"My Big Fat" Friends and Colleagues
My dear friend Joel Zwick (director of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) has a new musical he's working on and will be directing as well once it's complete. It's a fun take off on an old story. I've been helping him with it a bit and enjoying the process. I'll tell you the title later on.
Aside from being one of the most prolific directors of Television, Joel also directed Hershey Felder's "George Gershwin Alone" and Hershey's subsequent projects not to mention the show that Hershey and I did together "Back From Broadway."
I'm so very grateful to have people like Hershey and Joel in my life. Not only are they amazingly talented but they also have two of the biggest hearts in this biz. I've learned a great deal from both of them not only in our collaborations and but also from simply from watching them work their magic one their own onstage and off.
When I've spoken to young actors about taking class or studying a particular "acting style" I always say that nothing beats practical experience. You can read all you want but until you get up and try it out you won't know viscerally what works and what doesn't.
That's what's amazing about watching Hershey work. He's fearless when it comes to the choices he makes but he's also incredibly analytical about making and implementing changes to his work. I think he quite literally can feel the audience response (as most of us do in onstage) but he's in a unique position to make the changes necessary to his script that only a writer/performer can be in. Then of course there is Joel, standing objectively back and advising whether or not those changes are warranted.
To me I look at their relationship with envy. It's rare these days that you have a team working together seamlessly to create project after project. It's almost like a rep company of two.
Anyway...I'm glad to call them both friends and colleagues and look forward to many future adventures.
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