Wednesday, March 07, 2007

All about Billy...



Due to a lack of info on Ms Ehle, this is a Billy Crudup related post!

Firstly is the news that the brilliant Mr C was unwell on Saturday and so was unable to take part in Marathon Numero Deux. His grateful yet understandably trepidacious understudy, Scott Parkinson, gives a moving account on the LCT site of what Saturday March 3rd was like for him. By the sound of it he did a fantastic job given the somewhat impromptu circumstances, and although I wasn't there, I have no doubt that he did. So bravo Mr Parkinson.

As promised, here is the link to Mr C's ATW Downstage Center radio interview. It is a very interesting interview, but in case you don't have time to listen to the full 49 minutes and 34 seconds, here are some excerpts:

On the character of Belinsky, he says:
[...] he is the only one of the group who is not privileged, and he finds his way into the group by sheer force of will and intelligence and rudeness [...]
Meanwhile, socializing with the real Belinsky appears to have been a barrel of laughs:
[...] there were stories about parties he would absolutely ruin by pontificating in the middle, and tearing everybody to shreds for supporting a system that left Russia centuries behind the ever-evolving Europe [...]
Mr Crudup also explains what attracted him to the role:

The first thing was the writing. Tom is one of the pre-eminent playwrights of our time...

There were sentimental reasons for me too - Lincoln Center was where I got my start with Arcadia and with Tom Stoppard...and I'd been wanting to work with Jack O'Brien for some time...

Belinsky was a role I just couldn't turn down. [...]

He also talks in length about his transition from 'goofball' and 'class clown' to Broadway star. Included is a story about fluffing up his first Arcadia audition and then being fired from a film in California, before everything turned out for the better and he landed the play after a second audition. I implore you to take a listen. Its gripping stuff.

And to put the cherry on top of the metaphorical cake, guess who is next to be interviewed for Downstage Center? ...... Ms Amy Irving!!!

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

I must say, Belinsky is one of my favorite characters in this trilogy. The earnestness, the true passion for philosophy, the HAIR...I talked to Billy Crudup after the show and told him he should win a Tony for "best hair"...competing with two guys (Moritz & Georg) from 'Spring Awakening', who have awesome hair as well. Billy loved the idea; pointing to his photo at the stage door, "Look at that poor guy!" He said the hair style was inspired by an actual photo of Belinsky. Neat!