A Candid Interview with Alex Lyras, Star of The Common Air

Picking the brain of the versatile solo performer

by Jesse Schmitt


Alex Lyras is as direct as they come. His handshake is firm, but easy, his temperament is relaxed, yet forward leaning, his message is direct, but coded. Alex Lyras is a performer. Artist. Actor. But he also has a very sensitive ear for things: words, inflection, intention. Alex Lyras is currently playing in a recently extended run of a show in Los Angeles called "The Common Air."

"The Common Air," is a very distinct, very original show. It's a show we've seen before because it's the story of our modern lives. However the distinct and original part of this show is not just in its telling but also in that it is told through the voices of many and the vehicle of one; it is a solo show. While many people, this scribe included, may recoil at the thought of a "solo show" and think only "Ego, indulgence, repeat;" the fact of the matter is that this is a very sensitive show. It is sensitive because it is in flux; it is moving it is pulsing it is changing. The show has undergone a number of small aesthetic changes which have made it even more powerful as it embarks on its second tour of duty in the perpetually bored, always changing market that is the Los Angeles theatre scene.

"The Common Air," had been playing for the last 12 weeks at the Lillian Theatre in Los Angeles on Mondays & Tuesdays and has recently been promoted! It has made the jump to The Asylum Theatre where it has received its own time slot on a pair of much more favorable nights; Friday and Saturday.

This is a show which has spent a great deal of time in the making. It is still being changed and altered and modified and upended and you, as an audience member, are all the more likely, on any night, to see a slightly different show then on the night before. This makes the tickets for "A Common Air" that much more of a highly prize item; the fact that whatever you're seeing may never be seen again. Mr. Lyras has been doing solo shows for years and this latest birth is a true gem which deserves your scrutiny and attention.

"The Common Air" tells the story of our modern dilemma; the fact that we can't walk past someone of a certain countenance without reflexively hearkening back and wondering; the fact that there can't be an "alert" without raising all kinds of red flags in our own minds which borders on psychosis; the fact that we as a society are having a hard time getting beyond certain generalizations which are corrosive, barbaric, obsolete and sad.

This is the world that we live in and Mr. Lyras is front and center with his astute commentary. But this is not a thing which is new for this seasoned performer; he's been doing this same sort of performance in production since 1999. Prior to that even, as a student of improv and of theatre he had decided he was going to write his own monologues for audition.

This is one of the things which sets Alex Lyras apart from a large majority of actors in the world today; he is participatory all the way up and through what he says, where he stands, and how he moves through the scene, through the story, and through to the end.

I recently had the fortunate opportunity to sit down with this versatile performer and pick his brain about the entertainment industry in general, his show in specific, and the way of the world which we are all constantly swaying every which way with every day.

As a child of parents from the Midwest growing up near New York City in the 1970's was a life altering experience, even if he wasn't aware of it. Born in the Bronx and growing up in Westchester, Mr. Lyras and his parents spent a great deal of time in the city as a youth; particularly the epicenter of avant garde live performance: Greenwich Village.

Alex Lyras is the son of a mother chef/author and an entrepreneur businessman who had very early exposure to the theatre bug: "I saw my first Broadway caliber show in London when I was five. It was Carmen."

Needless to say, this event had a large and decisive impact on the young man. Regardless, he went to college with the intention of becoming a business major. Fortunately for him he realized after seeing the course load that this was not what he wanted to do.

"I got there and seeing the course load, 'Business 101, Business 201; Accounting 101, Accounting 201;' I knew it wasn't for me." Making the life altering decision, he jumped ship and quickly switched majors in the Amish land of Bucknell, Pennsylvania in a Philosophy program.

When I asked how his college major affected his solo shows, he seemed hesitant.

"Philosophy is best for ideas." Mr. Lyras draws from the long tradition of our ancestors and subscribes to the storytelling aspect of the theatre. It's where he's gotten his best creations including the six characters in "The Common Air." But he didn't get here alone.

"Rob McCaskill is a coach I'd met and he's influenced me a lot." It is with the direction and co-writing of Mr. McCaskill that "The Common Air" has lifted off and appears destined for a long journey through the skies.

Mr. Lyras seems to be a realist about the current precipice theatre artists walk with their hesitant audience. "If you're going to bring people into the theatre and ask them to sit in the dark for 90 minutes, you have to give them more. They have to trust you; it has to be a journey, it has to be a story."

While the arc of the story is the beautiful dance in "The Common Air," the standout vehicle in this story is the performance of Mr. Lyras. When I brought that to his attention, he demurred: "It takes a long time for things to catch on...it's a faster world. So with email things spread and word spread."

Alex Lyras is a man who has had a great deal of success and his own share of failures. As is evidenced from his own work, it takes a great deal of trial and error. As he said regarding the work for his solo shows, "developing layers takes a lot of pictures and stories."

Alex Lyras doesn't claim to be any sort of sage. In fact, here is a full grown man who seems to still have the curiosity of a child. About his own travails he did tell me though that the "best advice for actors and writers is have some people who are honest around you."

Honesty is what has gotten this performer this far; his honest portrayal of these characters is illuminating indeed. Anyone interested in honest theatre in an apathetic world should make a point to see "The Common Air." While the east coast audience will need to wait for their fly-by, Mr. Lyras assured me, "the show is being developed for New York." In the meanwhile the skies the limit for this solo performer and folks out west should catch this bird before it's gone.

More resources

www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lsd&task=theatersearch&letter=U&Itemid=108

http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/cl-et-common22feb22,0,6165896.story

VARIETY REVIEW http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117936875.html?c=33

Little Velvet Square: "Almost an Evening" Touches That Tender Little Spot...Almost

Feeling Around With A Little Velvet Square:

by Jesse Schmitt

When F. Murray Abraham’s God (“Who Judges”) character begins his stumping about humanities perpetual misinterpretation of the Ten Commandments, it seems intended as an eye opening experience for the audience assembled in the theatre. It also is addressed universally towards the-audience-within-the-audience that his character is playing to. However a line is soon crossed which sets off Mark Linn-Baker (“God Who Loves”) and sends them off into a battle royal which could have only been punctuated by a Springer character running on with a steel chair. It’s the message that gets muddled for both Mr. Abraham and a pair seeing the show-inside-the-show, after their show, as they discuss the merits of Mr. Abraham’s God over dinner which sets off a disagreement which evolves into a fight which could only be punctuated by a Springer character running on with a steel chair. It is only then that Mr. Abraham the actor who had “played God” arrives at the very restaurant where these two audience members are discussing his performance from just previous…

And on and on it goes.

Perhaps the description of this closing piece “Debate,” from the playwright himself could have better prepared us for this circuitousness when in the playbill we are warned: “Cosmic questions are taken up. Not much is learned.”

This is the feel of the evening in the trio of short works from Mr. Ethan Coen which make up “Almost an Evening,” his current presentation of short works at The Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street, currently running in New York City. There is plenty of pathos, plenty of wrath, and plenty of humor in the nearly 90 minutes of stage time in the three short pieces. I dare not call them “plays” in the traditional sense so much as vignettes or scenes; pieces of human interaction strung together to take the audience on a fully self-aware evening of theatre.

Mr. Coen is one half of the Oscar saddled Coen brothers; the Hollywood dream team who are responsible for such instant classics as "Raising Arizona", "O’Brother Where Art Thou", and "No Country For Old Men" just to name a few. However far from the glitz of Hollywood Bleecker Street is, the playwright did not come to the party empty handed. Many may recognize Mr. Linn-Baker as “Cousin Larry” but there is a whole talented troupe including Mr. Murray Abraham, J.R. Horne, Jordan Lage, Mary McCann, Del Pentecost, Joey Slotnick, Johanna Day, and Tim Hopper; each under the watchful eye of director Neil Pepe.

However, much to the benefit of the audience, this is not some self-congratulatory Hollywood ‘in crowd.’ While George Clooney does make a brief appearance on a magazine cover in Hell, the location of his appearance seems not at all coincidental. No this group are ensemble performers and they all approach the words of Mr. Coen under direction of Mr. Pepe with careful consideration. Many of the players are actually members of The Atlantic Theatre Company (William H. Macy & David Mamet’s theatre school) who is a producing agent for this show.

And their performances were all generally really good. So I hesitate to say anything more about the evening...But I will.

Here's my biggest gripe. In “Almost an Evening,” the heightened reality and overall story arc are predominantly absent. I feel like many of the lines spoken in these pieces are done so into the mirror; as though Mr. Coen himself were onstage, feeling shy. This, from one of my favorite filmmakers is outrageous; I'd certianly expected a lot more "Pop!" Some of the scenes in this evening reminded me of Larry, Curly, and Shemp more than Coen Brothers favorites like "Fargo" or "The Big Lebowski." Heck, even "The Man Who Wasn't There," has a beginning, middle, and end; it's the "Almost" in this evening which was the biggest qualifier and, unfortunately, it is also the biggest let down.

But my tone is all off because the acting was great! There is a fun irony which the players are able to pull off with grace and elegance. Everyone seemed to hit their spots and they all remained largely connected. Still, the conflicted tenor leaves one exiting the theatre as a maudlin drunk. The banter the actors share is delightful, and while some of their phrasings are witty; the spectacle is apparent; the bickering, jarring; the dynamism, relative. “Rage Against the Machine: If That’s the Way You Feel.”

I get it that Mr. Coen didn't want to take any playwright's milk money; so much of what is said in the theatre has already been said before. But we come to the theatre exactly for that; why do you think Shakespeare is continually remounted? It felt as though Mr. Coen saw the vertical distance in the pole vault, set his bar down and just walked away rather than giving it a go.

That said, “Almost an Evening,” more than lives up to its name. There is a certian "yuck-yuckiness" to the pieces which, in the end, is disappointing. Mr. Coen even evokes Mr. Mamet at one point and like a damsel, tied to the tracks it seemed as obvious as the freight train’s coming in the distance. And to be there is exactly where I felt I was. What this show does have going for it is just about everything else; the players give it their all and each are able to shine at moments; the direction is snappy; the production is nice. While the endgame is par for the course, if you’re looking for an enjoyable, but not impressively memorable evening at the theatre in the Village, “Almost an Evening,” is as just as good an option as any.

At Home OnStage: From the Frontlines

(I don't often leave this open for others to post on; but my friend Josh Kauffman and his merry band of brothers & sisters did an amazing thing recently. This performance group put up a showcase event with New York City's homeless taking the mic and having a chance to get their story heard. I was so touched when I found out that another one of my good friends was involved with this, that I offered them this space to do some first hand reporting of how they thought the event went. What follows is Mr. Kauffman retelling his story. JS)

First Hand/Front Line

by Josh Kauffman

It started with just an idea, with someone telling me I should look deeper into my relationship with New York's homeless community. I'd been coming to terms with how jaded I'd been regarding the homeless, especially the subway and street corner panhandlers, and realizing how much I'd neglected the human being inside each of the people I'd been so successfully ignoring. I developed the idea to present these people with an outlet for expression, to allow people to see the stories they wanted to tell.

After circulating the idea among my friends and letting it take root, we generated a community of volunteers to start the project in motion.We were very improvisational as we developed our strategies and goals. We knew we wanted a show, we knew we wanted homeless performers; beyond that, we were forced to generate the questions that needed answers, and then generate those answers. We lost a few volunteers early on because of the spontaneity with which we approached the task, but the corps that remained was both dedicated and resourceful.

The plan was that we would create workshop teams of two to four volunteers. Each team would approach a community center, shelter, or some other service provider, and present our mission statement with an offer to conduct theater workshops in their space, for anyone who wished to participate. With enough teams at work, each with their own handful of participants, over the few weeks' prep time we allotted ourselves we would generate more than enough material to fill a sixty to seventy-five minute program.

While that part of the process was being developed, we were at work securing a venue and connecting all the other dots. We wanted to feed the participants and the audience, and we needed to start the publicity machine working, and it was a lot of balls to keep in the air at once. That we were able to do so, and that the people we approached for help were so accommodating and generous, were more than a minor miracle. A church in Midtown donated their space, two different restaurants offered food, Ben and Jerry's gave us ice cream, and a great photographer friend of mine recruited a friend of hers to put together some amazing publicity pictures. We're all flying high.

In the end, we had one team, usually a team of one person, working at Project ORE at a synagogue on 23rd Street. Instead of 'street' homeless, our participants came almost exclusively from shelter communities, though one of our poets had been on the streets for nearly five years. Both in terms of our volunteers and the participants we were courting, availability was always a sticky issue. The venues we approached were open for limited windows during the day, and most of the participants could only be there for those limited hours before they scattered to other obligations.

Right up till opening night, it wasn't fully clear who would be showing up to perform, or what they would show us when they did get on stage. Our commitment was to give a good experience to everyone who arrived, on both sides of the curtain, so we smiled and kept encouraging and working.We achieved our goals, for both performances, though very differently each night.

On Friday, we were short three of our expected performers, and one man came who wasn't expected at all. It was a bit of a shuffle to make sure the show was complete and on schedule, but we presented a complete program and had more than enough food afterward to make for a good reception. The second performance, we actually had two extra performers, and had to wonder whether the program would be too long. We fielded some hurt feelings and misunderstandings as we trimmed the bill a bit - we'd love to have a two hour show, but we can't overstay our welcome at our free performance space.

In the end, the church indulged us with extra time, we had a longer and better show, the audience was moved to laughter and tears, and the participants were stoically grateful and pleased.The greatest thing for me was to see the new connections that got made. Our team leader, Casey, made some fast friendships among the performers she'd been working with, which have endured even after the curtain came down on "At Home on Stage."

The audience engaged the performers, and without fail came away with smiles or looks of wonder on their faces. And to see new friendships formed, the excitement for what had been created and the energy it took to make it all work... I mean, it was totally worth it.

Here I am writing this book report or history lesson about How It All happened, but in a nutshell: We wanted to present an opportunity to perform, to people who have not been offered that opportunity, and perhaps didn't even know they could have it. We wanted to present these people to an audience of their peers and mine, to create new dialogues and levels of understanding. We did that. And then we fed everyone lasagna and salad and chicken fingers.

Because of Beth & Live! Nude! Girl! Hit the Street

There is always a lot of buzz about the theatre scene in New York City; there are a pair of shows popping up in the next couple of days which you may regret not finding out a little more about when you had the chance.

The New York Premiere of “Because of Beth” is currently up at the Workshop Theatre (312 W 36th St 4th floor) and will continue its run until the 20th of January.

“Because of Beth” deals with familiar and very difficult themes that all of us will need to deal with at one point in our lives. Beth is a recently deceased mother, ex-wife, and fiancé. The problems here are a common one in any family who has gone through a divorce; her children are quarreling, their father, her ex-husband has been long estranged and is only reintroduced with the passing of Beth. Introduce the players who have been there the whole time with an outsider, in a sense, and you’ve got a powder keg which is just waiting to burst.

“Because of Beth” was written by Elana Gartner and directed by Clara Barton Green. If you’d like more info on this powerful show you can visit the SmartTix page for all ticket and scheduling information (https://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=BEC6)

Another new show which is generating a lot of buzz is the Equity reading of “Live! Nude! Girl!” at the Bleecker Street Theatre (45 Bleecker St – Lafayette & Mott) According to the shows press information: "What if a 1950s Midwestern housewife got so sick of making meatloaf every Tuesday night that she snapped — and ran away to Las Vegas? What if her mother could drink like Dean and her daughter entertain like Sammy? And what if this housewife went from the silent and submissive bottom to the tough, impulsive and calculated top of the heap? Live! Nude! Girl! is an original musical that tells the story of a once in a lifetime chance for one woman to break out of her rut into something original and cool."

The show is at 7PM on January 14. With book and lyrics by Donna Kaz and music by Wayne Barker, there has been a lot of positive chatter for this pending showcase. For even more info check out (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/114058.html)

Summer Playwright’s Festival Goes “Public”

January 7th, 2008

The Public Theatre Hosts Festival of New Works

By Jesse Schmitt

For playwrights all over the nation there is a great festival which anyone and everyone who is able should try to be a part of. The Summer Play Festival, which, this coming July, is celebrating its fifth anniversary, has recently went Public with its forthcoming information and with its locale.

Running for the first time this year at the legendary Joe Papp’s Public Theatre on Lafayette Street, the 2008 Summer Play Festival promises to be the most exciting event yet. Anyone who knows anything about the downtown theatre scene in New York City will tell you that The Public is one of those revered places which so many talented artists have passed through. Under the skilled direction of Mr. Papp and in his name since then you could say that The Public has shaped the landscape of plays, playwrights, and the theatre scene all over the world.

Bringing in challenging new works was a signature of The Public Theatre from it’s first production; the legendary musical “Hair” as well as the show which eclipsed anyone’s expectations, “A Chorus Line,” which went on to an uber-impressive fifteen year run on Broadway (and is currently back on the Rialto).

Papp is no longer alive and thus no longer running things day to day at the theatre; but his legend lives on. There have been a number of artistic and critical successes as of late including “Bring in ‘Da Noise; Bring in ‘Da Funk,” the critically praised but commercially unsuccessful “The Ride Down Mt. Morgan,” and one of the many riveting breakout works of Richard Greenberg “Take Me Out.”

So the fact that The Summer Play Festival is coming to The Public is a no-brainer pairing in many people’s eye. The Public Theatre has remained one of New York’s and the world’s preeminent cultural institutions; the pairing of The Summer Play Festival with the wide and varied selection of cutting edge writers and excellent new theatre only makes sense.

This year The Summer Play Festival will run from July 1 to July 27, 2008 in the East Village of Manhattan. While this year’s submissions have closed many people are getting very excited about the prospective lineup of new plays just due to the success of past participants in The Summer Play Festival. If you’d like more information about the upcoming festival or about other partnerships and events which are going on with The Summer Play Festival you should certainly check out their website. The site also offers you the ability to keep an eye out for their current and forthcoming news.

www.spfnyc.com