At dinner the other night I was asked, "As an actor, don't you get tired of saying the same lines and singing the same songs over and over everyday?" My immediate response was "Not at all". She responded "Really, Why?". I instantly thought of Yul Brynner who played over 3000 performances of The King and I, Carol Channing, who portrayed Dolly Levi for over 5000 performances, and Marian Seldes who played every performance of the 1,809 shows of Deathtrap and never missed a single performance. There are two primary reasons we as actors go on 8 shows a week, for months and months and sometimes years. The first because we love it and we can't imagine doing anything else. The desire to perform and create is in our very blood stream and we wouldn't have it any other way.
The other reason is the craft of finding the many layers of the role. Getting to the gory center and heart of the person we are portraying. To completely lose oneself so entirely in the character we are portraying we aren't sure where we end and the character begins. I have had the fortune of portraying Danny Kaye on and off for over 10 years including the last two years off-Broadway in Danny and Sylvia: The Dany Kaye Musical. I relish playing this iconic character because every time I step foot on the stage I find something new about him. As an actor, there are so many things to work on every performance. We peel back the layers of the character with every show getting to the center of what makes the character tick. To work the nuances and subtlety of manifesting this person as a three dimensional living being. It's an art and a discipline, and a new and exciting ride every time we step out on the stage.
As I told to my friend, her eyes widened and a smile came across her face.
She looked at me and responded " You have, like, the best job in the world!"
Without a beat I answered "Yes i do."
