 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:04.520 what I loved about this character is clearly the character 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:06.240 is supposed to be a bit of a nerd. You know, 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.920 he's got this fascination with peaky things, and he's got 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.960 very specific watering of his plants, and he's gone to 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:16.680 a divorce, and and yet there's something super confident about him. 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:21.720 You know, he was happy, very you know, gregarious of 0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:25.520 meeting his neighbors and smiley and and something very positive 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.080 about him that you don't usually find in characters that 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.640 people write that are that are more nebishy. Really, So 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:37.040 I found that really fun. Yeah. Uma, So you've done 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:42.679 a lot of work on TV and Broadway most recently 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:46.880 and be Positive and c I S and the undoing. Um, 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:52.680 very diverse. Do you have a favorite genre of of 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.280 work that you've done. I really, I really don't, because 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:02.040 I I think when I was a kid, I just 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:06.680 wanted to do everything. So I wanted to be really 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.480 adapt and everything. I wanted to be able to do 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:16.160 everything everything from uh, song and dance to to you know, Shakespeare, 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.640 Moliere and dramas on television. And one of the one 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:21.760 of the shows that I was most known for early 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.560 on was The Practice, where I was a lawyer for 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.480 two years and very mean lawyer. But I had come 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:31.480 from the world of comedies, so it was like I 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.240 was loving the opportunity to sink my teeth into anything 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.480 like that. So I don't. I really kind of like 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:41.880 doing at all I can if people give me the opportunity. Um. 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.440 So you're writing as well, You're doing comedy, doing all 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.200 kinds of things. Are you always creating? I mean it's 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.920 you wake up and this is what you do. I 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:55.439 think that. Um yeah, I get really I get really 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:59.280 induced by doing the creative things. Uh. This business as 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:03.880 a business so fickle, and even I feel like I 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:06.840 do have a bit of a decent track record, a 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:09.400 good resume, But I go long periods of time without 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:13.320 getting the opportunity to audition for things or participate in 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:18.640 the business. So I am constantly looking for ways to 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:23.120 either entertain myself or entertain other people. So I think 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.560 that's been part of my life, is just being creative. 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:32.760 So you've had three decades of experience, What's what's what's 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:36.360 the secret for your success? What? What is it? H? 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.520 You know, what's some funny? Uh? It depends on, of course, 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:43.800 the ho you measure success, right, Like the fact that 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.240 I've lasted three decades is pretty much the success. I 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.400 recently found out that I'm at an age where I 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:52.160 can start possibly collecting my pension. And that's the first 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.360 moment in my career I felt like I made it. 0:09:56.120 --> 0:10:04.080 I made retired. It's amazing because at certain times you 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:09.440 really do feel like you're retired. Um, the longevity I 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:12.320 think longevity is what I consider successful is the fact 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.200 that I'm still stuck around. And I think you have 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:20.080 to be Uh, you have to be able to deal 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.240 with projection, or at least you have to be a glutton. 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:24.960 You have to understand it comes out to all the time, 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:29.240 and um, I wish I could say I handled it 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:33.280 really well all the time, and I just still don't. 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.960 And I think it was instilled nearly on it that 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.720 what I was doing had value um and not just 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.319 and read more recently than it's had value beyond just 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.000 um for value beyond you know, for my own self 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:52.920 entertainment and the self worth, but value in the world 0:10:53.040 --> 0:11:00.360 that that there's there's there's people appreciate having Enter Cayman 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.520 and creativity and someone doing that that they can look 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:09.360 to in darker times. So I think recognizing that what 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:11.640 you do as value and I think I was taught 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.360 that early on, and even though I've wavered him up 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.640 and down, and it's been a core belief, I think. 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:19.960 So I got very lucky to have a family and 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:25.959 relationships and mentors and friends that have bullied that at 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.160 times when it's believer. So that's been helpful. Yeah, I 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.960 think you know when I when I got when I 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:35.080 was studying in New York. I lived in New York 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.000 for a long time and I studied, I did all 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.400 my training in New York. And the one thing that 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.040 was instilled in me that I'll never forget was what 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.600 a what a privilege and what an honor it was, 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:50.240 and what a calling it is to do this as 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:54.600 a profession, and that what a responsibility you have. Um. 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.680 And I don't think a lot of people realize that. Um. 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.079 But it takes, it does take a tremendous amount of 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.440 dedication and the rejection. Yeah, I used to take it 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:07.160 personally until I stopped taking it personally and realized it 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.880 was just a business decision on the other side, and 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:13.320 that you can't take it personally because it'll just eat 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.320 you alive and you there'll be nothing left. Um. It's 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:20.960 just how old were you when they happened? Though? Um? Well, 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:27.200 I you know, I'd come from a career where it 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:31.800 was just so much rejection and heartbreak that I had it. 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:35.839 I had a pretty thick skin coming into this. Um. 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:38.920 What I had was a work ethic, and I was 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:41.360 late to the game, so I really needed to play 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:44.440 catch up. Uh. And that's that's the thing that put 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.400 me over the top, was the work ethic. Um. Well, 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:50.960 it's funny is I had a similar but I felt 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:52.720 like I had it was kind of coming from behind 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:55.520 in a lot of ways. I grew up in the Washington, 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:57.680 D C. Area, and I went to school down there 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:00.000 to an undergrad program. I didn't go to grad school. 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:03.679 I worked in theater. It's a fantastic town for doing theater. 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:05.680 And I was able to get on my union cards 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:09.240 down there, but I had really had no plans to move. 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:11.920 I was all set, and then I had enough people 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:13.679 tell me, you know, you really should give this a 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:15.839 shot that I didn't move to New York. And I 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:21.520 was eight, thinking, Okay, the businesses here for the offing. 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:24.000 I'd like, it's here's here's that's all on the table. 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.360 I've been working in DC, I'll just pick up right here. 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.160 And of course that doesn't happen. So I had to 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:33.079 learn to hustle. But there were so many people. There 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.720 were so many people who had been there ahead of me, 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.520 who had gone to grad school, who are already working 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:41.120 on Broadway. And I was not able to get an 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.439 agent and the cook until I was in my mid 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:46.880 early early thirties and moving out to l A. Before 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.080 I started making any kind of noise. But it was 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.880 really my own hustle that did that. I ended up 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:55.120 writing a two man sketch comedy show in New York 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.079 that got nowhere here, but took it to l A 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:01.080 and just lucked in, been getting the right people in 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.800 the room and heading off to the Aspen Comedy Festival, 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:05.520 and then I suddenly had an agent and I said, 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:08.480 they had a career. It was again, you know, it's 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.480 the hustle. It's knowing that you gotta hustle, but it's 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:15.320 but it's creating your own content. That's a lot of 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:17.720 my life has been creating my own pop. That's that's 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:19.840 what they look for, that's what they want to sign. 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:23.600 You know, Like that's worked for me in that scenario. 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:27.400 But you know, again, but I thought, probably guys playing 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.880 catch up the whole time too, Like everybody else has 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.440 got an agent, everybody else is younger than me, and 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:35.640 it's been signed and is working, and I have nothing. 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:38.160 So I had to really scramble. But that's part of 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.840 the deal. The problem a lot of people have is 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.000 they scramble when they get here and they pustle, but 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.920 they don't create. They hustle they get there, they try 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:50.240 to get them to connect to the agents and managers 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:53.280 and they're not really producing anything. And I think that 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.400 that the ability to kind of like know that I 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.480 had to follow that path as well, was gave me 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:02.000 a little bit an edge or maybe it's the nose. 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:10.520 I have no idea what no one knows. Yeah, so 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:14.000 now we're going to get into your resume. Okay, because 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:17.200 this is this is uh it's extraordinary. So let me 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:22.600 just read this off. Okay, and uh um and and 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.280 everybody in the audience to take note. This is a 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.680 real privilege to read this off for somebody that has 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:34.320 this diverse resume and has been this successful. Um Film 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:37.760 credits include Chinese Puzzle to Step for Wives, Sweet Nose, 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.720 Sweet November Morning, Glory, Laura gets a cat Accommodations, My 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:46.080 dead Boyfriend, What just Happened? In an animated feature film Blink. 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.880 Ravitz has appeared in several Broadway shows, including the original 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:54.200 production of Tony Award winning The Drowsy Chaperone, the two 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.640 thousand three revival of Sly Fox directed by Arthur pen 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:02.320 We need to talk about Arthur pen um um but 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:04.880 the City Center on Course production of The Golden Apple, 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:11.400 Relatively Speaking, and evening of three one Acts with Ethan Colen, 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:15.000 Elaine May, and Woody Allen directed by John Detro. We 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:19.280 have to talk about John Detro. Along with comedy partner 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:21.600 Drol Jones. Jason's two man Sketch Show On Evening with 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.280 Kravitz and Jones took home the Jury Award at the 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.160 nine US Comedy Festival at Aspen, Colorado. We have to 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:31.520 talk about Aspen, Colorado. The show is based on material 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:34.800 developed and long running Rumble in the Red Room Collective. 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:39.120 As a writer, Jason penned a ten minute Green Eggs 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:43.160 and Hamlet. Will you please tell me about? There's more? 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:49.720 But I'm im a Hamlet fanatic, a freak, my favorite play, 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.880 my favorite character. What is that all about? I've had 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:55.400 many things I've done on a dare, and I think 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.920 somebody said. I came up with joking one day with 0:16:57.960 --> 0:16:59.720 somebody about green Eggs and ham and I said, oh, 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.600 green Eggs and Hamlet, and I said you should write that. 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.600 And it's a ten minute play that that starts with. 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.240 You know, there was a sad fellow named Hamlet the Dane, 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.760 and all he would do is complaining, complaint. And then 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:15.040 Hamlet says, I come back from college, my father is 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:18.240 dead and my mother has married my uncle instead she 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.520 sometimes my sister. And that was my queen. What can 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:22.159 Let's come? If you know what I mean it just 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:26.320 goes on and the ghost comes out and says, would 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.800 you could you with a knife? Would you could you 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.040 take his life? You know? And it's a still devolved 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:34.960 from there into the sparsible ten minutes of like Dr 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:40.919 SEUs rhymes and people getting killed by eating poisoned breakfast fees. 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.840 I mean that's just you know, because listen, I no 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:51.440 longer do. But uh, when my son was very small, 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.240 I would read him nothing but Dr. SEUs. And there's 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.720 nothing more brilliant as people with children know. It's all 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:02.280 I am, But it's all it's experience, it's it's it's 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:06.119 SEUs is the Shakespeare of children's books. Um. Yeah. But 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:08.080 my son, on the other hand, my son was when 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.280 he was a baby, his mother was rehearsing for the 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:14.560 role of Titania and I at one point I said 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:17.359 to him, what does daddy say? And he said, Daddy says, 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.520 I love you. I said, what does mommy say? He said, 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:32.359 Mommy said, these are the full juries of jealousy. Oh 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:38.479 my goodness, Oh yeah, oh my gosh. Uh. Holiday stories, 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:44.960 the holiday stories, the was and Bullwinkle, Yeah, the Christmas 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:49.640 Story Christmas. Yeah, we wrote that. My partner and Joel 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:52.520 and I wrote that for Universal uh years and years ago. 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.320 I never got made even own it, but we do 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:57.560 every once in a while we'll do a charity reading 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.720 of it. And again you know, it's all bad puns 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:03.040 and non secutors, if you know, bowl eagle. And then 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:06.080 the catch is a part of the Bridge, which is 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.639 again it's it's the Han a conversion of the Bridge 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:11.119 and Dr SEUs Ryan, which I love to write in. 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:16.879 So you graduated from University of Mayland, Maryland. You perform 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:21.520 extensively at the Shakespeare Theater, Roundhouse Theater and Wooly Mammoth 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:26.600 Theater Company. Wow. Um, tell me about your love for Shakespeare. 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:29.639 How did you first experienced Shakespeare and what was the 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:32.760 first character you had to break down and play that 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.840 you performed in uh? In high school when I was 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:39.880 doing a summer school for the performing arts, I uh 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:45.040 was told by a long departed, wonderful mentor of mine 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.360 who was teaching that summer UH that I should try 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:52.280 Puck and just just a month alogue just doing you 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:56.280 know if we shadows have offended? And I got it. 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.920 I was like, oh, oh this makes sense. And then 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:03.560 in college I I continue I mean, I studied. I 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.199 did some more in high school, you know, did the 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:11.399 mechanicals and did mercutio and little touches of things. But 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:15.320 then when I got to college, I was a freshman 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:19.600 and I had an upper class teacher, professor for upperclassmen, 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:24.399 who was leaving, and he took a few of us 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:27.880 underclassmen and said, I want you to study Shakespeare with me, 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:32.200 because I think you guys should try this. And we 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:35.520 did a lot of studying the John Barton Acting Shakespeare 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:44.160 Capes library and learning how, um, how the vocabulary work 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.600 and how the pentameter work and what that told you 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:51.159 about characters getting informed by the words, and I just 0:20:51.440 --> 0:20:53.680 it was just one of my favorite things to do. 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:58.520 And then um, and then I had one teacher in college. 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:02.200 We did Loves Labors and lost Uh, And we did 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:06.320 it in in a park in Washington, d C. We 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:08.359 rehearsed it. I shouldn't say it before we reformed it 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:10.800 on at school, but we did one rehearsal in the 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.399 kind of a manicured park in Washington, d C. Just 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:16.399 give a sense of surroundings. And that led to I 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:19.280 did some Shakespeare after college as well. But I also 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.520 did this one project that I just came up with again, 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:25.520 you know, doing creative things and finding all of your 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:29.440 love for things converging. I did something called Shakespeare and 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:32.320 the Rough, and what I did was I got a 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:35.520 bunch of actors together and I cast The Tempest just 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:38.840 randomly with actors that I knew from DC, and I said, 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.800 we're gonna do a two day event on Saturday. We're 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:44.600 going to meet and read the plan. Now, anybody, there's 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:47.000 no director, So if you want to stop and say 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:49.399 I have a question about that character, or I have 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:51.560 some thoughts about her, I've seen a production where that 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:54.639 character did this. It doesn't matter who you are in 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:57.320 the plan. You can comment on anything about the characters. 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.440 And then the next day we went to a nature 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:05.879 preserve in the suburbs of Washington, d C. And I 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:09.159 mapped it. I gave everybody a map of the surroundings. 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:12.840 I said, go find where your scenes take place, but 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:18.880 don't rehearse them. Come back and we'll map everything out 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:21.400 the order of the show where things take place, will 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:24.240 have lunch, and then we're gonna go and we're gonna 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:26.600 go do one scene to one scene, and if you're 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:30.040 in the scene, you should take off so we can 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:32.320 discover you in it. But otherwise you can watch. We 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:34.800 didn't have an audience. We performed for each other, we 0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:39.640 had musicians, we had just it was and I said, 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:42.720 just improvised it. But you also are not responsible to anybody. 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:45.639 You're responsible to the text. That's it. You don't have 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:47.439 to perform it for the other actors. It can be 0:22:47.440 --> 0:22:50.720 like a television performance. You can even think the lines 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:52.800 if you feel that's the case. Of course, everyody's on book. 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:55.760 I was holding the script. Um. I said, you can 0:22:55.800 --> 0:22:58.879 do whatever you want and just you know, and I 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:01.359 saw that play come to life in a way that 0:23:01.400 --> 0:23:05.520 I've I've never seen it since. It was just I 0:23:05.560 --> 0:23:08.399 mean literally, the people in the shipwreck scene that starts 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:12.280 the tempest, literally one of them brought a little dinghy 0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:14.439 and put the king and the king's son and the dinghy, 0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:16.119 and they all went up to the lake, into the 0:23:16.240 --> 0:23:19.199 lake that we were near, up to their chest and 0:23:20.359 --> 0:23:22.960 screened the lines of each other while they had people 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:25.840 throwing buckets of water at them from the shore. I mean, 0:23:25.840 --> 0:23:28.360 it was like, I didn't plan that. But people, when 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:33.080 they're given the opportunity for the freedom to create, you 0:23:33.080 --> 0:23:36.199 can watch it explode, and I just that's one of 0:23:36.200 --> 0:23:38.480 my favorite experiences, even though I very I mean, I 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:40.879 played Caliban, I had my fund doing the character that 0:23:40.880 --> 0:23:45.439 I usually wouldn't get casting, but watching the creativity of 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:49.280 people that I adored as performers anyway, just watching them 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:52.720