Praxis Theatre

8 comments:

1. Gypsy Roar says:

   October 22, 2007 at 6:20 am

   Dare I say it … is this what we need to revive theatre? some sort of Toronto International Festival Festival (for theatre) with apperances and support from the likes of Brangelina? A few Paris Hilton and Britney Spears cat fights on Younge St? Get the crowds out? Perhaps we could call it “Toronto International Theatre Tournament” (TITT). I can see it now.

   We take a local playwright or one act play and get some celebrities like Brad Pitt vs George Clooney directing two different interpretations and your ticket gets you along to see both shows. At interval you can go to the bar, or stick around to watch Paris and Britney in a sort of bitch slap off!

2. mike says:

   October 22, 2007 at 10:38 am

   this is awesome. anyone who saw cole ‘s summerworks show knows he is fully a celebrity already, so i’m glad he’s getting some recognition. why must screen stars remain the sole recipients of the red carpet treatment? who’s next? this is somewhere between adbusters and totally hilarious…

3. laura says:

   October 22, 2007 at 10:42 am

   This is a great way to start the discussion about celebrity, buzz, and how the cult of celebrity affects how we see art… Warhol Theatre? Why not? It’s great. I want to hear more about what people think of this. Does it make our art less interesting or true if one is recognized for their work in a public way? I personally don’t subscribe to the idea that there is such a thing as “selling out”. I think it’s a frame of mind that allows those who wish they were making more money at their art to put down others who have the business sense to know what their art is worth. In Russia, Theatre artists are celebrities. They get stopped for their autographs and are seen in the society pages as the “it” crowd to be seen with. This does not make them any less productive or artistic in the public’s eye or to those in the community. They are revered and celebrated. I believe theatre is experiencing resurgence and it will be a positive turn for all artists when they are recognized for their contributions to the whole of society.

4. Simon says:

   October 22, 2007 at 1:43 pm

   Dear Lord, I just laughed coffee out of my nose. Now I’m trying to figure out why this idea is so funny, I mean, why the hell not? That’s the dream isn’t it? I hope I get to see the day when there’s a “Hello! Theatre Stars Edition” on the rack at the check-out, maybe with a shot of me shaving my head and mumbling something about “friggin’ actors can’t ever find the light…”
   Besides, in the theatre it’s not the dumbest girl in the cast that sleeps with the writer…

5. Alison says:

   October 22, 2007 at 9:59 pm

   Oh, man, this is gold!

   Theatre Stalker definitely needs to be a regular feature here.

6. christine says:

   October 23, 2007 at 10:09 pm

   what the–?!? i live with him! is it possible to stick a blog on the fridge? surely there’s a way…

   i think fame and celebrity is a bit of a double-edged sword for actors. (actually, let me qualify that. i like to make the sweeping generalization that there tend to be two types of actors – those that transform into the characters they take on and those that more or less play themselves over and over. this double-edged sword business applies to the former.)

   being well-known can be fantastic because it can open a lot of doors and provide tremendous opportunities. there is a marketability to famous people that makes them very hirable. the problem, to my mind, is that it becomes difficult to divorce a famous person’s real life from the work they’re doing. will anybody ever be able to watch a lindsay lohan movie and forget for a second how fucked up she is?

   it’s grand for business, but perhaps gets in the way of art. would i absolutely love to be offered work without auditioning because i’m well-known? yep. do i want people to watch christine acting instead of nina or viola or hagar or whoever? no thank you. i want them to see the story, not the pieces.

   i think we absolutely need to celebrate our theatre artists, but i would be sick to see it go the way of film industry.

   the irony of this soapbox, of course, is that i’m promoting my ass off in tokyo and am heading out the door to a press conference in 20 minutes. hm… who’s a hypocrite?

7. mike says:

   October 24, 2007 at 7:15 am

   yo christine,

   I’m teaching these teens right now and we keep going over the same stanislavsky maxim:

   “The person you are is 10000 times more interesting than any character you could play.”

   This is to say that in an ideal world i would like to see and hear Christine’s Viola or Chirstine’s Nina. If it’s not incorporating you, it’s probably gonna be crappy. I think those actors that just “play themselves” are just not incorporating he given circumstances fully. they forget the Magic If.
   – What if I was this person in these circumstances? It’s more of a -I am me, occasionally responding to stimuli…

   Where am I going with this….I guess i’m saying I don’t have a problem with celebrity if it’s a result of your reputation as an artist and not your off stage/screen exploits. The good ones always make you forget anyways.

   Knock em out in Tokyo, I’m having weird visions of Lost In Translation starring Christine, except you’re Bill Murray. (Note I have no recollection of the name of the character he plays in the film.)

8. christine says:

   October 24, 2007 at 7:31 am

   michael wheeler, i totally agree! celebrate the art, not the antics. i just find that when i know too much about an actor it gets in the way of me being absorbed by their performance. i want a performer to work from as truthful and authentic a place as possible, i just don’t want to know what it is they’re working from.

   (and i would way rather be bill murray than scarlett johansson. he was a ghostbuster, man…)