I was cast in a play, but I'm not sure if I got a good part.

Anyone ever hear of that play, "Sherlock's Last Case"?

Well, I was bored, and there were signs up for auditions, so I tried out for the hell of it.

I'm not a big drama person, or even that big a Sherlock Holmes fan, so I didn't have my hopes out.

But, to my surprise, I found today that I had been cast, as Inspector Lestrade.

I don't know much about who Lestrade is, and haven't gotten the script yet.

Am I to think that I got a minor part?

In a way, I'm glad to get any part. My acting professor drove me out of her class. She said I couldn't play a great man, Doctor Martin Luther King Jr, because of my skin color. That's racist to say, that I can't portray a great figure in equality because I'm not the same race as him. It's the message that's important.

If I can nail this, I can prove how she was wrong about me. That I didn't need her damned class to be in the drama club play.

reply to post by Grifter42


The only you have to prove to yourself is you. After that, the best revenge is a life well lived. Don't let obstacles get you down.

reply to post by Grifter42


Sherlock's Last Case (Lestrade Highlighted)

reply to post by Grifter42


Break a leg!

I think you could have a lot of fun with that role! I am not failure with his role in the play, but I am familiar with the character, so I am going to make the assumption that is it a good role.

lemmin
reply to post by Grifter42

 

Sherlock's Last Case (Lestrade Highlighted)

Awesome, but I can't access it. The preview only lets me see a few pages.

And I appreciate all the encouragement. This ought to be entertaining, or atleast a learning experience.

Sounds like a lot of fun. I used to belong to a drama club many, many, moons ago. LOL
Good luck to you!!!!

Don't they say there are no unimportant roles? Even the guy mopping the floor in the background is there for a reason.

Don't let the size of the role foul you!

PS: I don't know why, but my last sentence seems wrong... lol let me know if it is.

#@£* her dude. Who says you can cannot do a part???
Nail this part and someone will notice you, then you can flip the bird over your shoulder when you land the lead.
Good luck dude

On a positive note....A part in a play is better than no part! ...I'm not familiar with the inspector , but just remember ...one thing always leads to another . Good luck.

reply to post by Grifter42


After reading the script, it looks like you have a comedic part. Make the most of it and have some fun.

Good luck.

TDawgRex
reply to post by Grifter42

 

After reading the script, it looks like you have a comedic part. Make the most of it and have some fun.

Good luck.

If you got a link to the script, I'd be much appreciated.

I found a little on google books, but it cut me off after one page.

reply to post by Grifter42


I just read the link above in this post. But I'm sure it's gotta be on Google.

Since no one addressed this yet I guess I will

I don't think that saying you can't play a black guy is a racist comment , it is the truth , if you went to see a play about MLK and he was white or Hispanic or Asian you would not find it believable no matter how good the actor is . Not racist just the truth . Did your teacher say that you are not a good actor ?

Could you pull off playing OJ Simpson or Gandhi ? Could a black actor play Neal Armstrong or John lennon ?

Hello
First need . Being in a play with the right group of people will be the best experience of your life. Like a bunch of pirates, all working together to keep the pirate ship afloat. You will be spending a lot of time together. they will be your second family.

I was in a band once, and the drummer wanted to be the singer. to the point where there was no longer a drummer, just this drunk guy trying to be eddie veder in the microphone. he even closed his eyes and was realy feeling it. Only problem was he was a better drummer, and the world all ready has an eddie veder.
My point is this. All parts are good parts, because you get to be part of the show!
Next. Sounds like you don't have much experience. I could be wrong, so I apologize If I am. But if you are inexperienced, and acting classes do not make you experienced. Being in front of an audience is the only experience that counts. It is scary, and if you don't have your lines memorized, or only partially, you will feel horrible when the show sucks...

start small. Don't let your ego get in the way.
And if I went to a show where a white dude was playing Martin Luther King, I wouldn't believe it. The point of the play, is like a book or movie, you have to let it take you away if it is good. With a play, all the parts have to work. One thing out of sync throws it to sh.t.

But I think I know what you mean. Sure, you can play him if you want, but why? It seems like the reason you were driven from the class had nothing to do with that, but the stubbornness of wanting to make your point? am I right?

so here's my advice. Since you got the part, drop the stubbornness, or else you will clash with someone or someones in the play, and it will not be a good experience for you, of them.

Everyone in the show is a star. Like someone above said, even the janitor has his part to play. But sure, the focus does fall on the lead, but damn, they have the most lines to learn, and that sh.t is scary. trust me.

And, if you want to prove your teacher wrong, doing the inspector part, has nothing to do with the martin luther thing.
Just get jobs, be humble, be good, be energetic, be truthful, be you.
There is only one of you.

By the way, I searched for my password just to talk to you, I hadn't signed in in a while.
good luck.

reply to post by JHumm


All though I agree with you JH, Ben Kingsley was awesome as Ghandi!

JHumm
Since no one addressed this yet I guess I will

I don't think that saying you can't play a black guy is a racist comment , it is the truth , if you went to see a play about MLK and he was white or Hispanic or Asian you would not find it believable no matter how good the actor is . Not racist just the truth . Did your teacher say that you are not a good actor ?

Could you pull off playing OJ Simpson or Gandhi ? Could a black actor play Neal Armstrong or John lennon ?

I believe a black man could very easily play Neil Armstrong, or John Lennon. People have preconceived notions in their heads, sure, but race doesn't matter. As long as a person gets into character, and knows how to act, they can play who they like, regardless of race.

And as to a white man playing OJ Simpson, that's already happened with the Robert Blake trial.

But that wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back. She wouldn't accept my favorite cat dying as a reason to acknowledge my absence as excused. A cat is like a member of the family in a way, and I had just seen how much pain it was in, so awful. So very awful indeed. My other professors understood, and registered the absences as excused, but not my acting professor. Why, that would require her having emotions other than the shallow skin deep mask of a sociopath pretending to be a person. That would require her having empathy. Alas, it seemed to me she did not.

reply to post by Grifter42


Lestrade is not a minor player in the Sherlockian universe grifter.

In fact he features often in the various Sherlock tales by Conan Doyle. He is the official police inspector, playing the counterpoint to Holmes. Where Holmes is scientific and rapid of mind, Lestrade tends to lean rather toward his experience as an officer of the law, more than the modern methods applied by Holmes to the work of solving crime.

He and Holmes often find themselves set upon the same cases, Lestrade as an official representative of the law of the land, and Holmes as a private contractor on some occasions, or as a consultant operating in direct assistance of the police force. You should read up on your Holmes, so that you are not surprised by any of the old lingo in the role, and so that you get a feel for the character you will be playing!

You can do it! Congratulations! In High School, I played one of the ignorant hicks in "Inherit the Wind". Talk about type casting!

Had an awesome day today.

Went to rehearsals, had a lot of fun with various improv exercises. They had one where you had to convince someone to get off a bench without physically moving them off the bench.

I accomplished it each time. Fun game. I managed to win the first time by doing a passable impression of Robert Mitchum from Cape Fear. I managed to win the second time even quicker by acting as a missionary for the church of Latter Day Saints. They got up immediately.

Then it was my turn for people to try and move me off the bench. I stayed in character as a Mormon though. The other fellow's approach was to act like one of those people who are the reason you can't buy pseudoephedrine without an I.D. and a signature. So, this fellow imitating a twitchy degenerate tries to get me off the bench.

I know a lot about Mormonism. A lot. I eat that stuff up with a spoon, because it's the 1800s version of Waco. I don't believe in it myself, but going hard-core Mormon does a lot against people trying to act crazy. I told him that it was God's bench, and that only member's of the LDS were allowed on it. I asked him if he had heard of the Word of Wisdom, and if he'd like to attend an addiction counseling meeting. I told him he would have no chance of entering celestial heaven if he did not.

And by Jove, I was the only person to keep the bench. I won that improv with pure biblical gibberish.

Next up came the various ins and outs of practicing for the play, making sure everyone knows everyone, and who's playing what.

All the while, the professor who kicked me out of acting class is just glaring at me, because she can't kick me out of Drama Club. I smile with a nice Kubrick stare to go along with the toothy grin. The best part is, the other people like me in that club. I've been nothing but polite, warm, and friendly to the club members. And they like me too.

I asked the drama club officer who cast me why he did so, and he had nothing but good things to say. He said that I was the right height and build for the role, that I had a good speaking voice. He also noted that I was the only one who got into the character's head while in audition. I was the only one who saw that the character I was reading for was exasperated. And so I voiced him as exasperated. And they quite liked it. Liked it enough to cast me as Lestrade. I'd say that's a win.

Adding even more fun to the situation, the election for next semester's officers in drama club is coming up real soon.

I threw my name into the ring for president, and saw the professor cringe. The officers are democratically elected, not by her. She had the gall to suggest that I wanted to be president just so I could call myself president... The nerve of some folks.

I gave a rousing speech about how Drama Club was like a family, a tribe of our own. That I would maintain devotion and dedication to the cause, and lead the club with integrity and consideration towards every member. It was well received. The only other person running against me was a rather portly gal with a lack of charisma. I don't fault her for being portly though. And I shouldn't underestimate her either. She was vice president this semester. She could very easily move up the ladder.

But on the other hand, I'm only running against one person, and I don't mean to be vain, but I've got good hair, I'm fairly handsome, and I have a way with words.

If I win this thing, I'm gonna run the best damned drama club/cult ever. And it'll rub it in that professor's face that she was wrong, that I am capable of acting, being successful. That I didn't need her lousy class.

And if I become drama club president, it'll be a constant reminder of how she failed me as a teacher, and I succeeded anyway.

The best sort of revenge is the kind where you don't have to do anything morally questionable. Where you just exist, and your existence is like a mill stone around their neck.