Tom Mikotowicz
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Video Text: Tom Mikotowicz, Theatre
Professor Director: "The Marriage of Figaro":
"Oh my goodness, that goes way, way back. I would have to say it was a
high school production of 'West Side Story,' and I was invited by a
friend of mine to go see it. It was probably 1964.
"Well, specifically, 'Figaro' is a story that has to do with the lower
classes overthrowing the upper classes, and 'Figaro' was written by
Beaumarchais in the late 18th century, and years later, Napolean himself
said, 'The French Revolution started with that damn play.' And it's
because it's a funny story--it's a comic story about a comic servant,
Figaro, who wants to get married to Susannah, who's the servant to the
countess. But the count has a right to sleep with wives or servants on
the first night, and so the count wants to do this and so he's trying to
seduce Susannah, but Figaro finds out about it and turns the tables on
the count.
"Five favorite non-musical sounds, oh my gosh. I would say when you pour
water into a glass of ice; I like that sound, that slosh and
high-pitched thing. I like the sound of a snow shovel scraping over the
sidewalk when you're shoveling--there's something kind of about that.
The wind blowing--I like the sound on a summer night, not a winter
night--that's always pleasant, because I go camping. And certainly the
babbling brook sounds really nice. And then, when I go to New York City
where I used to live, I like all of the chaos--to me that's kind of an
orchestra of sound.
"But this play has a lot of political power. At no other time in history
have we seen as wide a gap between the rich and the poor as we have
during this current administration, and the middle class is
disappearing. There is a certain aristocratic attitude that seems to be
present today that has to be addressed, and I thought, 'This is really
an appropriate play to present these arguments,' and so our students are
studying that period, and they're comparing the structure of 'Figaro'
with what's going on today.
"Well, that grew--that was a real creative idea. We start out with the
idea that we're just going to traditionally cast the opera--you know, if
somebody was appropriate for a role, we'll put them in the role, and
they'll get to sing the part. We realized that we could offer more
opportunities to people if we double-cast it. Another idea was
introduced to me by music faculty, where you would actually split the
casting inside of the performance, so that somebody might sing Cherubino
in acts I and III, and somebody else might sing it in acts II and IV.
And I thought, 'Well, that might be fun for the audience, to have to
hold onto the character through those changes, and that might be a
challenge for us.' But another level developed--the fourth--when I was
rehearsing the Barbarinas, I came up with the idea that they had done it
so well in rehearsal, I said, 'Would you be willing to be simulcast?'
And so what that is, is that they actually play one character together
on stage, all through the performance. One says one line, another says
the other line, one might start a musical phrase and the other finishes
it. And, so, two people playing Barbarina, and you know, I liked it
because it appealed to me in terms of post-modern aesthetics--that I
don't think the audience needs the traditional casting, that we can
demand more from them, and they will rise to the occasion, I think.
*laughter*
"These are cosmic questions. The happiest time in my life--well, there
is happiness in all levels. One is certainly your personal fulfillment
with your mate--I have a wonderful wife and I have a great daughter and
grandchildren that bring me lots of pleasure, and I would have to rank
that first. But I also have a lot of happiness in my own personal work
as a director. I certainly admit to the limitations of my work, but I
also revel in what gets achieved in a very small amount of time, so I
really like directing. But I just recently took up the banjo three years
ago, and I go to banjo camp every year, and that has opened a great door
to me--I'm kind of lost in jazz banjo."
