In these 29 hour readings, there is barely enough time for the cast to learn the songs. It seems that the actual play gets pretty short shrift. Today at least , Joe got a chance to work on a few scenes with the actors. I love watching him work with actors. His book is very cool and I can hardly wait for the time when he can really dig into the staging. the actual performance of the lines.
At 2 Pm Clarke Thorell and Gia Mora went over the scene that leads up to and includes ” Let It Rain”. They both sing the hell out of that song. What was more interesting to me was listening to Joe direct the scene. Beyond his calm ability to get the performance out of the actors- he has an encyclopedic knowledge of Liz, Dick, the filming of Cleopatra, and the entire culture of 1962. Watching Joe and Clarke adjust the degrees or Britishness ( really Welshness) in his accent is a study in the control that actors have over their delivery.
Here is our cast:
Gia Mora- Elizabeth Taylor
John Bolton – Vic
Clarke Thorell- Richard Burton
Laura Marie Duncan- Sybil
Paul Anthony Stewart – Montgomery Clift
Matt Bogart – Rock Hudson
Van Hughes – James Dean
Mark Lotito- Spyrous
Steven Skybell- Joe Mankiewicz
Nick Spangler- Timmy
Jill Abramovitz- Ensemble
Fred Berman- Ensemble
Ben Crawford- Ensemble
Marya Grandy- Ensemble
Cristen Paige- Ensemble
Craig Waletzko- Ensemble