ActorQuest - Kristin Huffman Goes Inside 'Company' 9

In November, Kristin Huffman made her Broadway debut as Sarah (flute, piccolo and sax) in John Doyle's production of Company.  The actress, with a new series of tales that go inside the making of Company from an actor's perspective, starting at the Cincinnati Playhouse and on to New York, continues her stories about a 15-year career that has led her to the door of the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

This is the ninth story that I wrote while we were in the midst of the "making of Company" at Cincinnati Playhouse before we moved to Broadway.  If you haven't read the others, go back and do so and then rejoin us here!

SCENE NINE: THE ACTOR WHISPERER

He's leaving us.  John Doyle is going home to London and we are all feeling the effects.  Normally, directors do not stay past the opening of the show and so it's not a real surprise to any of us but we will miss him profoundly.  I have now dubbed him the "Actor Whisperer" based on the idea of the book and movie Horse Whisperer. . 

Like that man who 'whispers' to horses to get those strong, sometimes willful beasts to calm down and do what they are supposed to do, John "whispers" to strong-willed, sometimes nervous actors to get us to do his bidding.  We are herd animals and need a little nudging to go in a certain direction.  Often directors yell or cajole or tease to make an actor do their bidding. They will tell you they just don't have the time to be tactful, but this man has a way of quietly encouraging and guiding. He looks you right in your eyes and instead of shying away we look right back and listen to every word.

John had been trying to get me to walk a bit faster around the perimeter of the stage while I was playing my flute on the song 'Sorry-Grateful'.  I usually take a 'note' right away but was having trouble speeding up my walking.  John finally just walked beside me at a faster pace with which I was forced to keep pace and said, "Oh, I see, it's hard to walk at a much faster tempo than the song".  It was as if he was gently putting me on a verbal lead rope.  After that, I never walked too slowly again. 

Heather confided in me that she was pregnant in the first couple weeks of rehearsal. That same day  John asked her a question in rehearsal about her character "Amy".  "Do you think she is pregnant?" he said.  I almost swallowed my tongue, but she said, "Yes…maybe".  After that I whispered to Heather that she was taking "method acting" a bit too far.  The Actor Whisperer does that a lot. He reads people.--and minds

He looks intently at you in a way that makes you feel important.  He listens to you and still gets you to do what he wants. No yelling. No condescending. He doesn't have to drop names or tell you how great he is. He never gives line readings or tells you that your choices are wrong.  In fact, sometimes he will say he liked something you did but then qualify it with a "But I don't want you to do it that way just to please me. You can try a lot of different things." Due to that encouragement we have never stopped 'playing' onstage every night.

Raul was having fun one time during a tech rehearsal and instead of breaking this flighty pony or humiliating him for holding up the lighting process, John said in a gentle voice, "Raul, we are trying to cue."  He understood that the antsy pony was getting a little stir-crazy from being on the stage and holding still for cues to be lit.  The talented pony didn't get any of his energy sucked away from him and he calmed down immediately.  

When Leenya was asked if she could walk and play the bass on a custom made "roller" during the song, 'Side By Side,' she wasn't at all sure and looked like she might buck. He coaxed her into trying it and the unsure filly stepped out with her Bass and it rolled and she played.  She actually sounded shocked when she said, "Oh my gosh, I guess I can".  She came up with the cute "Walking Bass" line and it has become one of the really fun moments of the show.

He trusts us to make it all work.  Yet he never leaves you on your own.  He sees everything! There are directors that you don't trust to see what you are doing.  Creative types tend to test our boundaries if we think we aren't being guided.  Just like horses, we get willful and out of control if we are allowed to roam wild.  We stop listening.  But none of us ever doubted that John Doyle, the Actor Whisperer, would see everything we did.  He is very careful with his selection of words because our creativity can be stifled if someone makes us feel stupid or wrong.  So he will reign us in with words that don't stop the creation of new ideas. 

He used to play the cello and so he knows how to speak our musical language.  He was an actor and so he knows our neurosis and thought processes.  He is a sensitive person and yet he knows how to concentrate on the 'work' and not let his own ego get in the way of it.  With his example we are led.  Gently but firmly. 

 He is not only a storyteller for our time; he is a story in himself.  The Actor Whisperer.

Photos by Fred Rose - 1) John Doyle and Barbara Walsh; 2) John Doyle; 3) John Doyle; 4) John Doyle, Kristin Huffman and Keith Buterbaugh; 5) John Doyle; 6) John Doyle