"what lies beneath"

Tribute - Scottie Templeton

So sometimes we are not meant to get the roles that we want and then sometimes ... I was originally cast as Uncle Lou in Neil Simon's Tribute, the story of funny man Scott Templeton who discovers he is dying of cancer and tries to connect and have a relationship with his adult son whom he had never had a relationship with. This 2008 St. Sebastian Players production was directed by Steven Walanka who approached me to take on the role of Scottie after personal family problems forced his original choice out of the production. It was a dream comes true for me as this was the role I wanted. Of course I am a fat old guy who is supposed to be suffering from cancer so how do you make a fat actor look frail? Make them wear oversized costumes of course! Jack Lemon portrayed Scottie in the film version, I could hear him in the lines and it begged the question is the actor/character more identifiable than the playwright, or maybe it was Neil Simon that I heard and not Lemon, maybe it is just the way it is written. I remember in rehearsals that John Oster was the production stage manager and he would walk by me and say, "Stop channeling Jack!"Rob Dean opens this scene as Uncle Lou (the role I was originally to play) and Theo Marshall Stephansen, (a cancer survivor) who is currently building a hell of a career in Hollywood, plays Judd, Scotties son. One of Steve Walanka's strengths is his ability to cast a production and this was a wonderful cast that developed such a comfort in working with each other. There were numerous scenes I would have been proud to post but I chose the closing monologue as I love the message it relays, find your passion!