Murphy's laws

Abby Murphy has performed in over 50 theater productions inLansing, from studio shows at Lansing Community College to the Peppermint CreekTheatre Co. main stage. Audiences may remember her as Elizabeth Bennett in LansingCommunity College’s “Pride and Prejudice,” Salome in LCC’s “Salome” and, morerecently, as Ophelia in Riverwalk’s “Fortinbras.” She has worked under notablelocal directors such as Mary Job, Lela Ivey and Kristine Thatcher. Currently, Murphy plays the mother of a child diagnosed withAttention Deficit Disorder in the Peppermint Creek production “Distracted,”directed by Lynn Lammers.

She spoke this past week about the joys andchallenges of live theater, her process of discovering her character anddealing with criticism whether from directors, fellow actors, or critics inprint.

When did you first get involved in theater? How old wereyou?

AM: I did a commercial when I was 4 or 5 for Santa for theMeridian Mall and loved it and knew that I wanted to do that for the rest of mylife. I saw Gilda Radner on “Saturday Night Live“ when I wasn’t supposed to beup and knew that I wanted to play pretend like her.

The first time I did theater, I was in 7th grade and mysisters went to Lansing Catholic Central. I went in to go pick them up (fromrehearsal) — my dad sent me in. I got in there and (the director) thought I wasa high school student. So the woman who was (directing) “South Pacific” yelledat me that I wasn’t sitting down and learning the song. So I sat down andlearned the song and they let me be in the play. That was my first show. I didit 7^th and 8^th grade and then I did it all throughout highschool at Catholic Central, which was fun. I really liked acting there.

What do you love about acting?

AM: I love playing pretend. It’s my absolute favorite thingin the world. When you play a role, you have to understand the character, andit really forces you to make decisions and it shows you a lot about yourself.I’ve played women who have cheated on their significant others, and (cheating)disgusts me in everyday life. But to try to understand that really makes meface my anger and what my holdups are against people that do that. So it’s sucha life lesson.

I always feel like I learn so much more about myself throughevery character I play because it teaches me about people and being empatheticand understanding others. It’s my first love.

The performing part is terrifying. When I first go on, I’mshaking like a leaf. It’s so intimidating. You get warmed up to having peoplewatching you, but it’s scary.

What are some of the favorite shows you have performed in?

AM: Definitely “Pride and Prejudice,” because that was sucha challenge memorizing that whole book pretty much. I was the narrator and thelead. That was really challenging because I was always the ham (in previousshows), so I was used to doing more comedy. (‘Pride and Prejudice”) made merethink the way I approach things and I couldn’t be just hammy and (using) facialexpressions.

I think one of the most challenging roles I ever had was Salome,because trying to play… just that role: her angst and anger and being a spoiledlittle brat who fell in love with someone that denied her and that was thefirst time she was ever told “no” in her life and trying to play this 13-year-oldthat was having those emotions.

Is there an important lesson a director told you that you alwaysuse?

AM: I think I was not going to go into acting when I went toLCC. I was going to be an artist and I was just going to do massage and art.And I took the studio class just to see if it really something that I wanted todo, and I had Lela Ivey. She was just so passionate. She would have you sitdown with the script and you had to write all the subtext and you had to putall of the emotional color into it. She taught this one thing to put “MSG” intoit. You should always have “Mad, Sad and Glad,” striving to always make surethat you have different approaches to reach your objective. There are so manydifferent levels of that. But that’s such a great way to approach a monologueor anything to make sure you aren’t just angry — because anger doesn’t justcome out as yelling. It can come around as you laughing about it, or trying tocon somebody in a way. Having Lela just say “put ‘MSG” into any cold-read oranything, and make sure that you show different ways of achieving yourobjective — that was probably one of the best things I’ve ever had a directortell me.

Can you tell me a little bit more about developing acharacter in a show?

AM: I like to sit with my character. I read the script tonsof times and then I’ll find songs and certain pieces of clothing that make methink of my character. I use a lot of other actors, too, and imagine I’m beingthem or thinking, “Well, how would they respond in this situation?” Sometimes Ijust walk around with a pair of shoes on that make me feel like the characterand I’ll try to have a certain gesture that makes me feel like them.

The rehearsal process is really just trying to empathize andunderstand the characters. I usually don’t end up understanding my characterfully until tech week (the final week before performances).

I try to come to the table with quite a bit. And then I likeit when the director manhandles the part.

What type of directing do you prefer?

AM: I like notes. If a director doesn’t give me a note, Ifeel like I did something wrong. Because I feel like if you give them somethingand make choices, then (the director) can tweak those choices and work withyou. I like having to figure out how you go about having the same message whenyou thought you were going to take it thisway. I love it when they put me down. That’s great. Now I know I can’t do that. I don’t take it personally becausethere are so many different ways to communicate. I’m their paint.

For instance (in “Distracted” Lynn Lammers) had me do thismonologue and I was really angry and frustrated with having a child with ADDand trying to figure it out. And she said, “No, I want you to express how muchyou love your child.” And it totallychanged it. And it was so much fun to have to figure out “well, how do I saythis line now?”

Do other actors criticize each other during the rehearsalprocess? How do you respond?

AM: Usually, if another actor has a problem with what I’mdoing, like if I’m not giving them something that they need in a scene, thenyou take it to the director and say, “This isn’t working for both of us.”Because you have to be partners with that person and if they’re not comfortableor if you’re doing something that’s not working for them, you have to find amiddle ground.

But I’ve had a situation where another actor told me thatthey didn’t think that I was doing something the way that I should be. So Isaid, “Well, let’s talk to the director about it.” And the director yelled atthe other actor for giving notes to another actor. That’s pretty clich. That’snot (the actor’s) place. You’re an actor and the director is the director. Ithink it’s unprofessional to give notes to other actors, but if you’reuncomfortable in a scene with someone and it’s not working for you, you have tocommunicate that (to the director).

How do you handle criticism from a written review?

AM: I feel like bad reviews are good because if people want tosee the show, then you have to prove to them or show them that it’s worth theirtime. You have to work that much harder. But bad reviews aren’t bad. They’rejust that person’s opinion. And a lot of times it’s helpful. Like “Oh, this ishow it’s coming across. OK, well, maybe we should talk about it.” Or maybe theyjust didn’t like the show, and that’s totally fine, too.

Do you ever let written reviews influence your performance?

AM: No. If the director has OK’d the show and you open, youshould not change it because that is rude to the other actors and also to theaudience. If you come and see a show on a Thursday night, you should see thesame show the next Friday. Even if there is a bad review, you shouldn’t changeit. That’s just the show. So the show may be a flop? Fine. It’s just that’s howit is.

You’ve played a number of leading roles. How do you find thestamina to maintain energy through a long show?

AM: Well, physically, I have to take really good care ofmyself during the rehearsal process and during the shows. When you’re in a showwith a group of people, it’s like they’re your family for that amount of timeand they’re the most support you’ve ever had in your entire life. A lot of itis just the energy that comes off of other people. And when you’re on stage,it’s the audience. The audience is really such a drug. It’s like being on speedor something when the audience is there because it just makes your endorphinsgo like crazy. I think during the rehearsal process, that’s always exhausting.But everybody’s going through it with you and so that makes it a lot easierbecause you have people to lean on. Once you get up there (on performancenights), it’s definitely the audience fueling it.

Say you have an off night, what do you do to try to keep theaudience moving or prod the audience along?

AM: If you are bored on stage, or if you are not listeningto another actor’s every word and really being engaged, then you can’t expectthe audience to be. I’ve had people sleep in the front row in shows that I’vebeen the lead in where I’m pouring my heart out, crying my eyes out — andthere’s someone snoring right in front of me. So it’s distracting, but you justhave to push harder and it just makes you try harder and it makes you moreengaged and more connected with everybody and it drives you more when you havea bad night. There are bad nights.

Is there an actor/director in the area that you’ve alwayswanted to work with but were never able?

AM: I’ve loved every director that I’ve worked with. I’vebeen really blessed. I auditioned for Williamston, but I didn’t have the rightmonologue for the play. But I would love to work with Williamston at somepoint. I got to work with Kristine Thatcher.