RING THE CURTAIN UP!

10-08-2019

I am sitting at my favorite dumpling bar in Koreatown sipping my soup when Angelina walks in the store approaching my table. ‘Ciao Joseph!’ ‘Hey Angelina!’.

It's impossible not to notice Angelina Kristic. She is a tall attractive woman with a big heartwarming smile, and sometimes wears original hats, like today.

Her standard dress code sticks to the classic stage actor outfit: black dresses (so you focus on face’s expressions), comfortable shoes (because an actor stands up most of his time) and a colorful scarf (to protect voice and add some joy to that black dress!).

Her exotic charm comes from being half-Croatian, half-Italian and half-Irish with a drop of Portuguese beauty, and that's the recipe for the unique genetic mix that has brought us my special guest.

Music is aloud in the store (as always in Manhattan, and the reason why still remains mysterious to me after ten years in this City) so we must yell to each other to do the interview, for the amusement of the other patrons…….

It's very hard to label Angelina. She is creative director, producer, executive producer, author, actors teacher, actress herself and, as she whispered later on in the interview, she can decently substitute the light technician and the set design operator as well.

Angelina’s one is a story that tells you a lot about both New York and New Yorkers, but first of all it's a very very inspiring tale of a journey into the fascinating world of stage acting and theaters.

Born in New York in a bohemian artistic environment (father architect and dance teacher/ mother fine artist), ever since she was just a little girl her parents let her watching movies (both classics and contemporary) with them and that was when she fell in love with acting.

At the age of 6 she revealed her vocation for movies and acting  and so the major in movie making she achieved in High School (inspired by her first acting teacher/coach/director/ an then best friend Judith Seymour-Strawn) was simply a natural consequence, as well as the award she later got from The New York Times while she was attending The Clinton School for Writers and Artists in Chelsea, NY.

Even if blessed by talent, Angelina did not wait for opportunities just to happen to her, but she grabbed her fate and headed towards those opportunities she felt would fit her the best. That’s why she went to Europe traveling throughout Italy, UK, France and Croatia and then came back to U.S. So, no surprise that at the age of 20 she was already in charge of a show as assistant director and was working with Hollywood legend Paul Newman.

Over the years my guest has enriched her career and expertise continuously working on many different projects throughout Europe and United States (she has also directed in Paris and taught theatre in the UK), so I felt she was the right person to ask which are the main differences between Europe and United States with reference to stage acting and theater industry.

About stage actors she underlines that American ones are generally recognized in the industry to have the plus of being very versatile, capable to perform at a high level in dancing, singing and acting at a time, trained and used to add improvisations at their performances. Moreover, in America stage actor teachers support and endorse performers to add to their interpretation their personal feelings and individual touch. Over her carrier she has been told that, as an American teacher, she is fresh, open minded and able to make student actors feel comfortable because she is versatile and respectful towards them. Also in my experience, I have heard that both students and professionals are always encouraged not to be afraid to personalize the script and its interpretation, and that's how you might end up to become Mrs. Meryl Streep and Mr. Kevin Spacey, I believe.

What happens in Europe, instead, is that the way of teaching stage acting sticks to a tradition that goes way back in the past, where it is actually considered a plus remaining strictly and completely attached to a script and the way it has been traditionally represented. Angelina’s words sounded familiar to other opinions I have heard in this field, and I guess it has something to do with the general opinion that European actors have the tendency to remain within the board of a specific genre and to perform in an ornate way.

Another huge difference between Europe and United States is about funding and financing. In U.S. shows and plays are financed exclusively by privates, and State or Government financial support is very low. In Europe it is exactly the opposite: public money is the main source of funding and financing, and this allows many projects, even those that are experimental or niche, to actually happen, contributing significantly to cultural development and diversification.

After a two-hour conversation Angelina realizes she is already late for her next appointment in the evening (she is currently working on three projects, a musical, "Cherchez La Femme" with writer August Darnell where she is the director, a new play titled “Red Rain”, and the movie "King’s Cross" with writer Phil Brady), but she has the time to show me her concern that funding is currently the main issue in the theater industry, both in Europe and in the U.S., mainly still because of the consequences of the economic crisis, and that is a bad news for everybody, not only for people who work in this field. So, I have to say hello to Angelina, and I find myself still waiving my hand at her while she has already walked out from the store.

After such an intense day there is only one thing I can consistently do for a ‘Grand Finale’: to go to Sardi’s and definitely abandon myself in the world of fiction and stage. Sardi's is simply ‘the’ place to go in Broadway. Located in the heart of the Theater District, this legendary spot (on 44th between 7th & 8th avenue) is the beacon for residents, aficionados, tourists and viewers who can't resist the call by the sparkling, excessive, iconic and always fascinating world of Broadway.

I am sitting at the bar while I review my notes on the interview, and I have already ordered my whiskey sour. The old barman in is elegant uniform is working on it . In the meanwhile I watch all the caricatures of famous Broadway stars on the walls and the people in the restaurant,  and I try to find similarities between them. It's just a silly game, that reveals a deep truth though. The Bard was right ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players’.

Joseph Ralph Fraia

PH Enrico Vannucchi