Tonight, Steph hooked me up with a little fight choreo gig. I went to Pepperdine to help the opera with a few moments of violence in "The Marriage of Figaro." It was so nice to be in a rehearsal room again, even if only for a couple of hours. It was also surreal to be back on the Pepperdine campus after...well...a lifetime. I did go visit campus when I first moved back to LA from Seattle in the mid/late 90s. Thought I'd check it out. Not much had changed at that point, although they had a shiny new black box theatre. That's where I found myself tonight. No longer shiny and new, but still very nice.
What some of my five loyal readers may not know (and yes, I think I'm up to five), is that I started my college career at Pepperdine. How did I get there, you ask. Well, during my junior year of high school, I went to the International Thespian Festival in Muncie, Indiana. I was the only person from the state of New Mexico to attend, and so I had to hook up with the group from Arizona, just to have people, and adults who would take on the responsibility. I was always a rule-follower though, so I wasn't a burden. My goal was to audition for colleges to get a scholarship. I got a few offers, but the most intriguing was Pepperdine, because I always knew I'd live in LA.
My time at Pepperdine was interesting. It's not exactly the school you'd think I'd end up at. Church of Christ Private School where I had to attend convocation every Monday morning (at an un-Godly hour...seriously, the big guy doesn't want to be up that early on Monday morning any more than we did). But it is perhaps the most beautiful campus in this country, with the most beautiful people. My 18 year old self was quite stimulated by all the beauty. And my classmates were awesome! Talented, driven, intelligent, and yes...beautiful.
I had some exquisite moments during my time there. I got to do a show in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which remains one of the greatest experiences of my life. Living on my own (although with my classmates, but having autonomy) in the UK for a month was the most freedom I had experienced up to that point in my life. And being able to drink in a pub at 18 was heaven. I also saw so much theatre! I saw over 30 plays in the time we were in London and Edinburgh. One of my classmates saw 90, so I didn't win, but I wasn't fucking around either. I saw two shows at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon, while my classmates toured a castle. There was also a film festival happening at the same time, and that's where I discovered Spalding Gray's one man film, "Swimming to Cambodia." I actually was only going to watch an hour of it, because I had a ticket to a play, but it was so captivating that I ate the cost of that other ticket. Many years later, here in LA, I saw one of his shows live. He was a tremendous monologuist, and the world is a worse place since he left it.
I also was in a very famous (at Pepperdine) production of "Man of La Mancha." I played guard number 2 and appeared twice at the top of a large flight of stairs. So, the production isn't famous because of my brilliance (and I can't claim to have any brilliance whatsoever during my time in that show, or at Pepperdine...However, I've had a few moments in the 35 years since). It is famous because John Raitt was playing Don Quixote. That first rehearsal, when he sang the songs was one of the most amazing first rehearsals I've ever sat through. And some of you know that first rehearsals, opening nights, and closing nights are the best three days of a production. I didn't even care that I didn't have lines. This theatre giant showed us all what it meant to be a star. I understand they still talk about that first rehearsal in hushed tones. The rest of the process was less grand, as he was a star, but not interested in taking notes or acting opposite the non-professionals in the play. I learned a lot from both of these experiences.
My time at Pepperdine was a bit cursed. The man who gave me the scholarship and was my advocate got accused of misconduct and was put on leave for most of my first year. They did more musicals than I expected (I didn't really research the program as I should have). And I'm not really a musical theatre guy. I can sing. I can carry a tune. Don't ask me to dance or harmonize though. If I'm singing the melody, it'll be fine, but other than that, I'm a disaster. And I never understood how I could be so good with fight choreography, but so utterly hopeless with dance choreo. It's a mystery. Also, they censored plays. They would take out all the swear words, and certainly anything remotely sacrilegious. I'm so used to being in shows that are cut now, but back when I was a (very) earnest artistic youth, this was simply not ok with me. I was an artist, after all. I still am, but I understand the whole picture now. I will fight for the author's words, but hell, I've never been in a Shakespeare play that hasn't been cut at least a little. And if we are going to cut the greatest things ever written, does it really matter if we tweak other things?
So after a year and a half, I decided it wasn't the place for me. Despite the beauty. All that beauty. I ended up back in Cruces at NMSU during what everybody considers the Golden Age of that department. I had the joy of working with Mark Medoff and Kim McCallum, two very different artists who taught me so much about acting and life. Along with David Edwards (my HS drama teacher and dear friend) these were some of my earliest mentors. They all believed in me, and inspired me to continue on this Quixotic quest of spending my life in the theatre.
Fun fact, my roommate at Pepperdine was Montell Jordan. He went on to become an R&B star, but then, he was just a kid from South Central and I was kid from Cruces. He was a good kid, and he grew into a good man. Faith and family were always important to him, and they still are. He also did a rap on our answering machine (old tech alert). Wish I had kept that tape.
Anyway, driving up PCH is always a journey down memory lane. Although I technically lived on campus, I spent most of my time off campus with my girlfriend, Lynn. Because...why wouldn't I? Our two years in LA were spent mostly getting kicked out of apartments because I was there too much, or because the roommate hated the cat, or because our lease didn't allow cats, and just because we were rebels, we got a second cat. But wherever we were, I ended up driving a lot, and spent much time on PCH. I had a job in a bank, where I met some playboy models and, randomly, Tammy Fae Baker in Malibu. I love that stretch of ocean along PCH. I also would love to wake up in the morning with the fog hanging over the ocean just outside the window of our common room. However, being on campus tonight reminded me how dark it is in Malibu. The whole city is really hard to get around in at night. No lights. I think this is purposeful. They don't want people there after dark, so make everything so damn dark that you have to go somewhere else.
But being in the room tonight was great! These beautiful opera singers are outstanding. And they are so young and have so much energy. I was one of them...many years ago. I had beauty, talent, and energy. It was nice to be reminded of that. I feel like I still have one of those things, and fortunately, it has increased with time and practice. I'm also a really good fight guy. I've been doing it for a long time now. I can own that. I don't have lots of tricks, or any signature moves, but every fight I make tells a story and is both cool and safe.
So, this was the most fulfilling artistic day I've had in the year 2022 so far. Two hours in a room. I'll take it. I'd like to fill the rest of my year now...please and thank you.
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