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| Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:05 am Post subject: Charles Keating |
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From *welovesoaps* ~
 Photo courtesy of Charles Keating
If you want to see the original article from the Raleigh, N.C. News&Observer (you can leave a comment if you want!) ~
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1414640.html
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Keating relishes role in ballet/play hybrid
By Roy C. Dicks - Correspondent
RALEIGH -- When Charles Keating steps onto the Memorial Auditorium stage Thursday night to portray the jealous husband in Carolina Ballet's "The Kreutzer Sonata," he'll be in another world -- far from the TV soap operas, Broadway shows and movies that have made him famous.
The Emmy winner and Tony nominee -- known for his periodic roles on "Another World," "As the Word Turns," "All My Children," and major parts in "Brideshead Revisited" and "Edward and Mrs. Simpson" -- is returning to a character he first played here in 2001.
In Tolstoy's controversial 1889 novella, the embittered Pozdnischeff narrates the tale of how his paranoid suspicions of his wife's infidelity drive him to murder after finding her alone with her violinist friend.
Robert Weiss, Carolina Ballet's artistic director, first staged the story in 2000, alternating acted scenes with dance segments to chamber music by Beethoven, Janáek and local composer J. Mark Scearce. "It's a play and a ballet, a hybrid of the two art forms," Weiss said . "I wanted to tell this complex story, but there was no way to do it only with dance."
For the work's revival the following year, Weiss reshaped the story, placing more emphasis on the troubled husband-narrator. He knew he needed an experienced actor to accommodate his vision and thought of Keating.
Weiss knew Keating's work through Weiss' writing collaboration with actress Victoria Wyndham, known to millions as Rachel Cory on "Another World." Keating, who played opposite Wyndham as the suave Carl Hutchins, came to work on several film scripts Wyndham and Weiss were promoting, giving Weiss a chance to observe Keating's talents.
Besides his television work, Keating has been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, played at the famed Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and appeared in Hollywood films such as "The Bodyguard" and "Awakenings." He's also in demand as narrator of audio books, having recorded multiple titles by P. D. James and Terry Brooks.
Keating said he relishes a second chance to play the complicated, tortured Pozdnischeff. Interviewed by phone from his home in Connecticut this month, Keating talked about the role.
"It was very brave of Ricky [Weiss] to put spoken word in the midst of dance," Keating said. "It's a very delicate balance. I had never done it before, and I found it very exciting, although intimidating. The scale of the project puts the hair up on the back of my neck."
He finds many layers to play in his character. "There's no evidence that the wife and the violinist are having an affair, but Pozdnischeff lets his imagination get out of control, not unlike Othello," he said.
"I've spent my life playing Shakespeare, so it's a good preparation for the part. This time I hope to go even deeper."
Keating says he particularly enjoys the part's sardonic humor.
"Pozdnischeff is so pompous, you just want to poke him one," Keating said, laughing. "But it's all Tolstoy's doing. It's just my job to uncover what's there."
Keating says he remembers local audiences' reactions to his earlier appearances in Chapel Hill with the Royal Shakespeare Company and with Wyndham in their poetry readings show.
"I've played all over the English-speaking world, and you've got a very bright audience there in the Triangle," he said. "I remember thinking last time how they really got the humor."
The other piece on the Carolina Ballet program is the first revival of Weiss' 2006 "The Tempest," a half-hour ballet based on characters and relationships in the Shakespeare play, with music by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Moravec. The music for both ballets will be played live by the Ciompi quartet, assisted by two pianists and a clarinetist.
There will be challenges for Keating and the cast in staging "The Kreutzer Sonata" for the larger space of Memorial Auditorium after previous runs in Duke University's Reynolds Theater and the Fletcher Opera Theater. The 75-minute piece has a procenium-filling train car of passengers in elaborate Victorian costumes, as well as settings for a dance hall, bedroom, music room and ballroom.
Keating says he looks forward to being back among performers from other art forms. "I look at these dancers and musicians, and I really am humbled by their discipline," he said.
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Carolina Ballet Presents Tolstoy and Shakespeare
Where: Memorial Auditorium, Progress Energy Center, Raleigh
When: 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. March 1
Cost: $18 to $63
Contact: www.carolinaballet.com, 719-0900, 800-982-ARTS or www.ticketmaster.com
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