No Acting Please Arthur

# Every day when you're walking down the street

# Everybody that you meet

# Has an original point of view

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day

# We can learn to work and play

# And get along with each other

# You gotta listen to your heart

# Listen to the beat

# Listen to the rhythm

# The rhythm of the street

# Open your eyes!

# Open your ears!

# Get together, make things better By working together

# It's a simple message

# And it comes from the heart

# Believe in yourself

# For that's the place to start

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day

# We can learn to work and play

# And get along with each other

-# What a wonderful kind of day.

-Hey!

-# What a wonderful kind of day.

-HEY! #

Hey, DW.

Hey!

Whoa!

And...action.

Hi, today's show is...um, I forgot my first line.

Cut! Acting, today's show is all about acting. See?

I got it. You don't have to shout, "Cut!" We're the only ones here.

I like shouting, "Cut!" It makes me feel professional.

Today's show is all about acting.

Today's SHOW is ALL about...

Arthur and Buster's homemade show opening, take two. And...action.

Hi, today's show is all about...

You and Buster have to move.

Nadine and I are building a pillow fort in here.

No way! Use the den.

I can't, those pillows aren't right.

Anyway, I wouldn't be building a fort if you played with me

once in a while, but you never do.

SHE SOBS

You hate me.

What? DW, that's ridic...

CUT! Cut.

We'll move into the den, all right?

SHE SOBS

You were wonderful.

Now that's acting.

Fern! The sparkling butterfly barrette or the sparkling bow?

Um, I dunno. They look the same to me.

It's an acting audition. They won't pay attention to your hair.

It's for William Filmour Toffman,

THE William Filmour Toffman. I have to look my best.

Who's William Filmour Toffman?

True East, Jimmy Hopped The C Train.

He's only the most famous theatre director in Crown City.

He directed his first play in Elwood City. It Began With The Whistle.

He's back for a revival of the play's 20th anniversary.

We're trying out for Little Lucie, the only kid in the play. Wanna come?

Me? Audition? I can't act.

So. Come for moral support.

Besides, you might see a star be born.

Bravo, bravo.

Gritty, but with a hint of ennui.

Nice work, Francine.

You'd make a great understudy.

-Next!

-Good luck.

SHE GASPS

What did you say?

It's bad luck to say, "Good luck" to an actor.

You say break a leg, or something in French.

Oh. Bonjour.

Next, please.

But, Grandma, can't you he-e-ear the whistle blowing?

Thank you, Miss Crossmyer.

Actually, it's Crosswire.

Thank you, Mr Toffman, I'm a huge fan.

What's this?

My headshots, some postcards, a DVD of my most dramatic work,

oh, and chocolates.

Ah, we have one more.

Oh, I'm not auditioning.

What a pity. You look perfect for the role.

Thin, round shouldered, a certain hunger in the eyes.

Actually I just had a frozen yoghurt.

Ha ha ha, and a wit, to boot.

What did you say your name was?

-Fern.

-Fern. Beautiful name.

Well, Fern, are you sure you don't want to climb the boards

and give it a shot?

Well...OK.

Good...luck!

SHE GASPS

Finally, the cast list.

You can't be serious?

I'm Little Lucie?

But I didn't even act the line.

Maybe it's a mistake.

Nope. Daddy's in the play too,

he spoke to, he spoke to William Filmour Toffman.

Apparently you were just right for the part.

But all I've ever played at school is a tree

in the Arbour Day Extravaganza.

I'm gonna say no.

You can't say no, this could launch your acting career.

I don't want an acting career.

I worked for hours having Bailey put together

those headshots and you want to walk away?

Fern, there's gonna be great costumes, a cool set,

it could be really fun.

Welcome to the magnificent world of It Began With A Whistle.

A tragic tale of love and loss.

Redemption and more loss.

Behold...

a model of our set.

It shall be your home for the next three weeks.

Evocative!

Stunning!

Depressing.

Exactly.

This play takes place during the Depression,

so the set must therefore be...depressing.

Um, Mr Toffman, I think I might be missing some pages.

I've only found one line for Little Lucie.

And what a line it is.

In fact, I feel the whole play revolves

around that line, Fern.

Oh, cool.

"Then in the dust storm of 22, we left Amarillo,

"taking just what we could carry on our backs."

"Even the kettle don't work in this house."

"I am Big Daddy Booth."

"Because it would be the last I'd see of Oklahoma..."

"It's got a broken heart, it don't whistle no more.

"Cos it forgot how. Like we forgot how."

"But, Grandma, can't you hear the whistle blowing?"

This is why I am in the theatre.

To hear the music of words the way you just read them.

And Fern, I love the way you made Lucie

seem as if she were awaking from a deep psychological sleep.

Genius!

Wow, maybe I am a natural.

And the award for best dramatic performance

of a single line goes to...

HE GASPS

My protegee...Fern!

APPLAUSE

I wasn't expecting this, I mean, I know I've had rave reviews

from every newspaper in the world

and my fan mail needs its own dressing room,

but still, it's such a shock.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

-Thank you...

-Fern!

-Huh?

Will you quit thanking the ketchup and pass it, please?

Daddy told me Will said you were a genius.

I'm just curious, what method do you use?

Method?

Yeah, you know, how do you prepare?

I don't, I just say the line.

You're going to be performing in front of hundreds of people.

You have to do more than that. Here...

Some material I thought might help you.

Books on technique, warm-up exercises,

stuff like that.

It's funny they call you the stranger,

cos you seem familiar.

Red leather, yellow leather, red leather...

Folks always say I seem strange, but familiar. Strange that.

Stop, stop, stop, stop. Grandma, nice work.

Nigel, I need you to be stranger.

You seem...not strange enough.

Yes, right, of course.

-And, Fern...

-Yes.

Do you know what acting is, Fern?

Acting is reacting. And you can't react unless you...

Prepare. And learn your lines really, really well.

You can't react unless you listen.

Little Lucie is a listener.

Take it from the top of the scene.

It's got a broken heart. Like all of us.

-It don't whistle no more cos...

-But Grandma,

can't you hear the whistle?

Ladies and gentlemen, take five.

Fern, let's you and I take a stroll.

When I think of Little Lucie, I think of this tree.

I can do that. I've played trees before.

"Do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus."

Shakespeare. Hamlet's instructions to the players.

Fern, I don't want you to BE a tree.

I want you to be LIKE this tree.

It doesn't move much.

Yes, but you can't help but notice it.

I am Big Daddy Booth. I am Big Daddy Booth.

But Grandma, can't you hear the whistle blowing? But Grandma...

Places everyone. Places.

Why is he saying, "Places"?

It means the show is about to start

and YOU have to go back to your seat.

Even the kettle don't work in this house.

It's got a broken heart. It don't whistle no more cos...

-c-c-cos...

-Cos it forgot how.

Like we forgot how.

Grandma, can't you hear the thistle blowing?

I hear thistle blowing out there on the dusty plains,

but I also hear a whistle blowing.

Don't you, Grandma?

Fern!

Hey. I guess I wasn't such a genius, after all.

What are you talking about?

I only had one line and I messed it up.

That wasn't in the script? I thought they just expanded your role.

You're not just saying that?

William Filmour Toffman was right, you're perfect for that part.

I could never play someone so dreary.

Nice work.

Brava, Fern. Have some sparkling cider.

I'm really sorry I flubbed the line.

I promise it won't happen again.

You improvised. The dusty plains bit, genius.

And most importantly, you were really listening.

I was thinking, for tomorrow's show,

we might restage the last scene.

Perhaps have you sit on the floor with a rag doll...

Hey, could we give Little Lucie another line or two?

I'm not the playwright, Fern. I'm just the director.

# Every day when you're walking down the street

# And everybody that you meet

# Has an original point of view

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

-# What a wonderful kind of day!

-Hey! #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.

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