Luck…when opportunity meets preparation

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Teddy Bart

We all hope and pray for lady luck to smile on us, but will you be ready when it happens?

Since she was a child, Shirley MacLaine studied acting, singing and dancing with total dedication. She was determined to be ready when her opportunity came. After countless auditions, she got a job as dancer in the chorus of the Broadway musical, The Pajama Game. When the leading lady, Carol Haney broke her ankle (bet the person who wished her to “break a leg” regretted it!) MacLaine stepped in and became the toast of Broadway and got a contract with Paramount Pictures.

Learning to be an expert horseman on his family’s farm in Montana led to Gary Cooper’s big moment. After moving to Los Angeles he worked as an “extra” in cowboy movies. When the star of a serial western got hurt, the producers needed someone who could instantly take on the role. Because of his expertise on a horse, Cooper was chosen.

Dick Clark was a journeyman broadcaster having had worked for a number of radio and television stations as a non-descript booth announcer and off-camera weathercaster. He had learned broadcasting from the bottom up. While working at a Philadelphia station, the host of its popular afternoon teen hop show got involved in a scandal and was fired. The station manager looked for the cleanest cut anti-dote to the host to replace him. Dick Clark was chosen. He was prepared, and the rest is history.

As the old saying goes, it takes a lifetime to become a star over night.

It is one thing to hope for a break.

It is another to be ready when it happens.

…Teddy Bart

 

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George Lindsey…the clown has two faces

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Teddy Bart

He had it all: A multi-decade career established on a long running television show, then another. He was a popular brand. Loved by millions. An American icon.

But he was not happy.

Like the sad clown he put on a happy face, always ready to mug for fan’s cameras and to sign autographs.

But he was not happy.

He shared his discontented side with me on several occasions. He had studied acting at the prestigious American Theater Wing in New York City. He aspired to become a serious actor. In fact he had appeared on Broadway in award winning plays such as Wonderful Town and All-American. He was on the path to his dream.

Hollywood beckoned. But the serious roles eluded him.

Needing work, he auditioned for the role of Gomer Pyle for Andy Griffith, but the part went to Jim Nabors. Subsequently he was cast to play Goober Pyle.

From that moment he had sealed his professional fate. George Lindsey and Goober Pyle became one.

Becoming Goober became a blessing and a curse. Yes, he became famous—although he never received a dime in residuals from re-runs of the Andy Griffith Show—but doomed his dream of becoming a dramatic actor.

He had become so identifiable with Goober that casting agents, producers and directors couldn’t envision him in a serious roll.

Ultimately, George Lindsey reconciled that if Goober was all he could ever be, it was Goober he would be. And he spent the rest of his life until his death this week being Goober.

No doubt many a struggling artist would say, “What’s the big deal? I’d swap places with him any day.”

That take is understandable. Yet, how many of you would want to constantly pretend to be happy while sadly bearing a lifetime yearning lodged useless within your soul?

George Lindsey’s life had Shakespearian proportions: A serious artist trapped by his zany alter ego.

I bet he could have played that role magnificently.

…Teddy Bart

 

 

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Rediscovering Your Authentic Self

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Teddy Bart

All of us in this business of using our talent should occasionally step back, take a deep breath, and remember who we really are.

We need to rediscover our authentic self.

Sort of like a consciousness cleansing, we need to rid ourselves of the mental and spiritual toxins that have built up over the course of our journey.

After a while many of us have gone on overload. We have lost our authentic self to the demands and expectations of the business we are in.

We complicate our lives keeping up our web site, our Tweets and our Facebook posts. We load up with appointments, obligations, people, business activities plus other non-talent related tasks to the point of blotting our authentic self…the Who am I self.

People who do what we do used to have more fun doing it than we do today. Those of us who have been at it for some time had more fun back in the day. We were more childlike, more carefree. We got more enjoyment out of our work than we do today.

Rookies probably have no idea what I’m referring to. They never knew a time without havoc, chaos and inconsequential “stuff” that takes the fun out of being talented.

We need to return to that simple, basic dream. Too many of us have lost the dreamer we once were—that innocent child that saw or heard in our mind what we wanted to be. We have forgotten what we used to talk to God about.

Now God resides in a small hand held devise about the size of our heart that connects us to the world but disconnects us from ourselves.

We need to look at ourselves honestly, without the bullshit, pretense or facade and say…

This is who I am.

This is what I do.

This is my authentic self.

…Teddy Bart

 

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The Courage To Be Hated

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Teddy Bart

The Courage To Be Hated

Those of us who ply our trade before the public love to be loved. We relish the applause, the raves of the reviewers and the desperate plea of the autograph seeker. We feed on praise like goats on grass.

However, the professional artist soon becomes familiar with the flip side of love. We learn that in putting ourselves before the public, we are as apt to be scorned as praised.

Tolerating the public’s criticism and insults is a bitter pill to swallow. Some of us do not survive the ordeal. Being mocked and ridiculed takes it toll on our personality and on our psyche. Some of us become hard. Others cynical. Still others say screw it and find some work where they are not a public target.

When asked what it takes to succeed in the acting profession, Bette Davis replied, “The courage to be hated.”

Fueled by the media replacing news with gossip and encouraging consumers to comment, and fed by the internet to computers, tablets and phones, nowadays audiences are closer with those who bring them art and entertainment than ever before. Plus, they have more outlets for their wrath.

In a piece posted on The Daily Beast website recently, actor Ashley Judd said she has been the subject of ongoing criticism lately about her hair and overall appearance. While Judd’s piece attempted to tie downgrading women over their appearance with violence against women—a questionable analogy in this male’s opinion—the point is that obviously the criticism of her looks appears to be getting to her.

The public can be brutal. Their slings and arrows can wound the body, mind and spirit of talented people.

It takes guts, nerve, and audacity to keep them from taking you down.

…Teddy Bart

 

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Traps

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Teddy Bart

There are times when talented people pursuing their dream feel trapped. Like your life is killing your soul.

Traps come in many forms, many designs.

There is the family trap. Perhaps a medical, financial or emotional obligation prohibits leaving the nest. Walls constructed of responsibility mixed with guilt produces bars that keep one incarcerated within one’s own environment.

Sadly, when the commitment to a family requirement lifts, it is often too late for the one who has made the sacrifice to focus on themselves.

Artists trapped in abusive or controlling marriages have a more ominous trap. These victims must cope with constant and often frightening threats to their own well being when their tormentor is made aware of their life’s desire.

Then there is the money trap. Funds required to go full throttle toward your career are simply unavailable and unattainable. Banks don’t loan money on a dream.

The most formidable trap is the one built and set in your own mind. You see the target, can feel and taste the life you want to have, but the mind trap maintains it death grip on your body, mind and spirit. You feel like you don’t belong anywhere—as if sent to prison for a crime you did not commit.

Your mind trap is compounded by the voices of your dark alter ego continually plaguing you with doubt about your worthiness and chances for success. Almost like an albatross, it seems that everything you do to bring about your life as an artist comes back at you in a negative way.

As bad as other traps are, the trap you set in your mind can be the Alcatraz of your soul. The mind trap is undefeatable unless you cultivate the power, will and stamina to blot out its ugly voice each time it taunts you and replace it with the words, Yes I can!

…Teddy Bart

 

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Brilliance…reserved for a few; often resented

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Teddy Bart

Back when I was an entertainer, I was invited to sing at a charity benefit along with several other performers while working in Miami. I came out and did my act. I thought it went over well. I got a pleasant ovation.

After a few other acts performed, the emcee introduced the closing act: “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Tony Bennett.”

From the moment he walked—no, not walked on…make that enveloped the stage, Bennett owned the room. The totality of his presence and bearing captivated and mesmerized the audience. The way he used his hands and his face and his body; his vocal intonation and phrasing, plus a vibrancy that emanated from him culminated in nothing short of brilliance.

“We are entertainers,” I told a pal of mine backstage, “Bennett is brilliant.”

“Yeah, well, with a nose like that, he better be,” my friend said–which said more about himself than about the man who left his heart in San Francisco.

What I learned that day is that there of some in every profession who are good at what they do. They are journeymen. They get gigs, even make a better than decent living. They get the job done.

And then there are a few among us who are brilliant. They affect. They radiate. They magnetize. They are artists!

For example, reading a Eudora Welty novel is akin to watching Baryshnikov dance or watching Citizen Kane or listening to the music of Richard Rodgers. They are examples of brilliance personified.

Interestingly, brilliance affects artists in different ways. Some artists feel inspired; others, like my friend of years past, feel resentful.

Those who are inspired thrill with admiration. Those who become resentful brood with self-loathing.

Those artists who cannot abide brilliance, excellence, and artistry in others are making a statement more about themselves then about their target.

…Teddy Bart

 

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Making It…different from having it made

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Teddy Bart

Coming off stage after a performance, I have heard many a seasoned artist beg, “They liked me, didn’t they?” “Do you think I went over well?” “I kicked ass, right?”

They are patted on the back, kissed on the cheek (or wherever) and assured by those whose livelihood or ego depend on that artist and convincingly assured that his or her performance was second only to the Sermon on the Mount.

That artist might have it made. But they definitely haven’t made it.

Some artists equate making it by the number of cars, houses, jewelry and other stuff they have accumulated. While there is nothing wrong with acquiring things that make one happy, or that can be shared with others, material possessions acquired simply because one can is more a validatation of one’s ego than one’s artistic worth.

Artists of means have it made. But they have not necessarily made it.

From the get to the go, many of us try to prove to others—or to ourselves—how worthy we are of their approval. We keep auditioning.

We may have it made. But we have not made it.

And then, there is that tiny fraction that do not require the approval or validation of anyone or anything other then themselves. This fortunate few need no scorekeeper other than the one in their own mind and spirit.

Actor George Clooney tells about a conversation with his aunt Rosemary wherein said he told her that he thought she was singing better than ever in her later years.

Rosemary Clooney replied, “That’s because I don’t have to prove myself anymore.”

That, dear friends, is making it.

…Teddy Bart

 

 

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Artist Energy…not what you think

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Teddy Bart

Sir Lawrence Olivier was asked by a reporter why the renowned actor subordinated his classic talent and agreed to appear in a movie as schmaltzy as The Jazz Singer playing a Cantor opposite singer Neil Diamond?

Olivier replied, “Because I no longer have the energy to do what I used to do on the stage.”

Most readers would interpret Olivier’s reply to indicate he is old and tired. While he was aging and was perhaps tired, use of the word energy in this context did not mean vigor, get-up-and-go or oomph.

To the artist, energy signifies that certain life force, that electrical charge that the artist feels when working.

Not necessarily related to athleticism, artistic energy can be found in the understated acting style of George Clooney as well as the frenetic mode of Lady Gaga.

Energy in the artist is like the fire in a furnace. It fuels the artist to reach inside his or herself and tap in to the vein of creative gold.

Energy to the artist is a kind of charisma. It emanates as a glow and manifests as magnetism.

Like all fuel, however, artistic energy burns hot for a while. Eventually the temperature cools to a simmer. And then it fades.

Generally that cooling process is associated with age but not necessarily. Many an artist was hot in their youth but soon burned out when they lost their fire. George Burns had it well into his ‘90’s. Betty White still has it.

Can artistic energy be developed? When I moved from talk show hosting to anchoring news, an insightful director said to me, “Why aren’t you conveying the same excitement as an anchor that you did as an interviewer?”

The truth was that I loved interviewing and despised reading the news—with its nightly list of shootings, stabbings and other tales of misery.

I learned that artistic energy is directly linked with loving what you do.

Love your art and you are nuclear.

Do not love your art—or be bored with your art—and you are as combustible as wet wood.

…Teddy Bart

 

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Plans and Dreams…one is foolish, the other essential

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Teddy Bart

To fulfill their dreams, many artists make plans. I believe that making plans is futile.

I guess making plans satisfies some need for control within us…some affirmation that we’re not just hanging out there subject to the whim of fate.

But the truth is that all our planning about the terms of our lives are as reliable as a politician’s promise.

How many of you have seen your lives evolve or suddenly change course differently than you planned?

How many of you made vows regarding your work only to find that you were taken on path that you never considered taking by forces beyond your expectation or means to control?

People used to advise me to have a five-year plan. Write down where you want to be each five years, they said. Make it specific. Make a life plan as you would a business plan.

Does anyone know someone who actually stuck to their five year plan? I don’t know anyone who has. Insurance companies build skyscrapers from the ashes of human plans. Psychiatrists pay for their kid’s college tuition with the pages of five-year journals.

I would never advise someone—especially artists—to make any kind of life plan. You have a better chance of winning the lottery.

To dream, however, to visualize the life you want to live is something else. Unlike plans, which seem to have their foundation in the mind, dreams, like aspirations, hopes, wishes, and imagination, seem to me to have their origin in the soul.

Like the song says, “A dream is a wish your heart makes.”

I think a plan is a joke your mind makes.

Or as the old saying goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plan.”

…Teddy Bart

 

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Better At Work Than Living

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Teddy Bart

Appearing recently on the Charlie Rose Show on PBS, actor Gary Oldham made the point that most artists are better at work than at living. He explained that because our work requires extreme focus, we hone in on our goal and know what to do to achieve it.  When working we are sharp, centered, concentrated.

Away from the work, our mind wanders adrift.

Moreover, away from our work many of us have a feeling of unworthiness, uncertainty, and a void of self-esteem.

Audiences will gaze at a movie star on the screen or performer on stage and envy the apparent self-confidence.

What fans don’t know is that the minute the director yells “Cut,” or the performance is over, the artist’s self-assurance withers like a thirsty flower.

Off stage, most artists are indecisive. Simple, every day, real life decisions can drive us up a wall.

We hate menus, especially in Chinese restaurants. Too many damn choices! We get by that by suggesting we all share.

Have you ever seen an artist looking at a multi-plex movie marquee trying to decide which film to see? Matinee prices change to evening before we make up our mind.

Shopping? It drives most of us mad. I think I’ll take the blue one… no, the gray will probably get more wear… on the other hand that red one would sure stand out… but then, do I want to stand out?… and on and on.

Super markets? Forget it! We much prefer the limited options of a 7-Elevan.

Whether choosing ice-cream at Baskin-Robbins or making travel reservations, most artists become frazzled, wavering, dithering basket cases.

Indeed: Most of us are better at work than at living.

…Teddy Bart

 

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