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James M. Lotito Jr. is almost always the first actor without the script in his hand. It is a point of pride, he said.
So when he wasn’t the first actor to memorize all his lines during his most recent round of rehearsals, he found himself unnerved—and a bit intimidated.
To some extent, that feeling hasn’t gone away since joining the Hampton Theatre Company for its newest production, “An Act of Imagination,” opening Thursday, March 23, at Quogue Community Hall.
“Working with a new company is always difficult at the start,” Mr. Lotito said. “You go through a feeling-out process to see how the people are, what they’re about, how they treat the people they work with on a constant basis, et cetera. The folks here at HTC have been exemplary. It’s rather obvious that they genuinely like what they do. Sometimes, you find crew members or administrators who just phone it in after so many productions. It’s a nice feeling to work with a company who, from the top down, is 100-percent on board with what is going on.
“The piece itself is now entering its final week and a half of rehearsal, and we’re in a very good place,” he continued. “We have a great story to tell. We tell it in a very convincing manner. The story moves along nicely, and, hopefully, keeps everyone guessing until the end. I’m really looking forward to having a go at it.”
Bernard Slade’s circa-1987 whodunit—a departure for the prolific comedic writer—centers on mystery writer Arthur Putnam, portrayed by Matthew Conlon, who has just penned a novel about a married man tangled up in an affair and terrified someone is trying to kill him. The character is semi-autobiographical, but the author denies all accusations of cheating on his own wife, Julia, acted by Rebecca Edana.
It’s a wild ride from the beginning, Ms. Edana said.
“What appears to be a mundane story about a writer husband and his wife quickly unravels into a chaotic mystery,” she said. “What I love about this show are the details. Every sentence has information that feeds the story. If you aren’t really listening, you’ll miss it. We are still finding clues with every rehearsal. Nothing is by accident. There have been lots of ‘a-ha!’ moments for each cast member. When you figure out a new clue in the story, it’s a gift you can’t wait to share with the audience.”
Ms. Edana, a HTC regular, has portrayed her share of tough women, all searching for happiness—from Bella in “Lost in Yonkers” to Clarice Bernstein in “November.” They are strong but flawed, she said, and her biggest challenge is making those flaws real and relatable.
Julia Putnam fits the mold. She is complex, a matriarch who appears to have it all, Ms. Edana said; she greets life with good humor and a warm smile, but questions her life choices.
“‘What is happiness?’ ‘How far is a person willing to go to create the life they want?’—lots of inner turmoil,” she said. “There are many layers to Julia that I can’t wait to share with the audience. My favorite part of this character is working to make her choices seem relatable. Getting the audience to understand why she does what she does. No choice is black and white. People might not make these choices themselves, but you have an understanding of why she lives the way she does.”
Helping the seven-member cast—of both HTC veterans and new blood—forge those connections with their characters is Edward A. Brennan, who offers another dimension as an actor-turned-director.
“I like to think of myself as a director who knows what to say to actors to get them to create multi-dimensional characters, because I have walked in their shoes and know where to lean in to assist,” he said. “I approach this play, as I do all my work, with trying to determine what the author wants to communicate to the audience and how the actors can convey that message. I become intimately aware of the nuances by re-reading the play many times and focusing on a different character with every read. We staged the play slowly and used a good deal of repetition to ensure that each moment was properly explored before we moved on.”
Mr. Lotito said that is the kind of work that he enjoys. He feeds off the repetition, the subtle nuances and the fast pace, and often applies a back story to his character. In this case, it’s Sergeant Burchitt, a police officer with an acute sense for detail, a mystery buff with an inquisitive persona, an honest family man with a friendly face, and a man with a sense of humor who can get down to business, Mr. Lotito said.
“Seems like the world needs a lot more people like that in it right now,” he said, adding, “When you make some choices, the challenge is to make what you’ve decided to incorporate into your character believable. Anybody can go up there and recite lines verbatim, but the real thrill comes in creating something that feels like you’re watching a snippet of everyday life. You don’t feel like you’re watching a play. You can get lost in the element of disbelief. That’s when the actor is doing his job well.”
Some time has passed since the play’s first read-through, when Mr. Lotito felt he didn’t measure up, he said. The other actors were so far along, he said.
“Yes, [I had] a ton of jitters. Yes,” he said. “I still have them to some extent. Boy, are these folks here outstanding. … It just made me want to work twice as hard. But after two weeks, I felt comfortable enough to feel like I was where I was supposed to be. I just hope my castmates feel the same.”
Hampton Theatre Company will open “An Act of Imagination” on Thursday, March 23, at 7 p.m. at Quogue Community Hall, 125 Jessup Avenue, Quogue. Additional performances will be held on Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., through April 9, as well as a 2:30 p.m. matinée on Saturday, April 8, Tickets are $30, $25 for seniors except Saturday nights, $15 for under age 35 and $10 for students under age 21. For more information, visit hamptontheatre.org.
on Mar 21, 2017