Lazarus creates ’24th Day’ despite hectic rehearsals

Lazarus creates ’24th Day’ despite hectic rehearsals

By Jennifer Richmond

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Paul Lazarus never thought he’d get "The 24th Day" off the
ground.

With his hectic schedule and the unforgiving time commitments of
his two actors, Noah Wyle and Peter Berg, Lazarus was forced to put
the show together in only three weekends. But the actors focused
and the show will open Saturday at the Coronet Theatre.

"Day" revolves around the actions two characters take when one
discovers the other is HIV positive.

Lazarus and his actors were able to get the show up because
Lazarus set down strict rules from the beginning.

"When I got back from the Sundance Film Festival, I met the
actors and I said ‘there’s only one way we can do this and that is,
at the end of this weekend, you have to be off book completely,’"
Lazarus says. And the actors fulfilled that request by having most
of their lines memorized by their next meeting. That’s the main
reason Lazarus says they’ve gotten the drama done in the short
amount of time they had.

Although the bulk of their rehearsals took place during three
weekends, the director says there were a few times when they would
meet at 10 or 11 p.m. after they had all had full days on their
respective television shows.

But Lazarus doesn’t feel the sporadic rehearsal schedule and
fast work pace affected the play. "We worked very very hard between
weekends, but it was always late at night and for three hours
instead of eight. A real rehearsal process for me is an eight hour
day. If we got three hours together from nine to midnight, we
considered ourselves lucky."

The actors were used to that kind of hectic schedule because the
time is just as limited in television. Lazarus felt his actors
benefitted from their background in television.

"Because there’s a lack of time, the very best actors in
television will do more homework and, in a strange way, bring more
to the table sometimes than stage actors will because stage actors
are used to that exploratory time and TV actors know they don’t
have it," Lazarus explains. "So they do a lot of exploration in
their own thoughts and bring it to the table."

Wyle and Berg were no different. Lazarus says both actors
brought great ideas to the rehearsal process all the time.

"Noah and Peter brought enormous amounts with them to the play.
They’re both very fertile, imaginative guys," Lazarus says. "If one
of them goes in one direction, the other’s likely to see where it
takes them as opposed to dictating where the scene is going, and
that’s a very fertile way to work.

"Also, with such an emotionally heightened play where someone is
taken captive," the director continues, "Noah could not really find
his role till he was being manipulated fully by Peter because it’s
such a responsive role to be tied up and have such a limited means
of expression."

Lazarus says there were several times when Wyle would have to
just sit there and wait until Berg got his blocking down. Although
the director says that was frustrating for Wyle, he feels it was an
"absolutely necessary step" because it allowed Wyle to find his
character.

The time issue didn’t only affect the rehearsal process though.
Lazarus says "Day" doesn’t have an intermission. The drama is so
intense, having an intermission would have ruined the effect.

"I’ve never felt it could be done in two acts," Lazarus
explains. "The place (playwright Anthony Piccirillo) has the break
is two-thirds of the way through, and I’m very uncomfortable with
bringing an audience back for the appetizer after the entree."

He and the actors talked about including an intermission for a
long time and while the actors wanted one for a rest, Lazarus said
no.

"This is a roller-coaster ride and you don’t get to get off a
roller-coaster ride to have a rest. You have to go through the
whole ride and the only rest you get is when it’s going back uphill
to go down."

STAGE: "The 24th Day." Directed by Paul Lazarus. Starring Peter
Berg and Noah Wyle. Running through April 14 at the Coronet
Theatre. Performing Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3
and 7 p.m. TIX: $37.50-39.50 For more info, call: (310)
657-7377.Comments to [email protected]