First Equus review!!!!!!! - Casting Dan

[artsylynda at aol.com]

>>Yes, absolutely; I read that too, but it  went one step
farther than that. Peter Schaffer wasn't to eager to 
have  the play revived. I had been turning down 
production offers for decades.  Finally he was convinced
to allow the play to be produced again, but on  one
condition, he got first approval for the actor playing
Alan  Strang.

What that means is that Dan did not get this role 
because he  was friends with other actors or because
he was Harry Potter. Dan auditioned  for the author of
the play, an author who had denied many other  attempts
at producing the play, and he was chosen by the author
as being  capable of pulling it off. 

The author wasn't just present during the  audition, he
had full and exclusive approval of the actor. Keep in 
mind  this was TWO years ago. Dan has certainly grown
as an actor and as a person  during that time, so that
must have been one amazing audition.

A lot  of people complain that Dan and the other actors
are a bit 'wooden' in the HP  preformances. I am quick
to point out to them that the actors can never  be
better than what they are given to work with. <<
 
Steve, thanks for posting this and the links to the  discussion of the play!  
I don't know that much about legitimate theater,  so reading your comments 
was most enlightening.  One of the people who  reviewed the play in that 
discussion forum said even Peter Shaffer joined the  standing ovation at the end!

Those of you who've been on this board a while know that I have ALWAYS  said 
Dan's got the makings of a great actor.  I blame the directors and the  
scripts for his not being able to show his range in the HP films (although  he 
showed a much broader range of emotion in GoF).  Since he's been  preparing for 
"Equus" for 18 months, perhaps (hopefully!) the training he's had  for that will 
shine through in OotP!  We can only hope!!  The stills  I've seen from OotP 
show a tremendous amount of emotion in his expressions,  which are much less 
broadly played than in the early films.  I sure wish I  could see him in "Equus" 
- it sounds like an amazing experience.  Perhaps  it will come to Broadway 
between the filming of HBP and Deathly Hallows and  MAYBE I'll be able to see it 
then!  
 
Hope springs eternal and all that. . .
 

Lynda AKA "Abraxan"

My blog: _www.abraxan.blogspot.com_ (http://www.abraxan.blogspot.com/)   
Read my Harry Potter fics here: 
_http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPRefinersFire/_ (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPRefinersFire/)   




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