Category: Theater

American Buffalo is “Profane Poetry”

 “Loyalty is fine, but this is business.”
-Walter “Teach” Cole, American Buffalo
americanbuffalofirstimage
source: digitalspy.co.uk

I LOVE Theater. There is simply nothing that can beat LIVE stage acting for me… I LOVE sitting as in the front as possible and immerse myself in the play in the most intimate way possible. The energy actors put into acting every single day for weeks — and twice a day on Wednesdays and Saturdays, at least on Broadway — is beyond admirable!

I am sure everyone has her special way of enjoying a play, and mine is knowing as much as possible about the play before I go and see it for the BEST theater experience. I don’t want to concentrate on understanding the play once I take my seat; instead, I want to know “what’s going on” beforehand, and so I can just sit back, relax and SAVOUR the experience. Even for plays that I have read or seen before on stage or in film, I love to refresh my memory about the plot, characters and conversations before I go and take my seat in the theater. Continue reading “American Buffalo is “Profane Poetry””

Throwback Thursday with Hamlet on Broadway

As Damian Lewis is preparing for a wonderful comeback to stage this spring in David Mamet’s modern classic American Buffalo… I thought it would be cool to travel back in time and visit some earlier stage work Damian did. We may start with Hamlet which Damian calls a “growing up, coming of age experience ” in his career.

source: tumblr.com
source: tumblr.com

Damian Lewis did his Broadway debut in Hamlet, and played Laertes to Ralph Fiennes’ Hamlet in 1995. The Almeida Theatre production was staged first at Hackney Empire in March 1995, and after its successful run in London, it came to Broadway in the summer of 1995 — OMG, yes, exactly twenty years ago! Continue reading “Throwback Thursday with Hamlet on Broadway”

From Blue-Collar “Teach” to One-Percent “Axe”

source: londontheatre1.com
source: londontheatre1.com

American Dream… It’s a cliché, isn’t it? But, as an immigrant to America, I know that it is real.

I came to the US as a young graduate student — a good research university saw some potential in me, I think, that they gave me a stipend for several years plus subsidized housing. And, with real hard work, and a little bit of luck, I made it here — I can actually say that I am living the American Dream… However, I am well aware that hard work does not necessarily make you reach your dreams… There are millions of people that are nowhere close to their dreams despite hard work and right choices… And then, on the opposite side of the socioeconomic spectrum, we have the “one percent” that has REALLY made it… And, some of them, unfortunately, even have a hand in hindering others from reaching their dreams, and sometimes, in shattering these dreams altogether. Continue reading “From Blue-Collar “Teach” to One-Percent “Axe””

Throwback Thursday Into the Woods

Well… Way earlier than being the big, bad wolf inWolf Hall, Damian Lewis was the Wolf in Into the Woods.

Damian was cast as the Wolf/Cinderella’s Prince in the 1998 London revival of Into the Woods, one of Stephen Sondheim’s greatest musicals. The revival opened at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 November 1998, and closed on 13 February 1999.

Here is a lovely pic along with his theater, TV and film credits from the 1998 London Playbill for the musical.

source: ebay.ca
source: ebay.ca

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday Into the Woods”

On the Horizon: American Buffalo

“There is business, and there is friendship…”

-Don Dubrow, American Buffalo 

source: londontheatre1.com
source: londontheatre1.com

Damian Lewis is making a wonderful comeback to stage in the West End revival of David Mamet’s American Buffalo this spring. He is headlining the play as Walter Cole “Teach” along with the great John Goodman as Don Dubrow, and Tom Sturridge as Bobby. Daniel Evans, whom Damian Lewis trained together with at Guildhall School of Music and Drama is directing the play.

Damian tells Guardian about how the stars aligned for American Buffalo: “I’ve tried about three or four times in the last couple of years and things have fallen apart. With theatre, you have to plan almost a year in advance. But we got lucky – a theatre was available.”

Continue reading “On the Horizon: American Buffalo”