tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post5310803497880891802..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: How to memorize scripts Pt 1By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-40943090779673190642015-01-12T13:59:09.834-08:002015-01-12T13:59:09.834-08:00Ok.......... that just confused me........Ok.......... that just confused me........Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74720250437313480052015-01-12T13:58:35.114-08:002015-01-12T13:58:35.114-08:00Wow that was so bad I pretty much forgot my name.....Wow that was so bad I pretty much forgot my name....... but good tryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-44202585983966742182009-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:002009-04-06T12:11:00.000-07:00I think that if you remember yourself how lucky yo...I think that if you remember yourself how lucky you are to have this job that only requires to learn some lines instead of going for an year in irak and kill people for reasons that you don't really know, it should become so easy..all this process.. The rest is just inventing misery, and problems that are not there..Sorry for all the spoiled actors around. But yeah, without them, I won't be able to get an acting job myself :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-51884018113779019112009-02-05T15:10:00.000-08:002009-02-05T15:10:00.000-08:00I always end up being able to memorize the lines o...I always end up being able to memorize the lines of all the other characters in the play as well as my own by being fully engage during rehearsal. <BR/><BR/>Also, lines are much easier to remember if there is blocking to go with them, and far easier to recall if you've learned them while moving around - So get onto your feet while doing a scene study!!<BR/><BR/>I also marry the text to mental images so that transitioning from one thought to the other becomes seamless, and it helps to move the delivering lines away from route repetition of text to the true speech of the thinking human being.Charlie Hiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09049992787859318575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3273673364191354812009-02-04T12:39:00.000-08:002009-02-04T12:39:00.000-08:00Simply get a recorder, record everyone's lines but...Simply get a recorder, record everyone's lines but yours and for the first few times read along with the script until you can take it away. Then you can play it in the car, on the bus, walking, running - wherever and you can do lines till they're in your blood. Also great way to hear cues and really listen to other actors.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6236296564512676962009-02-02T06:28:00.000-08:002009-02-02T06:28:00.000-08:00@Lyn is exactly right about Shakespeare's actors. ...@Lyn is exactly right about Shakespeare's actors. If you memorize your lines and cues only, you engage more active listening in the rest of the scene.<BR/><BR/>Moreover, most people in Shakespeare's time were illiterate, so many actors learned their lines and cues by ear.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.memorizeshakespeare.com" REL="nofollow">MemorizeShakespeare.com </A>has an excellent product to learn sides by hearing them.David McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07871275297044864115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68822327711054092642009-01-25T18:48:00.000-08:002009-01-25T18:48:00.000-08:00What Bill Frawley did was exactly what Shakespeare...What Bill Frawley did was exactly what Shakespeare's actors did -- they learned their own lines and their cues, and that was it -- it was much too expensive to hand-copy the entire play for each actor. This was the dominant way of learning lines up until the 19th century, and some actors continued to work this way until well into the 20th century.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-25333270330554481632009-01-23T14:06:00.000-08:002009-01-23T14:06:00.000-08:00When I was reading this, I was reminded about I Lo...When I was reading this, I was reminded about I Love Lucy. When the cast would get the scripts each week, Bill Frawley would tear his pages out of the script, and throw everything else away. Sometimes he didn't even know the basic storyline of the episode, he just knew his lines.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-79680455225659891882009-01-23T13:12:00.000-08:002009-01-23T13:12:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Caitlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05488370321502631986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-87196657063520698792009-01-23T13:09:00.000-08:002009-01-23T13:09:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Caitlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05488370321502631986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-48376407085127039252009-01-23T01:50:00.000-08:002009-01-23T01:50:00.000-08:00Didn't I hear that Brando's character in The Formu...Didn't I hear that Brando's character in The Formula had a prop hearing aid so that someone could feed him lines through it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-17099070341125712402009-01-22T23:29:00.000-08:002009-01-22T23:29:00.000-08:00It's true that late in his career Marlon refused t...It's true that late in his career Marlon refused to memorize dialogue, and relied on idiot cards. He certainly did on SUPERMAN, but then, they were only paying $2,000,000 for his seven minutes of film. He became known for it in his later films, but not at the time of ON THE WATERFRONT.<BR/><BR/>He CLAIMED it was for "spontaneity". Yeah, pull the other one, Marlon. Laziness and his widely reported contempt for acting in his old age is more likely the reason.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-83346083876144759962009-01-22T19:08:00.000-08:002009-01-22T19:08:00.000-08:00I wonder if it's true what I heard. Instead of mem...I wonder if it's true what I heard. Instead of memorizing lines, Marlon Brando would write them on his hands. That's why he had a loss for words in that scene in "On the Waterfront" where he put on Eva Marie Saint's glove. But as he got fatter, he could freely recite entire plays except for the parts obscured by barbecue sauce.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4713638257124758612009-01-22T18:05:00.000-08:002009-01-22T18:05:00.000-08:00Actor Number 4 hit it right on the "mark" for me. ...Actor Number 4 hit it right on the "mark" for me. When I fancied myself an actor, from junior high through regional theater, I never memorized my lines as homework. I always learned my lines during rehearsal and the blocking stage. On the day when we were supposed to be "off book" the lines just came as if they were written on the blocking marks on the floor... Anyway, the "How to memorize scripts" is a wonderful addition to your already amazing blog. Can't wait to read more!Write Awayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00990826395183107088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-46444369908157765952009-01-22T14:22:00.000-08:002009-01-22T14:22:00.000-08:00I did THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST once with an...I did THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST once with an actor who wrote out his lines all over the set, secretly, the night before the first off-book rehearsal. We began to notice something odd about what was happening; the way he was staring intently at furniture instead of at us. The way he would put in a cross that wasn't in his blocking to get to a line he'd written in the wrong location. There was a circular divan in the center of the set, and he'd written his lines around it rather than across it, so he had to move around it during that speech.<BR/><BR/>When it became obvious what he was doing, and he began racing more frantically from location to location, the whole cast and the director fell apart laughing. And this guy had appeared on Broadway in a production that won the Pulitzer Prize!<BR/><BR/>And Wilde's EARNEST is so magnificently written, a masterpiece, that it is simple to memorize. That was over 30 years ago, and I can still recite whole scenes, even ones I was not in.<BR/><BR/>Another actor I know had to replace an actor in THE BOYS IN THE BAND with only 7 hours notice. (The actor playing Emory had been in a car accident.) With barely any time to learn the play, he had lines scribbled about the set, and he taped the page with his big monologue onto the coffee table.<BR/><BR/>But he forgot he would be playing it without his glasses, which were thick, and left him almost blind without them.<BR/><BR/>Since he was supposed to be very drunk for the big monologue, he ad-libbed a fall off the sofa, and lay with his head ON the coffee table, so he was rubbing his face on his script page to read it from an inch away, since farther away than that, he couldn't possibly read it. it must have been a very eccentric performance. I was, at the time, in rehearsals for a play he was directing. He had his assistant director call a rehearsal for that night to prevent ANY of us from seeing his debut performance, floundering in that play, as we were all DYING to see him struggle through it. His wife was in the play I was in, and even she was FORBIDDEN from attending the performance.<BR/><BR/>There was a lot of "Oh Emory, doesn't that make you feel like saying ...?" from the other cast members that night. And actors discreetly pointing in various directions to indicate to him where he needed to go. Stage hands waited for him off-stage at each of his exits, to catch him and lead him about in the dark.<BR/><BR/>Ah, live theater.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68515437473880744712009-01-22T13:40:00.000-08:002009-01-22T13:40:00.000-08:00John Trumbull: Ditto. I do a lot of community t...John Trumbull: Ditto. I do a lot of community theater as well and find that typing my lines out by themselves really helps me. <BR/><BR/>Then its just repetition. I like to get off book as soon as possible as I find characterization doesn't really come for me until I don't have that damn script in my hand!<BR/><BR/>One thing I'm sure of is that there's a million different ways to learn your lines and every actor has a slightly different method.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42183732827394570882009-01-22T12:27:00.000-08:002009-01-22T12:27:00.000-08:00Dear Tom Reeder,I think that Coach started to have...Dear Tom Reeder,<BR/><BR/>I think that Coach started to have problems remembering his lines when he became sick. I remember Ted Danson saying something about that on the DVD of, I think, season 3.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68470306417813227352009-01-22T12:15:00.000-08:002009-01-22T12:15:00.000-08:00The late Nick Colasanto, who played Coach on Cheer...The late Nick Colasanto, who played Coach on <I>Cheers</I>, was a great guy, but not exactly rock-solid when it came to memorizing lines. He tried to overcome that deficiency by scribbling his lines on the back of the set, so that the moment before he made an entrance, he could take a quick glance at his next line and have it fresh in his mind. I believe Ken will agree that Nick's system was not 100% failsafe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52648182425783238202009-01-22T11:13:00.000-08:002009-01-22T11:13:00.000-08:00I always found Robert Downey Jr's explanation inte...I always found Robert Downey Jr's explanation interesting on Inside the Actor's studio.<BR/><BR/>He rewrites the dialogue. Then he writes it out using the first letter of each word only. He goes over it until the first letter is the only prompt he needs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-3561548159247624952009-01-22T10:25:00.000-08:002009-01-22T10:25:00.000-08:00I have an actor friend who's dyslexic, so he tries...I have an actor friend who's dyslexic, so he tries to get projects where improv is encouraged. I think he memorizes lines by reading the script over and over like a robot. I once asked him what he does if he has to read a script someone hands him on the spot, and he said he just concentrates really hard and hopes he doesn't screw it up.Emily Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02163221455899041141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39022944005952414622009-01-22T10:10:00.000-08:002009-01-22T10:10:00.000-08:00As a college and community theatre thespian I foun...As a college and community theatre thespian I found repetition the best tool. By opening night I knew not only my lines but the lines of every other character. Now I can't remember where I park my car. <BR/><BR/>WV: dalies. hey, no fair, it's a real word.Cap'n Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11783977137812876489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34969875930237978692009-01-22T09:32:00.000-08:002009-01-22T09:32:00.000-08:00Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? just wasn't the sa...Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? just wasn't the same with the 3x5 index cards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-44300399113474624652009-01-22T09:02:00.000-08:002009-01-22T09:02:00.000-08:00after the scene is blocked i go to a ball diamond ...after the scene is blocked i go to a ball diamond with my script. then i walk slowly from home to first, and around the bases. <BR/><BR/>i don't do any memorization until the blocking is there.The Minstrel Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00697821546165315014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-33728989785911889342009-01-22T08:35:00.000-08:002009-01-22T08:35:00.000-08:00I found it interesting that the common thread was ...I found it interesting that the common thread was "good writing is easier to memorize than bad writing."<BR/><BR/>VW Applar: A popular Klingon fruit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34811906750676979992009-01-22T08:05:00.000-08:002009-01-22T08:05:00.000-08:00If anyone knows SNL's Bobby Moynahan, please send ...If anyone knows SNL's Bobby Moynahan, please send him the link to this post. I'm beggin' ya.Howard Hoffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05377628524697677407noreply@blogger.com