As a high school senior, i was persuaded to serve as the president of our drama club -- we called it the Masque & Wig Club. I had roles in almost every play throughout my HS career, so i guess i was deemed the natural fit, even though i wasn't really motivated to lead the group.
And while i didn't make a great club president, that wasn't my greatest failure. No, that would be my failure to get a very talented freshman to try his hand with acting. Kid's name was Eric Bishop, and he was clearly that most talented kid most of us had seen -- dude could play the piano, sing, do spot-on imitations, tell jokes, and just flat-out entertain.
And today, that kid, now grown-up and star-named Jamie Foxx, is the favorite to win a Best Actor Oscar in tonight's Academy Award ceremonies, for his born-to-play portrayal of Ray Charles. He's also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the cabbie Max in Collateral (where i felt he out-performed Tom Cruise).
One of the world's top actors, at least for the moment, was in my high school, and we didn't get him into the school plays. Doh! Just how good would our one-act play of The Glass Menagerie have been if Eric was playing the gentleman caller, rather than me? We would have won the district competition, for sure. (An added bonus: i wouldn't have the scarring memories of being panned by the judge -- i haven't acted since.)
Anyhow, what's past is prologue, as some playwright once said. Prologue for what i hope is a Foxx victory tonight. It would make his success, and my failure, complete.
No comments:
Post a Comment