Curtain Rising - Index

Curtain Rising - Curtain Rising Magazine - Volume 1, Issue 20 - September 11, 2007 - Index

actress, Anne Marie Scheffler, in Victoria in 1997 who
was doing her third solo show. She took me under
her wing and told me to do some of the Canadian
fringe festivals the following year. I kept changing
and revising the show from the Seattle Fringe earlier
in 1998 to Toronto and Sudbury, Ontario and finally
onto the Edmonton Fringe in August of 1998. I had
seven performances in a 100 seat venue and didn't
know a soul in town. As I walked up to my venue,
there was a line out the door for tickets. I had just
inserted a very big scene in the piece, one that I had
never done before and one that took the piece up to
90 minutes. When I finished the piece, I got a standing
ovation which was very stunning to me. A couple of
days later as I was getting breakfast with my friends,
I noticed that both of the Edmonton newspapers
printed two of the nicest reviews I've ever gotten. For
a brief two weeks in time, I actually felt like an artist.
6. When did you realize that you wanted
to be a part of the world of theatre? I've
always loved theatre, as early as seventh grade in
Oklahoma. But I never thought that a Chinese kid
from Oklahoma would have any future in theatre
so I really didn't pursue it. Writing and performing
my solo show let me come back to the theatre.
7. Who is your favourite playwright? Mamet.
8. Do you have any professional training,
and if so, where did you study? I don't
have a theatre or arts degree. As an actor, I've
studied with Cliff Osmond, a wonderful actor who
appeared in several Billy Wilder films - Kiss Me, Stupid
and The Fortune Cookie - amongst others. I've
worked with him for over ten years. As a writer,
Amy Freed (Freedomland and The Beard of Avon)
helped me immensely as I was trying to formulate
this show. And I also worked with San Francisco
based solo performer Charlie Varon who helped
me transition from stand-up to solo performer.
9. Who is your favourite theatre director?
Harold Prince.
10. What venue would you most like to see
one of your plays performed at? I'd love to get to
the point where I'm in the ABC listings of the NY Times.
11. What do you think the purpose and value
of theatre is? The purpose is to tell a story. The value is
to entertain and perhaps affect the audience.
12. Pertaining to theatre, what do you think
17
Byron Yee.
Photo courtesy of Byron Yee.
art is? I would hate to pontificate on this answer.
13. What pressures do you think theatre
artists face today? Encouragement and
opportunity to create the work. A theatre artist
needs feedback from an audience and it's very
difficult to create that relationship with all the
competition from film, TV, and the Internet. A
relationship has to develop to nurture the artist.
14. What advice would you give
other emerging artists? Take the first
step and know it will be a rough journey.
15. What are your short and long term
ambitions? Well, I'm in LA trying to sell my soul
to the devil. Unfortunately, he's not buying
right now, even at my rock bottom prices.
16. In what setting do you find yourself
most inspired? When I see other people's
work, I know the effort it takes to get it on stage.
18. Do you have any idiosyncrasies
when it comes to writing? Early on, I did
pull the O'Neill/Faulkner of drinking to get
things down initially on paper. Then I'd revise
when I was sober. Not so much nowadays.
19. What do you think is the most unique
aspect of your personality? All things told, I'm still
very shy at a party where I don't know anyone.
Curtain Rising
September 11, 2007