Post by caitlen on Jul 24, 2009 10:40:00 GMT -5
Excerpted:
STAGE TO SCREENS: "30 Rock" Director-Producer Don Scardino, Plus
By Michael Buckley
28 Jun 2009
This month, we talk to veteran stage actor and director Don Scardino (Godspell, The King of Hearts), one of the helmsmen of "30 Rock."
Episodes of "30 Rock," NBC's hit sitcom, which was created by and stars Tina Fey, are often enhanced by New York stage actors' guest turns. Discussing this event of turns, among other topics, is a co-producer and frequent director of the show, Don Scardino.
The former actor spent 25 years on the boards and opposite side of the camera. On Broadway, he's played a few good roles and directed Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men, the 1989 Broadway drama that preceded a Kennedy Center break-in engagement with a tryout at the University of Virginia.
Does he find a difference in directing stage actors? "Absolutely! They come in knowing their lines. On Alan Alda's first day, he had some of his biggest scenes. He had every word down perfectly. Alan was grateful for, and ready to accept, any direction. He's a thorough professional."
With non-professional guests, Scardino claims, "It's about putting them at ease. When we had Al Gore, he knew his lines and was ready to work. I stood by the camera, and tried to relieve any tension about being on the set. I'd say, 'Let's do it again, let's do it this way.' By the end, he was coming up with his own ideas for bits."
Exteriors are shot mostly in Manhattan's Rockefeller Plaza; interiors, at Queens' Silvercup Studios, a former bread factory. "I grew up in Queens," explains Scardino, "and, on Sunday evenings, my parents would drive my brother and me past the factory. We could smell the week's supply of bread baking. I always connected the 59th Street Bridge with that scent." He laughs. "Who woulda thunk, years later, I'd be there, directing and producing a hit TV show?"
Many believe that former actors make the best directors. Does Scardino?
"Yes, because I am one." He laughs. "I can speak to actors in their terms. Knowing I was an actor, they relax. You can have the best shot in the world — but, at the center of it, you still need a good performance.
"Directors can manipulate actors, but I have total faith in them." Scardino's low-key, easygoing temperament allows him to overlook occasional outbursts. "Having been an actor, I take that with a great grain of salt. As an actor, I was a pain in the butt.
"We ask actors to come to work ready to open a vein, to be emotionally thin-skinned. If someone screams, 'What about my coffee?' — it's not about the coffee; it's because they're working in an emotional state. It ain't easy being an actor."
Do actors and directors read scripts differently? "Yes. An actor reads from the subjective perspective; a director, from the objective."
Scardino rarely relies on others' opinions of actors.
"When I directed Lesley Ann Warren in '27 Wagons Full of Cotton,' I was warned, 'You don't want her. She asks so many questions.' I said, 'That's the kind of actor I want.' She was phenomenal! It's the same with Vincent D'Onofrio," the star of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," with whom Scardino's often worked.
Full Article:
www.playbill.com/features/article/130546-STAGE_TO_SCREENS_30_Rock_Director-Producer_Don_Scardino_Plus_a_Peek_at_Fall_TV/all
STAGE TO SCREENS: "30 Rock" Director-Producer Don Scardino, Plus
By Michael Buckley
28 Jun 2009
This month, we talk to veteran stage actor and director Don Scardino (Godspell, The King of Hearts), one of the helmsmen of "30 Rock."
Episodes of "30 Rock," NBC's hit sitcom, which was created by and stars Tina Fey, are often enhanced by New York stage actors' guest turns. Discussing this event of turns, among other topics, is a co-producer and frequent director of the show, Don Scardino.
The former actor spent 25 years on the boards and opposite side of the camera. On Broadway, he's played a few good roles and directed Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men, the 1989 Broadway drama that preceded a Kennedy Center break-in engagement with a tryout at the University of Virginia.
Does he find a difference in directing stage actors? "Absolutely! They come in knowing their lines. On Alan Alda's first day, he had some of his biggest scenes. He had every word down perfectly. Alan was grateful for, and ready to accept, any direction. He's a thorough professional."
With non-professional guests, Scardino claims, "It's about putting them at ease. When we had Al Gore, he knew his lines and was ready to work. I stood by the camera, and tried to relieve any tension about being on the set. I'd say, 'Let's do it again, let's do it this way.' By the end, he was coming up with his own ideas for bits."
Exteriors are shot mostly in Manhattan's Rockefeller Plaza; interiors, at Queens' Silvercup Studios, a former bread factory. "I grew up in Queens," explains Scardino, "and, on Sunday evenings, my parents would drive my brother and me past the factory. We could smell the week's supply of bread baking. I always connected the 59th Street Bridge with that scent." He laughs. "Who woulda thunk, years later, I'd be there, directing and producing a hit TV show?"
Many believe that former actors make the best directors. Does Scardino?
"Yes, because I am one." He laughs. "I can speak to actors in their terms. Knowing I was an actor, they relax. You can have the best shot in the world — but, at the center of it, you still need a good performance.
"Directors can manipulate actors, but I have total faith in them." Scardino's low-key, easygoing temperament allows him to overlook occasional outbursts. "Having been an actor, I take that with a great grain of salt. As an actor, I was a pain in the butt.
"We ask actors to come to work ready to open a vein, to be emotionally thin-skinned. If someone screams, 'What about my coffee?' — it's not about the coffee; it's because they're working in an emotional state. It ain't easy being an actor."
Do actors and directors read scripts differently? "Yes. An actor reads from the subjective perspective; a director, from the objective."
Scardino rarely relies on others' opinions of actors.
"When I directed Lesley Ann Warren in '27 Wagons Full of Cotton,' I was warned, 'You don't want her. She asks so many questions.' I said, 'That's the kind of actor I want.' She was phenomenal! It's the same with Vincent D'Onofrio," the star of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," with whom Scardino's often worked.
Full Article:
www.playbill.com/features/article/130546-STAGE_TO_SCREENS_30_Rock_Director-Producer_Don_Scardino_Plus_a_Peek_at_Fall_TV/all