Say My Name

Wow. We finally made it through the entire Breaking Bad series. Only a week behind the airing of the final episode... not bad timing, I'd say.

The finale was perfect− a fine ending to one of the best TV shows ever. There were, in fact, so many great moments during the series that it's hard to remember them all... Two of my favorite shows came during the tail end of last year (part one of season five), and epitomize all that I have come to love about the show: suspense, conflicted characters, and deft artistic touches: the visual montage during the end of episode 8 ("Gliding Over All") was amazing... playing Tommy James & The Shondells' classic "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was a delightful tribute to character Walter White's infamous blue-tinged crystal meth empire.

Courtesy AMC.

The episode before that ("Say My Name") was yet another turning point, as White becomes increasingly dark... more confident in his abilities, yet further distancing himself from his one-time associates. If Breaking Bad were a book it would be a page-turner, and I can't get over the consistent level of quality that series creator Vince Gilligan and his talented crew of actors, writers, and filmmakers have brought to the television medium.

Of course with works of art that I love, it will be fun now to analyze the show and figure out its various meanings; one thing that has piqued my interest along the way has been its use of color: from the recurring strain of purple (especially in the character Marie, played by the delightful Betsy Brandt) to the often terrifying use of red (on the floor of Gus' meth lab and the interior of Mike's car)... I revel in the details, and this show had them in spades. 

Finally, Bryan Cranston must be the luckiest actor in the world... to have had the opportunity to play a conflicted character like Walter White, and so effortlessly pull off his transformation into one of the screen's all-time great villains is no small feat. Even during the last few minutes of the show, I still found myself with a touch of sympathy for the devil. The show's recent promos used the phrase "remember by name," and I won't soon forget the monster that was "Heisenberg."

"Breaking Bad" as Heisenberg in a screen test 
for filmmaker Ben Hillman's "Bomb Squad." 
Photo ©Jeremy Clowe.

Recently I had a fun remembrance, that Cranston isn't the only actor with experience "breaking bad" as a Heisenberg. Shortly after starting work in Western Massachusetts over ten years ago, I actually portrayed German physicist Werner Heisenberg (who inspired Walter White’s alter ego) for a local filmmaker working on a musical about the story of the atomic bomb, which Heisenberg played a part in. I donned my best lederhosen as well as a radiation suit for the screen test, which we filmed on a Berkshire soundstage—brave souls can watch the promo here. 

In the meantime, Breaking Bad makes me think about how little is "black and white" in this world. For any future acting, I expect to keep this show in mind as a lesson in how to present rich, nuanced characters. 

Another thing that has resonated with me about this show is the idea of control, power and, indeed, masculinity. In one of my other all-time favorite episodes, "Hermanos" (season four, episode eight), there is a wonderful exchange during a scene that takes place in hospital waiting room between Walt and a fellow cancer patient. As the man explains how hard it is to learn how to give up power over his situation, Walt counters by saying, "Never give up control... live life on your own terms..." His moral approach is obviously flawed, but I think more and more about the idea behind Walter White's sentiment− in terms of life and creativity, I think there is a lot of truth to consider in that statement and this wonderful work of fiction.

Related Links (Spoiler Alert!):

"Breaking Bad" official site

"The Toxic Masculinity of 'Breaking Bad'" (and counter arguments), Wired, October 5, 2013

"'Breaking Bad' Writers: 'This Is It; There's No More,'" Fresh Air, NPR, October 3, 2013

"'Breaking Bad' Color Theory: The Subtle Symbolism And Meanings Behind The Colors In AMC's Hit Series," International Business Times, September 27, 2013 

"Breaking Bad" Cast Interview, Charlie Rose, August 29, 2013

Sense and Sensibility

Pre-show... getting that ascot just right!
Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

March madness turns into April Fools... surely it's the time of year for absurdity! For me, it's time to catch my breath after finishing up Woman in Mind at Schenectady Civic Players last week. We had a good run and I learned a lot... about perfecting comedic timing, dealing with varying audiences, and working as part of an ensemble. 

The cast was great. We had some very talented people on board, including Victor Kahn who played Dr. Bill Windsor, the physician attending to Susan (the wonderful Amy Lane) for much of the play. During one of our pre-show conversations, Victor told me that Alan Ayckbourn, who wrote the play, doesn't find his work performed much in the States. The more we worked on the show, I realized that Sir Ayckbourn's British "sense and sensibility" might indeed prove a challenge for many American audiences to grasp, at least in seeing much of the inherent humor in the text. There were nights we had near deadly silence, and others where the audiences reacted more vocally to the dry, dark comedy (having a fondness for British literature and music since I was a kid, I may have been the exception to this particular kind of taste).

In terms of my own performance, I tried to straddle the line, adjusting my tone and delivery as I felt it needed to be... playing slightly more broad or intense as I felt the evening justified. I think I also learned that with a play like this, you need to play it fairly brisk. 

One night in particular during our second week I felt like we really nailed it−the show was sailing along, and I really found myself amused backstage as I listened to my fellow actors do their thing− interesting to note that that night was a fairly quiet audience... at least until the second half. 

Master of ceremonies... getting ready for the big finale of "Woman in Mind"
at Schenectady Civic Players. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

To sum it up: Woman in Mind was a complex show to perform, and I think we all learned quite a bit from working on it. Again, I tip my hat to Schenectady Civic Players for being brave and talented enough to pull it off. Our final show on March 24 was met with a very receptive audience which was nice, which made it feel like all the hard work did not go unnoticed. Immediately after that show, we went about striking the set and enjoying a cast party... a night of mixed emotions, of course.

Things have showed down a bit this past week, as I get used to not being "famous" anymore... ha ha. Actually, I have had time to reconnect with Sarah and visit with our families during this past week of Passover and Easter... and rest... let's not discount that.

But it looks like it's time to ramp up once again... a few new projects in the works this week, as well as some offers that came my way during the run of the show... so we'll see what happens next.

Cast of Schenectady Civic Players' "Woman in Mind," March 2013. Left to right: 
Alysson Kelly, Joan Justice, John Nickles, Jeremy Clowe, Amy Lane, Marty O'Connor, 
Ben McCauley, and Victor Kahn. Photo courtesy David Goldfarb. ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

The Answer My Friends...

What a nice weekend. Sarah and I had a chance to reconnect with friends--by phone and in person--and enjoyed stepping out in Schenectady every night this weekend. We just got back from Proctors Theater, where we saw a staged reading of a play called Hell and High Water, that my buddy Frank took part in. This creative show was written about Hurricane Katrina, and the reading was to benefit the Actors Fund emergency relief for performing artists impacted by Super Storm Sandy. It was a strong cast, and I was impressed that they had only met twice previously to rehearse... I suppose props must go to writer/director Jamuna Yvette Sirker. I talked with Frank afterward about how hard it is to commit to a doing a full show, when you have so many other things up in the air... our improv group is a little looser, and serves as a good performing outlet, but it sure would be nice to get into another proper theater show again.

On Friday night Sarah and I caught another theater performance here in the Electric City... Schenectady Civic Players is putting on Jeffrey Hatcher's Mrs. Mannerly, which is based on the playwright's own memories of being enrolled in charm school back in the 1960s. It was a funny script, with the clever conceit of having young Jeffrey played by an adult (Randy McConnach). It is basically a two-person show, and I was impressed with McConnach's comedic timing and ability to maintain such energy throughout a 90 minute show. The last thing we saw at the Civic Players was Waiting For Godot, and they had some issues with real-life bats in their belfry... this show was memorable for other reasons, and made me tempted to start looking at the idea of performing in my new town...

Photo by John Whipple. All rights reserved.

Still settling into our new place though... a performance in itself. I think we need to host a gathering or something to motivate us to just organize this place... This weekend I did manage to finally post most of our wedding photos on Facebook... something of an achievement there. This photo to the right reminds me that we still need to retrieve our windmill, a wedding present created by Sarah's uncle... need to take one thing at a time I guess.

Show Must Go On...

Last night's Morrissey show was cool. It turns out our second row seats were actually first row, so we had an amazing view of the stage (and old Moz himself)! It was a late night, and I'm already feeling a little rough from some allergies... but we have an improv show tonight, so I'm going to try and pull myself together to perform.

There was a crazy article recently in The Onion, the satirical newspaper that always manages to strike a nerve. This time it was about improv, titled "Everyone in Improv Troupe Balding." The scary thing is... the photo sort of resembled certain RBIT members (I had to check the back of my head to make sure there weren't any new developments!). Anyway, rather amusing... commentary on struggling, aging actors, with one more thing to worry about. I'm sure Morrissey would have a chuckle...

www.berkshireimprov.com

Great Performances

Photo by John Whipple. All rights reserved.

I submitted an inquiry today for a commercial being filmed in the Capital Region. They requested a head shot, so I sent one of my wedding photos... why not? Yesterday was our one-month anniversary!

On the topic of performing, I'm doing my first post-wedding improv gig tomorrow night with RBIT- 7:30 p.m. at the Spectrum Playhouse, Lee, MA--should be fun... now I'm doing improv for two!

Extra Points

Ouch. Sorry if that last post was a bit of a downer... although it was interesting to reflect on where I was during such a significant event (the L.A. riots), it also put me in a bit of a mood. Generally speaking, I think it's healthier to look forward, not backwards.

Well, don't feel too sorry for my stillborn Hollywood experiment... in the decade following USC, I had Hollywood coming to me! 

My first experience was in 2004 when I landed a role as an extra in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic, The War of the Worlds. I worked a full-week, met Spielberg and "co-star" Tom Cruise, ran away from imaginary aliens, and made some pretty decent cash in the process. To top it off, I was also offered the chance to join the Screen Actor's Guild... how's that for glitz and glamour? 

It's much too late this evening to blog further, but I'll try and write down some of my memories of the shoot for a later post. Oh, it's interesting to point out that Mr. Spielberg also had trouble getting into USC"s film school... I think he did alright for himself!

Here's a goofy video I created back in 2005: an audition tape to be a presenter on the red carpet for the New York City premiere of The War of the Worlds. The contest asked us to pretend to interview one of the cast using an inanimate object and... uh... well... maybe the scientology thing was too touchy. It was fun anyway... I went back to where we shot the film in Athens, New York: 

Well-Suited

It was a busy day today, spent looking for a new apartment and trying on more tuxes... still looking for the perfect fit.

Tonight we decided to unwind, and rented the movie, My Weekend With Marilyn, a 2011 biopic about actress Marilyn Monroe's experience working on the 1957 film, The Price and the Showgirl, with Sir Laurence Olivier--such an odd pairing! Monroe was such a strong personality that it couldn't have been easy to capture her and all the legendary trials... but I think Michelle Williams really pulled it off. What do you think?

Kenneth Branagh was also quite good playing Olivier... looking at these old clips on YouTube, he really does seem to capture his persona. I'm all about the details, so I appreciate films like this that take the care to do it right. I remember when we were shooting Taking Woodstock, I walked into the mock hotel set between scenes, and was impressed that they had even recreated old tourism brochures to stock the racks near the desk (I picked one up... shhh... don't tell!). 

I know from experience that it pays to do your research, get the details down... anytime I try and cut corners, I'm never satisfied. So, the wedding planning continues... slowly but surely... it should all be worth it in the end...

Born To Rock!

I saw double just the other day at MoMa

thankyouverymuch! Artwork by Andy Warhol,

1963. (c)2011 Andy Warhol Foundation

for the Visual Arts/Artists Rights Society
(ARS), New York.

I must say that I was little envious of the poets I have worked with over this past month. To write their own material, and then get up onstage and perform it in front of an audience seems like a pretty sweet deal. It has been too long since I have been actively performing, and I think it would be great to get back up on stage. Don't get me wrong, I still "perform" in a sense-- we have a great time hitting the karaoke circuit now and then, and "music" seems like a natural form for me to take part in more seriously.

I am always amazed this time of year when I remember that two of the world's biggest musicians ever were born on the same date: "The King" Elvis Presley (1/8/35) and "The Thin White Duke" David Bowie (1/8/47). Only 12 years separated these artists (not bad, Sarah?), and you can see a few similarities in the way they worked and were received by the public. As a mad music fan, I must admit to spending some time studying both Elvis and Bowie's music and careers; they would both make for excellent interviews for my music show, so if either of you are out there reading this!...

I was turned on to Bowie in late high school-- being a huge new wave/Britpop fan, he was the name I heard these musicians always citing as being a tremendous influence. The album that first really got me hooked was 1983's Let's Dance-- it had that infectious big '80s sound, with a bit of trademark Bowie weirdness thrown in (I generally miss this mix of elements in today's pop music). Since this was my starting point, I first scratched the surface of '80s Bowie, which in retrospect wasn't really his high point. The early stuff is where he really broke ground, and kept us all on the edge of our seat with his quirky, art rock, and larger than life persona-- Ziggy Stardust anyone?

(I can rock this one out at karaoke. I'm just sayin'.)

Similarly, Elvis Presley was an unbelievable performer and musician. He started as one of the first high-profile rock and roll artists, fusing elements of country and rhythm and blues-- I guess you might more correctly call it "rockabilly" (which I love!). There is something absolutely infectious and raw in those early recordings. Check out The King of Rock 'n' Roll: The Complete 50's Masters, which captures a young, hungry (no pun intended) artist on the rise, from Sun Studios to RCA. There was no holding him back, and his intense performances (with sneer and shaking pelvis) shocked everyone. Mothers, lock up your daughters!

There was nothing safe about either musician starting out. It was only after the army and Hollywood for Elvis, and the huge commercial success of Let's Dance for Bowie that the artists started playing it "safe" (although Bowie began to rectify this after the '80s, and produced some great later work). I guess both are examples of the dangers of "fame... makes a man think things over..." They both, however, remained influential and unequalled performers.

Channeling this guy circa early 50s, in the early 2000s.
He really was pretty cool back in the day, and so was I!
Need to find a photo of me in "Elvis" mode. I'll post later.
Photo 1956 by Roger Marshutz. (AP)

I was never really into Elvis growing up-- I only really knew him as sort of a caricature, and the Beatles were the classic artist that first grabbed my attention at the age of 10. It wasn't until I was around 30 and actively working as an actor, that I began listening to Elvis more seriously. Initially, it was sort of a joke-- I began doing impressions of Elvis to amuse an older co-worker who was a musician, and loved his work. This eventually inspired us to do a few gigs with his karaoke machine, where we both traded off on singing "The King." We even had a bit of a theme where he would start singing, and then I would gradually walk in (wearing dark shades and jacket) and accuse him of being my brother Jesse, who took over the music after I was cryogenically frozen in the late 50s (rescuing me from the post-war years!). It was good fun, and definitely tapped into my "inner rockstar." I'm that way anytime I get up onstage with a microphone-- I sort of lose track of what I'm doing... in a good way!

Of course I never had a chance to see the real Elvis live (except for an odd concert in 2002 where his old backing band played against a virtual "King" live on the big screen). I have had the chance to see David Bowie a few times in concert: 1990's Sound + Vision Tour, 1995's Outside tour with Nine Inch Nails, and 2004's Reality Tour. My first was supposed to be in 1987 during his "Glass Spider" tour in my hometown of Rochester, New York. Unfortunately, that was cancelled... due to illness? Poor ticket sales? Or was it a resentment of the Flower City?

He'd rather not be in Rochester (to riff on an old ad campaign).
Rochester Police Department mugshot of Bowie in full-on
1976 "alien mode!"

I have since learned that Bowie had an "eventful" time in Rochester back in March 1976, when he was arrested (along with Iggy Pop) on a felony pot possession charge following his concert in the city. It resulted in this bizarre mug shot, which seems fitting for the flamboyant performer, who was probably more likely to be high as a kite on cocaine back at the time. He was also at the height of his strangeness--anyone who has seen the remarkable sci-fi movie The Man Who Fell to Earth by Nicolas Roeg knows what I'm talking about-- it's Bowie at his most alien (perfect casting). By why hold it against my hometown? It sounds like Bowie's kicked the habit, but has yet to return to Rochester... neither has Elvis... "The King" actually played one of his final concerts in the city on May 25, 1977. A few months later he would be gone, the result of his own substance abuse issues.

But both Elvis and Bowie "live"-- even though the latter has been in retirement for a few years, and the previous has been for even more (although some say he's still out there!). I am still frequently referred to as "Elvis" at the Museum where I performed so many years ago, with many inquiries into another comeback. Yes, it would be "good to be back," something I used to say at the start of each of my impersonations. Maybe 2012 is the year I finally tap into my own inner Bowie and rock some of this blue-eyed soul. I was born to two musicians myself, so it would be a shame not to. In any event, watch this space for news on upcoming performances (musical or otherwise). Off now to listen to the birthday boys....