Drawer Boy withdrawal...boy!
Sat, 5 Oct 2002, 01:43 amcrgwllms9 posts in thread
Drawer Boy withdrawal...boy!
Sat, 5 Oct 2002, 01:43 amGiven the deluge of controversial opinion that followed some comments made in a review by Geoff Gibbs last month; I wonder what his latest actions will provoke?
The West Australian (Fri Oct 4) reports that he has withdrawn from Black Swan's production of The Drawer Boy only days before its scheduled opening.
Gibbs and director Andrew Ross had a major difference of opinion in interpreting his character. In the last week Ross suggested Gibbs swap characters with Max Gillies, who plays the other main character. Gibbs though, felt that was asking too much.
However, apparently Gillies is still going to swap roles and play the part vacated by Gibbs, while George Shevtsov will take over Max's role, and the opening night has been delayed a week.
I won't speculate as to whether Gibbs' leaving was initiated by him, by Ross, or a mutual decision...but it's certainly controversial.
Cheers,
Craig
[%sig%]
The West Australian (Fri Oct 4) reports that he has withdrawn from Black Swan's production of The Drawer Boy only days before its scheduled opening.
Gibbs and director Andrew Ross had a major difference of opinion in interpreting his character. In the last week Ross suggested Gibbs swap characters with Max Gillies, who plays the other main character. Gibbs though, felt that was asking too much.
However, apparently Gillies is still going to swap roles and play the part vacated by Gibbs, while George Shevtsov will take over Max's role, and the opening night has been delayed a week.
I won't speculate as to whether Gibbs' leaving was initiated by him, by Ross, or a mutual decision...but it's certainly controversial.
Cheers,
Craig
[%sig%]
Re: Back to the Drawing board
Sun, 6 Oct 2002, 02:03 amcrgwllms wrote:
> And there are times perhaps, when many of us would love to
> jump ship from a struggling production rather than carry
> through to opening night. What is it that forces us to carry
> on regardless, rather than pull the pin and save everybody
> the embarrassment?
Unfortunately, sometimes there is little choice but to recast / quit / cancel the show...I remember a story Gielgud once told about a young lady he had cast as Ophelia (to his Hamlet as Actor-Manager) and, try as he might, he just could *not* get her to be good enough - but the way he tells it, he did everything he could to get her up to speed - extra rehearsals, private tuition, one-on-one intensives and nothing worked...so, despite a huge level of personal responsibility and guilt, (his reasoning was that it was *he* who cast her!), he had to let her go. I always had a huge amount of respect for J.G. from that account... perhaps, even when under the pump, creating the opportunity for 'breakthrough' is the only way to go, even if you feel it's probably futile... each case, is of course unique.
In Gibbs' case, however, I would suspect that, in not having been onstage for 10 years, he may have found learning the lines quite difficult, as many older actors do...
Jason
> And there are times perhaps, when many of us would love to
> jump ship from a struggling production rather than carry
> through to opening night. What is it that forces us to carry
> on regardless, rather than pull the pin and save everybody
> the embarrassment?
Unfortunately, sometimes there is little choice but to recast / quit / cancel the show...I remember a story Gielgud once told about a young lady he had cast as Ophelia (to his Hamlet as Actor-Manager) and, try as he might, he just could *not* get her to be good enough - but the way he tells it, he did everything he could to get her up to speed - extra rehearsals, private tuition, one-on-one intensives and nothing worked...so, despite a huge level of personal responsibility and guilt, (his reasoning was that it was *he* who cast her!), he had to let her go. I always had a huge amount of respect for J.G. from that account... perhaps, even when under the pump, creating the opportunity for 'breakthrough' is the only way to go, even if you feel it's probably futile... each case, is of course unique.
In Gibbs' case, however, I would suspect that, in not having been onstage for 10 years, he may have found learning the lines quite difficult, as many older actors do...
Jason
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