Falling down the 39 Steps

I'm back in Boston today, first of all because we are performing here tomorrow, which I'm sure will go very well, but also because we had to read the Math show for Spring this morning. Yep. We actually read that piece of crap out loud. Let me be clear about this--my opinion of the Math show (entitled Mathematika--see, the crap starts at the very beginning...) has nothing to do with the fact that the reading of it has kept me from being able to make it into NYC to attempt to get seen for "The 39 Steps" national tour. I understand that the 39 Steps tour would have been a long shot just to be seen, much less cast, so I can't blame the show for me not being there. I blame Spring for rushing this show to the fall tour without ever having heard it. Hell, the script wasn't even done until a week ago, and they've been marketing this thing since the end of the last tour. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. I insist my analysis of this show is based on the merits (or lack thereof) of the show itself, and not the fact its existence and the apparent lack of forethought on the part of our producer has kept me from even the slimmest chance of perhaps having something positive happen for my career. If I sound bitter, it's only because I happen to be. It's yet another indication to me that this concept of being accommodating and forthright in your dealings does nothing but screw you over. I sign a contract and I do everything I can to live up to my end of it. I give myself totally to the job I have, understanding that it comes first, since I have given my word by signing that contract that the job WILL come first. I rarely, if ever, ask for any kind of special consideration or flexibility on the part of the job, and if there is  conflict, I do everything I can to bend over backward so that the conflict impacts the people I'm working for as little as is humanly possible. And the one time, the ONE time that something comes up that might be a huge thing, or at the very least, a hell of an opportunity to at least get seen by a NY casting director and maybe make an impression for the future--an opportunity that, I might add, was happening on a day off, so it would impact my job as little as was humanly possible, what happens? I get screwed out of it so that instead I can sit around a conference table and kill two hours of my life reading a piece of shit script that I can honestly say I could have vomited something better. I really wish i didn't give a shit. I really wish I could just put this behind me and say, "hey, I had a lovely day hanging out in Boston after the reading--it was like a fourth day off." I wish i could be gracious about this whole thing and understand that this is the way the business is (and I do) and that this all happened for a reason. Usually, I turn up my nose at such an idea, but I firmly believe that this DID happen for a reason. And that reason is, people who aren't selfish get shat on. It's a law of the universe--like gravity. I truly wish that I could be the kind of guy who cares about nothing but his own career and is willing to do whatever it takes to advance it, including blowing off a stupid script reading of a horrible show in order to try to get a job that could actually DO something for his career. It seems to me that those people somehow end up doing far better than those of us who try to be loyal and upfront and straightforward in their dealings with other people, and personally, I am sick of it.

It would be easier to take if the show wasn't such a complete waste of pulp. This is a math show for middle and high school aged kids. Now, the first problem with the show is that it doesn't actually teach any math skills. Not a single one, other than going over the order of steps with which to solve an equation. The rest of the hour or so long show is dedicated to discussing the theory of mathematics and the underlying mathematical nature of reality. We discuss probability theory, number theory, prime factorization, and number sequences that represent the basic nature of the universe itself. This is designed to fire children's imaginations about how cool mathematics actually is. The problem is that these concepts are so far over the heads of the age groups we're shooting for that there's no way they're going to be inspired, just confused, especially since these high-minded concepts are not explained very fully, nor are they tied to any concrete practical applications, making it nothing but an abstract thought experiment. Now, I am all for challenging kids to think at the top of their range, but our cast couldn't follow the explanations very well, and while I will admit that actors are not the best judges of math, as adults, we should at least be able to follow an explanation designed for a 12 year old. PLus, schools are less interested in what it is that underlies the nature of reality and more what is going to improve test scores. And to be honest, I think most kids are going to be more interested in that as well. Not just because we need to teach to the tests, which i despise, but because of the fact that without some way of seeing how this stuff connects to our lives, kids are less likely to become inspired by his because they can't really get their heads around it. Add to that the fact that the story revolves around a kid who doesn't see what math has to do with real life who is visited by Einstein and other dead mathematicians who do NOTHING to actually tie math to her real life, and you see the problem with the message. And then there's the writing. The actual speaking about math is usually done in big chunks of monologues by the mathematicians which comes off as dry and lecturey, sure to inspire and amaze. And then the dialogue--the character interplay between the mathematicians and the girl, and the mathematicians and each other, is completely inappropriate for kids. There is no school administrator I know at the middle school level who is going to think that making a coming out of the closet joke is okay. Nor, while describing a pineapple as a majestic fruit, having an effeminate male character get offended by that term, pass muster either. It's stupid. I don't think there's anything wrong with that kind of humor, eve in a kid's show, but I do know school administrators and PTO moms, and they will swallow their tongues. This show is not well-written, it doesn't do what it sets out to do, it does what it does badly and in a boring, dull way, and whatever IS decent about it will have to be removed, so in the end we are left with a bunch of unclear abstract babbling that will end up boring and confusing the kids into hating math even more than they do now. And for this I passed up the chance to maybe get seen for a national tour. I would've preferred sitting in a non-equity lounge the whole day. Oy. End of rant. Just the end.