The most recent offering from FTP was Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Joe played Willy Loman. I had never seen Death of a Salesman or read the play. I treated my oldest daughter, an aspiring actress herself, to tickets to the night before closing as an early Christmas gift. We both were absolutely riveted by all the actors, but Joe tackled a very difficult role and delivered a mind blowing performance! I do not give out praise lightly, especially when it comes to acting. As I read the comment thread yesterday, someone saw fit to openly criticize Joe as an actor. This was the initial comment that started the firestorm of defense from the Richmond Theatre Community for one of our own: My husband and I just moved here. We saw "Death of a Salesman" I can understand the board want to go tier One. I realize the actor was a local actor in the lead, but what if he were top notch and brought in. It would have been so much better. A community theater is good and if you want to raise the stakes you bring in a good actor. She went on to dig the hole deeper. Put a casting notice in any New York trade publication for actors. I appreciate the board wanting to raise the recognition of the company. In the lead you sometimes have to have a real actor. I am not saying local actors are not good. I am saying this production would have benefited from a professional actor. To get donors you have to have good actors in the major roles.
I have this to say, HOW DARE YOU! I realize that everyone has their own opinion, and not everyone will like an actor's performance in a show. I'm fine with that. I welcome difference of opinion, but to make the blanket elitist statement slamming one of the finest actors here, in fact anywhere, well, angered me. I had always been a fan of Joe Inscoe's work, and living in the same town, you would think we would have had several opportunities to work together. Unfortunately for me, that was not the case. I did not have the opportunity to work with Joe until 2010 when I was cast as Mrs. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol with Theatre IV. Joe was Scrooge. I have to say I was a little intimidated. Joe had done countless roles in Movies and Television. I had fallen, I am ashamed to say, to stereotypical judgement of TV and movie actors. I thought he would have an ego and barely have the time to talk to little people like me. I couldn't have been farther from the truth. Joe is one of the most humble and gracious actors I have ever worked with. He has a laundry list of credits working with some of the most renowned actors and directors of our day, but he still takes the time to speak to his fans, share bits of wisdom, and he takes his craft very seriously. My role in A Christmas Carol did not allow me to have any dialogue with Joe. We had one moment where we got to interact, and I cherished it! I found myself watching him work from the wings. It was like taking a master class for free. He never stops being the character. You will never catch him in an off moment on stage. Every action and reaction is spot on. Putting his stellar acting skills aside, he is a warm, wonderful person. He is one of the kindest people I know. He always has time to speak to anyone who bends his ear. I love him dearly, and so does Richmond, and I would be honored to be able to share the stage again with him, and I look forward to the next time I have the privilege of watching him on stage no matter where he is from!
