The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem by Rinne Groff had a successful run last weekend. I wad delighted to have full houses for my straight-play debut. Today, I had the above picture and mention in The Middlebury Campus, school newspaper.

Overall, I think I agreed with most audience members that the play is hard to understand. Thick European accents combined with mathematical equations don’t mix particularly well. That’s not to say it was not an entertaining theatrical performance. It just meant that the play relied upon the physical action to get across the meaning. In many ways, that’s easier to do with a comedy as such because if you play it enough like the Marx Brothers then it you don’t have to say anything at all.

I gained particular insight on the language element of the play from the playwright herself who came to the last day of performances. Rinne Groff is a wonderful individual (and a new parent, I might add) who wrote this play about five to six years ago. She explained that she likes the experience of not being able to understand everything in a play. That is precisely what she focuses her writing on: difficult to understand language. She apparently also has published a play about air traffic controllers. Math and mathematicians were intriguing to her just the same.

This is something to keep in my mind as I explore the context of foreign language plays and theatrical experiences.

Photos from the production.

Why do most people have an affinity for musicals over plays? Is it something about the idealistic happy finales that draw people in? Or is that people are guarenteed to break into song every five to ten minutes?

Of the 18 people in my Acting 101 class, 14 had never seen a straight play. But of the 14, 12 had seen a musical on Broadway or otherwise. As a advocate of musicals everywhere (after producing a musical in China), I’d like to be happy about such straw poll stats but really am unsure of what to think. Should people be seeing plays that intimately explore “hard” issues? Can musicals present “hard” issues or does the format naturally lend itself to fluff?

It’s estimated that once every ten years, Middlebury College produces a faculty-run musical. That may be an exaggeration but either way there is indeed a faculty musical this spring: Cabaret with Book by Joe Masteroff, Music by John Kander, and Lyrics by Fred Ebb. I auditioned over the weekend at the urging of my new voice teacher (I know, my first personal voice teacher, a debateable call in itself for a chorus-trained kid like me). The process of auditioning for a faculty-led show is quite intense. A round of vocal-auditions with a solo song, followed by a test of abilities to sing harmony in groups. Then, a “dance audition” that turned out to be a classic case of “movement” for boys over “dance.” Essentially, the purpose of a “movement” audition is to showcase an actor’s range of movement, inherent style, and comfort-level within a given environment. Lastly, an acting audition cattle-call with monologues in front of a panel of directors for all the spring shows.

I have it easy seeing as there are about ten girls to every boy that auditions. Are musicals a girl thing? Or is acting in general a girl thing? Girls grow up wanting to be actresses and guys grow up wanting to be sports stars. Everyone just wants their 15 minutes of fame?