Milwaukee Chamber Theatre is only a week away from opening A THOUSAND CLOWNS in the Cabot Theatre on August 9. We have fabulous people working on the show so we thought we would interview the cast. Today we will be featuring Patrick Lawlor (Arnold Burns) who was just seen as Virgil Blessing in last season's BUS STOP. Hope you enjoy his insights into the theatre world and our season opener!
What are
some of your favorite moments in theatre that made you who you are today?
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| Patrick Lawlor |
To work in the
Theatre is to have countless moments that make you who you are. Just getting to
do this for a living opens you up to endless little miracles, wonders,
triumphs, tragedies. Taking on a role that you feel is beyond your ability and
performing it well, doing free Shakespeare in the Park and getting acting notes
from the local homeless guy who collects cans from the park's trash, getting
"rained out" at an indoor theatre in Los Angeles when floods short
out your electrics, bringing classical
theatre to inner-city kids or folks in depressed Appalachia, even waiting out a
thunderstorm with the audience at an outdoor venue, all of these energize us in
special and unexpected ways. It's the
odd little things that happen all the time in theatre that make me who I am
today.
Other examples that
come to mind include: explaining to a fellow member of a four-person touring show
how it might be difficult to find fresh sushi in rural West Virginia, watching
from the wings at American Players Theatre as a huge bat flew out of the trap door on stage during
a performance of HAMLET, performing for children who are seeing their first
show ever, and watching Stacy Keach's RICHARD III. All of these things and
innumerable others are the stuff that keep me going. Add to that, getting to learn by watching and
performing with the remarkable actors that were around the San Francisco Bay
Area as I was getting started in the late 70's through the 80's instilled in me
that every person I work with contributes to who I am as an actor. I am
grateful to continue my development and education with my talented and
extremely generous co-workers in A THOUSAND CLOWNS .
Tell us
about your first reaction upon reading A THOUSAND CLOWNS.
I first read it in
college years ago and saw it as a silly piece, a warning about conforming and
giving up. I was not impressed, though I did learn a monologue to use as an
audition piece. Picking it up again for this production, with a little more
life behind me and a VERY DIFFERENT experience.
This time, I read a
beautiful examination of life, relationships and responsibility. It had an examination
of growing up, and what that does and does not necessarily mean. I no longer
see "giving up," but rather "trading up" - letting go of
certain aspects of childhood, or childishness in order to experience the
benefits and rewards of maturity, responsibility and relationships with others.
Murray is confronted
with that moment (that we all SHOULD be confronted with at some point), when he
realizes that there are some things that are more important to him than
himself. How he handles that confrontation... Well, that's the
play. It's a beautiful piece of theatre!
What’s
it like playing an instrument (ukulele) you’ve never played before in front of
an audience?
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| Patrick Lawlor as Virgil Blessing in BUS STOP |
I love it! Playing
music rocks and having to do it in front of an audience gives me that extra incentive
to learn it! That said, it really doesn't apply to me in this play, but it has
in several others.
From
your perspective, how would you best describe your character?
Murray and I spend
some time describing my character in the play, so you'll just have to see it to
find out.
But briefly, Arnold
Burns is a good guy with a good job (Murray's agent), a good family, a good life and a crazy, immature, wonderful brother who
he loves dearly and worries about constantly
If your
character could spend a day in Milwaukee,
where would they go and what would they do?
Arnie would stay at
the Pfister. He'd get up early to find a
farmer's market somewhere to grab some fresh fruit. He’d take a bunch of
meetings at the local TV affiliates in the morning while Shirley and the kids
check out the zoo. He'd try to time it so the Mets were playing the Brewers (or
the Braves, if we stay true to the period, though in that case, he'd probably still follow his beloved
Giants, even though they broke his heart by moving to San Francisco) and he'd
definitely catch the game that afternoon. He'd hook up with Shirley and the
kids for a nice family dinner, maybe at Kopp's. Then a few calls to clients,
etc., before ending the day with a relaxing cocktail with Shirley in the
Pfister's BLU (or whatever it was called in 1962).
Thank you so much Patrick for your kind words about your experiences in the theatre and also about A THOUSAND CLOWNS. We all look forward to seeing your performance next week!
