Life's Final Chapter

Holding On and Letting Go

Life’s Final Chapter

R.M. Sydnor

Bryan Hametiaux’s Holding On and Letting Go, premiering at Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena, explores life’s last chapter. Bobby and Lee have been married a long time. Lee is an indefatigable women's basketball coach. Bobby, an erstwhile basketball coach and now an insurance salesman, has failing health despite being only 51. As his physical condition declines further, Bobby must choose to either explore every conceivable avenue in search of a possibility to extend his life or make preparations for a graceful exit.

R.M. Sydnor: I have a feeling Holding-on and Letting Go (HOLG) might very well rival your memorable National Pastime, a play about breaking the color line in Major League Baseball in 1947.  Both plays address emotionally impactful subjects. HOLG offers a plethora of rich themes provoking us to deeply reflect, not just too simply sit and watch actors perform. What did you learn from National Pastime and other works that helped you with HOLG?

Bryan Hametiaux: You can’t write a play about an idea, like race relations or the end of life.  Theatre is storytelling, perhaps at its most intimate. Any ideas you may have must emerge from the story with characters the audience can recognize and in some way care about.

R.M. Sydnor: Perspective lies at the heart of this Holding On and Letting Go, which makes this entertaining and thought provoking theater. Give us some insight into these fascinating perspectives.

Bryan Hametiaux: At the simplest level, we see the family members – Bobby, Lee and May – struggling for perspective in the midst of the turmoil surrounding the end of Bobby’s life.  This is contrasted with the professional, yet compassionate ministry of the hospice team – Jill, Gabe and Roger.  Hopefully, the audience perspective is of the entire human landscape and our struggle as human beings in dealing with mortality and death, our own and others.

R.M. Sydnor: We have all lost someone very close to us.  I am curious how your own experiences with death impacted in the creation of HOLG.

Bryan Hametiaux: I’ve had some profound experiences at close range, involving family members and friends, many of which had hospice nearby.  I’ve also done background work in preparation for this and the other plays about end-of-life, and benefitted greatly from those who have made this field their life’s work.  These include VITAS, Hospice of Spokane, Visiting Nurses Association (Spokane), and many healthcare professionals and hospice workers in the end-of-live movement in this country.  I am especially indebted to Dr. Jim Shaw of the Providence Center for Faith and Healing (Spokane), the good people of the Missoula Demonstration Project, out of Missoula, Montana (which has now ceased operations), and the Duke University Institute on Care at the End of Life (Duke ICEOL).  There are also dedicated and gifted directors and actors who have invested much in helping bring Holding On ~ Letting Go and my two other plays about end-of-life, Dusk and Vesta, into being.

R.M. Sydnor: Modern medicine allows for expensive interventions, often with no hope for sustained life. This seems to be the case when Lee chooses to take Bobby to another country in hopes of prolonging his life when indeed Bobby knew the end was near.

Bryan Hametiaux: Our lives are full of avoidance and denial.  I think that near the end of life our need to hold on is often driven by disbelief, along with fear of the unknown.  This resistance is fueled by a culture with its “never give up - can do against all odds” optimism.  Eventually, this simply doesn’t work, and risks losing the opportunity for a “good death.”

R.M. Sydnor: There are five stages of death: Depression, denial, anger, bargaining and acceptance.  HOLG seems to touch on all five.

Bryan Hametiaux: Yes, there are.  Although I’m not so sure that there is always a clear, natural progression through these stages – life’s more messy than that. 

R.M. Sydnor: The play opens and closes with scenes of Bobby and Lee playing basketball in a loving game of either HORSE or one-on-one.  This is a clever and effective use of multimedia to offer depth to the narrative.

Bryan Hametiaux: Jim and Jed Reynolds did a masterful job giving the audience a glimpse at Bobby and Lee’s relationship at a time when they were still at their best, and carefree.  With this, the audience has a greater stake in their final journey together.  Such a good example of how less can be more.

R.M. Sydnor: The use of athletes, in this case coaches, to tell a story of facing death is particularly poignant because we think of them as forever young. Yet I found myself thinking about other celebrated coaches who too face death at the height of success.

Bryan Hametiaux: Pat Summit comes to mind.  Good coaches teach us how to win, but they should also help us learn to lose gracefully.

R.M. Sydnor: Tell us about your muse to Holding On and Letting Go.

Bryan Hametiaux: One of the ideas I seem to need to write about is our mortality, and how we come to terms with it.  Thankfully, I was enlisted by the end-of-life movement over 20 years ago to write a short play about “aging,” and I’ve been at is ever since.

R.M. Sydnor: Every playwright faces challenges when he or she puts fingers to keyboard.  I am sure this is the case here. 

Bryan Hametiaux: Keyboard?  I write longhand, then dictate, then have a longtime friend and word processor type up the manuscript, and go from there.  I do this because I’m a Luddite, but this process also works for me.  The eternal challenge is to do my work alone until I have that first draft, and fighting off the temptation to show what I’ve got to someone (anyone) and be reassured.

R.M. Sydnor: The casting of Barry Wiggins as Bobby and Iona Morris as Lee was brilliant.  Mr. Wiggin, who possess a melodious baritone, has an elegant presence and seems to be a paragon of how death can be faced with dignity and grace. Ms. Morris’ Lee offers a rich introspective of a woman suffering in the face of tragedy.

Bryan Hametiaux: These are incredibly gifted actors, who are also willing to go the distance.  Director Jim Reynolds attracts actors like Barry and Iona and the rest of the cast of Holding On ~ Letting Go.

R.M. Sydnor: I spoke with a nurse practitioner who is every familiar with hospice care and she told me Jill Remez as hospice nurse Virginia was right on point.  This tells me you spent some time researching hospice.

Bryan Hametiaux: Yes.  I was fortunate enough to watch how hospice functions firsthand, with many valuable conversations with those who do this work every day.  Quite a privilege to have such access.

R.M. Sydnor: There are a number of actresses who could play May but Amentha Dymall seems to bring a little extra spice to a mother dealing with her son’s impending death and her daughter-in-law who does.

Bryan Hametiaux: Amentha Dymall is everything you could ask for in her portrayal of May, and brings much needed warmth and humor to the story.

R.M. Sydnor: Success as you well known is not achieved solo.  Tell about the collaboration process.

Silent Roar

Silent Roar

R.M. Sydnor

Silent Roar, a rather provocative oxymoron, combines multimedia on a panoramic scale with exquisite dance chronicling the Gray Whale’s plight. Original music, special effects, aerialists and live theater create a thalassic world of beauty and wonder. This journey of friendship and survival through the personification of mammals speaks loudly to the larger issues (political, social, economical, environmental) and challenges facing our planet.

El Portal Theater

5269 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA

Sylvia

R.M. Sydnor

Conversation

Tanna Frederick

A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia, playing at The Edgemar Theater in Santa Monica, stars Tanna Frederick as the loving pooch affectionately known as Sylvia. Ms. Frederick presents a well-crafted, muscular, energy driven performance (she runs the stage, jumps on furniture, chew shoes, barks) that keeps us thinking about the fragility of relationships and the acceptance of change. Greg, Sylvia’s owner, faces midlife crisis in a marriage slowly drifting apart and must choose between either keeping Sylvia and losing his marriage, or giving away his dog and maintaining the marriage. Ms. Frederick’s personification of the insouciant and rambunctious K-9 and an outstanding cast make for memorable theater.

Your work as Sylvia impressed this critic, a comedic and vibrant performance yet elegant in an old fashion way. Casting a dog as a young woman is highly inventive, yet making this work on stage is not easy.  Tanna tell us how you specifically prepared for Sylvia.

First of all, thank you so much for the compliment!  I'm so happy you used the four adjectives together in one sentence for my performance-specifically those four-'comedic, vibrant, elegant, and old fashioned'…I'll never need another compliment for years!  Thank you!  Pretty much to play this part, I had ten days to learn the lines, the blocking, and tech the show.  So when I wasn't doing that, I was watching my Shiba Inu Garbo.  I don't know, can you call that Method?  

There is always growth when playing any theatrical role.  How have you grown as person as a result of Sylvia?

My biggest fault is that I think too much.  I get pulled down sometimes by my own crazy circular dismal tail-chasing.  (I crack a lot of jokes pertinent to canines now, p.s.)  Playing an animal, playing a dog, is pure gratitude.  Gratitude for absolutely EVERYTHING.  For eating, for going out on walks, for crotches, for a treat, for chasing a fly and eating it.  That requires me to find something to be really, really happy about for every performance.  I mean, if I played a cat, I could be moody and annoyed.  But there's just NO WAY a dog can be moody.  They just aren't.  Everything is like Disneyland to them.  So in my mind, I've begun to tick off all the little things in life I'm grateful for.  Because otherwise my performance turns into 'Dog of a Salesman'.  I did that one night, I was in a bad space, and Henry was there, and there were no laughs.  I had no idea why.  He said I was this suicidal dog that this poor couple had to take in otherwise it'd jump out the window.  That's a good thing for me, to recognize things in life that make me happy, and then make myself get really, really, really happy about them, as dogs have boundless enthusiasm.  So I think my psyche is in better shape most the time.  If only we were all dogs.  

You play Sylvia with much theatrically and certainly Gary Imhoff’s direction helped.   What did you learn from Imhoff?

Gary was my teach for four years.  I was a relentless sob when it came to getting him to finally direct me.  He caved in 'Always, But Not Forever'.  He's a dream director.  The best I've ever worked with.  (Except for Henry in film…)  What haven't I learned from him?  I've learned everything.  About life, about living, about acting, about myself…He always teases me and says I put him on this pedestal, but I genuinely mean it when I say he's affected my life and my acting.  He knows things and senses things, pulls me up and out of my self doubt and criticism, and smooths out the kinks so that I can do my work.  He simplifies what's complicated, and complicates what's too tedious and simple in his work.  I've done three shows with him now, he's won numerous awards himself and for the cast and show, and every minute of work is like drinking in the most refreshing drop of the clearest water.  I never want rehearsals to stop.  And I've seen that with every actor I've worked with.  I guess I dig simpatico dynamics and stick with them, because I've done this with both Henry and Gary.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Or maybe it's just hunger to work with genius.  (I'm hoping Gary reads this and agrees to direct me in the next play I do.  Haha.)  

Do you see Sylvia a mistress image and a symbol for Greg’s midlife crisis?

Yes but in a credibly careful, innovative and creative way-The so-called 'midlife crisis' does not always equate to a marital affair or obsession, it can equal a new car, a compulsive need to pump iron, obsession with grandkids, whatever.  In A.R. Gurney's romp, it's a dog that borders on the midlife life-preserver of 'the other woman'.  

But that is delicious and clever, because the choice of a dog being Greg's obsession is really a playground to exploring that fine line of human/pet relationships.  For example, I let my dog kiss me on the lips.  I know that's disgusting and I'm not supposed to do that, and no one will ever kiss me again after admitting that, but it fulfills some happy need…

Greg and Kate are clearly going in opposite directions in both career and their relationships, yet they come together in the end.  This is truly a play about change, tolerance and acceptance.

Yes, it's beautiful that Sylvia is a conduit to their coming together.  Sometimes the most unexpected arbitrary things bring people closer, even save their relationship.  Not that a dog is arbitrary, but I believe that the way couples deal with conflict is the key to their succeeding or their termination.  'Sylvia' demonstrates that in perfect conceit.  The husband wants something, the wife doesn't.  Will they last or won't they?  What I like about Gurney is he demonstrates this in a darling, funny, captivating form by making the conflict be a dog that talks.  And sometimes meanders on the premise of this pooch being the other woman.  It's a simple message delivered in a clever comedy.  People get it, and walk away with the concept of sharing, and loving, and reconsidering their lives, their loved ones.  Although, I've had eight people tell me after seeing the play they've now adopted a dog from the shelter.  And funny enough they are all women.  So, it could be throwing some curve balls into people's lives, but as the play demonstrates, that's a good thing.

I thought Joel Daavid’s sets and lighting helped everyone to be in the moment.

Joel Daavid is a genius. 

 The only problem with Joel Daavid is that his set can totally upstage the actors…Seriously, they're so breathtaking and so perfect, why would you want to look at the actors and not the set the whole time?  I totally kidding.  Only halfway kidding, actually.  On 'Just 45 Minutes From Broadway' I came out into the lobby and the first thing everyone said is, 'I can't believe that gorgeous set!' and went on and on about his masterful work.  I wouldn't want anyone else to design my set.  He's a complete genius.  I just want to stress that a second time.  

The role of Kate, played wonderfully by Cathy Arden, comes across as a villain but yet she is amazingly revealing.

As Gary Imhoff said, 'The role of Kate is about the most unforgiving character ever written for an actress.'  It's true.  Who wants to root for the person who wants to kick out a stray dog?   But Gary is fantastic at molding the antagonist into the questionable protagonist.  He believes people are imperfect, but if the audience doesn't root for the seeming villain of the play at some point, there's no play. There's no conflict.  There's no depth.  So he wittled and wittled away at Cathy until he found her soft underbelly and then stuck to that vulnerability in the character, and broke her whenever she went to the 'Kate the Imperialist' place.  It was fascinating to watch.  And Cathy is one of the most hard working, determined, stubborn people I know. And she found Kate, the way Kate was meant to be played, I believe.  A woman who loves her husband.  A woman who wants to make her marriage work.  A woman who wants to create good in the world and is giving everything she has in her life to educate children when her husband is playing hooky from work with a dog.  The script is what it is, the lines of the villain are there, so kudos to Gary and Cathy for their unyielding diligence to playing against the grain and making a character you feel something for.

The relationship between you Stephen Howard seems very special.

Steve is an absolute doll.  If I was a dog and I had to choose an owner, it would be him.  The truth is, I came into the show by accident.  I was jonesing to get on stage and at my New Year's Eve party I was throwing I went on a rant to a friend, Cathy Arden, about needing to get on stage and serendipitously she started crying and said that she thought the show she had been rehearsing two months for was going to close because the lead actress quit.  She said the role was 'Sylvia', a role I've heard from numerous people that I 'had' to play that role because I was perfect for it.  So I told her I would learn the part in 10 days if the director and producers were into it.  Gita Donovan, the director in Serra Madre, and Chris Soldate, were amazing.  They ushered me into the role with finesse and elegance.  Gita's fantastic direction and support was spot on and exactly what was called for.  And I remember meeting Steve and thinking, this is a dream owner for my dog…Not only was he fabulous on stage, but he was constantly propping me up backstage when I was terrified.  Every time before I went on that opening weekend he ruffled my hair and said, 'You're doing great'.  He still always checks in on me on days off texting, 'How's my pup?'  I adore him and would do anything for him, and that's easy to play on stage.  I love making him smile.

Tom Ayers damn near steals the show as Tom, Phyllis, and Leslie. 

No kidding!  I'm insanely jealous!  And so grateful we found him for the show!  Gary cast him, and as usual, Gary casts brilliantly.  Again, it's a love fest with him as well.  The four of us are very tight.  I really look up to Tom, he's had years of experience as a stand up and pee-your-pants funny.  There's several moments in the show where I've demanded of him, 'Tell me how to make this funny'.  And he'll come up with fifty different ways to do it.  He's an incredible talent, incredibly present on the stage, and every night I have such a ball with him.  Figuratively and literally.  (I love antagonizing him with the ball fetching tricks.  One of my fav moments.)

What is on the horizon for Tanna Frederick?

I really love broad comedy.  This show has really provided a new vehicle for me to discover myself in.  And I love it.  I'm hungry for it.  I'm fascinated with it.  I didn't know I could do it.  So I'm kind of in a place right now where I want to explore that world of broad comedic work because I think I have the specificity to make it real and not bullshit.  I hope I have that.  But so far the audiences have been laughing and crying, and I think that reaction can only be garnered, especially when you're playing a dog or doing A.R. Gurney, if there's a reality and authenticity behind the humor.  Especially with 'Sylvia'.  Without that, the piece can easily tip to a superficial sketch comedy.  I think it was meant to be that I was popped into that play at Sierra Madre, and every day I felt like I was going to be terrible in the role and I was fake and phony.  But it's turned out to be one of the best roles I've done.  Now, I'm not sure how to take that as I am playing a dog…But whatever makes you discover something you thought you couldn't do, you roll with.  And I feel very fortunate.  But don't ask me to roll over.

Solid Gold Cadillac

Theater Review

R.M. Sydnor

         Solid Gold Cadillac, playing at Sierra Madre Playhouse, benefits from Ken Saltzman even direction and admirable dedication to the 1950s; however, this screwball comedy faces a sisyphean effort to overcome an all  too often worn out theme of Main Street versus Wall Street to make this populist parable fresh as a modern-day fairy tale.  This omnipresent motif demands a different perspective to gain the necessary comedic momentum and satiric bite.

         The George S. Kaufman and Howard Teichmann comedy of 1953, featuring an eccentric thespian Mrs. Laura Partridge who exposes the incompetence and corruption of the executives at mega-corporation where she owns stock, suffers from contrived plotting, scattershot gags, and woefully dated references.  Georgan George’s Partridge impresses by carefully avoiding the imitation of the nonesuch Judy Holiday (star of the movie version).  George sparkles with a kind of giddy, half-mad effervescence, always making sure to show hits of fangs behind an ineluctable charm.  The players Michael Bruce (Edward L. McKeever), Tony Cicchetti (Clifford Snell), Norman Igar (T. John Blessington), Sasha Goldberg (Sullivan, A.P.) and Melainie Rashbaum (Amelia Shotgraven) perform admirably and provides a measure of credibility.   Voiceover veteran Barry Schwam’s warm narration adds richness and entertainment to the proceedings.

         Solid Gold Cadillac has rusted badly over the last 50 years and should have faced the junk yard and wrecking ball long ago.  High time for a brilliant playwright to step-up and create an inventive comedy for this century.

South of Delancey Street

R.M. Sydnor

Conversation

Karen Sommers

South of Delancey Street, playing at the Freemont in South Pasadena, is based on archival tapes of a popular Yiddish radio program broadcast in New York starting in the late 1940s.   This is Jewish divorce court where arbitrators mediate disputes and render binding decisions. These fascinating recordings make for thought-provoking analysis not just of the couples under adjudication but also the arbitrators, whose interactions among themselves and decisions appear sexist and unjust. Director Karen Sommers deserves much credit for bringing this entertaining and evolving play to the stage.

Perspective lies at the heart of this South of Delancey, which makes this entertaining and thought provoking theater.

Perfect!  I’m glad you thought so.  That is what I love about theatre.  Good theatre forces you to lean forward in your seat, makes you think - challenge you as well as entertain you.  When I hear people leaving the theatre in heated debate about the stories they just heard, I know I’ve done my job and thought provoking storyteller.

This play is based on the archival tapes of a popular Yiddish radio program broadcast in New York starting in the 1940s.  I found the recordings entertaining despite questionable justice.

 So did I.  That’s why I created this piece.  Those tapes were the inspiration for this show.  I originally heard the voices of the plaintiffs and found myself transported back in time.  The picture it created in my mind was so vivid.  I was entertained as well as educated about my history.

Tell us about the Jewish arbitration court and the people who sought its counsel.

From what I learned in the process of creating this piece, Jewish arbitration courts were and are not uncommon within the Jewish culture.  It is modeled after something called a Beith Din - a panel of rabbis who hold counsel and advise and dispute cases.  The Jewish arbitration court in this production is not a Beith Din, but it is similar.  The difference is the court in South of Delancey was broadcast on the radio.  The people who came to the House of Sages, where the court was held, were often too poor or ignorant of the American Judicial system to seek traditional legal counsel.  These people were mostly immigrants who spoke only Yiddish.  The court was held every Sunday and the people lined up out the door.  The cases were binding and each plaintiff signed a document saying they would adhere to the decision.

I found the voices of the counsel quite revealing because their ratiocination lead to sexist decisions with far too many omissions of fact.  This is certainly true in the case of Faye.  The court rules that she stays with her husband because he promises not to abuse her.

That is true.  Many people react very strongly to their decision.  Some say, “It was a different time!”   Some also point out that the panel was made up of all men and that the rabbi was living a simple life.  I don’t know.  All I know is what the rabbi and the judges say.  This is a piece of history and it is impact-full in and of itself.  It makes you think about how people were in the 1940’s, but - at the same time - it challenges you to think about your own story as well.

What were some of the challenges of bringing South of Delancey to the stage?

 This piece was built over a period of 5 years.  Trying to stand back and separate myself from the piece to make artistic decisions was a big challenge.  Once you work on something for that long you get so close to the material.  I was blessed to have collaborators and such talented people surrounding me.

Your sound engineer Grady Hutt does a great job of integrating those recordings with the actors.

 Yes, he did!  I tell people the real show is up in the booth watching Grady run that board.  He’s incredible and has terrific timing.  We constructed the sound for the court scenes such that each of the judges, rabbi’s and radio host’s voices are on separate tracks.  The actors respond to each sound cue as if the judge is in the room.  They cannot miss or mistake a line during those sequences because each track is going to play in order!  

The costuming is quite authentic as are the sets.

 Lois Tedrow and Dove Huntley did amazing work.  As I mentioned above, I was blessed to be surrounded by such talented people.  The piece was collaborative from day one and I infused that into each aspect of the production.  

This is a solid veteran cast beginning with Abigail Marks as Faye and her abusive husband, Marty played by Michael Rubenstone.

 They are terrific.  It’s been amazing working with them as they bring so much to their roles.  They all challenged me in rehearsals and kept me on my toes.  The fullness of each of the characters is a tribute to their amazing instincts. 

Success as you well known is not achieved solo and this play certainly speaks to the collaboration.

 From the very beginning, this piece has been collaborative.  In workshopping and developing the script in NYC, I hired actors to improvise each scene over and over.  I went home with the recorded improvisations and pulled the best bits and lines from these tapes to create the script.  Through the years, and especially during this recent rehearsal process, the script and completely transformed in rehearsals through more improvisation.  My goal was to keep the language as natural and real as possible.  Being that the people this show are based on are real people and their stories are real, I wanted the language and interactions to be real.  I challenged my actors not to perform, but to react authentically to each other.  

Although these stories speak to the Jewish culture, I think these stories speak to relationships today.

 Yes, my goal was never to make a “Jewish” show.  It is about the human struggle and interpersonal relationships.  It just happens to have Jewish characters.  These are all familiar stories and problems.  Everyone has a mother, a sibling, a spouse or a troublesome relationship.  I believe everyone can see themselves in this piece. 

What is on the horizon fir Karen Sommers?

 My immediate goal is to take this show to Equity theatres, the regional circuit, New York...etc.  I am a collaborative stage director and I plan to keep directing and developing new pieces.   I am also the original Producer/Director of the worlds first and only live and interactive broadcast studio in a pediatric hospital in the world.  I hope to create and open hospital broadcast studios all over the country.

Women In Shorts

R.M. Sydnor

A Conversation

Women in Shorts, starring Joanna Miles and Louise Davis at the Working State Theater in Hollywood, is a delicious existential collection of six short plays from six writers and six directors.  Despite all the cooks, this toothsome dish is served very well indeed. Miles and Davis’ thoughtful performances bring a singular spirit to these stories with themes of economic vicissitudes, agoraphobia, long-term family responsibility, and the limits of love.  This is great stuff for anyone who wants more than simply a night out at the theater.

What brought the two of you together for Women in Shorts?

A few years ago, Louise and I were in a play called “Chairwomen”. So, we decided to look around for something new to do. We came up with the idea of asking the writers from the Actors Studio playwright’s group to write ten minute plays for two women.

         “Women in Shorts”, rather nice paronomasia, is a collection of existential vignettes that speak to the larger issues of the roles we play in life and relationships. What makes these slices of life work for me is the comfort level that the two of you have as actresses with each other and the roles.

              It took us time to put this all together and people have asked why it took so long. We had a few unfortunate events around physical illnesses and accidents, so we decided to keep working until everyone had recovered. That gave us the benefit of growing in each role. The truth is, is there a time limit that is acceptable? It’s silly. You do what you have to do. For us it was a gift that we might not have had with a more predictable rehearsal schedule.

 It seems clear to me that Woman in Shorts is truly a perspicacious study of the complex nature of human relationships. This is certainly apparent in Sisters, Divorces R US.

I thought the playwrights would write news worthy themes because of everything that is going on today. Nicely, their plays turned out to contain those issues, but in a more personal way, as you have pointed out.

Park Strangers is certainly my favorite among these delightful pieces, an existential twist on six degrees of separation.  While watching you perform, the theater of the absurd and Albert Camus’ assessment in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942) that the human situation is essentially absurd, devoid of purpose came fresh to mind.  Two women from disparate urban milieus come together in park and who lives curiously intersect in a most unique way.

Yes, I agree that the conceit of that play is quite lovely because it explores the foolishness of our values: “Vaginal Itch” and “smoking” and loss, by allowing us to laugh at ourselves and to forgive.

The two of you faced a daunting challenge of performing diverse characters from a number of writers. This is not easy to achieve, but you do so admirable.  Tell us about your preparation in each of the plays.

The theme was, “Issues of our time.” We also wanted the plays to be set in a park. In order to avoid a lot of set changes. Out of a number of submissions, we chose six plays, which was all we could handle. We met with the writers and directors of each play and shared our ideas and theirs about the content and the characters. Some plays needed a lot of time and others came together easily.

You also faced the tantamount challenge of working with different writers but six directors with unquestionably different points of view.  It can be tough just communicating with one much more six.  I envy the two of you.

At first we were going to have one director, but then decided it would be interesting to have different directors for each play. Mostly because the plays needed work, but also because scheduling rehearsals was a challenge with an exceedingly busy crowd. It was exciting to work on each play with the different styles that each of the directors brought. Some were interested in exploring the characters and the concept; others thought the character development was our job, so they primarily kept to the business and the blocking. Both worked in their own way because of the plays they shepherded. The truth is, we ended up with separate friendly fiefdoms.

Relationships are a funny thing.  They never really end because they are eternal and spiritual on many levels.  Death and divorce do not end relationships because of this eternal equality.  I felt this deeply in Divorces R US.

I’m not sure that I understand your response to “Divorces R Us” in the same way you do. As much as I adore “Divorces R Us”, for its humor and absurdity, I don’t see death in it or really divorce. I think death is more evident in ‘The Great Out Doors,” which deals with a mother and daughter struggling with the mother’s agoraphobia in response to the mother’s loss of her husband. Nice that each play appeals to a different person in a different way. That’s what theater is supposed to do.

Art and life are inextricable.  What events or relationships in your lives helped with developing characters for “Women in Shorts”?

This is a very complex and in-depth question and I would have to write a book to answer it properly. I use my mother in the “Great Out Doors”. I looked after her during her very long life. I’m playing her in all her controlling and mischievous self. “Magic Rabbit” is about my own fears of losing everything and abandonment. “Ladies of The State” is forcing me to play a woman I don’t agree with. She justifies war for it’s nobility and I think putting guns in young people hands is horrifying and doesn’t win wars. The play takes place in the past. There’s a line in it, “We’ve come so far I can only imagine what the future holds.” Today, we don’t seem to be any wiser.

       There is always growth with each role you play.  What has Joanna Miles and Louise Davis learned as actors from this experience?  How have you grown as people?

It was a terrific experience. It was an enormous challenge to learn all the plays much less perform and discover them. We often look at each other and say,”My goodness we did it.” We make discoveries all the time, and with more of a run we would continue to grow. That’s the nice thing about theater versus film. In film you are kind of stuck with what you’ve put out there, at least as an actors.

  

What is on the horizon for Joanna Miles and Louise Davis?

We would like to have this production move on and have a future life somewhere. We have had a few possibilities suggested, but nothing firm. We would also like to get it published.

I want to add that putting a play on isn’t just the writers and directors and actors, it’s the team of creative people who share in the vision and do their best to make it all happen.

Working with Tom Meleck, our set and lighting designer, has been a gift. He brought so much to our production and would have done more if we had had the money to create changes of season and weather and more.

Betty Madden, our costume designer, created those characters with us. Finding simple pieces that expressed the nature of each person we were living in.

Tom’s son Mike, was our rock and stage manager. He brought order to a certain amount of confusion, with good spirit and patience. Iris Merlis joined us later and also was a great support. Quietly doing her best to give us her time, intelligence and enthusiasm.

IMAGINE

R.M. Sydnor

Tim Piper as John Lennon in Imagine, now running at the Hayworth Theater in Los Angeles, stands sui generis in a performance the like of which we might not see again of the troubled artist and humanitarian.

Interview

I want to say at the outset Tim that I did not know what to expect from Imagine.  I am happy to report that you and your band of four merry men blew me away.  This is a rarity for critic who has been covering performances for well over 30 years.  Metempsychosis, the passing of the soul at death into the body of another, describes what I witness Saturday night. We all felt the presence of John Lennon.   This goes beyond playing a role. You were John Lennon, inextricable yet disparate. Amazing.  I am grateful for the experience.

I am thrilled and humbled at the same time from your assessment of the performance. This has always been my ultimate desire in trying to evoke the spirit that we know, love and recognize as John Lennon, to have people feel that maybe they had the opportunity to spend some time with him once again. Disparate to be sure in personality, but I sense that we share the same love for certain simplicities in life, whether it being rock 'n roll or chocolates and a common desire for an 'even playing field' for the human race.

For me, Imagine is really about the impact of love and relationships on the life of John Lennon.

And the lack of love - which drove him immeasurably to seek affirmation from the world. Having a mother and father pass on their responsibility to love and nurture you in your most formative years is equal to rejection from God Almighty. How do you reason your creators turning their backs on you?

There is much to admire about John Lennon.  His humility and love for humanity makes us stop and pause.  What does John Lemon mean for Tim Piper?

John said, "I love humanity, it's people I just can't stand." His candor, his humor, his honesty, his lack of suffering fools...  although it sometimes came with a price. John was the big brother we all looked up to who was courageous enough to take the whipping for what he believed in even though he might have been flawed in his approach at times.

We know that John Lennon’s parents had musical backgrounds but never pursued music seriously.  There is always a existential juxtaposition between art and reality.  Magic happens when art truly meets reality.  Tim are your parents musicians or artists in any way?

Life imitates art - art imitates life. John believed in magic.
My parents we born in Kansas and Missouri but didn't belong in the midwest or World War ll when they first met each other at a USO show. They ran off to an acting camp in Boston and soon formed "The Piper Players" with a bus and a group of college-aged actors bringing 'Broadway to the Midwest'. 1950 brought them the opportunity to work on The Red Skelton Show where they'd move to New York and produce four children. Creators of the game show, "Concentration" and others, they eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1966 and, many stories later, this unique family was about as true life as you could get to The Nelsons or The Partridge Family on steroids.

Mark Twain was among some of the best story tellers ever and few can make a story come alive.  You seem to have that gift.      

How synchronistic that you'd mention him. Years ago when I saw that Hal Holbrook was performing as Mark Twain in his one man show I thought, "How brilliant - if only someone would do that for our rock 'n roll generation with someone that we would really relate to."  Hmm...?

My son calls me 'the weirdo whisperer' whereas people approach me out of nowhere in public and impart the most personal information you never thought you'd asked for. I care about people. I'm a good listener and you can learn a lot from them. I also take great pride and care in communicating - maybe it's the Gemini in me.

Clearly, the information provided in your performance shows a deep level of preparation.  Tell me about you musical and acting preparation.      

Music has always been a major factor in my life whether as a child, singing harmonies with my grandmother at the 'Old Time Singing' in the Ozarks in Red Top, Missouri or recording Adam Ant or Jackie DeShannon as an engineer at Track Record in Hollywood or the numerous bands where I played in all the major clubs in Los Angeles, or teaching recording engineering at The Los Angeles Recording Workshop. Acting as afore-mentioned is in the family and came in handy when I was selected to play the television role of John Lennon in CBS's 'The Linda McCartney Story' as well as E! Television's 'The Last Days of John Lennon' & 'Beatle Wives' as well as the singing voice for NBC TV's 'In His Life - The John Lennon Story.' The rest of the preparation is in my daily habit of studying most everything written & recorded by John and The Beatles. I kind of consider myself somewhat of a historian.

The video images add quite a bit to the feel of the whole performance because it gives us visual context.     

We always thing of Yoko Ono and John Lennon but we forget about Cynthia Powell his first wife.  I really appreciated how tenderly you reminded us of her contributions.  The relationship between Lennon and Powell proved to be tempestuous and at times violent.  Lennon was possessive and physical violence surfaced often.  He said that not until he met Ono, he had never questioned his chauvinistic attitudes to women. If memory serves me well, I believe it was the Beatles’ song “Getting Better” when he told his own story about cruelty to woman. I guess he was indeed “just a jealous guy” greatly misunderstood. John Lennon, like all of us, must face the insecurities and demons. I would argue, however, that the demons and insecurities contributed to the greatness of John Lennon the artist.

Clearly, John was an extremely insecure individual whose sometimes knee-jerk violent reactions were to plague and haunt him up to the very end. Maybe the only thing to separate him from the common person was his ability to artistically express his sorrow and apology for the inexcusable behavior he'd live to lament. 

We know John Lennon’s aunt Mimi raised him when his parents separated in 1956.  She and her husband George Smith had no children.  It was she who purchased his first guitar and yet she did not think John could ever make money with his music. How odd.     

Mimi was a strict conservative matriarch (albeit with contradiction) who could never show physical affection to John but who always believed in John' intellectual abilities. In a time of post-war Britain's survival she surely never could have understood a generation which was to adopt rock 'n roll as a way of escaping the horror & ravage they learned as children.

"The guitar's alright John, but you'll never make a living from it". He later had a plaque engraved with her words and placed it on her living room's television set.

As you rightly point out in Imagine on July 15 1958, when Lennon was 17, his mother was struck and killed by a car driven by a drunk, off-duty police officer, as she returned from Mimi's house. The death was one of the most traumatic events in John's life; she was a loose, optimistic person who understood John's struggles in school. Julia Lennon's death was one of the factors that cemented his friendship with McCartney, who had lost his own mother to breast cancer in 1956, when he was 14.  There are so many ironies in Lennon life.     

It seemed that the key figures in John's life were destined to leave him inexplicably at marker events in his life: As a child - Uncle George, Mimi's husband who served as a John's surrogate father died from a sudden heart attack. At 17 years old his mother, Julia died form the tragic accident.  As a major influence during his time at art college, Buddy Holly dies. Stuart Sutcliffe, John's best friend, college mate and more - the 5th Beatle dies from a brain hemorrhage (as legend would have it) from being beaten by a group of hoodlums after a concert - possibly reconsidered after a jealous beating from John at a college soiree?

Yet, maybe this compounded tragedy leads to an almost super human ability to outwardly shield oneself from an inexorable amount pain?

I was impressed with your group of merry men in the way they complemented you singing and performing.      

The great thing about this band is that these cats are for real. They grew up in the time of the British Invasion and the great American Rock 'n Roll follow-up. Don Butler on lead guitar has played and recorded with several rock luminaries and is regarded as one of the world's experts on guitar and amp repair and customization. His 'Tone-Man' authority in the business has the biggest names in music lined up for his services. Of course, he plays a mean guitar. Drummer Don Poncher who lays down a thunderous beat has an equally historic resume having shared the bill with Jimi Hendrix and others - most notably playing & recording with the group, Arthur Lee's Love, an icon from the psychedelic 60's. Keyboardist Morley Bartnoff, newly inducted member of Las Vegas, Nevada's Rock Hall of Fame brings a soulful Zen mentality into the mix & plays with the who's who of the Los Angeles music scene and is still a performing member of the 80's hit group Dramarama. Last, but never least, my brother Greg - musical director nominated 'best' last year by L.A. Weekly Magazine has played the world around with Tim - India, Japan, South America, Canada, Hong Kong to name a few and notably Liverpool, headlining for 30,000 Liverpudlians at the Mathew Street Festival. Greg also handles much of the business and promotional aspects in the background.

Lennon’s relationship with Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was certainly intense given the fact that Epstein was homosexual and Jewish.  There were rumors at the time that Lennon had an unconsummated relationship with Epstein. Lennon openly mocked Epstein for being a homosexual and Jewish.  This seems so out of character of John Lennon the humanitarian.     

Tough stuff here. John and Brian were two needy humans that fate had put together. Each to ultimately help the other evolve & grow. Epstein the elder was to bring out the essence of John's genius that was hidden behind the false bravado and machismo Lennon used as a survival technique. Lennon gave Epstein purpose, focus and accomplishment in his artistic vision of what he saw in The Beatles. Together, they experimented and shared in all things humanly curious never losing sight of the greater goal in mind. Lennon's crude, rough, immature manner in berating Brian using the homosexuality factor (action also exemplified with Stuart earlier) was a way of exuding control from a person who was totally out of control. 'You always hurt the one you love.'  John loved Stuart and Brian wholeheartedly and felt great remorse later as he matured and realized what he had had and lost.

There are so many wonderful John Lennon songs like Imagine, Working Class Hero, Woman, “Mind Games”, “Instant Karma”, “Give Peace a Chance.” In fact these songs have rightfully become anthems, flaunting tough-minded realism, cosmic epiphany, hard-won idealism and visionary utopianism in equal measure.  Tim, do you have a favorite? 

That's like asking what you'd like for dinner this evening. Steak, Pizza, Shrimp Scampi? All wonderful wayward flavors each as good as the other depending on mood and time. I'll take one of each, thanks!

You have a very accomplished creative team beginning with director Steve Altman and musical director Greg Piper.    

Again, both without whom this show would be an entirely different experience. Like as in any group or production the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Unmentioned as well is friend and Executive Producer Philip Wegener who funded the show originally back in 2002 at The Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood and helped convince me to pursue action in mounting a production which has now successfully lasted almost 9 years.

Life is indeed a journey of clarification.  I truly believe Lennon was clarifying his journey until his untimely death December 8 1980.  It has been over 30 years since that fateful day.  How has performing John Lennon clarified the journey of Tim Piper?

I've become part of a worldwide family that shares emotions and memories of a man, his music and magic of a time gone by that still resonates today and potentially forever. I am simply a conduit for the connection that we all share and care for. What an honor and opportunity but I live it with respect, reverence and pride.

What is on the horizon for Tim Piper?     

Hopefully to continue this journey as it seems to perpetuate hope and love in a world that is stressed and depressed and could use a beam of light that we pass on from John to us and beyond.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - a wise man, indeed.