I seem to be doing a lot of readings this year, and I absolutely love it! Getting to take part in a new work or a new vision for an old piece like last month's reading for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is very exciting stuff!Next Monday I'll be playing Martha Freud, Sigmund Freud's wife in the new musical, Vienna. The writers behind this are my Hell's Belles creaters, Bryan D. Leys and composer Steve Liebman. Bryan had come to see me in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and mentioned Vienna to me after the show.
It sounds fascinating! A turn of the century piece that showcases various personalities of the time, it has great depth and charm and even has a startling sense of comparison to today's world.
Very interesting stuff!
It sounds fascinating! A turn of the century piece that showcases various personalities of the time, it has great depth and charm and even has a startling sense of comparison to today's world.
Very interesting stuff!Since I'm a research nut, I've already been combing the web, reading about Freud and Martha. He called her "Marty" and she called him "Sigi." Their engagement lasted 4 years while he worked to establish himself, and there are gorgeous love letters from that time period. It reminds me greatly of my own sweetheart and myself, so I definitely can relate to that great passion.
But something that boggles me is that some researchers report that Martha didn't seem to care about psychoanalysis, which was Sigmund Freud's life work. Instead she was a great reader of literature and "made it her duty to facilitate Freud's professional work with a supportive daily routine." Running a proper household seemed to be her goal, which was the Victorian way of thinking. But there must have been some sense of rebellion in her because she defied her parents and married in a civil union as opposed to having a true Jewish wedding. She seems intensely supportive of Freud and while it is said she did not believe in psychoanalysis, she believed in him. She also outlived him and maintained her hardy independence til she died at the age of 90 in 1951.
Vienna takes place in 1888 in the midst of the Freud's marriage and the changing political climate of the world. So it'll be up to me to fill in the blanks.
Gotta love acting! :)
2 comments:
Well.. look at it this way. I love my tax expert friend, and I adore my mathematician nephew, but if either of them starts talking too much about work, my eyes just roll around in their sockets. So while I support them and believe in them, their work is beyond me.
Hey Laura - You've been tagged! There are 5 questions on my blog http://theessentialherbal.blogspot.com/ that you answer on yours. Then tag a few of your blog pals.
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