The Actors Turn on Each Other: Part II

In Part II, we discover that Mike has an evident Philly sports bias and Jenny would be Indiana Jones if it weren't for this acting thing.

Jenny	Mike
When You Were Little You Were Going to Be
JL: I recall wanting to write novels, be Shamu’s trainer, a meteorologist, and a classical musician.	MF: An astronomer.
Worst Costume Ever
JL: Just panties… best and worst costume ever.	MF: I had to wear a purple polyester leisure suit in a show once. It was a great costume, but it was so hot in the space that the suit turned kind of gross like two days in, and then I just had to keep wearing it.
A Play That Should be Done on the Dallas Stage
JL: Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker.	MF: I want to see someone do the Nick Dear adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that they did in London w/ the leads alternating parts each night. It sounds crazy and awesome.
One Play You Hope Never To See Again
JL: Honour by Joanna Murray-Smith.	MF: ‘Night, Mother
In Your Opinion, What Holds Dallas Back From Theatrical Greatness?
JF: …	MF: Jerry Jones   [Co-Artistic Director Tina Parker would like to remind readers that Mike is an Eagles fan, so a) the opinions expressed here do not represent the opinions of Kitchen Dog Theater and b) GO COWBOYS.]
Bucket List Roles
JL: Lady MacBeth, Elizabeth Proctor, Stella Kowalski, Blanche DuBois, Maggie the Cat, Mary Tyrone,  Gertrude in Hamlet, Titania, Hamlet ,  Martha in Virginia Woolf, Sonya and/or Yelena in Uncle Vanya, and many more… I have a long list to get through lol	MF: Tzara in Travesties, Bottom in Midsummer, Iago in Othello, Konstantin in The Seagull (it was cool to check that one off the list), The Baker in Into the Woods, George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Hickey in The Iceman Cometh.
You Have to Be In a Show for 10 Years – You Choose…
JL: I could do The Crucible forever. The audience response is so visceral and real – I remembered getting “high” off the audible gasps and sometimes random shouts from the audience.	MF: I feel like No Exit is the only logical choice.
Superstitions
JL: I’m not a superstitious person.  However, I try not to offend/alienate other cast members I’m working with so I usually say “Mac-B” in a theatrical space just to avoid freaking people out.	MF: I make a playlist for every show I’m in, and I will listen to those same songs before every performance. [listen to Mike’s character playlist online here & here] Also, my mom taught me to write right-handed even though I’m naturally left-handed, because of some crazy Italian superstition. I know that’s not what we’re talking about, but I feel like my story must be told to help future generations of Italian-American children.
If You Weren’t An Actor You Would Be…
JL: Historian/archeologist	MF: Professional basketball player. The world needs a 5’6” point guard with limited mobility and a non-existent vertical leap.
First Show You Were in at Kitchen Dog
JL: I was cast in End Times but I had to turn it down for another role.  I later did a reading of Boom by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb for the New Works Festival and then the mainstage production of Boom in 2010. Eric Steele and Jenny awaited disaster behind a fishtank in Boom	MF: I played Ferdinand in The Tempest in 1997.   Mike being lovingly carried by KDT Company member Bill Lengfelder in The Tempest
Best Piece of Theater You’ve Ever Seen
[Jenny takes this one alone] JL: In NYC, I volunteered at The Public Theater and they assigned me to an Australian Theater Company for the “Under the Radar Festival.” [Back to Back Theatre performing small metal objects] I was the liaison between The Public and the director/stage manager.  This company consisted of actors who had intellectual disabilities of different kinds.  They wrote the shows themselves and performed in it.  It took place in the Whitehall Ferry Terminal (Staten Island Ferry Terminal).  It also toured around Europe and always performed in airports and train terminals. The audience had headphones on and sat to the side.  The actors were amongst the regular crowd/traffic of the terminal – they had concealed microphones.  Only the audience could hear the music/dialogue – the other people in the terminal had no idea what we were doing or watching. They stared at us every time we laughed or responded, unsure of what we were responding to.  It felt like looking at an aquarium or zoo exhibit.   I saw the show 6 times and was blown away every time.  Including one evening when a drunk man came over to the audience and assumed we were there to see him.  He began to perform for us, singing songs and telling stories – ushers were about to try to remove the man when the director said “No – this is part of performing in public.”  So the drunk man continued to talk and distract and sing.  Finally – he got fixated on the memory of a dear departed friend and he broke down and wept before the entire audience.  Suddenly he didn’t want the attention he was seeking.  The show went on – I’ve never been more moved by a piece of theater in my life.   Even without the drunk man the experience was incredible.