Was I Ever That Young?

[mrdreamjeans]

The 34-member cast of "Wonderful Town" includes 8 interns. The octet (four young men and four young women) ranges in age from 14-19. They're an eager group and their excitement at being part of a major production, touches everyone. They are doing excellent work, though one of the young guys needs to focus and cheer down:) I find it interesting that three of the youngins (male) identify themselves as Gay and are out to family and friends. They all came out at 14! I was speaking to one of the other actors, expressing my surprise at this fact. He's a college theater professor and said that while it's admirable that the Gay teens are so assured and certain, the lack of a closet door actually hinders them in in their acting studies. Because they haven't struggled with coming out or experienced any hardship, they have no frame of reference to play straight. I'm pondering that ... I've never played Gay for pay ... Interesting point ...

Part of the interns' charm is their desire to fit in ... to be fully included in the process of putting the show together, to have the same level of professionalism expected of them, to not be isolated because of their age. They want to be treated the same as everyone else. I agree. Though there are boundaries. They are, after all, teens and inappropriate behavior with them is verboten. Sometimes, their naivete comes shining through and leads to funny moments. During yesterday's tech, I was sent upstairs to the hair department. Chris, the young bearish hair assistant, gave me a close cropped hair cut and shaved parts of my beard. I'm now sporting a mustache and muttonchops and to my surprise, I really like it on me:) When I came back to the stage, the interns came rushing up to me and the following exchange occurred:

15-year old female intern eager to show her knowledge): "Wow, Neil, I really like the pork chops!!!"
Me: "Ummmm...Thank you?"
17-year old male intern out to prove the female intern wrong : "Silly, they're not pork chops, they're lamp chops!" LOL!

Oh well, they kept getting closer ... Was I ever that young? Regardless, I had a picture taken with the new look, wearing my police hat. I'll post it soon!

Comments

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

In general, I agree with you Gary. My friend's point is that he teaches these Gay youngins all of the time and that they (budding actors) have a difficult time with material that is foreign to their understanding and experience. Of course, the discussion goes further into masculine vs feminine roles, etc ... Timothy bristled when I questioned him about it. He said, it's not politically correct to admit it, but the out teens struggle in playing straight.

gay teens struggle in playing str8

[tkn1114.livejournal.com]

That may be cuz they're just bad actors and have no imagination or just plain lack experience/observation skills cuz they're so young? I mean, if they can't do anything but swish or can't stand up straight (as in upright :0) which is what I'm assuming what the professor means by "having a hard time playing str8" = can't ask masculine, then they're just bad actors.
I hope that professor is aware that there are OUT gay teens who don't swish and act masculine which has nothing to do with gay or str8? That perception is so pre-historic!
Swishing or acting effeminate's got nothing to do with being out early nor is it automatically a sign of healthiness. Just because they're hopping around all Brigadoony with pink-colored cheeks and matching nail polish does'nt necessarily mean they are gay-related issue and problem-free.
Matter of fact, statistics show that ... never mind! LOL!!!