 |
| Julia Spina-Kilar and Ross Grossman do battle as Cassie and Glenn Cooper |
Politicians
are always at the top of the list of the most hated, least trusted professions. So playing a politician and making him
likeable is a challenge for any actor.
In Rumors, Ross Grossman of Farmington Hills plays Glenn Cooper, a local politician who is
running for New York State Senator. His
wife Cassie Cooper, played by Julia Spina-Kilar, is unimpressed by his politician
aspirations (Albany is not exactly Washington, DC), and the two feud constantly
throughout the show.
Ross
was attracted to this role mainly because of the husband-wife dynamic, saying, “it's
not about what Glenn does for a living that I relate to, but the passion he has
with his wife, whether the good kind (romance) or the misbehaving kind they
show when they bicker. Despite all the
other shenanigans, the passion (both good and bad) is so real and earnest and
what people have in real life. With your
husband or wife, you know exactly where the buttons are, even if you choose not
to push them. Glenn and Cassie push
those buttons, AND with the passion of a marital spat – out in public.”
The fact that Julia and Ross are good friends adds to the realism of
their stage marriage, and Ross hopes “that genuine affection will play into the
roles as a married couple. Because as
much as they bicker, there is a strong attraction in their passion for life and
each other.”
Offstage,
Ross works as a school psychologist, so it’s natural that he analyzes his
character Glenn: “I suspect Glenn represents those among us who want to believe
what is in front of them, mixed with his adept ease of trying to slide out of
danger. Glenn is not the brightest
character of this lot, and he makes a lot of sincere but silly assumptions -- I'd
like to think I'm a lot cleverer than him. The challenge is to play those
assumptions as genuinely as possible, without looking like the village idiot,
compared to his quick and witty friends.”
Ross
is especially attracted to the farce genre because “what makes farce funny is
the characters taking themselves seriously, but in outrageous situations. Not
just something that COULD happen, but more likely something that would never
happen, due to the insane number of unlikely situations, plot twists, and incomprehensible
choices that the characters make. For
me, it is a challenge for a character to take themselves as serious as in a
drama, but in these absurd, outlandish situations, where their dedication to
making bad decisions and interesting choices spin out of control, and make us
all feel better about our own lives.”
The
Farmington Players' production of Rumors
runs through May 17th and is proudly sponsored by TruVista Wealth
Advisors. Tickets can be purchased
online at www.farmingtonplayers.org or by calling the box office at
248-553-2955.
No comments:
Post a Comment