John Raitt, a musical giant

USC students and admirers attend Musical Theater Master class hosted by professionals

By MICHAEL PETTENATO
Staff Writer

OSaturday, Oct. 14, musical theater legend John Raitt co-hosted the first in a series of free workshops with Paul Gleason in the Bing Theater. Participants, who included both on and off-campus performers, were asked to sing a musical theater song of their choice and then receive feedback from the two masters. Nobody knew quite what to expect that morning, but after four-and-half hours of the musical theater master class, everyone knew they had just experienced something magical. For that one day, a group of young performers had been able to tap into two lifetimes worth of professional knowledge, experience and wisdom.
Raitt is truly a musical theater giant. Besides performing on Broadway and in the touring companies of such hit shows as "Oklahoma," "Man of La Mancha" and "The Pajama Game," Raitt has truly been immortalized by his work as the original Billy Bigelow in "Carousel." Rodgers and Hammer-stein wrote the groundbreaking song, "Soliloquy," especially for him. Raitt is part of a musically gifted family. His daughter is country music superstar, Bonny Raitt, and one of his cousins helped compose the musical "Forever Plaid."
Paul Gleason is a Broadway and television veteran. His experience includes working under legendary choreographers Bob Fosse and Martha Graham and studio work at MGM, among others. After finding his calling in teaching,
Gleason has worked with scores of students ranging from Metropolitan Opera vocal contest winners to Tony Award winners. Gleason's family tree is also filled with talent. Among them is his former wife, Joanna Gleason, who can be seen on the new hit comedy, "Bette!"
Following the first Musical Theater Master class, Shannon Coltrane, a sophomore majoring in theater, was positive, even though she admits being apprehensive at first.
"I thought I was going into something elitist," she said. "I figured that it was going to be this huge hall with thousands of people, and John Raitt and Paul Gleason up on a pedestal...it turned out to be just the opposite, and the effect was a class that was extremely personalŠ.really amazing.
"Instead of thousands of people showing up, the turnout was a small group of both USC students and musical theater admirers from off campus," she added. "From my musical theater class, only two people came. I was ashamed that not more people showed up. I was so upset. I was like, what are you people thinking?
"People think it's just a school thing. They don't realize that this is a service to make it convenient to get to the outside."
Though more people could have benefitted from the workshop, Coltrane stressed the comfort she found within the group. She was not planning on singing, but wound up giving an impromptu performance.
"I happened to have some music in my bag," she said. "I wasn't prepared at all. It was extremely intimidating at first. I didn't know what either of them were expecting. I mean, come on, you're singing in front of Paul Gleason and John Raitt. How insignificant do I feel? "The people in the room were strangers and that made the welcoming nature more compelling. Everyone was so great about it. I couldn't have felt more welcome and appreciated."
Coltrane and the other participants each sung a single musical theater song and then each was given a particular acting exercise to do in front of the group that would help their performance. The results were miraculous.
Students were giving performances that they had never approached before. The emotional power of the event was so strong that at several moments, certain performers and audience members were moved to tears. Coltrane experienced this kind of emotional reaction.
"The group dynamic was really awesome," she said. "At one point, I was so involved that I was literally gripping the seat in front of me. It was so powerful what (Gleason) was making the performer feel and what we were feeling through him. We were all moved."
What each performer got out of the workshop is as different as each performer. Coltrane's lesson was focused on one of Gleason's main rules to be true to yourself, the actor.
Gleason emphasized the importance of bringing your own soul and voice to each note of a song and to avoid copying other sounds or acting the way other actors do. While many professional acting teachers share a similar philosophy with Gleason, he was uniquely able to show the group how to find the self that you must bring to a performance.
"I had a breakthrough with fighting against myself...against prejudgments of what should go on," Coltrane said. "I needed to relearn the right way to do it, because I had trained myself away from it."
Coltrane is convinced that the workshop was a success and that other people should take the opportunity in front of them.
"If anybody is at all considering going out for an audition, whether it be musical theater, film, or...I don't care what medium, these people have the most well-rounded and valuable information and suggestions possible and they communicate it in the most compassionate, honest and realistically encouraging way you can think of. It's true. I'm not kidding."
The second John Raitt Musical Theater Workshop will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in Bing Theater. Everyone is invited and admission is free. Performers should bring a musical theater song of their choice. An accompanist will be provided.

Copyright 2000 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 141, No. 42 (Friday, October 27, 2000), beginning on page 16 and ending on page 14.