Posted: 1/11/16 at 7:01pm
I can't imagine why any director would allow the actor having a headpiece. It's either you know the lines or you are fired.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 7:35pm
It has extended the careers of elderly artists such as Angela Lansbury and the late Marian Seldes. For younger actors, I definitely agree.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 7:41pm
Call_me_jorge said: "https://youtu.be/DnNFbzhgHQc
I can't imagine why any director would allow the actor having a headpiece. It's either you know the lines or you are fired."
I think it's safe to say that if the directors of Misery and China Doll even hinted at replacing Pacino and Willis the only replacement would have been for the director of the show.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 7:45pm
Without Pacino, China Doll does not happen.
Misery would have been improved with someone other than Willis.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 10:01pm
Mary Martin famously used a headpiece in Legends!
Posted: 1/11/16 at 10:05pm
Neither Willis or Pacino are known for their Broadway work. Film acting and stage acting are two completely different animals. Some can cross the divide, some can't.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 10:40pm
Call_me_jorge said: "https://youtu.be/DnNFbzhgHQc
I can't imagine why any director would allow the actor having a headpiece. It's either you know the lines or you are fired."
You must not have much of an imagination.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 10:45pm
With respect, SNAFU, I don't think that's a fair equation of Willis and Pacino. Pacino became a star off-Broadway and then on, in AMERICAN BUFFALO, and has alternated stage work with film work ever since. But he's 75--14 years old than I, and I can tell you from personal experience that for most people the synapses just don't fire as reliably after a certain age.
I don't yet need to have my name and address pinned to my coat, but I often forget the name of an actor--even one I know personally--or a character and have to think of something else for a minute before the name comes to me. That would make for a deadly disjointed evening on stage.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 10:52pm
I saw Mr. Pacino in "The Merchant of Venice" at the Broadhurst, and he was excellent as Shylock. Granted, he's also in a film version of that play so he was quite familiar with the text, but he certainly wasn't using an earpiece for that show. He may just be falling victim to the ravages of time.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 11:33pm
IBDB list 12 Broadway productions for Mr. Pacino since 1969. I suspect he has at least as many credits OFF-Broadway.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 11:41pm
I imagine they had similar arguments when actors started using microphones.
Posted: 1/11/16 at 11:43pm
No, it would be more like a prompter saying EVERY line before an actor for an entire show.
Posted: 1/12/16 at 9:08am
I once played the role of Hoke in "Driving Miss Diasy." My advice for anyone in a play is you must go over your lines once a day during the run of the play. Let's say you've learned your lines, and you only have weekend performances, you must go over your lines once even on the days you are not doing the play. If you say "Oh heck I've learned my part, I can take it easy Mon thru Friday, when you get on stage Saturday night, you're going to drop lines. But, of course there are exceptions. Someone told me that the guy who played Benson on the old TV show "Soap" (I can't remember his last name, but I think his first name is Robert) can do two different shows within days without dropping lines, and the other show could be in a totally different state.
Posted: 1/12/16 at 9:24am
Age is a killer in many ways. Memory is one of them. And I'm fairly certain that neither of them have cues fed for EVERY line.
I really only care if it effects what I see as an audience member -- if they can carry it off? so be it.
Posted: 1/12/16 at 9:46pm
Back in the 1980s, I directed an off-Broadway play with four actresses aged 69 to 83. All four were wonderful to work with and I'm sure they did go over their lines every day. But on occasion, the older two (78 and 83) would not only forget a line, they would even forget where they were going on stage. As in (thinking, not speaking) "Where did they put that sofa I'm suppose to sit on?"
All of which the New York Times chalked up to my "lethargic" direction, but let's don't get started on critics. I thought the quartet was marvelous (over 200 years of acting experience among them) even with the occasional pause!
I also worked with an elderly star who walked into an on-stage "water closet" that had no obvious rear exit. It was a mistake and she was trapped there for the rest of the act. She, too, was excellent in her part.
Stuff happens as you get older. But some of that stuff is very good. (None of the above was senile and none wore an ear piece.)
Updated On: 1/12/16 at 09:46 PM
Posted: 1/12/16 at 10:02pm
Robert somebody from a show called Soap.
Posted: 1/12/16 at 10:12pm
Belevedere, I think.
Posted: 1/12/16 at 10:16pm
Right! Robert Belvedere, played a crazy guy on Mork & Mindy.
Posted: 1/12/16 at 10:22pm
Robert Mandan was sexy.
Posted: 1/13/16 at 8:38am
Ok, his name is Robert Guillaume. (I had to look it up, after being too lazy to do it yesterday.)
Posted: 1/13/16 at 10:21am
It's funny.....Guillaume used to be one of the actors I truly detested back in the day. In the last year, I'd re-watched a number of the SOAP episodes (god that was a great show) and realized how wonderful he actually was.
Posted: 1/13/16 at 12:47pm
I still remember seeing Robert Guillaume sing "There's a Boat That's Leaving Soon For New York" on a TV special (reprising his 1964 City Center performance) sometime in the 70s (80s?). In the original key. Hitting the high Bb at the end, full-throated. I wish that was on You Tube, or recorded somewhere - it's the best version of that song I've heard.
Updated On: 1/13/16 at 12:47 PM
