1. What was the FIRST play you ever saw?: “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” It was a junior high school production. I was in the seventh grade and was hooked for life.  The first professional production was “The Sound of Music” in Milwaukee. Again I was in junior high.

2. What makes you LAUGH and CRY in a theater?: LAUGH?-Physical comedy with well executed split-second timing is hard to beat. CRY?- Stories of non-understandable harships. Like Job,”Why Lord?”

3. Who is your favorite THEATER ACTOR?: James and Rose Pickering are favorites at the Milwaukee Rep.  And Deborah Staples.  Ray Jivoff at the Skylight.  And any teen that tackles a role in a high school production.

4. Has theater ever CHANGED your perspective? Your life?: Theater can unexpectedly lift my spirits when I’m in a poor mood. It can also make me stop and reconsider my point of view. It may not change my view, but it will make me stop and consider other aspects that I’ve not previously considered.

What is your FAVORITE PLAY? Where did you see it? Why is it your favorite?: The Milwaukee Rep mounted the English Mystery Plays back in the early 1970’s. It was magical. I certainly knew all of the Bible stories, but the “life” they put into them and the wonderful stage craft was fantastic. I was a regular usher there at the time. And I was in the habit of taking dates (girls and their parents were very impressed when I invited the girls to “The Theater”. I wouldn’t tell the girl we would be ushering until we arrived at the Todd Wehr Theater.) I enjoyed the English Mystery Plays so much I went twice- two different dates.

A very close second would be “Our Town” put on as a collaboration between the Rep and the National Theater for the Deaf. Each character had two actors, a regular speaking player and one that signed. Instead of being confusing, it gave a whole new perspective to language.

6. Why THEATER?: It’s live, immmediate, intimate. You can’t get that in a movie, even if it’s in a lush, big screen movie house. The most powerful stories are oftent the “little” ones. The ones that deal with relationships, with ethical struggle, with indecision. Live theater captures that best. It is best suited to teach how to deal with conflict and its resolution. Or its great cost when it can’t be resolved.

This post was submitted by Tom Dunigan.

Taken from a recording with Ray Jivoff at Skylight Opera Theatre offices on March 19, 2009.

1.     What was the FIRST play you ever saw? (Sharp in take of breath to kick things off) I think the first play I ever saw was when my elementary school put on a reduced version of CARMEN.  So it was a fifth grade girl singing “La Habenera”.  And then the next year they did HMS Pinafore.  (When told CARMEN is an opera and not a play, Ray reconsidered his answer.) Play?  That was so long ago.  I’m sure it was something like OEDIPUS at the amphitheater.  I was so distracted by the Parthenon, I don’t remember.  The Rep theater in the town that I grew up (Syracuse), offered high school tickets, and the school had a bus, and we would ride down and come back. And the only one I really remember is SHE LOVES ME.  But it’s not a play.  It’s a musical play.  I loved it.  And then years later I performed in it.  I’m sure that when I saw it I thought, “Oh, I’d be so good as Amalia!” but then I ended up playing one of the guys.

2.    What makes you LAUGH and CRY in a theater? I always like it when people fall down.  If they can’t get back up again I cry.  If it’s obviously a pratfall, I laugh.  Crying, I think it’s usual guess like someone being real nice to their mom.  That always makes me cry.  I’m one of those ones where people turn around and look at me when I laugh.  Not the most recent production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at American Players Theatre, but the one before that, I howled a lot during that.

3.    Who is your favorite THEATER ACTOR? Cherry Jones, who we saw in New York in DOUBT. The other one about the penal colony…(Ray searches for the name of the play in a lot of different ways, including a quick Google search on his office computer)…OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD.  (Ray also realized from his Google search that Cherry Jones had done MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN and goes on about how great Laurie Birmingham was in the Milwaukee Repertory Theater production he saw several years ago.)

4.    Has theatre ever CHANGED your perspective?  Your life? I think it’s made me compelled to say something to someone, or to try and be truthful about something, or treat someone differently, or think about something different.  You know someone whose situation I might not have a connection to, so you learn something, like a minority or a kid or someone like that.

5.    What is your FAVORITE PLAY?  Where did you see it?  Why is it your favorite? There’s so many.  I do love MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM.  Seen it a million times, directed it at the high school.  Love it.  Might be too easy though, because it’s so charming.  I’ve always wanted to see A LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT.  (Ray decided his love of MIDSUMMER needs further explanation.) I just think it’s really well constructed, really funny.  Love the language, love the characters, love the three worlds kind of rotating around.  I probably have seen that one more than any play.

6.    Why THEATER? Cause it’s live.  It’s happening right there in front of you. (I ask the question again, for  new answer.) Why not? (I ask Ray the A-B-C version of the question for three new answers) A. Because you’re in a room with a whole bunch of other people and they’re all experiencing it together.  B. It has everything about life all wrapped up inside it.  C. Someone took the time to make it up so you might as well help them achieve what they were hoping to achieve.