CIC: So Dave you are currently Directing Mr. Marmalade for CIC. It is your second CIC main stage show to direct. Tell us how you like Directing:
Dave: How do I like directing? Served cold with a side of snark. No, I’m kidding.
Of all the things I do as an artist, directing is my passion. There’s a balance that I have to find between having answers, asking the right questions and being open to change. A good director starts with a vision and tries to bring the show to a place that reflects that vision. However, that vision always morphs in the process. You cast the show and things may change. You work with each actors perception of their own characters, add in the influence of designers, even budget and you wind up with something else. Every individual involved helps to shape that vision into what the piece will eventually become.
I know there are many directors who will break their backs to make every element fall into place just the way they want it. I don’t work like that. I enjoy the ensemble too much. Theatre is an ensemble based art form. That’s what I love the most. It’s creation and evolution at it’s best.
CIC:You also play music, tell us a bit about Dead Beat Daddy?
Dave: Dead Beat Daddy is just a group of folks that got together as an improv ensemble and, on account of our backgrounds developed into a band. Unfortunately, we’re a little out of practice right now. I took a hiatus to direct Marmalade and other members have things going on with IO and the Playground. Hopefully, come April, we will get back into the basement and get things going. Keep your eyes and ears open.
CIC: You have been a company member with CIC for 3 years now, just recently became a Resident Artist, tell us about your first improv set with CIC?
Dave: I’ve had the good fortune of working with a few different companies and studying with great people. In the past few years CIC has become home. I like the vibe and the vision of the company. It’s good people doing good work. CIC has given me a great number of opportunities. I appreciate that, and I hope to be a part of the company for a long time. I love the fact that I have a place to exercise my strengths as a director and actor and learn from great talents about improv, sketch and… No, I’ll never do stand up. But the fact is, any artist that wants to brave the world of comedy can do it here. I like that.
CIC: What is the most important part of being a good Director, Actor, and Improviser?
Dave: The most important part of being a good artist is openness. I believe that applies to each of those. There is a theory I studied recently about servant leadership. That, in my opinion is what is most important about being a director. Can you lead and serve at the same time? If you can maintain a vision while being open to nurturing and encouraging others to find their own path, and make their own decisions, you are miles ahead of most. As an actor, there is nothing more important than understanding the difference between my own personal moment and the audience’s moment. It doesn’t matter how connected I am to the scene if the audience doesn’t feel the same connection. Sure, it’s great if I’m all invested and feeling. However, if it doesn’t translate, I’ve failed. I have to feel it and live in the moment but I also have the responsibility to the audience to let them in. There is an expression that has trickled down through generations, so I can’t sight the source… “It doesn’t matter if you’re having a moment. It matters that THEY are having a moment.” By the way, I think it is much harder to do that in comedy than drama. I by no means consider myself a comedian and am blown away by all those artists that can bring that to an audience through comedy.
OK, improviser… Y’know? Improvising is acting. Improvising is directing. Improvising is designing. It is doing all the things we strive to accomplish in the theatre with no resources. Oh yeah, AND it’s supposed to be funny. It’s the hardest thing in the world and I fail more often than I succeed. I love it and I hope I never stop. I want to be that stubborn 65 year old that won’t get off the fucking stage.
CIC: You are also a father, tell us about your son.
Dave: He’s an idiot. He can barely put a sentence together and he soils himself three or four times a day. OK, he’s not an idiot. He’s a toddler. Again, I kid.
My son makes me want to play. Thank God. Here’s some unsolicited advice to anyone who might be reading. Play a little. It will do you some good.
