Memory 6 "The Fans of Neverwhere" A huge Thank you to the fans...
When I signed onto doing this show, my first concern was how am I going to do this role?! The dialect was intimidating, the stage combat was mountains away from me, and also how am I gonna keep up with all these other incredible brilliant artists beside me? So as you see loads of things to start with. And then I began to research and read Neverwhere and got completely lost in its world of magic and power. After telling my friends and other fellow artists that I was involved with this production, I soon began to realize that not only does Neverwhere have a huge following, but Neil himself has a huge following, and that since I'm playing Hunter, I not only have all the other things on my plate, I felt a huge responsibility and fear of meeting the expectations of the fans. I realize that with many novel-to-stage/novel-to-movie adaptations, the subject is so very sensitive and prickly for people in such an inexplicable way; so I had to brace myself in very different way. Unlike a lot of friends, I was very new to this world, only coming into it once I was cast in the role. However once I jumped in it, there was no going back, but would that mean I would still be accepted by the many many devoted followers?
Okay so were are few days from opening and there is still that little fear of will I be the Hunter that captivated myself and so many others before me? I'm headed to my car after one of our last rehearsals that night and I'm pulled aside by my assistant director, Natasha. She quietly asks me what was different about tonight. I told her that something was different I didnt know what. "...tonight you were the Hunter I always imagined in my mind when I read Neverwhere" she tells me. That made my night and week. To already feel like I was on the road to something as great as Hunter. And getting that before we opened gave me such confidence to push and work towards making her even better and more clear in my mind.
And then we finally opened. Of course performing for my family is one of the biggest honors I can have, nothing like seeing, hearing, and feeling their love support and energy out there, while they cheer you on.
But performing for the fans....NOTHING beats performing for the fans! I remember right after we opened, Neil shared a couple of production photos of me as Hunter and told fans to check out the show on Facebook. One was the day before my birthday. What a gift! Best gift ever! I woke up to over 300 shares of the photos, thousands of comments about how much people loved the photo of me, how much I looked exactly like the Hunter they envisioned, how much they wanted to see it! And one was after he had seen the show and shared it on Tumblr. Again more comments and shares and feedback that I never thought was come my way from playing this role! I was definitely soaring! To get such incredible feedback from the fans! Unbelievable!
Then of course there were so many beautiful moments where people came to see the show just because they were fans, and stayed after the show to talk to me and share their love for the work we've done or to just geek out about the show. Nothing beats performing for the devoted enthusiastic. It was such an honor to feel like I did Hunter justice in their minds and hearts, and then be able to meet and connect with some (sadly not all) of the people who came was amazing! Again, a huge thank you to the fans who supported us in the run of this production. You all took this experience to a new level.
Here are a few photos of some memorable nights when the fans showed up and stayed to chat after the show
Top to bottom (all pictured with Serpentine, my staff :)
* I met these two lovely ladies Tosca (left) and Nicole (right) in our last week of the run. Tosca and Nicole are both writer/director/actors as well as huge Gaiman fans. Tosca had already seen the show but insisted on seeing it again so she brought Nicole. I felt an instant connections with these awesome ladies. We sat and joked and geeked out about the show, and art, and Neil. It was great, especially because I made a great artistic connection, looking forward to working with them
* About halfway into the run I met Isaac and Anna. They were huge huge fans, stayed about 30 minutes after the show just to speak to me! It was so touching, not to mention that was my first autograph as Hunter. It was rad! We connected about the most random and interesting things, we ended up closing the theater that night we stayed so late! Again always so amazing to meet strangers who have so much in common and connect. We still email each other too! :)
* After our first weekend I stopped over at the faculty bar, for a beer and met Trevor (left). He told me how huge of fan he was, that he even auditioned for the show, and that he totally had plans to see it. After he finally came to see the show, he gave me a signed unproofed copy of Neverwhere! "I was so impressed, and I thought it only appropriate that Hunter have a special piece of Neverwhere..." he said... Freaking rad right?!!
*My little sister Stella and my brother in law Brandon came to see the show about halfway into the run. They halfway flipped out, I could hear their laughs and reactions, not just to me but everything. She's a huge Gaiman fans, so geekin out with her afterwards was the best. Her favorite part of the show : Marquis de Carabas (Jonathan Kells Phillips) and rightfully so, the guys' got swagger!
*It's always awesome finding flyers for your show in a place you usually go to (i.e. local bar) but you didn't put them there...:) and more importantly you know none of the other castmates did either :)
* These lovely ladies came all the way from the Inland empire just to see the show with their English lit teacher! Definite geeking out there! :)