“Lend Me A Tenor” -- One Actor’s Diary
(Hill Country Community Theatre, Sept. 28-Oct. 15)

by Preston F. Kirk

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories that will track the experience of being an actor, from audition through the last curtain call. It will be an inside look at the process, the foibles, the fears and the thrills of live theatre! To see the writer’s articles at anytime during the upcoming weeks, go to www.hcct.org/

July 27 - “Sound of Music” was a splendid evening of entertainment, and reconnecting with familiar faces - volunteers, Executive Director Mike Morelli and regular patrons at HCCT - makes me more than ever realize I want to be back on a stage “in my own backyard.”
Darn it! I wish I had been able to read more than 40 pages of the “�Tenor” script before I had to turn it back in tonight. The sex farce was a sensation on Broadway and in London’s West End and has been around for almost 20 years. I saw the Lago Vista Players do it a couple of seasons ago, and I think I could play the nervous, pontificating, hyper-manager of the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, “Henry Saunders.”

July 29 -- Guest director for “Tenor” is Barry Pineo of Austin who has successfully directed “The Girls in 509” and the musical “Oklahoma” on the HCCT stage. He wrote the book, “Acting That Matters,” which my wife Ronda Dale has read for her acting class with Mike Morelli. I think I’ll read his advice on auditions to see if there is a strategy for winning the role. Essentially, “Be prepared” for anything the director asks, is Barry’s bottomline. That outdoes the Boy Scout motto!
Thankfully, Ronda Dale has agreed to try out with me. If we both land parts, that will make the nightly 42-mile round-trip drive from Spicewood to Cottonwood Shores for rehearsals a lot more bearable. And although we’ve worked on a few films together as extras, it has been two years since we were on stage together. (“Tom Sawyer, Summer 2004) Besides, she surprised everybody with her rendition of “Truvy,” the hair salon owner, in “Steel Magnolias” at HCCT.

July 31 - Evening of audition: So why am I so nervous? I finished the grueling (for me) run as “Barney Cashman” in “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” two weeks ago at The Palace Theatre in Georgetown. Two hours on stage - every minute of every act. Shouldn’t this role be a snap? So, why the skittishness?There are only 11 persons auditioning for eight roles (4 males, 4 females), an unexpectedly low turnout. But they are all regular HCCT volunteers, and most have worked before with Barry.
I tried out for the raucous peddler in "Oklahoma!" at HCCT in 2005, but Barry thought there was a conflict with a short trip (absence) I already planned. Barry hates conflicts with rehearsals. I also drove into Austin this past summer and tried out for a tiny role in “Bent,” a play about the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany, which Barry directed. Barry and I agreed it was too much driving for 2-3 minutes on stage in a limited run. (Nice that he thinks about the satisfaction factor and pocketbook of his actors.)
Maybe I’m anxious due to Pineo’s reputation for his cast members learning their lines early and “getting off book” (script) so that blocking (stage movements) can be set more easily. Yes, he made just such a speech this evening as he briskly put us through our cold-reading paces. His enthusiasm for this show and this group of actors is clearly infectious and engaging. Not just talent and stage skills, but physicality, age and looks have a lot to do with his selection, and he obviously was sizing us up even before we finished filling out our audition sheets and “Pledge” forms on HCCT expectations of its actors. He promises final decisions on choices by tomorrow.

Aug. 1 - Hooray! Dale was cast as “Julia Levrett,” President of the Opera Guild, a nice role that she’ll have no problem handling. I’m Barry’s choice for Saunders role, but yikes! As I highlight my lines in the script, it looks like this character is on about 95 of the 130 pages. I’m biting my tongue now for not reading it all the way through. And emphasis is on speedy delivery and fast action. At my age, learning the dialogue takes more and more concentration and time away from business and other interests. Is my commitment waning? What have I gotten myself into?

Aug. 3 - Barry has sent the cast a rehearsal schedule for the first three weeks for our review. It lists our call on any given night by our character's name. Reliable and steady Kirk Tatum will be playing the visiting tenor, “Tito Merelli,” a.k.a. “Il Stupendo” in 1932. Priscilla Castaneda, another HCCT regular, will play Tito’s fiery wife, “Maria.” Mike Morelli (Yeah, that’s funny about the name similarity to the tenor.)” plays Max, an aspiring singer, Saunder’s assistant and the wanna-be beau of “Maggie Saunders” - played by Mike’s real-life wife Emily. Wendy James, another HCCT veteran, landed the role of “Diane,” and the always outstanding Mark Fernandes will play the loopy bellhop. April Adams, also experienced behind the scenes, will be stage manger. Great!
Barry had to schedule around several actors’ conflicts, which will require blocking and/or rehearsing with people who aren't there on some nights. We do Act 2 before we do Act 1. Barry also warns, “I may have bitten off a bit more than we can collectively chew on certain nights. We'll just have to fudge it, if necessary. It will all come out in the wash, I'm sure.” He actually declares that “no one will be required to be off book until Sept. 3.” Whew!
The director also declared: “I think I have a really outstanding cast.” No argument there. He also writes, “It's so nice to be back at HCCT. I'm really looking forward to getting started.” (Me, too, I think.)

Aug. 5 - Dale and I trekked into Austin Friday night to see the outdoor musical, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," at Zilker Park. It was 91 degrees at 8:30 p.m., their “curtain” time. The cast sings, dances, wears winter clothes and “passes the hat” at intermission. Yes, yes, lots of pluses at Hill Country for both actors and audience. So much great talent onstage giving it their all. Makes me wonder why I switched majors at Baylor after four years to become a journalist. Why did I wait 34 years to get back on stage (HCCT, 2000)?

Aug. 7 - “Procrastination, thy name is evil!” That is not a line from the play, but one that keeps going through my head as I put off learning lines. I’ve mastered roughly five pages, but with a week until the first rehearsal, I had better get into high-gear! Meanwhile, I can hear Ronda Dale downstairs religiously running, repeating, learning her lines like a good soldier readying for combat.

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