I am writing a sidetrack post today before I get into my "Lesson" post. There is a legendary story that I am at the center of. It has been told by many, and by myself hundreds of times. It is probably my most memorable moment as an actor in my career. When you think of memorable moments in an actors career you think of memorable performances like Michael Mendelson in Bent, Valarie Stevens in Keely and Du, Luisa Sermol in Sideman, or Victor Mack in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. You don't think of Tony Sonera in Fortinbras. But did I have a memorable moment. This will be the last time I ever tell this story.
Remember how I told you that I often stopped by Allen's office unannounced? Well I was still doing this in 1995. It was late fall of 1995 and I happened by his office to see what was up. He said he was casting a show by Lee Blessing called Fortinbras. He said he almost had the whole thing cast except for a few small roles. I asked him if there was a role for me. He told me what was left and told me to go read the play and come back and let him know if I was interested in one of the roles. I did exactly that. I told him that I would like to play the role of the Captain. He said that was great and that it was mine to have. It was a small role, how much could I actually screw it up? The cast was tremendous. Don Alder as Fortinbras, Duffy Epstein as Osric, Michael Fisher-Welsh as Hamlet, Gary Powell as Claudias, Grant Byington as Horatio, Tom Lasswell as Polonius, Karen Boettcher Tate as Gertrude, Sarah Lucht as Ophelia, Emily Sahler and Janet Fisher-Welsh as the Polish maidens, and the Dickman brothers as Marcellus and Barnardo and I am forgetting who played Laertes. This was a show with some of Portland's funniest actors and myself.
During this period of time I had taken on a "real" job after working as an actor for seven years. I got a job in the hotel business and had been working my way up the ranks and was in a position to be a GM very soon. This meant that I basically did anything and everything the company asked me to do. I was always burning the candle at both ends and sometimes in the middle. It was a great management company and I learned a lot of business skills during my time with them. But somewhere in the middle of the run of Fortinbras they asked me to help open a brand new property in Seaside, Oregon. They had about three weeks of work to do before they could open.
My schedule was grueling. I would wake up everyday at 5am and make it to Seaside by 7am. I would work all day doing physical labor at the hotel until 5pm and then I would drive home. On show nights I would drive straight to the theatre. I would get dressed in my tights, shirt, and cape and then usually shoot the shit with Duffy or listen to Grant kvetch about something. We all made a lot of jokes backstage and really enjoyed each others company. It was one of those shows where you really looked forward to seeing each other every night. It was also a very funny production. My role was very small. I had a great moment where I walked in with what looked like a bloody head in a burlap bag, but was actually a watermelon being delivered to Fortinbras. I had another moment where I was admiring the fact that we had hung Osric, and Horatio played by Grant would disapprove...it was always kind of disastrous when the dummy that was hanging would fall, because it was just a pair of legs. Grant would always kind of freak out when this happened. In the second act I didn't do much but deliver some news to Fortibras about an explosion. The exact line was "My lord there has been an explosion in the queens quarters." I think that is the line...feel free to look it up. This would be the line that would haunt me, and become the legendary story of my career.
Each night of the show after I was through with my duties in the first act I would cuddle up with my cape on the couch and take a cat nap in the green room until the end of intermission. Emily and Janet who were playing polish ladies in waiting would always wake me up before the second act started. This was a regular routine. On one particular night, I happened to be a little more exhausted than usual, but stuck to my regular routine. At the end of my last scene in the first act I headed for the golden couch in the green room, I took off my cape, laid down, covered myself with the cape for my mid show nap. This nap was to be very different. My body was on complete shut down. I actually entered the deep sleep and R.E.M. stage of sleep. I was OUT for the count.
Here is what I remember. I was asleep. The next thing I knew, Tom Laswell had me by the shirt and had pulled me up off the couch and was shaking me. Tom was about 70 years old, had a heart condition from the three heart attacks he experienced, and he took nitro glycerin regularly to keep the old ticker in check. Yet, there he was lifting me and shaking me yelling "Tony wake up! wake up!!! It's your cue!!!" I think I may have smiled at him thinking it was all a dream. Then I noticed Janet and Emily pointing at the green room door and yelling "GO GO GO GO!!!!!" I was still a little perplexed until the stage manager with head set on came running through the door screaming at me "GO!!! YOU ARE ON!!!! GO NOW!!!!. At this point I knew something was wrong...shit...I had missed my cue...and I was still half asleep. In the mean time Don Alder who was on stage had been waiting for me, for about a minute, which in theatre time may as well have been an hour. Though he did get to say..."Captain? Oh Captain my captain?" Don is a funny actor and person so he managed quite well with out me for the minute.
When I finally realized that I needed to go make an entrance...maybe it was because all of the people screaming at me to go...I grabbed my cape and went running out the door and through the main entrance into the theatre and I stopped in the middle of the vomitorium to put on my cape. There was audience on both sides of me, I saw them and they were all looking at me, all I knew was to put on my cape. I flung the cape over my head, and proceed to get wrapped up in it, so then I began flailing and fighting with the cape until finally it gave in and I was able to tie it around my neck! The audience was laughing, this was a good sign. I had never entered from this entrance before, so it was foreign to me. The next thing that happened I will never forget. I looked at Don Alder, and recognized him. But I had NO IDEA what play I was in. I stood there frozen, panicked, trying to wake up, going through the files of shows in my mind, Bye Bye Birdie, The Music Man, Grease...WAIT this is not a musical...Don Alder...what play had I done with him?!!! Now, when you talk with Don, he always says that he could tell that I was out of it by the wobbling and the fact that my eyes were rolling into the back of my head. But Don is a trouper, he is supportive, and professional, and giving as an actor. He knew exactly what to do. He said, "Captain, so nice of you to join us!" I stood staring blankly back at him, still trying to figure out which play I was in. He then tried to save me by feeding me my line..."So, Captain, I heard there was an explosion in the Queens quarters." It was at that moment that all of my training in improvisation came surging at once, it did not matter that I had no idea what play I was in, it did not matter that my brain was frozen, I used all my improvisational skill and genius and said, "uh huh." Don shook his head in disbelief and fed me my next line and probably the line after that. Eventually I realized which play I was in, and ended the scene on my hands and knees as I crawled out the upstage exit.
What I remember is that when I finally remembered what play I was in, I was horrified. I was a serious young actor who had never missed an entrance and these were some of the best actors in Portland. I though I would never work again. But, these actors were also understanding and gracious. On his exit after the scene, Don poked his head in the dressing room and put his hand on my shoulder and smiled and said "Don't sweat it." There were lots of fun little digs, as there should have been. Actors like to remind each other of their mistakes, and in my case epic mistake. The next night in the dressing room as I was getting ready, Duffy entered with a small paper sack. He said, "hey Ton, how you feelin? Got you a little present." he threw the bag at me, and I opened it. It was a box of No Doze. I still have that box to this day.
So that is it, the classic true actors nightmare. What does this have to do with thoughtful consideration? It gave me an understanding that sometimes people make mistakes, even really big mistakes, and not to sweat it, but maybe instead laugh at it, and learn from it, cause later on in life it will make a great story.
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