Tramell Tillman talks about the difference in performing in front of a crowd versus for movies.
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00:00One thing I've noticed is that a lot of seasoned actors,
00:05they also, on screen, you know,
00:08they also season their chops with Broadway and everything,
00:12and they kind of go back to theater.
00:14I wanted to ask you, what is the allure of Broadway,
00:17and what has that taught you as an actor as well, too?
00:23There's nothing like live theater.
00:25There's nothing like it.
00:26I think Phylicia Rashad had said this quote,
00:31film gets you the fame, television gets you the money,
00:36theater gets you the street cred.
00:39With a good editor, anybody can look like a great actor
00:44on film and television, you know what I mean?
00:47But in theater, you can't fake it.
00:51You can try to hide, but people are gonna know
00:55whether or not you can carry a full theater
01:00and you can capture people's attention,
01:03two, three, four, you know, 3,000 seat theaters, you know,
01:08and not just Broadway, just theater in general.
01:12It's also, I find, more collaborative in theater.
01:17You know, we're all telling this story together.
01:19We have to lean on each other in this space,
01:23and we have the luxury of telling the story
01:26over and over and over again,
01:27whereas film and television, your rehearsal are the takes.
01:33And you may build a close relationship
01:36with your fellow cast members,
01:38but it just depends on whether or not
01:39they're called that day, you know, in film and television.
01:42Theater is a bit different, and they're different mediums.
01:46But theater definitely has taught me
01:48about being in the moment.
01:50It has taught me more about spontaneity,
01:58thinking on your feet, problem solving,
02:01and the gift that is theater that can unite people
02:07in a live space, in a shared space.
02:12I remember when I did a production of A Christmas Carol
02:16at the Clarence Brown Theater in Knoxville, Tennessee,
02:19one of the productions, or one of the shows, I should say,
02:24was the day of the Sandy Hook shooting.
02:28I was playing Bob Cratchit.
02:30I remember coming into the theater,
02:31and I sat in my dressing room, and I was looking at CNN,
02:35and I saw these bodies carried off in stretchers,
02:39and I just wept for 30 minutes.
02:42And somehow I had to muster up the strength
02:44to be able to go on stage and be exuberant
02:48and optimistic about life when I was witnessing
02:51the tragedies of what was happening
02:53to this community in Sandy Hook.
02:56And I remember the moment of Christmas yet to come,
03:00and Tiny Tim doesn't make it to Christmas,
03:03and I watched my fellow co-star walk away
03:10with Timmy's grave, and I kept thinking about Sandy Hook.
03:16I came on stage, and I could see out of my eye
03:20the actor playing Scrooge, David Quartermire, weeping.
03:24I had never seen him weep like that.
03:28And we had done this show several times before.
03:31I was talking to Johanna Dunphy,
03:33who played Mrs. Cratchit, and I had tears in my eyes,
03:38and she had tears in my eyes.
03:40And in that moment, no one eulogized to the audience,
03:46no one projected or said anything,
03:49but you could hear a pin drop in that entire theater.
03:53And it was as if in this moment,
03:55we are taking a collective breath and a pause
04:02for the families and the community
04:05that endured that tragedy.
04:08And it was in that moment that I knew the power of theater.
04:13I understood it, I got it.
04:14That theater, the collective bodies has a healing power.
04:21And it started to shift at that moment
04:24to be a form of ministry for me.
04:27And yes, we do unite in film.
04:32You know, we go see a big movie, Mission Impossible.
04:34Everyone's gonna go corral and see the movie, you know,
04:37and we'll cheer and shout and scream and cry,
04:41whatever the emotions are, and then we leave.
04:46And we can do that around television as well.
04:50But theater, it is the sole purpose in that way.
04:54And it's just beautiful.
04:58That's the gift of theater.