Five more questions

[tahnan]

Apologies to those who have asked me for questions; it's been a long day, and I'm not feeling creative enough to ask just now.

Instead, the answers to five from saxikath via email:

1. I'll start with the same question I asked thedan. What characters do you most want to play on stage someday, and why?

There are a number of characters in musicals I wish I could play--Tevye and the Emcee in Cabaret probably top that list, though Billy Flynn is up there. But I can't sing; so I can't really say I want to play them someday.

So let's see. Maybe either man in Copenhagen (although what I really want to do is direct), because I find the character study so fascinating. Bernard Nightingale, certainly: any Stoppard is terrific for the language, and I feel a connection with a role about a frustrated researcher.

The father, Robert, in Proof; what a terrific role that is, for the complex emotions he has to express about his illness. I'd like to do Shakespeare again some day, though I don't know that there's any one role in his work that I'd particularly want.

I'd also really like to do Mamet onstage--Don in American Buffalo, or almost anyone in Glengarry. These more for the language than for the characters themselves, although I think that it's too easy to think of Mamet as "that guy who writes swear words" or even "that guy with quick dialogue": his characters feel very real to me.

Oh, and Martin Dysart, the psychologist, in Equus. Again, the complexity of the emotion is wonderful.

2. What change would you most like to see made to The Enigma?

I won't say "no phrase shifts," of course. I also won't say "no more flats by <name here>" because that's just mean and I'm better than that. More flats per issue, perhaps? But then I might've just been spoiled by Xemu's tendency towards large issues (and we see how well that worked for him).

I think that, speaking reasonably, if I were to change anything about the 'nig, it might just be more articles. I mean, I love puzzles (G-d knows), puzzles are great, but I feel like there's room in a monthly newsletter for discussions of puzzle theory, puzzle events, book reviews, that sort of thing.

3. What about the apartment will you most miss when you move?

The Baus? No, no, no.

It depends on what the new apartment has or doesn't have, but I think I might well miss the general hominess of it. That sounds strange, I know, but the last two apartments I've lived in have been nice apartments but not apartments that I feel I really settled into. I just sort of occupied the space. Maybe it's all the wood, or the slightly byzantine arrangement of hallway and pantry and porch, but it is a very comfortable space.

4. What's the story behind Wendell the bunny?

Weldon. As far as lilisonna and I recall, he was sent to her by her mother in, what, 1993 or so, when we'd been living together for a year, perhaps as part of a Christmas stocking (which explains the holly around his neck and a certain velveteen appearance). She decided he was an attack rabbit, ears being the primary weapon; I got my revenge by naming him Weldon, after Weldon the Magic Rabbit, the somewhat sarcastic assistant to the math magician in Math for Smarty Pants, a book aimed at grade schoolers about the wonders of mathematics.

So I'm a geek. So what.

5. Of all the movies I haven't seen (and goodness knows there are a lot), which three would you recommend I see first?

Hm, there are a lot, aren't there. If Matrix Reloaded were any good I'd push you to see The Matrix so that you could see it, but it's not; then again, you'd ought to see the first one anyway now that you've lived through it.

I'd say, probably, Moulin Rouge!, since I know you like musicals; and...have you seen The Sting? If not, that'd be in the top three, I think, just because everyone should see it. If you've seen it, replace it, I suppose, with The Usual Suspects, since they're both con game movies of sorts. For a third--it's so hard to predict what you will like, since I don't have much of a starting point. One of the good solid British historical dramas, depending on which you've seen: The Lion in Winter first, A Man for All Seasons if you've seen Lion.

Oh, though I should probably throw in X-Men (and of course its sequel), just for the geek cred. I don't know that that'd be one of the first three you should see, but it'd be up there.

(For reference for other readers: she has seen both LotR movies, Princess Bride, one Miyazaki film--Spirited Away, not my favorite of them, but good enough that Laputa needn't be in her first three--and enough Star Wars movies. Oh, and When Harry Met Sally..., or I might recommend that one as well.)

Comments

[saxikath]

My apologies to Weldon for getting his name wrong.

And I've seen Lion in Winter, but not The Sting.

[bookishfellow.livejournal.com]

You're moving?

Oh, and to saxikath: The Seven Samurai and/or The Magnificent Seven if you've not seen either/both of them. You have seen Depardieu's Cyrano, yes? Gosh, what else? I'm a sucker for Andie MacDowell, so I'm gonna throw in Groundhog Day and Hudson Hawk just for kicks. The last is not to everyone's taste, but I thought it was cute and screwy.