What have been some of your worst moments in Seattle theater? (bad auditions, not getting cast, etc)
The worst moment is every time I think of how blind this community is. All the big houses want the best actors at the lowest cost to their organization. Going Equity means that I’ve just swallowed the double edged sword, I demand a certain pay for my work but I lack the experience that looks good in the program when the subscribers read about the actors they’re watching and paying good money to see. Theatres want to please these people and nothing pleases them like NY and LA credits as well as film & TV. All of which is hard to get when you’re living in Seattle. It seems like the big houses what you to pay your dues again and again ad naseum without regard to your life, your expenses, the expense of your training: i.e. 3 years at the UW=$35,000, hard to pay for on $300/week before taxes, L&I, SS, Medicare, and everything else. Simply put, they want to pay you a little as possible, it’s better for them, they’re struggling themselves, they’re not trying to fuck you but they are. Then they complain when all the young talent leave town. Well, they leave because you’re not hiring them for a living wage, so they’re going where the opportunity seems to be. CAUSE IT AIN’T HERE. My hope is that this town will turn around. The big houses will invest in developing local talent. AND, that the Film Community, which suffers from a catastrophic Diaspora, will come to the theatre, see plays, find good actors, and plan their escapades around good stories told by good actors. They seems so intent on following this Hollywood theme of pretty people telling what seems like pretty good stories but in fact, no one cares because it’s disingenuous. They’re nice to watch but they’re “acting”; it’s like watching a puppet show and only paying attention to the strings. People go to the theatre and to the cinema not to get away from life, but to live! Audiences want to live. They want to be swept up in the story, not see the machinations of the story. Seattle filmmakers haven’t learned this. It’s frustrating. They’ll continue to flounder until God knows when.
There’s so much story telling talent in this town, it’s amazing. Unfortunately, everyone operates in a vacuum. They need to develop their near sightedness, Hollywood, New York, these are not the answers. These are the nicotine stains on Grandma’s fingers. It’s like dialing up to the internet because for some reason it seems easier because that’s what people do—or they did—in 1999. It’s a silly reference because it seems so old fashioned to think that way, but that’s the way story tellers in Seattle are operating. My advise to them: use the technology and talent that is available in this town, under their very noses.
Maybe this isn’t your question but I’ve got as tirade that’s’ like a thorn in my side. Seattle has everything we need. I am about this close to signing a manifesto similar to Dogma 95, that will bring all of the various talents in this town together, there’s no reason why we can’t have a film scene like Austin, there’s about 10 Richard Linklaters living here, it’s bullshit that keeps them apart and from doing anything.