Tuesday, June 5, 2012

P 116 of Tab Hunter's autobiography

After doing three movies, none of which were particularly good, Art (Tab) gets the chance to do his first stage production--Our Town!  Whew.  What a play to be the first!  But he learned a valuable acting lesson that he hadn't quite figured out before.  Other endeavors he had loved to this point had been horseback riding (he did steeplechase) and ice skating (good enough to work once with Dick Button--Olympic gold medal winner).  In both sports, he was used to individual effort with lots of practice producing excellence.   But, of course, this is not true of acting.  In theatre (and I'm sure movies), the team works together to make the whole thing into art....and by the team, I mean everyone...actors, crew, support....everyone.  Although in Gun Belt (his second movie) he learned this about stunt performers, he didn't really understand the whole dynamic until Our Town.

I find myself chuckling often while reading.  He is very forthright about his mistakes, naivete, confusions, and extreme guilt (associated with him mom, though there was nothing there he could have done better, given the circumstances) and I find myself identifying with his struggles quite a bit.  The book is very readable and enjoyable.

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