Live Theater, take 2

(NOTE: If you haven't read yesterday's post, Why I Love Live Theater, please read it first.)

This last week, I had the chance to see Brian Vaughn and David Ivers in another play, The 39 Steps. The play has some similarities in approach in that several of the actors have to play many roles. At the beginning of the play, one of the actors – in this instance, it was again Ivers – is an M.C. addressing the audience as if we are the audience in a vaudeville-type show featuring an act called “Mr. Memory.”

Mr. Memory has committed thousands and thousands of facts to his brain. Part of the performance calls for Ivers, as the M.C., to invite men and women to call out questions for Mr. Memory. During the matinee performance that I watched July 30^th, one of the real audience members became so involved she thought the M.C. was waiting for us to shout out questions. So as Ivers paused briefly, she yelled out, “What’s my name?” Without missing a beat, Ivers said, “There’s a script.” As we all laughed, he smiled, then said, “But if you’re having trouble they can help you in the lobby.” More laughter – and then the action continued. You never know what will happen during a live performance.

The next day, Ivers and Vaughn were the speakers at an actors’ seminar – one of the many opportunities unique to the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Over its 49-year history, the Festival has fostered an air of familiarity such that actors, directors and others associated with the Festival mingle with patrons quite regularly and Festival patrons feel comfortable walking up and offering the obligatory fawning accolade. It isn’t unusual to run into the actor playing Hotspur in Henry IV, Part I on his way to the theater to get ready to play Lancelot in Camelot. The actors are generally gracious and appear to appreciate the comments from the common folk. Many actors also sneak in to the literary seminars (which happen the morning following the play performances) and listen to the attendees’ reactions to the performance. At the back, dressed in street clothes (and sometimes a baseball cap and/or sunglasses) they can sometimes eavesdrop incognito. This allows them to gauge the “true” reaction of audiences, unfettered by the layer of politeness we reserve in the presence of performers. Twice a week, USF invites a couple of the company’s actors to take to the podium to tell the seminar attendees their life stories and give insight into their craft and on July 31^st, we were treated to the Ivers and Vaughn show.

One of the attendees brought up the incident during their performance the day before and Ivers shared that in the month and a half since they’d begun preview performances of The 39 Steps no one had shouted out a question. His instantaneous reaction to the previous day’s interruption was all the more impressive given this information.

Besides a few behind-the-scenes stories and sharing some information about the vagabond life they’ve led in their professional careers, they also talked about the changes they are facing as they settle into their new roles as co-artistic directors of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Most seminar attendees were happy to hear the news, but in the next moment were concerned this might force them to cut back on the number of productions in which they can perform. Vaughn, in particular, holds a special place in the hearts of many who are regular USF attendees because they feel as if they’ve watched him grow up over the years. Vaughn attended Southern Utah University, where the Festival is located, and began work as a professional actor in the Festival’s Greenshow in the early 1990s, before becoming an actor on the main stage. Because of the family atmosphere fostered at USF, many patrons view Vaughn as a son, grandson or brother, and pounce on news of his successes. For the past dozen years he’s been a resident actor with Milwaukee Repertory Theater, but is moving to Cedar City with his family to take on his new role. He and Ivers have remained close friends as their work has taken both around the country. They’ve shared the stage at USF many times in the past 15 years, culminating with Ivers directing Vaughn in a tour de force performance of Cyrano de Bergerac in 2008.

Of the two, Ivers appears to be more outgoing. He is extremely quick-witted and playful. Vaughn seems slightly more reserved, but equally charming. The two were gracious to seminar attendees who asked questions about their past, their future plans and their mutual craft. They promised to continue to take on new roles as often as their new jobs would allow.

Picture: David Ivers, Brian Vaughn and Aaron Galligan-Stierle (L-R) in The 39 Steps at the Utah Shakespearean Festival