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#Backstage: How James Lecesne Gives Life To His Characters in “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey”

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I’ve written about my friend James Lecesne‘s new show The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelky here before when it was in a limited run. Now it’s a hit. It’s an adaptation of his “Young Adult” novel Absolute Brightness — a story, full of funny, familiar residents of a small Jersey town and the disappearance of a memorable (apparently gay) teen. These people unravel the story of Leonard, an optimistic and flamboyant 14 year-old boy, whose magic is only truly felt once he is missing. Leonard inspires the town as they question what people leave behind when they are gone. For the this production, James got rid of a few some characters from the book and added some others. He says;

“It has to be varied, to keep people’s interest for 75 minutes. You can’t have too many people in the hair salon, right?”

I do know James outside of the theater (he created the character of Trevor that inspired the LGBT teen suicide hotline The Trevor Project, among other things.) I’ve seen this remarkable show too (it is a GREAT night in the theater, I swear) so it’s fascinating to me how he really BECOMES these people. It’s, of course, on a nearly bare stage, almost completely devoid of props and no costume change or makeup. It’s “Just James” – to coin a phrase. But that makes it more amazing because after the first two minutes, you forget about James and are engrossed in this moving and funny story – and these 9 people, who keep appearing, disappearing and reappearing – like magic.

Peter Hapak shot these great photos (made better by being in black and white) for New York magazine and James told Boris Kachka how he “accesses” these people in his head. The voices and gestures

“to encourage people to think about the uniqueness of each human being.”

The accents and peculiar movements that separate a detective from hairdresser from mob wife. They all come from James’s life. His life in Has­brouck Heights, summers at the Jersey shore and a part in a play full of Germans…

“I hear them speaking and then I work back.”

If you are in New York, you can see this production. If not, when it tours, I’ll keep you updated. James will be living with these 9 people to tell Leonard’s story as he said to me, “for the next few years”, so if you’re lucky, you might get a chance to meet them –and him– in the flesh. In the meantime, there are these pictures and the insight into how he plays them below. The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey is playing at the Westside Theatre through October 4. Ticket info here.

Chuck DeSantis: "He’s a small-town detective, one of the good guys — my straight alter ego. Chuck’s center of gravity is so different from mine. Mine tends to be forward, but his is more grounded. More pelvic. And very matter-of-fact, so he’s always up front about his presentation. He doesn’t use extraneous gestures.”

Chuck DeSantis: “He’s a small-town detective, one of the good guys — my straight alter ego. Chuck’s center of gravity is so different from mine. Mine tends to be forward, but his is more grounded. More pelvic. And very matter-of-fact, so he’s always up front about his presentation. He doesn’t use extraneous gestures.”

Marty Branahan: "Chuck’s cop partner. So New Jersey — a brash kind of working guy that I knew well growing up. He has a very wide stance, which allows me to give the impression of somebody much larger — I try to take up as much space as possible. He has a tendency to flail with his arms, and his head is a little loose on his shoulders.”

Marty Branahan: “Chuck’s cop partner. So New Jersey — a brash kind of working guy that I knew well growing up. He has a very wide stance, which allows me to give the impression of somebody much larger — I try to take up as much space as possible. He has a tendency to flail with his arms, and his head is a little loose on his shoulders.”

Otto Beckerman: "German, early 70s; he runs the local clock shop. I did [Doug Wright’s] I Am My Own Wife, which has 37 characters, more than half German, but I’ve never had a dialect coach — I’m sure it’s all wrong. He’s probably six inches shorter than I am, almost like he’s weighed down by his past. He has a tremor in one hand, which is how I stay in touch with him.”

Otto Beckerman: “German, early 70s; he runs the local clock shop. I did [Doug Wright’s] I Am My Own Wife, which has 37 characters, more than half German, but I’ve never had a dialect coach — I’m sure it’s all wrong. He’s probably six inches shorter than I am, almost like he’s weighed down by his past. He has a tremor in one hand, which is how I stay in touch with him.”

Ellen Hertle: "Early 40s. She runs the local beauty salon, a small-town Liz Taylor, with something messy about her. I get up on my toes, my way of being in heels — a little unstable. Something I learned from a Kabuki performer who plays women: A woman’s hips are wider than her shoulders, so as a man, you present hips forward, torso slightly tilted to one side.”

Ellen Hertle: “Early 40s. She runs the local beauty salon, a small-town Liz Taylor, with something messy about her. I get up on my toes, my way of being in heels — a little unstable. Something I learned from a Kabuki performer who plays women: A woman’s hips are wider than her shoulders, so as a man, you present hips forward, torso slightly tilted to one side.”

Phoebe Hertle: "She’s 16 — a really smart teenager faced with an adult problem. She’s incredibly self-conscious, yet she wants to be seen, so she’s fighting this desire to hide. She has an inner motor that is acting against these exterior gestures of, basically, ‘Oh my God, my hair, my socks.’ She’s always pulling at her socks. Her gestures are literally close to the vest.”

Phoebe Hertle: “She’s 16 — a really smart teenager faced with an adult problem. She’s incredibly self-conscious, yet she wants to be seen, so she’s fighting this desire to hide. She has an inner motor that is acting against these exterior gestures of, basically, ‘Oh my God, my hair, my socks.’ She’s always pulling at her socks. Her gestures are literally close to the vest.”

Travis Lembeck: "He’s 19; he’s troubled. He’s playing a video game, and he has longish hair, so he has a tic of whipping it out of his eyes. He tends to talk out of the side of his mouth — a physical manifestation of never telling the exact truth. When he’s standing, he has his hands in his back pockets, like having something behind your back, a secret.”

Travis Lembeck: “He’s 19; he’s troubled. He’s playing a video game, and he has longish hair, so he has a tic of whipping it out of his eyes. He tends to talk out of the side of his mouth — a physical manifestation of never telling the exact truth. When he’s standing, he has his hands in his back pockets, like having something behind your back, a secret.”

Buddy Howard: "“He is the leader of the Buddy Howard School of Drama and Dance. He has a posh accent but also a strange, distinctive lisp. So it would be hard to imagine him as a successful actor at home in England, but in New Jersey, he’s found a way. He’s filled with florid physical gestures. Everyone assumes he’s gay, but then he introduces his wife. That’s just his affect.”

Buddy Howard: ““He is the leader of the Buddy Howard School of Drama and Dance. He has a posh accent but also a strange, distinctive lisp. So it would be hard to imagine him as a successful actor at home in England, but in New Jersey, he’s found a way. He’s filled with florid physical gestures. Everyone assumes he’s gay, but then he introduces his wife. That’s just his affect.”

Gloria Salzano: “She’s the widow of a mobster — she’s seen a lot of evil. There’s a pursed thing to her mouth, as if she doesn’t want the wrong thing to slip out. She’s lonely, and the binoculars indicate her desire to look outside her life. Her eyes are very wide, and for me that’s the thing about her. I grew up with those women — intuitively smart but intellectually not so much.”

Gloria Salzano: “She’s the widow of a mobster — she’s seen a lot of evil. There’s a pursed thing to her mouth, as if she doesn’t want the wrong thing to slip out. She’s lonely, and the binoculars indicate her desire to look outside her life. Her eyes are very wide, and for me that’s the thing about her. I grew up with those women — intuitively smart but intellectually not so much.”

Marion Tochterman: "She’s in her late 60s, lifelong smoker, probably had her heyday back in the ’80s. There’s a trick to doing her rasp so that you don’t destroy your voice, mostly in my facial mask. So much of Marion happens in the lower part of her face. Repositioning my jaw, pushing it a little forward, that creates her kind of old-lady neck.”

Marion Tochterman: “She’s in her late 60s, lifelong smoker, probably had her heyday back in the ’80s. There’s a trick to doing her rasp so that you don’t destroy your voice, mostly in my facial mask. So much of Marion happens in the lower part of her face. Repositioning my jaw, pushing it a little forward, that creates her kind of old-lady neck.”

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(Photos, Peter Hapak ;via Vulture)

The post #Backstage: How James Lecesne Gives Life To His Characters in “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey” appeared first on World of Wonder.


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