The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 35, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Page: 5 of 11
eleven pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
^he_Universit^iiNews_
iMarch_^9i^006_
Arts & Entertainment
Spotl ght on Margaret Abbott
by Sharon Salmon
ARTS & EN1 ERJAINMEN EDI OR
University News: How and when did your love for
drama begin?
Margaret Abbott: 1 think drama is in my blood. My
grandmother was a Rockette and did musical comedy
and my mom is a wonderful reader of books. She would
do great voices for the characters — really dramatize the
picture books. I didn't really begin acting until I started
homeschooling in middle school. I became friends with
another homeschooler (who actually goes to UD now) and
we started with doing a play in her backyard. It was pretty
atrocious (I perpetrated the script, I'm afraid) — but, hey,
you've got to start somewhere ... I auditioned for Anne
of Green Gables during the summer before my junior year
and got the lead. I had a wonderful time and started doing
drama that fall at the private school where the director of
Anne worked. I was pretty much hooked.
News: Besides directing, what's your favorite part of
producing a show? Why?
M.A.: I m not a techie — I am a profoundly impractical
person, which means that designers are angels for helping
me! Designers are wonderful. They take the director's
impractical dreams and figure out ways to make them
a reality. Since the general look of the show was so im-
portant for my studio, I was enormously indebted to the
designers. I couldn't say that there's one area that is my
"favorite." I suppose that costuming has a strong appeal
— any girl who ever once played dress-up will probably
understand ...
News: What was the most difficult aspect of your
Senior Studio?
M.A.: I: 'm not an organized person and I'm not
naturally a leader type. I'm perfectly content to let
other people follow their lights because a lot of the time
they have a better idea of what's going on. Fortunately
for me, I had a wonderful cast and crew for the studio
— willing to work and fun to spend time with. I also
had lots of support from the drama faculty. Directing is
a huge responsibility, but when you come to the finished
product, the importance of the work of so many people
becomes clear... To work, drama has to be the least selfish
art. That's part of the beauty of it — and as a director,
you are ultimately responsible to everyone (cast, crew, and
audience) but the work is not just yours.
News: Do you prefer to direct comedy or tragedy?
M.A.: Comedy's more fun, of course. So much of
directing is about helping people to discover new things,
unleashing their own creativity, and people often just
have more fun working on comedy. That said, a lot of
working on a show is the attitude that you bring to it
— and you can have just as much craziness and a sense
Photos from Margaret
Abbott's performance
in the Fall "04 main
stage production of
Three Sisters
Images from UD News
Archives
of fun working on a tragedy as on a comedy. In addition,
tragedy is marvelously cathartic — as an actress, I've had a
wonderful time doing enormously depressing stuff. And
there's something about when tragedy clicks that is like
nothing else. When someone creates a moment that's
real, it's just incredible.
News: Which directors have inspired your work and
how?
M.A.: I think that the directors I've worked with di-
rectly have formed my work most. You could see someone
else's production and read their writings, but that doesn't
have the same effect as actually working with them. My
teacher, Patrick Kelly, has certainly done more than
anyone else in shaping my work. A fine director can take
something that seems rather lackluster on
the page and give it life, which Professor
Kelly is certainly able to do.
News: Who is your favorite play-
wright?
M.A.: I' 'm being enormously conven-
tional, but Shakespeare's just the most
important (though I wouldn't want to
neglect his contemporaries — especially
Marlowe. Marlowe's EdwardIIis probably
about as good as some of Shakespeare's
histories.) However, as an actress, Chekhov is wonder-
fully stimulating. His characterizations are so fully-real-
ized and he melds comedy and tragedy with so much
deftness. Chekhov is an actor's dream. I'm probably
more passionate about certain plays than I am about a
large number of individual playwrights. Herb Gardner's
A Thousand Clowns is a work of genius — the movie is
no longer available, which is a minor tragedy. It starred
Jason Robards, who did a lot of Eugene O'Neill plays
— so there's no lack of status there. Anybody who stars
in important productions of plays that we actually study
here, as in 71-je Iceman Cometh, is pretty classy. Which,
of course, is my excuse for loving a movie as silly as A
Thousand Clowns. (There are, by the way, no clowns in
the play. I hate clowns.)
News: You're majoring in both Drama and English.
How has your study of literature impacted your study
of drama?
M.A.: Majoring in both fields has made me realize their
interdependence — in relating my two majors I like to
think of Drama as "English in action." Literature is in
desperate need of performance — after all, our core starts
with the epic, something that would have been performed.
Drama makes literature a communal experience; while we
aren't all reading the text together, the audience and the
performers are all in contact with the same words. Major-
ing in English has given me another kind of way of discuss-
ing text and has helped me to view dramatic literature in
its larger context of other genres of literature.
News: Do you prefer plays or movies? Why?
M.A: Well, I can afford to go to the movies sometimes
— plays are often another matter! Watching movies is
fabulous in that you can watch them on DVD with friends
and talk at the same time. In a certain sense, it brings
you back to the old Renaissance stage when the audience
could heckle the actors — it's wonderful. That said, live
theatre is essential — it's more human and that is so im-
portant in a world that has become so impersonal... If
you gave me a choice between seeing a good movie and a
good play, I'd choose the play. A play is an actual event
in a way that a movie isn't — you miss a play and you've
missed it forever.
BECOME TWICE THE PERSON
IN HALF THE TIME.
The Biggest Saturday Night Party in Dallas is now at the New M5... Join us for the
Grand Opening of M5 Live every Saturday Night!!
Saturday April 1, 2006
M5 LIVE
The Ultimate "Live Reality Party" in Dallas
Featuring
Nelly's infamous Hip - Hop Dj and Producer
(rated #1 DJ at Sundance Film Festival)
w/Resident
DJ Wikka & The E Mode!
Go - Go Dancers
Plus monthly guest appearances by
Reality Star Hosts
This month: Real World's Alton Williams
18 & Up Welcome
Doors Open at 9PM - 2AM
Dress Code Enforced
Sponsored by
M5 Weekly Schedule:
Thursday "CNU - College Nights Uncensored"
Friday "AA5 Concert Series"
Saturday "M5 Live"
M5 Ultra VIP Lounge - 21 & Up Only
Reserve your tables ncSw!
81 7-891-8889 or tonyd@integratedasone.com
For More Info: 214-965-0555 or 81 7-891-8889
www.wildondallas.com
www.m5dallas.com
7Q3 McKinney Ave • Dallas, Tx 75202
m
JOIN THE ARMY RESERVE WITH A THREE-YEAR COMMITMENT.
Serve only three years in a local unit followed by five years in the Individual Ready Reserve
instead of the usual six-year enlistment. With the 3X5 Enlistment Option, you can still
take advantage of the benefits the Army Reserve has to offer, but with a shorter term of
service in a unit. To find out more, go to GOARMYRESERVE.COM or call l-800-USA-ARM>
When: Irving Army Recruiting Station, 3455 N. Beltline
Where: Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday by appt.
Who: Call Sgt. 1st Class James King or an Army Recruiter at
972-255-0592. Make a Difference. Become a Soldier.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Bond, Monica. The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 35, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 29, 2006, newspaper, March 29, 2006; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201429/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Dallas.