The last show is Josh Radnor. A lovely show to end on. Josh is calm and clear-sighted and up for it. Technically and emotionally connected. He’s an old friend of producer Dan. They went to Kenyon College together. The theatre is full and includes three past second actors in the audience – Floyd Van Buskirk, who is seeing it for the third time, Lisa Wolpe and Jennifer Leigh Warren. Afterwards, a five minute get out and a small leaving do in the February sunshine. We all bundle into cars and head downtown to the RedCat Theatre where we watch an inexplicable North Atlantic by the Wooster Group. In that show are two past second actors, Maura Tierny and Frances McDormand.

The LA Oak Tree company feels like a family this evening. We talk about the experience of North Atlantic in relation to the experience of the last six weeks. An Oak Tree isn’t perfect. It’s not a big show, but it knows why it exists. We feel pretty good. We head to the roof bar of the Standard Hotel. This is my last night in LA – sitting amongst the gleaming towers of downtown LA, helicopters flying overhead, glamorous couples celebrating Valentines day. It’s time to go home.

This is it, then. Goodbye LA. Goodbye Odyssey Theatre. Goodbye palm trees. Goodbye Oakwood Apartments at Marina Del Rey. Goodbye Ralphs and the San Francisco Saloon and EZ Lube and the Magic Castle. Goodbye Jerry and Beth and Ron. Goodbye David and Brian and Jean and Jesse and Clancy. Goodbye Venice Beach and Spongebob and snow-capped mountains.

Goodbye 34 beautiful actors with whom I had the immeasurable honour to work. Goodbye lovely audiences who fell asleep and stood up and gasped and questioned.

And, most importantly, goodbye my most wonderful team of producers. Dan, Michele and Will – and honorary producer, the mighty Dave Bushnell. They saw An Oak Tree when it opened in Edinburgh in 2005 and my presence in LA was the realization of a dream they hatched then to bring it here. What can I tell you about these people? They have done so much for me. Dan Fishbach was my first point of contact. We met in a pub in Chelsea, London, on August 21st 2008. Then again in Seattle. Then in New York. He is a beautiful specimen – with a diet Coke in his hand; a slightly disheveled tee-totaller with a Lexus. He is dry and tender and clever and funny and a bit jaded and has been by my side all the time. Dan, I believe, has seen every performance of An Oak Tree in LA. He arrives at the theatre with his Bluetooth headset in his ear, he flicks me the bird and makes everything all right. He is genius.

If Dan is the soul of the production, Will Adashek is the brain. What he doesn’t know about sound and light, about spreadsheets and bank transfers ain’t worth knowing. He is like a wise gnomic presence floating above the emotional chatter of the rest of us. Dan and Will have known each other for years – and Page One Productions is their baby. Will is unflappable – methodical in his problem solving, a vital support to the team. He and his girlfriend, Marie, are never far away from the show.

The third partner in the Page One venture is Michele Spears. Michele is the heart. She has a smile that cracks her face in half. She is a ball of positive energy. She loves An Oak Tree and isn’t afraid to show it. She believes in it for herself, but also for the future of theatre! She is principled and passionate. She wears her heart on her sleeve. There are some performances when I have no idea how it went – and on those days I trust Michele’s judgement. She sees everything and feels everything. Her enthusiasm is rejuvenating. She is also an exceptional improviser and human being. Everyone needs a Michele Spears in their life. Which is lucky for Dave Bushnell because he lives with her. Dave is mighty. He is modest and sharp and very funny. He deserves his own show. He, like Michele and Dan, has seen almost every show and his engagement has never waivered. He and Michele go to bed discussing the play. Dave is a fine man – in the organ analogy, he is the bollocks.

Finally, some thanks. To you, for reading this. To the Odyssey Theatre for hosting my stay. To Marc Platt, whom I have never met, but whose generous backing made this whole thing possible. Thank you Marc.  Thank you to the infallible Rachel Manheimer, my Stage Manager.  Huge thanks to Stephanie Klapper and Ginny Lee at Stephanie Klapper Casting for finding some outstanding actors for the run.  And – to Flora Stamadiades, the National Director, Organizing and Special Projects at Actors’ Equity. It is not a Waiver, it is a 99 Seat Plan.

Six more actors and then that’s it. The week begins with a bike ride to Santa Monica with my dear friend Brian Parsons and then supper with Brian and my other old, old friend David Bridel. Three Brits in LA. I don’t want to say goodbye to them, but I’m looking forward to going home.

Wednesday night is Rich Sommer. I am terrible television watcher – and I haven’t seen Mad Men. I will seek it out from now on because it has lovely people in it. Friends in the UK have been super excited that I have two actors from the series playing consecutive nights of An Oak Tree. Rich is the first. He’s lucky because he’ll be able to watch the second. He confesses to having arranged it this way. We have a great time. He is clear and honest in the play – his ego dips under and the story emerges. His openness allows the play to fill the stage. I am very happy. In the bar afterwards he describes the experience as being a little like when he lost his virginity – an understanding (and a contiguous sadness) that he will never do that again!

Thursday night is the second Mad Man – Michael Gladis. Rich had phoned Michael after the show the night before. They had established some cryptic code – neither would talk about the show, other than a simple call on who would buy whom a drink after the second performance. Rich had simply told Michael that Michael would be buying the drinks… Michael is another treat in the play. Immediately after, he confesses that he felt that he was playing ‘a little behind the curve’. It was a beautiful confession. I replied that it is not possible to be on the curve in this play. It will not let you settle in – it constantly pushes you in to the moment, a moment that cannot be approached with any leisurely consideration. The story moves fast and our job is to always be a little behind the story. Michael is like a sponge to the story. I see it visibly enter him and soak deeply in. At times he is lost, at times we both just stand there as the play is poured into us by the audience. It is a most absorbent performance! He takes his time, he finds his way. I find it very moving. Rich comes back stage immediately after. He says that he felt jealous watching his friend do the show. He wanted to have the instructions again! Michael said it felt like grief – knowing that the experience could not be repeated. We decamp to the San Francisco Saloon on Pico – Rich, Michael, Michael’s cousin, a woman who sells ladybugs – and others. We’re there till midnight, making bonds with each other. It is a fine night.

Friday night is Megan Gallagher and new things happen. Theatre operates in our conscious and unconscious minds. An Oak Tree accesses both areas – giving instructions to the conscious (or rational), whilst allowing the subconscious to submerge into the story. Some of the instructions I give are in opposition to the story. I ask Megan (and the audience) not to volunteer for the Hypnotist’s show and then, in character, the Hypnotist asks for volunteers. Usually it is the audience who are wrong-footed and get up to join me. Tonight, Megan’s subconscious overrides the rational and up she gets – despite unequivocal instructions not to. It’s lovely. The play has to stop, the fiction is ‘parked’ whilst we work out the rational framework that under-pins the production. Than back we go again into the subconscious. It happens with Megan a number of times – with stoppages each time – until she finally works it out. And then off she goes! We have a talk back after this performance in which an audience members says he was convinced the stoppages were intentional. Unless you see the show more than once, you will never know. Clancy Brown, who was the second actor in my first week in LA said that only after having been in it and seen it twice did he feel that he had finally ‘seen’ the play.

Saturday matinee is Alex Kingston – coming to the show through my co-director, Karl James, whose old friend, Winks, is married to Alex’ sister. Alex arrives late. Just over half an hour before the show is due to start. For a moment before she arrives Dan and I talk about alternatives – Tracey Burns from the Impro Theatre is coming to see the show. She could do it if Alex fails to show. Or I could just walk on stage and ask for a volunteer. I always get excited at this latter prospect, but it’s never happened. And it doesn’t happen this time. Alex arrives and she is magnificent. She is a listening creature – taking in my edited pre-show chat, sharp, alert, dazzling. Before the show she asks if she can perform in bare feet – she says she always does this in rehearsal, it keeps her grounded. I can’t refuse – and grounded she becomes. New things. So many new things. She volunteers for the Hypnotist’s show waving her arm in the air and bouncing up out of her seat. She just goes for it. In the monologue I feed to her she starts with a ring-master’s ‘ladies and gentlemen’ and then proceeds to pick up all the chairs that are on their sides. She sits on one close up to the audience and batters them gently with ‘nod your head if you understand’. I look in her eyes and it is as though time stands still. She takes her authority! She trusts her instinct. She is so free, the play just pours out of her. At the end of the show Michele comes to thank her with tears in her eyes. Friends of Alex’ have had to leave the theatre without seeing her because they are too upset. We go to the San Francisco Saloon and talk about this and that. The play has passed through her and I am floating on air.

Saturday night is Wendie Malick. She seems like a Hollywood essence – impossibly slim and glamorous, a long career with many awards and nominations, a house in the hills, a view to the ocean, horses, good causes. I feel impertinent, asking this essence to get down and dirty in the 99 seat space of the Odyssey theatre. But Wendie is up for it. She is connected – her voice strong, her presence clear. She runs with the offers, crouching in the corner of the stage, holding moments, burrowing her way into the story. Her ninety year old father is in the audience, visiting from Buffalo, New York. He thanks me for giving his eyes and ears a stretch… Wendie heads off with her family and I head off to the bar – where lovely Michael Gladis joins us. Michael’s character in Mad men smokes a pipe. I like to smoke an imaginary pipe sometimes. Last night, Michael has a present for me of a corn-cob pipe, a small amount of English mix tobacco, a box of matches and a pipe cleaner. He packs it for me – the child, mother, father method. We stand outside the bar and puff away. I do not inhale. This is my last night at the San Francisco Saloon. I will miss Kim the waitress. I will miss the Sam Adams and the whole wheat BLT.

One more show to go.

For seven seasons on Just Shoot Me, Wendie Malick starred as Nina Van Horn, the outrageous ex-model and fashion editor (one Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations). She then joined the cast of Frasier for their final season as Ronnie Lawrence. Other series favorites: Big Day, Good Company and HBO’s groundbreaking comedy, Dream On (four Cable Ace Awards). She has been a guest on CSI, The X-Files, LA Law, NYPD Blue, Seinfeld, Cybil, and of course, Law And Order, to name just a few. She starred in many movies for television: Take My Advice (playing both Ann Landers and Abby Van Buren), Hello Sister, Goodbye Life, Will You Merry Me?, Apollo 11, Dynasty: The Miniseries, Paper Dolls, and North Shore Fish, in a role she originated on stage. Malick’s feature film credits include Adventureland, Confessions Of A Shopaholic, Racing Stripes, The American President, The Emperor’s New Groove, Jerome, On Edge, Trojan Wars, Bugsy, A Little Sex, Funny About Love and the cult classic, Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video. Upcoming films: The Goods, Alvin and the Chipmunks: (The Squeakqual), Fifty-Nothing and I Was a 7th Grade Dragon Slayer. Malick’s theatrical credits Off Broadway: North Shore Fish , Burleigh Grimes. Los Angeles: Victor Bumbalo’s Questa, and Oliver Hailey’s Round Trip ( Artistic Director’s Award nomination as Best Lead Actress). Vagina Monologues, Santaland Diaries, and Steve Martin’s The Underpants, Regional: The Guys (Studio Arena), Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Helen Gahagan Douglas (Wooly Mammoth), and Blithe Spirit (Williamstown)

Michael Gladis is best known for his work as Paul Kinsey on Mad Men. Other television credits include roles on The Good Wife, Law & Order: CI, Life, Hope and Faith, a recurring role on Third Watch, and Hack. He played Yevgeny Borzenkov in the classic submarine film K-19: The Widowmaker.

NY Theater credits include Fifth of July (Signature Theater), Baal (The Flea Theater), The Maine Play (Lion Theater), ‘Nami (Kirk Theater), St. Crispin’s Day (Rattlestick Thetaer), Dog Sees God (SOHO Playhouse), 12 Ophelias (BPAC), and many others, as well as a national tour of Romeo & Juliet and a stint at South Coast Rep. in Noah Haidle’s play Princess Marjorie.

Rich Sommer stars as “Harry Crane” on AMC’s critically acclaimed show Mad Men. Set in 1960s New York, the provocative AMC drama follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising. Sommer portrays a married up-and-coming media buyer on the series, which recently finished its third season to record ratings. In the shocking season 3 finale, Sommer’s character left Sterling Cooper with Don Draper (Jon Hamm) to join Don’s newly formed fledgling ad agency. Along with his cast, Sommer won 2009’s Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Mad Men took home the Golden Globe in 2008, 2009 & 2010 for Best Drama, and scored the Best Drama Award at the 2008 & 2009 Emmys. Sommer made his feature film debut as Anne Hathaway’s drinking buddy ‘Doug’ in The Devil Wears Prada. The actor’s extensive stage credits include ‘Todd’ in “Far Away,” ‘Mike’ in “A Lie of the Mind,” and ‘William Gibbs’ in “Off the Map.” He has several national commercials to his credit and recently guest starred on NBC’s hit show The Office, Law & Order, and will appear as Betty’s love interest on ABC’s Ugly Betty in March ’10. A student, performer and teacher of improvisation, Sommer received his training and experience from The Brave New Workshop in his hometown of Minneapolis and at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. He went on to study at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received his Master’s Degree in Acting. It was at this university where he met his wife, Virginia. They currently reside in Los Angeles with their one year-old daughter, Beatrice.

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Kyle Secor performed in AN OAK TREE at The Odyssey Theatre on February 6th.

Kyle was born in the theatrical hotbed of Federal Way, Washington. Fleeing a series of engagements at both community college and dinner theatre’s he ventured to Los Angeles for the promise of equity waiver. In the 80’s and 90’s he appeared in a number of said equity waiver productions. He was then fortunate enough to be in the re-opening season of the Pasadena Playhouse in a production of Look Homeward, Angel, and several productions at LATC including Tony Richardson’s Anthony and Cleopatra. He studied at BADA (British Academy of Dramatic Arts) in Oxford.

Notable television includes seven seasons as Tim Bayliss in Homicide: Life on the Street (where he also directed), City of Angels, Philly, Veronica Mars, and First Gentleman Rod Callaway on Commander In Chief with Geena Davis. Recent guest star appearances include The Deep End, White Collar, Boston Legal and Women’s Murder Club Film: Heart of Dixie, Delusion, The Doctor, City Slickers, Sleeping with the Enemy, Late for Dinner, Drop Zone, Inherit the Wind and A Wrinkle in Time.  He never returned to Federal Way, but currently resides in Los Angeles with his incredible wife, Kari, and two amazing daughters.

I should have waited even longer to write this “blog” because I still cannot, hell, I may never be able to express just how incredible my experience being a small part of the An Oak Tree has meant to me. It was a magical event. It was a whirlwind of emotions and awe that I only wish every actor and student of theater could experience. I feel blessed. Thank you Tim for letting me share the stage with you. Thank you Dan, Michele, Will and Marc for thinking of me and affording me this wonderful opportunity.

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Christopher Michael Moore performed in AN OAK TREE on January 27th, 2010.

CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL MOORE is an actor who has appeared in numerous theater productions in Washington DC, Miami, New York, and Los Angeles. He holds degrees from Northwestern University’s School of Speech. Christopher was a member of the acting companies and served on the artistic board of both The Organic Theater in Chicago and Theatre Forty in Beverly Hills. He has appeared on television and film in over sixty productions and in over 125 national commercials. Christopher is proud to call himself a teacher. For the past fourteen years he has taught theater and currently serves as the Director of The Theater Program at Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood.

—alanis morissette

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Alanis Morissette performed in AN OAK TREE at The Odyssey Theatre on January 31st, 2010.

Alanis Morissette has released a series of groundbreaking albums that have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. She has won twelve Juno Awards, seven Grammy Awards, and has also received an additional fourteen Grammy nominations. Morissette’s international debut album, “Jagged Little Pill” remains the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the U.S. and is the highest selling debut album worldwide in music history. Morissette’s subsequent five studio albums have all included a series of chart-topping singles. Her most recent release, Flavors of Entanglement, was released in June 2008 and debuted in the U.S. in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart. Achieving success as a recording and performing artist, Morissette has also lent her talents to other forums. Her television acting work includes roles on Weeds, Sex and the City and Curb Your Enthusiasm, along with a three-episode arc on Nip/Tuck.

Cheers,
Peter Gallagher

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Peter Gallagher performed in AN OAK TREE at The Odyssey Theatre on Weds., January 6th

Broadway: The Country Girl, Noises Off, Guys and Dolls, Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Tony Award Nomination), The Real Thing (Clarence Derwent Award), The Corn Is Green (Theatre World Award), A Doll’s Life, Grease, Hair. Regional and Off- Broadway Theatre include: The Exonerated, Another Country and Pal Joey. Films include: sex, lies & videotape, American Beauty (SAG Award), The Player, Short Cuts (Golden Globe), The Idolmaker, While You Were Sleeping, The Underneath, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Dreamchild, Adam and many others. Upcoming films: Betty Ann Waters and Burlesque. Television work includes: Californication, The OC, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, The Murder of Mary Phagan and many others as well as the upcoming season of Rescue Me. Recordings include: 7 Days in Memphis, Pal Joey and Guys and Dolls. Mr. Gallagher has worked extensively with directors Mike Nichols, Robert Altman and Steven Soderbergh and also
with Jonathan Miller, Nicholas Hytner, Hal Prince and many others.