William Mapother

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Archive for 2009

A SAD AND MERRY MADNESS

Posted on: August 2nd, 2009 by wmapother 13 Comments


My time with the Public’s Theatre’s Shakespeare Lab (see earlier post) is drawing to a close, unfortunately. We’ve finished classes and rehearsed our show, A Sad and Merry Madness. This week we present the show around the five boroughs of NYC, and we conclude our performances next weekend in the Hamptons with a fundraiser for the Public Theatre, hosted by Alec Baldwin. Details are here and here!

Posted in In Person (or, like, Live), NYC, Photos of Wm, Stage

New Interview Posted

Posted on: July 17th, 2009 by wmapother 6 Comments

A short interview with me has been here posted on lotsofinterviews.com, which specializes in, uh, yeah..

Posted in Press

HURT DVD RELEASE ANNOUNCED

Posted on: July 10th, 2009 by wmapother 4 Comments


Word has just come to me from on high (i.e., from the director fabulosa, Barbara Stepansky) that Hurt will be out on DVD November 17. Check out all my fabulous co-stars on the imdb page, here. Also, the film got a brief write-up on a site devoted to women in horror (god bless the Internet) here.

P.S. No word yet on release or distribution for A Warrior’s Heart. We just finished shooting in late January. These things can take a while..
Posted in Acting Projects, News & Events, Video (Online & Home)

O, What a Rogue and Putting-Off Slack Am I

Posted on: July 10th, 2009 by wmapother 4 Comments

Please forgive the tardiness of this post. In faith, I have a good reason: a head full o’ Bard. In mid-June I began the intensive Shakespeare Lab at NYC’s Public Theatre.

Basically, it’s eight weeks of the Man from Avon, from soup to nuts. Twelve of us (and I’m in very good company) are given a variety of Shakespeare-centered classes in everything from Acting to Voice. The facultyis remarkable.

It’s been everything I hoped for and more. One of the difficulties of being an actor is how little time is actually spent acting. (Most working actors I know feel that their real job is looking for a acting job.) We do it because we love it, and then we don’t get a chance to do it. And when we do get the chance, although we’re generally grateful for the work, it’s often not challenging.
The challenge is part of what appealed to me about the Lab, and boy, has it delivered, both in the amount and nature of the work. And, of course, the text itself. I’ve read Shakespeare in college as an English major and then for pleasure, but playing it is something else entirely.
The complexity of the thoughts, language, and situations, to say nothing of the requirements of the verse itself, demand everything from the performer. (Only four weeks in, and I’m already holding forth like a veteran. Dang.) I’ll just say this: Attending the Lab is one of the best decisions I’ve made in some time (not, some would assert, that that sets the bar very high..).
We finish the Lab with some performances around NYC August 1-9. The show will be a mixture of scenes, sonnets, and maybe some Elizabethan dancing and singing (no, not even this faculty can teach me to sing). For those in the area and interested, the dates and locations are on the blog’s calendar. (To be sure the place, date, time hasn’t changed, before attending please be sure to call the Public Theatre: 212-539-8500.)
Fare thee well!
Posted in Acting Tips & Info, In Person (or, like, Live), NYC, Stage

Lincoln Memorial Ceremony Video

Posted on: June 12th, 2009 by wmapother 8 Comments

The ceremony last week in Louisville couldn’t have been scripted better: After a cloudy, misty day, the sun broke through just 15 minutes before the ceremony began, and ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ accompanied a beautiful sunset on the Ohio: Go to 2:00 in this video here.

Ed Hamilton’s beautiful sculpture and bas-reliefs of Lincoln were unveiled, and I introduced the band’s performance of Copland’s ‘Variations on a Shaker Melody.’
Finally, the band performed Copland’s ‘Lincoln Portrait,’ and I provided the narration. Video is here.
And the Courier-Journal’s piece the next day is here.
I’m honored to have been included in that company, in that place, for that purpose.
Posted in In Person (or, like, Live), Louisville & KY, Press, Video (Online & Home)