<\/p>\n
Dan Lauria and Patty McCormack in ‘Just Another Day.’ Photo Courtesy of Shadowland Stages.<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n Dan Lauria and Patty McCormack chatted about starring in the Off-Broadway play \u201cJust Another Day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust Another Day\u201d was written by Dan Lauria, and \u201cit is about wonderful old friends who may not even know each other, but who relive and celebrate a life together\u2026maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n In\u00a0\u201cJust Another Day,\u201d a comedy writer and a sophisticated poet in their seventies meet daily on a park bench to exchange wits and barbs, and wax nostalgic about old movies, all the while trying to figure out how they know \u2013 and love \u2013 each other. At least for that day.<\/p>\n \u201cJust Another Day\u201d was directed by\u00a0Eric Krebs, and it stars Dan\u00a0Lauria\u00a0(\u201cThe Wonder Years\u201d) and\u00a0Patty McCormack\u00a0(\u201cThe Bad Seed\u201d).<\/p>\n This limited engagement runs through June 30 at the Off-Broadway Theater 555 in New York, with previews beginning on Friday, May 3rd<\/sup>. \u201cWe will see where it leads,\u201d Lauria said.<\/p>\n Between them,\u00a0Lauria\u00a0and McCormack have over 100 years of live theatrical experience, as well as over 150 television shows and films.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been a journey for Dan Lauria, and you wouldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d McComarck said about this play. \u201cPatty jumped in with two days rehearsal on book and got rave reviews. Also, when Jodi Long did it, we got rave reviews there,\u201d Laura said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know now that it\u2019s the play, and not us,\u201d McCormack said with a sweet laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s true. It means you have a good play when you have different people doing it that are so different from one another.\u201d<\/p>\n On playing her character, McCormack said, \u201cI make up what my character is because it\u2019s not really clear, and it\u2019s not clear to her, or to either of them who each one is. I hate to say what my character is because the audience should decide, so I don\u2019t want to tip it any way at all. I have my moments where I am different people at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked how she handles being dialogue-heavy, McCormack said, \u201cI feel like Rocky now because I manage to memorize it. At times, it really is challenging, and the hardest thing are the easy words that will trip you up.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWith the hard words, you focus on them until they are in there, and if you forget the word that bridges it together, then you\u2019re dead because the rhythm is off,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel really proud at this stage of my working life that I was able to get it in there and it is sticking. It is like the soap opera actors, who do pages and pages of scripts, all in one take,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I did \u2018General Hospital,\u2019 the actors on there had reams of dialogue to learn and execute. That really helps with their muscle memory because the more they do it, then the better they get at it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Lauria continued, \u201cLike Laurence Olivier said, the best actors he has ever seen were on American soaps, especially since he himself could never remember all that dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n On being actors in the digital age, now with streaming, technology and social media being so prevalent, Lauria said, \u201cAll I can say is that I\u2019m glad I\u2019m old. I think it\u2019s much harder for younger actors because of self-tapes.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cMany of them are coming out of college never having done a play but have created 10-minute movies, so they are technically proficient in making a movie, but that\u2019s not what acting is. It\u2019s a totally different thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Lauria continued, \u201cWhen we first started, it was easy. You learned to act. You did plays where you didn\u2019t get paid until you found one that hit. Then, you got an agent, and they sent you to a room and you auditioned with other great actors. You were in a room, and you were able to capture the room like we do in theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of these young people don\u2019t even know what it means to be in a room,\u201d he added. \u201cLuckily, with our play, it is the children of people who are having trouble with memory that are enjoying this show.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis generation is much more interested in the past,\u201d McCormack and Laurie concurred, especially \u201cif they are exposed to it.\u201d \u201cAlso, they can look things up that we did a long time ago on their phones,\u201d McCormack said.<\/p>\n \u201cBack in the day, writers were writing on television to stimulate thought,\u201d Lauria acknowledged. \u201cToday, every show on TV opens with a dead body and people trying to find out how it got there.\u201d<\/p>\n McCormack shared that she was a huge fan of Marsha Hunt growing up, an iconic actress whose career has spanned nearly eight decades. Hunt was blacklisted by Hollywood film executives in the \u201850s during the McCarthyism era, and she passed away at 104. \u201cMarsha Hunt is worth looking up,\u201d McCormack said.<\/p>\n \u201cMarsha was in her 105th<\/sup> year, so almost made it to 105. She was a beautiful model who went to Hollywood, and she fell in love with acting, and she wanted to be a character actress,\u201d they both concurred.<\/p>\n Lauria remarked, \u201cMarsha was this leading lady and she walked out of her contract to go to a lesser contract to play more interesting roles. She achieved all this fame and then she got blacklisted, and she refused to take back her statement.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWhen Marsha went to Broadway, she ended up winning two Tony Awards, and then, at the height of that career, Marsha gave it all up to run UNICEF for 25 years,\u201d Lauria said.<\/p>\n \u201cMarsha went on a world tour with her husband, and that changed her whole life,\u201d McCormack added.<\/p>\n For young and aspiring actors, McCormack, \u201cMy advice to aspiring actors is to not think it\u2019s a way to get rich and famous, if that is what you are shooting for.\u00a0 Know that acting has to come from the love of pretending or writing.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe next thing I say is from personal experience is \u2018to get an education, get a craft, and do something\u2019 where you can earn a living. This way, you can be the best that you can be in your field,\u201d McCormack added.<\/p>\n \u201cMy only advice to young actors is to not get caught at it,\u201d Lauria said.<\/p>\n On the title of the current chapter of his life, Lauria said, \u201cIt Ain\u2019t Over.\u201d \u201cTill the Fat Lady Sings,\u201d McCormack jokingly laughed. \u201cThose are two good titles,\u201d Lauria reflected.<\/p>\n \u201cI am grateful to still be doing this,\u201d McCormack said. \u201cI would love to write another play,\u201d Lauria added.<\/p>\n If they were to have any superpowers, Lauria would love to have a \u201cphotographic memory.\u201d \u201cI love to read, and I would love to be able to speedread, and then have a photographic memory to be able to absorb it,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cMost actors, even the ones that truly love to read, read slowly because of images coming in front of their minds, and I find that really interesting, and that has been proven,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to know that is coming in this world,\u201d McCormack said with a sweet laugh. \u201cBy being a psychic, I can put my mind at ease.\u201d<\/p>\n McCormack was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for \u201cBest Supporting Actress\u201d\u00a0for\u00a0\u201cThe Bad Seed.\u201d \u201cThat was a huge honor,\u201d McCormack said. \u201cI didn\u2019t watch the Academy Awards when I was a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis was the first time that a child actress was nominated for a competitive Oscar,\u201d Lauria said about McCormack\u2019s Oscar nod.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was great. No actor likes to hang his hat on any one hook but if you had to \u2018The Wonder Years\u2019 is a pretty well-accepted hook.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWorking with Alley Mills and Danica McKellar on there was great,\u201d Lauria exclaimed. \u201cAlley did a play with us not too long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n On his definition of the word success, Lauria said, \u201cSuccess is how well you do the next project.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUtilizing whatever it is that you can do in life and using your gifts. If you are not using all your gifts, then try using them because they are gifts.\u201d<\/p>\n On the message that they want to get across with \u201cJust Another Day,\u201d Lauria said, \u201cThe creative spirit doesn\u2019t die, and tomorrow is a chance to create something again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Dan Lauria and Patty McCormack talk about ‘Just Another Day’ play Dan Lauria and Patty McCormack in ‘Just Another Day.’ Photo Courtesy of Shadowland Stages. Dan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[3468,1276,3469,3471,3470,811,3348],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Just Another Day\u2019<\/h2>\n
McCormack on playing her character<\/h2>\n
McCormack on how she handles being dialogue-heavy<\/h2>\n
Lauria on the digital age of acting<\/h2>\n
McCormack on being inspired by the late Marsha Hunt<\/h2>\n
Lauria on Marsha Hunt<\/h2>\n
Advice for young and aspiring actors<\/h2>\n
Stage of their lives<\/h2>\n
Superpower of choice<\/h2>\n
McComack on her Oscar nomination for \u2018The Bad Seed\u2019<\/h2>\n
Lauria reflects on \u2018The Wonder Years\u2019<\/h2>\n
Success<\/h2>\n
Closing thoughts on \u2018Just Another Day\u2019<\/h2>\n
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#Dan #Lauria #Patty #McCormack #talk #Day #play<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"