critics

Had lunch with Terry Byrne, who is doing a story about the production.

Indian buffet. Yum.

Terry is very nice, but I’m always nervous when I talk to reporters or critics. Afraid that something I say, when printed, will sound absolutely idiotic.

It’s strange being an actor in a small city like Boston, because you can literally bump into a critic just about anywhere: in line at Taco Bell, waiting for a bus, etc. (never in a gym, for some reason: it’s a critic free zone) and they will just give you a review right then and there, while you’re waiting for your vanilla soy latte. It can be quite nerve-wracking. The other day, I bumped into a critic at the ATM. We said hello and started innocently chatting. A grueling play I was in last fall came up in the conversation and he said: “Oh, yes. I saw that production. I thought you guys did a great job…WITH THE SCENERY.”

Yikes.

For fun, I’ve made a cool list of sincere, apres show comments guaranteed to devastate any insecure actor (which is all of us):

1. Oh. You were in that?

2. Your costume was great.

3. You were unbelievabe!

4. You should have been in the audience.

5. Huh. I thought you were wearing make-up.

6. You look taller/thinner/younger on-stage.

and my favorite:

7. Did you mean to do it that way?

-John

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