Recently I had a very interesting experience involving Dustin Hoffman, James Lipton, opera and the new film "Quartet". Like most artists in there late twenties I am at a loss; a loss for direction, a loss for inspiration, a loss for passion, a loss for hope and for anybody who knows what that feels like, then you also know the kind of drain on your energy level that kind of loss can cause.
Over the past year I have been fortunate enough to be able to write, produce and star in a modern film adaptation of Puccini's La Boheme, "The Bohemians" which I like to say, is really the first ever hipster opera. In working on this project and doing things like driving the props, renting the jibs, making the schedules, ordering the catering, writing the mis en scene and lets not forget portraying one of the characters I felt like I was going too far to the left or the right and never truly forward. Besides which, as a very basic vocal pedagogy/physiology lesson, at the age of 28, a male opera singer is only beginning to find his true voice due to different hormonal phases the body goes through, so it is needless to say that I have been dealing with a lot of shit to put it mildly.
As I was going over some of the footage from our film, the director and I took a few moments to cook some dinner and the conversation went from place to place and film to film and finally got to the topic of Dustin Hoffman's new film "Quartet" which is about aging musicians in an old age home and as we searched for the trailer on youtube we came across an hour long interview that Dustin Hoffman gave on "Inside the Actor's Studio with James Lipton."
So it is true, in one hour a man's passion for what he does and for his art form can help you find a little direction and all of a sudden you will find the stores of energy that have been untapped, dormant parts of you that have felt like weights and now propel you in any way you choose. Yes motivation can give you energy, so if you know an artist, find the passion, and if you are an artist, the passion is there, it just needs to be tapped.
A good place to start looking is James Lipton's interview of Dustin Hoffman.
I am excited to see the new film "Quartet"
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